Colorado

[maggiemo]

We have had a cold wind from the north for a couple days.

I wanted to check here and see if anyone has any 4 or 5 week old barred Easter eggers, or barred naked necks pullets? I just thought I would ask. A girl can dream right? I see pictures and want one. I suppose I should man up and get a barred rock rooster and hatch my own.

 

[Pozees]

I have Domineggers that are a couple of weeks old, Ashley, Dominique over Easter Eggers from Wendell, they will be barred Olive Eggers. I have 4 of them.

 

[Camp Leader]

Meat bird update. I've had them 3 weeks tomorrow 4/30. They are different from watching the layers grow. These things eat like little monsters. Lucky so far I think, ordered 30, received 32 and 2 died the first week. They are growing really fast, as advertised. I have them a small run. I do want them to get some sun and fresh air. So far 150 pounds of feed and picked up another 150 for them. Planning on another 100 to 150 pounds to get them to weight. I'll keep throwing out my progress reports. So far, seeing how they eat is scary, their size is amazing. Maybe try to update on Saturdays. Hope springs pushes in here soon.

 

[kismetspawn]

Meat bird update. I've had them 3 weeks tomorrow 4/30. They are different from watching the layers grow. These things eat like little monsters. Lucky so far I think, ordered 30, received 32 and 2 died the first week. They are growing really fast, as advertised. I have them a small run. I do want them to get some sun and fresh air. So far 150 pounds of feed and picked up another 150 for them. Planning on another 100 to 150 pounds to get them to weight. I'll keep throwing out my progress reports. So far, seeing how they eat is scary, their size is amazing. Maybe try to update on Saturdays. Hope springs pushes in here soon.

Holy moly, that's some scary math... that's about 3 times what my 4 to 6 week old layers are eating.

 

[trsturself]

Meat bird update. I've had them 3 weeks tomorrow 4/30. They are different from watching the layers grow. These things eat like little monsters. Lucky so far I think, ordered 30, received 32 and 2 died the first week. They are growing really fast, as advertised. I have them a small run. I do want them to get some sun and fresh air. So far 150 pounds of feed and picked up another 150 for them. Planning on another 100 to 150 pounds to get them to weight. I'll keep throwing out my progress reports. So far, seeing how they eat is scary, their size is amazing. Maybe try to update on Saturdays. Hope springs pushes in here soon.

Keep us posted how it goes. Are these cornishX or one of the other breeds?

We did a batch of "rainbow ranger" meat birds from Meyer last summer. I was floored by how much they ate. We had 25 and they would empty two feeders in minutes what took layers a day or two to finish. It was absolutely incredible. We had a few problems along the way with feed (they were kept at a friend's farm that wouldn't check on them and their goat kept breaking in and eating their food). They were a disappointing 2.3lb average processed weight. They were expensive in the end (all organic food) but DELICIOUS! We are trying to buy a place with some land right now and once we are setup I want to raise birds for meat again. I think I'll just do a few heritage heavy breeds and have a sustainable flock rather than the commercial meat birds though. But I haven't really decided. Maybe one batch of commercial birds to stock the freezer, then fill in with the heritage birds as they reach butchering age. We'll see how things go.

 

[suncatcher]

I am going with dual purpose breeds here too, mainly for eggs, but plan on growing out some roosters late summer and early fall, looking forward to seeing how much better they taste than the grocery store chicken! I am finding that they grow out slower, so not the best breeds if you are looking for fast results.

Will be interested in the progress on your meat chickens too! Are you feeding fermented feed or feeding it dry?

We had some snow overnight! Not much, will be gone in no time...... Come on spring! Oops, this is springtime in the Rockies!!!

 

[Mtn Margie]

Apparently I slept through our nasty wind, according to a friend who was complaining about a lack of sleep

Oh well! Got my horse's feet trimmed in the dust storm yesterday. He was a good boy and reacts to the wind like I do. Ran around the outskirts of the hay fields and harvested the first of the asparagus, before the horse eats it, mind you. He has good taste! Came back up the hill to a snow storm and unloaded a bunch of wood for some stairs down to the garden because our mountain goat path just isn't working anymore and the flood/rains didn't help the situation and geez, I am on the best side of 50 so, ya know, stairs are a good thing. Rolling pebbles, rock slides, not so much. Rolling stones- still a good thing!

 

[maggiemo]

Rolling pebbles, rock slides, not so much. Rolling stones- still a good thing!

 

[maggiemo]

I have Domineggers that are a couple of weeks old, Ashley, Dominique over Easter Eggers from Wendell, they will be barred Olive Eggers. I have 4 of them.

I have 5 week old chicks now. They are outside in a small pen/run area with a light. I wonder if the age difference is too broad to keep them together? How much are the chicks?

 

[kismetspawn]

Still can't get over how much those meat birds are eating. Don't fall down in the pen with them... you might become a tasty morsel!

I wish there was an age component to the bird limit in Denver. With 3 boys, it would be nice to be able to add a few meat birds to the layers since they wouldn't be around for more than a few months. But the limit is total birds of any age. *sigh* Although, with as slow as Denver moves, if we waited a few months in between to replace the meat birds, by the time any inspectors showed up we might be able to convince them that our neighbors just can't count.

My girls are still in their brooder b/c we haven't finished the inside of the coop yet... it's almost there and should be done and usable this coming weekend, would have been done early this week if not for the cold weather. It still needs 1 more coat of paint inside and I'm a woos and don't want to be outside painting in the cold. I'm hoping to have them in the coop by this weekend, fingers crossed! I've been putting them outside during the day in a Super Playyard with netting over the top to protect from hawks or into their run. Since they aren't free ranging yet I've been digging up weeds for them to feast on. They REALLY like dandelion greens/flowers... which, based on the looks of one side of our house, bodes well for me. I think I could raise them on dandelion greens alone and never run out! LOL

Question, the Americauna has several really watery poops a day. I don't think it's due to being hot, we've taken the heat lamp out of the brooder and they've been outside during the day and it's been in he 50's the past few days. The poops have substance in them, but are really watery. I don't see any worms or anything that looks like eggs/larvae. She also has solid and solid w/urates poops, so her poops aren't just watery. Any ideas on what's causing the watery poops? Is it normal? The 8 of them have been emptying 2 - 3 20 oz bottles of water a day, which doesn't seem excessive unless she's hoarding it all, but I do see others at the nipples.

The BA is still an enigma. The cape feathers came in... aaand they're pointy, but the sweep feathers are rounded. At a little over 5 weeks it still has a very small, pale comb, smaller than some of the others, but the waddles are starting to come in and they are pinker. It's still the slowest at developing feathers and it's neck is still somewhat bare as is out from the middle down the middle of it's back and under the wings. The legs are huge and it still looks more like an ostrich than a chicken, but it's looking more chicken-y as it's feathers come in. So, based on what everyone here said and what I've read elsewhere, I still don't know if it's a he or she. But I think we're changing it's name to Pat... androgynous Pat. It's feathers have developed a beautiful green sheen... whatever it is, it's going to be a pretty bird.

I could totally do without this wind... come on Saturday and 70!