NY chicken lover!!!!

[Tough Old Bird]

TO STONY.....

You're right: they ARE cute as a button.

I see you have a soft side (and soft spot) when it comes to ducks!

TOB

 

[Lynzi777]

I can't wait till I have lil duckers again. I mean how cute is this






all grown up still cute as a button

Stony if you ever have any of these types of ducklings for sale I would travel to get some! They are just so cute! I, of course, would have to be ready for ducks! I have been doing a lot of reading on them online. How would this type be with kids? I read on Metzer Farm's website in the breed comparisons that this type is more "nervous" where others are more "calm"...so it made me wonder if it would be a good breed to have with my two kids - 3 and 6, a dog and chickens running around.

 

[JayinCohoes]

All this talk of hatching eggs and raising backyard chickens makes me remember the first time I was allowed to have chickens. When I was 14 my family moved to North Greenbush NY and because we had just over an acre my parents let me have 6 chickens. Since I was new to the town and didn't have any friends yet those chickens became my best friends. Of course this was before I hit puberty.

My 6 RIR chickens grew into 3 hens and 3 roosters. As soon as they started to lay eggs I started thinking about having more chickens. So without my parents knowing I purchased a Hovabator incubator. When it arrived my parents didn't say anything because they didn't think I would be successful at hatching eggs. I had one of those tiny incubators that used a light bulb as the heat source when I was 10 and was unsuccessful at hatching quail eggs. So my actions went under the radar…at first.

After a fox killed 2 of my chickens I was left with 2 hens and 2 roosters. Everyday I would get up early and take the eggs and put them in my incubator 2 at a time. I had to turn them by hand and marked an X on one side and an O on the other. Back then I was told that I only needed to turn them twice a day at the same time everyday. Soon my incubator was full with 30 eggs. This still didn't alarm my parents because they were sure nothing would hatch. But 28 days after placing the first eggs to the surprise of my family I had 2 chicks. At this point my parents were caught up in the moment and still weren't alarmed at what was unfolding in front of them. The next day came and so too came another 2 chicks. Again my family was surprised and in disbelief that I actually was successful. You can now see where this story is going.

Fifteen days after my first chicks hatched I had a total of 28 chicks in my bedroom. First they were in a shoebox, then an a/c box, and then they took over my closet floor. Eventually, I had to move them onto an entire shelf in our heater room where my mother who didn't like animals would hang clothes to dry. As the chicks grew and got louder and messier my mother became more and more impatient with chicks in the house and eventually ordered me to move them outside as soon as the weather got warmer. That spring I ended up with a total of 32 chickens in our backyard when my parents only allowed me to have 6. Every time my mother would go into the yard all but 4 chickens would fly over their fenced-in enclosure and run after her. Because she never liked animals my mother thought that the chickens were always wanting to attack her but in reality since the chickens saw her everyday in the heater room they thought of her as their mother.

Eventually I made human friends, joined high school sports, started puberty and was too distracted as a teenager to devote the time needed to take care of these chickens. That summer ended with me giving all of my chickens away to the farmer down the road. As much as I hated losing my first friends in a new town I knew they were better off on a real farm.

Jump 30+ years later and I find myself thinking as I did back then. Now I don't have my parents telling me what I can and can not do and I have much more money than I had in my early teen years. I could totally see myself doing the same thing that I did back then. I originally only wanted 3 chickens for a chicken tractor but NYS law said that I had to buy 6. They were in my chicken tractor for only 2 months and now they own my backyard. If it weren't for the city ordinance I probably would be in the same situation that I was in as a teen. I know when I retire I'll have a small farm and live out my days surrounded by chickens, ducks, goats and sheep along side my trusty dog. But until then I can only dream of what's to come.

 

[mderby48]

From Mexico, it is more direct to just continue down 81S to the Nedrow exit, but Marcellus wouldn't take you any extra time, really.  It would mean getting off the exit before Nedrow and heading west on Seneca Tpk. to Marcellus (about 10-12 minutes).

Just let me know if the Nedrow roo doesn't pan out for you.  Good luck and thanks for the response!

M.

My husband told me the exact same thing this morning we haven't gotten a response to the person in Nedrow so I will happily go pick up the leghorn in Marcellus if you could pm me the address and a good time to pick it up. We will not be eating him by the way

 

[blzzrdqueen]

Hi blzzrdqueen, the laws are changing as more people become educated in raising chickens. Unfortunately there are many people who believe that neighbors with chickens will bring down the property values and end up by costing more money than the city can afford. Here's the link to the Albany chicken ordinance: http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2011/05/13/jennings-will-veto-albany-chicken-ordinance

I think Mayor Jennings explained himself very well for why he vetoed the ordinance because it did not address important concerns with allowing chickens. Here in Cohoes our city ordinance is very specific on what is and isn't allowed such as a ban on roosters and slaughtering of animals on the property. Unlike in rural areas because our neighbors are much closer in proximity we do need to have limits on what is and isn't allowed. I would love to have a rooster for my girls but I totally understand why they are banned. My neighbors would want to shoot me and the rooster if they were to hear the rooster's crow at 3 or 4 in the morning since my chicken coop is only 50 feet from my neighbors' bedroom window. Heck, my hens' egg laying song is sometimes enough to wake up my neighbors.

I think the laws will change eventually though. so hang in there.

Cheers,
Jay

Thanks for the link. I get why Mayor Jennings vetoed, and even if we could have chickens and roosters, I know my neighbors would complain. Not sure how familiar you are with Albany, but I live over by Bleeker Stadium and our homes are so close together

 

[Xovan]

I posted in the baby chick thread so I do not want to spam the forum. Some of you might not go there so I will ask a quick question. Do week and a half ish old chicks crow? Long version is here if you want to read it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-a-chick-that-is-1-1-2-weeks-ish-old-to-crow

Thanks.

 

[stonykill]

TO STONY.....

You're right: they ARE cute as a button.

I see you have a soft side (and soft spot) when it comes to ducks!

TOB

for my hens as well. But I'm 1st to admit I prefer raising ducks to raising chickens

 

[stonykill]

Stony if you ever have any of these types of ducklings for sale I would travel to get some! They are just so cute! I, of course, would have to be ready for ducks! I have been doing a lot of reading on them online. How would this type be with kids? I read on Metzer Farm's website in the breed comparisons that this type is more "nervous" where others are more "calm"...so it made me wonder if it would be a good breed to have with my two kids - 3 and 6, a dog and chickens running around.

mine are a bit skiddish. They run from adults and kids. But I'm sure part of that is how I raise them. I don't hold a duck or chicken unless I need to care for it. They aren't much more nervous than my pekins. All my duckers get along swimmingly ( pun fully intended )

with my chickens

I am sure I'll have Runners to sell this year. I'm pretty sure at least a few of them will go broody and this year I only plan on adding 6 more girls to the flock

 

[Tough Old Bird]

My husband told me the exact same thing this morning

we haven't gotten a response to the person in Nedrow so I will happily go pick up the leghorn in Marcellus if you could pm me the address and a good time to pick it up. We will not be eating him by the way

Super! I sent you a PM, and will catch up with you tonight with details.

Thanks!


TOB

 

[happyhensny]

So I did a bad thing this morning. I went to TSC. I just needed to get threaded screw fence gate holder thingies and there were khaki Campbell ducklings on clearance for $2.50 each. There were 14. I bought them all. I have a friend that has a lot of ducks and he said that he would brood them and that he actually will buy the majority of them from me, I called him first to see if he wanted any. I will probably keep 6. They are so cute!!