NY chicken lover!!!!

[Beer can]

I didn't clean out the deep litter of the big coop last yr. Going to put it in 55gal plastic barrels this time by the garden and make a 'tea' out of it and spray it all over the garden before I till.
Have two groups of chickens fenced in part of the garden fertilizing it and cleaning up already :-D
Once the snow is gone I can get to moving them around.

 

[Pyxis]

Cleaning out the big coop is on my agenda for this week, too. I plan to tackle it tomorrow and hopefully get it all or mostly done. I'll also install the goose nesting box I made and hope that the geese take to it. It's getting to be about time for them to start laying and I'm thinking the warmer weather might get them going.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I had my 15 year old son clean out the big coop yesterday. Needless to say he thought I was an evil witch until he got a triple serving of ice cream for snack. Then today my 8 year old son cleaned out the "mating " coop. It will become the primary for my gold spitzhauben King and his 6 wife's. I'm crossing him to Golden Boys daughters. (@PhoredaBurds is that safe? Are the boys related) I love the gold that the BA girls acquired from the breed and the combs are really neat. I will try and get a pic tonight.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

I think that Golden boy is King's uncle. There's a chance they are half brothers. Does King have a metal leg band? And GB's daughters are crossed w something non-spitz right? That would give them depth to their gene pool. So crossing them back to the GB/King line should be ok. Line breeding is used by show breeders and is an accepted practice. It basically involves crossing 2 lines together and taking the daughters of that cross and putting them w their father. Just keep an eye on the chicks. If you get very low hatch rates or failure to thrive, then you are seeing inbreeding decline. But u should be fine.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

king has a metal band and GB daughters are 1/2 austrolorp or 1/2 rir. I love the temperament the spitz blood gives the birds and the size from the BA is great. Tomorrow I will separate the girls out so I can "cleanse " them for breeding.

I have 6 colors of leg bands so far. Each generation has a color and then each cross has a color so some have 2. It's a good thing I keep records or I would be confused.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quarantine set up! Hooray.

@rancher hicks
If I order Birchen Marans eggs, would you be interested in purchasing chicks @ chickenstock or around that time? I don't want to commit the money if I only want to keep 1 or 2 chicks. If more than that hatch I would ask $7-$10/chick. I'm getting other dark brown egg layers from Sandhill so I might skip the Marans this year. I know I'm purchasing Ameraucana eggs and Brabanter eggs. If you're committed to the breed, I can make room in my incubator for the Birchen eggs. I'm only about an hour from you.

DH and I went around assessing trees and barn and yard and garden plans.
Love this weather break!

Sure I can do that. I might not even wait til chickenstock to get them from you.

 

[baunlee]

Quarantine set up! Hooray.

@rancher hicks
If I order Birchen Marans eggs, would you be interested in purchasing chicks @ chickenstock or around that time? I don't want to commit the money if I only want to keep 1 or 2 chicks. If more than that hatch I would ask $7-$10/chick. I'm getting other dark brown egg layers from Sandhill so I might skip the Marans this year. I know I'm purchasing Ameraucana eggs and Brabanter eggs. If you're committed to the breed, I can make room in my incubator for the Birchen eggs. I'm only about an hour from you.

DH and I went around assessing trees and barn and yard and garden plans.
Love this weather break!

I might want some birchens also to add variety to my breeding pair. Not sure yet, but would that be a possibility? Where do you plan to order eggs or chicks from?
maybe 3 or so?

 

[cutipatooti]

I envy everone who got some work done in the nice weather. I had to somehow go and get a nail stuck in the tread of my sneaker and then managed to jam it into the ankle of my other foot. It was real painful for a day or so. Could hardly walk. I thought I was going to need medical attention, but luckily it getting better. I cant wait to get some work done this week while the kids are in school.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

I envy everone who got some work done in the nice weather. I had to somehow go and get a nail stuck in the tread of my sneaker and then managed to jam it into the ankle of my other foot. It was real painful for a day or so. Could hardly walk. I thought I was going to need medical attention, but luckily it getting better. I cant wait to get some work done this week while the kids are in school.

Ugh. Sounds horrible. Hope it's feeling better now!

 

[PhoredaBurds]

@Chicken girl 15

Had to wrack my brain to remember when u got the 2 birds from me. I used chamois birds to bring genetic depth to the gold line and visa versa. The two colors are very similar genetically but the two lines were separate. Your two boys have solid genetics, so crossing their daughters back to that line shouldn't be a problem. I have numbered zip tie bands I keep telling myself I'm going to put on all my birds. Now is actually a perfect time for that.

Got my chicken house cleaned & separated the breeders to their breeding pens. Several are quite miffed with me as the breeding pens are smaller than the "let everyone run together" pen. Hopefully they will get over it soon and do what chickens do in the spring.