California - Northern

[HighNDryFarm]

hello everyone, just joined this site yesterday & subscribed to this thread this morning -- i live in Sonoma County (Penngrove) & am just getting started with chickens, quite excited!

best,
laura

Hi Laura. Welcome to the California - Northern thread. It's picked up quite a bit in the last couple of months. So nice to find fellow chicken lovers so close. I own a wine bar, I bet you have a lot of nice wineries around you.

Do you have chickens yet? Lots of people to help you along here.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

ahhhh argggg ugh !

How many ways can a chicken get under a coop to lay eggs.....?????

hmm lets see used chicken wire 2x6's birdbath parts rocks.. yet everyday there they are eggs.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote:

Welcome Back Megan!

Amy, your chickens look really nice. I hope you have some Pullets from that last batch. If not, hatching may be in your future. Since your spouse travels between Redding and Chico, it would be easy for him to pick up a dozen or so eggs from Debi in Red Bluff or even get some from Paradise. Those Show Girls are outrageous.

It was kind of Hot yesterday so my chickens were panting. Mr Corwin was cooling off by walking around flapping his wings..Silly rooster.

This morning I opened the door and felt a cool breeze so of course the first thing I think to do (after letting the layers out of their coops) is make bread:



This is my basic White Bread Recipe with a cup of Azure Ultra Fine Whole Wheat flour.

It's raising now. More pictures to come....

Ron

I'd love to learn to make bread. My dad makes amazing bread so we've always left it to him. Several people on the Nevada? thread make bread also and think it's a good way to ensure the quality of product. I'm also glad to see I'm not the only crazy person that thinks this 100+ weather is a good time to bake. I made two apple pies on Sunday. I added Green Chili's to one. It was actually pretty good! I'm making banana bread and chocolate chip cookies today. I'm recovering from two back surgeries and going crazy with the limitations! I even found my old cross stitching bag and am finishing some old projects. Fun watching the progress of the bread, if I was close enough I'd be knocking on your door with butter and garlic in hand, begging for a loaf.

Good morning everyone! I put my new Basque pullet in the coop last night. This morning I heard a few short scuffles. I let them out to forage and the new girl stayed away from my original 3. Now they're back in the coop and she's hiding in the corner. The rooster has pecked at her a few times and she gets really scared and hides behind the box. I have extra waterer and feeders for her. Do you think it's ok to come and check on her every 30 minutes from now on? Or should I just separate them and try again later today?

Here's a picture. That's my new pullet laying in the left corner by the box:

As others have said, they should be fine. If they don't settle in, if you have a wire cage to put the girl in, they can get use to each other without being able to get to her. Also, make sure you remove the bucket when you get the roost up because they'll probably continue to sleep in it. Little creatures of habit. My last batch of chickens never learned to get up on the roost and still sleep in one of the laying boxes. Someday, when my back is better I'll try putting them up on it at night. My new batch of chicks are also in another laying box!

That's alot of chickens to teach to roost!

Ron when did you say you were serving the bread?

Meg welcome back!!! You can some pretty pullets! I hope the transition isn't too rough. <3

We are STILL working on our coop. The more work we do - the more work we realize needs to be done. One of the posts is just chewed up and needs to be replaced. Man! I'll post a cell phone pic in a bit of the progress. We have the 8x8 coop and a 10x10 'run' BUT they will be allowed to free range. I still wanted a run. That hardware cloth is a pain in the butt. Using the 10x10 chain link dog kennel as a run is proving a pain to varmint proof since we are using it as one of the 'walls'. Live and learn. Our 5 week olds share a large dog kennel (not the yard kind) at night and I carry them out an enclosed yard for the day. So it's not too awful bad but our geese are getting HUGE and need to go somewhere. The chicks and geese get alone fine so they might share for a while. I still do not regret waiting until the coop is done to get the chickens. I can't imagine brooding all these chicks in August- just makes the house a little crowded for now.

8x8 coop plus 10x10 run can hold 18 chickens right (until they can free range)? We won't be keeping all of them. All the pullets but one, keeping 2 cockerels, giving away 1 cockerel and the rest of the cockerels I plan to process in a couple months. Since they will usually free range- my coop can easily house 10 chickens (after we see what we have) or so right? I think I read someone told me I could easily do up to 20 with this space size?

