Nebraskans Speak Up!!! NEBRASKA ROCKS!!

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Some of those days when it was pretty dang cold out or it was colder because of the winds, our coop was fairly comfortable inside .. even with the chicken's door left open to the run. The only time their door got shut was when I knew it was going to get 10 degrees or below.
I totally agree with you that they are pretty hardy :)

I think we're done with adding more chicks this year. lol
My bf would like to get a turkey, and is thinking a couple guineas would be a good idea. The guineas are because a local hawk has been eye-balling our chihuahua and has already made two attempts thinking she's make a good snack. Should be interesting in trying to teach Gracie to hide or go to the door when the guineas sound off. lol
 
Hi, Nebraska people! I'm beginning to learn about keeping chickens as well as getting my husband used to the idea. I've been looking at the website for the city of La Vista (where we live) and I'm coming up with conflicting information regarding poultry. Does anyone here live/have lived in La Vista and have experience with this? My neighbor's best friend is code enforcement officer and another neighbor will call the cops for pretty much any reason, so I want to make sure I'm 110% complying with the law here.

Thanks so much!!

Lauren
 
Hi all! The thread's been quiet lately, but thought I'd hop back in and say hi! I've been having problems with my PMs and being able to read them all, so I know that a couple of you have given me addresses for the poultry shows, but I can't get to them, so if you want to retry to PM to me, I can usually open new PMs! The next poultry show here in NE is in Scribner the weekend of April 28 and 29. Its too late to get entries in, but all are welcome to come check it out. Also, the fall show is the Nebraska State Poultry Assoc. show in Nov. I'm the show secretary and am working to compile a list of interested folks to make sure I get info out to them when it comes time. The show is held at the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln.
If you have children interested in showing, there is a junior show and showmanship that follows the same vein as 4H....so its a great opportunity for them!
 
hey Nebraska girl here...omaha, just got my permit and now to build a coop...any suggestions,,,trust me ANY..janice
 
Hello Nebraska Neighbors from Fort Calhoun. I was really excited to see there was actually a thread for my state though it seems a little quiet. I am looking for a Nankin Bantam breeder relatively close by. PM me if you are one or know one pretty please.
 
Hi all

Long time no post. Lots of Chicken Tragedy over here, 2 weeks in a row to be exact. And I need a little help. I am in Omaha, midtown-ish (just east of dundee).

Last Tuesday night I wasn't feeling well and accidentally left the tractor door open. I lost Sophia, my son's BO, to something that left only feathers. Down to 1 Hen, Blache the BA.

Fast Forward to this Wednesday, after school sent my son out to let Blanche roam the backyard until bedtime. All I heard was bloody murder screaming and sobbing...my 11 year old ran back in the house "BLANCHE IS DEAD." I walked out thinking she was sick and just keeled over (although she was fine on Tuesday). She was safe and in bed the night before, my husband put her up in the nest box/roost area when he put her in at sundown. I have an A-frame tractor, fenced bottom (garden fence 2x3ish rectangles of coated wire) with roost and nest boxes enclosed on top. In the spring and summer I leave the ramp down at night for air, have done it for 2 years with NO problems so the girls always wake up in the morning and let themselves out...probably pretty early.

Here is where it gets weird. Blanche was in the bottom (fenced) part of the tractor, doors closed, missing her head and her body was pulled up against the fence and was half eaten. Breast meat gone, one leg that was sticking out the fencing was stripped clean of meat, down to the bone but foot still intact. Feathers all over the place. Found her comb, but no head or beak, at the front of the coop while her body was at the opposite end. Whatever ate her had to push its head through the fence, there are a couple of rectangles that are a little bent but the fencing was not terribly mangled. NO BLOOD. NONE...not a drop anywhere... (I took a picture which might be kind of weird but I was so perplexed.)

WHAT THE HECK ATE MY CHICKEN????

