Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz, I'm so sorry your folks aren't doing well, it's so hard when the roles reverse & you have to take care of them. Just remember you are very blessed to have had them so long, I know that doesn't make up for having to see them this way, but it's true. I lost my dad to heart disease when I was 17 years old & my mom in 1984 to cancer, so I haven't had parents in a very long time. I especially still miss my mother. Anyway, more prayers coming your way for all of you.

Hawkeye, your birds sure have grown up since we saw them last! Yeah my barred rock hens are at the top of the pecking order also. I can't say that they especially pick on the others, but they make it known they are the queens so to speak. I think the Polish & Silkies are naturally at the bottom of the pecking order.

tweety, yeah the little buggers do learn pretty quick how to jump & fly. I remember last year when I got some chicks I had to put a top on my brooder pretty quickly. They got to the point that I couldn't leave the top off even to go do something or one of them would be escaping. That's one thing I like about this brooder I bought is that it has a top already on it. Of course when I have to move my chicks to something bigger I will have to use the screens again.

I have one more cage to finish up putting the door on today & the latch for it for my new rabbits. I had been waiting on some hardware to get here to put the cage together because when I ordered the last two cages they didn't send me the stuff for the 2nd cage. I should be an expert soon on putting cages together, geez. I'm trying to sell my little English Spot mix girls because I need the cage space for breeding does. I had rescued these two from being eaten by a snake. Hopefully whoever buys them won't subject them to that, they're too cute to be eaten.

 

[MarcAustin]

Beautiful chicks!! I'm no expert, but my two week olds had feathers in like that. I could go back and find pictures, but they were pretty good at jumping up on to the water, etc. Personally, I would not clip their wings. Time to get a top for your brooder. You can use a piece of screen.

Oh I have no intention of doing any clipping, it was just a point of curiosity. Anyone have guidance on when they typically learn to fly?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Oh I have no intention of doing any clipping, it was just a point of curiosity. Anyone have guidance on when they typically learn to fly?

NOW.

Seriously, when they get those feathers in... look out! It's not a very well guided flight-- but they can jump/fly to higher spots or do a running fly, or do a pretty good fly and crash from up high.

 

[tntblake]

Hello all ! Quick question - when do chicks normally learn to fly? As I mentioned previously i just started with 6 chicks. 4 were 2day olds but the 2 Sussex are at least a week or two older. The thing is, my brooder's in my office because its naturally the warmest room in the house and as I'm working last nite, the larger of the two managed to fly up and land on the edge of the brooder which is 13" high. I'm sure he got a running start and whatnot but I was VERY surprised. I know i sound like a city slicker making the assumption that chickens can't fly. I know they can, but i didn't expect it until they were over a month old. I tried to find pictures online of Sussex at various ages but I was hoping someone here would know if they are more likely 10 days or 17 days old to have enough feathering to accomplish this. Also, when I was a young man, friend of mine kept parrots and macaws and he had to clip their wings to keep them from flying around and up into the ceiling fan. I thought it was cruel be apparently it's widespread practice with cagebirds. People don't do that to chickens do they ?? THanks and have a great weekend !!

They don't look anymore than 1 1/2 to 2 weeks old to me. Once they learn to fly, they don't stop until they are too heavy to get up to high. You will need a cover over the top of your brooder to keep them in. Once they figure it out they keep doing it. Some people do clip the chicken wings if they are getting over their fence. I have never had to clip mine. I have a 6 ft. fence and most of my birds were too heavy to get that high. I had 2 that could get over but they very rarely did. On the rare occasion that they did they spent their time pacing the fence trying to get back in with the flock. In any case, I wouldn't trim their wings until they are full grown.

 

[Ivywoods]

MarkAustin-Many chicks start practicing their aerial maneuvers as soon as you take them out of the incubator! DIfferent breeds will be much more active at flying than others. I've had chicks that fly to the top of a short brooder in the matter of a week or so, and others that take much, much longer. Give them room to play and exercise but put a top on your brooder to protect them

Danz-OH! I forgot to say what a rotten, vengeful thing for someone to kill chickens like that. I'd say someone has some anger issues they need to handle in a more appropriate manner. Where do people get the idea that it is okay to hurt someone like that, even if it's an ex? With that in mind, what kind of chickens did your friend have? Does he want more? I'd be willing to donate some if I have any of the kinds he would like.

