Bay Area BYCers!

[JessicaJ]

@JessicaJ
, as long as you don't have nights that are cooler than 50 degrees and your babies are fully feathered, they should be just fine without a heat lamp.

Oh and     

Thank you Jeremy, we have had some crazy weather this year being so close to the delta but we are above 50 now. They are going to be so happy to leave the brooder box!

 

[GentFarmer]

Thanks for the welcome =) Debi- Are you providing a heat lamp at night for your chicks when they go outside? I am on the fence, its getting warmer and I would rather not.

Hi, neighbor! Welcome! I'm down in the South Bay, up in the Los Gatos hills area. The climate is very similar to yours. My chicks transitioned outside at 8 weeks, and they did just fine. I built a fairly substantial coop (as in big enough for me to go sit outside with them and have coffee in the morning and socialize. lol), and I did run my brooding lamp out to it. The evenings (even in April, when they moved outside) often dropped down into the low 40s, so I'd just turn it on when I went to sleep. Once they're fully feathered, they are more than fine outside. As warm as it's been the past few days, you won't need it much. Basically, it's just an "as needed" device for those particularly cold nights. If it helps, just remember that you don't need anything fancy. All you have to do is plug it in and hang it up. You can set it up if/when you need it on relatively short notice.

 

[PetRock]

Thanks for the welcome =) Debi- Are you providing a heat lamp at night for your chicks when they go outside? I am on the fence, its getting warmer and I would rather not.

Right now the ones that are almost 5 weeks are back in the brooder inside at night without heat. I will be cleaning out the outdoor brooder today and then they will be outside without heat. It is a secure area underneath our main coop. It has a solid wall on the back and solid on the front except for the door. On the other two sides, I have removable panels on the outside that I can take off during the day and put back at night to minimize draft plus keep warmth in.

 

[InWrongCentury]

Hello everyone! We are in Alameda, and hoping to get our chicks in the next month or so. I'm thinking five hens (I'm already a victim of the "chicken math" phenomenon since I started out thinking I'd get only 3...) and once I get plans and materials, my husband, father-in-law, and I will get working on the coop/run.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot from this community!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hello everyone! We are in Alameda, and hoping to get our chicks in the next month or so. I'm thinking five hens (I'm already a victim of the "chicken math" phenomenon since I started out thinking I'd get only 3...) and once I get plans and materials, my husband, father-in-law, and I will get working on the coop/run.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot from this community!

Welcome! Have you decided on breeds yet? Chicken math goes exponential when you start looking at cool breeds!

 

[InWrongCentury]

Oh yes! Between the forums here, Storey's guide, and the wide world of Internet (in that order), I am thinking at least 2 Easter Eggers (Ameraucanas if I can get them), and the other 3 being each a different breed (some combination of Welsumer, RIR, Campine, California Gray, or Australorp). I'm looking for good layers, not too flighty, and not super broody. These ladies will be pets who happen to provide us with yummy eggs. My husband just wants them to be nice.

However, since I'm thinking of getting them from a feed store, I'm trying not to get *too* attached to the perfect mix since I'm sure it will depend on how close the deliveries match the posted schedule and what they have in stock, etc. ...Right?

 

[Wishing4Wings]

InWrongCentury, I started out with 10 feed store chicks, although one EE turned out to be a cockerel. They've been good layers and relatively trouble free. Love the Australorp. There are other options for getting pullets besides store chicks. You are within a couple of hours of breeders of all types and you might be able to get some older pullets (breeding program culls) later this spring or summer. If you want to raise them from chicks, hatchery birds are good because they come sexed. It is sometimes a bit more work to integrate older birds together, but it can be done.

Also, to get the breeds you want at the same time, you can source out more than one feed store. Healthy chicks are pretty easy to integrate if they are within 2 weeks of age. If you are interested in rarer breeds, like the Campines and good CA grays, there are folks on the California - Northern thread that might be able to help you. It's a very active thread and moves quickly, but the people are very nice and helpful.

