4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[cochins1088]

With the recent talk of bio security, I have a question for you all. I have been looking for a new coop for a while now and I found the perfect one on craigslist. It's an 8 by 8 foot coop with a 10 by 20 foot run. The key is that you have to take the chickens with it, there are 12 hens and 2 roosters. I don't mind some more chickens, but what questions should I ask? Are there certain measures I should take if I do decide to purchase this coop? Any hidden diseases you would recommend testing for?

If I would have found the coop yesterday, I wouldn't question any of this stuff but reading what you guys had to say makes me a bit worried and I can't afford to build a coop from scratch right now. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[chicken fever]

Try TSC, that's where I got mine before

It's been fun reading today... I need to get some of this equine fresh.... wonder where they'd sell it in AZ?

 

[Lacy Blues]

With the recent talk of bio security, I have a question for you all. I have been looking for a new coop for a while now and I found the perfect one on craigslist. It's an 8 by 8 foot coop with a 10 by 20 foot run. The key is that you have to take the chickens with it, there are 12 hens and 2 roosters. I don't mind some more chickens, but what questions should I ask? Are there certain measures I should take if I do decide to purchase this coop? Any hidden diseases you would recommend testing for?

If I would have found the coop yesterday, I wouldn't question any of this stuff but reading what you guys had to say makes me a bit worried and I can't afford to build a coop from scratch right now. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

This is by no means all you should do but the first thing that comes to mind is to find out where they got them and how old they are? If it's from a reputable breeder/hatchery, they should be NPIP. Have they brought in any birds other than the original purchase? Are these the only birds which have lived in this coop?

I'm sure there are more questions to ask and hopefully someone else will chime in here pretty soon.

Oh, go in the coop and check out the droppings. You should know what normal, healthy droppings look like. You might catch him off guard too if you ask him right out, "Have they ever been sick?" Also, while you're there checking out the coop, take a close look at each bird. Look at their nostrils (clean?) look at their eyes (clear?) how about their color (nice and red?) feather condition (depending on their age, they're either molting or should be finished with it... feathers should be in good condition and clean) look at the feathers under the vent (clean?) If its cold out, is anybody standing around hunchy? Listen carefully... can you hear them breathing? Everything sound normal? If they're chattering, whistle quietly and they'll be quiet in order to listen to you. Then you might be able to hear any breathing that is not correct. If you have healthy birds, you know what your coop smells like (you should pay attention to this every day when you go to feed). Does this coop smell the same?

 

[bnewns]

It's supposed to noon time on the 4th... Sorry to burst your bubble. I'm putting in 4 duck eggs. First time with ducks. I'm hoping I have enough room for everything got some more eggs in today. I think my bators are going to be very full.

 

[Bettacreek]

What zone are we going by? I'm Eastern standard time. Are we going by Central or Pacific or Eastern?

As for eggs, my ladies surprised me. G had the window open and that dang-blasted rooster has been crowing for the past half an hour. I decided to go down and chuck a few pieces of corn cob at him to try to get him to stop (to no avail, I might add, he's still out there blaring his mouth), but I caught one of the duck hens on the nest. Lo and behold, there were two eggs in there. I had just collected two yesterday, so I was expecting 0 eggs today! I've been getting an average of 7 per week, and the most I get is two, and then they usually skip the next day. So, with finding two eggs, two days in a row, I can only hope that this is a sign of them getting their cycles up to par (or maybe more hens are laying?) There are five hens and the first two eggs showed up one day about two and a half weeks ago.

 

[Bettacreek]

This is by no means all you should do but the first thing that comes to mind is to find out where they got them and how old they are? If it's from a reputable breeder/hatchery, they should be NPIP. Have they brought in any birds other than the original purchase? Are these the only birds which have lived in this coop?

I'm sure there are more questions to ask and hopefully someone else will chime in here pretty soon.

Oh, go in the coop and check out the droppings. You should know what normal, healthy droppings look like. You might catch him off guard too if you ask him right out, "Have they ever been sick?" Also, while you're there checking out the coop, take a close look at each bird. Look at their nostrils (clean?) look at their eyes (clear?) how about their color (nice and red?) feather condition (depending on their age, they're either molting or should be finished with it... feathers should be in good condition and clean) look at the feathers under the vent (clean?) If its cold out, is anybody standing around hunchy? Listen carefully... can you hear them breathing? Everything sound normal? If they're chattering, whistle quietly and they'll be quiet in order to listen to you. Then you might be able to hear any breathing that is not correct. If you have healthy birds, you know what your coop smells like (you should pay attention to this every day when you go to feed). Does this coop smell the same?

Also check the feet. I do a lot of auction watching, and I see a lot of birds come in with those leg mites. Their feet should look nice and kempt, not revolting. When I purchase from auction, I look at EVERY SINGLE BIRD, if one looks like it's not healthy, I toss my buyer's tag in the garbage and scout the flea market for junk instead. And, when visiting another flock, or an auction especially, when you get home, IMMEDIATELY remove your clothes and toss them into the washer, and clorox the crap out of your shoes and wash yourself up. So far, this has worked well for me. We're also fortunate enough that a government group (I forget what group they're with) comes and does testing on the birds at auction. Of course, they do a random sample, not every single bird, so that's only a partial precaution.

I like the feet of a bird not just looking for illness, but it can also help you guess how they were kept if they're auction birds. If their claws are ugly looking, then they haven't been scratching much. I only choose stock that has nicely "manicured" toenails. Of course, my ducks toenails always look like trash, but I do go through the flock once in awhile to clip anything that's out of control (duck toenails, turkey beaks if they're too sharp and long, etc). But, if you see long toenails on a bird, then you know that they haven't been kept up with.

 

[BHep]

What zone are we going by? I'm Eastern standard time. Are we going by Central or Pacific or Eastern?

Everyone uses their own time zone.

 

[midwest]

Quote:
Was looking for the whole assembly not just the wafer. I have found them for about $20 and up. In the long run we will need three of them. With some people upgrading to the electronic ones was thinking maybe we could end up spending like $30 instead of $60 something. Thank you though

 

[midwest]

This locating eggs has turned out to be a lot harder than we thought. Not sure what we'll have if any at this point. Have some on the way but looks like they wont be shipped until the 11th Which also limits how many more we can fit in the incubator. Even the CL ads for eggs have really dried up. So much for things being easy.

 

[Lesalynn]

This locating eggs has turned out to be a lot harder than we thought. Not sure what we'll have if any at this point. Have some on the way but looks like they wont be shipped until the 11th Which also limits how many more we can fit in the incubator. Even the CL ads for eggs have really dried up. So much for things being easy.

Any particular kind you looking for?