Colorado

[mynamesjenelle]

Yay! My wonderful little Forte will be all fixed up by next week. I'm so happy it wasn't totaled, and I'll be done with this dang rental. They gave me a Traverse...and I hate it. It physically hurts to get in and out of it, and you can't see out the back very well either. My air bag rash is healing pretty well, very itchy and ugly, and a couple will scar. But again I'm thankful my kids weren't in the car and that I wasn't a couple more seconds into the intersection.
On to chickens...
My five older girls are so mean to the new Cochins. How long is that going to last? In a week the three other Cochins are going outside permanently, and then two weeks after that the Silkies are out. I'm worried I'll have three or four separate flocks, and I don't want that. The big girls sit in the doorway of the coop, so we keep finding the Cochins huddled right outside the barn door. Should we leave them all in the coop together for a day? Any tips would be great.
~Ashley

It's good that the cochins have buddies so it's not just one bird getting picked on, but it is going to be tough to have them get along. My opinion is to try and introduce them on 'neutral' ground, in a chicken tractor or someplace where your older girls don't already have a claim to the space. That way they will be somewhat distracted by the new area and won't be defending their turf. The other option is to take the older girls out and put them in a separate pen next to the area, and then put the new girls in their run. The older girls will get frustrated because the youngsters are taking over their area, but won't be able to hurt them, while the new girls can explore the area without getting harassed. I think the stress of being stuck in a new area plus getting beat up on is too much sometimes. Lots of people subscribe to the 'hard knocks' method of just not intervening unless there is bloodshed, like they would do in the wild, but since we are putting them in an artificial situation I don't think that's right to do. In the wild any hens getting beaten up could just leave and find a more friendly flock, whereas they don't have that option in our yards.


Also, I think you guys jinxed me with all the car talk. Mine wouldn't start this morning

 

[wsmith]

I've never been to the Colorado State Fair, or the El Paso county fair. While growing up, each year we (the family) would attend the Utah State fair, the SE Idaho state fair, and occasionally the Weber county fair. It seemed that this was a "requirement" My family were farmers, and that's just what we did. I remember at the Utah State fair, two barns FULL wall to wall, (and sometimes stacked two high) of poultry cages. We HAD to see ALL the Araucanas and BRs, as that was my Dad's focus. That and cattle......It would take hours to go through all of them. The vendors and Mid-way concessions were annoying and cost way too much money.

I may go see the county fair next year. Though I don't current;y have plans on showing, I would be happy to supply birds to 4-H programs so long as they gave breeder credit to me. (if permitted)

I had a couple of friends go down on Saturday, and I've yeet to see the photos they took. Saturday was the 4H day wasn't it? They said they saw some Dominiques there on Saturday, though I don't know if they were correct of not. I'll have to wait for the photos they took.

I get nervous about fairs and shows and bio-security. That's one of the main reasons I am leary of showing. You never know what nasty thing might be lurking around someone else's flock that they may or may not be aware of, and I don't really want the added risk of having one of my birds bring home something. That being said, those risks can be mitigated by quarantine and isolation. Also by washing ones hands and changing cloghtin and shoes before going back into your own flock. Stuff is already being spread by wild birds, I know.

How does one get the word out to 4H programs that you will have eggs and or chicks available in the spring?

 

[Pozees]

Well, I finally made it to the Fair around 11:30, and agree, very disappointing - I've said many times, the problem with the livestock aspect of the fair (which is the only reason I even go) is that it takes place after school starts, so lots of exhibitors take their critters and leave the minute judging is complete because they have to get back to school or get their kids back to school, and also there is always the potential, as Wendell points out, of disease transmission. I was thinking yesterday it should be like Westminster Kennel Club, which is what is called a benched show - you are required to have your dog there and stay with him or her so people coming to see the dogs can actually see dogs and speak to owners or handlers with knowledge of the specific breed and dog. I only saw one bantam Dominique, and as Jenelle said, generally lots of bantams and game birds - latter of which are cartoonish almost, with their long legs and tiny bodies, and all that confidence! Ducks on the other hand, I thought there would be a larger variety especially among bantams, I didn't see any turkeys, and the poor market pen birds were so hot, I felt terrible for them, was surprised there was no air moving in the building at all. I, too, probably could have been talked into buying something, but the only ones I saw that I thought were worth serious consideration among hens/pullets were the Wyandottes, and no one was with them - no one was with any of the chickens, and many had their cage tags turned around so you could not see breed/variety, and about half had the bottom part of the tag folded up and stapled so you couldn't see who owned them. I understand security concerns, but then stay with your birds! I don't know, seems to me if enough of us were motivated, we could probably create a whole new poultry experience at the fair. Each of us could enter a few birds, and plan to be there all day Sunday (if that is judging day again for Open Poultry) to talk with people about keeping chickens, the differences between the various breeds and varieties, and the community that exists when questions arise, both locally and nationally, and in many respects internationally. Easy to say now, but I do think it's worth thinking over.

