Francesco
In the Brooder
- Mar 24, 2016
- 5
- 0
- 15
I'll just start off by saying Hello to Everyone. I've cruised the site for months before joining. Mostly just for info since I am a fairly new chicken owner. I live in Northern Michigan. Short Version : Last Easter last I bought 5 baby chicks. 4 Red Sex Link and a random tiny, tiner than the rest, unknown Bantam Chick. Weeks erlier my dad and I had just finshed building a very solid, very nice chicken coop .It's roughtly 100x45 1/2X62 1/2'h...wirth 3 laying boxes..,..We figured that would be about big enough to start out with 4-6 hens. AAlso very importantly these chickens were always intended to be pretty much free roaming most if not all of the day. We have property in a very rual poart of town.
So anyway, we raised them up under heat lamps and all the good stuff. Then they transferred to the coop....which they seemed to love. Now the dude at farm and fleet said the sex links wer pretty much garunteed to be hens. 4 hens is what we wanted...I just wanted to buy a bantam anyway. They were so cool looking. Anyway, after a few more months in the coop it was obivious the bantan was most definetlky a rooster. I thought it was great. When I was little my uncles and grandfathers had chickens and I was always fascinated by the roosters. They were mean and fearless. They were bad dudes, I loved them. So yeah as they got bigger throughout the summer the hens got huge. I mean big fast. The rooster turned ou to be a Old English Game Rooster grew slower but became magnificant. I'll have to pics.
It's now march 24 and nearly 27 degrees and snowing. This is warm. I have worried about them all winter. Many nights here go down to -20 below zero and that is cold. With the actual coop shut up at night there is no heat bulb....just a regular bulb on a timer to keep the laying consistent and a heated waterer. (Also one in the run). I try to let them out everyday but they will onlly leave the run if it is sunny, not windy, or both. The little bantam is something else man......he thinks hes a velocoraptor......He's very protective and more effective than any watchdog i've ever had. If so much someone is walking down our dirt road he lets you know. If someone actually inters the property....he freaks for 5 minutes.
So thats about it for now.....things are going generly good just worried about some weather issues, We live literlly right on a sizeable lake and constany get wind and lake effect snow. I'm currently getting 3-4 eggs a day. I believe I will buy2 more hen chicks this easter. I was also thinking that I would like a full size rooster so I can start to work with fertilized eggs...which I would love to do. The Bantam tries......nut he a 3rd the size of the hens. I think it really frustrates him and maybe why he is always so **** mean all the time.
Anyway people....sorry to be longwinded. I really would like to see pics and other members setups.
Have a great day...
So anyway, we raised them up under heat lamps and all the good stuff. Then they transferred to the coop....which they seemed to love. Now the dude at farm and fleet said the sex links wer pretty much garunteed to be hens. 4 hens is what we wanted...I just wanted to buy a bantam anyway. They were so cool looking. Anyway, after a few more months in the coop it was obivious the bantan was most definetlky a rooster. I thought it was great. When I was little my uncles and grandfathers had chickens and I was always fascinated by the roosters. They were mean and fearless. They were bad dudes, I loved them. So yeah as they got bigger throughout the summer the hens got huge. I mean big fast. The rooster turned ou to be a Old English Game Rooster grew slower but became magnificant. I'll have to pics.
It's now march 24 and nearly 27 degrees and snowing. This is warm. I have worried about them all winter. Many nights here go down to -20 below zero and that is cold. With the actual coop shut up at night there is no heat bulb....just a regular bulb on a timer to keep the laying consistent and a heated waterer. (Also one in the run). I try to let them out everyday but they will onlly leave the run if it is sunny, not windy, or both. The little bantam is something else man......he thinks hes a velocoraptor......He's very protective and more effective than any watchdog i've ever had. If so much someone is walking down our dirt road he lets you know. If someone actually inters the property....he freaks for 5 minutes.
So thats about it for now.....things are going generly good just worried about some weather issues, We live literlly right on a sizeable lake and constany get wind and lake effect snow. I'm currently getting 3-4 eggs a day. I believe I will buy2 more hen chicks this easter. I was also thinking that I would like a full size rooster so I can start to work with fertilized eggs...which I would love to do. The Bantam tries......nut he a 3rd the size of the hens. I think it really frustrates him and maybe why he is always so **** mean all the time.
Anyway people....sorry to be longwinded. I really would like to see pics and other members setups.
Have a great day...
. Most of us were lurkers before we join. There's a lot of fun threads and tons of info. There is a whole section about coops
. Check it out. You can find it at the top of this page.
