Consolidated Kansas

[ashncarson]

Also, Since this was last minute and we don't have the coop/run finished yet, the chicks will be spending a few days in a rubbermaid container......They have papertowels on the bottom for now and a water bowl (the base with the bottle screwed on) can I just sprinkle on food onto the paper towels in the morning for them to eat? I do have to work tomorrow, so what do they do all day in a box? I wish I could move them outside already!

This is all so new, and I did not think I would have to bring them inside, the coop/run should be done next week, pending all the rainy weather!

 

[HEChicken]

Oh my goodness, Danz, that accident sounds just awful - I hope you are feeling better now.

Sharol, that definitely has to come under the definition of "what could possibly go wrong?" (this is a saying we have around here, when deciding to do anything, we ask "what could possibly go wrong?" Swinging a hoe and ducking....something only 5-year-olds could come up with! I'm glad you weren't more seriously injured.

Trish, I hope your mouth is feeling better today.

Ashncarson, my guess would be that 2, 3 & 5 are all cockerels. I agree with Trish that Ameraucana's can be difficult to tell, but for their age, those all have a lot of red in their combs.

Well, I hope everyone is faring well after the storm last night. I haven't been out to check yet how much rain we got from this one but it rained hard here for a long time. I got my coop completely shoveled out last night and the mulch added to the veggie garden. I decided not to add new straw immediately, and give it a chance to dry out some, which means they were pooping directly on the concrete while on the roosts last night. Today I need to go and shovel out the new poop, and after it is dry, give them some fresh straw to spread around. This has been overdue for some time but with all the rain, I kept putting it off, but yesterday I couldn't stand to go one more day with it the way it was.

 

[chicken danz]

Ash, check the feathers at the base of the neck and right before the tail as Trish mentioned. Pointed feathers are boys, rounded or squared are girls. They may not have those feathers just yet. I would say the barred rock is a boy. You can see the excess white on his head as well. However they do tend to have very prominent combs so don't toss him yet.
Cochins have pea combs so it is very difficult to tell by combs at an early age. I know nothing about Americanas though so HEChicken may be a better source of information. Judging from comb color alone I concur that 2,3, and 5 could very well be cockerels.
They will eat quite a bit of food at the age they are. You might want to have a bigger feed container for them.
I delivered 8 salmon favorelle chicks I hatched for a gal who bought my breeders. When it started raining, one of the hens had several eggs in the mud but was trying to sit on them. It was a pretty good hatch that ranged over a week in time. I told her I wasn't going to raise them for her but she hadn't come and gotten them so I just delivered them to her. She hadn't even come up with anything for a brooder yet. I hated to do that but I can't feed every one else's birds too. I did this for free anyway. I really miss my salmons cause they are one of my favorites but they were something I'd never gotten separated into breeding groups yet.
Then I went to town to help go through some more stuff. My brother and his wife and heading back to N. Carolina this morning. It was an enjoyable week other than the work, but I must say I am not looking forward to doing the rest. I just hope we get all the smaller stuff done before Dad passes. I have seen the will when my parents drew it up years ago, but my Dad refuses to let anyone see it. I think he is afraid that someone will fight over things. None of us would ever do that. I am getting a dresser that my grandparents left me and my parents were using. It is really all I care about. I would rather we sell as much as we can to help pay Dad's expenses now.
I moved some more chicks to the brooder yesterday to make room for a few more that were hatching. I need to get so much done today. My poor birds have been doing without their normal care this week.

 

[cherwill]

Well, once again I'm too far behind to try to catch up properly.

Last week we finally got out into the garden for several hours to really take care of things. Up until then, we'd been picking beans, checking the squash, and making a note of everything else we weren't managing to get done. We harvested a huge batch of beans (it was my aunt's turn to take them home and preserve), some spaghetti and pattypan squash, the shallots because we had to (a few had even rotted in the ground), the rest of the watermelon radishes, carrots (odd shaped because we hadn't thinned them well enough earlier), and a bunch of jalapenos so I could make another batch of the relish that DH's shift likes so much that I can't keep enough around for us. DH had to cut off between 1/2 and 2/3 of the tomato plants just so we could get to the ripe tomatoes. I made about 2 cups of ketchup with those. We got eggplant, most of which we gave away, fennel, and a couple of rutabagas, as well.

It hailed last night. I haven't gone out to see what kind of damage it might have done at the garden. I hope everyone got through this latest storm OK.

 

[sharol]

This is the chick formerly known as LemonDrop. Now HIS name is Limon. He's one of Butch's babies.

