California - Northern

[Happy Chooks]

Those of you up in Gold Country who are looking for an incubator, there is a Genesis (non digital, I think) listed on Craigslist for $50. The seller is in Grass Valley.

http://goldcountry.craigslist.org/grd/4470060648.html

Super deal!

Quote: Ditto! Mine love watermelon and cucumbers. They love carrot tops too.

My kids had some leftover hot dogs from a campout. They were getting too old to eat, so I chopped them up and gave them to the chickens. Hot dogs are a bigger hit than macaroni and cheese. It was hilarious.

 

[PetRock]

How old is too old for hard boiled eggs? I'm embarrassed to say that we still have hard boiled Easter eggs in our refrigerator. I was thinking about feeding them to my flock but don't want to make them sick.

 

[Audio51]

My goodness this thread is dead tonight! Where'd everyone go?

Heh, I don't think she'd appreciate having 15 meat chicks.

Yeah....that might be mean. I am waiting on my Gorcery Store eggs to hatch (they went on LD yesterday) and may give her those if I get anything out of them.

Oooh... the BBS Orpingtons I have reserved are day 21 tomorrow! Here's hoping for a healthy hatch.

Quote:
I think a divorce is more likely if I did that!!!

Now that we've finally gotten the ground broken for garden plots (free tractoring was definitely worth waiting for!) my husband's looking at the beds and thinking it'd be much cheaper to finally get a run built (the coop's 100 square feet. We have 7 birds, and a zone-induced maximum of 11. A run's not been a big priority

) I'd been wanting to continue to free range in the yard, but I do see his point. He wants to just use that green plastic garden netting. The coop's secure, and I've been known to go run errands while the hens are out, so I don't suppose that'd be all that much different. However, there's a neighborhood dog that I swear must have wolfhound blood--that dog is huge! More importantly, he hops over our fence as easily as our boxer hops onto the couch (we've got a corner lot, so it's a handy shortcut, I guess). I've never seen him in our yard when the chickens are out, so I don't know if he'd ignore them or take them. Poking around, I've found this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RA0N/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER deer netting--2 rolls would completely surround all of the garden beds. Would it keep chickens out? It's 7 feet high, but comes folded in half--would the 3 and a half foot height be any good (our fence is 4 foot chain link, and none of the 5 older girls have over flown it--I just started trying to get the new girls to go out and explore, but they're barely sticking their heads out yet, so I don't know if/how high they fly (though, the smaller one got loose when we first got them, and I don't think she went above my waist)).

Also, I've asked this a couple of times--once, while there was an answer, it could've been to the other question in that post, and the other time got buried... Anyway, can day-old chicks be brooded in a pen in the coop, or do they need to be brooded elsewhere? I know that, if I were to hatch them myself, I could, and, if I were to get older chicks, they'd have to be quarantined. I just can't seem to find anything about brooding straight-from-the-incubator-and-into-the-mail chicks as far as quarantine needs.

Sorry for the wall of text!

That would work fine...in fact I have done it. You just have to hang a brooder light and make sure they have the same stuff they would need in the house and make sure they can't escape. I'm sure the big girls would make short work out of them if they did.

@AmyPaperlady yes you can brood chicks in the pen. It makes a ton of sense to do it that way too. I think we tend to coddle home brooded chicks when they are actually made of much sterner stuff. Mama hens brood in the pen so...

As long as they are out of drafts and have warmth and they can't escape all is well. My last batch I brooded for 3 wks in the house then moved out to the coop. They were great! I know some put them out after a week. The main reason to brood in the house initially is just to keep a very close eye on them for pasting and other problems that occur more in the first week. My brooder is a rubbermaid tub. Deann broods in them too. They can be more elaborate if you want them to be but it isn't essential.

But if you can keep a close eye on them for that first week provide them enough warmth and a draft and escape free spot there is no reason not to start them out in thepen.

The other reason to brood in the house is to get your DH to build you and outside brooder.....

My new polish hen likes to hang out under the bushes where I can't see her.

Hopefully she'll stop that as she gets more comfortable here.

On a side note, it's going to be close to 100 degrees here today. How are you guys keeping your chickens cool?

We got lucky...it was suppode to be upper 90s here, but we have some high thin clouds that seem to be keeping things cooler

Mine arent crazy for WM but like it. Bring out the carrot tops and they go nuts though. (Maybe the WM isnt that good of one)

Mine ignored it last summer when I offered them some. I will have to try it again this year.

How old is too old for hard boiled eggs? I'm embarrassed to say that we still have hard boiled Easter eggs in our refrigerator. I was thinking about feeding them to my flock but don't want to make them sick.

According to what I am finding they are only good for about a week......

 

[casportpony]

How old is too old for hard boiled eggs?  I'm embarrassed to say that we still have hard boiled Easter eggs in our refrigerator.  I was thinking about feeding them to my flock but don't want to make them sick.

Crack them open and smell them.

-Kathy

 

[ronott1]

How old is too old for hard boiled eggs? I'm embarrassed to say that we still have hard boiled Easter eggs in our refrigerator. I was thinking about feeding them to my flock but don't want to make them sick.

Yes, a week usually for hard boiled eggs. Do open them to see what they are like inside though. The Sniff test idea was a good one, but look for discoloration on the whites and slimness.

 

[BCollie]

Quote: Ditto! Mine love watermelon and cucumbers. They love carrot tops too.

My kids had some leftover hot dogs from a campout. They were getting too old to eat, so I chopped them up and gave them to the chickens. Hot dogs are a bigger hit than macaroni and cheese. It was hilarious.

Chickens really are the best garbage disposals. We waste so much less now that we have them.

My new polish hen likes to hang out under the bushes where I can't see her.

Hopefully she'll stop that as she gets more comfortable here.

On a side note, it's going to be close to 100 degrees here today. How are you guys keeping your chickens cool?

We got lucky...it was suppode to be upper 90s here, but we have some high thin clouds that seem to be keeping things cooler

Mine arent crazy for WM but like it. Bring out the carrot tops and they go nuts though. (Maybe the WM isnt that good of one)

Mine ignored it last summer when I offered them some. I will have to try it again this year.


It's pretty hot here, but we also have clouds here in Anderson so it's not TOO hot.
That's funny that yours ignored watermelon. Last year mine hated bananas, but this year they love them.

 

[PetRock]

Thank you for the answers! Now, to smell or not to smell! I might just compost them!

 

[BCollie]

So I went to the store today to buy watermelons, and decided to get 3 large to cut in half and freeze. After I had already left, I looked at my receipt and realized they only charged me for one! Can't say I mind. I have a small freezer and can only fit two watermelons in it at a time, so there's 4 halves freezing right now. I was tempted to keep one of the watermelons for myself, but I know the hens are going to need it to stay cool.

 

[KristyAnn]

Silva's FB link:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Silvas-Hay-Grain/177820555676613

-Kathy

Thanks again.

 

[2chick]

I have glws and ameracaunas