Colorado

[jmdes]

Hi CoChix, Love the green drinks, I try to have one every morning. I throw a big handful of mixed salad greens in there, with fresh ginger, and other various veggies or sprouts, and then a slug of OJ. If I need a boost, I throw in some brewers yeast. I think it really makes a difference. I even make hubby drink it.

 

[jmdes]

It is now day #8 for my little chicks and they are all SURVIVING under the MHP ! Last night was pretty cold, in the 20's I think. They seem to be thriving, eating and drinking. On their day#3, I cleaned off 4 pasty butts using running water in the utility sink. It actually worked that time. Then I put olive oil on their bums. I see them all pooping like crazy now, so I figure they are in good shape. I am feeding FF, and also sprinkle some fine grit on their food, and put a little cider vinegar in their water.

One shadow...I see some MOUSE droppings in the coop under the Big Hen feeder. I never noticed this before. I asked hubby to make a trap and get them. I have a good mouser cat, but she is missing some... Should I worry about the mice bothering the little chick-babies?

 

[lomine]

Hello @COPlains and

. I wouldn't waste money on chicken wire. It's good for keeping chickens in but isn't going to keep anything out. I think if you did chain link with a border of hardware cloth on the bottom that would keep most things out. That would keep things from reaching in and getting your birds. You'll just need to see if you have anything in your area that could climb over, like a racoon, or get through the chain link, like a mink. For climbing predators you would either need to cover the run or put in electric fencing. If your run is really big you'll have to worry about birds flying in if you keep it uncovered. Here's a link to Colorado Parks & Wildlife info page were you can look up animals and their habitat, http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/SpeciesProfiles.aspx.

Don't forget to post pictures of your chicks when they come in.

 

[coop410silkies]

Uzi, I meant to be talking to Iomine, as LS so astutely pointed out. You don't have ducks, do you? No duck eggs to lose, either. There are times when I hope nobody is paying attention to me! You know, one of the easiest ways to confuse someone is to be confused. So sorry again.

@Iomine: I guess you know who the real dunce here is. Glad you found your eggs. Are you hatching them?

@LS: I understand how your daughter feels. You are a good papa to be respecting her sentiments.

@COPlains: Welcome! Without my dog patrolling my field, I've suddenly got coyote problems. I live in the Berthoud area, plains-like terrain, coyotes all over. I have lost chicks in a raised coop to a raccoon who tore through the chicken wire at the eaves. Have lost Silkies to owls and Hawks. Most of my losses have been to the coyotes; they come THROUGH the wire and mesh fence where the wire sags. The worst burrowers here have been the chickens and various rodents. I like chain link, especially when it's tall enough to let me stand upright when it's covered. For chicks, I like to use that plastic Tenax 1/2 mesh; it's quite durable and easy to use, not so sharp and cutting as metal hardware cloth. For awhile, my puppy was my worst predator; that said, I have to say that she has matured into my greatest predator control asset.

 

[ygritte]

Whelp... I put the rooster in with the girls last night in the new coop. funny thing, he doesn't know how to roost, he prefers to just nestle down in the hay. I hope the girls teach him better. Anyway, He was really dominant to my little amercauna at first this morning and then got whooped on a little by my welsumer. Everything settled down very quickly and he switched tactics and was trying to dance for them...no willing takers, and Riker (the Amercauna) was giving him a very wide birth. But, when I was leaving for work (mid morning, so they had been comingling for at least 3 hours), Rue the Welsumer started attacking him again. Nothing huge, a decent slash and he'd go running... if he got too close to the girls again she'd get him again.
So... I think he's one from the bottom of the pecking order, which I kind of expected given his age. I'm a little worried since he will have to eventually fight it out to become top dog... not looking forward to that. I know it will all work out, they have plenty of space to cohabitat together, but I miss my very laid back happy hen paradise a little bit. Also worried about bringing little chicks into the mix with a premature rooster, anyone have any experience with this?

@COPlains - welcome! Everyone has already said great advice. My only other piece is having a trustworthy dog around is always a help. I plan to get a full-time livestock guardian dog hopefully in the near future since I free-range my birds (and plan to get goats and alpaca), but also having my trusty shepherd mix around to at least coat everything with her smell seems to deter some predators. We are also kind of surrounded by dogs, I'm both thankful and worried about this... I think my biggest predator issue will be dogs that are not contained in their yards.

@21hens-incharge - sorry to hear about the apple tree! Hopefully it'll be a blessing in disguise for your other fruit trees. I'm planning out my permaculture for my property and just get utterly overwhelmed thus far... going to be a ongoing project for sure.

@jmdes - those nuggets are too precious! I can't wait for babies! I'm sorry in advance for all the pictures!

 

[lomine]

@coop410silkies I've made the exact same mistake in tagging the wrong person so no worries. I won't be hatching any eggs as I have no drake. This April I'm getting chicks and sometime after that I'd like to get quail. So I think I'll be pretty busy with those. I might get hatching eggs later if one of my girls goes broody. They are supposed to be a pretty broody breed. Though I'm not sure what I would do with the ducklings once they were grown. If all the chicks I get survive and turn out to be hens I'd be at 9 birds and my limit in the city is 10. I really want to get a Cayuga duck in the future. I know someone who could get me fertile Pekin eggs. Those would be good for meat but I'm not sure I could cull a duck myself. I just don't know yet but it would be cute to have some ducklings running around.

