Colorado

[P-Funk]

I have 1 crowing at 9 weeks. It sounds like a horse stepping on a duck, I assume. That's a beautiful Barred Rock, BTW.

 

[Wendi C]

Have you tried locking them in their coop for several days (with food and water), with no access to the run? That teaches them where "home" is..... Just be sure temps inside the coop aren't over 80...... (This is what I have read.... not tried, since my coop is still not finished).

No- I didn't want to lock them in with the high temps over the past few days. The coop has a galvanized roof with a southern facing exposure (good for winter, not so good for summer). But, if it cools down for a few days in a row, I'll give that a try. Thanks!

 

[Wendi C]

" horse stepping on a duck"

LOL- I've been comparing it the "Peter Brady voice change episode", but from now on I'll think of it as a "horse stepping on a duck".

Thanks for the compliment re: my Barred Rock. He started out as my favorite chick, but I'm guessing it's time to get "unattached"

.

 

[VtotheAL]

At what age will my chicks begin to like scraps? They are 10 weeks old and still turn their beaks up at pretty much anything I try to give them (with the exception of meal worms, of course).

One of them ate a bit of string cheese the other day. I put a slice of watermelon in the run for them yesterday and after one trial peck each, they refused to even touch it.

Are they still just too young to have the taste for other food yet? And at what age do they generally start liking scraps?

 

[WendyGeisler]

I have 2 girls that are now 7 months old that still will not go to bed at night. I have tried everything... locking them in, putting them in first, treats, andI have even gotten another coop (in case it was an overcrowding issue). And nope, they still wait for me to put them to bed every night. They sit next to the coop on a bench or on a trash can and just wait for me to come pick them up and wisk them into the coop. I think they like it, they are the bottom two of the pecking order. Before we got the bird netting up, it used to worry me to death that if I didn't get out there quickly the owl or hawk would swoop down and take them away. But now, I am a little more relaxed and make my rounds before bed time.

 

[WendyGeisler]

On this note... I have 5 baby chicks (that are 3 and 2 months old) who go to bed every night by themselves. So of my 14 girls in the run... all put themselves to bed, except Butterscotch (EE) and Speckles (Speckled Sussex).

 

[pichuris]

Day three: still had to put them to bed by hand after trying to lure them in with strawberries. We're supposed to get rain this afternoon, so perhaps tonight they will be more motivated.
But, I'm relieved to know that it's normal.

This is Violet/Vern at approximately 8 weeks. I noticed yesterday that he's beginning to get bumps that look like spurs. There were some accordion-like noises coming from the brooder box before they moved outside (not too loud, but I'm pretty sure he's crowing). Also, he's getting pointy feathers at the base of his tail[FONT=arial, sans-serif].[/FONT]

Definately a beautiful roo.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I just got an email from ideal poultry; they are having an emergency hatch day sale on black sexlinks, $2 ea. I think you have to call to order. Figured I would spread the word...

 

[urbanfarmer101]

Yesterday we rehomed our confirmed, crowing rooster Princess. I listed him on craigslist with trepidation. You just never know what people are gonna do with them. When the people arrived to get Princess, imagine our surprise that we knew the family! So, Princess went to a loving home and not someone's belly. For that I am thankful.

 

[annav410]

At what age will my chicks begin to like scraps? They are 10 weeks old and still turn their beaks up at pretty much anything I try to give them (with the exception of meal worms, of course).

One of them ate a bit of string cheese the other day. I put a slice of watermelon in the run for them yesterday and after one trial peck each, they refused to even touch it.

Are they still just too young to have the taste for other food yet? And at what age do they generally start liking scraps?

It is my understanding that they are not always fond of new things but they will figure it out. What I have done is provide a treat I know they like and then add another treat to introduce. They like yogurt so I will add lettuce, noodles, etc to the yogurt and they figure out pretty quickly that it is all good. Have you tried plain yogurt? Mine were suspicious at first but now it is one of their favorites.

The girls with their yogurt snack at about 11-12 weeks