Consolidated Kansas

[Katy]

Quote:
Course you realize if you're going to post on the Kansas thread you have to cheer for K-State.....not Nebraska!!

 

[thndrdancr]

Thats fine by me, Katy.

I was born in Hiawatha, lived in Hamlin til I was 3, and Concordia til I was 10. Still have more friends back home than I do here in Nebraska!

Sis is 18 years older so Hamlin area her old stomping grounds, she knows everyone in the area. Still calls it "back home" when she refers to the area! lol

So K State, jayhawkers, all ok by me!

A couple of Pomeranian geese for sale in Junction City I wouldnt mind havin...sure is a drive tho. She wasnt sure of the sex tho. $20 apiece, that a fair price?

 

[ck_dunham]

I came across a hand full of Bronze Turkeys today in Ottawa that was $13 and now are $8 They looked to be about 2 weeks.

 

[weazel922]

Is 32'' x 18'' big enough for a brooder for 5 chicks?

Intially I was going to use a dog crate, but since it's wire, I was worried about keeping the heat in. So I decided to just build a box out of plywood, something like 3'x5' or something like that. I'd have to buy all the supplies for my box though. Then I remembered I have an old wooden foot locker type box. It's 32"x18".

I'm just worried about how fast they'll outgrow it. My 3rd idea was to start them in the box I currently have, but cut a pop door on it and set the dog crate up next to it, so when they start getting bigger, they'll have the wood box for heat and the dog crate to run around in.

Will this work? Keep in mind these will be my first chickens EVER, so any criticism/suggestions is greatly appreciated.

 

[mikeksfarmer]

Quote:
Some people use those kiddy pools, I use the plastic recycling tub that people put on the curb. The value of plastic is you can wash em out easy and just dump them on the composte pile. Your box is big enough; by the time you think they stink or are needing cleaning too often you can move them outside under a light. Just protect them from raccoons. Since you just have 5, if you have kids you should make pets of them.

Chickens love bread but dont give them too much. Bread has almost no nutrition in it. I have trained them to a call. When I go out now and make my chick chick call they all come running.

Sooner or later you are going to see a stray dog or another preditor and you are going to want to know where the kids are.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Quote:
Some people use those kiddy pools, I use the plastic recycling tub that people put on the curb. The value of plastic is you can wash em out easy and just dump them on the composte pile. Your box is big enough; by the time you think they stink or are needing cleaning too often you can move them outside under a light. Just protect them from raccoons. Since you just have 5, if you have kids you should make pets of them.

Chickens love bread but dont give them too much. Bread has almost no nutrition in it. I have trained them to a call. When I go out now and make my chick chick call they all come running.

Sooner or later you are going to see a stray dog or another preditor and you are going to want to know where the kids are.

wise, but funny.... Bill

 

[Ivywoods]

Right now we are having light freezing rain. There are tens of thousands of snow geese in the field across from the house. They sure are noisy.

My chickens went from laying over 30 eggs to only laying 6 after that last storm. I hope their production picks back up today. They can't hold on to them forever, right?

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

Quote:
We use a big plastic tote and when it is warm enough outside they go into the outside brooder.

Just cut a hole in the top and put hardware cloth.

 

[weazel922]

I don't have an outside brooder setup.

My brooder was going to be inside my garage, and I was hoping to keep them in it until they were ready to go into the coop (no electricity). That was mainly why I'm worried about size. Is this a bad idea?

If that won't work, I suppose I could go buy a long outdoor extension cord and run it out to my coop just to keep a heat lamp out there until they're big enough/warms up enough for no lamp. But I won't have permanent electricity out there.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

Quote:
My guess is the chicks won't need to go outside 5 to 7 weeks. That would make it mid April, by that time you would not need to supply much heat.