California - Northern

[mendocinosunris]

Hi all, I'm in the East Bay (Livermore) and new to BYC and chickens. I'm so excited to see so many people here!

Hi, tank - Glad you're here!

 

[chiqita]

Hi all, I'm in the East Bay (Livermore) and new to BYC and chickens. I'm so excited to see so many people here!

Welcome! its a lively place for chickens on this thread, be prepared to get overwhelmed by how much some of these vets know!

 

[zooweemama]

Sad day. ( and DH bday too) A hawk got Sachi, one of my up and coming Silkie boys. I think he just couldn't see where to run. We have lots of trees and bushes and they usually just go under those if the hawks pop up ( or under the porch) but he was trying to hide under a tiny tree and didn't make it. The CD's keep the hawks out of the run around the house, but they don't work for the whole yard. I think the next step is to hand a few fro the trees.

I am thinking I may have to keep the silkies in the part of the yard that is completly covered. The fluffier the poof, the harder for them to see where to hide. Sachi was a lap chicken too, he used to like to sit on your feet when you walked around. Named after my niece.

And zoo, you may have to give your chickens light to get them to start laying in November. My girls were supposed to start end of October last year, and after it looked like nothing was going to happen, we put christmas lights in the coop. We got eggs right afterwards just in time for my birthday!

Thanks! I will keep an eye on them. If they do not lay much through the winter- does this extend their overall 'laying life' a little? I am not really trying to induce a heavy laying season. This first year I want to approach it somewhat naturally. I really want to get a feel for what it is like without intervention before I make any choices on intervening. I hope that makes sense. I'll feel more informed, I think. I got ducks and chickens for eggs so hopefully ONE of them will give us eggs this fall/winter or even both sporadically enough to prevent me from going to the store. I am still reading up on chickens and laying and breeding and trying to get all the info to soak in.

I am so so sorry you lost your little Sachi.

 

[zooweemama]

Hi all, I'm in the East Bay (Livermore) and new to BYC and chickens. I'm so excited to see so many people here!

Welcome welcome!

 

[ronott1]

Sad day. ( and DH bday too) A hawk got Sachi, one of my up and coming Silkie boys. I think he just couldn't see where to run. We have lots of trees and bushes and they usually just go under those if the hawks pop up ( or under the porch) but he was trying to hide under a tiny tree and didn't make it. The CD's keep the hawks out of the run around the house, but they don't work for the whole yard. I think the next step is to hand a few fro the trees.

I am thinking I may have to keep the silkies in the part of the yard that is completly covered. The fluffier the poof, the harder for them to see where to hide. Sachi was a lap chicken too, he used to like to sit on your feet when you walked around. Named after my niece.

And zoo, you may have to give your chickens light to get them to start laying in November. My girls were supposed to start end of October last year, and after it looked like nothing was going to happen, we put christmas lights in the coop. We got eggs right afterwards just in time for my birthday!

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I worry about hawks too.

Hi all, I'm in the East Bay (Livermore) and new to BYC and chickens. I'm so excited to see so many people here!

What kind of chickens do you have? Are they close to laying eggs yet?

Ron

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hi all, I'm in the East Bay (Livermore) and new to BYC and chickens. I'm so excited to see so many people here!

Hi again! So glad you found the thread. You can get lots of good advice about breeds here. Chickens are so addicting. A little advice about avoiding roosters, since you can't have them. Sexed pullets from the feed store will give you a very good chance of getting girls (not always 100% though) and you can raise them from chicks which can make them tamer. The downside is that the hatchery birds are sometimes not as good quality as those you can get from a good breeder.

Breeders will often have more rare varieties and quality chickens (and heritage), but if you want baby chicks to raise, you're risking more roosters. You can get older pullets or pick a breed that can be sexed by color right after hatching. (I think Welsummers are an example of this.)

Just for the record, I have 9 hatchery pullets of all different breeds, raised from chicks, and am quite happy with them. I also recently got 2 older pullets from a breeder on this thread. They are lovely, and I know they will have the qualities I was looking for (including blue eggs

).

I hope you keep us posted about your chicken journey!

Lynda

 

[Meg2000000]

Azure Standard runs several drops down I5 by you. There is probably a drop close to you.

They have Chicken wheat. It does not need to be cracked. It's fairly high in protein. The King Feed I am getting has Wheat in it instead of corn.

Ron

If I can find the Kings Non-Soy Layer feed I'm going to pick some up. I'm still trying to find someone close by that carries it. All of my guys are old enough for layer pellets now I think.

