The Story of the Crazy Chicken Lady

[serama mamma]

Sorry no black copper Maran. I must have gotten mixed up.

 

[saltandpepper2]

Update on life in general! The ducks and chickens are getting so old! 6 weeks today! The ducks have been out for a while, thank goodness for that because I've never encountered such messy creatures! So far two have started quacking, crossing my fingers that one more starts.

The chicks are doing great, had a decent hatch rate of 46% for my first time, in a LG, I was pretty happy. I decided that because I had so many chicks, I would officially test out all those different gender methods. I kept the temp on the high side, and supposedly female chicks survive heat more than males,.. That's false. Got a perfect 50/50 hatch. Tried to guess gender by feather sexing, that's false too. Comparing combs was the most accurate even on day 1, but was only correct 70% of th time.

The new coop is done and installed, and between that one, and the smaller one, I should be able to have around 15 birds... Which means I need to get rid of some. One Hen doesn't lay, the other only lays around two eggs a week, and so many of the chicks are roosters, that between all of them, I think I'll be ok: especially since a lot of the chicks are bantams and go in a different coop!

I was going to start a garden this year, but due to our landlord harassing us about our dogs being too aggressive, we'll be moving soon...that'll be fun. I've never tried to move 30 chickens!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

They are adorable. I know what you mean about the ducks being messy. I brooded 8 ducklings inside one year, and I swore I if I got ducklings again, I would make sure they could go out at a younger age. Ducks are supper-poopers, but I found that geese are super-duper-poopers.


When we moved, I found that moving the poultry was not as hard as moving the coops.

 

[saltandpepper2]

They are adorable.  I know what you mean about the ducks being messy.  I brooded 8 ducklings inside one year, and I swore I if I got ducklings again, I would make sure they could go out at a younger age.  Ducks are supper-poopers, but I found that geese are super-duper-poopers.



When we moved, I found that moving the poultry was not as hard as moving the coops.

Haha, definitely not getting geese! Thankfully, the newest chicken coop is made in two pieces, so should be decently easy to move. And the bantam coop is movable as well as it's run. The only thing that won't be coming is the run since its cemented into the ground. It'll be a pain to build a new one!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Moving is a pain.

Despite the super-duper-pooper status of geese, I still love them. They follow me around, and they are easy to get into their pen, but they are definitely outdoor birds for me.

 

[Nickeyo]

Love this thread, I think it's quite fun, too be honest I have a coop slightly smaller than your new one and I have 12 birds in it as that's recommended amount from supplier, I think as long as you keep it hygienic and the birds have plenty of room outside then they really only need perch and laying space, I'm building a new run so, currently my birds take up 2 of the 3 perches so I should be able to get more as outside space is the important part.

 

[saltandpepper2]

Love this thread, I think it's quite fun, too be honest I have a coop slightly smaller than your new one and I have 12 birds in it as that's recommended amount from supplier, I think as long as you keep it hygienic and the birds have plenty of room outside then they really only need perch and laying space, I'm building a new run so, currently my birds take up 2 of the 3 perches so I should be able to get more as outside space is the important part.

My plan is to have 15-16 birds total in that run. I have the new 4x8 coop, as well as a 3x4 coop in the back, so I think that gives each bird around 3 sq ft each, and that should work fine. I have a bantam coop that is only 3x4 and will probably have around 7 bantams... but each bantam of mine weighs less than two lbs, so I'm really not that worried. lol. The ducks have 5 sq ft each in their house, and I wish that they had more! they're sooooooooooo messy!

 

[MHFarm]

Love your story !

 

[saltandpepper2]

Sorry for not keeping updated!

This is most of my flock now. New rooster, an ameraucana, and 8 chicks that I kept. Total of 15 large fowl! I kept all the pullets that I hatched, which includes 2 marans, two olive eggers, and one bantam mix. Also kept one EE, and three ameraucana pullets that I bought.
I also renovated the old chicken coop into a duck coop.

Speaking o ducks, never thought that they grew so fast! 10 weeks old and bigger than my adult chickens!

I've gone through three different illnesses in my flock since I last posted, but thankfully haven't lost anyone, not even to mareks!
Here are more pics of my FINALLY healthy flock!

Miss sassy pants the EE

Bantam mitt that I kept. So glad it's a pullet!

Ameraucana... Sort of. Both parents were, she just isn't a recognized color.

Marans and OE

My silkie

my absolute favorite bird. Let's pray it's a girl!

My AWESOME barred. Going on 4 years, and still lays 5 eggs a week!

New rooster. Another non recognized Ameraucana. Lol.
Non chicken related. Just went out and picked black berries for an hour and look like I got into a fight with my cat. OUCH.
ANyways, I'll have to post a picture of the cobbler I'm going to make with them!

 

[OnlyOrps]

Sorry for not keeping updated!

This is most of my flock now. New rooster, an ameraucana, and 8 chicks that I kept. Total of 15 large fowl! I kept all the pullets that I hatched, which includes 2 marans, two olive eggers, and one bantam mix. Also kept one EE, and three ameraucana pullets that I bought.
I also renovated the old chicken coop into a duck coop.

Speaking o ducks, never thought that they grew so fast! 10 weeks old and bigger than my adult chickens!

I've gone through three different illnesses in my flock since I last posted, but thankfully haven't lost anyone, not even to mareks!
Here are more pics of my FINALLY healthy flock!

Miss sassy pants the EE

Bantam mitt that I kept. So glad it's a pullet!

Ameraucana... Sort of. Both parents were, she just isn't a recognized color.

Marans and OE

My silkie

my absolute favorite bird. Let's pray it's a girl!

My AWESOME barred. Going on 4 years, and still lays 5 eggs a week!

New rooster. Another non recognized Ameraucana. Lol.
Non chicken related. Just went out and picked black berries for an hour and look like I got into a fight with my cat. OUCH.
ANyways, I'll have to post a picture of the cobbler I'm going to make with them!

Awe your animals are so cute! I love miss sassy pants! Adorable birds!!!