NY chicken lover!!!!

[Stuffedcritter]

The birds I got from marquisella are doing well and have sharing free range time with the main flock for the last couple of days. Tonight, I closed the door between runs and they went in the big coop on their own. (Given the choice they went in their old baby coop.). They are no longer making chick noises, they are clucking and they have deep voices. They are very shy of me, even after a few weeks of trying to slowly give treats from my hand. They stick so close together, they look like a three-headed chicken!

I'm sure they'll warm up a bit when they get closer to laying. And maybe when they see the big chickens running TOWARD me when I am carrying the big yellow scoop of scratch. Now to clean out the baby coop and run for the chicks that hatched on Mother's Day to move them out of my house...

The only thing I've done with the garden is transplant some strawberry runners and pot a few fruit trees for planting in a week or so when we get around to it. Haven't started any seeds or bought any seedlings yet! I seem to be doing everything late this year.

I've got three from her too find them stand offish. She must have strong imprint on them, don't mind being held seem to chirp louder when fiddle track plays not be fans of Ozzy. Sure in two months they'll be begging at the gate like all the other critters. If they start camping out in front of the frig. with the dog I'am in a heap of trouble-)

 

[ag29ande]

Im
im in delanson

I don't need more chicks tho

Well hello there neighbor!!

 

[off-grid hen]

Yep, I'm not the right human, so they're scared. They're very attached to one another, though. They are never far from one another and are always preening each other. Very cute.

 

[Desiree Brown]

I

 Well hello there neighbor!!  

I saw your post on fb on was it slonsville poultry swap or new England poultry. ( something) Wish I could help.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all. Dang egg eater got two eggs yesterday. I wish I could figure out who it is so I can dispatch her. They have been getting extra protein and freerange, etc, but I think whomever it is has developed a taste for eggs. Makes me mad. I have customers and need those eggs. On a brighter note, its nice that I can let my silkies out with the terrorists now that Bill is gone. No worries about roos fighting. Of course things will change when the rir boys grow older but we shall see. For now my silkies are living large. No hatching going on yet. I may have miscalculated the lockdown date but Im not sure. Going to let them go longer. I have the eggs standing up against the walls of the Brinsea so that shouldnt be a problem. Broody silkie girls are still sitting on their eggs so hopefully I will have chicks one way or another.

My blueberry plant that I thought was dead is alive! I see there are leaves on the one stem and a runner has appeared and is growing. I usually kill stuff I try to grow (plants only, not critters) so this makes me happy. My plum tree is hanging in there as well and my seedlings I got at the picnic are still going. Maybe there is hope for me yet!

Off to the pharm again today. Have a nice day everyone.

 

[Metella]

Ah - so glad - if the plum is hanging on now - so long after uprooting - just keep it well watered and next year it should SHOOT up.

They grow very fast - but they are easy to snip and prune - I prune in early spring -bring the branches inside and get the blooms coming out in a week - so I have blooms inside before it is green outside, pruned tree ... win/win

 

[Lynzi777]

Morning All!
Soooo Question of the Day: How do you catch a domesticated duck that can fly as well as any duck in the wild???

Let me bring you up to speed on this. A week or two before the picnic I contacted Marq to tell her I knew someone who had KCs for sale and would be happy to pick them up for her and bring them to the picnic. So Friday night I head down to my friend's house, picked up three KCs and came home. Instead of the 3 spending the night in my car or in the shed or just in a cage at all for that matter, I decided to let them mingle with all my ducks and I would gather them in the morning. I moved the hen first, then the two drakes. These two drakes weren't in the netting 2 minutes before they flew out and landed in the yard - Fine, you wanna fly out? I'll round you back up. WRONG My daughter and I took 2 steps towards them and the flew off. Now when I say they flew off, I mean 30+ feet in the air, from the back of my house down to the front, across the street and down in Onondaga Creek!! They weren't here 5 minutes. So of course I panicked! One of those drakes was supposed to go to Marq the next day. I offered up my two KCs to her and brought them the next day along with the hen who I managed to grab and cage back up before SHE flew off! So I'm thinking well these two gone. Gone! Nope, they came back late that night and were in the yard the next morning. I walk towards them and again they flew away. I did eventually manage to catch ONE of the drakes but the other is still free ranging about 60+ acres of area around here between the creek, my neighbors property and once in a while coming back here.

Last night DH was on the phone with someone at work and came inside to tell me one of my ducks was in the road again. So I go out, it wasn't one of "mine" but in fact the lone loose drake. He was heading towards my neighbor's pasture. I said I'm not gonna bother chasing him because he'll just fly away. By this point I know my neighbor's must have seen him. Well she's pulling out of her driveway this morning and stops in front of mine so I ran down to talk to her. He's been living it up over there! Hanging out in the pond, eating the food from her pig's lean to, hanging out with the chickens. I turned around to head back to the car as we were heading out to school at this time, what do I see? The drake in my backyard! Since he was at the top of the yard this time and I was at the bottom I figured maybe I could corner him. Nope, he flew straight up and down into the valley and landed back in the creek.

So that's been my life these last few days. I give up, I don't know what else to do to catch this stupid thing!

 

[marquisella]

Quote: Is another bird pecking at it? Even if not, one will start now that it looks reddish. Put bluecote on it so they don't see the red. Antibiotic cream won't hurt

 

[ag29ande]

I
I saw your post on fb on was it slonsville poultry swap or new England poultry. ( something) Wish I could help.

Yes, I posted on the Sloansville swap! I'm not too concerned about finding a home for them, but would rather not be completely overrun with chicks! I'm looking at replacing some of my hens and was intending on growing out 20 or so chicks, and putting the boys in the freezer.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: Most of my chicks are "stand-offish" because I don't handle them much, but when I come into the coop to feed them, they are all over my feet...very food oriented. Besides, I have too many to pay much individual attention to any of them. I do play with my goslings though...