Michigan

[Bluemoon420]

Quote:
iluvcks....

I have two silkies in with all my other chickens. They free range with them also. The male silkie has turned out to be a valuable asset. He thinks he's a sumu wrestler, and will help me catch the larger roosters when I need to.

I also watched him charge my BCM rooster with his patented sumu wrestler move, but he just bounced off his chest. I REALLY wish I had a camera for that.

Anyway, besides the antics I described above, he is the MOST alert out of my roosters. He sees things way before any of the others do. He's a feisty little bugger, and the girls seem to like him.

Bluemoon

 

[zephyrcreek]

Quote:
iluvcks....

I have two silkies in with all my other chickens. They free range with them also. The male silkie has turned out to be a valuable asset. He thinks he's a sumu wrestler, and will help me catch the larger roosters when I need to.

I also watched him charge my BCM rooster with his patented sumu wrestler move, but he just bounced off his chest. I REALLY wish I had a camera for that.

Anyway, besides the antics I described above, he is the MOST alert out of my roosters. He sees things way before any of the others do. He's a feisty little bugger, and the girls seem to like him.

Bluemoon

I had to laugh as my Del roo Gonzo helps me round up any loose chickens that do not want to go back in for the day. If I am working a late shift I often need to put everyone up for the night fairly early. There some days I do not know how I would do it without his help.

 

[thepremo1]

i saw the ducks, i thought about getting 1 or 2 but dont they need water in the brooder to play in?
im think of going back next week after school (delta) and getting one,
do you know if they have any meat birds there?

 

[iluvcks]

Chickflick and Bluemoon thank you so much for the info. I was going to wait untill 16 weeks to but the silkies out. Do you think they will be big enough by then? I was told they dont roost too. I'm glad I know better now. I don't think I would have had enough roosts in the coop for everyone.

thepremo1. I don't know if Evies carries meat chickens. I am not interested in them at all. They are stupid, smell bad, and have to die entireally to soon for me. I want something I can love that will have a long happy life. Sorry. What I have read about ducks is that they are very social and need at least one friend. The ducks are a mess. Were a mess. At first I had them with the chicks. They wouldnt stop playing in the water. The chicks were damp. So I set up another brooder for them. I am using a plastic container with a peice cut out of the top for the water dish. I have rocks in the bottom of both the water and food so they can't knock them over. Then the water dish is set on an old baking sheet with a little lip all the way around to catch any water. The bedding is staying dry. I scoop out the poop about 10 times a day just bacause they are in the house and I don't want them getting dirty. We take them out about 3 times a day and let them swim in a plastic tote that has about 2 inches of warm water in it. They love it. Then we just snuggle with them wrapped in a towel till dry. They are so cute. When they are out they follow us around the house. The only thing I cant find Is how warm the brooder should be. I asked someone but she didnt get back to me. My house is 73 degrees and they seem happy, so I'm not going to worry. The are a week and a half now. If your going to get a brahma you should try to get it today. I don't know how old they are when they start to decide pecking order. It might be hard to get your little girls to accept another one if you wait to long. What did you end up getting?

Good luck. Post pics

 

[zephyrcreek]

Quote:
Not all meat birds are stupid smelly birds. Quite a few of us on this board to grow them. Colored range birds are excellent. They are still super meaty, but not the stupid messy birds most people think of when they think meat bird. My first shipment will be coming in the last week of April and every four weeks after.

 

[thepremo1]

i got 4 ISAs for my neighbor, 6 for me 2 barred rocks and 2 buff orpingtons and one silver laced wyandotte
im thinking of going back and seeing if i can get a cornish X and a sexlink because i heard brahmas only average 3 eggs a week
pics will be coming shortly

 

[wyliefarms]

Quote:
How did you know that the hen had a sour crop? thanks for the education!

