2018 Newbie Chat!

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JMotuzick said:
Anna
We had a talk about shipping chicks in. This picture shows the chicks in the mailing box. They Seam to do well with the straw and each other to say warm! We received our first order back in February. 20f outside and 18 or 18 where alive when we picked them up!
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That's pretty impressive - thank you for pointing out that this is the mailing box, I hadn't realised :) From what I can see it looks sturdy and comfortable enough and from what I've read survival rate is exceptionally high, I really don't understand why the UK won't allow this service here - As long as they are looked after well in transit as they are in your country, I don't see the problem :confused:
 
Anna Ranieri said:
I am always so worried about the birds of prey we get here, my biggest worry is about the sparrowhawks here because they hide and are hard to spot and seem to come out of nowhere when they strike. In March this year our local newspaper did a story celebrating the return of peregrine falcon which disappeared from our area several years ago and people are like - isn't it wonderful and I'm like, oh no! More predators to worry about. There are a lot of pigeons around my garden, I know I'm probably awful for this but I hope the birds of prey are satisfied enough by them so will not be interested in my birds. Pedro chases pigeons and other birds off when they fly into the garden like sparrows, blackbirds so they no frequent or eat in our garden and I'm hoping that will be enough not to attract birds of prey [Pedro tried a few times to chase out Lilah but Lilah chases back and now Pedro is scared of her and keeps out of her way]
We have them all free ranging together, the female ducks often have a go at Lilah as they do Jellybean so I'm guessing they see them both lower in the pecking order, they still regard Pedro as higher then them even though Lilah doesn't. So far the ducks are scared of Roo when (s)he runs/flutters, and is quite funny to watch when Roo is trying to join them foraging, they run so Roo runs following them and they think Roo is chasing them. I used and still use your stick method, didn't interfere with Lilah/ducks nor do Lilah/Pedro because I believe in the pecking order and none of our birds are aggressive, they may push or shove using their beaks and has been the occasional nip but no one has bitten nor anything alarming so I'm leaving them to adjust their order but when it comes to Roo its a different matter and your stick method is brilliant, especially as my duck hens are very sneaky, they will casually walk past, ring around then they pounce from the back (quite clever really) and they catch Lilah almost every time although she is beginning to learn their tactics, but as soon as the had for Roo, out comes the stick and as soon as they see it they run off, so I'm so thankful you shared this method with me.
Btw have you set Silkie up with his own flock yet - if so hows it going?
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The hawks were scary but we have a lot of doves and quail around here so hopefully they won’t feel the need to hunt my chickens.
There’s not much I can do beyond that.
I don’t want confined birds.
I wouldn’t worry about peregrines.
They take their prey on the wing by high speed dives.
Since chickens and most domestic ducks don’t fly I’m pretty sure they’re not on a peregrines menu.
Roo sounds like he’s trying to tag along with these funny looking “chickens” and they don’t know what he is. :lol:

Silkie has 6 bantam pullets.
Cricket
Pippin
Bootsie
Itsy
Mitzi
Minnie

He pays absolutely no attention to them.
He’s obsessed with Agatha and Emily.
They’re all younger than him and so aren’t quite mature yet.
Cricket and Pippin (my bantam Cochins/Pekins) are somewhat older than the other four.
They’re combs and wattles are larger and red.
In fact, Pippin squatted for Angus and let him breed her yesterday.
But he could injure her being so much bigger.
And Silkie is becoming more persistent in pressing his attention on Agatha and Emily.
Angus always stops him but he isn’t always that effective.
I need to lock Silkie in the prefab coop along with all the bantam girls for about a week so they’ll bond as a flock.
He’ll be forced to see them as his.
I haven’t done it yet because I wanted my husband to remove the high roosts out of the walk-in coop before I put the babies in there with Angus, Red, Agatha and Emily.
He’s dealing with some family stuff right now.
I may just do the switch anyway and deal with the roosts later.
 
