California - Northern

[HiddenHill Heretic]

Quote:
PLEASE LET IT BE DUN.... PLEASE LET THERE BE 2 DUN COCKS!!!!! No offense Jeremy, and I know my chances of getting a cock from you are slim, what with the overflowing estroginal leanings in your hatches, but man I would love a Dun Sumatra cock. Congrats on the babies... can't wait to see what is next. The Sussex chicks are happy and healthy.... and FAT... They are in with all of the chicks I hatched from Bridget and the sussex are ROUND. Thanks again, Cheers, Luke

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
PLEASE LET IT BE DUN.... PLEASE LET THERE BE 2 DUN COCKS!!!!! No offense Jeremy, and I know my chances of getting a cock from you are slim, what with the overflowing estroginal leanings in your hatches, but man I would love a Dun Sumatra cock. Congrats on the babies... can't wait to see what is next. The Sussex chicks are happy and healthy.... and FAT... They are in with all of the chicks I hatched from Bridget and the sussex are ROUND. Thanks again, Cheers, Luke

With my luck, they will ALL be pullets... but as long as we get a few Dun or Platinum girls then you can cross them with a Black Sumatra cock and we'll still be well under way! I keep reading and searching for more info on these birds and the more I learn, the more I like them. We should talk about what to do with these little ones Luke...

 

[dldolan]

Quote:
So, the price you pay for having a broody do the work is that the babies are skittish with you as you probably look like a predator to them, and even if mama will come near you, she may very well not let you near them! ON the upside, she teaches them how to act like chickens, integrates them into the flock, and they don't seem to be clueless. And they may be friendly as adults, who knows? My RIR (Fiona) lead hen grew up wild, but she is the nicest to me, jumps in my lap, pecks delicately from my hand...so who can tell??

Chicks you raise will be nicer/more used to you (when little), look to you for food, treats, etc. But I find I am constantly worrying about them. Is the food OK, is the water OK, did they escape/drown/commit hari-kari at night, did a mouse get in with them, do they smell too much for DH, what feed is best, can I give them treats, was that a sneeze, is the bedding ok, is that a weird beak/foot/wing, etc!!! Then you have flock integrations issues, which I personally hate. Also can have birds that are too personal with you! Anyway, I am lucky the aforementioned Fiona is rather accepting about new birds into her flock! BUT I am swearing to only let a broody hatch from now on. She knows her job, and I have been only trying to do as best I can, and I think I make a poor substitute! Even though they are fun to play with as young'uns, they are better off with a chicken mama, I am convinced!

My two cents...

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote:
So, the price you pay for having a broody do the work is that the babies are skittish with you as you probably look like a predator to them, and even if mama will come near you, she may very well not let you near them! ON the upside, she teaches them how to act like chickens, integrates them into the flock, and they don't seem to be clueless. And they may be friendly as adults, who knows? My RIR (Fiona) lead hen grew up wild, but she is the nicest to me, jumps in my lap, pecks delicately from my hand...so who can tell??

Chicks you raise will be nicer/more used to you (when little), look to you for food, treats, etc. But I find I am constantly worrying about them. Is the food OK, is the water OK, did they escape/drown/commit hari-kari at night, did a mouse get in with them, do they smell too much for DH, what feed is best, can I give them treats, was that a sneeze, is the bedding ok, is that a weird beak/foot/wing, etc!!! Then you have flock integrations issues, which I personally hate. Also can have birds that are too personal with you! Anyway, I am lucky the aforementioned Fiona is rather accepting about new birds into her flock! BUT I am swearing to only let a broody hatch from now on. She knows her job, and I have been only trying to do as best I can, and I think I make a poor substitute! Even though they are fun to play with as young'uns, they are better off with a chicken mama, I am convinced!