The hen wasn't herself and when Rachel picked her up she had a huge crop...too big for first thing in the morning. It was really soft to the touch and crops should be firm. (check out one of your chickens tonight)
When I tipped the hen upside down and massaged/push on the crop, there were girgling noises. A little water and feed came out. I massage it some more and about a little less than a 1/4 cup of grass came out. I had to pull it out when it got in her mouth. The stuff smelled terrible, like it fermenited in her crop. From what I could research on here, hens can get it if they have been off green grass for awhile. I don't think this hen has free-ranged, we bought her in the fall was kept seperate with the other 3 we bought.

After fixing the hen, we read that some people put oil and yogert to help clean it out. The chicken handbook we had said to do surgery on them

Rachel was really glad we didn't read that first!

Rachel fed her some water with electrolytes in it and some Keifer (similar to yogert). The hen was very thirsty and hungry. She is now out in the coop. Rachel is about to go and check on her.

Sarah

 

[Ooopsy_daisy]

Susanne: Looks like you've now got the chicken fever. LOL Congrats on the ducks. They are darling. My daughter set up a kids pools for them. And says it works wonderful for housing and an area to swim. But they do take a lot of room so you'd have to have a heated basement or room to put one in.

ChickFlick: Didnt know you lived so close. Heck you're only about 25 mins west of me.

KrazyKritterLady: Glad to see you post. If you're going to the swap at Imlay City Fair Grounds April 24th, we'll have to meet up. And anyone else thats coming. My farm is only about 3 miles south of the fair grounds. Maybe we should plan on a lunch/get together after. As most of the good birds will be well gone before lunch time. These swaps are crazy, you do have to get there before daylight to get anything good. CCF and I went to the Montrose one last fall before Frankenmuth, I said ARE WE NUTS? its freezing cold, pitch black out and we cant see a thing. LOL thank gosh the owner of the cidermill had wonderful doughnuts and great coffee until daybreak. I thought I had frost bite on my feet. HINT never wear tennis shoes to a swap when its not in the summer months LOL

Yaklady: Did you get your Cayuga eggs local? As I would love to get a couple dozen or find somewhere other than a hatchery to buy chicks from. My pond is thawed and I cant wait to get some meat ducks in there before too long.

MrsChickenDad: So glad you got your cast off before it gets hot out. I had one on a few years back in August, didnt take me long to get the steak knife out and cut the bugger off as it itched so bad. A good work boot, sock and duct tape was my new found cast. Worked great, just looked silly. My doctor threw a fit when I came walking in for it to be checked LOL

I have Isa Brown chicks available. Sex linked. Cheap to BYC members. Also will have some blue eye white guinea chicks available in a couple weeks. They are beautiful and came from great stock. If you've never seen a blue eyed white, they are very striking and stark white.

 

[YakLady]

Quote:
I bought the eggs from a hatchery (Metzer). I have a couple of Cayugas, but they haven't started laing yet. I have a chef who wants to buy whatever Cayuga meat I can produce, so I thought I'd get a jump start on it. Once they hatch, I'll keep a few females for egg laying purposes. Once my Cayuga girls start laying (which should be soon) I'll have some eggs to share.

Zephyr, I clicked on that link, and saw an interesting ad. A guy had an ad which listed yaks, longhorns, watusis, and other things for sale. He definitely wasn't registered with IYAK, because there are only two yak ranches in Michigan....myself and one in Traverse City. I raise meat yaks, and she raises yaks for wool. So I was shocked to see that ad. I google'd the number, and it appears as if this person at one time ran a puppy mill. I couldn't find a name or website associated with the number, so I called it. It was a man who answered, and I asked him about the ad (not telling him that I'm a registered yak owner). He said they had all been sold to a man in Idaho. He also let me know that someone had recently put an ad on CL to sell some yaks. LOL! I didn't tell him that someone was me. That was so strange! There are so few yaks in the USA right now, and we're pretty much all signed up with IYAK. All of the yaks were brought in 20 years ago by a handful of people who I know, and the animals all came from Canada. It's very odd that there would be someone who owns yaks without an other yak owner knowing about it. I wonder what this guy's story is?

 

[Opa]

Remember now I only wanted 3 or 4 hens. I called Estes Hatchery and placed an order for 67 chicks.

Fortunately they all aren't for me so may there's still help.