Nevadans?

[Takari]

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At 18 degrees this morning, I don't know, but I would be concerned. Another option for you might be looking into an ad I saw on Craigslist the other day. There is a guy in Truckee with an incubator and access to fertile eggs offering to hatch for free. Don't know if I am supposed to hyperlink but the ad was posted on 11/12/09 titled "!!Baby Chickens!!" Only drawback might be getting pullets unless they are sex-links. Just a thought

Nancy

I did see that ad a few days ago, and the only concern was whether we could end up with a bunch of roos or not. Our neighborhood has a very strict homeowners association, and it's lucky enough that we can even keep pullets. Because roos can be louder, it would probably cause quite a few problem, especially since we have some "tattlers" in our neighborhood that just love reporting anything that they feel is out of place.

Though, looking at the weather forecast, it does appear that it's going to warm up again. Gotta love Nevada weather!

 

[SunnyDawn]

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Sounds just like what I did! I've been threatening to get chickens for ten years now and I finally got tired of hearing "We'll see", so I went out to Green's Feed last spring and bought 5. Once we settled on a plan for the coop I realized I could fit a lot more chickens in there so I bought more from them and Reno Rock and Feed. My girls have been laying for a few months now. It is awesome having fresh eggs again whenever I need them since I bake a LOT! Everybody marvels at the stuff I bake but I think the secret is the fresh eggs (and real butter).
Anyway, welcome to BYC!

It's nice to see more Reno-ites here!!!

 

[SunnyDawn]

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Heya. I've been raising them since i've been seven.

That's even younger than I was! I started (well my parents got some and gave me the chicken chores wether I wanted them or not..) when I was 9. I then raised them for about 8 years as an adult then moved and wasn't allowed to have them anymore. But it's great to finally have chickens again! I'm enjoying them a lot more now. Course I don't work near as many hours these days and my set-up is a lot more streamlined than it ever was before.

 

[SunnyDawn]

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Hi Takari! Welcome! Yeah I agree with renoruphis it's a little to cold this time of year to ship babies. Most hatcheries won't ship till spring for that reason. Better to wait until March. I know how hard it is to wait. We have some Ameraucana chicks coming in April and I'm sooooooo excited and impatient for them to get here!!! It feels like April is so so far away! But it gives us time to finish the new brooder. Last time I raised them in a homemade open brooder made from cardboard boxes in the living room. I DO NOT recommend this to anybody! Chickens raise a ton of dust and I'm still seeing places I missed with a 1/4 inch of dust or more!

 

[SunnyDawn]

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Thank you HorseFeatherz! I had a great Thanksgiving, how was yours?

 

[gaited horse]

Does anyone ever go to the Junior livestock show and sale in the spring?

 

[gaited horse]

What vet does everyone use?
Just wondering. I use D.R Johnson at fairgrounds.

 

[ke_ben]

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Just the Clark County Fair in April. I think that some of our birds might be in it this year.

Did everybody have a nice holiday weekend?

 

[laceynoelle]

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Heya. I've been raising them since i've been seven.

That's even younger than I was! I started (well my parents got some and gave me the chicken chores wether I wanted them or not..) when I was 9. I then raised them for about 8 years as an adult then moved and wasn't allowed to have them anymore. But it's great to finally have chickens again! I'm enjoying them a lot more now. Course I don't work near as many hours these days and my set-up is a lot more streamlined than it ever was before.

Actually they were my dads chickens and i had the chore too. I guess that how some chicken lovers start.

But now i'm curious. How do you have yours set up?

 

[SunnyDawn]

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That's even younger than I was! I started (well my parents got some and gave me the chicken chores wether I wanted them or not..) when I was 9. I then raised them for about 8 years as an adult then moved and wasn't allowed to have them anymore. But it's great to finally have chickens again! I'm enjoying them a lot more now. Course I don't work near as many hours these days and my set-up is a lot more streamlined than it ever was before.

Actually they were my dads chickens and i had the chore too. I guess that how some chicken lovers start.

But now i'm curious. How do you have yours set up?

Well every other place I've lived, I've used what was already on the property, old sheds, coops, etc. While it was nice having part of the work done for me they were a far cry from a modern, back friendly, coop. I did a ton of research this time and got some great ideas from the coop pages of BYC. My current coop is set 2 and a half feet off the ground with the nests set 1' up inside the coop, cantilevered half in and half out of the main frame. The part that sticks outside the frame has been closed in with siding and a large, hinged lid that can be lifted by rope and pulley and secured open by attaching the rope to a hook which means I don't have to hold the hatch doors open while collecting eggs (nests, of course are left open to inside of coop). It also means that there is no bending over to collect eggs. The eggs sit at about my stomach height which is perfect for me. This also gives the girls plenty of space under the coop (8'x10') to hide from sun or rain when in their pen area (though they are usually out in the yard). There is a large, operable vent (in addition to the smaller, fixed vents) that is also on a rope and pulley system for hot weather as well as an operable window.
The coop is also tall enough inside to stand without stooping (6.5'-7.5') and I know this sounds silly but one of my favorite things are the 2 holes that are in the floor (14"x14") that make clean up a breeze! They are covered with heavy-duty wire and a removable board to keep predators out. The wire is 1.5"x3" grid so sweeping poop out through it is not a problem. I just place buckets under the poop chutes (under the coop itself), lift the lids off (they have long eye screws so I don't have to hunt for boards under bedding) and sweep the stuff out the holes! If you live in an area where snakes are a problem I would put the cover boards on hinges and use a clasp of some kind to lock the cover in place between cleanings. It's still easier to bend over once than to bend over again and again with a broom and dust pan or shovel. I use mulch for bedding so I can just put the fertilized mulch directly into my flowerbeds.
The feeder and waterers are raised up off the floor and no where near the roosts so that they don't have to be cleaned as often and they hold a lot of feed and water, enough to last about 4-5 days. I think a drip waterer might stay cleaner though. DH still has to clean the waterer fairly often. The nests are also away from the roosts. This does mean that there is quite a bit of wasted space under the roosts but I'm thinking of cantilevering a new box (of sorts) that will be 8' by about 4" wide, level with the coop floor, with a fixed, plywood lid on the inside (to keep poop out) and an inside wall frame covered with wire mesh. The outside will protrude about 2' out and be covered with siding with a hinged lid for easy access from the outside. I want to use it as a brooder for chicks that are old enough to go outside but not quite big enough to fend for themselves with the full grown gals, but my DH wants to use it for storing feed etc. Oh well he can have it when the babies are grown.
I have a rough sketch that I made for DH that I can scan in and post if this description makes no sense.