Chicken (Poultry) Addiction Anonymous *Chat Thread*

[spiritdance]

Quote:
I love it! Isn't it weird that an egg can be cute?

Nope, not weird at all, just chicken aesthetics ... when I got my first lavender dutch egg, I must've taken 50 pics ... my DH said I was going to "flash burn" it if I didn't quite

 

[bargain]

Need chicks??? We have eggs???? Let me help you with this problem

Farmer Nancy

 

[featherz]

Quote:
ROFL!!

I'll need eggs in a few weeks so I'll keep that in mind.

You don't have turkens tho, do you? I gotta have naked neck chickens since my DH thinks they are ugly.

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
I hear you! I am addicted to raising baby chicks too! After 5 orders of baby chicks and 40-ish currently in the brooder, I still love it!

I spend ALL of my free time watching them and feeding, watering and cleaning up after them. The room in the garage the brooder(s) are in is COATED with a layer of dust, with the dust sticking as nicely to the vertical surfaces as to the horizontal surfaces!I need to move the 6 week olds outside, but they are socialized with the 2 week olds, and I want them to get along as adults so the 5 older pullets are staying in with the chicks. The older pullets cannot get to the area under the heat lamp, there is 2" x4" wire mesh that the babies just run right through.

I raised and sold over 100 started pullets this winter, watching them grow helped keep the winter blues at bay!

The dust created in our basement drew my attention to the apparent spider problem we had. Last spring it looked like a staged haunted house! Chicken dust does stick to everything!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Quote:
I hear you! I am addicted to raising baby chicks too! After 5 orders of baby chicks and 40-ish currently in the brooder, I still love it!

I spend ALL of my free time watching them and feeding, watering and cleaning up after them. The room in the garage the brooder(s) are in is COATED with a layer of dust, with the dust sticking as nicely to the vertical surfaces as to the horizontal surfaces!I need to move the 6 week olds outside, but they are socialized with the 2 week olds, and I want them to get along as adults so the 5 older pullets are staying in with the chicks. The older pullets cannot get to the area under the heat lamp, there is 2" x4" wire mesh that the babies just run right through.

I raised and sold over 100 started pullets this winter, watching them grow helped keep the winter blues at bay!

The dust created in our basement drew my attention to the apparent spider problem we had. Last spring it looked like a staged haunted house! Chicken dust does stick to everything!

Feed the spiders to the chickens! They love those little buggers

 

[featherz]

Quote:
Same here. I put my chicks in my apparently clean barn (we had even powerwashed it) and OMG within a week there were dusty webs everywhere!! where did those come from? LOL.

 

[daisychick]

Well I did the thing I always dread doing. Tonight is the first night my 3 week olds will be sleeping out in the coop. I miss them already. I keep them in a dog kennel in the house right by my desk until I know they are off to a good start. Then when the dust starts keeping me from seeing across the room I know it's time for them to go out. My DH built me a little pen inside the big coop, I stick them in a big empty horse water tank inside of the little pen with their heat lamp and they are set, the tank really helps keep drafts off of them. Then when they get their feathers all in they get taken out of the tank and they have the whole little pen to use to grow out.

I will miss watching them during the day.

I am sure I will sneak out there often to check on them.


Next to move out are the geese. Still working on a plan for them.

 

[PepsNick]

Bargain, I am taking you up on that one, ya know!

My SDWD post from tonight:

Well, I had a GREAT DAY! It was over 70*, and the chicks were getting soooo bored in their brooder (I think that I'll be getting another big cardboard box this weekend

) that I decided to take them out for a bit. They has such a blast! I set them up a small play pen with my welded wire for the new run- my "home-made feeder", which is half of a cardboard egg carton filled with feed

and their water and sent them on their way! I added a roof of poultry netting just in case I saw a hawk flying around.

So then I let the big girls out. They all stayed near the play pen and had frequent stare-offs and awkward moments with the chicks. I tell ya, Prince Jay-Z is such a little man! He doesn't take crap from any of those big fat mamas, LOL! He is great. Oh I wish I could keep him, if only he couldn't crow!

It was a perfect day- we had a nice neighbor stop by to see them, too. It's supposed to be like this all week- Winter might be over period. OMG. Yes, yes, YES!

Anyways, it cooled to the low 60's a little into the evening (

) so I took them back to the brooder, which I moved to the garage. I hear them peeping now from my bedroom and can see them out of one of our upstairs windows. I love that.

They are also learning to roost! I found some wood from the old coop project that I put in the brooder, and now they don't even use their plush toy accept for those naps of theirs.

I have been changing out the brooder twice a day since we started to use paper towels. Ugh, I really don't like using them at all. Gross! We are going out to get four bails of pine shavings tomorrow, for the brooder AND coop! Speaking of the coop, I am using pine straw in there and I love it- might stick to it. It reduces so much odor and always smells so fresh and clean in there, even when I desperately need to clean it! Which, by the way, I also did today.

Well for chicken shopping, I need the bedding... and I just ordered the NC/IB vaccine. Woohoo! That reminds me, I need to order Wazine, too. Oh yeahhhhh.... Chicken shopping... That reminds me... I was looking at some pictures of a friend's coop and their long feeders have little hooks that let them stand up from the ground on them, that way the chickens can't walk in them and tip them over. I'm using bricks now, but was wondering where I could get those? I'll go google it.

Back to writing a short story. How is everyone?

ETA, I got some great pictures and videos. Will upload them later tonight if I have time.

 

[redheadmama13]

Quote:
ROFL!!

I'll need eggs in a few weeks so I'll keep that in mind.

You don't have turkens tho, do you? I gotta have naked neck chickens since my DH thinks they are ugly.

I have to have naked necks 'cause my husband thinks they are cute. Keeps him from complaining when the numbers go up!

 

[IdealisticRoo]

Quote:
Must be something in the air, is it Spring? NO, it's dust! I moved ALL of my chicks to the small chicken house, it adjoins the "big" chicken house.

The Australorp trio did NOT want to give up their home and move next door with the crabby old ladies!!! I had to forcibly evict them several times before finding the "sqeeze spot"! Amazing what a fully grown Australorp rooster can fit through when he is running from a crabby EE 1/2 his size!

I GOT A BROODY HEN FROM DAISYCHICK!

I'M GONNA HATCH SOME CHICKIES! AND NOT HAVE TO RAISE THEM!

Can you tell I am excited?!? I got her home last night and this morning she was on the eggs, clucking away! She is on the tiny new bantam egg, 2 EE eggs and one of her "sister's" eggs. Hopefully I will have a couple more to give her tomorrow, unless my local enabler has a couple extra...

I gave the silkies haircuts, because I was tired of watching them walk into things!

Goodnight, fellow addicts, I am off to chase chickens in my dreams!!!