Illinois...

[chickendreams24]

@Junibutt

So sorry the chick didn't make it.

You guys are killing me with all the chick pics and talking about posting your babies.

Okay I love our chickens and we have chicks but I admit I have Orp/chicken fever and want more. Lots more!

I would love some mottled and other colors I still need/want a blue also. That will be the next breeding group we separate with Oopsie's sister. To try and get some blue.

We are waiting to buy any more chicks now until after we get the final report from the chick necropsy. Hopefully all is well and we can continue to add. The preliminary report doesn't seem to show anything too bad. There was a kind of bacteria that we don't know about so that's basically what we're waiting on.

That being said none of our flock seem ill. We always separate new chicks anyways so will still have some.

Our Easter hatch finished up yesterday morning or day before with one little straggler, I forget which day lol.
36 eggs set 11 pulled on day 7. Leaving 25. 2 pulled on day 14. Leaving 23 that went to lockdown. 2 DIS. 2 hatched and died 24-48 hours later(1 bls, 1 barnyard mix) leaving 19 living chicks total. 2 silkie mixes. 3 chocolate cuckoo orps. 5 project blue laced silvers(1 of which is iffy on if it will survive) and 9 barnyard mixes.

More later guys

 

[jnckids]

@Faraday40 Okay now I NEED one. I am still really wanting a silkie or two. Husband asks why I cant just love the chickens I have, and I dont get why wanting silkies has to be exclusive of loving my girls I have haha. Sassy (the little welsummer) some how tore a piece of tape off the side of the cage and was running around squeaking like a mad chick, and all the rest were chasing her. They looked at me like I was pure evil for taking their tape away. Anyway I have been pretty busy the last week with the In Laws here. We finally got to work on this... Father In Law was a contractor before he retired, and gave husband good directions, helped with a lot of it. I got to hand them stuff and boss them around, I mean make design decisions haha. I am heading out to get started on some painting today. The big girls I think have felt neglected while their home is underway. Every time I go out to them now Pepper and Peaches fly to the edge of the pen and wait to be picked up. They balance there and stare at me, so I assume its what they want haha. I hope to get them moved this weekend when husband gets home from his trip.

Got plans and a material list for the coop?

 

[Junibutt]

Sorry the chick didn't make it. Hopefully you will have a wonderful surprise later this evening.
The coop looks great!

Thanks for good wishes. I so have the urge to go look under but am afraid of shrink-wrapping them. So will wait. Why does the last day seem so long?

 

[Junibutt]

@Faraday40 Okay now I NEED one. I am still really wanting a silkie or two. Husband asks why I cant just love the chickens I have, and I dont get why wanting silkies has to be exclusive of loving my girls I have haha.

Sassy (the little welsummer) some how tore a piece of tape off the side of the cage and was running around squeaking like a mad chick, and all the rest were chasing her. They looked at me like I was pure evil for taking their tape away.

Anyway I have been pretty busy the last week with the In Laws here. We finally got to work on this...

Father In Law was a contractor before he retired, and gave husband good directions, helped with a lot of it. I got to hand them stuff and boss them around, I mean make design decisions haha. I am heading out to get started on some painting today. The big girls I think have felt neglected while their home is underway. Every time I go out to them now Pepper and Peaches fly to the edge of the pen and wait to be picked up. They balance there and stare at me, so I assume its what they want haha. I hope to get them moved this weekend when husband gets home from his trip.

Nice coop being built. Just have to point that it has a lot more space than the chicken you have right now

. Oops, is that considered enabling?

 

[Faraday40]

@Wild Birdman
I enjoyed your story & pics of the Canadian Geese

 

[Wild Birdman]

I find it hard not to be more "close" to a pet type relationship with this couple of geese, but I realize that if they are to stay wild and self-sufficient when its time to walk them to the big lake then I need to be careful on bonding any more than we have already. Last year I went to visit them every 3 or so weeks to make sure they were coming along, and the youngsters would come up to me as I put out a little dandelion leaves. The other geese that already lived there could care less about the leaves. One would even come to groom my feet. The youngsters don't know where the rooftop is as we walked them when they were still so young. This is the 4th year for this pair nesting at the garden. This is the second year I got involved with them. Last year they clutched 7 and 6 were still doing well in September.

