NY chicken lover!!!!

[ChickPrincess]

Stony I like your philosophy. The reason I got into chickens in the first place was to have a more natural food source, not from an egg vending machine. Humans are like that too, our schedules demand us to be so busy that we don't slow down when we have decreased daylight, so we tend to get tired and have lowered immune systems in the winter because we are so out of touch with our natural circadian rhythm. (I'll stay off my soap box)...But I do realize that having a larger flock cost a lot more than my tiny 4-6 birds, and that selling eggs helps pay for feed.
Do you sell fertile Sumatra eggs? If someone goes broody this spring I would love to try that breed. I hear rumor they lay blue eggs?!

Chickprincess I'm glad to hear Horeo was picked up. I'm assuming it has calmed down a bit in the coop? I forgot to mention earlier that I have used pine tar for picking with some success. It deters picking bare spots for a while but is messy to apply and you have to do it more than once a week.
Buddy is getting pretty randy, the girls refuse to come down out of the nesting area for fear of being "courted". He was just chasing them trying to get his way but now he's learning to bait them with food and dance.

Mine are learning that lesson, too. lol "Rooster Cogburn" (so named by dh) was the original mean one. He would (and still sometimes) walk by a hen nonchalantly, and then quick turn and mount her, totally catching her offguard. It was hysterical to watch!

Hello All,
Been a while since I posted. The flock seems to be doing well in this brisk weather. I dont mind going out there in the cold as long the wind stays away. I've been switching out their water daily rather than bringing waterers in to defrost and refill. I went out to the shed today to check on the three silkie chicks who have been doing quite well out there without a heat lamp and they were still doing ok. Or at least I thought so until I noticed they were walking around funny. Picked one up and it's feet were frozen stiff! Got the heat lamp out there in a jiffy and they all got under it to warm up. Had to run an extension wire from the porch up the drive way to the shed to power the lamp, best I can do to get power up there.

Went to JJ Feed the other day to stock up on chicken and rabbit feed. Bought one of the tin cans to store the rabbit pellets in right next to their cages instead of in the shed. Guess I'm getting lazy with having to walk back and forth to the shed every day for hay and pellets, but really it's the mice I had problems with getting into the feed that made me want to try the can out. I was wondering if i should do the same with the chicken feed?? Does anyone store their chicken feed in these? I think they come in 10 gal, 14 and 16 gal size tin "garbage like"cans? Mice had gotten into my last bag of feed, leaving a big hole in the bottom and all the feed poured out onto the shed floor. I was able to save most if not all of it but I'd like to get something more sturdy to store this stuff in rather than the bags it comes in.

We have Canandaigua Wine in town, and they give away large plastic 50 gallon pails. You could just about make a hot tub out of one of these. They are a good half inch thick. It's been perfect. I think they are used to haul the grapes.
I have only seen one mouse before. I'm sure there's probably been more than that but the chickens must take care of them PDQ.

My hen with the wounded back is doing beautifully. But now since she's been in the heated garage, I'll have to wait until probably Monday to put her back out with her friends. Too much of a shock going from 75 to 5, huh?

 

[Lynzi777]

with feed around it is only a matter of time before rats are around. Rats quickly chew through plastic to get to food. 

I have yet to see a rat!! We have a lot of field mice around here and that's what we've seen around the house and near the shed. I'm hoping that's all l'll have to deal with!

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote:
You have seen her before ...she is my wet rain drenched hen ..Here she is dry in the fall ..it is a little hazy in the sun . She is larger than the than the golden comets

Rancher do I see a snow covered Deer in the left top corner of your snow coops picture ?

 

[rancher hicks]

There WAS such a thing as a wild chicken....In India and China....7000 BC and 3000 BC resepectively they started to domestic the bird for "home use". (gotta love Google) It is this domestication that "ruined" the birds for living in the wild and becoming dependant on humans for their food. I'm pretty sure you won't find any wild Ameruacanas anywhere....that is total human bred breed. But the article I read said that there are still wild chickens in India and China....or at least the birds that human used as the jumping off point for domestication of what we love and know as our back yard flocks.

While I have no doubt there are still "wild" chickens, there are those who are "feral" and survive quite well on their own. Florida for one has a feral chicken problem. How they got out and survived I don't know, but I have witnessed those responsible for catching them. So I don't believe they've been "ruined" at all.

