Colorado

[kmatt87]

oh and welcome to all the newbies in the area! This is a great group!

*update on the inlaws*
they were able to go back home on thurs evening and last i heard the high park fire is at 100% containment!


Hope everyone else displaced due to fires is able to go home soon!

 

[kmatt87]

also, as a general rule, do the hens poop in their nest boxes much? wondering about ease if cleaning and how much weight that should have in my design,

mo

i've had my nest boxes up and available for nearly 8 wks and have only seen 1 poo in the box. That was from when one just jumped in to check it out and timed things just right.

I'm impatiently waiting on them to start laying so i'll let you know if i run into issues once that starts (hopefully soon!!!)

 

[kmatt87]

I miss my bird...

And telling us where you are in Colorado is a great idea.

hope he's happy in his new home

and maybe you can get a couple more chicks to take his place....they're small and don't take up much room....right ?

 

[kmatt87]

Has anyone had a problems with chickens and feeders? Mine will intentionally bury it as soon as I put it in and won't eat from it. The only thing I have been able to get them to eat from is a cat dish and one of my old cake pans propped up. I have tried the long feeder and the round ones, I have even hung it up and they still fill it with what ever they can and refuse to eat from it. Maybe I just have picky birds, they also don't like being held or touched at all, even though I have held them every day of there life.

i haven't had that problem with mine at all. Maybe you can get one of the large waters with the dishes attached and use that instead? Then you won't have to constantly refill it and the food will be protected from the elements as well

 

[kmatt87]

Wow, lots of posts! Trying to catch up...
Everyone new, Welcome! Glad to see you all!
Garden- Sorry to hear that.

. Maybe do a breed check on the What breed is this? Forum to be sure.

My news, I HAVE A BROODY, Summer the buff brahma bantam!!! The little twerp had accumulated a clutch of 8 by the time we noticed. DH went to take her eggs away and she was so pathetic, wouldn't get out of her broody pose even after he picked her up off the eggs. Didnt bite or fight, just looked miserable. So now we have 10+ BELGIAN QUAIL D'ANVER eggs shipping tomorrow. Any advise is appreciated, I have never had a broody before.
If anyone would be interested in one or two of the chicks after they hit six weeks or so, let me know. I have no idea how many will hatch but the seller had excellent reviews and Summer is looking like she will make an awesome momma.

BELGIAN QUAIL D'ANVER <--- are they good layers? docile? I might be interested if they are.

 

[gardendufus]

RAIN, I actually had rain for 5 whole minutes. Hope the firefighters are getting a little more than that.

Got most of the orange barricade stuff over my run before the rain aided and abetted my impulse to procrastinate. Have to say that even tho I'm putting up a double layer (in alternate directions), it doesn't look like it's going to provide much shade, but I guess even a little is better than nothing. The girls are sure enjoying the overcast tho. Haven't seen them enjoying the main (sunny) part of the run before about 3:30 before.

So glad your IL were able to go back home KMatt. And glad for everyone else too. Just hoping our containment continues to grow down here, and now the other new fire (out by Grand Junction?). Gonna be a rough summer.

ETA: Chick-in-the-Burbs....I was just kidding about the fryers. Just getting close for my girls to start laying and it's hard not to be impatient. I only have one that I'm slightly doubtful about, a 12 week old GLW, but I'm only SLIGHTLY doubtful. Could possibly be a roo. Probably not.

 

[Mommato5]

we have a pit that has some pretty bad anxiety issues(lots of heavy panting, drooling and shaking with loud noises and sometimes without them) and we took her in to the vet yesterday. We mainly brought her in to see what treatment options were for it.
The vet told us to get rid of her and they said it in front of my 5, 4 and 3 yr old! All 3 of them started crying, which is turn caused the dog to freak out (she doesn't like loud noises) and caused the vet to freak out on us some more!

I think its time to switch vets. 

That is AWFUL!! I would switch vets, too! Where do you go? We go to Boyd Lake vet and have been very pleased with them (3 cats, 1 dog). We had to have a cat put down there (advanced stage lymphoma) and all 5 kids came. It was so emotional and the vet was so good with them, talking them through everything. I would recommend them!

 

[Mommato5]

also, as a general rule, do the hens poop in their nest boxes much? wondering about ease if cleaning and how much weight that should have in my design,

mo

Generally there is very little poop in the nest boxes! One of our girls would kick out ALL the pine shavings and then lay her egg on the wood (from a standing position) and crack it EVERY time so we screwed down an old towel to cushion it. It's been in there for months with no need to take it out and clean it! Usually it's a quick, get in, lay the egg, get out process. When you come out next weekend my husband can show you what he did with our external nest box (and where he goofed up so you don't make the same mistake!). For what it's worth, there's no need to rush into that right now. What you've got is going to be perfectly fine for the babies and you've got a couple of months to work on the nest box!

 

[kmatt87]

That is AWFUL!! I would switch vets, too! Where do you go? We go to Boyd Lake vet and have been very pleased with them (3 cats, 1 dog). We had to have a cat put down there (advanced stage lymphoma) and all 5 kids came. It was so emotional and the vet was so good with them, talking them through everything. I would recommend them!

we went (notice the past tense) to the banfield vet in the petco by I - 25

 

[dennarahl]

we went (notice the past tense) to the banfield vet in the petco by I - 25

Nobody I know has ever had a good experience with the banfield in the petsmart by my old house. Before we moved the vet we went to was the same one my mother went to while I was growing up. Sure, over time the doctors changed, but the experience never has so we stuck with it. When we moved out to Strasburg, I wasn't willing to subject my cats to the travel (40 miles) to the old vet. Thankfully, the place we found in town has been great. I definitely recommend that you stick to vets who actually own their practice. I think they have a lot more invested in their business so they try to do it right.