Colorado

[Double Kindness]

One of my white bresse just died, several look sick. I'm freaking out and am sick to boot. I can't lose another chicken, things aren't looking good atm. They are making honking noises, shaking their heads, ruffled feathers. Lost weight. Some barfing. It's been so wet with all the snow melt/run off.

Cocci? Worse? Bronchial infection? It seems to be only on the ones I just moved outside from the barn a week ago. I sprinkled sweet pzd powder and fresh straw and had cleaned the entire enclosed run/coop out. These are my ayam cemani & white bresse. Agh.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Hmmm, never heard of them, but looking them up now..... Sounds like they order from Hatcheries, as you have to order minimum of 25 chicks, you can order as little as seven from My Pet Chicken. There are a few that order from hatchery, and then you can pick them up at their farm. All Things Homestead comes to mind.

Privett Hatchery is near Albq NM (I think), would be an 7-8 hour drive, but might be worth it if they allow local pick up.

Wind is picking up here, but otherwise a beautiful day!!! Going to be a great weekend, hope to get out and get a chicken tractor built for the Bantams.

That is what I kinda thought too but it also says they ship chicks. I guess I will give them a call and see what the deal is. I was looking for a rather common chicken breed so perhaps they can help.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Ridiculous wind! Trying to roast a wild pig that a friend brought up from TX. Got it mostly cooked and then moved to the oven. Lost a tree and lost a section of the chicken coop roof. Guess they get to view the moon tonight although I will have to get it fixed by tomorrow night when the real wind hits. Stupid wind.

Now, DK, the head shaking and the nasal stuff, problamatic! I would make sure they are warm, draft free and no dust and it does sound like a round of antibiotics might be necessary if one has already succumbed. You can also put some Vet RX in their water and keep their heads clean (nostrils), probiotics, and extra vities - (no iron) if you just want them to tough it out. If there is a smell to their "snot", I would go the medical route for sure. Good Luck with your birds.

 

[trsturself]

Hmmm, never heard of them, but looking them up now..... Sounds like they order from Hatcheries, as you have to order minimum of 25 chicks, you can order as little as seven from My Pet Chicken. There are a few that order from hatchery, and then you can pick them up at their farm. All Things Homestead comes to mind.

Privett Hatchery is near Albq NM (I think), would be an 7-8 hour drive, but might be worth it if they allow local pick up.

Wind is picking up here, but otherwise a beautiful day!!! Going to be a great weekend, hope to get out and get a chicken tractor built for the Bantams.

If you want hatchery birds, a few places will do special orders from hatcheries for you. I think Wardell does. Wildfire Farms orders from Cackle, I'm not sure if she'll do special orders or not but I wouldn't be surprised if she did. She orders a lot of different breeds. Our first 5 chickens were from her and we love them.
If you are looking for local breeders the best bet is to watch craigslist and BYC for sale in the spring. I hope to have the following: CCL, OE, BCM, and sizzles. I know other people on this thread will probably have something too. There is also quite a few swaps (Elizabeth, Denver, etc) that you can go to.

 

[Percheron chick]

Has anyone heard of or got chicks from Summer Rose Farms and Hatchery?

I find it very interesting that they have been around 100 years and no one on this board has bought or heard of them. One red flag for me was that they allow on farm pickup. Don't know of any other hatchery that allows buyers onsite. And now to be picky, what's with all the grammatical errors on their website? Don't people proof anymore? Personally, I wouldn't do the drive. They will only be in the mail one day. If you want to wait until mid March, NoCo Feeder Supply in FC does a chicken workshop. They will get in about 1000 chicks just for that event.

What every happened to Larry's Poultry in Brush? Anyone know who raises chicks in the Windsor/ northern CO area? Large operation. Believed she sold only wholesale. Her mom would sell chicks on CL out of loveland. She had 60+ breeds/c. Haven't seen them around in a few years.

 

[trsturself]

I find it very interesting that they have been around 100 years and no one on this board has bought or heard of them. One red flag for me was that they allow on farm pickup. Don't know of any other hatchery that allows buyers onsite. And now to be picky, what's with all the grammatical errors on their website? Don't people proof anymore? Personally, I wouldn't do the drive. They will only be in the mail one day. If you want to wait until mid March, NoCo Feeder Supply in FC does a chicken workshop. They will get in about 1000 chicks just for that event.