We used an old metal gazebo right outside our 8x12 coop but to attach the hardware cloth we had to screw studs into the frame. We figured that after all that we really didn't save anything since we had to add the wood anyway. Then we extended it out another 8' and I went way overboard and enclosed it all, sides and top in hardware cloth! Cost a fortune but I had lost my whole flock except the roo and my husband was nice enough to indulge me. If I ever need hardware cloth for something else, I'll probably take it off the upper portion and replace it with cheaper wire.

Your area will be tight but as long as you're just locking them in at night and letting them out in the morning you should be OK. I have the 8x12 coop with about an 12x20 run and they hardly go in the lower 12x12 end of the run for some reason. I had 13 chickens in there....right now, with the 10 new chicks there's 23 but there's at least 4 roos in those babies and a few pullets will go to my grandkids. I lock them up after they go in at night and let them out first thing in the morning....first thing in the morning is when I can get moving, between 7-9am.

Update: Its been 1 1/2 hours and they're doing ok. The new pullet is standing up and starting to slowly come out of the corner. I only see one of her feathers on the ground. I think it's going ok!
P.S. I'm sorry for all of the posts! Please tell me if I'm being annoying! Seriously

Yeah!

And don't worry about all the posts...that's why we're here, to help and ask for help when needed.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

ahhhh argggg ugh !

How many ways can a chicken get under a coop to lay eggs.....?????

hmm lets see used chicken wire 2x6's birdbath parts rocks.. yet everyday there they are eggs.

They sure are stubborn when they decide to pick a new spot to lay! Half of mine have decided the hay barn is a better place to lay eggs then the coop. At least I can get to mine, yours sound like it's hard to get to. Seems the only way to break them is to nab the eggs as soon a they lay and mess the nest up but that takes a lot of attention. Good luck!

 

[Hangtown Farms]

They sure are stubborn when they decide to pick a new spot to lay! Half of mine have decided the hay barn is a better place to lay eggs then the coop. At least I can get to mine, yours sound like it's hard to get to. Seems the only way to break them is to nab the eggs as soon a they lay and mess the nest up but that takes a lot of attention. Good luck!

lol yeah daily.. more chicken wire I guess is in the cards

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
I started making bread when I was 12 years old. We made 6 loaves a week. Bread only needs 6 ingredients:

Water
Yeast
sugar(any sweatner you want to use)
salt
oil
flour

Other stuff is fun but not necessary.

The bread is finished just in time for lunch!

First an animal picture:

This is Riley, the dog my daughter rescued from the park



I cooked the bread in a convection toaster oven. It holds two loaf pans and I cooked them to 190 degrees. The one in the middle was cooked by itself and did better with the tops not getting so dark.



Time for lunch!

Ron

 

[cherylcohen]

I started making bread when I was 12 years old. We made 6 loaves a week. Bread only needs 6 ingredients:

Water
Yeast
sugar(any sweatner you want to use)
salt
oil
flour

Other stuff is fun but not necessary.

The bread is finished just in time for lunch!

First an animal picture:

This is Riley, the dog my daughter rescued from the park



I cooked the bread in a convection toaster oven. It holds two loaf pans and I cooked them to 190 degrees. The one in the middle was cooked by itself and did better with the tops not getting so dark.



Time for lunch!

Ron

I want a loaf!!! They look gorgeous! And darling dog

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Thank Your!

I was going to post a picture of the cookies, but they were gone when I went back into the kitchen

I have most of the batter in the refrigerator so I will bake more tomorrow.

Ron

 

[chickee]

I have this beautiful almost 4 month old blue wheaten rooster out of a Pips & Peeps rooster and Paul Smith hen if someone would like to have him. He is free if you want him for a pet or breeder. I just want him to have a good home

Lynda can take him along with her chicks on Thursday

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I have this beautiful almost 4 month old blue wheaten rooster out of a Pips & Peeps rooster and Paul Smith hen if someone would like to have him. He is free if you want him for a pet or breeder. I just want him to have a good home

Lynda can take him along with her chicks on Thursday

Such a pretty boy! Wish I could keep him myself, but our coop is too close to the house and several neighbors. How about anyone else? I'll be driving Santa Rosa to Auburn and back and would be glad to deliver him along the route.

Lynda