NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Good morning fellow NYers! I'm officially in lockdown for my very first hatch! Cross your fingers that all 13 eggs in the bator hatch!!

I will keep my fingers crossed, but don't underestimate your abilities. I'm sure things will turn out fine.

Rancher

 

[Tough Old Bird]

GOOD LUCK WITH THE HATCH, BLZZRDQUEEN!

Can't wait to hear the outcome...

TOB

 

[Nambroth]

Sorry, back to ticks, I had also heard the 24 hours. And had heard the bullseye was something that occurred sort of late, so it might be better to go by the 24 hours and treat earlier as the bullseye is not always seen, and you could already be knocking out the disease.

Perhaps the seramas are particularly good tick patrollers. They are sounding more and more wonderful.

Going to let them out right now.

There are no hard rules to Lyme disease. Indeed you are more likely to get it if the tick finishes its meal and lets go, but you can also get it if you remove the tick improperly or agitate it so that it regurgitates back into your bloodstream. Some people get the bulls-eye rash, and some people never do. There are also many types of co-infection from tick bites... http://www.aldf.com/majorTick.shtml This disease is nothing to fool with and is miserable if you are in it for the long haul. If you are concerned that yourself or someone else has Lyme, you should always consider blood tests, and more than one type, as the testing is not completely conclusive. There's a lot of information available online to help you out if you'd like.
Here's some reading, which I personally think that everyone in NYS should have a peek at, because we are all in a high risk area of the country.
http://www.lyme-disease-testing.com/lyme_diagnosis.html
http://www.aldf.com/faq.shtml

 

[JLaw]

here are some pics from today. me and my little girl with the big crop you can sorta see how big it is if you look reeeeaaalll close lol.

me getting mauled by all the chicks


my son wanted in after they saw me in there.



my daughter in there she's still alittle scared of them so I was surprised when she didn't jump when they pecked her hand.



my little girls chest. after all the attention she gets she was ok with sitting on me when I was in the cage.

 

[chicken stalker]

I'm hatching lav ams and marans....PM me if interested in chicks

 

[Cass]

Great post on the advantages vs. disadvantages of sand base in the coop, Cass - thanks. I remembered some of what you'd said here during an earlier question I had about the same topic. With regard to the door height...you're saying maybe have some kind of lip at the door threshhold to keep the bedding in? Or raise the door height entirely? We are planning the latter for the man door into the coop, from my small storage area / entry. However, there will be a separate door on the back wall of the coop that will be floor level so I can heave-ho all the shavings and waste as needed, into a waiting wheelbarrow / cart (the coop is elevated, so this will work great, I think.)

I was just reading last night that sand in an outdoor run is a good idea. Any thoughts on that vs. chips or gravel? I can see that the area around the coop is already trampled down and somewhat muddy from the construction and foot traffic. I don't entertain any unrealistic thoughts that the vegetation will get any better, especially once the chickens move in. There is a brushy area with lots of leaf litter and stuff for them to kick and scratch through, but the area right around the coop is trampled pretty good already.

TOB

I am not a fan of gravel for chick runs. No personal experience with it, but rocks get hot, can have sharp edges (increasing the chance of foot problems) and IF they are dumb enough to try and eat one of the smaller ones and it's too big can cause big problems in their digestion. Yes, chickens need gravelly stuff in their crop to "chew" their food, but not actual gravel, small pebbles.

If I had to do it all over again, (and I don't, thank god) I have a load of sand delivered and put THAT in my run, instead of the compost I put there....admittedly the compost is turning into wonderful rich black soil, but it compacts so much they can't really dig in it and they definately can't dust bath in it. I did put sand from the coop in a hole that had developed as the compost compacted and they love to dust bath in that hole....but being a hole, it is still wet this time of year. Some people put play sand in an old kiddy pool for their birds to dust bathe in. That works too. Dust bathing is how chickens attempt to keep bugs out of their feathers.

My run is 100% surrounded by hardware cloth to make it predator proof, cuz I am very lazy and didn't want to have to shut the pop door every night to keep creatures out of the coop, so I had to put something IN my run. At other people's houses I have seen the run just the dirt that is on the ground outside the coop. Their chickens do fine with that. (My chickens are admittedly spoiled, but they still taste good when they piss me off. I have a large freezer. LOL)

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Okay Rancher---put on the tinfoil hat and cover your eyes! I am posting cuteness pics of silkie babies! The red tint is from the red heatlamp in the brooder.











\

 

[Tough Old Bird]

I am not a fan of gravel for chick runs. No personal experience with it, but rocks get hot, can have sharp edges (increasing the chance of foot problems) and IF they are dumb enough to try and eat one of the smaller ones and it's too big can cause big problems in their digestion. Yes, chickens need gravelly stuff in their crop to "chew" their food, but not actual gravel, small pebbles.

If I had to do it all over again, (and I don't, thank god) I have a load of sand delivered and put THAT in my run, instead of the compost I put there....admittedly the compost is turning into wonderful rich black soil, but it compacts so much they can't really dig in it and they definately can't dust bath in it. I did put sand from the coop in a hole that had developed as the compost compacted and they love to dust bath in that hole....but being a hole, it is still wet this time of year. Some people put play sand in an old kiddy pool for their birds to dust bathe in. That works too. Dust bathing is how chickens attempt to keep bugs out of their feathers.

My run is 100% surrounded by hardware cloth to make it predator proof, cuz I am very lazy and didn't want to have to shut the pop door every night to keep creatures out of the coop, so I had to put something IN my run. At other people's houses I have seen the run just the dirt that is on the ground outside the coop. Their chickens do fine with that. (My chickens are admittedly spoiled, but they still taste good when they piss me off. I have a large freezer. LOL)

Cass, when I said gravel, it was pea gravel I was referring to, which is round and smooth. So it would probably be OK for their feet, but I didn't consider them swallowing any! Sheesh.

I'm thinking maybe I'll put a load of sand directly around the coop, where it is going to need something applied to the smashed ground turned mud. The farther reaches of the pen can stay natural, at least until the chickens destroy the vegetation.

I would love to see a pic of your pen, if you've got the time....I'm also going to have a 100% enclosed pen, which we are going to start constructing fairly soon. I love to get ideas from other people's set-ups.

Thanks again for the tips.


PHARMCHICK - very cute silkies! C'mon Rancher, you have to admit they are sweet looking!

TOB

 

[Gramma Chick]

I notice you still have the shavings in there ..Is she in there with them ? Or in a separate pen ..?
It would not hurt to remove all of the shavings & put in newspaper till she learns shavings arent food .
I hope she makes it ..she looks really distended ..Has it went down any ?

 

[Gramma Chick]

Okay Rancher---put on the tinfoil hat and cover your eyes! I am posting cuteness pics of silkie babies! The red tint is from the red heatlamp in the brooder.


So cute ! Is that paper towel you have in the bottom of the coop ?