North Carolina

[Banriona]

Hey y'all! Thought I'd pop in and say hello. Just joined BYC this week - still figuring things out. Anywhooo.... Brooding my very first batch of chicks now - they're almost 3 weeks old. Loving it! 2 EE's, 2 Light Brahmas and 2 Delawares.

Got their coop *almost* ready for them - need to revamp the lock on the door to keep my children (the most dangerous of the local predators) out and borrow a masonry bit to put some screen on the window so they have a bit more ventilation during the day - and their only ventilation at night. Should have it all done by sometime tomorrow. Woot!! So excited! Wondering if 3wks old is too young to put them out there overnight without a light? Only drawback to this thing is it doesn't have any electricity to it. We put them out there for the day today - their brooder is getting a tad cramped - and they seemed to do fine. Still haven't really figured out the roost thing yet though. I figure if they get too cold they'll huddle up in one of the nesting boxes or hidey holes I have in there. Right now they pile up in a heap in one corner of their brooder (regardless of brooder temp).

I'm in Randolph County - nighttime temps are so mild right now and the coop is a re-purposed SOLID brick square. I think it used to be a well house? Anyway it's 8'x8' inside (10'x10' outside measurements) with a solid concrete floor. It has one window and a door on one side of the building but the rest is solid brick. All the joints between the ceiling and walls and the floors/walls have already been caulked up. We put a screen door on with an aluminum panel at the bottom to use for ventilation during the day (will cut a chook door in it once we get the run built) but at night we'll be closing the main wooden door and just using the screened up but open window for ventilation. Soon we'll get a vent or more in the roof but for now, this seems to do the trick.

Any advice from "locals" is more than welcome!! New to NC and to raising chickens so will gladly take any advice I can get!

Thanks in advance!

 

[DSTchickencraze]

DTS, sounds like you need a dog kennel with a cement bottom to it and maybe even an outer fence so that you can go in and out with out the dog pushing past. Post pictures of the bird and where the wounds are and we can help you with the bird.

See he is an indoor dog and never had any problems with him until we had chickens up closer to the house instead of down by the barn. My mom and myself can handle him just fine. Its just when other people are home. He finds his way out. He also has some marking issues that should be resolved if he goes to a place without other dogs.

I wasn't able to get any good pictures of our Brahma. THERE ARE NO PUNCTURES!!!! We believe there might be a broken wing. She is holding it out kind of funny and it is hanging awkwardly. Does anyone on here know how to treat a broken wing? Other than the wing she seems fine. The rasping breathing my mom thought she heard hasn't been noticeable at all. I AM SO PROUD OF MY LITTLE JAPANESE ROO!!!!!!!! When I plucked him down from up on top of the fence (where he likes roosting) to put him on one of the actual roosts he looked right at our Brahma and cuddled up right into her and snuggled up. He is sooooooo sweet!!!

Can anyone help me fix her wing?

 

[Banriona]

Sadly, I can't help with the wing. Glad to see she is doing *comparatively* well. In my supremely limited experience, Brahmas are the best!!

Good luck!

As for the dog... can you do an underground fence? They aren't overly expensive and are pretty reliable. We got one for our girls (I have a beagle mutt and a chow mutt) and it works a treat. Would maybe be a good "last line of defense" when she sneaks out. Not sure it would be enough to deter against such a tempting target, but it's my only idea for now. Mine keeps my beagle in line even when she's chasing squirrels, rabbits etc. so maybe it would work for you?

 

[lindz8504]

Blue Ridge Mountains!!!!! I deliver!!!

Taking my twins up to ride the Polar Express in November..
They have done Mayberry days and Blowing Rock...gem mine and Park Way so it is possible!

Lol.... I am about 15 minutes from Mt.Airy, so you know where to come...... lol the only problem is my husband would kill me most likely. He says no more...

 

[Fireantz iceman]

Lol.... I am about 15 minutes from Mt.Airy, so you know where to come...... lol the only problem is my husband would kill me most likely. He says no more...

Love it up there..

Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) loves our twins and they listen to Rodney Dillard's CD all the time (Darlings from the Andy Griffith Show). Met Rodney and Maggie (Charlene Darling) last fall and speak with him every few weeks. He gets a kick out of three year old boys singing his music! They will meet this December...that should be fun!

