- Oct 20, 2013
- 8
- 0
- 65
I've been lurking, reading, reading, reading and trying to learn. Reading, sharing with the rest of my family.
Long story short. . .
Neighbor needed to move, offered up their birds. We took them. With no prior bird/chicken/duck experience at all. And we were in a bit of a rush to get something set up for them.
We have inherited the following birds: (loosely, since I'm still learning)
2 Barred Rock hens
2 Easter Egger (maybe ??) hens (blue tinted eggs from someone, so why not these gals?)
1 Silver Laced Wyandotte (she's a beauty)
3 Golden Sex-Link/Cinnamon (???) hens
1 Jersey Giant/Australorp/Other(???) hen
2 Jersey Giant/Australorp/Other (???) roos (good protective boys, we are learning about them currently. . .)
2 Indian Runner fawn/white drakes
1 Indian Runner fawn/white female
1 Pekin/Jumbo Pekin female
They are a flock of layers/pets currently. We are in Michigan near the lake, so we have weird weather, and I'm currently worried about all these birds. Winter is here. My wonderfully patient and hard-working husband & sons have been very busy creating a new home for the flock on our property. The birds now have an 8x12 coop (a lean-to to our existing tractor barn) and a 16X16+ run. We have an extra bird-door on the opposite side of the coop for the spring. They will get another larger outdoor run, size yet to be determined. They have adapted well, all things considered, and have maintained their laying with the move next door and the cold; yet I still worry about all of them, so I keep reading. Thanks so much to everyone for contributing to this forum. We all have learned so much about our birds. We jumped in, headfirst knowing nothing really (nothing, as in not even knowing how to pick them up, let alone all the rest); and everyone here, has helped us to figure things out for our new feathered friends.
Today my little duckers (as i call them) finally decided they liked me enough to come a little closer with me having fresh greens for them. We had about 4" of snow yesterday, and they still want to play outside. Love the duckers. Kiddie pool, mess, and all. (I'm also reading about everyone's solutions with ducks to see what we can make work for our ducks and ourselves. So many people posting, so many options.) The ratio seems off from what I've read, but they seem okay so far. As I understand it, the Pekin was supposed to be an Indian Runner too, but she's just not. We call her Bertha. She's pretty darn awesome.
One of the Barred Rocks is very vocal and especially friendly. She's now named Blanche. Even with the snow, she is always eager to roam outside the hen house. Gotta love Blanche. She is super talkative and seems to be begging always to go outside, snow and all. Love that girl. Having never spent much time with birds, I am pleasantly surprised to see personalities in each of them.
We are reading, reading, reading, and learning about which way to go with feeder and waterer set-up that will be best for everyone. We're planning for poop-boards with sweet PDZ to be added shortly. A couple girls are probably in need of saddles because of the roos. We will likely add more hens in spring/warmer weather to expand our flock and to help with all the loving. They are very good roos. And I can't add them to my oven just yet. I'm hoping adding a few more girls will help, otherwise, they will need to be re-homed, or… They are brothers, so one is more dominant, and they have had all that male stuff worked out before we even really knew them. Again, much more reading needed.
Sorry for writing so much. I really just wanted to thank everyone here for contributing and answering questions to other posts. Such an amazing group y'all are. We have learned so much here, and that will continue, I'm sure. Thanks so much.
Leslie
Long story short. . .
Neighbor needed to move, offered up their birds. We took them. With no prior bird/chicken/duck experience at all. And we were in a bit of a rush to get something set up for them.
We have inherited the following birds: (loosely, since I'm still learning)
2 Barred Rock hens
2 Easter Egger (maybe ??) hens (blue tinted eggs from someone, so why not these gals?)
1 Silver Laced Wyandotte (she's a beauty)
3 Golden Sex-Link/Cinnamon (???) hens
1 Jersey Giant/Australorp/Other(???) hen
2 Jersey Giant/Australorp/Other (???) roos (good protective boys, we are learning about them currently. . .)
2 Indian Runner fawn/white drakes
1 Indian Runner fawn/white female
1 Pekin/Jumbo Pekin female
They are a flock of layers/pets currently. We are in Michigan near the lake, so we have weird weather, and I'm currently worried about all these birds. Winter is here. My wonderfully patient and hard-working husband & sons have been very busy creating a new home for the flock on our property. The birds now have an 8x12 coop (a lean-to to our existing tractor barn) and a 16X16+ run. We have an extra bird-door on the opposite side of the coop for the spring. They will get another larger outdoor run, size yet to be determined. They have adapted well, all things considered, and have maintained their laying with the move next door and the cold; yet I still worry about all of them, so I keep reading. Thanks so much to everyone for contributing to this forum. We all have learned so much about our birds. We jumped in, headfirst knowing nothing really (nothing, as in not even knowing how to pick them up, let alone all the rest); and everyone here, has helped us to figure things out for our new feathered friends.
Today my little duckers (as i call them) finally decided they liked me enough to come a little closer with me having fresh greens for them. We had about 4" of snow yesterday, and they still want to play outside. Love the duckers. Kiddie pool, mess, and all. (I'm also reading about everyone's solutions with ducks to see what we can make work for our ducks and ourselves. So many people posting, so many options.) The ratio seems off from what I've read, but they seem okay so far. As I understand it, the Pekin was supposed to be an Indian Runner too, but she's just not. We call her Bertha. She's pretty darn awesome.
One of the Barred Rocks is very vocal and especially friendly. She's now named Blanche. Even with the snow, she is always eager to roam outside the hen house. Gotta love Blanche. She is super talkative and seems to be begging always to go outside, snow and all. Love that girl. Having never spent much time with birds, I am pleasantly surprised to see personalities in each of them.
We are reading, reading, reading, and learning about which way to go with feeder and waterer set-up that will be best for everyone. We're planning for poop-boards with sweet PDZ to be added shortly. A couple girls are probably in need of saddles because of the roos. We will likely add more hens in spring/warmer weather to expand our flock and to help with all the loving. They are very good roos. And I can't add them to my oven just yet. I'm hoping adding a few more girls will help, otherwise, they will need to be re-homed, or… They are brothers, so one is more dominant, and they have had all that male stuff worked out before we even really knew them. Again, much more reading needed.
Sorry for writing so much. I really just wanted to thank everyone here for contributing and answering questions to other posts. Such an amazing group y'all are. We have learned so much here, and that will continue, I'm sure. Thanks so much.
Leslie
and Welcome to BYC!
