Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Michelleml, I would think the chicks would be fine, they came right from the hatchery.

 

[JosieChick]

I bet you could put it with the 3 week old chicks. They are orpington chicks aren't they? Pretty mellow, I have put cochins in with much bigger chicks and they stand their ground, usually pretty spunky little things. Turn the light out, put the new chick in, turn the light back on and ta da, there is a another chick!

Just keep in mind that the feed store chicks may have been handled by nine thousand children and people walking by who probably have birds at home (and germs!) I was just at Orschelns the other day and it was like a mecca of kids picking up chicks and goslings. I came home and told DH I wouldn't buy from the feed store ever again, looked like a biosecurity nightmare. There was even a lady there with her kids who runs a petting zoo picking out chicks. Yikes! But I am paranoid. If they shipped directly from a hatchery you would be pretty safe but I would be wary of over handled feed store babies.

Quick question Mrs broody pants chick made it out of it's egg and doing good but it's alone. Sense its so much smaller its a cochin than my 3 week chicks I didn't put them together. So I wanted to get one or two small chicks from farm store is that safe or would they have to be quaratined?

 

[HEChicken]

Michelleml, I would think the chicks would be fine, they came right from the hatchery.

x2. I did that once for a lone chick who had hatched and it worked out fine.

Sharol, that is another wild egg - what are you feeding those birds????

Well, I am just in from a hard day's work outside but it feels good to have accomplished so much. I enlisted DS's help this morning to clean out the coop. Since I do DLM, the layer was built up to 6-8" and has needed it for awhile but between weather and travel, I haven't been able to do it until today. It was a big job to scoop that much litter out of 100 sq ft. but once it was all out, I swept it out and then put in a new bale of straw and they are now happily spreading that around to start the new layer.

I had already decided I was going to put it on the vegie patch that my neighbor tilled for me a few weeks ago. Once we got the first load up there though, I realized that it was the perfect time to go over it and try to make my life easier later in the year. The clods of dirt/grass that had been turned under when it was tilled were starting to try to take root and grow, so between us, we went over the entire patch (which is huge) and pulled out every clod we could find. I'm sure we missed some but I figure everything we got out today will make life easier when we are trying to grow our vegetables there. So the whole day was a process of clearing an area so we could spread a load of litter so we could go back to the coop and get another. By the end of the day, the coop was cleaned out AND the vegie patch is weeded, mulched and ready to plant. If we get the storms they are predicting tonight, it will be great to have the water wash the fertilizer into the ground.

Oh - there was one small area of the coop I didn't clean out - the corner where Miss Broody Duck is sitting on her nest of eggs. Now it looks like she is up on her throne! Miss Silkie was sitting with her until last night but since she seemed to be confirmed broody, I separated her out and put her in the hoop coop with a little nest of her own. She does not like that idea and has spent the day looking for a way out. There is no harm done since the eggs I gave her have not been set yet so if they sit there a day or two while she settles down, they shouldn't be harmed. Meanwhile, I figure she will resume being broody in a day or two. I just didn't want her co-brooding a batch of ducklings since a) muscovies take 5 weeks and that is a long time for a silkie to sit and b) she would be stressed to the max every time one of her "chicks" decided to go for a swim in the water bowl. No, its better she raise chicks rather than ducklings.

Unfortunately Miss Broody Duck only had the nest to herself for a moment before being joined by my Aloha hen. One of the goals of the Aloha project is to have birds who don't go broody often, so naturally this is an unexpected development. She's been playing with the idea all week - when she was in the nest laying her egg a few days ago she was screaming that broody scream whenever anyone looked at her but I didn't give it another thought because she isn't supposed to go broody. Last night she slept in the nest with Miss Broody Duck but when this morning was out eating, so I thought she had tried it and decided against it. However having just spent the whole day at the coop on and off cleaning, I know she has spent the whole day back in that nest and she is fluffed up and screaming like any good broody. I know I always said I wanted broodies but this is getting ridiculous.