Hawkeye-Your chickens look pretty happy. My guineas gather around my chicken tractor like that. They were bonded to the rooster that is now inside the pen.

Oh, I had an ameraucana rooster that was being a "bad boy" yesterday. I caught him and threw his butt in a wire cage outside the barn last night. This morning ALL the free range hens were milling around his cage, pointing their rears at him as if to say, "NAH nah nah NAH nah. You can't GET us!" Talk about a bunch of teasing hussies!

**edited for stupid typo errors.

 

[chicken danz]

Just a quick note cause I am on the run as usual. My Mom is back in the hospital. My Dad couldn't get her moving this morning and her legs are very swollen from her heart. They said her lungs are much worse than they were even a week ago. I need your prayers.

 

[Ivywoods]

Danz-Oh no! That doesn't sound good. I'll be sending some prayers your way.

CanChaser-Oh, I'm so glad you got some chicks out of those eggs. I was going to refer you to the KSU pullet sale for some more leghorns. They are selling them this spring for $6.50 I believe was the price, but I just looked at the webpage and they are sold out for the year. I will be bringing home 12 for myself and 18 for my sister. You might check with me after April 21 because if they have some that folks don't pick up I might just pick up some extras. They are vaccinated for everything under the sun and you couldn't begin to raise them and vaccinate them for that price.

 

[checoukan]

Danz-Oh no! That doesn't sound good. I'll be sending some prayers your way.

CanChaser-Oh, I'm so glad you got some chicks out of those eggs. I was going to refer you to the KSU pullet sale for some more leghorns. They are selling them this spring for $6.50 I believe was the price, but I just looked at the webpage and they are sold out for the year. I will be bringing home 12 for myself and 18 for my sister. You might check with me after April 21 because if they have some that folks don't pick up I might just pick up some extras. They are vaccinated for everything under the sun and you couldn't begin to raise them and vaccinate them for that price.

So, you still a puney tail? Next thursday is day 18 on the U of A eggs!!!!

I am so ready to get my incubator back to work on rosecombs. Hey when, do you want some of these eggs? My oe's are starting to lay finally!!

I guess I am going to still let them go. I hate too, but I need the space for the rosecombs, they are the one't that are going to start paying for my hobby. I can always get some more later on after I get my new barn. Better go do my chicken chores. Man it was a long week on school bus this week. I am so tired, ready for the weekend

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, so sorry to hear your mom has taken a turn for the worse. You are definitely in my thoughts and hope the hospital is able to help her rebound.

 

[HEChicken]

what kind of eggs are you getting? What kind of incubator are you using? Good luck with your hatch!

My incubator is a home-built. DH and I put it together Christmas 2010, and I used it to hatch some local mixed eggs, just to test it out. I subsequently made a second just because I had all the materials laying around (and because I could

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Both are made from Omaha Steak styrofoam coolers. I used these because they have very thick styrofoam so hold temperature and humidity REALLY well. The thermostats are left over from my reptile keeping days. They were expensive back then - I think around $35 each - but do an awesome job of holding the temp right where I have it set. I added a fan to one of them and left the other a still air. I wanted to see what difference that made. For the heating element, the first time I used a light bulb, but then I switched to reptile heating pads. I like the pads better. They are only slightly smaller than the base of the cooler, so the heat rises up uniformly, and I found a fan wasn't necessary to circulate the air for that reason. I cut most of the top out and added a piece of glass from a picture frame (went to a thrift store and bought an empty frame just to get the glass) and loved being able to see so well into the incubator. Here is a picture of it during the first incubation. The light is behind the wire frame. That has since gone away and the reptile pad lies on the "floor" of the incubator instead. I then used baskets over bowls of water, and used some flex-tubing through a hole in the side of the incubator to add water to the bowls without opening it. As you can see, I went a little overboard on thermometers that first time. I've since found one I trust and just use it.



Now, as for the eggs....I am really excited about this. I had lunch with ChooksChick today and she very generously gave me some of her South Americans and Konzas that she has been working on. I am really nervous to start incubating them in case I do something wrong and they don't hatch but at the same time I'm so excited to have this opportunity. I have them on my kitchen counter getting settled at room temperature, but my incubator is ready to go so I will be setting them here in the next hour or so.