Colorado

[trsturself]

I resisted the bantams. Mostly because we don't need any roos, we are trying to pack up the house and get it ready for sale, and we have quite a few bantams now (6).
We did get a BLRW though. I'll try to post a pic soon.

 

[kismetspawn]

Hello everyone!

Ha, I was in Murdoch's the other day and walked past the chicks and ooohhh, they're so hard to resist! LOL But I'm fairly certain all our neighbors can count and we're only allowed 8. Booo!

Do any of you put dust baths in your brooders? Our oldest chicks are about 4 wks and the youngest are about 2 wks. Our brooder is in the living room b/c we don't have a heated garage and having them in the living room keeps them where the kids can have supervised interaction with them. Anway, I took the chicks outside today for some grass time and one of them started dust bathing in the dirt. So I got the brilliant idea to put a pie plate with some dirt and DE in the brooder. It took them a bit to figure it out, but for one of them, the Americauna, it was like chicken crack!! LOL I swear she was rolling around in the pie pan and dust was flying up out of the tote! I don't think anyone else actually got in the dust bath, but they all had collateral dustiness from her romp! We took her outside and made her flap and them we blew off more dust by mouth, it was still coming out like Pigpen. Threatened to get the compressor out! Or an actual bath! LOL Needless to say, the dust bath left the brooder... dust bathing will be an outside treat only.

How early can you tell if a chick is a cockerel and what are kind of the tell-tale signs? We have a 3 wk-ish old Black Austrolorp and I think it might be a boy. We got it at Kiowa Country Corner (or Elizabeth, can't remember which) and they were sexed, but I know that's not a guarantee. Anyway, I was watching it outside today and it struts around more than the others, it's feathers are more coarse than the others, it's skinnier than the others and I also noticed that when we pick it up and it's not happy about it or it doesn't get perched on us just right and it makes a fuss, it sort of chortles whereas the others still cheep, so it has a different voice. It is also the last one to get tail feathers, even the 2 wk-ers have tail feathers, and my DH said he read somewhere that the BA males tend to get tail feathers later. Any thoughts?

 

[Pozees]

Hello everyone!

Ha, I was in Murdoch's the other day and walked past the chicks and ooohhh, they're so hard to resist! LOL But I'm fairly certain all our neighbors can count and we're only allowed 8. Booo!

Do any of you put dust baths in your brooders? Our oldest chicks are about 4 wks and the youngest are about 2 wks. Our brooder is in the living room b/c we don't have a heated garage and having them in the living room keeps them where the kids can have supervised interaction with them. Anway, I took the chicks outside today for some grass time and one of them started dust bathing in the dirt. So I got the brilliant idea to put a pie plate with some dirt and DE in the brooder. It took them a bit to figure it out, but for one of them, the Americauna, it was like chicken crack!! LOL I swear she was rolling around in the pie pan and dust was flying up out of the tote! I don't think anyone else actually got in the dust bath, but they all had collateral dustiness from her romp! We took her outside and made her flap and them we blew off more dust by mouth, it was still coming out like Pigpen. Threatened to get the compressor out! Or an actual bath! LOL Needless to say, the dust bath left the brooder... dust bathing will be an outside treat only.

How early can you tell if a chick is a cockerel and what are kind of the tell-tale signs? We have a 3 wk-ish old Black Austrolorp and I think it might be a boy. We got it at Kiowa Country Corner (or Elizabeth, can't remember which) and they were sexed, but I know that's not a guarantee. Anyway, I was watching it outside today and it struts around more than the others, it's feathers are more coarse than the others, it's skinnier than the others and I also noticed that when we pick it up and it's not happy about it or it doesn't get perched on us just right and it makes a fuss, it sort of chortles whereas the others still cheep, so it has a different voice. It is also the last one to get tail feathers, even the 2 wk-ers have tail feathers, and my DH said he read somewhere that the BA males tend to get tail feathers later. Any thoughts?

There are some strains of some breeds where the males will get tail feathers later than the females, other than that you would look for thicker legs, pointed feathers coming down off the neck and across the back toward the tail, larger redder comb, and wattles sprouting and getting red.

All birds love to dust bathe, but I would not put one in the brooder - as you found out, the dust will be everywhere, and they make enough feather dust as it is. At 4 weeks they must have about enough feathers to move outside to a coop, and they shouldn't need any supplemental heat unless it's below freezing and they are not fully feathered yet. As long as the coop is properly ventilated, has some bedding to snuggle into or roosts to settle on, and all 8 are together they should be able to stay warm. Bob read me the forecast last night and it does sound like we have another sub-freezing night coming up, I think it's going down to 26 Sunday night, so if you are able to provide a ceramic heat emitter or a heat plate or something in the coop overnight, they should be fine. I don't like heat lamps in small coops because of the fire hazard, but they will do in a pinch. Either way, you will want to get them migrated out of the house pretty soon.

