rottngrrl
Chirping
Hello. My husband and I just moved over to a small 1 acre farm a few months ago located just south of Oak Harbor, WA...aka "rural". Not down-and-out boonies, but definitely not anything like where we moved from in north Seattle 1.5 hours south!! We have been scrambling to get up to speed with country life (I did NOT know that grass left to it's own devices will literally grow 8+ feet tall!!!)! Holy moly!! Anyway, the move has been challenging, but we love it out there; just getting on the same page over here has been the hard part (the weather is SO different for one and we literally have nearly a thousand plants...in pots!). The eagles, hawks, falcons and myriad of other predator birds are as common as crows were back in the suburbs, and very cool to watch a FLOCK of 10-12 Bald Eagles just roamin' around doin' their thing. We also have 2 Rottweilers (hence my call name, rottngrrl...) and 1 blue iguana (demon queen of all things evil...but we love her anyway). Hubby grew up in small southern town in Alabama (couldn't wait to leave the small town, farm life and never return) and I was born and raised in Seattle as suburb/city girl, but my folks always told me I should have been born on a farm...48 years later, I HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED! Again, we are both very happy to be here and look forward to spending the rest of our lives out here...on a farm with so many possibilities.
We were so gung-ho to get started on the farm, on the day we picked up keys to the new house, is the day we ended up also purchasing some chicks...and some more the following week, etc. My chicken math TOTALLY SUCKS!!! LOL We are still raising our "first batch" of chickens ranging in ages 2-3 months old (April 15 through May 13)...and are expecting another batch next week from Meyers Hatchery (this time with a PROPER brooder). The hens and bantam white Cochin rooster are currently housed in a temporary 4' x 18' long coop (enclosed, ventilated, sliding door to tuck them in at night) attached to an 8' x 45' fenced and netted run while we build their permanent home. Our coop will be 8' x 12' with ~20 nesting boxes and the attached run will be roughly 30' x 50' fenced and netted (don't want the eagles flying off with our ladies!!!). We originally selected a multitude of breeds to see what we liked, and solidify our wants and needs in the long term, and it has worked out very well indeed (mostly larger breeds, eggs and meat, and some for fun). I'm a long-standing animal lover/owner by nature (I was the kid always bringing some kind of animal home!!!), so even though the thought of butchering a pet mortifies me, I have somehow been able to cross that bridge in my mind wherein I enjoy my chickens and their personalities (I talk to them all the time), whether I could actually process a bird I knew and cared for was proved when we had to butcher our broad breasted white turkey early due to leg issues (we will likely NEVER raise a broad breasted turkey ever again due to the issues we had with our boy). Anyway, he was the first bird/animal I have EVER processed in my whole life other than salmon (hubby was a hunter as a kid). Anyeay, we have rehomed a few birds (3 polish and 1 bantam red cochin rooster), and lost 3 birds (1 died as a chick for no apparent reason, 1 had to be culled when her cross-beak situation no longer allowed her to eat/drink, and 1 was murdered by her canabilistic sisters after the bantam red cochin rooster ran her down and eventually nipped her the vein on her tail...this was mortifying, and playing CSI and detective to figure out what happened was so not a fun time, but quickly figured out it was the red guy so he has a new home). Owning chickens is NOT for the light hearted!
So far, we have learned A LOT (and still have a LOT more to learn), but apparently we don't "remember" very well because we are headed down the "raising some chicks" road again so soon! It really DOES take SOOO much time and effort and attention and handling and cleaning and dusting and OMG! But the chickens and all their personalities are totally worth it!! Our first girls will be moving into their permanent digs in about a month, but one question I cannot seem to find the answer to is how to introduce the new chicks to the first bunch. The chicks will be ready to move outside when they are around 8 weeks old, so around late September/early October (taking into account the weather getting cooler), which means the first bunch will be around 4-5 months old and will have lived in the permanent coop/run for about a month. We are talking about a lot of chickens here; we intend to maintain a fluctuating flock of about 40 hens and a few roosters, but we are starting with more than that at around 60 birds (40 now + 20 coming). Do we need to do an extended introduction when transitioning 20, 8 week old chicks over to living in the permanent coop, or because they are all so young and there are so many of them, do we just toss them in with the original bunch and monitor? I feel like it's a stupid question to ask, but I don't know because I can only find info on transitioning brooder-raised chicks in with an established, adult flock.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, once all the girls are settled in and clearly know where (and when) to go to roost at night, in addition to their regular 1500 sq ft run, they will have chaperoned access to 2 separate yards used for vegetable gardening and nursery stock (plants), so they will sorta be free-ranged on those days; probably a few days a week depending on the weather. But no chaperone, probably no field access because of the abundance of eagles, etc. (and there are other ground critters that would more than likely love to have chicken dinner, too!).