 

[sharol]

I'm not sure I would put a new baby with 3 week olds of any breed. Just sayin.

Yeah, it has been the week for weirdness.

On that garden, don't be too discouraged if it doesn't do well for a year or 2 (or 4). It takes a while for soil to become optimal for growing. I moved out here 7 years ago (this is the 7th garden this summer (or maybe 8th?)). It too 4 years before the soil was nice and productive. I added compost every year and chicken poop/shavings that had been composting for the last 2 years, 4 years ago, I bought a huge load of composted manure and had it deep tilled in. The garden is only 20x24 or so, but that is about all I can handle. This prairie soil needs lots of love to grow good veggies.

Last fall I tore up an area east of an outbuilding we had and planted asparagus. I had put chicken poop/shavings over the area for 10 months before that, so we shall see what happens. I don't have much hope that they will do very well, but I'm ever hopeful.

Just don't give up. It will reward your hard work eventually. If you have access to it, horse manure is the absolute best fertilizer. Spread it in the fall and til it in in the spring.

Sharol

x2. I did that once for a lone chick who had hatched and it worked out fine.

Sharol, that is another wild egg - what are you feeding those birds????

***snip***

I had already decided I was going to put it on the vegie patch that my neighbor tilled for me a few weeks ago. Once we got the first load up there though, I realized that it was the perfect time to go over it and try to make my life easier later in the year. The clods of dirt/grass that had been turned under when it was tilled were starting to try to take root and grow, so between us, we went over the entire patch (which is huge) and pulled out every clod we could find. I'm sure we missed some but I figure everything we got out today will make life easier when we are trying to grow our vegetables there. So the whole day was a process of clearing an area so we could spread a load of litter so we could go back to the coop and get another. By the end of the day, the coop was cleaned out AND the vegie patch is weeded, mulched and ready to plant. If we get the storms they are predicting tonight, it will be great to have the water wash the fertilizer into the ground.

 

[mrsv10]

Thank you all for the welcome. Two weeks ago I bought a dozen Red female chicks from TSC. I can't believe how fast they grow. We spent a good chunk of today getting the coop ready. I think with maybe a hour's more work it will be all ready. I'm already planning a second coop for next summer. I'm thinking about using it for meat birds and turkeys. I'm currently researching fodder. It seems like a good idea. Does anyone have experience with it?
Down the road I'm also wanting to get pigs but I knew the chickens and their future eggs was an easier sell to the DH.

 

[michelleml]

I bought six assorted bantams chicks at tsc I have no idea what they are so if anyone can help me out it would be appreciative. Our tsc doesn't let you hold them they have it gated off if you don't work their you can't go behind the gate. So i hope they will be okay it looks like my other Cochin hen is going broody i went to put everyone up and she is in their with Mrs brooder pants and she took 3 eggs from her and is sitting on them.

 

[HEChicken]

On that garden, don't be too discouraged if it doesn't do well for a year or 2 (or 4). It takes a while for soil to become optimal for growing. I moved out here 7 years ago (this is the 7th garden this summer (or maybe 8th?)). It too 4 years before the soil was nice and productive. I added compost every year and chicken poop/shavings that had been composting for the last 2 years, 4 years ago, I bought a huge load of composted manure and had it deep tilled in. The garden is only 20x24 or so, but that is about all I can handle. This prairie soil needs lots of love to grow good veggies.

Last fall I tore up an area east of an outbuilding we had and planted asparagus. I had put chicken poop/shavings over the area for 10 months before that, so we shall see what happens. I don't have much hope that they will do very well, but I'm ever hopeful.

Just don't give up. It will reward your hard work eventually. If you have access to it, horse manure is the absolute best fertilizer. Spread it in the fall and til it in in the spring.

