California - Northern

[tommysgirl]

So sorry about people's predator issues! We live on an Osprey path to the lake but it is the red tails that are the real threat. they come for the Pea chicks and would stay for the chickens but the only free rangers now are too big for them.

sounds good! i took a couple of photos, they aren't fantastic, due to the enclosure, but give you the idea?






will try taking some more later!

Those look like hatch mates to my little guy. Same blue and red and white. D@mn they were in the brooder together and I had to grab the boy

They are super pretty!

I would, but I probably won't have any fertile eggs, because I am not SUPPOSED to have any Roosters.......

A wise woman once said, "what you have and what you are supposed to have are often two different things" According to Happy Chooks you have at least one and he would make some awfully pretty speckled babies.

 

[Ali707]

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if that chick is 8 weeks old, it's a cockerel.

I use a bolt style, similar to this. I anchored it so one locks down and one locks up. So no critters can slide it, they have to lift and turn.


I have been told that if you use the county's trap and trap a skunk, they make you pay for the cost of the trap. (but they seem to charge more, like $350) I'm contemplating trapping the coons at my place too. Haven't had any more encounters with running them up a tree lately.


Sorry you are losing babies. Hawks are awful predators.

Hope your family stuff improves soon. Take care of yourself.

Really? Well that would stink because that means my boy/girl hatch ratio is plummeting..... lol. Here is a pic from Deann's website of a hen. I hope I didn't just break any rules although I am talking about her chickens and giving her credit for the pic?

Here is a picture of the door of my big coop, so you can see the bolts. We got them at Home Depot.

I should have bought stock in Home Depot.

 

[Ali707]

So sorry about people's predator issues! We live on an Osprey path to the lake but it is the red tails that are the real threat. they come for the Pea chicks and would stay for the chickens but the only free rangers now are too big for them.
Those look like hatch mates to my little guy. Same blue and red and white. D@mn they were in the brooder together and I had to grab the boy

They are super pretty!
A wise woman once said, "what you have and what you are supposed to have are often two different things" According to Happy Chooks you have at least one and he would make some awfully pretty speckled babies.

I have had my fair share of boys from this hatch. The more aggressive ones I have already rehomed. Some of the nicer ones are still with me. Although I don't know why I am hanging on to them to just keep feeding them. It is harder to let go of the nicer ones.

 

[juststruttin]

Could some of you give me a compare contrast of olandsk dwarf and the Swedish flower hen?

about 6 lbs.

 

[Grandmas Basket]

A wise woman once said, "what you have and what you are supposed to have are often two different things"

I am experiencing delusions the more attached I get to my raggedy little bantam Cochin Frizzle roo. Tango is super late in feathering and we are getting hooked on his personality, not his looks for sure! I just posted to the Bantam-Cochin and Frizzle Cochin forum to see if anyone can help identify which flavor his pattern is. Every week he goes without crowing is another week to watch his feather pattern develop. I have zero clue as to what he'll look like full grown. Perhaps he will never crow (dream on, huh)?

Here is a picture of the door of my big coop, so you can see the bolts. We got them at Home Depot.

Nice job protecting your flock! I cannot imagine a raccoon defeating your locks. I knew going in our city yard is regularly visited by ravenous raccoons. We have neighbors who leave cat food out and probably some who intentionally feed these critters It is not realistic to eliminate them completely. They are following their instincts. We designed what we hope is a predator proof space for our chickens. We put double latches on each access point to our coop and pen. I put 2 different types of latch on each door, the better to thwart enterprising critters. We used hardware cloth on the top, sides, and bottom of our small city run.. It took extra time and $$$, but it is satisfying that, to date, our chicks are intact. If we had more chickens this approach would not be economically feasible. (Actually, I will never get enough eggs from my 3 hens to have our investment make sense economically) I feel for each loss and appreciate every cautionary tale.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Ali - the body and tail look more pullet like, but that comb is pretty pronounced for an 8 week old chick. I don't see any cockerel coloring in the wings either. Maybe it is a pullet and she's just a fast developer.

I'm not familiar with the breed, but it looks as though the hens have pretty small combs.

 

[Grandmas Basket]

It was so nice meeting you. I'm happy to here you are enjoying your Chicks

I got your picture mail. I wasn't sure on the Cochins bantams yet. Lets give them a little more time... I will keep in touch.

Molly, Here's a link to my post today on the bantam Cochin thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-and-frizzle-cochin-bantams/310#post_11479724 As I recall, you had similar looking chicks at the time I picked up my 3 banties. Do you have any clue as to what my little guy is? He gets along great with our CL and NJ and the sole female banty. Many Thanks, Susan

 

[Grandmas Basket]

Changes in diets need to be life style based and sustainable. Well over 90% of those working towards losing weight gain it all back within 3 years.

Little changes are much better.

Edited to Add: I am going to convert a Three egg cake into a Blackberry wine cake this weekend. I will eat one slice of it and not feel bad at all.yeaGot to love the ongoing culinary exchanges on this forum! I'm enjoying all the diet/nutrition exchange today in particular..

Got to love the ongoing culinary exchanges on this forum! I find today's diet/nutrition topics particularly interesting. I agree that usually little changes are better. 7 years ago my husband was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Essentially we learned that the progressive iron anemia Jack experienced was totally reversible by eliminating gluten from his diet. I cooked mainly from scratch, but still it was a screeching departure to convert immediately to a gluten free kitchen! It took lots of effort at first to educate ourselves and to eliminate obvious gluten sources (wheat/rye/barley, and their grain derivatives). The tricky cross contamination component ( like oats, deep fried foods) and less obvious pitfalls (most soy sauce is wheat based as are some mustards) made grocery shopping and eating out quite time consuming. Fast forward to now and it is easier thanks in part to to GF options being trendy. There is a continuum of reactions to gluten as with many other food sensitivities. We are happy that now more people understand what GF means, although we always are on alert. LOL reading about your Blackberry wine cake conversion. I bake very little now. I could get into converting items to GF baked products, but the bottom line is we do not need the surplus calories. There are plenty of naturally GF sweets out there to satisfy our cravings. I have a few GF items in my arsenal to bake when the desire hits. The image of Blackberry wine cake and how good it will smell baking may well drive me to bake this weekend

 

[lawatt]

took some more chick update pictures -- in case of interest!



gold duckwing araucana boy, nearly 7 weeks old



he's SO pretty, but i'm not sure i'll keep either of the araucana boys, as it sounds like eggs from this breed are incredibly difficult to hatch



black-brested red araucana boy, who's developed much slower than his two siblings (i didn't get any photos of the silver duckwing girl)



one of the two birchen marans chicks, 4 weeks old today -- this is looking like a boy, the other a girl



one of the new SFH girls -- Ali, they are probably the same age as your chick, so maybe can compare comb etc?



and the other, who might have slightly more red in her plumage?



max jr. (CL/SFH cross)in front, who is almost 9 weeks and looking more and more like a girl! plus the two CL chicks, nearly 6 weeks -- Charlotte (reaching up) is getting a wee crest, and Harold (sitting) has incredibly bright comb/wattles already



two isbar/marans crosses on the right, blue isbar (looking like perhaps a boy?) in left foreground, harold in the back -- all nearly 6 weeks, but the isbar & isbar crosses seem to be developing their combs/wattles much more slowly than the CLs?



and last but not least, one of the campines, asleep.

 

[Flowers of Abba]

about 6 lbs.

Is that it? Everything else is comparable tempermentaly ?