We just started keeping chickens this summer and I must say, the "chicken math" adds up quick!
First I went out to my Dad's to get a Turkey because I wanted to fatten it up for turkey day. I wasn't planning on keeping her but we will get back to that.
She didn't like riding in the car... My daughter named her Turkey Butt Dinner.
Temporary housing till I got something built to house the turkey.
Tried to make her happy with some scratch but she was pretty irked!
We own a Christmas tree farm and my Dad was like "Oh hey you should take some Guineas they will eat all of the spiders out of your trees!" Sounded great he said I didn't need a coop for them to just make sure they have access to food and water if needed.
So we got Guineas...Winkyn, Blinkyn, and Nod
They were fun! They'd talk to us through the sliding glass door.
BUT they were temporary.
As fast as they came they went back! Not because of the noise like most assume. It was because they were chasing cars on the highway! They would follow out my husband every morning and challenge all the cars that would go by! My dad then informed me that they like to charge at cars. He has a truck that is broke down and they attack themselves in the shiny bumper...
Now for poultry my Dad has Turkeys, Guineas, and Chickens. He started out taking in rescues and chickens nobody wanted. Eventually it got out of hand and his ameraucana flock was getting mixed in with the other flock. Well we can't have that! So I agreed to take a few of the other flock. It started out as only "I have 3 roosters Cass, you should take one and a few girls..." BAM! All of a sudden we were building a tractor coop and I started with 7 chickens.
Both sides open for easy cleaning.
It's all painted now but I don't have updated pictures.
I had to add the weather vane! lol
1 Rooster and 6 hens.
RJ McKenzie
Juliana Moore
Henny Penny
Lady Gaga
Ashley (mary-kate became dinner a week prior)
Sienna Graves
Missy Elliot
But 3 of the 6 were old hens (over 4). 2 (Ashley and Sienna)I culled because they were very sick and the 3rd became a really tasty soup (Missy).
So here I am down 3 hens and I thought, RJ (my Rooster) needs more ladies right?
So my daughter and I went to the local feed store and bought 2 chicks. Both supposedly girlies.
A SLW ~ Rose and a Lakenvelder. ~ Chicken Noodle Doodle
My daughter mentioned "Mom, the babies look lonely. They need more friends."
and as though they had planned it my dad called and told me he had a hen the quit her nest. I had just bought an incubator so I figured hey I can hatch a few right? It was 37 eggs she abandoned. Other hens were laying on the nest while she was trying to hatch.
We Candled a few....
I ended up with 17 eggs that were still alive and I grabbed a couple of chicks that he had running around to keep my other 2 babies company and within a week 2 of the eggs hatched!
I broke down and bought an auto egg turner...
This is Turtle my very first hatched chick!
Up to 5 chicks now!
This is lucky he slept near me for a night I wasn't sure he'd make it.
Out of these 17, 2 didn't hatch (one had severe scissor beak the other was too big for its shell) and 15 hatched. 2 of the 15 died. One had wry neck and couldn't get to food or water at all and the other was weak to begin with and suddenly died. The remaining 13 were very healthy!
Only hours old!
The older chicks "mothering" the new babies
Rose and chicken are getting big at this point!
So here i'm up to 17 chicks, and 4 adult chickens. I got another call from dad though. His turkey has poults! Ok so I got 2 and built the turkey a coop.
The poults flew out of the brooder and picked my Husbands Harley and toolbox to roost on... they almost became sandwiches!
Work in progress...
No floor... they poo too much lol
They sleep outside anyways
Then another call... KEETS? Ok... now I have 5 keets.
Phone rings... Dad~ You need more layers? Me ~ OF COURSE! So I went to get just one more hen... but I came back with 2 and 4 chicks.
Butters
Marilyn Monroe and her 4 chicks if you can see them!
Ok so now the babies are big enough to go outside and we have our garage back! We lost a few chicks along the way and I'm at 13 chicks right now. Most of them are Roosters BTW...
My "pullet" LOL It happens! He'll be a beautiful Rooster!
Turtle and Lucky (not so lucky) are roos and will be dinner at some point
My daughter in the "baby" coop
An attempt at roosting!
TREATS!!!!
Turkeys are getting big too!
All of my poultry but the guineas, the SLW and the lakenvelder are "mutts"
New Chicks born 11/18 - 11/19
UPDATE 11-20-14
Ate a few, bought a few, aquireed a few and I just hatched some!
So to list them off... The Current Flock is....
Rooster - Big Red and Cock-a-Doodle Doo
Laying Hens - 5 ~ Henny Penny, Lady Gaga, Juliana Moore, Marilyn Monroe, and Butters
Pullets - 4
Cockerels - 2
Chicks - 23 total
Turkeys - 2 poults (1 male 1 female)<--- I hope!