ChooksNQuilts said:
The hawks were scary but we have a lot of doves and quail around here so hopefully they won’t feel the need to hunt my chickens.
There’s not much I can do beyond that.
I don’t want confined birds.
I wouldn’t worry about peregrines.
They take their prey on the wing by high speed dives.
Since chickens and most domestic ducks don’t fly I’m pretty sure they’re not on a peregrines menu.
Roo sounds like he’s trying to tag along with these funny looking “chickens” and they don’t know what he is. :lol:

Silkie has 6 bantam pullets.
Cricket
Pippin
Bootsie
Itsy
Mitzi
Minnie

He pays absolutely no attention to them.
He’s obsessed with Agatha and Emily.
They’re all younger than him and so aren’t quite mature yet.
Cricket and Pippin (my bantam Cochins/Pekins) are somewhat older than the other four.
They’re combs and wattles are larger and red.
In fact, Pippin squatted for Angus and let him breed her yesterday.
But he could injure her being so much bigger.
And Silkie is becoming more persistent in pressing his attention on Agatha and Emily.
Angus always stops him but he isn’t always that effective.
I need to lock Silkie in the prefab coop along with all the bantam girls for about a week so they’ll bond as a flock.
He’ll be forced to see them as his.
I haven’t done it yet because I wanted my husband to remove the high roosts out of the walk-in coop before I put the babies in there with Angus, Red, Agatha and Emily.
He’s dealing with some family stuff right now.
I may just do the switch anyway and deal with the roosts later.
Click to expand...
Thank you for putting my mind at rest about the falcons, its bad enough having the worry of hawks that hide without the worry of others!
I woke a short while ago and thought I'd have a quick read before I let the gang out - I usually wait till 7:30 because most of the neighbours are up and about by then - I laughed about Lil Silkie hes such a lil tinker lol - sounds like might be in love lol - clearly there is something about Agatha and Emily he is so attracted to. Love your choice of names btw, I didn't choose any of the names of our birds, my daughter did, I don't mind the names she has given them and I wouldn't change any of them now they have them but they are not names I myself would choose. We got a long fight on our hands to try to be able to keep them but I am trying to keep positive and reading all the stories as well as keeping up with your flocks antics and news, helps and really brightens my day.
Well I'm 5 mins late and the gang are letting me know it lol, Lilah and Roo are in the room next to me and shes having a right moan at me as she can hear me tapping the keys lol - I love them all so much :love
 
Anna Ranieri said:
That's pretty impressive - thank you for pointing out that this is the mailing box, I hadn't realised :) From what I can see it looks sturdy and comfortable enough and from what I've read survival rate is exceptionally high, I really don't understand why the UK won't allow this service here - As long as they are looked after well in transit as they are in your country, I don't see the problem :confused:
Click to expand...
The box was really sturdy. Had a straw mat on the bottom with a heat pack under it, but the temps where I live are 90 degrees and up right now.
 
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Happychickmomma said:
View attachment 1531185 View attachment 1531186 View attachment 1531187 View attachment 1531188 View attachment 1531189 View attachment 1531190 View attachment 1531191 View attachment 1531191 View attachment 1531185 Hi everyone, I’m a newbie too! We currently have 10, six day old chicks. 2 RIR, 2 Ameracaunas, 2 Barred Rocks, 1 Delaware and 1 SLW. I’m in love ! So, this morning I mixed up some chick grit in with their starter mash. Gave them some mashed up boiled egg yolk and they were not interested. They chow down on their starter mash and was hoping to give them some treats, but they didn’t know what to do with it . I guess I will keep trying. Here are a few pics of my littles and our coop in progress. We still need to finish adding the hardwired mesh, ladder to get in the hen house, roosting bars and the metal roof.
Click to expand...
I haven’t been getting notifications on this thread sometimes.
I’m just seeing your post today.
That coop is fantastic!!
I’m seriously having coop envy lol.
By the way, you can put your chicks out there with their heat plate if you have electricity or run an extension cord out to it.
I did that with my 12 chicks after about 2 weeks because they were completely outgrowing their brooder.
It went really well.
They were going down the ramp into the run and having a ball!
My chicks stopped using the heat plate by 4-5 weeks.
They feathered out fast.
 

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