Okay, I have a question for the experts. I know a lot of people have been hatching chicks before and after the NY HAL... so have I... which leads to my question: How soon can chicks be moved outdoors into an unheated coop/run in winter? I have 15 8-week old BR's that appear to be fully feathered out, but the only thing that concerns me is they've lived their entire 8 weeks in my basement that consistently stays 65F-70F, so they're not used to broad temp swings. It was 74F today and tonight will be 62F, but it will be getting colder Wednesday 61F/33F, Thursday 51F/25F, Friday 53F/28F, etc. I had hoped to have the grow-out pen completed by now, but there was a long delay Sunday (I didn't work on it), so it looks like it'll be Wednesday be fore it's completed... just in time for the colder temps to move in? It looks like those lows will be around for a couple of weeks, but I need to move the bigger chicks out of the basement ASAP...
Finally caught up. Apoc the rooster got out of his pen and went on walkabout today (AGAIN), trying to make time with Dumbledore's ladies while Dumbledore's inside. Had to get hold of him, took forever. I really just need to get one of those rooster leg hook things...
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Not showing off, just offering everyone some breakfast!!!!!
Not an omelet, just scrambled eggs on sourdough toast, with some of that Belper Knolle cheese shaved on top (trying to see what it's good on - it's great on eggs!)
Fire Ant Farm I set 16 Cream Legbar eggs yesterday afternoon. Looks like the shipped eggs (Alohas with some Naked Necks in the mix) will come next week, so the tandem hatches will be a week apart. (Brinsea Octagon), and the second one will be set up tonight (R-Com 20). @Fire Ant Farm when is lockdown date?
@Sally Sunshine
I'm finishing up a new coop as well. Will post pics when done.
Cream Legbars lock down on February 7. Aloha NNs lock down on February 16 (at least any that make it to lock down). Gently turning those three times a day now.
Chicken math attack: I'm on the waiting list for chicks from a breeder in April: German New Hampshires, Blue Copper Marans, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and a few Olive eggers (Ameraucana, Welsummer, and Maran background). I suspect I will never be done building chicken housing...
How do y'all mark your chicks to keep them separate? I've got a pair of svart honas, then 7 chicks from a different breeder. And I'm planning a hatch. I need to make sure the babies don't get mixed up.
I tried the rainbow loom bands last year, but they fell off in the brooder. That was a mess.
Zip ties work very well, because you can size them just right so they don't fall off and don't get stuck. Wee ones work for tiny chicks, but I've used the bigger ones that are preprinted with numbers (from Strombergs) when I was tracking weights for each chick. In that case, I would use all one color at a time, then change color (but same number) when it was time to switch them out. Made it easier to see who still needed their leg band swapped with a brooder full of chicks.
Fire Ant yes I have made pens in the past. Mine are the regular ball point ink. Fountain pens would take different bits and kits but I'm sure they are out there. I used to sell them to support my habit of not being able to stay out of Woodcrafters. Fun store. Antlers do turn an outstanding pen. Just not to keen on the smell of bone.
Very cool. Pen math is much worse (and more expensive) than chicken math. I collect (among other things) antique Pelican and Waterman pens - but I haven't acquired anything in ages. Here is my terrifying ink stash, as well as the references I use for pen identification.
Well... Truth be told, I do want to put a platform for the thermometer in, because depending on which side it was turned to, the reading goes up and down...
Okay, I have a question for the experts. I know a lot of people have been hatching chicks before and after the NY HAL... so have I... which leads to my question: How soon can chicks be moved outdoors into an unheated coop/run in winter? I have 15 8-week old BR's that appear to be fully feathered out, but the only thing that concerns me is they've lived their entire 8 weeks in my basement that consistently stays 65F-70F, so they're not used to broad temp swings. It was 74F today and tonight will be 62F, but it will be getting colder Wednesday 61F/33F, Thursday 51F/25F, Friday 53F/28F, etc. I had hoped to have the grow-out pen completed by now, but there was a long delay Sunday (I didn't work on it), so it looks like it'll be Wednesday be fore it's completed... just in time for the colder temps to move in? It looks like those lows will be around for a couple of weeks, but I need to move the bigger chicks out of the basement ASAP...