Guineas - 5 at least 1 is female
First I went out to my Dad's to get a Turkey because I wanted to fatten it up for turkey day. I wasn't planning on keeping her but we will get back to that.
She didn't like riding in the car... My daughter named her Turkey Butt Dinner.
Temporary housing till I got something built to house the turkey.
Tried to make her happy with some scratch but she was pretty irked!
We own a Christmas tree farm and my Dad was like "Oh hey you should take some Guineas they will eat all of the spiders out of your trees!" Sounded great he said I didn't need a coop for them to just make sure they have access to food and water if needed.
So we got Guineas...Winkyn, Blinkyn, and Nod
They were fun! They'd talk to us through the sliding glass door.
BUT they were temporary.
As fast as they came they went back! Not because of the noise like most assume. It was because they were chasing cars on the highway! They would follow out my husband every morning and challenge all the cars that would go by! My dad then informed me that they like to charge at cars. He has a truck that is broke down and they attack themselves in the shiny bumper...
Now for poultry my Dad has Turkeys, Guineas, and Chickens. He started out taking in rescues and chickens nobody wanted. Eventually it got out of hand and his ameraucana flock was getting mixed in with the other flock. Well we can't have that! So I agreed to take a few of the other flock. It started out as only "I have 3 roosters Cass, you should take one and a few girls..." BAM! All of a sudden we were building a tractor coop and I started with 7 chickens.
Both sides open for easy cleaning.
It's all painted now but I don't have updated pictures.
I had to add the weather vane! lol
1 Rooster and 6 hens.
RJ McKenzie
Juliana Moore
Henny Penny
Lady Gaga
Ashley (mary-kate became dinner a week prior)
Sienna Graves
Missy Elliot
But 3 of the 6 were old hens (over 4). 2 (Ashley and Sienna)I culled because they were very sick and the 3rd became a really tasty soup (Missy).
So here I am down 3 hens and I thought, RJ (my Rooster) needs more ladies right?
So my daughter and I went to the local feed store and bought 2 chicks. Both supposedly girlies.
A SLW ~ Rose and a Lakenvelder. ~ Chicken Noodle Doodle
My daughter mentioned "Mom, the babies look lonely. They need more friends."
and as though they had planned it my dad called and told me he had a hen the quit her nest. I had just bought an incubator so I figured hey I can hatch a few right? It was 37 eggs she abandoned. Other hens were laying on the nest while she was trying to hatch.
We Candled a few....
I ended up with 17 eggs that were still alive and I grabbed a couple of chicks that he had running around to keep my other 2 babies company and within a week 2 of the eggs hatched!
I broke down and bought an auto egg turner...
This is Turtle my very first hatched chick!
Up to 5 chicks now!
This is lucky he slept near me for a night I wasn't sure he'd make it.
Out of these 17, 2 didn't hatch (one had severe scissor beak the other was too big for its shell) and 15 hatched. 2 of the 15 died. One had wry neck and couldn't get to food or water at all and the other was weak to begin with and suddenly died. The remaining 13 were very healthy!
Only hours old!
The older chicks "mothering" the new babies
Rose and chicken are getting big at this point!
So here i'm up to 17 chicks, and 4 adult chickens. I got another call from dad though. His turkey has poults! Ok so I got 2 and built the turkey a coop.
The poults flew out of the brooder and picked my Husbands Harley and toolbox to roost on... they almost became sandwiches!
Work in progress...
No floor... they poo too much lol
They sleep outside anyways
Then another call... KEETS? Ok... now I have 5 keets.
Phone rings... Dad~ You need more layers? Me ~ OF COURSE! So I went to get just one more hen... but I came back with 2 and 4 chicks.
Butters
Marilyn Monroe and her 4 chicks if you can see them!
Ok so now the babies are big enough to go outside and we have our garage back! We lost a few chicks along the way and I'm at 13 chicks right now. Most of them are Roosters BTW...
My "pullet" LOL It happens! He'll be a beautiful Rooster!
Turtle and Lucky (not so lucky) are roos and will be dinner at some point
My daughter in the "baby" coop
An attempt at roosting!
TREATS!!!!
Turkeys are getting big too!
All of my poultry but the guineas, the SLW and the lakenvelder are "mutts"
New Chicks born 11/18 - 11/19
UPDATE 11-20-14
Ate a few, bought a few, aquireed a few and I just hatched some!
So to list them off... The Current Flock is....
Rooster - Big Red and Cock-a-Doodle Doo
Laying Hens - 5 ~ Henny Penny, Lady Gaga, Juliana Moore, Marilyn Monroe, and Butters
Pullets - 4
Cockerels - 2
Chicks - 23 total
Turkeys - 2 poults (1 male 1 female)<--- I hope!
Guineas - 5 at least 1 is female
