Colorado

[COChix]

COChix,

We are still months away from adding any babies. I am not certain but is that a Barnevelder hen? Very nice looking lady.
Mine are always picking their feathers out when broody. Silly chickens.

I have not completely made up my mind on hatching yet. I cannot have any roos so that can be problematic when hatching.

I hope your pipes thaw without bursting. That is such a mess to deal with.
Have you located and cleared the main shutoff valve just in case?

funny you ask about the hen, we believe she is a dark Cornish and possibly a mutt from the hatchery, don't know for sure. Anyway, we are months away from incubating as I don't want to be dealing with possibly freezing weather with chicks. Also we will be letting some of our broodies take a stab and hatching and might have too many chicks at some point. If we get over run with baby chicks after hatching we will be selling as well, of course sexing will be an issue I am sure so no guarantees. Also there is a place in FoCo that will take unwanted hens and I think roosters as they are trying to build their flock of laying hens. Saw there add on CL the other day, now wether or not they actually keep the birds I do not know.

As far as water we have to truck in our water as we have a cistern, not sure about the main valve as BF has been dealing with it.

 

[Latestarter]

Hey Babs:
Sounds like you have plenty of ready made incubators all set to go

If you hatched out and had roos, I would be more than willing to take them back, but you have to understand they would be returning to go to freezer camp once they grew out. My "herd" of BAs already have 2 roos with them (and a very flighty barred rock roo that the hatchery threw in as an extra, who will be departing this world in the spring). My Wyandottes are the next friendliest group after the BOs. In fact, generally speaking they are more friendly as the entire bunch are friendly compared to only about 1/2 the BOs. The friendliest BO's will run right up to the coop door to see me any time I go out there and wait for their turn to be picked up and held/stroked. When I'm checking the nest boxes, they will jump up inside and come face to face with me to say hello. I have to hold them back for fear they will jump out (and I do NOT want to have to chase them down!)

The Wyandottes don't come running (unless I have food of some sort) but don't run away either. They don't mind if I reach in and touch them or pick them up and have a chat with them. The "exception" is the WW roo who bit me when I tried to salve his comb and wattles. But I let him know who the boss is and he settled down and I doubt he'll make that mistake again. His reaction was I think "natural" under the circumstances. But he still doesn't run away from me but doesn't challenge me either. They are living with the Delaware 3 some and I've never seen any serious squabbles among them. They all get along very well together. The Delaware roo is scared of me and won't come near me (due in part to an altercation between us when he was younger I'm sure).

Thanks for the heads up COChix. I don't plan on doing any extensive plantings for the sake of the bees as I am surrounded by all sorts of agricultural sources for nectar and pollen. I already have a small well established vineyard as well as fruit trees on my property and will be planting a veggie garden. I have no idea of the GMO status and chemical usage status of the farms around me or the large greenhouse down the road. Will just be winging it and hoping for the best. Sorry your pipes are still frozen... hope there isn't a flood when they thaw.

Joe

 

[suncatcher]

Nice boy Shylee!!! I am growing out 17 Bantam Cochins this year! Yikes!! Mostly split for MF, and a few Blacks and F1 Blue Mottled. Needless to say it is a very busy pen!!!! lol

Wow, it is still cold today, I thought it would be much warmer than the current 23 degrees. Snow everywhere so no one is moving from the coop today.

Have had no eggs for three days!!!

 

[Mtn Margie]

Happy New Year Chookies!

Murdoch's is a go and see what was shipped on that week kind of place. Go early and be educated on what you are looking for.

Frozen pipes are such a pain!

It was very cold here as well, but warming up now. Quail did fine by the way, no heat for them either, just me.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Joe,

I am giving it much thought as to how to deal with my aging flock. I know freezer camp is in the future for many of my hens and understand the roosters going to camp too. My DH has issues when I talk about sending them to camp. He thinks of them more as pets since they all have names. Heck we eat chicken a lot around here. It was the plan from the beginning and I am following through with it.
DH at this point is coming to terms with it lol. He has a soft spot for them that he did not expect when we got them.
Mine usually go broody in April or May so that would be the time frame I would be looking at adding. It gives me time to decide who will stay and who will go too.