I drove up to Auburn to get two Ameraucana pullets from Chickee, and this year I got 2 bantam Cochins and a Silkie from Chooklet in Orinda.
Half sisters

very pretty eggs from the Ameraucanas

bantam Cochins are soooo sweet

Silkie wants to have her own babies



I really like your avatar pic. Reminds me of our cat Sidney, that we lost a couple of years ago. I'll bet yours has blue eyes!

This is Ming, our latest addition. I can't stay away from the siamese crosses!


And as far as feeling like you're in the wrong century, I'm humming the same tune!

 

[sewandgrow]

Hello everyone! We are in Alameda, and hoping to get our chicks in the next month or so. I'm thinking five hens (I'm already a victim of the "chicken math" phenomenon since I started out thinking I'd get only 3...) and once I get plans and materials, my husband, father-in-law, and I will get working on the coop/run.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot from this community!

We moved here from Alameda in 1976. We spent our first couple of married years on Shoreline in a huge apartment complex. My husband was born in East Oakland. Alameda was a lovely old town
& my husband fell in love with the old Victorian hoses there when he was a kid. He would ride his bicycle across the 29th or was it 23rd St. bridge. It's been a very long time.
Nothing wrong with feed store birds if you want nice egg laying chickens. The Ameraucanas you get from them will probably be EEs. There are breeders of the breeds you want all around California & yes the Northern California thread is a good place to find them. I will be getting California Grays myself if I get in gear & get ahold of the breeder. We live in Turlock now & are having a "Chicken Party"on May 18th here. If you are to the drive you are welcomed.

 

[GentFarmer]

Oh yes! Between the forums here, Storey's guide, and the wide world of Internet (in that order), I am thinking at least 2 Easter Eggers (Ameraucanas if I can get them), and the other 3 being each a different breed (some combination of Welsumer, RIR, Campine, California Gray, or Australorp). I'm looking for good layers, not too flighty, and not super broody. These ladies will be pets who happen to provide us with yummy eggs. My husband just wants them to be nice.

However, since I'm thinking of getting them from a feed store, I'm trying not to get *too* attached to the perfect mix since I'm sure it will depend on how close the deliveries match the posted schedule and what they have in stock, etc. ...Right?

Which feed store are you thinking about? I have hens right now from Half Moon Bay, Los Gatos (where I live), and San Jose. There are some great stores to visit (and it's an excuse to travel around the Bay Area finding resources and community!). If you include Mountain Feed in Ben Lomond, then you are just about guaranteed to find the breeds you want.

Since you're also looking for pets as well as production, you might also consider personality. I love all my hens, but as pets, I'd say my Buff Orpingtons (think Golden Retrievers in chicken bodies) and Light Brahmas are hands down my favorite. They also enjoy the cooler micro climates of the Bay Area.

No matter what you choose, you're guaranteed to have fun. And if you really want something with personality and "pet-iveness," check out ducks! ;-)

 

[InWrongCentury]

Thanks everyone for all of your tips and making me feel so very welcome!

I was thinking of going to Concord Feed & Fuel, and maybe Half Moon Bay Feed & Fuel. Concord F&F was the only one I've found so far that has a listing of their expected deliveries, and as the consummate planner, I was trying to source the chickies from somewhere where I could get them all within a week of each other. It sounds like I might have a bigger window than that, more like 2 weeks? Are there better feed stores to look at? Driving to Ben Lomond is certainly possible! (I went to college at UCSC - my favorite part was the mountains)

To be honest, I initially considered breeders, but I was a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of contacting so many different people to source chicks, hence looking to a feed store. However, once I get the hang of this, it sounds like adding to the flock as you go isn't out of the question or unheard of. How... dangerous!

And last but not least, Wishing4Wings: thank you for the compliment! Yes, he definitely has some of the bluest eyes I've seen on any cat! His name is Mushu:




His "brother" has the greenest eyes I have seen, too. His name is Lyon:


They are both goofs! And extremely cuddly - I got them as kittens from a feral colony and spent a lot of time socializing them. Now they are awesome "cat ambassadors."