Thanks Sharol. I had a nice garden at our old house but couldn't grow here last year because of the timing of our move, so hopefully it will do okay this year. I have horses so have access to as much manure as I want but I tried that once at the garden at the old house and it proved to be a mistake as there were too many undigested grains in the poop, that all sprouted. I spent a whole year pulling up the stuff that had sprouted out of the manure. So now I age and compost it before adding it to the garden. I set up a 3-bin pallet compost system here first thing and added layers of horse manure and shredded leaves, so that has been aging almost a year and I could probably till it in now. Plus, my town offers free compost to residents and I've already picked up a bunch of that. Its a bit of a pain since I don't have a truck so I have to take 5-gallon buckets, shovel it into those, and then dump those into the garden but I figured I'd be glad I did it.

The funny thing is, there was no vegie garden here when we moved in, so when my neighbors offered to till one for us, I chose a spot that is mostly flat and close to water. While my neighbor was tilling I was talking to his wife and she said the residents prior to the ones who sold the house to us, had their garden in almost the exact same spot! So I can hope they did a good job of adding organic material to it when they had it. The earth seems to be very good and has tons of earthworms, so

for a good year but I will keep in mind not to be discouraged if it takes a little while to really get established.

What I really need to be doing is starting some seeds indoors. I usually do it in February but here it is the end of March and I haven't started yet. Heck, at this rate, maybe I'll just wait until after April 15th and plant directly outdoors!

 

[chicken danz]

tweetybaby2005, I have a trio of Salmon Faverolles myself & I really like them. I'm hatching quite a few eggs from them right now & I have another trio in my crate in the house that are pretty feathered out now. I'm going to keep them & if the rooster turns out nicer than the one I have I will keep him, otherwise I'll sell him & keep the hens. You can tell which sex they are pretty fast after they start feathering out because the roos get black feathers & the hens just get brown. My rooster I have out there is from a breeder, but the hens are hatchery birds, so I'm hoping I get some even nicer hens from that roo. The hens I have like to talk to me, they're very friendly.

Danz, my little goat I've been trying to tame will now come over for cookies. She still is a bit scared, but she's getting better all the time. She will come right up to me now at least & when I got her she would run as fast as she could the opposite direction. I'm slowly weaning the other one, she's only on one bottle a day now, she's not happy about it, but she is eating well & gaining weight, so I think she will be fine. It's just a matter of convincing her that she doesn't need the bottles any more. She gets upset with me when I go out to let them out in the morning & I don't have that bottle, but she gets over it & goes for the grain. I think they like their new toy I built them yesterday, they can climb all over it & get on the very top. I will have to start building their shelter soon, but I need to get some supplies first.
I'm glad the little goat is warming up to you. Nothing like winning them over with treats. I had a goat I named Cookie cause I taught her to sit up and beg just like a dog.
She got so she followed me everywhere, including wanting to come in the house when I went in. I lost her when she had her first baby because she just wasn't big enough. It really broke my heart because she was just like a dog would be.

I have to get upstairs and finish stripping wall paper in the babies room. I am so glad one of the girls I used to work with offered her husband up to paint and spray the ceiling in the nursery with texture stuff for a very reasonable price! I can't wait to get it all set up as I am running out of steam!
When you get it done I want to see it!! Did you take before pictures so you can compare?
Danz- So glad your last baby hatched ok. Their is a lot of info out there about late death in shell due to shell density and lack of oxygen after internal pipping. Have you heard from Trudigale? I send her a PM on FB but haven't heard back from her about goose eggs.
Here are pics of my grey goslings last spring:




And a white gosling that ended up being a gander

The little goose is doing fine. It has a lot of gray on it but I am waiting to see if it lightens up once it gets all cleaned up. It's amazing how those first two have grown. They look like monsters next to this one. This other egg never internally pipped. That is what has me stumped. The air space is plenty big. I was trying to take the advice you gave me and opened more vents and was trying to hatch dryer. I waited until this one pipped to remove it from the incubator but the other one was due the same day so I moved it as well.
My two broody goosey girls just keep building their nests higher and higher. They sit there and pick up a piece of straw at a time and tuck it in just the right spot around them. I need to mark the calendar. One of them has been sitting steady for over a week now. The other one has been pretty steady for 3-4 days.
Quote:

Sheesh, why me?

