Colorado

[scurvie]

Hullo everyone!

I just went and picked up 6 new little wee babes from our local Big R. I live up in Conifer and my husband and I are so excited to start a chicken adventure! I'm not sure how old or what type our little chickies are, but I am certainly SMITTEN!


My only concerns at this moment are coop insulation and run construction (we do have predators up here in the hills). Any tips or words of wisdom is greatly appreciated!

Here's the wee babes. Not pictured: another Sussex-y type and what I'm almost positive is a RIR.


Thanks!
Scurvie :0)

 

[Ashdoes]

Welcome DenverChick!. I'm in Boulder, so not too far away. Get a bigger coop then you think you need. Do you know about 'chicken math' yet?

Ashdoes, so sorry you are going through this. But thank you for be so open about it. I think we all know 'there but the grace of God goes I' and seeing you navigate the disease and choices you have to make, will ease the road for someone else. 

You know, it's something that I wish I wasn't dealing with, so I know I would feel absolutely awful if someone ended up with it because of us. Right now the worst part is making sure my chicks make it past the real danger zone. Once they're over 6 months, I don't give it much thought...but it'll be a real bad day when we're ready to move.

 

[Ashdoes]

Thanks!! Here are the girls!

And here they are a few weeks later! In their larger brooder.

That dog crate is what we use inside as well works great. Our biggest problem is keeping the shavings in. We put plastic in the bottom, and the chicks ate it and that was bad...now we're going to put the plastic down, and cover up the sides with cardboard, just so they can't eat the plastic.
The chicks we've kept inside are the friendliest, and they really do enjoy being around us.

 

[ryan820]

Hey guys, been a while since I was last on here. Last time I had a hen hatch peeps in the dead of winter and while she did her best only 1 of 3 survived. Pepper the peep is now happy among the flock.

The reason for writing today is that I let an older hen who is perpetually broody finally have her nest and she carried all 9 eggs to completion except she's now lost four. Two are out and one more just emerged that I saved because otherwise it would have died.

Two things: I think the membranes are drying out too fast and the peeps get stuck. Mamma must not be humid enough however TWO: she's a big bird and I fear she's crushed them.

Has anyone had this happen to them? It's so odd because everyone seems like they're the perfect peeps except they look like she stepped on them as the eggs are often crushed with the peeps still inside. She has tons of room and is in a private area of the coop so I'm not sure what's happening. Two more eggs to go and I think one is a dud and the other is still making noises and moving inside her egg. No pip yet.

I'm not sure I have the stomach to let my hens hatch peeps any more. I don't know if doing or failing to do something that causes them to have such bad survival rates.

Any help is appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[alebuela]

Welcome DenverChickFam! I'm in Uptown, practically downtown, with 5 girls in my little flock. I started with 6 in a giant plastic crate, which worked very well, then moved everyone to a Costco coop, rehomed some boys, and finally ended up with my current flock. A friend helped me put a "pop top" on the Costco coop; but we should have made it bigger even for just five. Then 21hens-incharge sold me a wonderful sturdy 2-story coop that she wasn't using any more, and that's what works for my girls. I have a small backyard, and my girls roam free all day, so the run part of a coop isn't quite as important as enough roosting and move-around space inside. I hope you find what you are looking for!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Hopefully this is a good place to post this.

In the next month or so (maybe 6 weeks) we are going to need our coop. We have 7 chicks now and with a one year old daughter and full time jobs, our dreams of building our coop are clearly becoming out of reach.

We have looked at Wardle, found some "ok" coops there... Of course there is CostCo and Amazon, but we don't really want to do that. We really want a custom coop and run for our gals.

With a budget of only around $600, does anyone here have recommendations? We are located in the Park Hill area and have a very large yard and space for our future coop.

Maybe someone here builds coops and will take pity on us? Maybe there's a feed store or custom builder I haven't found on Craigslist yet? Any advice is welcome. I just want a great place for our ladies and wish we could do it ourselves.

http://denver.craigslist.org/grd/4976954729.html

I see this ad a lot and the price is nice for the structure you would be getting. I know if I were to build one this size and type and sell for what he is selling for I would be losing money. His price leaves a bit for you to do a run with in your budget.

I built my own coop and all the ones that I have had before it and know how expensive it can be.
I am up in Loveland. There is a place I drive by every day that has nice coops sitting outside for sale that are well built but DANG are they expensive. They are wanting 1200+ for a 4x6 coop.