Thank you for this forum and all the information here! I just wish I could download all the info directly into my brain for so many reasons; I bet THAT would help me learn chicken math! Thank you for anyone who might have some insight for us. We will send pics in the near future!
Jeannie
We were so gung-ho to get started on the farm, on the day we picked up keys to the new house, is the day we ended up also purchasing some chicks...and some more the following week, etc. My chicken math TOTALLY SUCKS!!! LOL We are still raising our "first batch" of chickens ranging in ages 2-3 months old (April 15 through May 13)...and are expecting another batch next week from Meyers Hatchery (this time with a PROPER brooder). The hens and bantam white Cochin rooster are currently housed in a temporary 4' x 18' long coop (enclosed, ventilated, sliding door to tuck them in at night) attached to an 8' x 45' fenced and netted run while we build their permanent home. Our coop will be 8' x 12' with ~20 nesting boxes and the attached run will be roughly 30' x 50' fenced and netted (don't want the eagles flying off with our ladies!!!). We originally selected a multitude of breeds to see what we liked, and solidify our wants and needs in the long term, and it has worked out very well indeed (mostly larger breeds, eggs and meat, and some for fun). I'm a long-standing animal lover/owner by nature (I was the kid always bringing some kind of animal home!!!), so even though the thought of butchering a pet mortifies me, I have somehow been able to cross that bridge in my mind wherein I enjoy my chickens and their personalities (I talk to them all the time), whether I could actually process a bird I knew and cared for was proved when we had to butcher our broad breasted white turkey early due to leg issues (we will likely NEVER raise a broad breasted turkey ever again due to the issues we had with our boy). Anyway, he was the first bird/animal I have EVER processed in my whole life other than salmon (hubby was a hunter as a kid). Anyeay, we have rehomed a few birds (3 polish and 1 bantam red cochin rooster), and lost 3 birds (1 died as a chick for no apparent reason, 1 had to be culled when her cross-beak situation no longer allowed her to eat/drink, and 1 was murdered by her canabilistic sisters after the bantam red cochin rooster ran her down and eventually nipped her the vein on her tail...this was mortifying, and playing CSI and detective to figure out what happened was so not a fun time, but quickly figured out it was the red guy so he has a new home). Owning chickens is NOT for the light hearted!
So far, we have learned A LOT (and still have a LOT more to learn), but apparently we don't "remember" very well because we are headed down the "raising some chicks" road again so soon! It really DOES take SOOO much time and effort and attention and handling and cleaning and dusting and OMG! But the chickens and all their personalities are totally worth it!! Our first girls will be moving into their permanent digs in about a month, but one question I cannot seem to find the answer to is how to introduce the new chicks to the first bunch. The chicks will be ready to move outside when they are around 8 weeks old, so around late September/early October (taking into account the weather getting cooler), which means the first bunch will be around 4-5 months old and will have lived in the permanent coop/run for about a month. We are talking about a lot of chickens here; we intend to maintain a fluctuating flock of about 40 hens and a few roosters, but we are starting with more than that at around 60 birds (40 now + 20 coming). Do we need to do an extended introduction when transitioning 20, 8 week old chicks over to living in the permanent coop, or because they are all so young and there are so many of them, do we just toss them in with the original bunch and monitor? I feel like it's a stupid question to ask, but I don't know because I can only find info on transitioning brooder-raised chicks in with an established, adult flock.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, once all the girls are settled in and clearly know where (and when) to go to roost at night, in addition to their regular 1500 sq ft run, they will have chaperoned access to 2 separate yards used for vegetable gardening and nursery stock (plants), so they will sorta be free-ranged on those days; probably a few days a week depending on the weather. But no chaperone, probably no field access because of the abundance of eagles, etc. (and there are other ground critters that would more than likely love to have chicken dinner, too!).
Thank you for this forum and all the information here! I just wish I could download all the info directly into my brain for so many reasons; I bet THAT would help me learn chicken math! Thank you for anyone who might have some insight for us. We will send pics in the near future!
Jeannie
Make yourself at home here.