After a little more investigation tonight there look to be a few smallish claw marks, but nothing major, on the board at the bottom of the area that I found her body.

I hope someone has an idea...I am bummed. I know we have racoons, opossum, and feral cats in the hood, but we have been safe and secure for 2 years...ugh...time to step up and build a chicken fortress.

On the bright side we have 2 chicks in the bathroom brooder. We keep the little tote brooder in the bathroom. LOL
Not sure what type...so far they are looking hen-ish. One of the elementary schools in our district hatched them. I think they will be 2 weeks in a couple days, give or take a day. They are feathering out nicely, straight tail feathers, great and full wings, starting to get feathers just above the wings. One is a pale lemony yellow color and the other peachy. Feathers coming out are true to their chick fuzz.

Hope someone has ideas and hope everyone else is having better chicken luck than the Wegz family.

dwegz
 
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. We ourselves have been dealing with a mangy fox. It got one of the barn kitties. It has eluded us so far, we can't seem to catch it close enough to dispose of it. But its time is coming! If the space is big enough for a coon to get into they will pull them apart like that. It is horrible. I have actually lost a few that way. Very unpleasant. The poor things are so defenseless at night. Glad you have some new ones to love though. Post some pics of your new babies so we can all play the guessing game as to what they are. Always a fun time to see who is correct. I have a source for very nice pallets if you would like a few to salvage the wood from for you new coop. My Hubby built one for me, if you search pallet coops ours is in the gallery pics. The photos aren't sequential, I have tried to correct it but it doesn't seem to work, but you can see the construction and progress. Let me know and I'll get you the hook up! Sorry again for your loss.
 
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Old Yolks

Thanks so much...I am interested in pallets. I am going to do some drawing this weekend and then will PM you if I think it will work. I have a much smaller space than you (a 20x20 garden) I am thinking about a coop that is something like a "Garden Coop" if you have seen those plans. Dimensions would be somewhere around 4 or 5' x 12 for the whole space and the coop would be a small enclosure on one end maybe 4 x 4 with the run enclosing the coop/roost. I am only trying to house a max of 8 but probably only 6.

Here are the new babies in the bathroom brooder.
This was about 1 week...they are a bit bigger and more feathered now. I will try to take a picture of them tonight and post more. The peach colored one's feathers coming in are exactly the same color as her fluff and the yellowish/white one's feathers are the same as her fluff as you can see.
 
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Dwegz,
You just let me know when you are ready to come pick up the pallets and I'll have a nice stack waiting for you. Just as a head-ups we are leaving for a 2 week vacation next friday, we will have a house sitter but would prefer that he didnt have to deal with them. I also have an 8' piece of corrugated metal you are welcome to as well. It is new but not "my color" (I suffer from OCD), it's a light grey tone and would work great for your roof. So anytime next week or after the 28th will work for me. You just let me know what is convenient for you and I'll be home.
I'm a chicken rookie but I'm going to guess your babies are a production red of some sort. Maybe Red Star or Buff Orpington crosses, whatever they are cute is certain! Have a terrific day.
Nan
 
Nan

I am not going to make it out before you leave for vacation. I am a high school English teacher and I am trying to wrap up the year. My dad has a truck but he will be on vacation from 6/2-6/10 so it will have to be after that. I can't wait to get started! Dad and I started looking over the plans I have and already started making my modification requests. I would love to take the metal off your hands! I am looking to re-use, salvage, and recycle as much as possible to make this project more economical, but also because I sponsor the environmentalism club, Living Green, at my high school and I am going to chronicle the journey for my students. Your generous offer to help inspired me and I am going to show them how to reuse and reduce.

Tonight I took the babies outside with Lena, my Aussie, the protector. Maybe they think she is the Mama?



This last picture cracks me up. Looks like something my little brother did to me when we were kids. Luckily there was no fallout!
lau.gif


The babies are doing well. I need to get busy and till the garden and get my plants in!
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the fine weather.

dwegz
 
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