 

[stonykill]

OMG can we drop the ruined thing! By ruined I was refering to diaper wearing chickens, not starting a 4 page session. good lord

 

[Henicillin]

I have a ceramic heater down in the roost room of the coop right now so that my Japanese Bantams don't freeze to death. It's nailed to a wide square board to act as a stand, and is set very low. The banties are in a dog kennel on the floor with it nearby and a towel over their kennel. Usually I stick my younger Del pullet and my EE cockerel in with them on the branch roost in their own pen to act as living hot water bottles, but it's too cold for that tonight. We went with the ceramic heater because it has a shutoff if it's somehow tipped over (they'd have to pry up the nails, though) and won't break and catch fire like a heat lamp. It's not the least expensive option out there, but it'll do the job!

 

[rancher hicks]

Hello All,
Been a while since I posted. The flock seems to be doing well in this brisk weather. I dont mind going out there in the cold as long the wind stays away. I've been switching out their water daily rather than bringing waterers in to defrost and refill. I went out to the shed today to check on the three silkie chicks who have been doing quite well out there without a heat lamp and they were still doing ok. Or at least I thought so until I noticed they were walking around funny. Picked one up and it's feet were frozen stiff! Got the heat lamp out there in a jiffy and they all got under it to warm up. Had to run an extension wire from the porch up the drive way to the shed to power the lamp, best I can do to get power up there.

Went to JJ Feed the other day to stock up on chicken and rabbit feed. Bought one of the tin cans to store the rabbit pellets in right next to their cages instead of in the shed. Guess I'm getting lazy with having to walk back and forth to the shed every day for hay and pellets, but really it's the mice I had problems with getting into the feed that made me want to try the can out. I was wondering if i should do the same with the chicken feed?? Does anyone store their chicken feed in these? I think they come in 10 gal, 14 and 16 gal size tin "garbage like"cans? Mice had gotten into my last bag of feed, leaving a big hole in the bottom and all the feed poured out onto the shed floor. I was able to save most if not all of it but I'd like to get something more sturdy to store this stuff in rather than the bags it comes in.

If you've seen my pic I have an outdoor cord run from the garage through the room off the garage, down over the arbor and down the fencing and into the coop. If you look closely you can see the cord haning from a couple of posts on either side of the gate. There are now two hanging since I've added another to put a heated waterer in the front run. From the coop I have one run out of the coop and on that is a cord into the back run to a water heater and white christmas lights around the back garden. My point is it can be done. I use those Three prong plugs to add more cords. Since nothing is a major power draw it seems to work out ok.

As for feed storage. I keep my scratch in a metal garbage can but you must keep the lid on or mice can climb and get in. My feed is repackaged into the cat jugs which seems to keep the mice out but not squirrels. Which is why I catch them and dispose of them. The jugs are off the ground and inside the runs.

 

[rancher hicks]

I keep reading and hearing about the significant risk of adding new birds to your flock. I understand the quarantine time is recommended at 2 months, but that 3 is even better. The thought of bringing in an illness to my (future) flock has me so scared already that I think this will single-handedly curtail my urges to add more birds.....and I don't even have my hens yet!

TOB

Now, now that's just normal. I've had chickens die for no reason and gotten so discouraged I wanted to get rid of them all. I'm just being too sensitive. If you avoid the pitfall of buying from emotion at auctions you'll be fine.

If you practice good flock management you can keep troubles to a minimum. Know what to look for in healthy birds. Know what to look for in the signs of sick or not so well kept birds. If you aren't going to hatch then buy only from your personally selected individuals.

There are plenty of folks here who keep a diverse flock or flocks. If they have the breed or breeds you like stick with them to buy replacements. Don't be afraid to refuse a bird or birds if you don't like what you see. Just say I need to think about it then call and say you've changed your mind. Lots of times I'll tell folks who are trying to sell me something, I need to talk to my wife.

If you remember three things you'll be fine. Clean house, clean food and clean water.

Remember we're here for you,

Rancher

 

[rancher hicks]

OMG can we drop the ruined thing! By ruined I was refering to diaper wearing chickens, not starting a 4 page session. good lord

Who said anything about diaper wearing chickens? I agree things have gotten out of hand. Good garden o' peas there are more opinion than chicken breeds. Apparently smashing your tennis racket will help with frustration. I saw that Williams girl do it and it worked for her. (see the sports news).

Back attcha.

Gotta go CSI is on.

 

[Nambroth]

OMG can we drop the ruined thing! By ruined I was refering to diaper wearing chickens, not starting a 4 page session. good lord

I'm sorry I misunderstood you! Sincere apologies. I didn't realize that you meant it like that.