I don't have horses anymore, much to my dismay. Our property isn't big enough, and expense is beyond our means. I'm actually going to be selling my favorite saddle set soon even.
Instead, have chickies, ducks, quail, a couple of goats and getting bunnies in Sept.
I'm in Colorado, we have colder temps and more snow. Usually if we have snow and it's in 20's or below, I put out hay to walk on. You can use straw too. It gives them something to scratch through and acts as insulation.
They will go inside if they get too cold as well. I haven't had any...
Definitely need higher temperature as said, and 55ish humidity until lock down, then 65 to 70. As said above, ducklings fill eggs completely by lock down. It could be longer because of cooler temps, but what I can see, the egg is no longer alive. Looks about 2 weeks in development. I could be...
That's the thing, chickens are a lot like all other animals. One reason I do quarantine, is i used to do a lot of rescues. The quarantine gave me time to get familiar with the animal and provide any special care needed. Old habits lol.
If you watch, chickens will display actions when not...
I don't use heat in my coop. But because I do live in a colder climate, I got birds that have a high tolerance to cold.
I think that's the most important thing is doing research on what birds are best for the climate you live in.
However because my girls like the cold, hate heat (90 plus...
No problem at all, we all started from the beginning. It's definitely a learning process, and as I said, from experience, each flock and situation can be different, so it's a never ending process.
If either of our kids were interested, we'd look more into it as well. But, being we're in the middle of nowhere, 2 and half hr drive to any major town, even though it's thoroughly paid for, doesn't appeal our kids lol. If they were smart, it would be well the investment, wind power. But, oh...
It's wise to quarantine any new bird before introducing it to main flock, I usually wait 2 weeks at least, to help prevent possible illnesses.But that's me.
Then I'd do a temporary pen to introduce them normally, but with only 2, I doubt there would be too many issues. Just keep an eye on...
Here's the completed pen and inside the coop.
I found out for the bigger door I needed a guard to keep them falling out when putting them in for the night. Some are learning to go in themselves but...lol. Summer i don't mind if they stay out as you can see, very tightly sealed.
The problem is the cost of batteries needed and number for solar or wind power. We're almost "off the grid" being only have electric and cell phones (which we have to use a booster for service and still not that great). We haul our own water and process wood for heat. So we did look into...
I would definitely get a couple more hens if possible to prevent over breeding. Each flock and bird is different, as well as breeds (some breeds require more hen to roo ratio) but usually males need several hens so the one doesn't get over used and abused.
I think it's all a learning process, especially if you've never done anything like this before.
I added a picture of before the crate i used for pen part.
Though this is my first quail pen, I have had experience doing other pens.
We're definitely into using whatever we have. Just the cost of...
This is before (partly as already started on it lol) and after coop part. All recycled wood and etc as well. I have doors on both sides for easy cleaning. I'll get a Pic of the pen in a bit.
I'm not sure who you got your eggs from, but any hatchery I've researched don't guarantee anything, and definitely don't replace unhatched eggs. Except possibly if many were damaged upon shipping.
This is mainly because there's to many factors that could cause eggs not to hatch. Which would be...
I used pallet boxes to make a quail coop and pen. Each is about 5' x 6'. It's nice as I can separate them and move with the tractor. Only thing I regret is not making the coop so I could divide it.