Colorado

[FamilyFarm12]

Hi. Canon City girl here. Just joined and looking forward to all of the help and suggestions from you pros. Just bought 12 little girls and can't wait for those fresh eggs. Grankiddos and I are having a ball with them. Let the work begin.

Hello! I can’t wait for the eggs either!

 

[PirateGirl]

Hello my fellow Coloradans! I was wondering if you all knew of a place I can go other than Craigslist or an expensive place like Murdochs to find a coop? I've got six chickens and four of them are three weeks and getting bigger everyday. I need to have the coop ready for when it's time to put them out. I've been looking around and haven't had any luck. I don't want to have to build my own coop as I'm not builder savvy and my husband doesn't want to go that route lol. Any and all help is accepted lol and thank you!!

There is a Colorado poultry buy/sell group on Facebook that is very active as well as a Colorado backyard chickens group. Both are good resources for coops. I have seen people sell coops on there as well as offer their services to build you a coop.

@FamilyFarm12 do a search on BYC through old threads, there are lots of great discussions on raising and training dogs to be around chickens.

 

[PirateGirl]

Found 2 eggs this morning, both frustrating and exciting. One egg was frozen and missed from yesterday. I have been having trouble with nest boxes and chickens now hating them and laying in weird places. Production has been ramping up and now eggs are in odd places when they never were before. I'm working on it. I'm trying yet another new nest box today.

The other egg is my first duck egg!!! Happy dance! It's been about 6 weeks since my ducks came to live with me and I finally got an egg! I guess that means they are settled in and happy.

 

[lomine]

Some of mine like to lay in weird places too. There is at least one that lays right in the middle of the floor. I've stepped on them a couple of times now. I think it might be the Partridge Cochin with problems, I call her Derpy. I'm not sure what is wrong with her but I suspect a head injury as she was fine until one day she wasn't. It gets worse when she is stressed.

All my ducks have started laying too. My older girls are back to laying one a day each and they are huge. I think even bigger than last year. I made myself an egg sandwich yesterday using a duck egg. I had forgotten how wonderfully rich and creamy the yolks were.

Since I increased the size of the chicken flock last year I have been getting a lot of eggs. Too many for me. I've started selling but so far no one wants to buy any. I know my coworkers don't have a problem eating fresh, unwashed eggs because they gladly took them when offered for free. They just don't want to pay. I think I just need to get the word out more and build a customer base. I also decided to offer price deals when they buy an 18 count or 2 dozen. Hopefully the idea of getting a good deal will get some to buy.

 

[PirateGirl]

I am going to do a taste test with my duck egg. I think I will cook it totally plain and also cook one of my chicken eggs plain and compare the two. They all eat the same food and get the same table scraps and scratch. It will be interesting to see the difference since their diets are identical.

I found an empty milk crate and put it in the chicken coop with straw today in the spot where I found 3 rogue eggs yesterday where the chickens had fashioned their own nest on the floor. I hope they take to it. They still hate the last nest box I made them and have not laid a single egg in it and fight over the favorite box or lay in weird places when it's occupied. Fingers crossed the milk crate solves this nest box stand off because when I miss an egg, it freezes overnight and breaks

Of course FREE fresh eggs are better @lomine What if you offer a starter rate, like the first dozen or half dozen costs a certain amount and then if they want another dozen it's a dollar more or something to get them hooked. Is there a bulletin board where you can hang a sign at the local feed store and/or grocery store? All you really need is a few repeat customers. I wouldn't think it would be hard to sell farm fresh eggs, but I haven't tried yet myself because we eat most of ours pretty quickly so far.

 

[lomine]

I’ve never done a side by side taste test before, interesting. I suggest you don’t scramble them. Duck eggs don’t scramble that well. Or at least to me they don’t. They get kind of rubbery. I like them over easy or soft boiled.

 

[PirateGirl]

I’ve never done a side by side taste test before, interesting. I suggest you don’t scramble them. Duck eggs don’t scramble that well. Or at least to me they don’t. They get kind of rubbery. I like them over easy or soft boiled.

Well something like that would allow for side by side comparison of both the yolks and whites separately. Hmm.

 

[Mychicks51]

I’ve never done a side by side taste test before, interesting. I suggest you don’t scramble them. Duck eggs don’t scramble that well. Or at least to me they don’t. They get kind of rubbery. I like them over easy or soft boiled.

Hi. Enjoyed your conversations as I will be building nest boxes soon. I don't know what's best. Hope you figure it out soon. Also my Dads favorite eggs for pasta and noodles were duck eggs. They are firmer and make best pasta ever.

 

[HenniesInMyHeart]

Hello my fellow Coloradans! I was wondering if you all knew of a place I can go other than Craigslist or an expensive place like Murdochs to find a coop? I've got six chickens and four of them are three weeks and getting bigger everyday. I need to have the coop ready for when it's time to put them out. I've been looking around and haven't had any luck. I don't want to have to build my own coop as I'm not builder savvy and my husband doesn't want to go that route lol. Any and all help is accepted lol and thank you!!

Hi there! Have you checked out eBay? I did a quick search and it looks there is a decent selection. The PawHut brand options are under $200. Happy hunting!

 

[PirateGirl]

@HenniesInMyHeart
In Colorado we also have Big R stores which often have some pretty nice coops. Their website isn't the greatest, but if you could locate a store near you it would be worth checking out. There's always Tractor Supply as well. I'm less familiar with TSC as I have never lives near one, but people on BYC mention it often.