Nevadans?

[SparksNV]

Hi everyone - well, my coop has finally started being built.

DH & I set the posts in the ground (six of them) & ya'll know how hard that part is - diggin' in the Nevada stone, uhh, dirt! Got 6 posts in and level, got the floor done and vinyl tile on. Everything is at a stop now because dh is working his 12 hr shifts for the next 5 days then we have a trip planned. When we get home, dh goes back to work for another long stretch - I think it might be done mid to late August.

The coop is 4x8ft and run is 20x16ft. I'm still undecided about insulating the coop.

Is mid to late August too late to get chickens? I don't want baby chicks - I would like to buy some pullets when the coop is done. I only want 6 hens. I would like at least one EE, and the rest RIRs and BRs - I think - any suggestions? I want quiet and calm, tolerate our weather/temperatures, high producers, low broodiness & eggs that are not white. (I hope I have the abbreviations right! - this is almost as bad as the abbreviations and acronyms we use in medicine!) I found someone on craigslist but if I wait til mid August she said they will be more expensive than they are now which is $10 each. She has BRs, EEs, and Buff Orpingtons. Do you think anyone will have some pullets to sell?

It's fun to read all of the posts - seems like we have a nice crowd here in NV!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Yes, I do think that is more fun, and that color is just with those 2 breeds. Sorry for not responding sooner but I haven't been on the computer. My wife wanted different birds so I hatched out NHR, RIR, BO, EE, RIW, BR, EE, cochin, Delaware, Welsummer, various bantam, Silkie, sebrights, Appenzellar Spitzhauben, Mille Fleur D'Uccle, polish, leghorns, hamburgs, marans, penedesenca, kraienkoppe, Lakenvelder, light Brahma, sumatra, wyandottes, blue andalusians, olive eggers, and more. In fact several of those breeds I did different varieties of like the Marans in black copper, blue copper, cuckoo, splash, and white. I traded away a lot of the white egg laying breeds and some of the breeds only gave me roos but we still have a pretty colorful and varied flock.

Wow, ke-ben! I thought I had a lot of varieties.

What do the blue copper marans look like? I'd love to have some more marans.

SparksNV I don't think it will be too big of a deal to find a few pullets by then. It seems there are always a few folks hatching mid to late season or needing to thin their flock some. If none of us has any by then I'm sure someone will know somebody that does.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Quote:
i bought one of her barred rocks and so did echitino , i was so surprised. the pullet is REALLY soft and extremely docile for having never been handled before. plus the lady is really nice and says shell take back any roosters. i say go for it, i love my new barred rock that i got from her!

and they are old enough now that they arent babies, but small enough to be in a temporary pen until your coop is built.
i have to admit, before i got my girls i wanted to get hens, but i found the search impossible so just went with pullets and babies

 

[ke_ben]

Quote:
Yes, I do think that is more fun, and that color is just with those 2 breeds. Sorry for not responding sooner but I haven't been on the computer. My wife wanted different birds so I hatched out NHR, RIR, BO, EE, RIW, BR, EE, cochin, Delaware, Welsummer, various bantam, Silkie, sebrights, Appenzellar Spitzhauben, Mille Fleur D'Uccle, polish, leghorns, hamburgs, marans, penedesenca, kraienkoppe, Lakenvelder, light Brahma, sumatra, wyandottes, blue andalusians, olive eggers, and more. In fact several of those breeds I did different varieties of like the Marans in black copper, blue copper, cuckoo, splash, and white. I traded away a lot of the white egg laying breeds and some of the breeds only gave me roos but we still have a pretty colorful and varied flock.

Wow, ke-ben! I thought I had a lot of varieties.

What do the blue copper marans look like? I'd love to have some more marans.

Hi Sunny.

I didn't say that I still had all of them, although we do still have a lot of breeds. The only roosters we have left are the Delaware, BCM, red Silkie, frizzled cochin, Lt Brahma, RIW, Welsummer, and of course some newly crowing

Ameraucana cockerels. The blue copper I only got a roo but vegachick's friends ended up with him and I don't have pics of him. They are colored like the black coppers where the black part is all blue. The roosters look like this http://maransofamericaclub.com/Blues-Marans.php and the hens http://www.simplerthyme.com/store/blue_copper_marans.JPEG , not my birds, of course. The blue splash that we have is a good looking bird, in fact vegachick really wanted one like her. If I had a wants list it would include some blue copper and wheaten marans, and some crele Penedesenca, of the breed that we already have. Some BLRW and Barnvelders would probably be on the list too. Hey NevadaRon, we have a runner duck named Queen Latifah.

 

[NevadaRon]

Check out this silkie rooster on Craigslist for $5!

http://reno.craigslist.org/grd/1831199122.html

 

[ke_ben]

Blue partridge?

 

[vegaschick]

Quote:
This is Jack, ke_ben's BlCM roo.

I borrowed him for about a month and just set some of my EE's eggs. Hoping for some cute babies from him with some of that great color and even some pretty colored egg combos too. He's a very gentle roo, good with the girls and very protective too.

And yes...I really want a hen like ke_ben's blue splash. She's beautiful!

 

[laceynoelle]

Aww!Thats great roo! I want him. lol.
Hey everyone, i have some wierd news. Agian.

My mom adopted two adult mute swans and their three babies. One of the golf courses wanted to kill them and the Nevada Division of wildlife stepped in and said no, then called us and asked if we could take them. They are always having us raise birds because my dad has the tree service, right, and we're always doing it with ones he brings home when removing trees. But we;ve gotten some wild duklings and things from them. But they sent us Swans! its so insane. They are huge. When the male stands up, he's taller than the chain link fence, and the babies have just htched, but they are bigger than a banty chicken.check it out:

we dont really know hat to do with them rihgt now, so theyre roaming the front yard. Ma is going to be looking on craigslist for pond building suplies, because for being wild, theyre really sweet as long as we dont touch the babies, and they cant fly away because some horrible person cut off part of thier wings on one side. Im still rather angry about that.

A wild animal shouldnt be clipped.

Ke_ben, do you ever hatch out chicks to sell?

 

[laceynoelle]

oh, vegaschick hes so pretty! good luck on the chickies.

 

[vegaschick]

Thanks laceynoelle, it's my first time setting my own eggs. Plus, I set some shipped BCM, BBS Marans, and BBS Ameraucana eggs too. I don't have great history with shipped eggs but I still wanna try for a BCM, a Blue/Splash Marans, and a Blue/Splash Ameraucana hen. I love having a variety of hen colors and egg colors. I like being able to tell the hens apart and knowing who laid what.

Good luck on those swans! They look awesome...and the babies are so cute! I totally agree with you about not clipping wild birds wings.