FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[cmom]

I have night lights on in all of my coops. The chicks have lights on them from the day they hatch. When I move birds from coop to coop they go in pretty well and I think it is because of the lights in the coops and they are used to them. A few I may have to coax in the first night. Before I did the night lights I had to round them up a lot when they were young and put them in their coops in the evenings, but that has worked for me and may not for everyone. Originally when I put the lights in the coops I had them on timers but the timer died so now I just leave them on, most of the time I turn off the main to the coops during the day. I also have electric wire around my pens and coops. No predator will mess with electricity. I touched the wire when I forgot to turn it off and my heart skipped several beats. When I move the birds to a different coop, sometimes they won't lay for a day or so. Be patient and they will feel safe and comfortable and settle into their new home. Any change can affect them as they are creatures of habit and like a routine.

 

[Bassetgal15]

Hi everyone I'm new to the forum, and quickly found my way to the Florida thread, lol. I share my life with horses, dogs, reptiles, and arachnids, and hopefully in the near future, poultry. Been wanting to own a farm since I was a child and my dream is finally coming true. I'm closing on an awesome house sitting on 2.5 acres this month in New smyrna beach. I actually live in NSB right now but it's a townhouse lol. No room for chickens let alone my horse. Glad to meet you all

Hello and welcome. I'm in Lake Helen not too far from you and just got my first chicks.

 

[cmom]

Quote:

and the Florida thread. Here is the BYC Florida members page. I will be updating this as I have a few names to add. Scroll to your county and you will find other BYC members that live in your county. FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

 

[Bassetgal15]

Took birds to the show today. Didn't do too bad. They got Best of Breed, Reserve Breed, Best Variety and Reserve Variety. No champions this time. This was the last APA show of the season except for the fairs.

Where do you show birds? That sounds like fun

 

[cmom]

Quote: http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Florida.html

 

[cmom]

Quote: http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Florida.html

Check you area for the fairs. They usually have poultry shows. Citrus Country fair is March 28th through April 3rd.

 

[cmom]

Just a reminder of our Dunnellon Tractor Supply Company Farm Swap this Saturday March 12th.

I will be bringing some RIR pullets and a Rose Comb Rhode Island White cockerel.
These are the grow-out coop and pens. These pictures were taken awhile ago. The pullets have started laying.

 

[AlHawk]

You guys in North & NW Florida are alot more active with your swaps etc than we are on the East Central area. The closest I've seen is up in Deland area (About 1.5 hr away)

Nice looking birds CMOM.

 

[cmom]

You guys in North & NW Florida are alot more active with your swaps etc than we are on the East Central area. The closest I've seen is up in Deland area (About 1.5 hr away)

Nice looking birds CMOM.

You or friends could start a swap. I used to drive quite long distances to some swaps. We decided to have the swaps at our farm but my husband was concerned about what would we do if anyone got hurt. I decided to check out alternative places to have a swap. We always had great turnout at our place, we have a lot of space to set up for sellers and a place for customer parking. I first asked some local feed stores if they would be interested in letting us host swaps, we did try a couple of places for awhile but the places didn't want to help us promote the swaps so we quit having them for awhile. My neighbor worked at the local Tractor Supply and was their event coordinator, so I went to her one day and asked what she thought and if I could meet with the store manager. I met with the store manager and he said we could try and see how it would go. We planned a few months ahead of time and when it was time for the first swap we had a huge turnout. We waited a few months and had another very successful swap then the store manager said we could have the swaps monthly but no yard sale or flea market items, strictly a farm swap. I believe this is our 6th year at Tractor Supply. Most of the people are regulars but we do get new people too. Now most people in the area know about our swap and even plan for it. About 2 years ago I went to the Crystal River Mall manager and asked if we could set up in a parking area that was not being used. She said we could try it one month and see how it would go and we had a decent turnout so she said we could have it monthly but again no garage sale or flea market items. At the time Rural King was not there yet but the mall manager told me that in a few months Rural King was taking coming to the mall. There was a Sears across the parking lot that was closed. Since Rural King has went in where Sears used to be across the parking lot from where we hold our monthly Farm Swap and our Mall swap is gaining popularity.

 

[VanaheimFarms]

anyone in the panhandle hatch out alot of quail? Im looking for about 100 bobwhites, I hate buying eggs because after the mail man shakes them up I rarely get even a decent hatch rate. I would consider local fertile eggs however.