NY chicken lover!!!!

[ChickPrincess]

Ahahaha! I have the same issue with Olaf and Hane. They will be good for a while and then decide to take me on. Usually results in me pinning them to the floor (silently on my part) and letting them squawk it out till they give up. After that, they hide from me and then keep a respectful distance. Chicken Momma dont play dat!

ROFL! I feel so lucky to have two roos that give me my space. Never even had the stinkeye from them. Good boys. Hoping it stays that way!

HOWDY YALL,

Apologies for delay in ever visiting, its been quite a busy and interesting past year, since we closed on the Farmhouse back this past March. The chicks we bought back in May and June have all begun laying in this crazy North Country weather and in January we collected 112 eggs, and we are still counting.. Its insane, we got eggs coming out of our ears and we have done nothing no different to expecting eggs(no extra light or heat lamp of the sort) I am thinking that when the kids and I gutted out the coop and insulated/sheetrocked the inside it might have helped retain their body heat...

but hey we are not complaining.. Of course now that my hubster has returned home from deployment he is getting antsy for more birds.. LOL...


Anyhooty, I hope to be on here a bit more now that things are getting easier to manage with hubby home

Welcome (back?)!

 

[rancher hicks]

Oh, my! So many to choose from! My sister lives in Cazenovia, and I have in-laws in Rochester which we visit frequently. I was thinking maybe I could do a drive by on the way home from her place. I'm visiting next week, but I brood with an ecoglow and don't have any place other than the house to brood this tme of year. I'm hoping maybe in April I can grab a few eggs from Rancher, marquisella, and VMD. This way I don't have to worry as much about shipping issues. It's the long way home if I do that, but it's worth it in my mind! Rancher, I am assuming CR=Corninsh Rock?

I am thinking, depending on the timing of things... marquisella will you have marans chicks in April?

No Columbian Rocks.

 

[rancher hicks]

Oh the fox was back last night! Lots of rabbit tracks and some fox tracks in the snow this morning. The hens were locked up tight, so no damage. He/she was doing a lot of investigation.

I think I'm going to need to invest in a large havahart trap. Anyone have experience with trapping foxes? What do I do if I actually catch the critter?

I've been seeing tracks but never considered it might be fox. It's hard to tell. I do know rabbit tracks and I did see some that I think were deer since they were far apart at one point and not fat.

Some I noticed going up to the coop but didn't seem to hang around and not all that big. I figured cat but the snow is so deep it's hard to tell. I expect I'll be going out there in the middle of the night to see. I usually wake up around four and may take a walk.

I have't been marking since the snow is so deep and my spots are on the edges of the woods. Looks like I step it up. I've never seen tracks before.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Is there anyway to get hens or a hen to go broody ?
Is it true hatchery birds usually dont go broody ?
Id like a few chicks (2 -4 )...I dont have a incubator ..Not willing to spend $ 200.00 on one either.
Should I borrow a silky ? LOL

 

[Gramma Chick]

Well I was back at the doctors yesterday. My youngest had 102* temp all day and it turned out she has an ear infection. Now both of my girls are on antibiotics.

Can't wait to candle the eggs this weekend and see how fertility is in my birds. I'm thinking about flock turn over in the spring and getting rid of some of the older ones. Need to make some room.

Sounds Like they will be on the road to recovery now ..This constantly changing weather gets everyone sick .

Amazingly enough, yesterday, I got 2 dozen eggs! Thats almost better than in the spring!

Is spring coming soon

& we don't know about it!

At least its sunny today...Had to separate my Marans roo, his comb was frostbit, & apparently the hens were picking at it....blood all down his hackles....yuck. At least he will get some sun today in the east pen. Bad girls!

It sounds like your Hens & mine are related ..Marans are black right ? My Australorp Roo was a mess too ..I was glad he was black harder to see the blood all around his neck .
Can you imagine if they were a white roos ? OUCH ! Bad Girls I told them
I was telling a friend about my hens picking on my roo...he said they must be feminists.

 

[off-grid hen]

Columbian Rock! Even better!

 

[Tough Old Bird]

I've been seeing tracks but never considered it might be fox. It's hard to tell. I do know rabbit tracks and I did see some that I think were deer since they were far apart at one point and not fat.

Some I noticed going up to the coop but didn't seem to hang around and not all that big. I figured cat but the snow is so deep it's hard to tell. I expect I'll be going out there in the middle of the night to see. I usually wake up around four and may take a walk.

I have't been marking since the snow is so deep and my spots are on the edges of the woods. Looks like I step it up. I've never seen tracks before.

Fox prints are so delicate, some times you'd almost assume they were a big house cat. A good way to tell the difference with canine vs. feline prints is that cats pull their claws in, so there will be no toenail imprint. With a fox, coyote or even someone's pet dog, you should see toenail imprints in the snow. Of course, depending on the snow, prints are not always clear. I've had a gray and red fox here on my back trails, along with coyotes. I need to have a very good predator-proof pen and coop.

Interesting link: http://www.bear-tracker.com/redfox.html

TOB

 

[Cass]

Is there anyway to get hens or a hen to go broody ?
Is it true hatchery birds usually dont go broody ?
Id like a few chicks (2 -4 )...I dont have a incubator ..Not willing to spend $ 200.00 on one either.
Should I borrow a silky ? LOL

I am donating eggs to the Kindergarten in my school district. I get the chicks back. I don't know where Jordan is, in NY....but once the chicks are at my house (sometime in April) I will gladly give you as many or as few as you want. The teachers want a dozen eggs each and there are 4 classrooms hatching....at even a 50% hatch rate I am not going to be able to raise 24 chicks so I will be giving them away by the handfuls. I just plan to keep the Ameruacanas for layers and the rest I will put in the freezer.

As far as I know there is no way to get a hen to go broody, it's hormonal. You could try putting some ceramic or wooden eggs in a nest box and leaving them there and see if that induces or entices one of them to go broody....but don't count on it. And yes, it is my understanding that many breeds of hatchery birds have lost interest in hatching their own babies because they never have seen it done.

 

[Lynzi777]

Morning All,
We're getting more snow today, doesn't seem to be sticking much though so that's good.

Adora - Beautiful boys you have there!!!

I saw this on CL the other day and thought it was neat...

 

[rancher hicks]

Is there anyway to get hens or a hen to go broody ?
Is it true hatchery birds usually dont go broody ?
Id like a few chicks (2 -4 )...I dont have a incubator ..Not willing to spend $ 200.00 on one either.
Should I borrow a silky ? LOL

While I can't vouch for it's validity. I keep wooden eggs in all the nest boxes to show newbies where to lay the egg. Hens for some reason like to lay their eggs with others. Perhaps it's part of their base survival instinct, like many other birds.

That said, don't I seem to have a problem with broody hens, though they are in charge and decide when to brood. The only exception to this theory is my Dels who never go broody even though I wish they would. If anyone has Dels who go broody let me know and where you got them.

Right now Frenchy is sitting on three eggs. She's my oldest girl and can do whatever she wants.