Consolidated Kansas

[WichitaKidd]

Haven't checked on posts for a few days. Now that I'm all caught up on the last 200 or so posts I might as well leave a couple of my own.

My little backyard barn is 'functionally' finished. Spent last weekend building & hanging the 'people' door & building the nesting boxes. Still have to finish & paint some of the trim, but it's ready for the chicks to move in.


Moving day (4/10)!
Since the barn is all but finished, I decided it was time to move my bigger chicks outside. They are now 8 weeks old & should be able to stay outside full time now. They've been cooped up (no pun intended) in the brooder all this time & probably could have gone out a few weeks ago. Just didn't have the coop finished yet.

Our long time favorite neighbors are moving

.
They gave me their dog kennel to use as a temporary/portable run for my chickens. It's not big enough for the long term, but will work nicely for something temporary. May even put wheels on it & use it as a tractor. Who knows.



The chicks didn't really know what to do outside. I'm sure it felt "BIG" to them. They literally didn't move for almost 10 minutes. They quickly adapted & were able to spend about an hour outside before I put them into the barn. Lots of change for them, but I think they'll be just fine.


Now, my latest bunch of chicks have full run of the brooder box. That's a "BIG" change for them too, but they seem to be enjoying the extra space.

Now to figure out how to combine the 2 groups of chicks together. I have about 6 weeks to figure that out, but any advice on what works/doesn't work in this area would be appreciated.
Hope everyone has a good week!
David

 

[WichitaKidd]

It was great meeting you too!!! I could definitely use the shingles, My husband and I are working on the coop right now, we have the base done and 2 of the walls framed, I am trying to convince him that 8x4 would be much better than 4x4, I want room for more just in case!

I had the same thought. Originally, I was planning on a 4'x4' coop too, but ended up building a 6'x8'. Better to have too much room than not enough right?
Just let me know when you're ready for the shingles & we'll arrange a pickup or delivery.

 

[Trish44]

rvroman, if you have been following this thread you know how chicken math goes, so you need to tell your DH it's better to err on the larger side than have to build something else later. If I was building for the first time I definitely would build bigger. We started with only saying we were going to have 6 chickens & I now have like 20 plus 15 chicks coming at the end of the month & a few more later in the summer. I also have turkey eggs I'm trying to incubate & I'm waiting in peacock eggs. My DH didn't like the chickens at first, but he does now. He gets aggravated at how much time I spend on "chicken stuff", not his exact words, but you get the gist of it, but he spends all of his free time running, so I told him he shouldn't give me a hard time for what I enjoy.

WichitaKidd, I love your coop, you did such a great job on it, congrats! I would save that pen for later use, you never know what you might need it for. Now do you want to come to my place & build mine for me? Just kidding, we have to get building soon on my breeder coop if I can get my DH motivated. I have a feeling nothing is going to get done until he is done running this marathon at the end of the month. It takes up all of his spare time training when he's doing one of those.

 

[JosieChick]

Hawkeye- Congrats on your gorgeous new baby and proud mom!! That silkie hen is gorgeous!!

Ivy- So, so sorry about your dog and the loss of your birds. I have a dog that killed one of my bantams a year ago and I was heartbroken. I can only imagine how upset you must be.

Danz- SO good to meet you today! My goobie gosling is so excited to have new duckling friends! They were scared of each other for a while but are sleeping together now. Thank you so much and it was fun seeing your gang. sorry to hear about your mom.

I missed so many posts I can't even remember what I read anymore so hi to everyone and hope everybody is doing well!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

WichitaKidd -- Congrats on getting it finished -- looks great!

 

[JosieChick]

My little goober with his new friends from Danz! When I first put the ducklings in they were scared to death of each other! Silly babies.

 

[chicken danz]

Josie, they look like a great match size wise. I moved my little pen after you left and put my sebbies outside for the rest of the afternoon. They are really smart. They are learning this is a fun routine and don't mind getting picked up and moved from place to place. I'm not sure they'll get to spend time outside the next few days since the weather is going down hill.

 

[sharol]

Today's (4/11) Zits comic is hilarious and appropriate for this list. I can't post the picture because it is copyrighted, but you can find it at http://www.seattlepi.com/comics-and-games/fun/Zits/

Sharol

 

[tweetysvoice]

That was great!!

David, Great job on the barn/coop! I love it!! It's so asthetically pleasing that I can't see anyone ever complaining about that!

Josie, all I have to say is - AWWWWW... too cute!!

Have a great day everyone!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Here are some of my egg pictures:
This one is day 6
This one is day 8, one of my 'hopeless' eggs
Day 6
Day 6
Day 8, another 'hopeless'...I think this one looks promising, not sure.
Yet another Day 8, looks interesting with that divit there. What's that all about?
Day 8. This one is hopeless; all clear. The black spots are dirt.
THIS day 8 shows promise! Look at that veining! And I see movement inside!!!
Another day 8 showing some veining and movement ^_^

What does anyone else think? Normal? Bad, Good? Wish I could've gotten better pictures :/

All of those eggs look like there is something in them except for the 'clear' one that gives off the orange glow. I can't see the other eggs too well, I know it's better in person. I'm not sure on the Day 8 "hopeless" eggs what is wrong with them... It's a bit on the early side. They looked dark to me? But the photo isn't good enough to see veining or anything. I'd give them a while longer. I'd probably toss the clear one, though-- the solid orange one with the dirt spots.


Trish-- that looks like a really neat incubator! How does it work? Is there a heating element in it, or does it use light bulbs?? It's pretty though.