Illinois...

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

Thank you so much! This is awesome! Ironically you are the second person to mention that astralorps aren't friendly... I really wanted speckled sussex but the place I'm buying from doesn't have them. I'm excited about the brahmas

My black australorp are my friendliest birds. My BA hens to be clear. I have a BA rooster that is less friendly but its because he has to protect his flock.

 

[BReeder!]

I haven't seen my chickens in the past week. DW has been going out there while I have been working in my office all week.
Much of my focus in free time has been on gardening already. Last year I had stored compost full of well rotted chicken manure to help. This year I don't have that because I spread all the finished compost on the garden in Fall. I had to buy composted manure, which is rediculous considering how much manure I connect from the poop boards regularly. It just hadn't had a chance to compost with this weather.
Once I have ducklings I'll be in full poultry mode again. I believe my pickup date is in April though. @Molpet are you planning turkey hatch this Spring? I would love to raise turkeys again. I still owe you a cleaned duck for last year's poults. I will likely have an extra male with my duck order...

 

[Molpet]

I haven't seen my chickens in the past week. DW has been going out there while I have been working in my office all week.
Much of my focus in free time has been on gardening already. Last year I had stored compost full of well rotted chicken manure to help. This year I don't have that because I spread all the finished compost on the garden in Fall. I had to buy composted manure, which is rediculous considering how much manure I connect from the poop boards regularly. It just hadn't had a chance to compost with this weather.
Once I have ducklings I'll be in full poultry mode again. I believe my pickup date is in April though. @Molpet are you planning turkey hatch this Spring? I would love to raise turkeys again. I still owe you a cleaned duck for last year's poults. I will likely have an extra male with my duck order...

Yes
The calico poults will be available, but I have an order for 200 eggs before I let the hens go broody.... and I am sure @Faraday40 will be happy to hatch sooner.
I give her the first ones before they start laying regularly. I try to take 10 to 12 dz at a time and trade for feed from my feed guy. So I keep the first dz as bait eggs and the next dz to her.
Why do I like chickens wants some too

 

[BReeder!]

Yes
The calico poults will be available, but I have an order for 200 eggs before I let the hens go broody.... and I am sure @Faraday40 will be happy to hatch sooner.
I give her the first ones before they start laying regularly. I try to take 10 to 12 dz at a time and trade for feed from my feed guy. So I keep the first dz as bait eggs and the next dz to her.
Why do I like chickens wants some too

An order for 200?! Somebody is hatching a lot! That's awesome. Should give you a little profit towards feed costs I hope.
@Faraday40 Let me know if you do hatch turkeys and are able to trade/sell. If @WhyDoILikeChickens is also getting some we could coordinate pickup for each other possibly because he isn't far from me.

 

[Molpet]

An order for 200?! Somebody is hatching a lot! That's awesome. Should give you a little profit towards feed costs I hope.
@Faraday40 Let me know if you do hatch turkeys and are able to trade/sell. If @WhyDoILikeChickens is also getting some we could coordinate pickup for each other possibly because he isn't far from me.

I ended up trading 22 dz last year. Sure helped with the feed bill. He was happy for more than 200. He sold some as a package with feed. One way to get new customers lol he kept some for Christmas dinners and last we talked he was selling the jennies

 

[Faraday40]

Yes
The calico poults will be available, but I have an order for 200 eggs before I let the hens go broody.... and I am sure @Faraday40 will be happy to hatch sooner.
I give her the first ones before they start laying regularly. I try to take 10 to 12 dz at a time and trade for feed from my feed guy. So I keep the first dz as bait eggs and the next dz to her.
Why do I like chickens wants some too

I'll Hatch!!! I'll Hatch 'em all!


..... just can't keep most of them. I'll keep maybe 3 for the summer. That number worked well for me, and I admit my chickens benefited from the turkey protection. Any other poults that hatch will need homes.

 

[BReeder!]

Anybody interested in an automatic egg turner for incubator with standard trays (chicken, turkey, duck eggs) and quail trays? It foods the styrofoam units like the Hovabator, but might work well in a DIY cooler unit or cabinet incubator. Since my incubator went on the fritz and I plan to get a nurture right 360 off I get a new one, I no longer need the auto turner.
I am selling for $25. With just the standard trays is $50 new, so I cut the price in half and will throw in the quail trays for free.

 

[jdragonwings]

Don't forget ventilation! Not just the windows, but use the soffits for venting. Remember you don't want things too airtight.

Thank you! I am planning on leaving part of the soffits open (with hardware cloth) for ventilation. Windows are ok to blow a breeze on the chickens, when opened in the summer, right? Because I have windows on the north and south walls and the areas on the top of the east and west walls that I was planning to always leave opened for adequate ventilation in year round.

 

[jdragonwings]

And let me share my mistake so you don't make it. I have a single roof vent as well as 2 windows. It worked fantastic all summer long and just fine in the fall and spring. But when my dumb butt is up on a ladder scraping snow off the coop roof in the winter, I curse myself for not thinking this through. Soffit ventilation would have been an awesome option but the way my coop is built, adding it now is going to be a challenge.

One other thing, after you build but before you add anything (including chickens) get some Flex Spray and hit the creases, corners and window frames so you aren't wishing you did at the first heavy rain. It's a lot harder to do after you have bedding and birds in there.

Thanks! I just googled flex spray, so I see it's a rubber coating. So do you use that to fill the cracks?
I didn't even think of that!

 

[jdragonwings]

My black australorp are my friendliest birds. My BA hens to be clear. I have a BA rooster that is less friendly but its because he has to protect his flock.
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That's awesome! Everywhere I read they are supposed to be really nice I'm definitely getting at least one, maybe two... (I can only have 6 birds total)