Colorado

[uzisuzuki]

I guess I just need to find another splash for her to be friends with maybe? Thanks for the responses - I feel a little better that this is just something that happens. my d'Anvers is very independant and always off on her own, but she never seems to be separate from the other chickens. I do think Odysseus is an issue for everyone but his Polish hens, so I need to get them in their own pen soonish and hopefully Memnoch will be less of a tyrant.

@KanneJ I live sort of near the Brighton area, too, but I don't have any Silkies unfortunately. Hopefully you find some!

 

[coop410silkies]

Hi all,
I am a new member but I have been using BYC for reference and enjoyment for many years now. Not sure why I never bothered to join. Could be because I have been going back to school for the last few years. The main reason I decided to join today was that I saw a post from coop410silkies. I am currently looking for some silkies - preferably three hens and I would rather six months or older even ones ready to retire would be fine. Day old chicks are ok too, just a bit more work. I had three silkies about six years ago but had to give them up when I went back to school. I finally got my associates degree and am just working on a certificate now so I have a little more time again. My oldest son and daughter in law have full size chickens but they live on two acres, I just have a little backyard. I do sometimes raise chicks for them and that keeps me happy for awhile but I would really like some more silkies. Anyway I was wondering if coop410silkies has any older hens to sell? If not, I would be interested in finding out more about the Uni Hill Elem hatching project. I am in Boulder most every Sunday and I am up in Longmont all day on Mondays. I live close to Brighton. Anyway, I probably won't be real vocal on the forums unless I have a need but I do enjoy reading other peoples posts. Cheers to all.

Welcome at last, Kanne. I don't have any older female Silkies to give you right now. If you think you'd be OK with chicks, the ones that Unihill are hatching will be available March 16, and they will be a week old on that date. If they all hatch, there will be 14 to choose from. The trouble with Silkie chicks is that they're hard to sex, and, as you might guess, it is hard to find homes for the little Roos - unless you can find someone who wants to do a Silkie cross with Silkie roosters. The eggs from the Unihill hatch are from white, blue/black, and possibly partridge hens. They are free, and while they are not show quality, they are typical nice looking Silkies. Let me know if you are interested, would be easy to meet you in either Boulder or Longmont.

 

[coop410silkies]

Just checking in with all you colorado peeps! I see some are hatching already! Cool.

Samsr, I plan on hatching in april, or if you want to hatch your own, i am hoping my Marans hens pick up soon! One egg every two weeks is no fun! I have breeder quality eggs so nice and dark. I also plan on hatching what i hope will be OE's, this color has been diffucult for me to breed.

Hmm, you might check CL for silkies, or renae is up by Ft Collins, not sure if that is close to you or not.

Camp leader welcome home!!! Glad the wife is now hooked on chickens!!!

Hope everyone who was sick is well again!

LS, hope you land in a chicken friendly place when you retire!

NICE EGGS

 

[megshenhut]

Latestarter, you came to Cottonwood Hot Springs. Hope you enjoyed yourself. That is about 2 miles from my house which is north and west of the town of BV. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Uzi,

It is always a crap shoot with the splash ones in my coop. My splash ones are always alone. I have 2 and they are not friendly toward each other. One is a Wyandotte that is a real pain in my bottom. Never lays eggs with actual shells on them and is a real snot toward the smaller hens. The other is a Splash Hamburg so she is a smaller hen. Sometimes they just cannot seem to find a good friend no matter how many we offer up for them to choose from.

I have other hamburgs but Ducky just cannot seem to bond with them and shows little interest in trying to.
I do hope you can find a good friend for her.




The top one is the blue splash wyandotte and the bottom is the hamburg. I think it could be that ducky is very light and the blue is, well, blue.

Welcome to the Colorado thread KanneJ. Lots of great people on here. I too do not have silkies. I hope you find some.

I did find that Feeders Supply just got silkies in today.
https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/grq/5461436997.html
Not sure if it helps but there it is.

