Welcome to my BYC Page:
New pics: Bantam Cochin chicks and 1 LF Cochin
Skater chick giving you the stink-eye:
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More skater chicks:
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Zoom!
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February 22, 2011
It's Move-in Day!!!
My hens finally got to move in to their new house, and not a minute too soon with all the snow we have been getting! I love my Eglu Cube, It's great for most of the year, but in the winter up here, it is always a muddy mess! Tarps cover the run, I can't drag it around in the snow, and no matter how many inches of bark I put under the run, it is always a swamp. When the snow is gone the mud where our lawn once was, suctions off my pac-boots as I try and walk across it. Not good for chickens and not good for me!
So, here is the new coop:
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I divided the coop into 3 rooms; 2 for chickens, one for storage. Behind the coop ia a covered run that is about 10 feet wide by 22 feet long with a wall and door in the middle. Even though I don't have egg-eaters at the moment, I looked at plans posted by "Opa" here on BYC and sort-of had a friend copy the roll-out nest boxes. My dimensions are not the same, I needed them to fit a space 3 feet across next to each coop door. I stuff them with hay and shredded paper for now, so the eggs do not roll back.
The snow was getting heavy, so I moved the hens into the run a few hours before opening the coop doors. 7 of the 9 had already laid eggs for the day, but soon ater moving into the run, one of my Buff Orpingtons startrd with the "egg song", So I quickly had DD bring in a new kitty litter box with some wood shavings in it. The BO took to it right away, and was contently minding her business, waiting for the big moment when the other hens noticed the litter box. Soon there were 3 and a half hens in the box! It was rocking like mad. I thought it would flip over! The BO emerged, no egg. (She had it on the coop floor in the morning).
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Well now I have a nice new coop with an empty room, 2 empty chicken tractors and a 10X10 dog kennel that I had a sturdy roof put on after it collapsed in our November snowstorm. Empty coops? That means I need MORE CHICKENS!
and here they are: (in my Ikea toybox brooder)
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December 5th, 2010
First Egg Ever!!! Laid by Chirp, our New Hampshire; The egg is pale with white speckles and fairly large, almost the same size as the grocery store brown. DD is so proud, you'd think she was the one who laid it!
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November 2010
Tip: Don't hit backpage while typing your page.
My name in Monique and I live in the Cascade Mountains about 35 miles east of Seattle. After stalking this site for about 6 months, I decided it was time to join.
I live on several acres outside of town with my husband, boy child, girl child, 2 dogs, 3 cats and 9 chickens. It had been 10 chickens, but I recently lost one of my New Hampshires to my neighbor's dog
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. I love gardening, but with all the wildlife, it can be a challenge. Elk were hopping the 6 foot fence to eat apples, so I got a dog and it seemed to help, but then last year a bear came and ate our plums and the apples, so I got another dog from a bear hunter, a great big dog who looks like a bear when I don't shave her. Didn't help. The bear came and ate the plums. New dog went crazy, chased the bear out of the yard, but I was afraid the bear would attack the dogs, so I put the dogs in another part of the yard with no food plants. Then the bear returned for the apples, peaches, blueberries, strawberries ... about the only plant the bears did not get were the Brussel Sprouts, but then who likes Brussel Sprouts? I only grow them because they look cool.
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Girl child with new peeps Omlet Cube & more new peeps Freedom Shasta and Willow - chicken poop eaters (dogs, not DD)
This past summer, I got chicks. 4 at first (RIR, 2 NH, and an Australorp). I had someone build me a Catawba coop. Soon lots of requests for eggs came in from friends and neighbors, so I bought an Omlet Cube and 6 more chicks (2 BO, 2EE, 2 Silver Laced Wyandotte). Then the first 4 got big, and I felt sorry for them in their little run, even thoug I move it to fresh ground daily, so I bought a portable fence (no charger - big mistake!) I thought they'd be fine while I was home in the day and could see them. On sunny days for 2 weeks, they loved their new freedom exploring my veggie garden, finding grubs and other good things to eat! I think my neighbor's dog can climb chain-link as it got in my yard and killed a chicken. The other 3 flew over the portable fence and were making quite the fuss trying to get in to the Omlet Run. I let them in and watched carefully expecting a fight, but the 2 groups of chickens are getting along fine. I do think this is too many chickens for 1 cube, so I ordered another.
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The past week has been very cold. We got about 15 inches of snow, day time temps in the 20's and a low of 3 F at night. I was worried about my girls. Before the snow fell, I moved the cube to an area between trees where the snow does not get deep. I put bark on the ground, a heated cat bed in the nesting box, and clear tarps covered the top and much of the sides. At night, all snug in the coop, the girls were fine. During the day, I think the chickens were too cold. The 3 older girls huddled together in the run while the younger chicks hung out in the coop or on roosting bars. Even with a bird bath heater, the water froze hard, so I used pet bottles which I thawed and filled with hot water every 2-3 hours. Then I got smart and hung the brooding lamp in the run and put a tray of water underneath. Everyone was happy.
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Local Wildlife added Nov 30, 2010.
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