What every happened to Larry's Poultry in Brush? Anyone know who raises chicks in the Windsor/ northern CO area? Large operation. Believed she sold only wholesale. Her mom would sell chicks on CL out of loveland. She had 60+ breeds/c. Haven't seen them around in a few years.

FWIW Meyer allows onsite pick up and they are a huge operation. I guess if you have the chicks in a separate area and take precautions it's doable.
It is strange though that no one here and heard of them if they've supposedly been around that long.

 

[COChix]

This does bring up a question for me: Is it better (as in, better for the chickens themselves) to have the coop on the ground or raised? I've seen a number that utilize the actual ground as the floor for the coop while others raise them and make a floor for their coops. Was just wondering if anyone had any Pros/Cons thoughts on that that they wouldn't mind sharing. Thanks again so much for all the wonderful help y'all have given me!

Well can't help much with that question, as the coop was already existing with my boyfriend before I moved in. Ours is on the ground, this works well for me as I am short. We do have a wooden floor as it use to be an old shed. This is the only experience I know as far as coops go.

Where did you order your chicks from, how many, and what breeds?

 

[Latestarter]

Well, yesterday was nice enough that I was able to hook up the garden hose and completely wash down (the dust!) inside both coops. Served the dual purpose of adding much needed moisture to the deep litter as well. The chickens were a little freaked out at first, but then seemed to really enjoy the shower they got

Also took a rake and stirred up/ moved/leveled the litter a bit to even things out. Now THAT they weren't too pleased with at all

Nothing like a pile of chickens in a corner, all trying to get to/hide at the bottom of the pile. Of course the corners were where I was trying to pull the piled up litter out of... go figure?!

Since the interior rain storm had the undesired effect of wetting down the nest box straw, I just finished removing it all (left it over night to soak up the water) and replaced it with fresh. So, should be good to go for quite a while again

Hope everyone is getting a chance to enjoy this nice weather we're having. Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I find it very interesting that they have been around 100 years and no one on this board has bought or heard of them. One red flag for me was that they allow on farm pickup. Don't know of any other hatchery that allows buyers onsite. And now to be picky, what's with all the grammatical errors on their website? Don't people proof anymore? Personally, I wouldn't do the drive. They will only be in the mail one day. If you want to wait until mid March, NoCo Feeder Supply in FC does a chicken workshop. They will get in about 1000 chicks just for that event.

What every happened to Larry's Poultry in Brush? Anyone know who raises chicks in the Windsor/ northern CO area? Large operation. Believed she sold only wholesale. Her mom would sell chicks on CL out of loveland. She had 60+ breeds/c. Haven't seen them around in a few years.

I did notice the grammar too. I guess I will hang in there and check out the feeder supply. When I was there last they had some interesting breeds. I have seen them advertise on Craigs before the event.
Jax just 8 blocks from me will add to their order for individual needs. Not so happy with the ones I have gotten from them though. Not a single good layer in the bunch and some real mean hens. Even got 2 roosters out of the sorted pullets. I know there is a margin for error in the sexing but dang that was a bummer.
I know the folks that ended up with the SS roo so may even try and get some SS/ BA eggs from them.

 

[trsturself]

I did notice the grammar too. I guess I will hang in there and check out the feeder supply. When I was there last they had some interesting breeds. I have seen them advertise on Craigs before the event.
Jax just 8 blocks from me will add to their order for individual needs. Not so happy with the ones I have gotten from them though. Not a single good layer in the bunch and some real mean hens. Even got 2 roosters out of the sorted pullets. I know there is a margin for error in the sexing but dang that was a bummer.
I know the folks that ended up with the SS roo so may even try and get some SS/ BA eggs from them.

I have gotten a much better ratio of unwanted males from anywhere other than Big R. I got 6 pullets and 1 straight run there and ended up with 3 males! 1 of which was the straight run, so that was 1/3 male out of sexed pullets. I don't like buying out of those mixed bins. I'm afraid the employees just put them back wherever (the public too). Elizabeth and Kiowa Country Corner keep them well separate. I will probably get any chicks I need from them again.