California - Northern

[AlpineButterfly]

Last year I went on the tour de coop, and had a great time talking with the people showing their coops. They were just like me! So I signed up to show my coop this year!

Register and come visit my coop on the Sunnyvale/Santa Clara loop! (Or send me a message, and I will let you know the address in Sunnyvale, and you can just come visit me.)

The Third annual Silicon Valley Tour de Coop, a free, self-guided bicycle tour of chicken coops, gardens, bee hives, hoop houses, and coolest Silicon Valley urban homesteads, is happening this Sunday, September 21, 2014 from 9 AM to 4 PM.
This year’s coop tour is being sponsored by Slow Food South Bay, local chapter of Slow Food USA.
Go to www.tourdecoop.org for more information.

 

[Audio51]

Last year I went on the tour de coop, and had a great time talking with the people showing their coops. They were just like me! So I signed up to show my coop this year!

Register and come visit my coop on the Sunnyvale/Santa Clara loop! (Or send me a message, and I will let you know the address in Sunnyvale, and you can just come visit me.)

The Third annual Silicon Valley Tour de Coop, a free, self-guided bicycle tour of chicken coops, gardens, bee hives, hoop houses, and coolest Silicon Valley urban homesteads, is happening this Sunday, September 21, 2014 from 9 AM to 4 PM.
This year’s coop tour is being sponsored by Slow Food South Bay, local chapter of Slow Food USA.
Go to www.tourdecoop.org for more information.

How fun! Wish I was closer....

 

[chrissyr]

We are all becoming magnesium deficient. Even the reference numbers have gone down from 1950s for what is normal.

I started taking magnesium citrate from Costco and am already sleeping better.

Oh that's why I bought magnesium a while back. I couldn't remember it's usefulness. It was a sleep aid. Thanks Ron.

 

[chrissyr]

Operation "give broody hen some ducklings" is working!
Mama hen keeps clucking and always has them covered.
This is her 3rd time being a great mom, 1st for ducks.
Pics will follow but her pen is small right now. Trying to make sure the ducks stay close for a couple of days.
Hard to get pics.

 

[CackleJoy]

It is supposed to be moved to the Modesto JC this year. In early January, late Dec ask about the showing. The premium book will be out out by then and I could help you enter if you want to show. It is easy to do. Attached see the Calif show schedule.

Walt

This is so exciting! We missed last years because my grandfather died. Since we live in Modesto, I should be able to attend the entire time and really learn something! I'd like to enter some birds just for the fun of learning.

What is your take on disease exposure? I'm concerned about that, in fact, it has held be me back from entering any shows. I really do want to learn how to evaluate my own chickens!

I've heard that some people automatically sell anything they show but that doesn't make sense to me. I'm also not sure can manage quarantine space. I'd be most grateful for input!

By January I could have some really nice pullets conditioned for showing. Possibly even a cockerel or two.

 

[OR4-hmom]

Oh great! Evacuation area is less than 4 miles away. Most of the roads under order go back further into the canyons but still not a great feeling.

At least as poultry superintendent I have someplace to take the birds, if needed.

 

[fowlman01]

This is so exciting!  We missed last years because my grandfather died.  Since we live in Modesto, I should be able to attend the entire time and really learn something!  I'd like to enter some birds just for the fun of learning.

What is your take on disease exposure?  I'm concerned about that, in fact, it has held be me back from entering any shows.  I really do want to learn how to evaluate my own chickens!

I've heard that some people automatically sell anything they show but that doesn't make sense to me.  I'm also not sure can manage quarantine space.  I'd be most grateful for input!

By January I could have some really nice pullets conditioned for showing.  Possibly even a cockerel or two.  

I have never had a problem bringing something home from any shows and I show all over the US. At Modesto I will be one of three people checking that there are no sick birds at the show. It is a personal decision though.

Walt

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Oh great! Evacuation area is less than 4 miles away. Most of the roads under order go back further into the canyons but still not a great feeling.

At least as poultry superintendent I have someplace to take the birds, if needed.

Eek! Stay safe. I have lots of friends up in the mountains reporting smoke and worried about how dry everything is right now.

 

[CackleJoy]

I have never had a problem bringing something home from any shows and I show all over the US. At Modesto I will be one of three people checking that there are no sick birds at the show. It is a personal decision though.

Walt

Well that is most encouraging! I will have to set about learning the process. I've got a few months to figure it out Thank you so much. I hope we can have some birds worth entering that are cage conditioned. It would be so educational for all of us here on the farm.

 

[tommysgirl]

Finally found a friend that has a rooster, and therefore eggs I can stick under Frieda! 1 rooster to 12 hens, so there's a pretty good chance the eggs are fertile, right? And she says most the eggs she opens are fertile. No idea what color eggs/what kind of chickens, but since I realized that Frieda's been sitting almost 2 weeks already, I figured I should stop being so picky (especially for free eggs!)

Given that Frieda doesn't quite fill a 1 foot by 1 foot nest box when fully pancaked out (she's a bantam/gamebird/who-knows-what cross), about how many eggs should I get when I go over to pick them up?

I went to reply to this only to find that you had already given her the 4 eggs. Congratulations!

What I was going to say is that It is a good idea to give a first time broody 4-6 eggs her first time out. You want her to be able to get at least one chick out of the mix but if she turns out to not be such a great mom you want to make sure she doesn't have more chicks than she can handle. I am excited for your mystery selection. That adds a whole new dimension of excitement to the hatch. One of the hatcheries does a special on chicks found in the bator at clean out...late hatchers etc. It is straight run and can be anything, turkey, duck chicken and I have been tempted to order it just for the fun of getting a big selection or randoms birds. Instead, maybe my next broody will get a mixture of whatever fun things @PetRock can put together for me.

I have three broodies sitting on 6 eggs between them right now one is a first timer and she has an EE egg that I hope will hatch in the next few days. The other two are sharing a nest and co brooding 5 of my barnyard mix eggs. I wanted to give my silkie some eggs from one of the good people here on this thread but to tell you the truth I have broody fatigue. I have had one hen or more on eggs or raising chicks since March and the resulting chicks have made things a bit congested. Processing 6 or 7 boys at the end of the month and that will help things but sheesh enough is enough.