Woohoo! Found PDZ! Stoked! 

What's PDZ? Excuse my ignorance!

For my chicks I start them on Bob's Red Mill whole 7 grain hot cereal (don't buy the 10 grain even though it is in my picture because it has soy) that I buy at the health food store. I sprinkle it dry on top of their Purina Flockraiser. When they are 2+ weeks old I change to a bulk packaged larger 7 grain hot cereal from my health food store and offer grit to help grind the cereal up. They go nuts for it! It is not that expensive and makes for some super healthy chicks! And it makes it so much easier than mixing the grains yourself 

Thank you for posting this! I'm going to do this it I can't find the kings feed I want! Thanks for the picture (it makes it so much easier when you know what the bag looks like!)

I am so happy it is cooler today. It is going to warm up later this week though.

Pictures of the EEs for Amy.


I bought these two EEs to help my poor lonely GLW(Golden Laced Wyandotte) company. They are a couple of weeks older than her, so they are about 8 weeks old.

They are really starting to get some color.

In this picture you can see the muffs starting to grow in:


I had to get a picture of the GLW feeling better. She has already started looking less ugly and will be 7 weeks old on Saturday. If I keep calling the GLW a her maybe it will be true

Have a great evening Northern CA and friends from other places

Ron

They're soo pretty! These are the two for Amy Beth right? Lucky her!

You all have such cute chick pics. I had a hen hatch out one chick and she hides it every time I try to get a shot of it.

I find it much easier to raise other livestock, than poultry. My American Guinea Hog sow has some of the best fertility and largest litters on record for the breed. And one of my St. Croix ewes gave birth to triplets, 2 weeks ago, and has raised them completely on her own.

So, I don't have chick pics to share but here are my pigs & lambs...hope you all don't mind

Kim

Please post more pictures as the babies grow! They are too cute! The first thing I did when I saw the pictures was turn to my boyfriend and say: "Babe, can I please have some??!!" He laughed at me so I'm guessing that means no. Hahha maybe when we have more land I'll get more than a laugh! Lol

A blog is a great way to do this. Look for one that uses WordPress. Those use a web based editing system too.

Ron

Wordpress is soooo easy to use! I want to create a blog. All this talk about websites and blogs has gotten me thinkin'!

Sad day. ( and DH  bday too)  A hawk got Sachi, one of my up and coming  Silkie boys. I think he just couldn't see  where to run. We have lots of trees and bushes and they usually just go under those if the hawks pop up ( or under the porch)  but he was trying to hide under a tiny tree and  didn't make it. The  CD's keep the hawks out of the run around the house, but  they don't work for the whole yard. I think the next step is to hand a few fro the trees.

I  am thinking I may have to  keep the silkies in the part of the yard that is completly covered.  The fluffier the poof, the harder for them to see where to hide. Sachi was a lap chicken too, he used to like to sit on your feet when  you walked around. Named after my niece.

And zoo, you may have to give your chickens light to get them to start laying in November.  My girls were supposed to start end of October last year, and  after it looked like nothing was going to happen, we put christmas lights in the coop.  We got eggs right afterwards just in time for my birthday

:-( I'm so sorry to hear about Sachi! I feel for you.

Christmas lights is a great idea. We were already planning to put some up so the chickens can celebrate the holidays with us too!

Hi all, I'm in the East Bay (Livermore) and new to BYC and chickens.  I'm so excited to see so many people here!

Welcome to the thread! I live in Concord so not very far from you. Do you already have chickens at home? I'm new to chickens too and this thread helps a lot! Welcome again!

 

[MamaHen5]

Hello All! I'm new and I love this forum! I live in the Central Valley and we have 6 hens. We are moving next week and are trying to whip up a new coop out of repuprosed/recycled/upcycled materials. I really love the positive atmosphere here - so great!

 

[Meg2000000]

Anyone else feeling like it's getting harder to keep up with this thread? If I don't do it once a day I'm overwhelmed! Bahaha tough life

 

[Meg2000000]

Hello All! I'm new and I love this forum! I live in the Central Valley and we have 6 hens. We are moving next week and are trying to whip up a new coop out of repuprosed/recycled/upcycled materials. I really love the positive atmosphere here - so great!

 

Welcome!! It's so great to see all the people on here and posting. I hope you enjoy it an learn as much as I have! Are you still going to live in the Central Valley when you move next week?

Congrats on your first post!!