North Carolina

[crazyhen]

It was 4 degrees here this am. I do not use heat but do provide a good building for them. It has ventilation to let out the moisture and prevent frostbite. That is nec. even in the coldest of weather due to ther resp. containing water vapor. Too tight and they will have frost bite. All hens doing well. Their water on the other hand, in spite of the cookie tin heater on ,did have ice on it. extra scratch or feed at bedtime helps with the ability to stay warm. warm oatmeal cooked does too. It beautiful at 14 now. The sun is out and so are the chickens.

 

[anjovi6]

Good chilly morning all. It has been about 28 hours since I got the new babies in. They fared pretty good last night in this lovely weather, Out of 26 I lost two. Both of them appeared to be stressed upon arrival. I think because they were super small in size compared to the others. I brought them inside the house and kept them in a box with a heating pad and towels. I hoped they
would make it. Even though I really did not think they would. To be so small they were absolutely the cutes little things you could
imagine. All the others are acting just like a bunch of crazy kid, running and jumping all over the place.

I have to say I am very satisfied with e-fowl. I ordered 25 and they sent 26. And they were all in very good shape for a cold ride in
the back of a semi from Monday afternoon until Wednesday morning.

It's just sad that I will be leaving them on February 7 and not get the chance to see my babies grow up.

Hope everyone stays warm and has a great day.

 

[anjovi6]

Is it spring yet??

Not spring even though Old Man Winter has sprung.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Quote: Mostly to them breaking their own silly necks. Not sure on the last one. Lost a few females to the same thing. Next year I'll try separating sexes rather than keeping breeding groups. Maybe that would help. I'd be able to keep more males that way, too. I've kept extra males together without fighting, as long as no hens are with them. The hens are the worst for fighting here, though. The males settle out who is boss and they are done, but the females will scalp each other if they take a dislike to someone in their pen! I always have to watch them for that. Still, they are tasty, hatch well and grow fast, and are well worth keeping, so I will order more for spring.

 

[FVRM]

Mostly to them breaking their own silly necks. Not sure on the last one. Lost a few females to the same thing. Next year I'll try separating sexes rather than keeping breeding groups. Maybe that would help. I'd be able to keep more males that way, too. I've kept extra males together without fighting, as long as no hens are with them. The hens are the worst for fighting here, though. The males settle out who is boss and they are done, but the females will scalp each other if they take a dislike to someone in their pen! I always have to watch them for that. Still, they are tasty, hatch well and grow fast, and are well worth keeping, so I will order more for spring.

ive been thinking about getting some quails this year, maybe some of the jumbo variety.


I don't think my chickens realize it's cold, they been taking dust baths in the cold dirt all day. And I haven't seen any frostbite on any of the chickens not even the leghorns.

 

[starlingdaly]

Mostly to them breaking their own silly necks.  Not sure on the last one.  Lost a few females to the same thing.  Next year I'll try separating sexes rather than keeping breeding groups.  Maybe that would help.  I'd be able to keep more males that way, too.  I've kept extra males together without fighting, as long as no hens are with them.  The hens are the worst for fighting here, though.  The males settle out who is boss and they are done, but the females will scalp each other if they take a dislike to someone in their pen!  I always have to watch them for that.  Still, they are tasty, hatch well and grow fast, and are well worth keeping, so I will order more for spring.

Oh no! Haha
Are they jumping up and hurting their necks on the top of their enclosure? I read about that being an issue but so far I've not had that problem. My enclosure is a shipping crate I got from a warehouse that is about waist high. Makes collecting eggs difficult though so I think I may use it for males or grow-outs in the future. I bought a large storage bin at Walmart and cut a giant hole in the top, fastened hardware cloth to it and suspended a custom nipple waterer. It's the perfect size for a breeding group of about 6-8 so the plan is to have 2 or 3 for breeders or egg layers. I can set a timed fluorescent light on top to keep the eggs coming.

@FVRM I highly recommend coturnix quail. I keep jumbo Pharoah and the eggs are a pretty decent size! Not to mention the mature males are the perfect size for a person's meal (with vegetables or some kind of side, of course)
There is a really good eBay seller who breeds jumbo Coturnix and A&W as well as other colors. I have about a dozen from his stock.

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Good morning folks

I hope everyone is surviving the cold spell with very little problems.
It got very windy late Wednesday and that made the cold feel like
it was sinking deep in the bones......brrrr. The birds have faired
well through it all.......maybe I need a coat of feathers to keep warm.

hope everyone has a good day

 

[Chicken Hound]

Mourning

Well been staying warm and dry, that was easy yesterday the well pump froze up. So we`had no water most the day, lucky we had bottle water on hand, so I could still feed and water all the critters. It was my fault did not check to make sure the light was still working before the cold snap.

The chickens all got extra scratch yesterday and some of the "treat" the DW mixes up it's got flax, chia, sunflower, scratch, oatmeal, and grits in it and they go crazy for it. I put a bit DE in and shake it up real good. I keep it in a big peanut jar when they see that they jump and peck it try to knock it out my hand.

Happy Friday

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Oh no! Haha
Are they jumping up and hurting their necks on the top of their enclosure? I read about that being an issue but so far I've not had that problem. My enclosure is a shipping crate I got from a warehouse that is about waist high. Makes collecting eggs difficult though so I think I may use it for males or grow-outs in the future. I bought a large storage bin at Walmart and cut a giant hole in the top, fastened hardware cloth to it and suspended a custom nipple waterer. It's the perfect size for a breeding group of about 6-8 so the plan is to have 2 or 3 for breeders or egg layers. I can set a timed fluorescent light on top to keep the eggs coming.

@FVRM I highly recommend coturnix quail. I keep jumbo Pharoah and the eggs are a pretty decent size! Not to mention the mature males are the perfect size for a person's meal (with vegetables or some kind of side, of course)
There is a really good eBay seller who breeds jumbo Coturnix and A&W as well as other colors. I have about a dozen from his stock.

Actually, they seem to be flying into the side more. I'm going to move them to a more protected area next year. Maybe they won't startle so much. I hope.

When you say "shipping crate," what do you mean? What size is it? What about the "storage bin"? What size is that?

 

[ccnbuck]

Is anyone in the Sanford area looking for the heavy duty shipping coolers for frozen foods? My neighbor has three out at the curb for trash pick up but I can have my wife grab them. They make awesome starting points for DIY bators. I hatched my first set of eggs from one and had a 100% hatch rate. Let me know soon and I'll send word home to grab them.