Coop Project: Maken the Plunge & Getting Chickens

[Rock Home Isle]

As happens for most of us when we have a small backyard flock....

...as soon as we go into the yard to do anything, here the girls come. They are so curious to see what we are doing, and most importantly...do we have a treat for them.

I usually start a new group of girls every 2 years or so...

Just curious, who else is starting a small flock this spring? If you would like to share, post some photos of your girls and talk about the work that you've done, or plan to do, I would enjoy reading about your efforts.

 

[aart]

... talk about the work that you've done.....

All mine's here...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-coop-page

 

[GardenNut]

I just read your entire thread in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it! I have my first flock, 4 Buff orpingtons, hopefully all girls. They're two weeks old.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

All mine's here...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-coop-page

That is great information. Congratulations, a very fine project indeed.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I just read your entire thread in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it! I have my first flock, 4 Buff orpingtons, hopefully all girls. They're two weeks old.

Thank you very much. I'm glad that you enjoyed my experience with this project.

It has been fun and well worth the efforts. I enjoy keeping the birds and the eggs are just awesome...

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Bit of hard news for me tonight.

Blondy has died.

Yesterday, I noticed she was spending more time than usual by herself; so I went in the house and got a slice of bread, then called her over. She sat on my lap for a long time, I fed her bread and I checked her over. She had a mildly swollen foot, but everything, externally, looked fine.

I came home from work today and did my usual chores. I saw all my girls, except Blondy. I finally found her in the coop. She must have died last night. I know she was an old bird, but she was one of my first.

Chickens die, but it was still hard to find her dead.

Cycle of life.

 

[GardenNut]

My condolences! But now she's with her sisters scratching and pecking away!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Took the baby Welsummer chicks outside for a 1/2 hour or so. The big girls were in the garden so I just walked over and closed the gate. They continued to dig, scratch and role around in the leaf litter and dirt.

The little Welsummers enjoyed their time outside, though heavy clouds rolled in so it was a brief outing.

Recent Observations on Welsummer Chicks:

For the past few weeks I've had my little chicks. I have six currently and I also had a started bird several years ago. These birds are skittish, like running over each other skittish. My started bird was skittish, and I just took that behavior to be an isolated issue because it was a started bird, not one of my birds.

Yet, I've held them everyday, they will sleep in my hands and make content little cooing sounds. When I enter room, I start speaking to them softly so they don't startle. Just doesn't seem to matter, Welsummers are skittish birds. They are flighty, and that surprises me because the literature indicates that they are curious and friendly birds.

 

[katbriar]

I'm sorry to read about Blondy.

I enjoyed your thread from when you first started posting and am glad to see you back at it.

I also found my two Welsummers to be skittish, nervous birds. They did not do well in my mixed flock and were often randomly aggressive and then stand-off-ish with the rest of the girls. I do not know if the flock dynamics would have been different with more of their breed, but they were 2 of 9 and they unsettled everyone else.

I'll be interested to see what happens with your girls. I loved the color of their eggs and their feathers just glowed. They were beautiful!

 

[aart]

I'd advise taking all 'literature' and 'reviews' of breed characteristics with many grains of salt.
Different lines of breeds can have different characteristics, different individuals can have different characteristics.

My Wellie pair, acquired as 1-2 week olds and handled frequently while young in brooder are both pretty mellow.

The cock has marvelous temperament, but I stopped handling him frequently at about 6-8 weeks....
.....just enough to remind him that I would handle him if I wanted and he wouldn't die as a result.
He keeps clear of me when I'min coop or run, has some concerns when I handle hens/pullets but never shows any aggression to me.
The hen is a bit of a bully to the other birds, is a lousy layer, but is not overtly skittish.

I rarely handle my birds during the day, I just don't want to chase a bird down to catch it, both for my sake and theirs.
Taking them off the roost at night for inspections and/or treatments is so much easier for all concerned.
Chickens are just skittish prey animals, they can also become annoyingly 'aggressive' food seekers.
Depends on your goals, and their individual temperaments, how you handle them.