Consolidated Kansas

[CHIKENROOKIE]

Think it was my BR that laid my first egg. I just dont have enough room in my backyard for all the breeds I would like to try!

 

[chicken danz]

Chickenrookie, none of us have room enough or pens enough and some of us don't have time enough. However thanks to danzsizing that never stops me!!

Of course if you are just using birds for layers you can have lots of different kinds without having to have separate pens.
The way I see it you should enjoy the birds you have. The only way to find out what you really like is to try different breeds and see if their looks and personalities are what you want.
Yes! I am an enabler!

 

[HEChicken]

I agree with Danz. I spent about 4 years kind of playing around with a bit of this and a bit of that. I wanted a colorful egg basket so I was constantly on the lookout for birds whose eggs would be "different" either in shape or color. It has only been in the past 12 months that I have narrowed my focus to a couple of specific breeds. I do keep all of mine in one coop and yard but have a hoop coop I can use to separate one rooster with a handful of hens for a few weeks to get purebred eggs. So far, that system is working for me. Once I've collected all the eggs I need from the hoop coop, I open the door and let them return to the main coop.

 

[Trish44]

Chickenrookie I have also been experimenting with breeds in my laying flock the last 3 years & have figured out which breeds I don't like & won't ever get again as well as the ones I really like & want more of. There are so many breeds that you can keep trying different ones for quite awhiile. Danz & I both have a lot of pens of birds mostly because we breed different breeds of chickens & have to keep them separated to keep the breeds pure. If you only have one or two breeds you want pure eggs from then HEChicken's system works for that. I just have way too many different ones for anything like that to work for me. I kept finding another breed I just had to have & here I am. I will be changing out a couple of breeds this year & adding a couple of heritage breeds.

Well this morning is my last physical therapy for now till I find out if I need knee surgery or not. I just keep hoping I don't have to because that's going to set me back again if I do. I also don't want to have it until I get to go see my new grandson.

 

[chicken danz]

I guess I'd have a lot less breeds if I didn't have ducks, geese, turkeys, guineas, pheasants, and peafowl along with all the chickens. I honestly can't imagine giving them up though. Little by little I am trying to decide what I really want to keep and what I don't really care that much for. Of course my layers are my least favorite but I want to keep them just because I need to have a source for eggs and some meat which isn't a high priced bird.
It's up to 11 degrees out! HEAT WAVE!!

 

[Trish44]

It's actually 19 degrees here, that's warmer than I thought it was supposed to be. The bad news is it looks like the above freezing temps have been pushed back & now it may be Weds. before it gets any warmer. I really was nervous about going out today on the snow & ice to get to my last therapy session & my therapist said she was kind of surprised I came out. I told her it was the first time I've been outside the door since it snowed & I had help today.

I sure hope my birds are all doing OK because I can't get down there to see if they are or aren't. Did I say I HATE winter! Our old truck is having trouble with the 4 wheel drive now, not a good thing when our driveway is treacherous. My DH made an appt. to take it in on Monday to get it checked out, but till then he's got to get up & down this driveway to get to work & back.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

My chickens have zero desire to come out of the coop since Tuesday! But they sure are enjoying their special meals They've been getting a casserole of cooked pasta, rice, oatmeal, and mashed potato flakes all mixed up together and then topped with fat squirming mealworms!

My mama hen with her 2 little ones is really a great mom; she calls her babies to come and enjoy the treats too. They stay really close to her and the other hens seem to know better than to even think to mess with her babies She was sitting on another 9 eggs and every day she has kicked one out - she is down to sitting on 2 eggs now; I'm guessing they're not going to hatch and that is just fine! I couldn't believe she decided to have babies in the middle of winter - crazy mama!

I've been enjoying reading, knitting and sewing these past few days. I sure wish spring would get here; we have tons of projects to finish and even more new ones to start!

 

[cherwill]

My chickens haven't come outside since the snow. I don't know why they're laying now, but we are getting an egg every day.

 

[HEChicken]

I hope everyone survived the two worst days this week. Our high for the day yesterday was 14 but it is already that now and is supposed to get all the way up to 18 or 19 today. But, everyday, they lower the forecast temps for the next week so it will still be another week before we are above freezing. Not to mention that they're already talking about more of that snow stuff.

We did get snowed in here as the drifts piled high enough in front of the garage that there is no way I could have got my car out. Fortunately my neighbor came and plowed us out with his tractor. I still haven't been anywhere since the snow but at least now I know I could if I had to

.

The cold temps haven't slowed down the laying much at all. I'm sure many of them appreciate having something to do while they are on their semi-self-confinement. A couple have even continued to jump the fence into the sheep run to lay their eggs in their makeshift nest there.

The main thing that has changed with the snow is that the sheep and goats are finally eating the hay we've had stored for them since the fall. Until now they barely ate any, preferring to graze instead. But with the pasture covered in snow they are going through about a bale a day. I'm relived to know we won't have the whole season's worth of hay left over after all.

 

[Trish44]

The National Weather service says it's supposed to be 34 here next Weds. & then in the 40s the next day. We have some cold snowy days leading up to that. I hope they're right, I know everybody is ready for a thaw & a little warmer weather. My DH is getting really grouchy about having to go out in this weather to feed my birds. He says if I hurt myself next winter I might as well call people to come get my birds because he's not doing this again. I need to figure out a way to make that slope safer for me or get something for my shoes to give me more traction because I definitely don't want to go through this again. I'm terrified now to go out the front door without someone there to catch me if I start to slip. I would be in a world of hurt if I fall again now when the fracture isn't even healed yet.

Our only way out of here right now, our old truck is having 4 wheel drive problems, not a good thing when the driveway is slick with snow & uphill to get out of here. My DH is taking it in Monday to try to see if they can fix it, but till then he needs to get out of here to get to work. We don't even try to get our cars out until the stuff starts melting on the driveway because it's fruitless to even try. I had thought of buying another 4 wheel drive vehicle but we didn't, maybe we should have. I want to move somewhere where there is no snow, but even in the south where they usually don't get that kind of weather they have had it this year & they don't know what to do with it.

Well HEChicken I guess it's a good thing you had all the hay stored up so you would have something to feed your animals. I don't know if we're going to make it without running out or not. Since I haven't been able to go out there I have no idea how much we have left.

I'm getting really stir crazy stuck in the house all the time, but at least I have my little chicks to watch & take care of. I guess that's a good thing since I can't see any of my other chickens right now. They're getting so they can dart around really fast in that brooder & they know how to run fast & hide under the ecoglows & sweeter heater. I was going to band my little Speckled Sussex cockerel last night so I could keep track of him before they feather out too much, but he was faster than me. I guess I'll have to do it when I clean out the brooders & have to catch them all anyway. My 3 remaining Barnevelder eggs are due to hatch tomorrow, I hope they don't all turn out to be cockerels. I was having issues with the tubing on my incubator not flowing right to the pan it goes into. I have a feeling the little filter in the middle of it was clogged. So I had to find some other tubing I had around here to change it out with & it's working fine now thank goodness. I'm glad I had something I could use. Sometimes it pays to keep things even if you don't need them at the time.