Michigan

[fuzzybutt love]

WOULD A NESTING / BROODING PEN ABOUT 50 FEET WEST OF THE MAIN ENCLOSURE BE SAFE FROM THE INFECTION TRANSMISSION ASPECT ? OR DOES ONE NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DISEASE TRANSMISSION FROM EGGS, ASSUMING THE SOURCE IS DILIGENT IN CARE OF THEIR BIRDS?

WOULD ALL THE EGGS HAVE TO COME FROM ONE SOURCE ? OR IS IT OK TO GET SOME FROM ONE AND SOME FROM ANOTHER ? BIO SECURITY AGAIN.

I would be careful about getting even eggs from all over. There are quite a few diseases passed from the mother into the egg, so it is still dangerous. Also, you will not know from looking at a flock if they carry something or not. A lot of people assume that a carrier will look sick, or act sick, but the fact is they had it and won't show symptoms again unless something else happens. (Rather like our flu) You can have a squeaky clean flock, or you can have a flock that you are trying to build resistance in, but you can't have both. See, here's my roo who is carrying CRD. Plenty of spark in him and he don't act "unthrifty" or walk around with ruffled feathers...... I only know because i was there when he was sick. You would never know if i wasn't honest. Also some people who free range a lot of birds may not even know that one was sick for a few days, so there are "oops" contaminations too. Bottom line is be careful and try to stay with as few sources as possible.

 

[Bianca67]

Welcome Farmgirl!!

Oh Nova, they are so cute.

What a beautiful roo!

 

[M.sue]

could've been pecking or nail breaking. Nothing big. just check and see if anyone's nails are getting too big?

I was going to ask the silly question about trimming their nails this morning....So do people trim them? I've heard of trimming beaks but never nails.

P.S. Awesome looking Rooster you have....handsome!

 

[M.sue]

Welcome Brave Farmgirl_09.... Holy Cow ...200 is a lot of chickens! Glad to have you join us.....this is a great thread!! There are many, many, people on here who will offer you advice, answer questions and whatever when needed. Don't miss a day of checking in to see what's happening because it'll take you 2 days to read all the posts!! lol

 

[NovaAman]

Except for the last 2 days. LOL. There has been so few posts over Sunday and Monday. BUT I totally understand today. We have such fine weather. Weird, but fine. Got to 56 here. The snow is almost all gone. Only left where the trees are. I am not complaining. My chickies are loving the soft ground to dig in. I am loving that they are not having a party in my garage. LOL.

I am going to have to add to my page again. YEAH! New things to write about. New babies. Newer babies. Losses. Learnings. Its been one heck of an interesting year.

OH! Guess who kindly blessed me with her first egg today! Fiametta! Yup. She was in the garage carrying on, trying to get in the cat carrier. I opened it up for her, shoved some straw at her in there, and an hour later, EGG! Yup, and not a tiny little egg either. A nice pinkish brown Med-Large egg. Bigger than what Buffy laid, but smaller than the dottes eggs. I was impressed. Not a tiny pullet sized egg. I guess maybe she figured she'd go at it the right way and start out with a banger of an egg. LOL. GO FIFI GO FIFI!

SO, all in all, this week has started out super great!

Welcome Brave Farmgirl. Good to see you are going to just JUMP right in. Holy Cow is putting it mildly. A bit daunting to me to even consider that many chickens all in one shot to start. WOW.

 

[chicken grandma]

too---kold---for---uggos

 

[M.sue]

Nova.....what do your boys think of the chicks? I'm sure they went to school and told all their friends this awesome tale.....mine would.

 

[uchytil]

Hi All!

My husband and I are getting ready to get our first batch of chickens in March or so. We are in the Lapeer area, and I'm trying to find the best places to get feed from. We're getting 100 layers and 100 cornish x. Does anyone happen to know where Miss_Jayne gets her feed from? I pm'ed her, but I thought I would ask here too. Also any newbie tips you can give would be great and also any info on local laws. Mostly about selling our meat birds when the time comes. It would be great if we could find a place to sell the live birds to and let them butcher/sell them. I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people, sharing info and starting a new hobby!

Welcome and have fun with those CX. They are wicked messy and eat like there's no tomorrow. We have a Co-op in Fremont that you can get feed in bulk. High protein crumble. I grow mine 12 weeks. I think alot of people go about 8 weeks and then sell. I've always coop'd mine but this year they get a tractor I can move around my field. I'm only doing a dozen or so. I have the Amish dress mine for a buck a bird. You cannot beat that even if you do it yourself, lol!

 

[NovaAman]

NO. He doesn't tell anything! LOL. He said he sits with too many girls. I told him those are the ones to tell especially. LOL.

 

[Mom 2em All]

All things considered, I think I would rather be fishing with Opa today.

I have to go to school early today to meet with the Administrative Manager of the Graduate School to make sure that I'll be able to graduate at the end of this semester. Those 2 words in her title are making me nervous, both just scream of bureaucracy. Plus I have to pay $100 for this meeting.


Uggos Update:
I'm pretty sure these birds are dim. Again this morning, I had to pick them up and set them in front of the water and food. They eat and drink just fine when I do that but they seem to be too lazy to do it by themselves. Maybe they just like to be picked up and held for a bit.

Just held, not groped. They are too young for that.

Good luck, RaZ!
They are not DIM..poor little babies.. they had a mama to show them where their food was, and their water, and to snuggle them and talk baby talk to them--- and their heat lamp to get themselves warmed up when they needed to.
Now they are all alone in the world of giants, and they NEED cuddling and lovin!
*sniff*
Be their mama hen, RaZ....coddle them and show them the way!

too---kold---for---uggos

I agree, Chicken Grandma~~ tell him to cuddle the babies!

NO. He doesn't tell anything! LOL. He said he sits with too many girls. I told him those are the ones to tell especially. LOL.

heh heh...I once posted on Facebook about the chickens and all my kids almost fainted. MOMMMMMMMMMMMM our friends see that!!! They cant know we have chickens!!!!!