Saturday I met the woman from CSU who runs the NPIP program in CO and she tested all my girls for Typhoid (negative) and both forms of Salmonella - will have those results in the next week or so. I paid extra for the test for the kind of Salmonella that affects the eggs - she asked whether I planned on selling any, and I said not really, but we will be eating them, and I'd like to know they're safe! Anyway, not at all difficult or expensive, relative to the value of peace of mind. Hopefully all test results will be negative.

Best news of the weekend for me - my new coop was delivered! Had it built for me, because I have zero time or talent for such things and this woman was very reasonable on price and uses reclaimed barn wood for exterior siding, which I love. Now I will modify a bit and then attach to the 10x10 run, move the small coop-and-run combos out of the 10x10, and move the girls into their new larger space with the whole run to run in! I want to enclose the base, line the interior with reflective insulation and cover with 1/4 inch plywood, add vents and the roost, and may extend the ramp to decrease the steepness of it (this last to make DH happy, he worries all the time about how steep ramps are LOL - for a guy who thinks I'm crazy to have them, he spends a lot of time thinking about how to make them safe and comfortable). I will try to take a few pics and post them. It is 8' long, a little over 3 1/2 feet deep, about the same for interior height, and sits 2 feet off the ground supported by VERY stout timbers, I expected 4x4s, think these are at least 6x6s.

 

[wsmith]

Saturday I met the woman from CSU who runs the NPIP program in CO and she tested all my girls for Typhoid (negative) and both forms of Salmonella - will have those results in the next week or so. I paid extra for the test for the kind of Salmonella that affects the eggs - she asked whether I planned on selling any, and I said not really, but we will be eating them, and I'd like to know they're safe! Anyway, not at all difficult or expensive, relative to the value of peace of mind. Hopefully all test results will be negative.

I plan on getting NPIP done sometime after we clean out pen 1 (process the cockerels) and start hatching in the spring. Did she indicate how long it takes to schedule, and test?

 

[Danimal21]

I am in Kiowa, CO and am in need of a replacement pullet cochin chick (preferably blue and around 2 weeks old). Does anyone know of a place nearby that has any available? any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kmatt87]

My son had a Baseball Tourney on Sunday in Longmont. When we came home, I went out in the backyard to check on the girls...only two came running to greet me. Not a problem, if they are resting in the shade they can be a little bit lazy to come when I call them. So I went and checked under the coop...nobody. So I checked on both sides of the house....empty.

By now I'm a bit concerned...because I don't have a big backyard...there are not lots of places for them to hide.

I start heading into the house so that I can go out the front door and begin talking to my neighbors...maybe something happened during the day while we were at the ball fields. Just as I'm heading up the stairs into the house, I happen to take one more look into the backyard. I see a little head looking at me from behind the power box by the garden. As soon as the head sees me looking, it ducks back behind the power box.

I walk over to the power box and look behind it...there are the remainder of my flock, all nestled together...hiding.

Those little Terd-Balls.

i had my ee hide under the big pile of decking and didn't come out even when she heard the bowl of scratch being filled. Little brat. My kids were in tears because they thought she got taken by a hawk

 

[WendyGeisler]

Quote: Ok just took lots of photos... from your description, it seems I have a roo. so sad that out of my 4 chicks, 2 are male!!

 

[WendyGeisler]

Free to good home (sniff, sniff)
One sweet Domique Roo... raised from a chick, well handled
Wendy

 

[wsmith]

Free to good home (sniff, sniff)
One sweet Domique Roo... raised from a chick, well handled
Wendy

HOLD ON! WAIT! Are these all the same chicken? How old is it? The black on the beak and dark on the front of the legs generally means pullet.........The cockerels at that age are lighter feathered as well. Where did you get them? Mine are at about 15-16 weeks.Some are hatched from some very good show lines, the others are from Cackle hatchery. The show line pullets are larger, and lighter colored than the Cackle birds, and have smaller combs. The cackle pullets are darker, with not as fine barring. The cackle cockerels have massive combs at 15 weeks. Also at 15 weeks, the cockerels tail sickle feathers are longer and starting to have that distinctive shape that make Dom Roosters so magnificent. Pullets have shorter, straighter tail feathers. The tail feathers of each should be at about 45*. The tail feathers on the chicken shown seem to be more indicative of a pullet.

 

[Mtn Margie]

I agree, that doesn't look like a roo to me. My boy was noticeably boy by a couple of months and had very thick legs and an upright body, totally different in carriage from the girls.