California - Northern

[chiqita]

Pagan, how is the baby with the wonky legs? did he make it?

 

[lawatt]

Thanks, Deb! Anyone else???? We are headed out the door to the farm. George is jingling the keys! We don't mind driving a ways if it means saving a bundle!

my friend Henry, who contributed all the labor to build my coop, somehow found a huge unopened roll of hardware cloth for sale on craigslist, at a big discount -- but that doesn't help much if you're going shopping today!

last night i decided to integrate my two Amelia pullets (from Ron, thanks again!) into the flock, as i will be out of town much of next week & didn't want to ask my neighbor to have to deal with constantly re-filling their food and water, which they kept knocking over -- so they spent the night in the henhouse with everyone, and this morning am letting everyone free-range at will (although it's quite misty, so the chickens are getting very damp if they spend much time outside), which seems to be helping to keep the squabbles down -- there's just one CL, the one with a crest, that seems crazily aggressive toward them, but she's been in a mean mood lately (she tried biting my rainboots the other day), hoping she'll get over it.

and i'm thinking of trying some araucana eggs for my second broody (breeder is in vacaville, not too far of a drive), although they apparently may be having some fertility issues. i just seem to be a sucker for colored eggs.

edit: just spoke to Shannon, who has the araucanas, and she works in petaluma, so is going to bring a dozen eggs to work with her on monday. dilemma solved!

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Me: Honey let's get a few chicks from the feedstore for fresh eggs.
H : Sure, I'll build a coop
8 weeks later
Me: I NEED show chickens (son showed poultry in 4H 20 years ago), I forgot how much I enjoyed having them.
H: Sure, I'll build a coop

Two years later, thirty-five coops, 300+ chickens, countless chicks, four incubators with a combined capacity of around 500 eggs..................

Heed the warnings!!!!!


Just added another breed (or two) last night. And we're not counting the ducks, geese, quail, turkeys, sheep, alpaca, llamas, dogs........................I need a government subsidy for the feedstore.

Hmmmmm, now to find a housesitter so we can take a vacation, LOL

lol now who would force 2 more breeds on you when you are saying I dont need anymore

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/no_mite_strips.html

Use a couple per coop.

 

[debs_flock]

lol now who would force 2 more breeds on you when you are saying I dont need anymore

Yup, my arm was really twisted!

 

[OR4-hmom]

My hatch is done. Ended up with 13 of the 19 that went into lockdown. 2 pipped but quit, the other 4 looked like they drowned in the shell. I got 5 splash this time!!! To soon to guess gender but everyone looks good and strong.

Incubators washed out, waiting for some sunshine to finish it off. May be re-loading next week.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote: I have always used wood ash in my dusting holes - I think the slightly acidic nature deters the mites too. There was also the suggestion of using Nu-cote on them - the sulfur drives away the mites/lice. Somebody else suggested putting the sulfur blocks in the coop - same reason - mites and lice hate sulfur.

 

[chiqita]

Ty for the tips! I will try them both. MY big girls dust incessantly, so they are always good, but the Little's and the silkies do it infrequently little rats.

 

[SilkieRose]

I have both Bobwhite and Coturnix. The Cots you have to push aside with your hand when you reach in their cage, so I'm sure they could be tamed quite easily. I find my Bobwhites to be NUTS. I've had them for ages and they still go into a panic when you come near them.

Cots - incubate in 15-16 days, Bobs - incubate in 24-25 days
Cots - lay/mature at 6 weeks, Bobs - lay/mature at 5 mos
Cots - make a screeching sound, Bobs - lovely "bobwhite" call
Cots - lots of colors, Bobs - beautiful black/white/brown pattern
Cots - beautiful speckled eggs, Bobs - tiny white eggs

I keep several trios of bobwhites because I like their looks, call and tiny white eggs. But the rest of my quail rack is full of coturnix for their many redeeming qualities. I just set 107 coturnix eggs on Thursday.................in two weeks, I should have quail available, LOL

Hi Deb!! I'm on day 8 with my 33 little Coturnix eggs Mostly Jumbos, but I have others that I'm not sure if they are Cinnamon or Tibetan. I keep getting different answers for lockdown. On the 14th day? I'm also looking for an incubator with a turner for quail mostly, but maybe some chicks here & there. What would you recommend? I just love these little birdies. When the boys crow it makes me so happy!! It's so easy to sex the coturnix, too!!! So awesome. Do the Bobs do ok with the Coturnix?

 

[SilkieRose]

and so so true

LOL!!!! I don't even want to know how many I have now since joining this site!! AAAHHAA!!!! And now my quail!!! I told my husband I wouldn't get anymore chickens, but my last hatch was only 2 out of 5.....sooooooo they were lonely

so I just HAD to get them 2 Black Australorps about their size... it just so happens that I didn't have any BA's yet

. My chicken math comes to me before bed. I just tell my husband that nobody can be lonely, we need new bloodlines & we have to have different generations of layers. I tell him it's better than doing drugs!! LOL It's my therapy. As long as he gets his egg sandwiches he's happy