Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[COChix]

This is exactly how my best friend's family names their animals. As my godson informed me when he was small, "Those that are for eating, get food names. Except for Peaches. She's for milk, but she came with that name." (Peaches is his favorite goat, so he's always very sure to make it clear that her name does NOT mean she's for eating, LOL!).

we just name them as we go, not everyone has a name as they haven't distinguished themselves from the flock yet. We named our roo's that we ended up culling and personally I feel it is a way to keep it personal and connected to the food chain. I read a lot of advice stating don't name the one's you plan on eating, but I think it comes down to personal preference, we intentionally named ours to keep us connected to the food source.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

The number of animals my friends keep are small enough that you get to know them all, even the ones that are for eating. I could see not naming them if you had TONS, but when you have under twelve, names seem kind of normal to me, too.

 

[NanaLynn]

Yes and yes. I hope as Plum feathers out, her color will be a little more distinguished. But eggs are the reason I have all these chicks now. I never feel like I have enough!

And don't feel guilty. Your flock is happy and you provide them enough space. We all feel guilty from time to time. It's because we love them!!

Thanks!

They are adorable, no matter where they are from. Love the brown ones puffy cheeks!

Sun going down, time to head to the roost, SS Sally, White Maran Aurora, Austra White Merida

Cute!

Maybe a few more really good layers? A couple Leghorns and a few GB and weed out the flighty ones? I'm assuming our girls are taking a little break and will start back up again in a few weeks. No eggs from my RIR for a week or 2 and none from my one BA for a while. They sit in the nest, sing the egg song but nothing! They must be so confused. LOL
That would be my boys too... trying to beat each other here for the eggs. First come first served I guess!!

Yes, stop feeling guilty. You are a great chicken mamma and your girls are treated much better than other flocks I've seen. And with all the healthy stuff you are giving them I'm sure they are loving it. We all do the best we can!

Awwww, cute I forget what you got?? Glad they arrived safely!

Beautiful! Just wondering how far ahead your ordered to get the Austra White? Every time I looked it had the message "none available at this time" like it has now.

Yeah, I do need some good layers. Although I guess once the feathers stop falling off of them they'll start up again. Looks like a major feathered pillow fight in the coop and run now. It's getting worse.

Both my boys can put away some eggs and the competition is fierce!

Thank you, I am getting more content with keeping them in, it helps to think that I can get more chicks sooner too since their not free ranging. Plus my garden is doing so well now. We still do have a huge roll of hardware cloth too, so maybe we can get that run extension done soon too.

I'm getting so bummed.... Izzy (my green laying EE that's my Avatar) is soooo mean to my 4 1/2 month olds. Izzy is pretty much at the bottom of the pecking order of her group so I know she's doing it to protect her spot but she is making them a little crazy. My younger ones are still sleeping in their own coop (I will be moving them all in together to the bigger coop in a week or 2) but they are together from sun up to sun down in the run and free ranging for an hour or 2/day. So when my DH opens up the little ones coop door, the big girls are already out bec. they have a door on a timer, Izzy waits for them to come out and terrorizes them and pecks them hard when they try to get past her. Sometimes she's on their ramp pecking their door trying to get into the coop and once she ran into it and just starting chasing them around as they tried to get out. Then all day she chases them around. Never drawing blood but just bullying off and on all day.

I can try caging her for a few days and see what happens. Should I cage her and leave her in the run or put her out of sight? Maybe this chasing will change when they move into the same coop? Or maybe get worse? Anyone have any other ideas? Do I just let it go and they will work it out? It just seems like after being together for 3 months it would be getting better.


Pipsqueak my CW is going to a new home tomorrow. A guy contacted me and said his kids favorite hen died and he would love to buy Pips for them. He even texted me a pic of his 2 little kids with the chickens when they were just a few days old ... so cute. He free ranges most of the day and has a rooster for protection so I think after she gets acclimated she will be happy there!

Olivia, our older EE is pretty tough on the younger ones too, but she never drew blood. Maybe she will get demoted a little if you cage her for a few days? The younger girls avoid her now and usually they try to stay clear of the other 4 older hens too. I think you have to cage her out of sight too. I hope that it works out, maybe it will on it's own?

I got 5 eggs today. It's funny that feels like a lot after a week of 3/day and less before that. I haven't gotten an egg from our polish in a long time. I haven't really noticed if she's molting or anything. In fact she hasn't really been noticeable at all now that I think about it. Usually she is right at my feet. I'll have to keep an eye out for her tomorrow and make sure she's ok.

