Arizona Chickens

[tofuranch]

Quote:
I do the chores so it might take a long time, except that I needed to use the DH truck....

This is hysterical. You guys are great.

I bet that he will find out tonight.....unless the cow has the baby..trust me---this is to good to be made up---all is real and going on in my little piece of the world

 

[LarryPQ]

Quote:
K- I will let you know what they deicide. The pullet will be a pet for the younger sister, but the older sis does 4H, and is devestated---the blue silkie was going to be her main show bird. It was the sibling to the late Baroness Von Poofenstien, and a good canidate for showing. (Baroness was prettier, but I am biased)

 

[tofuranch]

Quote:
K- I will let you know what they deicide. The pullet will be a pet for the younger sister, but the older sis does 4H, and is devestated---the blue silkie was going to be her main show bird. It was the sibling to the late Baroness Von Poofenstien, and a good canidate for showing. (Baroness was prettier, but I am biased)

I don't have any silkies extra they are the 9 yr olds...these 2 birds that I have extra and really sweet, I just don't have a use for them.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Hello Arizona!

Just a reminder that there are still lots of towns and cities right here in Arizona up for grabs in the BYC Chicken L.O.R.E. Project!

This is a massive undertaking, and everyone is encouraged to participate! Your knowledge of Chicken L.O.R.E. will earn you GFM Scratch, which are good towards new GFM Memberships, Membership extensions, or Membership gifts.

Remember - you don't have to select a city in Arizona - cruise the selection list and choose any city still available!

Get started now! Click on the Chicken L.O.R.E. link above for all the details, and remember your Project Managers are here to help in any way we can.

Good Luck, and Thanx for Joining In!

 

[dofnup]

OK guys, here comes a n00b question ... not my first and probably not my last

Anytime I go check on the chickens, they are pretty chill with me just standing there ... but as soon as I move a hand towards them, even if I'm only reaching for the waterer or feeder, it's like they've just spotted Godzilla. They start squawking and flapping and trying desperately to get out of the opposite end of the brooder, crawling all over each other in their panic and hysteria.

It usually goes like this: the Silkies get REALLY hysterical, which scares the Marans, then eventually everyone is cluckin' crazy. Usually, though, the Red and the EE's aren't as scared, and I can even pick them up and hold them with no incident. Every time I try to grab a Silkie the racket makes my dog start whining because she thinks I'm in there MURRRRRDERING the poor chickies.

Soooo ... is this:

a) normal
b) an indication that I am bugging them too much
c) an indication that I am bugging them too little
d) other??

I am assuming this is normal since they are babies, and will slowly but surely get used to us? But I just wanted to throw it out there juuuuust in case. The last time I had chicks, I was in junior high, and let's just say that was a while ago, and my memory tends to get fuzzy

 

[Mahonri]

It's normal, they have to get used to your hand giving them FOOD... then they'll run to you.

I was giving mine bread as a treat by the time they were four weeks and that sealed the deal. Even tonight when I packed up my last roo to rehome, I just walked up, reached down and grabbed it.... or my son did... and some were in a corner... :0)

Rehomed to Mesa...

1 13 month old Golden Cuckoo Maran roo, he was big and beautiful, but not in my breeding program anymore.
1 Giant Partridge Cochin X Salmon Faverolle roo. He really looked funny... like a dinosaur!
3 Pure Bred Wheaten Ameraucana roos..
4 EE roos... two that looked almost like Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas, but the color wasn't right.
2 BWA X Leghorn roos
4 FBCM roos. one was clean legged, two had webbed feet and the other might have been a pullet but didn't look right.
1 Birchen EE that laid large chalky green eggs 2-3 times a week.

I have part of my back yard back!! The sprinkler is on it right now and it's soaking up the water.... and hopefully seeping bits of chicken poop back into the soil.

What my wife has yet to find out is that I have four dozen eggs coming the last week of this month to hatch out around the 25th... 2nd anniversary date of my first chickens from McMurray arriving.

