Michigan

[Bluemoon420]

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That's a lot of chicks!

Bluemoon

 

[sevenchickens]

BLRW are my next chicken. That is if something else doesn't fall in my lap first. which usually seems to be the case. My coop is overflowing with unintentional purchases. What can I say I have no impulse control.

 

[abbey2140]

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Thanks for the words of encouragement lol. Whats bad is the ducks ARE cleaner than the chickens. lol.

 

[Ooopsy_daisy]

Well I feel wonderful. I had a Isa chick born 2 days ago and seems its legs are just not quite right. I noticed it was doing the russian splits after it walked a few steps. soooooooo I got out some johnson water proof 1/2 inch tape, cut it in half and made a brace just like you would post ears on a ear crop. She's walking like she's drunk but can now stumble/walk over to the feeder and water without falling down. Works great. LIFE IS GOOD.

 

[Opa]

Don't you you just love it when someone posts something we can play with?

 

[chickflick]

Wow, ooopsy, didn't know you were that close! Meeting up for lunch sounds like a great plan. Kristin (Krisrose) and I usually go together. Last year I came home with a rabbit. DH said no more chickens. He didn't say anything about rabbits!

Can't wait to see what he tells me this year.

 

[Ferrret]

I don't currently have chickens but I plan of getting some in May when I move in with my BF.
We are going to build a coop soon, as long as everything checks out with Township ordinances.
We plan on getting 2 Silkies, perhaps a Sebright, an Easter Egger, a Brahma and a Welsumer. Other possibles are a Leghorn, a Campine or a Plymouth.

Right now we are looking at ordering from MyPetChicken so any reviews on their chick service would be great!

chickflick - I'm not sure if anyone will fess up to the escaped chicken, although we have seen a home with an "eggs for sale" sign in the area so maybe they had a runner. It may also have been a chicken from someone not on the forum.

 

[Ooopsy_daisy]

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MyPetChicken is very over priced. Put your want list up here and save on that big shipping and very pricey chicks. Im sure we all have what you seek.

IE sorry my pet chicken but your prices stink.

 

[Ferrret]

Well we are looking for all hens, they don't have to be show worthy. It will be a few months until we order chicks so we have the time to find a good deal.
But these are the breeds we are looking at getting:
2 Silkies - 1 white (who will be named Shmoo), 1 whatever color. I would like a black one to contrast the white but any color works
1 Golden Sebright, because my BF likes the way they look.
1 Light Brahma
1 Easter Egger. Can be an Ameraucana but my BF isn't inclined to get an Araucana as he doesn't want a whole flock of "goofy looking" birds.
1 Welsumer, simply because it's the Kelloggs chicken.

I have looked at possibly getting a Campine, a Plymouth or a Leghorn in place of any breeds we cannot find, or that are too difficult to raise in the cold. The Sebright worries me as I have seen many say they are a difficult breed to raise and are delicate birds.

My BF wasn't too thrilled with getting chickens but he has warmed up to it and thinks its a good thing we can do together, build some nice memories on. He's kinda finicky about where we get the chickens and we both want to get the breeds all at once if possible. That is why we were looking at MPC, because all the breeds we want have a hatch date of May 17, a few days after I move in to his place.
I did check out the page for Destiny Farms in Brighton and they have most of the breeds we want and they are close by so we could hand pick our chicks. My BF is a bit leery of that and feels more comfortable ordering them online.

I just clicked the banner ad for Meyer hatchery and their page has a straight run of White Silkies listed as $0.00. With a deal like that, perhaps I should have a whole flock of Silkies!

A lot of our focus is currently on how to build a coop and if the area will allow it, which current information says yes, we can have chickens. The coop "issue" we have hit it that I am near obsessive about the design and how its built (I made a cardboard scale model of the latest design) and he is worried he will over build it. I told him I would rather have a coop that will last forever than one that will fall apart in 6 weeks and he agrees. We are still figuring out the best ventilation for our design and the best lay out for roosts and nests. We don't want to just buy one because it won't really be "ours" and we both have some drafting skills and he is a mechanic so building a coop shouldn't be too hard of a task.

We might just build one that could withstand a nuclear bomb blast while keeping the chickens safe inside.

 

[iluvcks]

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.


I am so sorry. I should have educated myself on meat chickens. My only experience with them is my SIL got meat chickens last year. Hubby and I were all excited to see them since we had just gotten our girls. So we expected to see cute chicks, but they werent. The smell was so different right away. Then their beaks had been cut, SIL said it had to be done because they are so aggresive to each other. Then before she had them butchered we went to see them. They were so fat most of them just sat next to the feeders. They had a hard time supporting their own weight. She said not one chicken in 25 ever reconized her. They were white cornish X's I think she said. She told me that these birds were geneticly engineered to grow super fast. That they had to be killed around 54 days or their legs would break from the weight or have strokes. Now she grew up on a farm. She loves animals and is sweet to them. I just assumed (which I should not have done) that those were the quidesential meat bird and all other birds were dual purpose, egg production, or show. She loves having the chickens and is thinking about getting Guinea hens too this year. I know she will eat them too. I guess what I am saying is I thought she would choose a longer happier life and something with color and a personilaty (her words not mine) if the choice was out there. I really am sorry. I hope I didnt offend anyone.