 

[chicken danz]

Sharol the picture didn't show up. How did your integrating go last night?
I have just been dragging all day. I think I am totally worn out. It literally took me all afternoon to feed and water cause I was moving so slow. I did put some hardware cloth and some linoleum down in one of the houses to try to combat the mice chewing holes in the floor. I need to put down all new flooring but can't afford it right now. I have a couple buildings the floors have worn out. I was going to try cleaning house today but I think I am done for the day. I moved King and his girlfriend to the house I was working on. I treated both of them for mites and worms and gave them some medicated water. They both have colds since it got so wet. I've been getting some eggs from her and I'm trying to raise some babies while I still can. I guess I'll know if I have any new baby Kings in a month or so.
I put some new straw in the nest of my peahen that is sitting. I picked up one egg someone laid outside the nest. There were 9 more eggs under her when she moved. If she keeps sitting I will just let her hatch and raise them. It's a lot easier than me doing it.

 

[sharol]

Hmm. It is a youtube video, and it said it would work. Of course I can see it from my computer.

is the direct link. He is crowing (sort of).

The potential rain put it off until this afternoon. My head hen walked right between the boys and pretty much ignored them. The other hens were in another part of the yard. I think I'll start out the day with them all out in the yard tomorrow and see if there is more mingling. So far, so good. If Scout isn't outraged, then there probably won't be any problems.

Sharol the picture didn't show up. How did your integrating go last night?
I have just been dragging all day. I think I am totally worn out. It literally took me all afternoon to feed and water cause I was moving so slow. I did put some hardware cloth and some linoleum down in one of the houses to try to combat the mice chewing holes in the floor. I need to put down all new flooring but can't afford it right now. I have a couple buildings the floors have worn out. I was going to try cleaning house today but I think I am done for the day. I moved King and his girlfriend to the house I was working on. I treated both of them for mites and worms and gave them some medicated water. They both have colds since it got so wet. I've been getting some eggs from her and I'm trying to raise some babies while I still can. I guess I'll know if I have any new baby Kings in a month or so.
I put some new straw in the nest of my peahen that is sitting. I picked up one egg someone laid outside the nest. There were 9 more eggs under her when she moved. If she keeps sitting I will just let her hatch and raise them. It's a lot easier than me doing it.

 

[HEChicken]

Sharol, I was able to see the video. Danz, it takes awhile to load so it might just be a matter of waiting for it....

 

[ChooksChick]

Hi folks! Backed up a bit so I could see what's going on and Danz got smacked, Sharol got what she wished for (son of Butch) and everyone is happy about the mild temps, maybe not so much with the wet.

I have a trio of Bourbon Reds whom I love dearly (Rhett, Scarlett and Ruby) and a pair of Royal Palms (Wilma & Percy) who need homes. I'm closing up shop and I'm terrified about putting ads out for my turkeys this time of year...

Scarlett has a baby she's been raising for about 6 weeks, or maybe 8, and Wilma is on eggs that should hatch any day- like 7 or 8 of them. Ruby is a loner and has taken a friend in the 12 week-old Black turkey chick (Onyx).

Is anyone interested? I'll make a deal on various groups:

1. Rhett, Scarlett, chick, Ruby, Onyx
2. Rhett, Scarlett, chick
3. Ruby, Onyx
4. Wilma, Percy, clutch
5. The whole lot

No eating them!! I love them.

Rhett lets me walk up and hug him, and Percy is ticklish. These are very nice birds when they aren't molting, from heritage breeders & hatched by me, with the exception of Rhett, who came to me as an adult.

I haven't any way to transport, so you'll need to come get them. I did put Rhett in my back seat to transport him home last year, and that was an unrepeatable offense, according to hubby.

I'll still be keeping birds, but only what I can have in my citified backyard, so no roos, no turkeys, no peas. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my pea pair.

I'll actually have more time to visit with you guys and write more. It's still a bit off as I have many birds yet to sell, but I'm almost halfway there.

 

[sharol]

Nice to see you back on Renee.

I actually got 2 cockerels from the hatch. I'm hoping they continue to get along well. The white chick (the one in the video) seems to be the dominant. He certainly is braver than his brother. I'm delighted. Your suggestions for taming them worked like a charm and they are both really friendly. They seem to like to be handled, and that may be key later on.

I put them out in a grow out pen during the daytime hours about a week ago. I can't leave them out there overnight because we have a large dog in the neighborhood who can jump the fence. Today I let them out in the yard for a while while the girls were out, and my dominant hen strutted right between them without any problems. Tomorrow I'll try it earlier in the day. If I can get them to sleep in the coop my life will be easier, and theirs will be better.

Good luck with your birds. I wish I had somewhere for the turkeys, but it just isn't going to happen this year at least.