I'll add another 16 of my own eggs to the two bators and we'll see how I do. It will be a TOTAL W/BW Ameraucana hatch of 64 to 65 eggs... I hope.

If I can get some awesome Blue Wheaten pullets, then I'll start selling some of my pretty wheaten hens. Guess we'll see what happens. I'm hoping for a Blue Wheaten Roo out of Melissa's eggs because her Ameraucanas are BIG. Some breeders have smaller almost bantam size Ameraucanas and I really don't want those. I may even sell a couple that I hatched out in January because they are on the small side. I'll have to see how egg color is first and may just keep breeding them to larger sized roos.

I'm down to 34 chickens now... not legal I know, but I'll be selling some of my layers in the coop once the January hatch starts laying.

Then I'll wait until December 11th to put more eggs in the bator for the 2nd Annual Mahonri's New Year's Hatch.

 

[cluckin_crazy]

Quote:
Answer: A

P.S. Good use of "cluckin' crazy"

Perhaps I'm biased?

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
I remember thinking this was a "cluckin' crazy" way for the chickens to behave since we had hand raised them and held them for hours a day since they were born. But they did behave that way from the time we put them in the coop - about 6 weeks of age - until they were like 5 months old. Then they finally calmed down and continued to do so over the next year. We even used meal worms to entice them, and they LOVED them, but they were still jumpy! The extra skiddish ones really rile the others up, too.

Stopped at the Western Ranchman today. They have one of those waterers that I have for those that have asked me about them. I asked where they get them and she said they get them from C & G or some place like that in California.

The Feed Barn has little chicks with funny hats!! Appenzeller Spitzhaubens!! Very funny little guys.

Laree, she had a gorgeous hen that I started to take a picture of for you and then she said it wasn't for sale. It is a show chicken. A red shouldered something-or-other... yokahama, that's it.. Boy was she pretty. Looked just like the hen at the bottom of this page http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Phoen/BRKYoko.html

Mahonri - congrats on finally rehoming all those roosters! What a relief!

Tofu - good luck on that turkey hiding thing...

ADC - can't wait to hear how the TJ's eggs go! I have always wanted to try that. There is a TJ's chicks thread you must join now. You are part of a new group, or have you done this before? Seems like I saw you on that thread already... hmm...

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
I remember thinking this was a "cluckin' crazy" way for the chickens to behave since we had hand raised them and held them for hours a day since they were born. But they did behave that way from the time we put them in the coop - about 6 weeks of age - until they were like 5 months old. Then they finally calmed down and continued to do so over the next year. We even used meal worms to entice them, and they LOVED them, but they were still jumpy! The extra skiddish ones really rile the others up, too.

Stopped at the Western Ranchman today. They have one of those waterers that I have for those that have asked me about them. I asked where they get them and she said they get them from C & G or some place like that in California.

The Feed Barn has little chicks with funny hats!! Appenzeller Spitzhaubens!! Very funny little guys.

Laree, she had a gorgeous hen that I started to take a picture of for you and then she said it wasn't for sale. It is a show chicken. A red shouldered something-or-other... yokahama, that's it.. Boy was she pretty. Looked just like the hen at the bottom of this page http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Phoen/BRKYoko.html

Mahonri - congrats on finally rehoming all those roosters! What a relief!

Tofu - good luck on that turkey hiding thing...

ADC - can't wait to hear how the TJ's eggs go! I have always wanted to try that. There is a TJ's chicks thread you must join now. You are part of a new group, or have you done this before? Seems like I saw you on that thread already... hmm...

Yes, I did post on that thread, (before I knew I was going to try it myself so soon). I think I will wait a couple more days to make sure I have any starters before posting there - if I do get some veins, I'll post. I just figured there would be no reason to if my eggs are too old and don't even get going. They were 10 days old when I bought them and almost 11 days when I started incubating them - had to get them down to room temperature first.

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
Oh, good, I am not crazy!

Yes, good idea to wait until they are actually growing.