My one and only time I hatched babies I was so exhausted after 4 nights of getting up every 2 hours to keep the humidity and temp correct during hatching that I took a sleeping pill to get some rest but I must have gotten up to check on them, fell and broke the tip of my tibia (right under the knee) and didn't know until I woke up the next morning in extreme pain! Try explaing that injury to your Doc.... As soon as they were done I sold that incubator on Craigslist! I have a whole new appreciation for those broody girls! It's harder then it looks! LOL

 

[HHandbasket]

Hi there, fellow Californians!

It's that time of year again... the state fair is coming! We're planning the 2nd annual BYC get-together at the state fair. I've posted this in all the California threads to spread the word. Here's a link to the information so far about the meetup:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6703222#p6703222

Hope you'll be there!

 

[lllory]

Hello! I'm new to the byc site, and this is my first visit to the northern Calif board. Actually, I'm still a wannabe chicken person. I just had to post and say how envious I am of all of you raising chickens. My limited space will only allow me to keep a few hens for eggs (I think....(evil grin coming on!))
I can't wait to get some chickens! I guess I'll be getting pullets, since if I get a rooster on accident, I won't be able to keep it.
Anywhooo, I live in Livermore, which I consider the bay area (heh). East Bay, maybe.

I want chickeeeeeeeeeens! **calms herself**
Laurie

 

[lllory]

Quote:
Wolftracks-I'm in Livermore, and just now coop shopping. I'd love to get some girls soon. My problem-the kids want fuzzy fuzzy cute cute, but I can only have females (city limits). How soon can you tell a sex?
Laurie

 

[lllory]

torrelee-SO cute! My dd wants black fuzzies. I'll have to show her these pics.

Laurie

 

[jeremy]

A few pictures from today.

Enjoying some fresh watermelon.

Neville couldn't get enough, he was being a gentlemen though and kept calling his girls to the treat. See where my other roo pecked at his comb? I was so furious at them. The dumb boys decided fighting through the fence AND wooden lattice was a good idea...

The sun washed this picture out a lot but it shows off Neville's width, he's getting to be quite the big boy.

I got my first dark egg today!

I believe it was from my Wheatie, who's name is Frenchie.

My fatty Coro babies, who are now with their adopted broody momma, are getting BIG! I think these chooks might end up being nearly the same size as my English Orps. Maybe... In this picture you can also see the little supposed Platinum Sumatra chick, I'm so enamored with this chick, I want so much for it to be a pullet.

Here's another picture of her.

Her hatch mate is either a dark Blue, or Black Sumatra. Any guesses?

h

These are my Olive Eggers out of ruth's eggs, the gorgeous coppery olive ones. I cannot wait until these babies start laying!

This is Robin (on the left) and another young Heritage Rhode Island Red. We actually plan on eating Robin later this year when he matures... it'll be the first time we've processed a bird and I have to say I'm somewhat excited. I've tried not to get too attached to my Red boy, he's a big softie though. He already feels like a brick too and he's only around 3 1/2 months old. We'll see how much he weighs in a few months, I plan on growing him out until he crows. Then he'll be dinner. The Heritage Reds are such a gorgeous deep mahogany color, I have Robin and 3 pullets that I received from Paul Smith.

Finally, this is Toby our Corgi "dustbathing" in the chicken's run today.

Not everyone was as thrilled as Toby was about his bath.

Sorry about the picture overload, today was my day off and I spent most of it outside working in the garden and spending time with the chickens. It was HOT today here in Oakland, in the afternoon the high was 84 degrees. It was a beautiful day though and I got a bunch done outside. I successfully planted our melon patch this year. We've got a few different kinds of watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew melon growing. I cannot wait until September when it all should be ready to harvest!

 

[dldolan]

Quote:
Welcome, lllory!!

Ha! I forgot to tell you, Jeremy, that I love the dog/hen photo. Fun-ny! And I think I have a few barrels for you! I can't PM "cause it says I'm overloaded, even after I deleted 15 messages. ARGH! Email me, huh?
Dawn

Lil' Joe Strutting his stuff today...