My yard is not as big as I would like but I can have a garden and chickens so I guess it is not so bad. I am so looking forward to the end of March. I really dislike the cold.
Speaking of cold I think I best go shovel the snow out of the run again and spread some hay for the ladies so they can be out.

I got my first egg since September yesterday. Thin shell and broken. Today I got one frozen thin shelled broken egg too. I think they are from my Blue Wyandotte. I am hopeful they will improve.

Babs

 

[GJ_Kate]

Our local Murdochs generally has a chart with which breeds and how many are coming in on each day. If they don't have it out, then you'll likely have to make a friend there to give you the info you crave. I once got the only Bourbon Red Turkey poults of the season because I knew when they were coming and had my hubby go get them at the designated time. Apparently there were quite a few PO'd other customers.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Thought I would share a pic of some of the ladies venturing out for the first time in days. Belle the Blue Wyandotte, Bonnie behind her, Jay and Pea the Silver Spangled Hamburgs and Twinkie the Bo. Also one of my favorite picks of my flowers.

And where the dog put my slippers while I was with the chickens.

 

[suncatcher]

Snowing here, at least three inches so far....... Guess we are due, as November and December were really nice!!


I came across this tonight, thought I would share it...... even though mid-terms are over, still so VERY true!!!


Fred was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young pullets and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs. He kept records, and any rooster not ...performing went into the soup pot and was replaced.
This took a lot of time, so Fred bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out his efficiency report by just listening to the bells.
Fred's favorite rooster, Old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but this one morning he noticed that Old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.
To Fred's amazement, Old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.
Fred was so proud of Old Butch, that he entered him in the County Fair, and Old Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges. The judges not only awarded Old Butch the "No Bell Piece Prize," but they also awarded him the "Pulletsurprise" as well.
Clearly Old Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the unsuspecting populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.
Vote carefully in the Nov. election --- You Cannot Always Hear The Bells.
And, if you don't share this, you're a chicken.

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks for sharing that Sun! That indeed is very true! I don't know how I missed the coolaid when it was being passed around, but sure glad I did!

 

[COChix]

Snowing here, at least three inches so far.......  Guess we are due, as November and December were really nice!!


I came across this tonight, thought I would share it...... even though mid-terms are over, still so VERY true!!!



Fred was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young pullets and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs. He kept records, and any rooster not ...performing went into the soup pot and was replaced.

This took a lot of time, so Fred bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out his efficiency report by just listening to the bells.

Fred's favorite rooster, Old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but this one morning he noticed that Old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.

To Fred's amazement, Old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.

Fred was so proud of Old Butch, that he entered him in the County Fair, and Old Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges. The judges not only awarded Old Butch the "No Bell Piece Prize," but they also awarded him the "Pulletsurprise" as well.

Clearly Old Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the unsuspecting populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.

Vote carefully in the Nov. election --- You Cannot Always Hear The Bells.

And, if you don't share this, you're a chicken.

I think all of us struggle with the idea that we will eventually cull an older bird due to lack of production and such. Ok I guess I won't speak for everyone, but I do and will, but like you said you started this and you will finish it as discussed probably before you got the birds. It's hard when all of them have personalities, but this is what we have to do, especially if you got them merely for egg production. I applaud you for your decision as you are not delusional thinking oh well I will just sell them on Craigslist when the tough get going. I came across this article and while the title talks about molting, there is much more to the story so read it all. Couldn't have said it better myself, these are our chickens and therefore we will not pass or shirk that responsibility to someone else. Meaning when it comes time to cull, I will be there from beginning to end with the chicks we raise. Just my two cents.

http://www.nwedible.com/2014/02/forced-molt.html