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Good morning folks

and welcome Banriona.....nice to meet you

was pulling a leg about you needing more eggs Fireantz
but you know what I have sooooo

been a bit of a warm early fall season so far and it makes
me want to not go to work. I want to stay home and get
some yard arrangement done..........and I need to plan
out the Christmas lights for this year.......hmmmmmmm

hope everyone has a good day

 

[dutchbunny83]

I have two incubators running, one for incubation and one for lockdown and hatch. Staggered hatches going all the time. Guess what happens when you put "all" of the 26th eggs in lockdown on Saturday and they are hatching today?

Well, you look in on the incubation one and see a newly hatched Spitzhauben surfing on top of an egg turner!!!! Must have missed one huh?


As they say...I got me a ton of Spitzhauben and Cochin chicks running around! Need ro shed some of them or swap them
off!

Can you tell (or have a real strong feeling) any of the Spitzhauben are girls??? Because I REALLY want one!!!
I have some 5 week old Ameraucana pullets sexed/vaccinated from my pet chicken and a few blue marans that I have some pretty good guesses on gender, but not 100%.
Or I'll just buy a couple...

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

Good Morning everyone! I hope you have a great day!! I am spending the day making bread, rolls, English muffins and the like to restock my supplies - I am also recovering from a MESS of a day yesterday. LOL. Every have one of those days where you are frantically running around trying to get things done before an appointment, only to realize your appointment is the FOLLOWING week?? Yeah, I drove an hour to Apex for my DD's 2 month check up....only the appointment is NEXT week!!

A bonus to my day: DH was making small talk while getting his phone repaired and the guy he was talking with asked if we could be his supplier for eggs!! We have our FIRST *regular* customer!! DH brings eggs to work and offers them to coworkers, but it's never a reliable deal. Now we have someone buying a dozen every other week!! Sweet!! He asked to buy some chickens (already processed) but DH said NO - I don't blame him...too risky!! Still, I'm excited!

Enjoy your day everyone!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks skitzkle!

I have to get rid of that **** dachsund! I have been busting my butt to try and find him a new home and have been extremely unsuccessful!!!!! He killed our two beginning maran hens, one of our little chicks last week, and of course while I'm in school today my mom sends me a text saying that he got to our only little Dark Brahma today that is suppose to start laying in the next two weeks or so! She's not dead, but injured. I haven't been home yet to see how she is, but my mother said she thought she heard raspy breathing!!! I'm going to do everything in my power to get her back to her full health and I have no idea what I can do with the dog! We do everything we can to keep him away from the chickens, but since my grandmother is back home (she has been gone the past few weeks, due to surgery) he knows how to get past her and find his way outside to the chickens! I need to do something and fast. I love the dog but the love is quickly turning to anger and intolerance!!!!!!!!!

Anyone have ideas on what I can do to make our Brahma better? I've heard that feeding a chicken egg yolk with their feed might help, and would it be advisable to feed her crumble like our chicks with the egg yolk? I really don't want her to die. If she does that would be four chickens in the past two to three months & all would be because of the stupid dog!!! She's also my moms chicken that we got from Wildsriver. She is so sweet and such a great forager.

Once I see her, I'll post something else up to give more details.

I have 3 mini dachshunds and they Cannot be around small anything that moves, I learned the hard way last year when one of mine killed a 2 week old duckling[my fault for leaving the gate open] You have to keep them separated from the young ones. So sorry this has happened. Dog Xpens work well for keeping your dog from being with the chickens when it needs to be outside.

 

[dutchbunny83]

DST-- I may ruffle some feathers with this since most people on here seem to have their dogs as family members, but the day my dog killed a chicken he was gone.

It was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back-- my son wanted a dog, but then when he got it didn't really want anything to do with it. I really didn't have the time to train it properly as my husband and son were supposed to deal with him. We got a black lab beagle mix that was about to be put down. He was way hyper, chewed everything, jumped up on the kids, not completely housebroken, then killed a chicken. Fortunately we found him a good home with someone on the other side of Fayetteville with a lot of land and no chickens! But no more dogs for me! We have a shelter rescue cat that spent so many years in a shelter he really thinks he's a dog, minus all the negatives!

I really hope you can get a good home for him.