Chicks for the first Time

[winchuck]

Sounds like you live where I do even though we are more than 3,000 miles apart. I was born in Three Rivers, Michigan. We are on the Coast of Oregon near the CA border. We dug a 50x25' pond out front. We have no turtles and not allowed to import them. We do have water dogs and frogs. I'd love a couple swans but afraid that the poop might overwhelm the pond and maybe us. I will seriously consider this if and when Maggie goes to dog heaven. She is about 10 now so maybe in another 4 or 5 years. Not wishing her dead, but wishing for less killing going on. She chewed through the screen on the brooder and ate my chicks while we were busy outside. Someone left the door open where they were "safe". Our benign rescued dog brought me one dropping it near me as if to say, "Look what Maggie did.". Sickening for sure. Here is our pond. We hauled all the rock from a nearby mountain. I asked my husband why he made it so large and his answer was that his friend's back hauler had to have room to turn around.. The swing on the right is on the hill made from the dig.
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[Prettypuddles]

Beautiful pond!! It's good to see.
Mine is only about 13x20' by 2 feet deep, any deeper and I have to fence it in (city ordinance). I live in a typical suburban (really quite urban) neighborhood, with a typical sized front yard. I do however live at the end of a cul-de-sac next to a small stand of woods. I see things in our yard that some people on my street have never seen in their whole lives. It helps to landscape natively.
I just took the picture below. It is a view from my kitchen table to the front yard. Just on the other side of the bushes is the sidewalk and street. There are a bunch of dragonflies and damselflies hovering. The turtles ate all my fish! LOL They were only goldfish that I bought for a dime from the feeder fish tank of death anyway. They grew pretty big tho. Can you find the 4 turtles? LOL I never try and touch them or pick them up. They are wild and I want them to feel safe. Mostly, I don't want to get them too tame to make it easy for someone to steal them. Its funny, they can tell when its me standing nearby (I usually throw them a couple of treats) and they will swim toward me. They will swim away or take cover in the water when someone else comes by. hehe

This pond is lined. We have a natural bottom pond in the back that is fed by the downspouts from the house and garage. So its water is variable. With native grasses and forbes all around. That is where I will let my chickens roam when I let them out.
Gonna go in the back and put the shingles on the coop. It's almost done!


Good luck with Maggie, she can't help it. Terriers were bred for that.
Cheers

 

[Willaxbird]

My chick just arrived on Friday, so far they seem to be doing well. My concern is that they seem not to consume feed enough, is this normal or is there something i can do to help them feed better? Thanks

 

[boyswillbeboys]

My chick just arrived on Friday, so far they seem to be doing well. My concern is that they seem not to consume feed enough, is this normal or is there something i can do to help them feed better? Thanks

How much is not enough? I know mine went straight for the food when I got them, I showed them the water and they found the food on their own. 45 2.5 week olds went through a 7lb feeder today (hope I bought enough for the next 2 weeks.) with the 7lb feeder and a tray at 3-5 days old I was going through about 1-2 scoops of feed a day, I think. 1 scoop filled the tray from empty.

 

[winchuck]

Your coop is also similar to our's. Maybe we are related? LOL I do Ancestry.com and believe me, I am related to a lot of people! Chickens got their first watermellon. OMG! They sure can devour it down to the green part. I have another piece for them today. We are pretty well ignoring them this week as big project of refinishing our largest room's floors. We painted the room the past two days and hauled the entire room to other parts of the house and to the deck (it isn't suppose to rain here after June...until we don't want it to) I can feel my age today. I still cannot see that I have any roosters. I keep checking the back of their legs for any sign of a future spur. They are beginning to trust me while I sit there talking "chicky" to them. I can now toss food in their direction without every one having a chicken fit.

 

[Prettypuddles]

I was born on the West Coast - Only because my dad was in the Air Force at the time - LOL.
I'm a first generation German, second generation Irish. So maybe ties back to the 'ol country!

My chicks are starting to trust me too. I find that the Plymouth Barred Rocks seem to be the most curious and actually come to my hand and fly to me when I arrive.
the Buff Orpingtons aren't too far behind - always looking for tasty insect snacks! The Easter Eggers are still a little shy and complain alot when I first pick them up to take them outside.
I hear what you say about having a chicken fit! Its hilarious! I give one chick a mealworm and it runs around like the sky is falling and everyone joins in the chase.

We finished the roof and the nest box lids yesterday and are now starting on the vinyl siding. It should be complete by this weekend. Then I'm moving the brooder inside it.

 

[eyotig25]

The rir are getting their tail feathers already and they r only about a week and a half old...they also have a LOT of theor wing geathers already whereas the australops have minimal amounts of wing feathers and no sign of tail feathers. ...it amazes me how different each breed develops...didn't notice it to much with my first batch but with these guys it is easier to see the differences....they r still too cute

 

[eyotig25]

Nice coop prettypuddles and both ur ponds r very beautiful....the mosquitoes would kill us here if we tried that

 

[cookfamilyfarm]

I sure like Start and Grow from Purina.

 

[Prettypuddles]

Thank you for the compliment about my pond. I would like to tell you though, that before the pond we used to have a very bad mosquito problem here too. After having my pond for a year, our mosquito population dropped dramatically!!!! The mosquitoes would of course lay their eggs in it and the goldfish and dragonfly larvae would eat them up. It was kinda like a mosquito trap - one that really works. I have oodles of adult dragonflies that keep the pesky mosquito population down too. It's a win-win for all except for the mosquito's!
I must add that I do not add any type of chemical in the water, I use a veggie filter for water conditioning and might add some bacteria in the spring (if I'm not too lazy). The bacteria do all the work keeping the water clean.

Now it's gonna be the chickens job to get rid of all the ticks! LOL