 

[megpie021]

Well I spent three hours sitting inside the coop painting. Man it is roomy in there! I am short, but I have space to stretch out haha. Thank you all for the compliments. I am very happy with it. We still have a bit of work to do, but two or three more good days and we should be there. I cant wait for the girls to use it!

@jnckids that question alone gives us way too much credit. It started with me showing FIL a few pictures of coops I liked, and we basically went from there. Many trips for supplies, me pulling up pictures on my phone and his know how got us there haha.

@Junibutt It may be enabling, but I'll let it slide

 

[jnckids]

I asked this question on another thread that I started in another forum and got zero response so I'll try again.

If you wanted to relocate a broody, when is the best time and how is it best accomplished?

 

[Faraday40]

@jnckids
Your hen is beautiful!!!!

I've had hens raise chicks 2 different ways
1.
Once broody is sitting strong, I moved her & the eggs into a large dog carrier in my garage. I set up a cardboard box nest in back & hung a waterer & feeder. I did it at night & covered the whole 2'x3.5' dog cage with a blanket to keep it dark throughout the following day. The 2nd night I removed the blanket so by the time the sun came up the next morning, she'd be already settled & adjusted. It was a risk (because a hen could decide to abandon the eggs if she doesn't like her place) but worked well. When the chicks were a few days old, I moved the whole dog crate into the run. The rest of the flock could get used to the new additions w/o pecking them. When they were almost a week old, I opened the door & helped guide mama hen & chicks to a play yard in the grass. (Again it was an area protected from predators & the flock.) By the time they were 2 weeks old, I just opened & closed the doors. Mama did the work of walking them back & forth. About 3 weeks old, I left access to both open & mama began free ranging with her chicks, but they ran to cover when a hawk flew by. Mama had a few battles to re-establish pecking order, but for the most part, none wanted to mess with the hormonal hen.

Here's one time we had 2 broodies at the same time, but you can see the set up.

One funny thing I remembered is that the hen quickly learned that each day when I checked on her I also removed the giant broody poop. By the 3rd day, she waited until she saw me. That's when she hopped off the eggs, made me a giant stinky pile right by the cage door, and returned to the nest. It became our daily ritual & she literally waited until I arrived.

Below is Princess Lay-a = our 1st broody hen

Here's a mama walking her chicks back to the cage inside the run



Here's the play yard I used as a chicken playpen. I tied a piece of foam board to the top to give shade & overhead protection.
Now I have a basic chicken wire tractor to use for this purpose.



2
.
For our tiny bantam, I was afraid of her losing status within the flock, so I left her in the coop. I put up a little netting to keep the big hens from kicking her off the nest &/or adding more eggs. Water & feed were within neck's reach. Each day when I did my chicken chores, I opened up the mesh to allow a potty break. Before going back inside the house, I made sure the hen was on the nest & put the mesh back up. When chicks hatched, I moved them into a rabbit cage inside the run. (smaller than my huge dog crate) The routine from then on was the same as above. I now prefer leaving the broody in the coop because it seems easier - one less cage to clean. The biggest concern is making sure the hen goes back to the correct nest. Don't worry too much about moving them after they the eggs hatch. By then mama is bonded with the chicks & will not abandon them.




Here's the rabbit cage I found to use as a chick nursery inside the coop



Sorry for writing a novel, but I hope it helps give you some ideas. Remember there's no right/wrong way to do it. You really just need to find what works in your own situation.

 

[jnckids]

With our first broody, she was in a small coop with one other bantam hen. However when the first egg hatched, the weather had taken a bad turn. I took the chance and made a nest in a dog crate inside the garage, set the heat lamp on the nest to warm it, then used a warm towel to wrap the remaining eggs. Moved them too the nest and them moved momma. It took about an hour before she got back in the last 4 eggs. Unfortunately, we were unable to save the first chick. 2 hatched and 2 were duds.

We use a tractor for momma, chicks, and our three 4 month old d'uccles to try and socialize them during free ranging.