Colorado

[coloradogal]

I have learned that chicken people tend to be the friendliest group of people. Perhaps its because its hard to take ourselves too seriously when we regularly are up to our ankles in chicken sh!t... I have had 2 people stop by just to ask me about chickens and to look at my area. Both of these were neighbors who were interested in keeping a small flock but unsure if chickens were right for them. There are so many misconceptions about keeping chickens that are just wrong. The biggest is that they smell.

I always bring them into my area and show them that they do not smell. They are always amazed at how little they smell and at how clean chickens can be. Which brings me to the second misconception- that chickens are messy. They always expect to see chicken crap all over the place and on the walls. Granted, I have seen people who kept chickens that way but not with those of us who constantly read and care about the health of chickens. I'm not saying that I am better because I'm not. I'm saying that the chicken keepers who belong to groups like BYC tend to have a different mindset of how poultry husbandry can be. Many of us also look at our chickens as family and we eat the eggs. For me, it is a blight on my skills if I find a chicken egg covered in feces because the nesting box isn't clean. Sometimes it happens but sometimes it is because of sloppiness.

Does anyone on here get their chickens tested for worms? What is the incidence of worms in this part of the country? I know worms are a bigger deal where humidity is much greater. In our part of the woods, we just seem to be blessed with not having many of the ickies other places have.

 

[ONSTAD1]

My fathers favorite book growing up is green eggs and ham, and he loves personal gifts.  This year for fathers day I want to give him a first edition of the book with 12 green eggs and ham.  Is there anyone in or near to Highlands Ranch that could help me? 

Ebay is a good place to find first editions. I found Walden for my dad a few years back.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Rock Home Isle,

I didn't know you were a turkey guru....

Not what I'd call a Turkey Guru...but I like Turkeys; and I'm very comfortable with my experience and knowledge base of them. They just amaze me.

And you have turkeys...so that is a whole bunch of awesomeness. And until I can get my own flock again...I will just have to live vicariously through your posts.

Very Cool

 

[wsmith]

Rock,

You'll have to come down and hang with them! They are hilarious. They are both narragansett, one is lighter with a finer head, the other is darker, a courser head, and a larger snood. I think he is the male. Not as friendly as the lighter one either. They are usually the first ones out of the coop, and can usually be found grazing together, or at least near each other.

 

[Minchi]

Ebay is a good place to find first editions. I found Walden for my dad a few years back.

Sorry I was not very clear, I have the book, I need the eggs.

 

[Mommato5]

I wonder how many there are in the Johnstown/Milliken area?

Maybe participating in a small group of poultry enthusiasts in my area would be fun.

I live in SW Loveland.

I hear you on the fire. 37,000 acres burned now and 100 structures lost! We were at Horsetooth the day it started so we saw it when it was small. Thankfully most of the smoke is going east and misses us but it seems in the evenings we can smell smoke in the house. The wind must change directions. Sadly I have several friends with family that live up there who have been evacuated. It's been so windy and dry it's really difficult to contain. I do hope they start making progress on it soon. Last I heard there was still no containment and it had jumped the Poudre River.

So, how many chickens do you have? We only have 4. Once we can afford to build a larger coop I want to get chicks. This year is just zipping past me, though!

 

[Mtn Margie]

Our plan is to be NPIP certified, but after we cull this fall. No point inspecting birds that aren't going to be staying around...

And NOW my daughters (16 & 20) are saying that they REALLY like the turkey poults, and maybe we should't process them this fall. They say MAYBE we should keep and breed them and get more turkey poults from them next spring......... and eat those instead!

KIDS!

My kids loved the turkey poults too, until they got a serious case of the uglies and tried to eat the "worms" attached to their hands one too many times! LOL!

 

[larca83]

One of my little 4 week old girls, Stella, has coccidiosis. It was scary how fast it happened. One moment I was looking at her and noticing that she was just standing around and closing her eyes (still very alert when I would reach into the brooder or play with her outside of it) and later that night she was unable to move. She couldn't walk, stand, or hold her head up. She looked horrible and I was sure I was going to lose her. She has now been on Corid for just over 24 hours and separated from the other girls (the other girls have their Corid, too). I've been feeding her from my hand and giving her water with a syringe since she hasn't been able to move around her box. She's looking markedly better since starting the Corid. She's standing, but she wobbles after a minute. She shuffles around the box until she loses her balance and tips over. She's drinking a lot (I still have to use the syringe to get water in her) and eating a ton. She's not out of the woods yet, but I'm relieved to see this improvement. We had a pretty sad Saturday night/Sunday morning. I'd read a lot about coccidiosis. When I started taking them outside for "field trips," I wish I would have bought some Corid to keep on hand just in case. I would have been able to start treating her right away.

Wind's picking up out there! I finished painting the inside of our coop just as the big raindrops started falling. Stella will be babied in the house for a while, but the other girls will be ready to go outside this weekend. Hope everyone up by the wildfire is staying safe!

 

[coloradogal]

I'm really bummed. I bought some South American fowl as eggs and they should have pipped today. I gave the eggs to another chicken guy who hatches baby chicks for some of the stores around here. Before I got them, he accidentally sent them to the wrong house. So they were sent out on a Tuesday and I didn't track them down until Sunday.

6 went under a broody hen Sunday and the rest went into the incubator. They should have started pipping yesterday. I called him and he told me that none of the ones under the hen had movement but he kept them under hoping that something would happen. Finally when candling showed no movement, he took them out and found some more eggs for Buffy to sit on. The rest in the incubator had some blood vessel growth but then they stopped too.

I went over today and he showed me the eggs and of the 13, only one seems to have any movement.

Any suggestions? If I were the one incubating them, I'd probably assume I did something wrong. But the reason I didn't incubate was because I wanted someone who does it all the time.

At this elevation, is there anything different in incubating eggs? I don't believe that he didn't anything wrong as the eggs he put in there with mine seem to be hatching fine. I'm very heartbroken. I so wanted these chicks to add to the genetic diversity to the EEs.

 

[ONSTAD1]

Just in case any one had doubts, I will confirm Jenelle is a rockstar... of the David Bowie stature ; )