I found the strangest thing in the nest today. First some background. I have a Delaware that routinely lays soft shelled eggs. She is a pet, so she has a home with me, but she rarely lays normal eggs.

Today I went to collect eggs (went out earlier, but the nest was busy). The nest was empty an hour ago. When I saw the cracked, soft egg in the nest, I figured I could scramble the remnants for the girls, so I picked it up. What I saw was a partially developed chick in the newly laid egg. I was so startled that I dropped it in the grass and the purple sack burst. The purple sack was about the size of the yolk (that also broke when klutz here dropped it).

This is her latest contribution:




l moved it over to paper for a better look.



So was this egg incubating inside her body for a while? It couldn't have developed further since the shell was shattered, but how does this happen? Has anyone else had a hen lay a partially developed chick egg?

Wow! That is amazing. You do have some weird chickens for sure!

Lol! I'm so excited about chickens right now - my family is being so patient with me as I unload all the info I'm learning on them. I know some could careless

Sorry to hear about your hen

I know our chickens are going to provide us with lots of life lessons, often with unhappy endings...

Just talk all you want and discuss anything you want to. I never get over being excited about my chickens...and the other birds.
Quote:

Quick question Mrs broody pants chick made it out of it's egg and doing good but it's alone. Sense its so much smaller its a cochin than my 3 week chicks I didn't put them together. So I wanted to get one or two small chicks from farm store is that safe or would they have to be quaratined?

I think a lot has to do where you get them. I absolutely hate it when the stores and or parents allow the kids to pick up chicks. I think TSC is pretty strict about keeping people from handling chicks. Orshlens in Ottawa used to keep people out of them but I was there a couple weeks ago and kids were opening the cages and taking them out and carrying them around. It just thoroughly upset me that their mother was allowing them to do it.

I bought six assorted bantams chicks at tsc I have no idea what they are so if anyone can help me out it would be appreciative. Our tsc doesn't let you hold them they have it gated off if you don't work their you can't go behind the gate. So i hope they will be okay it looks like my other Cochin hen is going broody i went to put everyone up and she is in their with Mrs brooder pants and she took 3 eggs from her and is sitting on them.

They are cute. Do any of them have feathered legs, top knots or muffs?

Well I spent a good deal of my day out working on my hoop coop. I guess I can't help but make something simple difficult. I got the inside wall for the coop done then decided that it wouldn't be hard to put a floor in for the coop part. So I cut and installed the joists for the floor support. I got the door opening cut as well. I had a lot of trimming and fitting to get the inside wall boards cut to shape. So if it doesn't rain me out tomorrow I think I can get the floor in, get the door made, and maybe get the wiring and netting on. This is a whole new concept of building a hoop coop I think, because I am building a building of sorts in there. Every time I look at it it looks like a big Easter egg to me. If I had the solid back side facing North where people would see it I would probably paint it to look like one just for fun.
I am planning to make a double door so I can open the upper part and go inside myself or leave it closed most of the time for the birds. I'm getting anxious to get this one done and get my exhibition orps moved in there.

 

[sharol]

Sounds like you have it under control. We were using an old, unused garden spot (near water LOL), but she hadn't enriched the soil at all. It has been a challenge, but if the weather will cooperate, I'll have some great veggies this year. I have baby spinach in the cold frame that survived the snow storm. Yeah!!!

Thanks Sharol. I had a nice garden at our old house but couldn't grow here last year because of the timing of our move, so hopefully it will do okay this year. I have horses so have access to as much manure as I want but I tried that once at the garden at the old house and it proved to be a mistake as there were too many undigested grains in the poop, that all sprouted. I spent a whole year pulling up the stuff that had sprouted out of the manure. So now I age and compost it before adding it to the garden. I set up a 3-bin pallet compost system here first thing and added layers of horse manure and shredded leaves, so that has been aging almost a year and I could probably till it in now. Plus, my town offers free compost to residents and I've already picked up a bunch of that. Its a bit of a pain since I don't have a truck so I have to take 5-gallon buckets, shovel it into those, and then dump those into the garden but I figured I'd be glad I did it.

