Chicken (Poultry) Addiction Anonymous *Chat Thread*

[Muggsmagee]

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There are 2 things I currently find myself jealous over...barn space and acreage! Maybe having a little farmstead is beneficial by keeping my chicken addiction in check? So I don't become like the hoarder featherz posted about!

 

[Muggsmagee]

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Be sure to post pics -

The pictures are below, I just got sat down after getting the chickens taken care of and then dinner & dishes.

I am now against Easter Chicks and I will be handing out free printouts when the feed stores start selling chickens telling people how to take care of their new pet(s) and listing BYC as a resource!

He got these 3 chickens from Big R at Easter this year. That makes them almost 9 months old. They have not started laying. I don't know what they were being fed, but the food he gave me was a well-worn bag of scratch grain. There was no sign of food or water in the pen. Some scratch grain and a broken plastic feeder adorned the coop. The coop was an open pen that had 1 side up against a small shed, but the chickens were not allowed in the shed. The kid had built a plywood shelter and 2 open topped "nest boxes" that were full of droppings.

The birds seem healthy. They are hen-sized with pullet heads! They ate and drank like crazy when I got them home. I kept taking the food and water away so they wouldn't founder.

I have them in isolation in the front yard in my chicken tractor. I would normally worry about chickens being exposed to cold, but after what they were living in, this is a 5-star hotel in Tahiti. There is a small shelter attached, so if they stop eating the grass for a minute, they could go in and warm up! It is a bright moon out, and the are pecking at anything they can eat! I don't think they have ever tasted starter, they seemed unsure of it at first. They love grass and were pecking at it blindly in the dark!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/70082_img_1481.jpg

Sorry about the poor pictures, I will do better in the daylight! I think the roo is a Silver-Laced Wyandotte. I am SO excited to have 2 white Leghorn pullets (I think)! I guess their combs have not developed because they have been malnourished and have never started laying. I think that with some starter mixed with layer ration they will be laying very soon!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/70082_img_1479.jpg

I'm glad the girls ended up with you! I bet you they start laying for you soon, once the stress of relocating wears off.

 

[Muggsmagee]

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Why am I the only one on the planet that Craigslist doesn't work for??? I seriously have had zero luck buying or selling on that site!

However, I'm totally stoked that I will be on Hat Trick Silkies shipping list for hatching eggs in a few months! Woo-hoo! They have some GORGEOUS silkies! Some of them have even been on the Martha Stewart show!

 

[IdealisticRoo]

So, I have wrapped the chicken tractor in blankets, hopefully they will be ok, we are supposed to get down to 16 degrees tonight. I quickly discarded the notion of a candle in a bucket. Visions of a chicken roosting on the bucket and bursting into flames...

They are still eating the grass on the lawn, that is going to go over like a turd in a punchbowl - a nice rectangle 3'x6' of dirt in the south lawn! They are still eating in pitch darkness. I saw some of their poops, they are mud, I guess from eating dirt! I hate to see things mistreated! Now I am want to "rescue" chickens!

I was wrong about them being White Leghorns, they have red earlobes, not sure how I missed that. They are small like White Leghorns, but never mistake starvation for Meditterranianism! Lol

I think they are either White Rocks or Cornish Rocks. Oh, goody, another surprise to figure out the breed!

Happy day, tired chicken.... G'night BYCers!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

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That's so funny but so sad at the same time

 

[IdealisticRoo]

As only a hopeless chicken addict would do at 10:30 at night, I just wrote to Ideal Poultry and told them that if they had unsold pullets at the end of order filling, I would buy extra, or if they did not have enough, that I would not squawk if they delayed my order for a week or two! Since I am just buying these for resale as started pullets now (I might keep 1 or 2 here and there...) I am not picky as to when I get them or how many there are!

I also told them I was fine with a Privett drop-ship since Privett is closer.

I cannot imagine how crazy running a hatchery would be! I have enough problems trying to coordinate my little projects!

 

[Muggsmagee]

So I sent an email to a breeder for hatching eggs. She asked what colors I was interested in. I am now finding out she usually has a huge waiting list, but never told me about it. I really want her eggs, but I don't want to wait for a year!

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

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its hard to wait but if you want good quality birds, from a high end breeder, you will have to wait, unless you let the breeder know you will take eggs at any time, from any color, so if there is a last minute cancellation you could get it if you are the first person on the list who has said this.

most good breeders have a waiting list, because birds are living things, you can't rely on how many eggs you get each day, if you have chickens you know that.

 

[IdealisticRoo]

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I agree! I would be tortured by waiting that long, but just think, when you get some you too can have such high-quality stock that people will line up for a year to buy your hatching eggs!

There is an auction on ebay right now for $127.50 for 6 Yokohama eggs! People must have money to spend!

These are not mine and I am NOT promoting them, I am just pointing out that there are other chicken addicts out there! It makes us look conservative!

 

[Muggsmagee]

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I agree! I would be tortured by waiting that long, but just think, when you get some you too can have such high-quality stock that people will line up for a year to buy your hatching eggs!

There is an auction on ebay right now for $127.50 for 6 Yokohama eggs! People must have money to spend!

These are not mine and I am NOT promoting them, I am just pointing out that there are other chicken addicts out there! It makes us look conservative!

This is good to know!

I am not a patient person. I completely agree with you Buck Creek, it is just the idea of waiting up to a year. It is hard to fathom me waiting.