2018 Newbie Chat!

[CannedMonster]

Oh! I almost forgot! Pearl did an actual 100% sure of it squat yesterday! It was much more pronounced than what Diamond did the other week. I will be totally amazed if Pearl lays first. Her comb had been yellow longer than any of the others. It still seems lighter than the others but maybe there can be variation in individual chickens? I always thought she would be the last one to lay. She's top of the pecking order, maybe she's making the others wait, haha!

Some of them seem to get red combs/wattles overnight.
You never know.
I’m excited to see your little girls start laying!

 

[Cbarr00]

Oh! I almost forgot! Pearl did an actual 100% sure of it squat yesterday! It was much more pronounced than what Diamond did the other week. I will be totally amazed if Pearl lays first. Her comb had been yellow longer than any of the others. It still seems lighter than the others but maybe there can be variation in individual chickens? I always thought she would be the last one to lay. She's top of the pecking order, maybe she's making the others wait, haha!

I noticed, in my flock, comb and wattle color vary from breed and chicken to chicken within the breed. My RIR were always more red than my SS even tho my SS laid first. My most broody SS pullet, Cricket, has a very short pale comb compared to the other SS. It's about half the size of the other girls and I believe she was the first to lay. I thought it would be my RIR since they were so red so early but they proved me wrong. Lol.

 

[Cbarr00]

The other day all 11 girls laid an egg. I love the variation in colors and shapes from each girl!

 

[Houdini56]

Hello! I'm gong to use the template to keep me from wandering all over the place, so to speak.

(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?

Not a total newbie, but it has been 8-10 years since we've had any, and maybe 15 years since we had chicks.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?

We have 4 beautiful Golden Comet chicks who I think will be 7 days old tomorrow. They were hard to find, and it took a 2 hour drive including the ferry to get to them, but I'm glad we made the effort. We had RIR before and the roosters put me off chickens completely. Not fun!

We've been getting into birding a bit in the last year or two, and I had the idea of maybe getting a few exotics -- japanese quail, for example -- but my roommate eats a lot of eggs and pays quite a bit for organic free range so it really only made sense to consider chickens again. So I started looking for a more agreeable breed and decided on the Golden Comets. And I can't believe how quickly they mastered a roost...

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?

I'm really looking forward to just being able to relax and observe them, commune with them, and probably even spoil them a bit. (They are in our pantry right now, and my cat already thinks they are getting WAY too much attention!). My partner is more excited about the eggs, not surprisingly.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?

Birding, photography, flower gardening, hiking, making jewelry.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.

It's just me and my roommate, he's retired and I'm down to part-time (yay!) with just a couple more years to go. We have a 17-yo occicat and an 8-yo border collie. There are no grandchildren so all the fur people in my proximity are spoiled. I work out of a home office which allows for a lot of flexibility in my day and opens it up to things like raising chickens.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?

Well, I've been googling a lot of things since we made the decision to get chicks....and I'm not sure exactly what question it was that brought me here, but right away I could see this was a great place to share and learn. Looking forward to digging in!

 

[No More Empty Nest]

Hello! I'm gong to use the template to keep me from wandering all over the place, so to speak.

(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?

Not a total newbie, but it has been 8-10 years since we've had any, and maybe 15 years since we had chicks.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?

We have 4 beautiful Golden Comet chicks who I think will be 7 days old tomorrow. They were hard to find, and it took a 2 hour drive including the ferry to get to them, but I'm glad we made the effort. We had RIR before and the roosters put me off chickens completely. Not fun!

We've been getting into birding a bit in the last year or two, and I had the idea of maybe getting a few exotics -- japanese quail, for example -- but my roommate eats a lot of eggs and pays quite a bit for organic free range so it really only made sense to consider chickens again. So I started looking for a more agreeable breed and decided on the Golden Comets. And I can't believe how quickly they mastered a roost...

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(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?

I'm really looking forward to just being able to relax and observe them, commune with them, and probably even spoil them a bit. (They are in our pantry right now, and my cat already thinks they are getting WAY too much attention!). My partner is more excited about the eggs, not surprisingly.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?

Birding, photography, flower gardening, hiking, making jewelry.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.

It's just me and my roommate, he's retired and I'm down to part-time (yay!) with just a couple more years to go. We have a 17-yo occicat and an 8-yo border collie. There are no grandchildren so all the fur people in my proximity are spoiled. I work out of a home office which allows for a lot of flexibility in my day and opens it up to things like raising chickens.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?

Well, I've been googling a lot of things since we made the decision to get chicks....and I'm not sure exactly what question it was that brought me here, but right away I could see this was a great place to share and learn. Looking forward to digging in!

Welcome! Such cute little chicks! I have 4 bantams. I live in a city where we can have 4 backyard chickens. Mine are 28 weeks and haven't started laying yet, argh! But we're getting close 2 of them started squatting recently.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

I noticed, in my flock, comb and wattle color vary from breed and chicken to chicken within the breed. My RIR were always more red than my SS even tho my SS laid first. My most broody SS pullet, Cricket, has a very short pale comb compared to the other SS. It's about half the size of the other girls and I believe she was the first to lay. I thought it would be my RIR since they were so red so early but they proved me wrong. Lol.