The funny thing is, there was no vegie garden here when we moved in, so when my neighbors offered to till one for us, I chose a spot that is mostly flat and close to water. While my neighbor was tilling I was talking to his wife and she said the residents prior to the ones who sold the house to us, had their garden in almost the exact same spot! So I can hope they did a good job of adding organic material to it when they had it. The earth seems to be very good and has tons of earthworms, so

for a good year but I will keep in mind not to be discouraged if it takes a little while to really get established.

What I really need to be doing is starting some seeds indoors. I usually do it in February but here it is the end of March and I haven't started yet. Heck, at this rate, maybe I'll just wait until after April 15th and plant directly outdoors!

 

[JosieChick]

Cute, glad they don't let people hold them, that is just icky and a good way to kill a bunch of chicks or send people home with sick babies! Plus I imagine it is quite stressful to get fished out of the bin 900 times a day! No idea what they are, number of toes and presence of foot feathering might help. TSC usually has old english game and d'uccles left after the cochins and silkies have been picked out.

You can break those broody hens for a bit if you want by putting them in a carrier and going for a car ride, that usually gets mine at least for a little while!

I bought six assorted bantams chicks at tsc I have no idea what they are so if anyone can help me out it would be appreciative. Our tsc doesn't let you hold them they have it gated off if you don't work their you can't go behind the gate. So i hope they will be okay it looks like my other Cochin hen is going broody i went to put everyone up and she is in their with Mrs brooder pants and she took 3 eggs from her and is sitting on them.

Where do you get free compost? That sounds like a heck of a deal. We will probably do a raised garden next year and I would like to plant a row of sunflowers for my chickens for the winter. Funny about your broody duck on her throne! I swear broodiness is contagious, once one starts they all go!

Thanks Sharol. I had a nice garden at our old house but couldn't grow here last year because of the timing of our move, so hopefully it will do okay this year. I have horses so have access to as much manure as I want but I tried that once at the garden at the old house and it proved to be a mistake as there were too many undigested grains in the poop, that all sprouted. I spent a whole year pulling up the stuff that had sprouted out of the manure. So now I age and compost it before adding it to the garden. I set up a 3-bin pallet compost system here first thing and added layers of horse manure and shredded leaves, so that has been aging almost a year and I could probably till it in now. Plus, my town offers free compost to residents and I've already picked up a bunch of that. Its a bit of a pain since I don't have a truck so I have to take 5-gallon buckets, shovel it into those, and then dump those into the garden but I figured I'd be glad I did it.

The funny thing is, there was no vegie garden here when we moved in, so when my neighbors offered to till one for us, I chose a spot that is mostly flat and close to water. While my neighbor was tilling I was talking to his wife and she said the residents prior to the ones who sold the house to us, had their garden in almost the exact same spot! So I can hope they did a good job of adding organic material to it when they had it. The earth seems to be very good and has tons of earthworms, so

for a good year but I will keep in mind not to be discouraged if it takes a little while to really get established.

What I really need to be doing is starting some seeds indoors. I usually do it in February but here it is the end of March and I haven't started yet. Heck, at this rate, maybe I'll just wait until after April 15th and plant directly outdoors!

Sharol, I wouldn't normally recommend mixing chicks of age differences but my cochins I don't worry about. They are little punks and usually are the boss of the brooder within a few hours. The cutest thing I ever did was put a poor, lonely hatched silkie chick in with 6-8 week old silkies and one of the girls actually mothered that chick! I watched them really closely at first but they were so nice to that baby. The poor thing screamed for hours alone in the brooder and went right under the breast of one of the small white pullets and she took her under her wing. It was the sweetest thing ever. It was winter and nobody had chicks yet.