Earlier this fall I decided to mow down my front yard and overseed it with a wildlife fall seed mix from the local feed store. It is made for deer, but has lots of things chickens love like alfalfa, white clover, crimson clover, winter peas, etc.
Here was the yard in September.
And heres...
I ordered 50 meat chicks about a month ago from MT-DI with a ship date of Oct 2nd. They don't take credit cards so I mailed them a check. The day before they are supposed to ship I call them, because my check hasn't been cashed yet and I wanted to make sure everything was ok. He assured me...
I ordered a batch of Red Ranger meat chicks back in May from Moyer's. They were all cockerals. Here is their week to week growth in pictures.
Subject A at 1 week old.
Subject A at 2 weeks old
Subject A at 3 weeks old.
Subject A at 4 weeks old.
Subject A at 5 weeks old...
Does anyone have experience raising Freedom or Red Rangers over the summer heat? Here in Virginia I can expect mid to upper 90s on the worst days. My batch of Cornish Rocks is about to be done and I don't think they would do well in summer heat so I am considering trying a batch of Freedom...
The purpose of this thread is to chronicle my experience as a first time attempt at raising meat birds. I have a layer flock but have never raised a meat bird before. I am also working out of a small backyard setting, not a farm.
I ordered 50 Cornish X chicks from Schlecht hatchery in early...
It was usually warm this past weekend so I took the time to do some upgrades to the backyard coop and run.
Put a litterbox setup under the roosting bar for easier cleaning. Playground sand and Sweet PDZ mix.
After reading about it here on BYC, I decided I wanted to give Pine Bark...
I know there were several of us that had new chicks arrive during the week of Oct. 1st from various hatcheries. I thought it would be cool to have a central thread to post update pics every couple weeks while they grow together. I ordered 8 chicks from Ideal that arrived on Oct. 4th. They are...
The little flock has been out there for a while, but it took me a bit to finish up the roof. I am happy with how everything came out, and the flock seems to be happy.
The flock uses the playground more than my kids do!
Backyard Flock #2 arrived early this morning when the Post Office called me at 5:50am to tell me they were here. Took just over 1 day for them to ship from Ideal. All were alive and well. One is a little sluggish, we'll have to keep an eye on him.
The group of 8 consists of: 2...
I was under the impression that chickens would eat almost anything for treats, but my little backyard flock is being very picky. There are 6 birds, one is just over 2 months old, the other 5 are almost 6 weeks old. I have put spinach, cabbage, salad greens, potatoes, green beans, corn, some...
Has anyone had success getting new chicks to use a nipple waterer? I have a new batch of chicks coming in next week and I was hoping to use the existing nipple system I have in the brooder now from the last group, but am unsure if a young chick will understand how to use it right off the bat.
I just moved my chicks from the brooder to their new coop outside and put them in what I am calling "Lock Down" time, where I am keeping them locked in the coop as they transition. I've read various opinions on how long to keep them in there before letting them out from 2 days to over a week...
I have read alot about what people put on the floor of their chicken runs, but I'm curious what some of you have put in the run specifically for the chicken's entertainment or well being? Any shrubs to play in, or perches to climb?
I am going to be putting together a new coop kit I bought and painting it. My 4 year old autistic daughter has her heart set on me painting it purple, which is her favorite color. Although I hate the idea of painting anything purple, like any dad, I can't disappoint her. So my problem is what...
The rubbermaid tub was looking a little small for our little gang, which was all the excuse I needed to disappear to the garage for a while to cook up something new. I put together a 4' by 2' wooden space, raised off the ground and made pullout bedding trays and screened lids. I have just...