 

[maggiemo]

I didn't know they could go out in the coop at 4 weeks without heat. This is the first time I have raised chicks myself, broody's have done it in the past.
The forecast I am looking at says 19F Sunday night. http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/garden/weather/tenday/80304
My cherry trees are looking like they want to bloom. I guess that will probably be the end of them

 

[Pozees]

I didn't know they could go out in the coop at 4 weeks without heat. This is the first time I have raised chicks myself, broody's have done it in the past.
The forecast I am looking at says 19F Sunday night. http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/garden/weather/tenday/80304
My cherry trees are looking like they want to bloom. I guess that will probably be the end of them

Yeah, our apples are getting ready to bloom too, and we are hoping we don't have the same thing as last year where we get no apples because of a late freeze.

Yes, for anyone raising chicks, this time of year, once the chicks have feathered out, which is usually around 4 weeks of age, they can be moved out to a coop and run. It is a little smoother for them if you start by putting them out during the day and bringing in at dusk for a day or two, and make sure they have a small shelter outside to get out of the sun and wind in addition to predator protection - you can use a couple pieces of fence or whatever you have handy if you need to confine them to a part of your existing run, and that helps introduction to existing flock members as well. If you are adding to an adult flock, give them several days of seeing each other, then put the younger birds into the coop at night after dark, and observe carefully the next morning when you open up the coop - sometimes it's one and done, sometimes you have to rescue and re-confine the youngsters for several days before they have integrated. There will be pecking order issues, but if you see blood or major feather loss, you will want to intervene.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

6/7 eggs set hatched in my trusty Brinsea. One chick was dead in the shell, no external pip. I'm lucky to have such a good hatch. The eggs were all between 10-14 days old. GQF sent me a new lid for my Genesis, and I had set 48 eggs. I only tossed out 2 infertile eggs. The rest are due to hatch for Easter.

 

[katie5668]

OMG ,,,your chick dust bath story is hilarious. I laughed so hard my sides ached! I am just letting my chicks check out the outside world, I have a small portable fence, was once a dog kennel. anyhow..I put the fence up & secure it so they can run in a protected area then return them to the chicken house for the nite.
My greatest concern right now was that my Mama Kitty , who is a prolific hunter would be interested in the chicks. Although they are about the size of bantys now. Well this AM I was walking my geese & then opened up the chicken house ..Mama was there close by..lifted her head to gaze at them then turned & walked off. So chickens must sound or smell different than game birds to a cat!
I know she got a scare from the geese..they were grazing & she just walked by their area. That scared them & they took off in a group honking & flapping their wings, Mama Kitty ran like the devil himself was after her & did not stop till she was on the deck! No worries there now!
We have coyotes, foxes,bull snakes & other snakes plus some smaller critters similar to a weasel..they are of that family I am sure, there are enough threats & keeping the pens & houses secure is an ongoing project for certain.
My donkey Skinner keeps most of the coyotes & neighboring dogs at bay & I am hoping the geese as they grow will keep the snake population down. I do allow the bull snakes as they are a natural enemy of rattle snakes, we kinda did a deal many years ago.
I will let the bull snakes & their get live here without harm as long as they keep the rattlers away from the house..has worked pretty good so far!
ok have rattled on long enough need to get up & get moving!

Crabapples blooming... a few apricot blossoms...& the weather guy has nerve enough to say...."snow?"....geeeeeeeeeze!!!

Springtime in Colorado!! gotta love it!

 

[Ashdoes]

My mother-in-law has a Peach tree, and the only time we don't get peaches is if it hails, just after bloom. We didn't get any last year. I can't tell you how disappointed I was, those are the best peaches I've ever had.
We just planted two cherry trees, and I'm super excited about them. We're still looking for a Rainier, hoping Harding nursery gets them in by the end of this month.
Two weeks ago my husband took down all the hardware cloth roof from our chicken run. We just couldn't stand it anymore, and having a closed in pen is enough, with out the roof. Once we took it down, I wanted the cherry trees in there. It's the perfect size for three trees, and that'll give the chickens shade, while still keeping a large area for them to be locked in if needed.
Our subdivision has been talking about keeping bees. Our size lots, 2.5 acres, just got Hobby Farm status last year from El paso county so we can have all kinds of things now, that we couldn't when we bought the house two years ago. I wish it was easier to keep bees, and I'd jump on it. Most of us out here think more bees are needed in our area, and moving them in would be the quickest way for that to happen.
I love Spring! Just wish it was a little more predictable.

 

[suncatcher]

Adorable chicks!!

We had a peach tree growing up in the Springs, it was Georgia Bell, or Bella Geogria???? They were the best peaches, you can't compare home grown fruit to that in the grocery store, soooo much better when you pick them and eat them right away. I have also planted one that was developed in MI or MN, a very hardy peach tree for northern climates, used manly for canning though..... Reliant Peach tree.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

We planted our peach tree 5 years ago and haven't gotten a peach yet, even though it has bloomed the last couple springs. This year it is completely covered in blossoms and has been for over a week. I'm dying for homegrown peaches. Hopefully we'll have a mild spring and everybody's fruit trees will pull through.