I am waiting to hear back from the guy we're buying the horse from. He couldn't find his original paperwork for the horse so had to order a copy before the brand inspector could come. He said it would take a couple days. *sigh*

Our little ones are growing so fast. They need to be moved to a bigger brooder or put outside. If it would stop raining I'd put them in the grow out pen outside. Maybe this weekend we'll get some warmer days for them to spend some time out there.

Good luck on getting the horse, it must be so frustrating!

Well, the chicks are spending their 1st full day in their coop despite the heat (90+). They have plenty of water & I put some amino acids /electrolytes in there just in case. They have plenty of cross breeze & I just took out a frozen cucumber treat for them. They look hot, but they have to get used to it sometime!

That's great, I bet they're enjoying themselves.

Hey gang, sorry been swamped. Just wanted to update on two fronts. Left Eye our blind out of one eye, was tried at flock integration with issues. I put Isis and Gretchen two sweet petite EE in the enclosed run with her and they did great! If anything Left Eye was more territorial about her run, coop and food. I picked the right girls for the job. They didn't fight her just ran and avoided her. I put them up in the small coop at night and they did fine. Then Thursday, I decided to open up the run and let them out as Left Eye was now scratching for food with the girls and roosting up in the run. So she was eager to join the gang and her eye is no longer swollen or red so I figured the less time away the better. So I stayed and watched, well almost immediately leaving the run she was attacked by the youngest RIR Roo and he was pretty rough with her, she ran to he free range area after that and was attempting to eat and she was attacked by one of her Delaware sisters. She then rested under a tree and was again attacked by Rojo the big RIR Roo. Rocco broke that up but she basically ran back into the run and into the smaller coop and into a nest box. So I closed her up and gave her some time. Then opened the coop again and left for awhile. Later she was out in the run on a roost. I left and returned after the heavy thunderstorm to find the entire flock huddled in the large coop. I thought great, this is gonna work out ok. Well came out 15 minutes later and found Rocco and Rojo ganging up on her in the run. Enough that she had her head buried behind a board and she wasn't moving. Well that upset me and I went and picked up Rocco by the feet and then carried him around in my arms while I chased down Rojo. Seems sort of silly now but I guess my mama chicken came out in me. I then put her back into the enclosed run with Isis and a Little One (another EE).

Also yesterday I observed the little red RIR chase and holding onto one of the Buff Oprh roosters, so things have been escalating between all the roosters. Plus observed some hens getting mated by Rocco and then immediately Rojo. Now all four roosters were all trying to mate. The girls have been nervous and a lot had been flying to the top of the 6 foot fence rails and roosting all day. The EE seemed especially flustered and a few had tried roosting in the tree's the last couple of nights, as they didn't seem to want to be in the coop. Bruno one if the Buff Oprh's was losing weight, being starved out of the food, mostly by Rojo. He spent a lot of time in the coop. So all of those things combined, we decided that the two RIR roo's were becoming thugs and seemed to upset the girls the most, so it was decided we would cull and process both of them today.

So we locked them in the enclosed run over night with most the flock in the big coop and Left Eye and the two EE in the small coop. Then is am after letting the main coop our for free range we moved them in there after an hour or so everyone seemed to already be allot calmer, the dynamic shift was already apparent. So we gave thanks and reverence to both rooster and then got to work. This was my first processing and to be honest I was a bit nervous, but after the initial head chopping it got easier. We processed both boys and cleaned them up. They both are in the fridge right now, We will eat one on Sunday. My BF was tremendous in teaching me the ropes and I obviously couldn't have done it without him. So just wanted to state two things, I learned many lessons from those roosters in my short chicken raising time. I also felt it was important to be involved in all of it, as that was the reason we got them. To be connected to our food source, to know they had a good life, were raised and treated well. So now the circle has come full circle for me and all I can say is thqt I feel very blessed to have had this chance to be involved in my food source, as many people will never have that connection.

So it has been a long week, given the injured bird. She was able to successfully integrate with the flock today and I am glad to report she roosted up with everyone in the main coop tonight. So for that I feel great about our decision on the RIR roosters. Also today the flock seemed pretty content, the flock engergy was more mellow and I saw one girl up on the fence and that was only briefly. I observed no fighting between the two BO Roo's. So I would say this affirms our thoughts about the other two, RIP Rojo and Little Red.

Oh wow, those roos can cause some awful problems. It sounds like you made a good choice for your flock and for yourself. We've processed one mean chicken so far and it was easier since she was mean. It was not an easy thing to do, but I was glad to finally get the experience. She was very tasty though and I know she was better for the family then the store chicken. We do name our chickens too since they are really for eggs, but roosters and mean hens named or not will get processed if no one wants to buy them.

I hope everyone's chickens are doing well. It has been so hot here, in the 90's, but my chickens seem to be holding up fine. Except for the egg reduction and molting.

