Anyone from Fernley Nevada???

[Rural Chic]

I read allot from people all over the country and many in Nevada (Reno or Las Vegas) but haven't found anyone from Fernley. Could use a friend close by to swap tales with and maybe a chick or two...

 

[Rural Chic]

In case anyone reads this...
This weekend my son and I are planning to paint our shed/converted coop inside and out if time permits. The babies will all have to move into the garage for the night (Rabbits, goslings and chicks) I will try to remember to take and post pics of the before and after. I decided to paint on the front door...
Welcome to: The Rabbitat, Chicken Roost!

 

[Rural Chic]

I guess there is no one in Fernley Nevada on this site so I'm all alone... Well my little goslings and 2 day old baby chicks are doing great. The chicks are eating well and I am trying really hard not to play with them. The goslings are an entirely different matter.
When I moved them to their own tote last evening one of the little darlings snuggled into my hand as I was transporting it like 3 feet or so. After I placed it in with it's room mate it started to cry loud... I thought maybe it thought it was along so I moved it closer to the other, nope that wasn't it at all. That one wanted my attention and was determined to get it. After I got everyone settled down with food and water and heat lamps I sat next to the gosling tote and placed my hand in the box and lightly stroked the down on the darker colored baby. (This is the one who really wants me to hold it or touch it or anything just to have me near.)
I guess this is what they call imprinting but wow that was fast.
This morning they greeted me for their breakfast and again when I got home from work this afternoon. I set up a small bowl for them to have their first dip in and gave them some grass clippings. They had a blast hopping in and out of the water, sticking their heads under and trying to catch the grass floating around them.
After about 10 - 15 min I took the water away and dried them off well. They settled down and went to sleep like 2 little children after going swimming. They didn't even notice that I went back into the house.
I already love them dearly. (Never thought I'd day i love a goose, but they steal your heart quickly don't they.)
Next week i am going to try and play with the baby chicks and see if I can get them to at least like me.
Well tomorrow is a big day what with painting the shed so it will officially be our Rabbitat / Chicken Coop.
Good night.

 

[Rural Chic]

Still the only one on here from Fernley, I'm staying hopeful though... So this is what we did this weekend (my 15 yr old son and I):
I mentioned that we were converting our small shed into a chicken coop / rabbit house well we painted the inside and outside this weekend and just had a blast. My son was covered with paint before we were done.
Here are some pics, one before the rest after:

I really love how it looks and can't wait to get my babies back in there and start work on the outside run.

 

[Rural Chic]

Well we have finished (for now) the inside of the coop. It looks good too.
The rabbits are on the left, the goslings in the larger cage in the rear, the chicks in the red tote and the older hens (not too much older) running around lose. We raised the roosting bar a bit higher than were it was before since they are getting older. The walls are a light sky blue and the floor is covered with linoleum for ease in cleaning.
My son and I had a blast painting it everything.

He did a really good job to with the red paint, although he did have allot on him too before he was done. I got to do all the white trim, around the window, door, and roof. We make a good team! Great Job Son!

 

[Rural Chic]

Last night the temps dipped to 30 degrees or so and I was a bit worried about my little chicks. The older ones would be OK since they have their grown up feathers but the little less than 1 week old I wasn't too sure about but they were fine too.
Everyone was hungry last evening too. I am not sure if i should give greens to my baby chicks but everyone else has been getting them and they do receive grit in with their feed so I thought I would try it... They went nuts! You would have thought I just gave them their most favorite food in the world.

I couldn't help but laugh at them.
The older chicks have figured out that they REALLY like Scratch. They normally run from me but last evening, after tossing a handful each evening to them, I decided last evening to see if they would eat from my hand so I grabbed a handful and lowered it in front of them. They all gathered around waiting for me to toss it on the ground. When I didn't they just stood there and you could almost see them looking at each other just enough to say, " We all want it so who is going to take the first bite to see if it is safe? Come on someone step forward." This went on for a few seconds before the largest of them came forward and took the first bite, then they all swarmed my hand, luckily there are only 6 so far. After I got done feeding and watering everyone the largest Chicken (Prophetess or as I call her Tess for short - my son named her) came right up to my leg (never done that before) so I reached down and she let me pet her. One hand on her chest and one gliding along her back. I did put a bit more scratch down after that kind of like a Thank you for letting me pet you.
My son doesn't like to touch them or get his hands too close because they peck his hands constantly. When we moved them back into their coop he was going to take them out of their cage and place them on the floor and as soon as he reached in they pecked him, hard enough to break the skin too. I had to move them and they only squawked at me a bit, maybe from the cold hands who knows.

