Colorado

[21hens-incharge]

Slushy rain here this morning. No actual snow that I have seen so far. I put the potted flowers in the garage last night. Funny to see all the flower pots around the motorcycle.

I sure hope all the little chicks and all the tiny plants survive this messy storm.

 

[carajoden]

Hi everyone, I live in Cortez. (SW Colo, near the 4 corners and Mesa Verde) I have 1 frizzle and 2 silkies. Last month I ordered eggs on eBay and my broody hen hatched some and my incubator hatched some. I now have 10 baby Silkie, sizzle, frizzle, Cochins. Nothing cuter than chicks.

We can have six chickens here. I am praying most of mine are hens and if I end up with more than 6, I'm not tellin'.
There are three of us chicken people in the neighborhood ... so far.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Hey, Welcome to the CO thread! Those are some very cute chicks!!!!!

 

[carajoden]

Hey, Welcome to the CO thread!   Those are some very cute chicks!!!!!

Oh thanks! I just can't get enough of them. LOVE how mom talks to them. So fun to watch them communicate.

 

[Hayduke27]

Good morning everyone. It's been forever since I've posted, but I've been following again recently and thought I'd jump in and say hi.

We got an inch or two of snow up here in Gunnison, but I imagine it will melt quickly once the sun starts shining.

So about 3 weeks ago I had my first encounter with a predator.

A fox came into my yard early in the morning hours and dug a hole under my quail coop. I lost all my quail, which was a bummer, and definitely found out that I need to up my security. I've had chickens for over three years now, and live right in town. I've never had any issues with any predator (other than a falcon that hangs out over the coop in the summer, but I see him catching the sparrows off the feeder, so I just let him be at this point). I've been keeping a close eye out, and it doesn't seem that the fox has returned, but I know I'm on the radar now and need to beef up the quail coop defenses. Why, you ask?

I have 48 quail eggs in the incubator with a hatch date of roughly the beginning of May.This will be my third hatch. My first was in my styrofoam incubator, I hatched 4 eggs out of around 30+. My second hatch was under a broody, and despite some serious drama and adventure, still ended up with a 50% hatch rate. This, my third hatch, is notable for several reasons. First off, this is my first attempt at hatching quail. Second, this is my first time trying to hatch shipped eggs. Additionally, I am trying the dry incubation method this time. I know my humidity was too high during that first hatch, and in hindsight with consideration to the low relative humidity that we normally have, I didn't need nearly the humidity that I was maintaining at that time.

Anyway, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about this current hatch, and am definitely hoping to hatch out at least enough quail to get the flock going again. Between the high altitude and the dry climate, hatching has been an adventure up here! It's always so fun, however, and I'm really looking forward to seeing some quail chicks. Fingers are crossed!!!!

I hope you are all faring well through the current weather system!

 

[uzisuzuki]

A year to the day of my Phoenix Bantam hatching, I got my first Ayam Cemani hatched! There is some white, which if I were a breeder would make this one a cull, but I'm not & I get to just be excited! The other 2 AC eggs & the black Phoenic Bantam eggs are all chirping, 1 is externally pipped. I'm not sure how long you should let them be internally pipped & chirping before you need to assist a little, so I'm going to go look for that info. Hope everyone is doing okay in the "kitchen sink" storm (it totally wrecked my flight pen).

 

[coop410silkies]

@uzi: I am soooo excited for your hatch. bravo, bravo. Have more!

@Hayduke: Good luck with your quail! Foxes are so bad. People befriend them and they easily cross boundaries. The ones around here got shot shot raiding the coop, but I worry about them some.

Mtn Margie, I so don't envy you your storm. MAYBE could live with the snow, but the blowing ----------? Just windy drizzle here in Berthoud, not pleasant but doable. Checked out a bunch of books and DVDs yesterday, for the event it got really rotten. Lots of useful things I could be doing, but they just don't cut bad -make that awful - spring weather.

Cute chicks, carajoden. I have always thought that if a city does not allow roosters, it ought to have a non-profit place where they can be donated, perhaps to be processed and provided to the homeless? Welcome to BYC in Colorado.

 

[coop410silkies]

Woke up at 6:30 wondering about those baby chicks. So I went out and checked the brooder and there cave is 75° in their brooder looks fairly dry there's a little bit of drips here and there but overall they're looking good so I think they're going to be fine. My main concern is them getting wet at 2 weeks. They were out and about this am.

Sounds like a very educational experience! I wish you all the best.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Thanks @coop410silkies! I'm hoping at least 1 more hatches so this little dude isn't alone.

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings @carajoden ! Welcome to BYC and the Colorado thread! Welcome back @Hayduke27 . Who would have guessed there'd be 3 Haydukes to choose from?

Sorry to hear about your fox issue. Hope the new quail work out better for you. Grats Uzi! Sorry it has a little white, but like you said, it's still a keeper

Have maybe an inch or so on the grass, not sticking to the road (yet). not much wind, just a little. We'll wait and see, like everyone else

Have a good weekend all! Drive safe if driving.