NY chicken lover!!!!

[armorfirelady]

Thought I would share some pics of my chicks. They are 9 & 10 days old and amaze me with what they can do. They have 2 mommas for the 5 chicks

 

[Gramma Chick]

Thought I would share some pics of my chicks. They are 9 & 10 days old and amaze me with what they can do. They have 2 mommas for the 5 chicks

Cuties

 

[elroddo]

Fisher cats are killing machines. Think of a North american Honey badger. Their favorite food is porcupine, they've learned how to flip them on their back and tear out their throat. A big male is larger than a fox, they look a lot like an otter but are pretty vicious. They typically have a territory they patrol, and it usually takes them 2-3 weeks to cover it all then they do it all over. I grew up trapping them in vermont with my dad, their roaming territory makes them hard to trap, as you can do everything right but miss them because our trapping season was only 2 weeks for fishers. There used to be really good money in fisher hides, a large female hide could fetch upwards of $250-300 20 years ago.

My chicks are getting big, they are 4 weeks old and I noticed one of the ones i think is a roo is starting to grow his wattles. Not really happy that i bought 8 pullets and ended up with 2 of them looking like roo's already. I'm thinking of getting another 8, probably 4 each columbian and golden laced wyandottes so i can tell em apart easier.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Fisher cats are killing machines. Think of a North american Honey badger. Their favorite food is porcupine, they've learned how to flip them on their back and tear out their throat. A big male is larger than a fox, they look a lot like an otter but are pretty vicious. They typically have a territory they patrol, and it usually takes them 2-3 weeks to cover it all then they do it all over. I grew up trapping them in vermont with my dad, their roaming territory makes them hard to trap, as you can do everything right but miss them because our trapping season was only 2 weeks for fishers. There used to be really good money in fisher hides, a large female hide could fetch upwards of $250-300 20 years ago.

My chicks are getting big, they are 4 weeks old and I noticed one of the ones i think is a roo is starting to grow his wattles. Not really happy that i bought 8 pullets and ended up with 2 of them looking like roo's already. I'm thinking of getting another 8, probably 4 each columbian and golden laced wyandottes so i can tell em apart easier.

I hope I never see one or run into one !
Some Pullets of certain Breeds look Rooish when they are developing .
for instance My White Plymouth Rocks had a comb that stands out & wattles as a pullet .
I didnt know till they were much older they were Ladies

 

[elroddo]

I'm hoping that I have no roos. One of the ones i think is a roo is the sweetest bird in the whole bunch. And hes also the best looking.

 

[andreanar]

I have had the bad luck of catching toomanyroos fever! Every day one of my blrw is looking more and more roo-ish!

All this rain has the area where I'm trying to construct a run, a muddy,icky mess. Trying to find some pea gravel today. On a good note, the chickies seem very happy in their coop.

 

[Metella]

Elroddo .... I have thought I might put out traps on my place if there were signs of a fisher cat - but the neighbor's dogs roam, as well as their cats .... how dangerous are traps for not well supervised domestic animals ?

I may bb shoot the cats (they kill anything including song birds), but the dogs leave my chicks alone and keep the foxes off -so I don't shoo their dogs away.


Roos ... I will have a lovely lav orp roo to trade he is shaping up to be very healthy and consistent with his coloring. He is about 2.5 months right now. I had two eggs - one hen and one roo ! So I guess that is not bad - but I don't want to breed them and especially not to each other.

 

[Kinmera]

Starting last night I've got a busy week ahead!

My Son (age 7) and I went out for "chicken chores" last night. Upon looking at my meaties in the brooder I decided that they needed more space....so DS and I moved 25 3 week old chicks from the brooder into my 1 empty coop space up in the loft of the old lumber mill on the farm. They now have 3X the space. Their feeder is now also hanging up so hopefully they won't be sleeping and 'dust bathing' in it anymore. I'm really pleased with this breed of meat bird - Cobb. They don't seem to have the leg problems or other health issues that previous breeds have had. They'll enter my freezer around the beginning of August. Hopefully in a week or 2 I can move them out into their tractor for the duration.

Tomorrow I'm picking up 600lbs of a 20% Egg Producer Pellet made by my feed mill. That will hopefully increase general egg production as well as spruce the birds up nicely for the county fair which starts 7.27.14. All of that feed will need to be transferred into empty frosting buckets so it stays dry.

Saturday the coops all need to be cleaned.

Sunday DD, DS, and I head to Camp Findley for Summer Camp. I have to get all the poultry stuff set up so DH has as little work to do as possible. I also have to scour the house from top to bottom!

Luckily camp has WIFI! so me and my phone will be able to keep in touch!

 

[Glasshen]

Just saw the coyote, it's back. Need to brush off that gun.

 

[FritaFrittata]

Good morning everyone!

My kids dragged me out of bed at 9 AM - I could have easily slept til noon today. Dogs went out and got fed, did a bunch of paperwork (I volunteer for a non-profit), and started my household chores.

Now, outside with the chicks, thinking about coop plans and placement.

This is the coop I'm thinking of building: http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/frame-chicken-coop - not sure if I need to make it bigger or not. I definitely want more chickens, so it needs to be sized for 6-8 hens.

This is the corner of my yard I'd like to put it in:


And a good-morning picture of the chicks

That waffles and his red(er) comb... I wish I knew if it was a breed difference (they're mutts, I assume) or a gender thing!