 

[rnchick74]

Coop transition update: everyone is loving the new coop! They are adjusting to the heat well - I am keeping some veggies in the freezer & making their fermented feed a little "wetter" during this transition so they don't get dehydrated. I've also added extra amino acids and vitamins/electrolytes to their water for right now.

Today was very overcast & not as hot thankfully as my step-dad & I were outside working on the run. We are about 1/2 way done & I'm already wanting to expand it - it looks so much smaller than I thought it would. But expansion will have to wait at least a month...this will get us started.

I'm not sure I will get all the trim details finished & touch-ups done on the coop before the party, as it has been raining every evening. But they will get done eventually!

 

[christine9]

Ok, so since I opened the current bag of pellets, I have gotten 86 eggs (if I remembered to write them down). Anyway, by my calculations, $12.99/bag. That's about $2/doz. I'm totally happy with that! Especially since I've had one broody for the majority of the month and one roo too. Obviously, I'm only counting feed into my calculations, but that's the majority of expenses. Plus there's about a weeks worth of feed still in the bag Everything else is a few mealworms and kitchen scraps and a cabbage. The coop and medical supply kit - oh well! Calculating those in is just too much! Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this, especially with the fermenting and the new little ones bring hopes of even more eggs. Yay!

 

[trsturself]

One thing I did learn by having multiple roosters is that you need multiple feeding areas, I happen to have the space for more than one, right now I have three feeding spots. It also helps those girls that tend to get chased away from the main feeding spot. It spreads out the flock during meals which helps cut down on the squabbles. Also providing lots of hang out areas, we have 4 large dog run pens that the girls free range so they are able to have space. I read many posts/threads on keeping multiple roosters and the key to reduce the fighting is giving them adequate free range time, multiple feeding spots and space, all of which helps keep the peace. Good luck with Dinner, I am sure he will be tasty. I am going to brine one if the boys today in preparation for tomorrow's dinner. We didn't weigh them yet, but might do that today. If I had to guess, Little Red is 3-4 pounds and Rojo is probably 6-7.

I give them 6 scoops of feed in the morning, each in a different area so no one can get bullied out from eating. Our 3 other roos (1 is still young) get along great. It's just Dinner that's the problem.

This is exactly how my best friend's family names their animals. As my godson informed me when he was small, "Those that are for eating, get food names. Except for Peaches. She's for milk, but she came with that name." (Peaches is his favorite goat, so he's always very sure to make it clear that her name does NOT mean she's for eating, LOL!).

We find it easier if we name animals that will be killed food names. It keeps us centered on what they will be providing for us. We have a different attachment to those.

Ok, so since I opened the current bag of pellets, I have gotten 86 eggs (if I remembered to write them down). Anyway, by my calculations, $12.99/bag. That's about $2/doz. I'm totally happy with that! Especially since I've had one broody for the majority of the month and one roo too. Obviously, I'm only counting feed into my calculations, but that's the majority of expenses. Plus there's about a weeks worth of feed still in the bag Everything else is a few mealworms and kitchen scraps and a cabbage. The coop and medical supply kit - oh well! Calculating those in is just too much! Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this, especially with the fermenting and the new little ones bring hopes of even more eggs. Yay!

How much does that bag of food weigh? I just started keeping track of costs and amount of eggs again. I'm sure ours cost a lost more than $2/dz but I'm ok with that considering they are Non-GMO, free-ranged, and happy.

 

[trsturself]

How much does that bag of food weigh? I just started keeping track of costs and amount of eggs again. I'm sure ours cost a lost more than $2/dz but I'm ok with that considering they are Non-GMO, free-ranged, and happy.

Ok, I did the math. Adding the cost of food, shavings, and electrolytes, and subtracting the money from selling a couple dozens ours cost $4.50/dz. We'll see what it is next month. It will be interesting to see an average. We don't have to buy shavings every month or of course electrolytes. Just taking food into account they are $3/dz. That's perfect as that's what I sell them for.

 

[trsturself]

The complaining about eggs on here worked again! Our SLP laid today after I complained about her not laying on here.

 

[christine9]

The complaining about eggs on here worked again! Our SLP laid today after I complained about her not laying on here.

I love it when that happens!

I feed TSC brand layer pellets. It's a 50 lb bag. It's why I started fermenting because I'm just not ready to upgrade to organic or non GMO. Hopefully someday! I did get my Azure catalogue in the mail a couple days ago. DH thought I ordered a phone book LOL. The thing is huge.

 

[rnchick74]

The chicken run has 4 walls!!! I repeat the chicken run has 4 walls!!! WOOHOO

carry on.

Now to add hardware cloth, pavers, chicken wire roof...and install my chicken fountain...but we have 4 walls! (and I already want to enlarge it)