What did you do with your flock today?

[ChicksnMore]

Today, we were expecting rain, but I was glad the weather guessers were wrong. It was nice and calm, partly cloudy in the mid 50's. The girls laid their eggs in a corner of the coop, in a nest they made, instead of the nesting boxes. We finally had an animal test the electric fence. I heard yipping/crying sounds, and as I looked out my living room window, saw a dog running with his tail tucked, looking behind him as he left down my driveway and ran down the street. This dog has been frequenting our yard, as seen on camera footage, but never while we are outside. I just had to call DH, and he had a good laugh.
The chicks are 16 days old today, and seem to have grown 4x or more. Feathers are growing in quickly. Whenever I open the top, One or two of the leghorns fly up to the ledge of the brooder. They seem to be the friendliest, the coppers are the least, as they are part Maran. The legbars are sort of in the middle. Chickens are fascinating. I am amazed at @kurby22 and @ChicksnMore , and your breeding and genetic knowledge.
Am having a hard time filling eggs orders after losing half the flock in November. It'll be August before these littles mature. Hmm, shall I start naming them? Do you all put bands on them for ID proposes, especially when they look similar? @LTAY1946 anyone else want to weigh in? Any tips and tricks?

I use zip ties a lot. My forever birds get a zip tie with a letter bead added with a jump ring. I just got Biscotti's ready but haven't put it on her yet so I'll get a picture of it as soon as the kittens wake from their nap. I'm their favorite bed still

 

[ChicksnMore]

Today I did a farm tour for a mother and her twins. I have half an acre of permaculture gardens and about 500 sqft of chicken runs and coops. The kids got to learn about hügelkultur and feed the chickens safely through my run. I let the boy hold my blue lorp named Sacre bleu. Both kiddos held a chick too. It was a truly lovely day. I learned from mom that the boy was buying my eggs (I have a donation based egg stand on my property with free produce in it) and selling it to his neighbors at cost to visit my farm! My husband and I are child free by choice, but seeing those kids have so much fun and be excited to learn about farming almost made me break. Almost.

These days child free has a lot to recommend it. I'm so glad you got to enjoy some of the pleasures children bring if only for a day. Kids are heart thief's for sure !

Your farm sounds delightful!

 

[ChicksnMore]

@PopoMyers
Ok... kitties are back to terrorizing the house .

Here's my banding supplies. These are for chicks...cheap and easy to replace as they grow until adulthood when they get their permanent bands. They can be bought in multi color packs and last really really well.

As adults I used to use these for adult birds. They're spiral bands so they have a little give to them. They're also pricey because each box only has one color in it. They last forever though. I still use these on my ducks and peas.

Last few years I've mostly been using zip ties for the chickens. You can buy them in tons of colors. I use them to tell me year hatched, breeding group, vaccination status etc. With the numbered bands only one bands needed and all the information is kept in my paper records. Zip ties I have to use multiple bands for all the info

Then I decided to add charms for my favorite forever birds. The charms are new this year. So far they're working well with no problems. Beads I'm using as charms. I think the charms might let me use the zip ties like the numbered bands do...maybe. Then I'll only need one band per bird with paper records for details. Cheaper than those wonderful spiral bands

And here's some ready to go on chickens. The little metal rings are like keyrings and are called jump rings.

Maybe too much info ....but can give you ideas to figure out what works best for you . Spiral bands you can buy from any hatchery I believe, or from a company that specializes in selling bird bands of all kinds. Everything else is cheap on Amazon.

 

[Insnesnakos]

I watched the birds dig around in the yard, especially in this little area where the dirt is dark brown and it's all loose
They got to eat a few worms too

 

[kurby22]

I use zip ties a lot. My forever birds get a zip tie with a letter bead added with a jump ring. I just got Biscotti's ready but haven't put it on her yet so I'll get a picture of it as soon as the kittens wake from their nap. I'm their favorite bed still

Ohhh the beads are a great idea! I too use zip ties but I hate how quickly the numbering rubs off! the beads might last longer...interesting! I will have to ponder this!

 

[kurby22]

@PopoMyers
Ok... kitties are back to terrorizing the house .

Here's my banding supplies. These are for chicks...cheap and easy to replace as they grow until adulthood when they get their permanent bands. They can be bought in multi color packs and last really really well.View attachment 3778720
As adults I used to use these for adult birds. They're spiral bands so they have a little give to them. They're also pricey because each box only has one color in it. They last forever though. I still use these on my ducks and peas.View attachment 3778722
Last few years I've mostly been using zip ties for the chickens. You can buy them in tons of colors. I use them to tell me year hatched, breeding group, vaccination status etc. With the numbered bands only one bands needed and all the information is kept in my paper records. Zip ties I have to use multiple bands for all the info View attachment 3778723
Then I decided to add charms for my favorite forever birds. The charms are new this year. So far they're working well with no problems. Beads I'm using as charms. I think the charms might let me use the zip ties like the numbered bands do...maybe. Then I'll only need one band per bird with paper records for details. Cheaper than those wonderful spiral bands View attachment 3778724
And here's some ready to go on chickens. The little metal rings are like keyrings and are called jump rings. View attachment 3778732

Maybe too much info ....but can give you ideas to figure out what works best for you . Spiral bands you can buy from any hatchery I believe, or from a company that specializes in selling bird bands of all kinds. Everything else is cheap on Amazon.

This is really helpful! Where did you get the spiral bands? I think I prefer those for the shows...I like that they would grow with the bird!

 

[Barbours]

Hello! This is a place to post pictures/talk about what you and your flock have done today.

I was on a zoom call earlier and Iris, my rooster, decided to stand behind me and crow repeatedly. Thankfully I was on mute, but it was still annoying. They couldn’t see him, but they could see me trying to make him quiet, which was a little embarrassing.
Here’s a pic of my boy with some mini roses.
View attachment 2128202

What about you guys? Have you done anything interesting with your flock today?

Here are a few pictures of my birds.
View attachment 2128859View attachment 2128860View attachment 2128833View attachment 2128869
View attachment 2128894

Went around the corner of the house outside. Then saw dad giving Smokey (our 1 legged Roo) some flower petals from his tea .

 

[katsallday]

These days child free has a lot to recommend it. I'm so glad you got to enjoy some of the pleasures children bring if only for a day. Kids are heart thief's for sure !

Your farm sounds delightful!

Thank you! We believe in feeding the community no matter if they have money or not. Food insecurity is awful. I’m happy to teach kids about this, I’m happier to hear they want to learn it makes me tear up

 

[ValerieJ]

Windy here, the gate blew open, and chickens got out. We live on gravel roads, chickens ran across the road to eat grass coming up. Naughty!

Well, now we know why they cross the road.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Ohhh the beads are a great idea! I too use zip ties but I hate how quickly the numbering rubs off! the beads might last longer...interesting! I will have to ponder this!

Here's Biscotti and Candycorn sporting their new bands. I think the zip ties could be run straight through the beads but I worried it'd be uncomfortable that way so I'm trying the little rings instead. I figure even if the color wears out inside the letter, the letter will still show because it's sunk in. that it works well. I started using zip ties in 2020 and I had to cut Hennevere and Clucksalot's off to give them their little charms. I'm very impressed with how long the zip ties last!