Thanks, that's good to know. Pearl squatted today when my hand simply got close to her. I didn't even touch her. Diamond squatted too. Got my fingers crossed! Diamond bit me pretty good today. I wonder if she thinks I'm a rooster and she's telling me "Not yet!" hehe. I'm really hoping she'll be her sweet little self again when her hormones settle down.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

I put my incubator on lockdown this evening. 2-3 days and I should have three new chirping babies. Prayers appreciated that everything goes smoothly.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

@Anna Ranieri I hope things go good for your girls from now on. Maybe now they realize it wasn't the chickens and ducks that brought the mice. since the mice are gone but chickens and ducks aren't. My neighbor has always had chickens next door to us and every time we have a mouse I know it's just their nature and never would've thought to blame the chickens. I would understand if it was filthy terrible living conditions but we all know you take exceptional care of your birds. I'm glad you've updated us I've been waiting to hear how it is going. I followed that facebook page as well just to follow the ducks journey.

Thank you so much for the support and encouragement, I'm sorry for taking so long to reply but I'm sure you can understand it has been very hard for me and my family.
Ducks are doing great, they travelled very well. The vet had told us they needed to have eaten before they travelled but as we left at 4 AM they hadn't eaten much although they had food in their duck house they had been sleeping. I put food, water, fresh veg and a few treats in the travel cage with them and although scared still ate and drank well throughout the journey and we only had to make a couple of quick stops to refill their water and with roads so clear we got to the sanctuary in just a little over four and a half hours.
All four had to have one wing clipped just to make sure they don't fly out of their pen, Runners aren't supposed to fly but both mine can. They will soon start their spring moult so might have to have them clipped again in a couple of weeks but won't need to anymore after that as they will have established this is their new home.
It was difficult and distressing to begin with as the drakes being frightened kept coming over to me for comfort and reassurance so I just kept talking soothingly to them which calmed them then in as little as 20 or so minutes they went off with their girls to explore. I was amazed at how quickly they settled in and in no time they all looked as though they had lived there all their lives.
We had some giggles over how they took over the place, they had decided they are boss of the place and let all the other ducks and chickens know that.
The Chuckery had another drake at the time which worried me but the owner kindly put him in the duck house to give our birds time to adjust and now they are the head ducks already!
I was worried about the fact that new birds come in and go out constantly and apart from a goose and the owners personal chickens, our ducks are the only permanent residence, which I worry how they will cope with such quick changes of birds around them but so far they are doing well. The ducks that were there at the time have now gone and there are four new ducks brought in yesterday - two drakes and two ducks but the owners posted us pictures and I can see they are still doing very well.
These people are amazing, the work they do is fantastic. We have an animal protection organisation over here called the RSPCA, they are responsible for the welfare of all animals in the UK and a lot of the birds and animals the sanctuary take in have been seized by the RSPCA for various reasons, some stories we were told are quite harrowing and I really don't understand why or how people can be so cruel but once in the care of The Chuckery, they are nursed, tendered to then found good homes which are vetted and have to meet approval before they can take any of the birds and animals up for rehoming.
On the whole, at not being able to keep our ducks ourselves we are happy for them being in such a lovely place being looked after by two very dedicated and caring people.
The owners told us they view themselves as having fostered our ducks and if our circumstances ever change no matter how many years we can have them back at any time, even though it is highly doubtful we will ever have them again.
Visiting is permitted and there are no restrictions so my daughter and I are planning to visit them next year and hope to visit them yearly.
The Chuckery is a lovely place, the owners are lovely and care so deeply for all the animals under their care, plus the duck area is far more exciting for the ducks than what we had here ( is about the same size as our garden so has plenty of room, even when more ducks are bought in). Although very hard for us, knowing how well they are being looked after as well as how quickly they settled in, how homely the place is and the way our ducks went around as though they own the place was what I needed to be able to get in the van and leave. We miss them tremendously and I keep texting the owners asking how they are, asking loads of questions and telling them my worries but they don't mind, they are very patient and understanding.
Lastly, I asked what happens if for any reason they give up The Chuckery to which they have assured me they will contact me even if it's years from now and give me the option to take them back or rehome them myself.
So glad we took them there. Will post a short video later so you can see them on their first day there.
Thank you again with all my heart for your care and support

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I went to get oyster shell today and there were baby chicks everywhere...there were golden laces, olive eggers, Easter eggers, jersey Giants, welsauners, leghorns, and about 10 othef kinds. It was hard for me to remember how small they are. Such an amazing things. I was pretty adamant that there would be no more baby chicks because I really hate that integration.

Well anyways, here are the four I ended up getting because no one was there to talk me out of it. I ended up with 2 Easter eggers and 2 polish. I was really checking out the jersey Giants..

I got absolutely no will power or self control when it comes to animals of kids. I got to work on that, I really do, but seriously how can you pass on little tiny helpless baby chicks?

The older ones are interested in the little chirps. I put them right next to them in a big bird cage.

I am hoping this group are as friendly and confident as the first group. The second set are still not super friendly, well the light brahmas anyway. The faverolle and Easter egger are pretty friendly.

I think Prince will be staying in that corner a lot.

Can everyone pray they are all girls? I am so nervous about that with my luck.

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Beautiful! Precious babies

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Well add a cinnamon, jersey giant, sapphire gem and an Oliver egger to the list. I've gone mad I say.

If the polish get picked on I can put them and a couple others in with the other rooster(Duke) my older ones just made a year.

I am never going back to that store. I'm ordering all chicken feed online from March to JUNE--starting next year.

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Such beauties and all so cute!