Nevadans?

[SunnyDawn]

Congrats on the new birds!!!

 

[SparksNV]

I'll post pics soon as the 'puter is up and running - still at the computer hospital

I am in a quandry about the roosting poles - I think I have too much ventilation/windows - I am having a difficult time placing the roosting poles!
and I am stressing about the food/watering/litter - I just want everything to go smoothly!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Quote:
Cannot have too much ventilation or windows. Just be sure the sun does not shine directly in and heat the coop up. With your roosts, move them around some once the birds get there and see what works best. As for food/water - I feed and water in open containers (dog dishes, human dishes, horse dishes - I am cheap) - I do keep a water in the coop and alot of them around the property.


I hope you have nesting boxes ready - not that they are laying yet, but the two older Orp/Del crosses were checking out the nest box for the MF Cochins and rolling a cochin egg around this morning (they were so cute - one would roll it under her and the other would reach over and steal it). I would estimate they will start laying in 5 weeks or so. One of them, her comb is starting to grow and thicken - she is not getting red yet but if she was a teenager, her hormones would be gearing up for a fight.





Got some pictures taken, now I will sort thru them and pick the best of the worst

and then upload them. You might see them sometime this year

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Echentino - The chicks look great and Ida Grace is sure getting. As for getting them back in the coop – get a bowl that you use only for treats (scratch, household treats, all that good stuff) – that treat bowl always gets dumped in your run. It will not be long, and when they see you with the bowl, they will come running and follow you thru town if you walked slow enough. (mine run to me if I am carrying a grocery bag, bowl, dog, another chicken – does not matter, if I am carrying something I must have food for them).




NVRon – He would make some nice looking chicks with them – at least I think so. I am not positive what colors you would get, but I think blue and black with leakage. But again, I am just guessing. I am hanging on to him for you. I do have a couple younger ones coming along – same color as the roo you like, but they have beard/muff. Wow on that tree!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Genny the other pullet I got from you in March (Belle) laid her first egg today. Instead of being proud she looked utterly confused! I don't think she cared for the process!

She laid a very tiny, very, very pointed egg! I just happened to be right there next to her when she laid the egg. Poor thing was like "What the heck is going on?".
All 4 of the marans I got at the same time are also laying. The 4th holdout laid her first egg yesterday.

I'm gonna be swimmin' in eggs!!!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

for Belle. I also have a new one laying, and I think it is the Orp/Cochin chick - the first one pictured on the availables page. She really is noisy

and seems very eager to join in anyones egg song.

How is the color on the marans? Are you happy with it?

 

[SunnyDawn]

I'm happy with them but I won't post them on the marans' thread. If they are not as dark as dark chocolate they are really critical, and they aren't near that dark. They will probably lighten up as time goes by since they usually lay the darkest eggs at the start of each lay cycle.

I think they are beautiful!

 

[laceynoelle]

Congrats Sunny on the eggs! Post some pick on this thread, we wont be critical.

Thats really awesome about everyone's pullents laying!!

I cant wait! How old are they?

 

[SunnyDawn]

My oldest pullets are 22 weeks. The next ones coming up are 18 weeks. None of them are laying. 2 of those are Welsummers so they probably won't lay 'til 24 weeks or so. 3 of the 18 week olds are EEs so who knows when they will start. I hope I get at least 1 green egg layer out of that group. The last of the 18 weekers is a cuckoo marans, so about 22 weeks on average she should start laying.
The last ones are 15 weeks but most of them are ameraucanas (also Dels) so I don't expect eggs from them for awhile. They were straight run but I know I have at least 3 girls and I'm really excited about the blue eggs I will get from them. If winter comes early I may have to wait until spring before I see my first blue egg though.

Tomorrow is a wash but I will try to get pics up on Wednesday.

 

[Echetino]

Thanks for the advice, Genny.

I was thinking about getting a little triangle, or bell on their coop for "treat time". Kind of a Pavlovian conditioning thing. Ring the bell, chickens come running. Or, I could just get the neighbor's dog to bark again. That seemed to get their attention. I'd been using different bowls and containers, so I hadn't thought of using the same visual aid for them to associate with treats or feeding. I'll start now.

A little story: I let them out to roam around the yard, and they all did a bunch of scratching under a cherry tree. It was about 6:00pm, and they usually roost at about 8:00. They all settled in to the damp cool soil and began to go to sleep! Two of the hens that are still a little wary of me actually required me to physically push them out of their comfortable resting spot, and vocalized their displeasure with some squawking. It was pretty funny, and they seemed to stage a little protest before reluctantly returning to the coop.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. You know how us newbies are, everything's a new adventure!

Jason