High Desert, California!!

[gander007]

Hi everyone, my future husband and I are escaping the city and moving to the high desert, although I'll still be commuting to San Diego once or twice a week for work. We just recently bought a house in Morongo Valley with 5 acres we plan on converting into a small ranch. I've never had anything other than a dog so I'm going to have plenty of questions!

So have you settled in to your new home yet and if so do you have any photos of your new flock as we always enjoy seeing new members with their poultry and what breed did you go with .....

 

[magdelaine]

Yes the Coyote's are a problem along with the Fox and Bob-Cats and I loose a bit till I added some Guinea to the flock but I loose them from time to time too but a good fence is the best bet .....





The fence in the back ground goe's all the way around the yard but the smaller animals still get in and the bigger one's just dig and move the large rocks I have by the fence ....

Are you getting you chicks from the feed store on Inyokern Rd by the 395 free way ????

Ah, that's "Herb's" or Gateway Hardware...gosh he has everything there! What a great store. No we got our chicks as hatching eggs as Marans are not very common and if they come from a hatchery they are not well bred. We did get our feed there though.

What we ended up doing was digging out around our run and putting down 2" by 4" welded wire so nothing could dig under. It seems like things are pretty secure, or at least they seemed to be before we got a report of a bear running down the road a quarter of a mile away. Here's a pic of our run; you can sort of see the welded wire

We have 3 year old Welsummers that were recently rehomed to us that promptly went into molt and stopped laying. Since I posted we've picked up a couple Ameraucana pullets and a Blue Copper cockerel...all about 3 months old. Ameraucanas are so sweet! I'm looking forward to trying for "olive eggers" in the spring from them with the roo if he proves to be a good type. He looks good so far!







Looking forward to seeiing what everyone else has.

 

[gander007]

Quote:
Oh you have a very nice run for your flock and the wood fence should provide adequate shade in the summer and really cut down on the wind you have out there ... So do you have any problems with domestic animals getting to your flock this is my largest problem as even last night I had a lot of noise in the front yard and after checking one of my large Chinese geese had some blood on her rear-end so she must have a good size hole down there but I can not catch her yet as she fly's over the fence so easily I do not dare scare her so after finding a hurt animal I waited on the front porch and with in fifteen minutes the house cat returned to get something but the problem is all they do is kill and nothing more so it will be staying with us for awhile or till trash day ........


I like your flock great looking stock and the last photo A 1 looking head feathers ,, going to make a really nice looking EE....





My EE Pullet with her chicks last month ....




A better look at her chicks ....




Same Pullet with her new BC Marans chicks back in July ..





Again my Pullet hatching her first at 23 weeks of age ....





My Molted Houdan's at 6 weeks having egg's for breakfast

My Spangled Orloff's




Some of my New Years hatch 2014 ok they were late 4 January ...




Wish you the best of luck with your poultry, oh one thing if you take some rabbit pellets and soak them in water and suture it up and make a mush and let dry or mix with the regular feed it will really help with the new feathers ........







gander007

 

[BunnyMars]

Our stuff is there but we won't be living there permanently until Nov 11. I was going to order my chicks online unless you can recommend someone local I can buy them from. I've settled on 6-8, plan on getting a few diff types to see which will work best for me

 

[Alwayswantchics]

There is a lady on Craig's list in Riverside that is selling chicks at 2 dollars each. Marans, Wyandotte, rir, Orpington and amerucans.

 

[magdelaine]

There is a lady on Craig's list in Riverside that is selling chicks at 2 dollars each. Marans, Wyandotte, rir, Orpington and amerucans.

You know, if this was directed at me...I'm pretty sure this was where my Ameraucanas came from! She doesn't have any chicks currently, so we picked up the pullets. I would ideally like to get a white rooster from another source so they aren't too closely related.

I'm happy with what I got from her though, and I might get more from her in the future.

 

[magdelaine]

Oh you have a very nice run for your flock and the wood fence should provide adequate shade in the summer and really cut down on the wind you have out there ... So do you have any problems with domestic animals getting to your flock this is my largest problem as even last night I had a lot of noise in the front yard and after checking one of my large Chinese geese had some blood on her rear-end so she must have a good size hole down there but I can not catch her yet as she fly's over the fence so easily I do not dare scare her so after finding a hurt animal I waited on the front porch and with in fifteen minutes the house cat returned to get something but the problem is all they do is kill and nothing more so it will be staying with us for awhile or till trash day ........


I like your flock great looking stock and the last photo A 1 looking head feathers ,, going to make a really nice looking EE....





My EE Pullet with her chicks last month ....




A better look at her chicks ....




Same Pullet with her new BC Marans chicks back in July ..





Again my Pullet hatching her first at 23 weeks of age ....





My Molted Houdan's at 6 weeks having egg's for breakfast

My Spangled Orloff's




Some of my New Years hatch 2014 ok they were late 4 January ...




Wish you the best of luck with your poultry, oh one thing if you take some rabbit pellets and soak them in water and suture it up and make a mush and let dry or mix with the regular feed it will really help with the new feathers ........







gander007

You've got a good broody mama, there! Thanks for the advice on rabbit pellets...I'm looking for ways to get more green in their diets without too much fuss. I got a bale of alfalfa for them which they seem to like. I'm also looking into fermenting their feed as a way to get extra water into them and make sure their guts are healthy.

My Wellies aren't laying since they came to us two months ago so I'm still trying to kick start them back into action. Our indoor coop needs a few finishing touches but right now all they have are nesting boxes in the run and I suspect that isn't private enough for those girls. I'll post pics of the entire setup when it's done.

Regarding the fence, though...man the biggest problem here is the wind. This run is oriented so that the fence blocks the wind which usually comes from one direction. I have plans for a whole series of breeding coops/shelters and the back sides will definitely be protected by more wood fencing.

 

[Auscal]

I'm looking for some older pullets, preferably 4-8 months old. Not too fussy about breed, I just need to increase by backyard flock by a couple, since a few of the old girls have passed on. I an in Acton, and relatively close would be nice

 

[JT Goat Ranch]

Hi BarkerChickens!! Thank you for starting a post for those of us in the high desert. We're on the "other" end of the high desert in Joshua Tree / Yucca Valley.

 

[JT Goat Ranch]

I also wanted to say thank you to the wonderful people who hosted the last Poultry club meeting at the Yucca Mesa community center. Great presentation! I look forward to seeing everyone again on 21 January!

P.S. seeking
1x Golden Lace Wyandotte,
1x Silver Lace Wyandotte
1-2x EE