 

[COChix]

@Latestarter , just got back from Cottonwood Springs, two day birthday trip. My BF surprised me and we went up on Wednesday, man I feel like a noodle, but what an amazing place. Did a midnight soak last night, I feel like a new person.

@megshenhut so jealous you live up there, we took a drive looking at properties. We would love to live up there.

@uzisuzuki hoping to be hatching some splash amerecauna's next month, you are more than welcome to pick out a bird or two to add to your flock. Not sure if you are looking for the same breed you already have or not.

 

[uzisuzuki]

@21hens-incharge - that's interesting. I was wondering if maybe she wasn't fitting in because of her colouring & because she's the only non-bantam (besides the peas) that I have, but maybe she just likes her alone time? I was watching them all wander early this morning & she doesn't seem distressed or unhappy. Probably a case of me overreacting once again!

@COChix - happy late birthday! Thank you very much for the offer! I'll DM later. I'm still not set up for chicks right now & I want to see how changing roosters will affect the flock dynamic.

 

[Latestarter]

Over the past week or so I have clean both coops out... 2 enclosures in each coop. Almost two years worth of deep litter build up, almost 2 feet deep. First had to break up the pack, then shovel 80% of each enclosure out the trap door into the run, Then outside to the run to spread the pile around the run. Basically two piles per enclosure. I then went and cleaned out all the nest boxes and replenished them with new straw. Then I knocked down quite a bit of dander build up inside on ledges and beams as well on the netting, and swept them out as best I could. Now, I don't know that all that had anything to do with it, but so far I've collect 7 eggs today and lost 2 more to eaters. That's more eggs in a day than I've had since back in like October... I doubt I'll re-achieve peak production as I've lost several hens over the almost 2 years I've owned them, 2 more recently. I think I'm now down to ~20 hens and 5 roos. A couple of them, even though LFs, are no bigger than bantams , and some of them I don't believe have ever laid an egg at all.

Glad you had a "limp noodle" kinda birthday @COChix ! I don't know if it's all in my mind, but even taking into account 5+ hours of driving (both ways), a good 3 hour (almost solid) soak and I felt better and more relaxed than in months! This time, first time ever, I brought cooked shrimp and cocktail sauce and we ate shrimp on the rocks while soaking in the spa. Myself and my friend, who is also moving (back east) this summer, may try to hit a few others over the coming months before we move. I was thinking Strawberry Park out in Steamboat next (this coming) month. I've been there before and it was nice. Neither of us want to really visit the high cost "spa" type hot springs as we both prefer the more natural environments.

@megshenhut You live in God's country up there... SO beautiful.

 

[jmdes]

Hello Colorado Chicken Fan Friends ! I just found this thread today (thanks to COChix !). I've been reading/referencing BYC for a while, but I don't post very much. I tend to get pulled into the internet vortex for hours if I get started, so I try to avoid it.

Hello LateStarter - I live near you, in Wattenberg, off Hwy 85.

I am a newbie chicken owner ---- I have 7 hens now, one year old, and 21 eggs in the incubator. This is my first attempt at hatching, and I don't have a broody hen, so it's a borrowed foam incubator. They are due to hatch Monday, 2/29, so I've been here on BYC a lot more lately for technical and moral support.

I am hoping to use the heating pad/Momma Hen approach this year.

My hens are: 2 Silver laced Wyandottes (SO pretty !!), and 2 Buff Orpingtons (big eggs), and 3 Easter Eggers (pretty eggs).

The 21 incubator eggs are from a mixed barnyard flock of healthy hens, so I'll have some healthy babies, I hope.

***Question: Do you have advice for me on how to increase the humidity in the 'bator? I have it on lockdown now, and the highest it will reach is 38-40%. The windows in the lid are fogged-up and dripping some water. I read that the target is 60-65% for the hatching time? I have the channels full of water, 4 cups of water under the screen, plus 4 small wet ShamWows in there, plus a humidifier running on high in the room.