 

[Rural Chic]

My baby chicks and goslings are coming up on 2 weeks and they are doing well. I don't know that the temps in the newly revised coop stays between 80-90 degrees where the heat lamps are positioned over their makeshift brooder boxes but they are all still alive and getting bigger. I think I may need to divide the chicks into 2 boxes soon so they have enough room to move as they are getting larger and 14 chicks in one large tote to just not enough room once they get larger.
My goslings are much larger too, wow they grow fast. You can really see the growth with them. I have taken them into the house every couple of evenings and let them swim in the bath tub. The all yellow one as soon as it hits the water dives under 4-8 times right away. It is so cute to watch. Of course it then cant keep its front on top of the water. The yellow and tan one does not dive at all but does love being in the water wadding around and watching the other dive under repeatedly. I think I need to make a trip to the feed store and see if they have a watering dish I can use that will dispense more water then what they are getting now. They are going through more then their currant bowl will hold, but I only have something for when they are grown not for now. I don't want them to swim in their dish unsupervised as the outside temps are way cooler and they don't need to get sick. (They still have all down and no real feathers.)
My cats find it amusing to watch the goslings swimming and really want to play with them but alas they are in water and that is just taboo for my cats. Since they have all been de-clawed (all indoor cats) it is fun to watch then pat the goslings on the head when they swim a bit close to the side of the tub. The goslings don't seem to object at all, to them the cats are just other friends giving them a pat. I don't think they realize yet that they are supposed to be enemy's. (No worries the goslings are never unsupervised when in the house as my cats will think they are live play toys.)
This next weekend I will go and purchase the wood and fencing needed to build the chicken run around the side and rear of our coop.Then I can finally cut a door into the side facing the fence so the 6 larger birds can go out in the daytime to play, forage etc.
The week after we get that done I will begin work on the goose enclosure. They are going on the side of our house between the house and fence. It is long enough but it would be nice if it were wider but alas that is not the case, but since I only have 2 geese it will be fine. I want to put a swimming pond on the far end with a drain spout installed facing the front yard fence so when I need to drain the tub I can water the front yard too. I have lots of ideas in my head on how to set it all up but with money so tight right now it will be a problem getting it to look like anything I can envision. All the renovations so far have gone on my Lowe's credit card and I'm not too happy about that as I haven't paid off the previous purchases for the home yet.
For this winter the geese will have to settle on a small tub or baby pool if I can find one and in the spring we can work on something more permanent.
Well that is my currant up to date stuff.

If there is anyone from Fernley Nevada who would like to post here, Please feel free and I am looking for others in my area.

 

[Rural Chic]

I must be the only crazy person in Fernley Nevada who owns Chickens who also is on this site. That or they just don't want to talk to me...

No worries though I have enough to talk about without anyone else chiming in I guess.
So this weekend my son and I along with a friend are going to go get some lumber to construct a run around the side of the coop so I can finally let the older girls out to play. The baby chicks are getting bigger and I think I am going to try and build something that they can run under to hide from the older girls but still be free to run around the coop and not be totally confined to the tote they are in now since they are getting bigger... They are now 2 weeks old. I know most people say not to incorporate them in with the older ones until they are older and larger but they have been in the coop with the older ones the whole time only in a tote with no lid. The older girls roost along the edge on top so they are very familiar with the babies. I just don't want them to fly out accidentally and then can't get back in. I'll have to think this through in my head for a bit and see what I can come up with.
In the mean time we will get the run built and then work on the run for the geese and ducks when they get here and are old enough to move outside. I also need to build a little house for them inside their enclosure and later work on a pond or pool or something for water.
I also need to do a bit of research to see what plants to put in their enclosure that they wont eat... and won't be poisonous to them (geese or ducks). I'm thinking of getting some Nevada hardy plants that don't grow too large that chickens won't mess with too much to go into their run too. I think I will have some problems getting a bit of grass to grow along the back side of the run too as they may eat the seeds. That will have to take place in the spring though as winter is almost here. Sod won't work either with the netting along the bottom. I guess I could build a raised frame with sturdy fencing along the top so the chickens can walk across but can't totally destroy the new shoots. This way I can place it over the grass again if they get a bit to rambunctious and bald spots become visible. Then I can reseed and the taller shoots can come through the top... Or maybe I'll just leave it in place over the grass area... We'll see how it turns out. I do have some tree branches that I want to secure inside and out for them to roost on. The ones outside will be along the back side where the grass will be so they can eat the grass or roost on a limb.
Yup got it all worked out in my head now I just need to make it reality. My mother says those chickens better lay some golden eggs with all the money I am putting into them.

I got it...

From: The Garden Coop - A wonderful Idea... Thank you for sharing.

 

[Rural Chic]

Today my son and I and a close friend went to Lowe's (a bit later in the day) and purchased some lumber and chicken fencing material. Our friend and his family needed to leave early so my son and I did some of the beginning work on the frame for the structure.
Cement was dumped in the hole the guys previously dug (a bit too large but I fixed that) and the main support post (4 x 4 x 8) was placed and the rest of the hole was covered with more dirt and packed tight. This we let sit while we ran to Walmart for some forgotten groceries and picked up dinner.
After dinner my son and I started measuring, cutting and building the wood structure of the chicken run.
Now you have to remember we have never done anything like this before but I know how I want it to look and I have drawn it out on paper so we are going by my drawing as much as possible. So far it looks great. We did have to stop as it was getting late and we didn't want to disturb the neighbors anymore than necessary. Tomorrow is Sunday - a day of rest and reflection, not to mention church - so there will be no work, but come Monday after work we will be sure to get back to the task at hand. I do need to pick up some longer screws though. The guys picked up 2" screws to use on 2 x 4 boards... They should have been 2 1/2" screws at the least. That is what I get for letting guys pick up hardware for me!

Sorry I don't have any picks yet as it got dark too soon and the picks would have been terrible, I'll try to remember to make some tomorrow and each day as we move forward on our project.

 

[trahilaloid]

i live in fernley your chicken coop looks nice mines mostly recycled wood