California - Northern

[lawatt]

can't resist taking pictures of the babies, so here's the three-day-old group portrait:



any bets on gender? (besides the CL, of course) -- i'm thinking the rightmost lav orp is looking awfully big, and not sure about the blue... the basques i go back & forth, so am just guessing really...

and i'm pleased to report that the six-week-old light sussex girls are turning out to be *master* foragers -- i let everyone out earlier this morning, and the big girls just idly wandered about nipping at grasses, while the two littles zeroed in on what was apparently some sort of bug bonanza:



these two, despite looking so delicate, eat like horses -- they're going to get big!!

 

[Papa Brooder]

basically meant at least one side is open completely with three sides. maybe a few feet of side on the top of the open end to trap some of the heat. I see some people are doing it back east in wetter areas to help lessen disease. Can Get quite a bit of weather here so was wondering about building one or a few. Just wanted to test the waters to see if anyone had any

I am planning on building my next round of pens as open coops but don't have any yet, just lots of ventillation in mine as I am learning that the heat is way more concerning than the cold up here in redding.

Quote: so far, I think I prefer the chestnut coloring. although I would like to get my hands on a more traditional roo just to play with the breeding. are you selling your chicks? my first hatch is due in two weeks. set a dozen eggs so excited to see what hatches.

 

[Papa Brooder]

Amy Beth, Ron, Jason and Jeff - Looking forward to catching up with you guys!

welcome back and likewise! agreed about the spiral bands as well!

 

[Papa Brooder]

Im so excited...Did a little Antique shopping today..
Look what I found...It is in Awesome Shape... And it's all Mine..

nice find! really like that!

here is the link to size 4 bands, I'm pretty sure these are the size, but take a look at the sellers other items, they have size 3,4,5,6 - as they are pretty inexpensive, I would suggest ordering a few different sizes.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-LEG-BAN...ltDomain_0&hash=item337352099a#ht_4701wt_1414

thanks, I was needing something different for my chicks!

 

[zooweemama]

Do you think 4H-ers would be interested in my BO or BCM rooster extras? They are not hatchery birds but from a breeder- I almost hate to eat them after putting so much into them. LOL $15-18 each as chicks are what I paid for them and now months later of feeding? rofl! Copper is looking SO handsome but he is really mean to the EEs pullets I have. I won't keep a rooster like that. He is sweet as apple pie to us. Let's us pet him, pick him etc...fine with all the other chickens just not the EEs. He will go out of his way to terrorize them. They are not missing feathers- no blood drawn...but they try to stay away from him for sure. So sad!

Looks like Luna (one of the EE pullets) has cocci. She is REALLY poofy. Not acting ill yet at all just overly poofy. Switching to medicated feed today- not sure if I should let them be on that and wait to see if it gets worse? We ADORE the EEs. They are pets for life. <3

 

[Happy Chooks]

Once they show symptoms, the medicated feed will not be enough. Do another round of Corid.

You can ask 4h leaders, but from what I heard around my area, they want hens.

 

[zooweemama]

Once they show symptoms, the medicated feed will not be enough. Do another round of Corid.

You can ask 4h leaders, but from what I heard around my area, they want hens.

Poor roosters lol- they sure get the short stick don't they! LOL

Ok will do with the water! Poor thing it's only the one chicken - the EEs were not with the rest of the flock when they all came down with Cocci. And they were out of their quarantine right after I treated the others. I guess I was doomed to have to repeat treatment huh? I am so glad this is treatable!

 

[MonsterClucker]

can't resist taking pictures of the babies, so here's the three-day-old group portrait:



any bets on gender?  (besides the CL, of course) -- i'm thinking the rightmost lav orp is looking awfully big, and not sure about the blue...  the basques i go back & forth, so am just guessing really...

and i'm pleased to report that the six-week-old light sussex girls are turning out to be *master* foragers -- i let everyone out earlier this morning, and the big girls just idly wandered about nipping at grasses, while the two littles zeroed in on what was apparently some sort of bug bonanza:



these two, despite looking so delicate, eat like horses -- they're going to get big!!

Your chicks are gorgeous! To me the rightmost lab orp chick looks like a boy. But don't quotJust looks like a "He".
The Basque chicks are Soo cute! Can't wait to have some in the brooder!

 

[zooweemama]

Oh my gosh- the chickens have begun leaping out the coop door when I go in. Ahhhh! The youngest chicks are still around 7-8 weeks old I think. I can't have them wandering around. My backyard is HUGE! It's 2 acres fenced and almost all the property is behind the house so it's really big. I am so terrified of letting them out to free range. visions of chickens clucking around the coop are replaced with the vision of chickens running amok and getting eating by racoons are night because they won't go into their coop! Not to mention getting picked up by all the hawks we have here. We see them and hear them all day long as it is.

For those of you that free range...when do you open the coop door?

 

[lawatt]

Oh my gosh- the chickens have begun leaping out the coop door when I go in. Ahhhh! The youngest chicks are still around 7-8 weeks old I think. I can't have them wandering around. My backyard is HUGE! It's 2 acres fenced and almost all the property is behind the house so it's really big. I am so terrified of letting them out to free range. visions of chickens clucking around the coop are replaced with the vision of chickens running amok and getting eating by racoons are night because they won't go into their coop! Not to mention getting picked up by all the hawks we have here. We see them and hear them all day long as it is.

For those of you that free range...when do you open the coop door?

for what it's worth (this being my first time with chickens), i let them out once i thought they were big enough to not get eaten by my cats -- probably 8-9 weeks, i can't remember now -- but the two new 6-week olds are already going out. i've got 1.5 acres that's NOT fenced, but so far they stick to areas with both shade and cover -- no one's ventured a toe into the big open meadow where it's hot & sunny & prone to fly-overs by hawks/crows/golden eagles/vultures -- AND they mostly stick together, except for the new kids who keep getting chased by the big girls. they are flocking birds, after all! and now that they've found some favorite places (my garden, of course, but also the coyote brush areas -- lots of hiding places!), they tend to return to those each time they go out.

and once they've been out for an hour or so, if i walk back down to their coop, they usually will all follow me. if not, i clatter the metal can that holds their treats, and they come RUNNING, regardless of what time of day. the only ones that are a little tricky are the new girls, since they don't yet know that metal can = treats -- but once they see everyone else running excitedly into the coop, they tend to follow.

so you might give it a try, in the late afternoon/evening so they'll likely want to go home soon -- it's been surprisingly easy so far for me.
laura