I've heard some scary stories about "dry-hatchings" and dead chicks, and I don't want that to happen. Any ideas? Input? Help ??

Glad to meet all of you lovely Chicken Fan Folks in Colorado.

Jan

 

[COChix]

Glad you had a "limp noodle" kinda birthday @COChix
! I don't know if it's all in my mind, but even taking into account 5+ hours of driving (both ways), a good 3 hour (almost solid) soak and I felt better and more relaxed than in months! This time, first time ever, I brought cooked shrimp and cocktail sauce and we ate shrimp on the rocks while soaking in the spa. Myself and my friend, who is also moving (back east) this summer, may try to hit a few others over the coming months before we move. I was thinking Strawberry Park out in Steamboat next (this coming) month. I've been there before and it was nice. Neither of us want to really visit the high cost "spa" type hot springs as we both prefer the more natural environments.

@megshenhut
You live in God's country up there... SO beautiful.

X 2 on lucky Megshenhut.

On the Springs, we packed a cooler full of yummy healthy food, managed to just eat breakfast in town, that helps costs a lot. The people at the office were nice and let us use their toaster oven so we could heat up our kraut burgers we had brought one night. I hear ya on the natural springs, we much prefer them. Have you been to Crestone? I hear they have some amazing pools, it is a bit of a new age community, I have heard there might be some nudity. . I am sure you are typing "Crestone" into google as you try to contain your kiddy schoolboy laugher.

Hello Colorado Chicken Fan Friends !   I just found this thread today (thanks to COChix !).   I've been reading/referencing BYC for a while, but I don't post very much.  I tend to get pulled into the internet vortex for hours if I get started, so I try to avoid it.    

Hello LateStarter - I live near you, in Wattenberg, off Hwy 85.

I am a newbie chicken owner ----   I have 7 hens now, one year old, and 21 eggs in the incubator.  This is my first attempt at hatching, and I don't have a broody hen, so it's a borrowed foam incubator.  They are due to hatch Monday, 2/29, so I've been here on BYC a lot more lately for technical and moral support.       I am hoping to use the heating pad/Momma Hen approach this year.

My hens are:   2 Silver laced Wyandottes (SO pretty !!), and 2 Buff Orpingtons (big eggs), and 3 Easter Eggers (pretty eggs).   

The 21 incubator eggs are from a mixed barnyard flock of healthy hens, so I'll have some healthy babies, I hope.

***Question:   Do you have advice for me on how to increase the humidity in the 'bator?   I have it on lockdown now, and the highest it will reach is 38-40%.  The windows in the lid are fogged-up and dripping some water.    I read that the target is 60-65% for the hatching time?    I have the channels full of water, 4 cups of water under the screen, plus 4 small wet ShamWows in there, plus a humidifier running on high in the room.        I've heard some scary stories about "dry-hatchings" and dead chicks, and I don't want that to happen.  Any ideas? Input?   Help ??

Glad to meet all of you lovely Chicken Fan Folks in Colorado.    

Jan

Yea, you made it!

Welcome to the family and the Colorado thread. You will not be sorry for ditching the heat lamp and use the MHP as your brooder. I did that last year, made it from a tomago cage and had our chicks outside by day 7. I found the mamma heat pad thread late. This year, I am planning a different frame using a steel rack, but plan on not having baby chicks in the house at all after hatching. I will be loading the bator with 41 eggs soon, just cleaned and disinfected them today.

Sorry to hear you are having issues with humidity in the incubator, sounds like you are doing everything right. My only other suggestion would be to cut up a sponge into small pieces and soak it and then put a couple prices around inside the bator, see if that helps.

Are you relying o the incubator thermometer or do you have a hygrometer inside the incubator?

@uzisuzuki no rush, haven't even gotten the bator loaded yet. Also depending on how many we hatch out, we will probably grow some pullets out in Boulder until POL and then sell the extra's. If you can't do chicks, we might have some pullets for sale late fall. Will keep you posted. They will be Blue, Black and Splash Amerecauna's.