I lost two of the newest 15 chicks last night. Failure to thrive, i believe. Ine was an assited hatch. It had been shrunk wrapped and then i didnt see it eat or drink anything.
I do have an external pip on a goose egg and another with an internal pip. I hope i come home to a gosling or two. Geese should be hatching now for the next two weeks in the bator and then it will be time for the others to hatch yhat are under my toulouse. She has been sitting for 10 days now.
I will try and get some pics of the chicks this evening, time allowing. It has been a busy week.
The metal for my greenhouse/shed roof should be here today or tomorrow. I know what i will be doing for the next few evenings and this weekend.
Does anyone know of a good place to get gutters from?

Do not be surprised if it takes longer than the required time. My Toulouse sat for 34 days before I saw any hatching action and I had to assist with the first brood (very thick shells and no progress after pip for 30 or so hours).
Is this her first brood?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Hullo everyone!

I just went and picked up 6 new little wee babes from our local Big R. I live up in Conifer and my husband and I are so excited to start a chicken adventure! I'm not sure how old or what type our little chickies are, but I am certainly SMITTEN!


My only concerns at this moment are coop insulation and run construction (we do have predators up here in the hills). Any tips or words of wisdom is greatly appreciated!

Here's the wee babes. Not pictured: another Sussex-y type and what I'm almost positive is a RIR.


Thanks!
Scurvie :0)

First off let me say those are some cute fluffies there.
I see a black australorp in the center and a barred rock behind the white one on the right. The white one could be a white rock.

My thoughts about insulating the coop here in Colorado. I would not. I know you want them to be nice and warm but the wall cavities are a perfect place for vermin to make nests. (Mice in particular) Nasty critters them mice. It also gives more places for lice and mites to hide making it harder to get rid of them if you do get an infestation. (wild birds are nice transport vehicles for them)
As to the run make it stronger than you think you will need. Do you have Bear up there? If so perhaps a hot wire as well. Are you thinking about a solid roof over the run? I would go with metal if there are bears.

Happy chickening.

Babs

 

[COChix]

to all the newbies and welcome to the CO BYC family.

 

[Hayduke27]

Hey guys, been a while since I was last on here. Last time I had a hen hatch peeps in the dead of winter and while she did her best only 1 of 3 survived. Pepper the peep is now happy among the flock.

The reason for writing today is that I let an older hen who is perpetually broody finally have her nest and she carried all 9 eggs to completion except she's now lost four. Two are out and one more just emerged that I saved because otherwise it would have died.

Two things: I think the membranes are drying out too fast and the peeps get stuck. Mamma must not be humid enough however TWO: she's a big bird and I fear she's crushed them.

Has anyone had this happen to them? It's so odd because everyone seems like they're the perfect peeps except they look like she stepped on them as the eggs are often crushed with the peeps still inside. She has tons of room and is in a private area of the coop so I'm not sure what's happening. Two more eggs to go and I think one is a dud and the other is still making noises and moving inside her egg. No pip yet.

I'm not sure I have the stomach to let my hens hatch peeps any more. I don't know if doing or failing to do something that causes them to have such bad survival rates.

Any help is appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just hatched eggs under a broody at 8,000 feet, and it went very well. My biggest problems arose because I didn't have a private area of the coop for her. Where are the eggs from? Did you have them shipped here? I know eggs from the elevation and humidity of sea level can have trouble developing and hatching up here. It is indeed strange the some of the eggs seem crushed with the peeps still in them. I'm not sure why that would be happening. I would guess that even a big hen can sit on the eggs without crushing them, as later on they sit on the babies wihout doing so. They sort of get into a squat position. Anyway, I think if the eggs were shipped that might be your shrinking membrane problem.

As to the crushing, that's a mystery. Maybe somebody else has an idea?

Don't give up on hatching under broodies. This has been my first experience with it, and it's really amazing watching the hen hatch and raise a brood. I can see why a good broody is such a valuable hen! See if you can get some answers, but don't be afraid to try again! I think your experience is atypical! Good luck!

 

[samsr]

http://denver.craigslist.org/grd/4976954729.html

I see this ad a lot and the price is nice for the structure you would be getting. I know if I were to build one this size and type and sell for what he is selling for I would be losing money. His price leaves a bit for you to do a run with in your budget.

I built my own coop and all the ones that I have had before it and know how expensive it can be.
I am up in Loveland. There is a place I drive by every day that has nice coops sitting outside for sale that are well built but DANG are they expensive. They are wanting 1200+ for a 4x6 coop.



Do not be surprised if it takes longer than the required time. My Toulouse sat for 34 days before I saw any hatching action and I had to assist with the first brood (very thick shells and no progress after pip for 30 or so hours).
Is this her first brood?

This will be her first brood. I am really not sure how many eggs are under her at the moment. Last i knew there were 7. But that was two days before she started to sit.
I havetwo pips now in the incubator. I may have to assist the first one as it has been since this time last night since the initial pip. It has made a little progress but not much.