 

[COChix]

You can expect most everything you are used to with the exception of a possum. I havent seen any around colorado. They may be here but i havent seen any. You may encounter weasels also. Foxes,coyotes, raccoons, mountain lions, bob cats, hawks,owls, eagles, if you can imagine it we have it.
You can probably use chain link but will need to put some smaller wire around the bottom of it along the ground so the small chicks wont get out. Dont forget to dig a trench and lay some wire in it also so raccoons and coyoties wont dig under.
Welcome to the link and to colorado.

Howdy!      
For  My run I used field fence with a chicken wire inside attached to it.  The young babies have their own small outside area with hardware cloth to keep them safe until they are big enough to go into the other area.   Have fun and good luck!
Coyotes and hawks for sure.  Maybe bobcats and other critters depending on how close you are to a water source. 

Good solutions to thee fencing issue that apparently eluded me in the moment.

Hi CoChix,  Love the green drinks, I try to have one every morning.  I throw a big handful of mixed salad greens in there, with fresh ginger, and other various veggies or sprouts, and then a slug of OJ.  If I need a boost, I throw in some brewers yeast.  I think it really makes a difference.   I even make hubby drink it.  

Today was just some Vitminerals Greens and Spiriluna. Most days it's greens like kale, spinach, chard, banana, cucumbers, bee pollen, sometimes an apple. Both myself and my BF drink one everyday. Helps tremendously stay healthy along with a host of other herbs and regimens we do. Both have medical issues, but recovered and pretty healthy!

Uzi, I meant to be talking to Iomine, as LS so astutely pointed out. You don't have ducks, do you? No duck eggs to lose, either. There are times when I hope nobody is paying attention to me! You know, one of the easiest ways to confuse someone is to be confused. So sorry again

this made me chuckle....good thing we are a bunch of easy going people on this thread.

Whelp... I put the rooster in with the girls last night in the new coop.  funny thing, he doesn't know how to roost, he prefers to just nestle down in the hay.  I hope the girls teach him better.  Anyway, He was really dominant to my little amercauna at first this morning and then got whooped on a little by my welsumer.  Everything settled down very quickly and he switched tactics and was trying to dance for them...no willing takers, and Riker (the Amercauna) was giving him a very wide birth.  But, when I was leaving for work (mid morning, so they had been comingling for at least 3 hours), Rue the Welsumer started attacking him again.  Nothing huge, a decent slash and he'd go running... if he got too close to the girls again she'd get him again.
So... I think he's one from the bottom of the pecking order, which I kind of expected given his age.  I'm a little worried since he will have to eventually fight it out to become top dog... not looking forward to that.  I know it will all work out, they have plenty of space to cohabitat together, but I miss my very laid back happy hen paradise a little bit.  Also worried aboute bringing little chicks into the mix with a premature rooster, anyone have any experience with this?

Sounds like the roo will have to figure it out quickly, how old is the roo? We had chicks integrate with their papa with no issues. The roo was just over a year and had by the alpha from day one had been with the hens from day one. Not sure that helps. We had our chicks I. Our covered run while they grew out, while the flock free ranged during the day. The chicks had their own coop to start, then around 6 weeks, when they were big enough to free range without being a chicken nugget for a predator, we let them mingle and blocked smaller coop. We had not issues like I said, need to allow the flock to have visuals on the babies at firs, just like integrating a new bird to the flock.

 

[COChix]

For the newbies and anyone else that may need something like this, all natural essential oil treatment for respitory issues. Can be fed, put in water, vaporized in the coop or dabbed under their wings. Works great.

 

[coop410silkies]

@coop410silkies
I've made the exact same mistake in tagging the wrong person so no worries. I won't be hatching any eggs as I have no drake. This April I'm getting chicks and sometime after that I'd like to get quail. So I think I'll be pretty busy with those. I might get hatching eggs later if one of my girls goes broody. They are supposed to be a pretty broody breed. Though I'm not sure what I would do with the ducklings once they were grown. If all the chicks I get survive and turn out to be hens I'd be at 9 birds and my limit in the city is 10. I really want to get a Cayuga duck in the future. I know someone who could get me fertile Pekin eggs. Those would be good for meat but I'm not sure I could cull a duck myself. I just don't know yet but it would be cute to have some ducklings running around.

Mmmmmm, tough decisions. So you just eat the duck eggs? At one time I thought I'd like to get some runner ducks; I have the space but have so much more to do to take care of the fowl I already have. I'd really have to get my head examined to take on more. I raised a couple of Mallard hens from ducklings when I was only a child. They were very tame and wonderful pets; I think I still miss them. Do you think your ducks would return to their coop at night if they free-ranged? I think ducks are getting more popular these days; if you hatched some, you should be able to sell them I'd think.

 

[lomine]

Oh yes, duck eggs are very tasty. The yolk are much bigger than a chicken yolk and they are very creamy. The are supposed to be very good for baking too. I'll be testing them out soon for that as March is a busy birthday month for my family.

My ducks get to 'free range' in my backyard and they usually go back to their run when it starts getting dark. Or they wait by the back door for me to heard them in. They always wait for me to put them in the raised coop. They aren't the greatest at using ramps. I know they want to go in but I have to coax them.