NY chicken lover!!!!

[Gramma Chick]

I Hope everyone had a Great Day Yesterday with their family & their Feathered Family too
...Im enjoying not having any snow here ...Got more chores done on thursday .
Even worked in the garden
Still havent totally closed up the coop ...too warm to do so ...
This a good time to add steps in front of your coops ..
It will be easier to walk there during Mud Pie Season
left over 2 x 4s flat with stones in between for drainage

 

[myfivegirls]

Rancher, hope you're feeling better!
Sorry for the losses and congrats on the new members of the flock & family.
Hope everyone had a great holiday! We had a great family time & going to extended family gathering today.
Set eggs 12/22 so it'll be interesting how many are fertile & hatch. Plus, Elly May the black bantam that I got @ chickenstock is broody for the 2nd time since May! Yay! She was with the big flock when she first went broody, but moved her to a grass paddock when the chicks hatched this fall. Once the chicks were several weeks old, moved them to the SFH's coop. A few weeks ago, rearranged who's in the coops, but Elly May insisted on staying with the SFHs! She's a sweet little hen & makes a great mother.

Still not sure about those hatchery chicks who are 12 weeks old & size of full grown hen. They sure eat & drink a lot! The adult hen is Lydia the Partridge Chantecler in front.

It was so nice the past two days let the turkeys out b/c the grass had grown enough for them to eat. The jakes spend all day displaying & gobble at everything!

 

[baunlee]

HoHoHo
HOliday Greetings Chicken Friends!!

Mr. Baunlee and I have been very busy this year but I've been checking in and have enjoyed looking at all your photos! We are now living on a small farm property outside of Lockport NY. I attend grad school at Columbia in the city and I'm finishing my last year. Next season I hope to get more BC marans and make up for the loss of 3 of our hens to a dog attack last season (I'll try to buy from all you lovely people next chickenstock). We hope to start a honey hive very soon, I just need to gain more knowledge about the process. This means reading even MORE books than I already don't have time to keep up with Some fun additions to my life: I purchased a Wisteria (TREE form) from an online retailer (the only one with legal rights to the plant) that arrived a short time ago. They are beautiful in theory but I probably won't be around this property to see it's full majesty. I planted it near the back line, at the bottom of a slight ridge, right before a trail into the woods. Sadly, even if I drive by the place as an old granny, god willing, decades from now, it would still be far from roadside view. I guess that's the faith of adding to the diversity of an area, being devoted to plants and enjoying the thought of the next person being able to enjoy it years and years from now, even if you never really do. I also planted 3 magnolia trees, 2 white and one pink but I'm also not sure how long those take to grow and bloom.

This Christmas came and went quickly. The lack of snow changed the whole mood. Anyways, I am thinking about getting a chicken door as a belated gift for Mr. baunlee (since I was gifted some funds for Christmas yay). I feel a little guilty since the chickens (mainly my idea) have become all his responsibility since I'm gone. But um, hello?!?? why are chicken doors so freakin' expensive?! Does anyone have a line on an affordable option for chicken doors? I often veer towards paying more for a more quality product but at the same time the chickendoor.com ones don't seem to be worth it. It's like a motor and latch mechanism for $200? Also since mr. b is an engineer I think he might kill me if he finds out I paid xyz amount of money on something he could have rigged up easily. So anyone have ideas or should I go into the business of mass producing a better product. Haha. I might just shell out the cash (ouch) to save him the hassle of making one and then keep the price a secret.

Bless you all & I hope you all were able to have a Merry Christmas, even without the snow!! **~-_

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I know I'm a day late but, MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL! !! I hope everyone got what they wanted and had a blessed day with loved ones.

My two youngest were a bit upset. This was their first Christmas that felt like we lived down south. They are born and raised in NY so no snow is odd to them. My 6 year old got so upset he tried sledding down our mud hill. Needless to say it did not work out well. He first got stuck then once he got going got cut off by chickens so dumped himself to not "mush" the girls.

My poor chickens have to travel through 20 feet of run that is 2 inches deep in water to get out to free range. They look like mud monsters. My only clean one is Spitz the spitzhauben cockerel who is SUPER prissy. He won't even leave the coop until all the rest have left the run. He is afraid of getting dirty. My little WL with wry tail is covered in mud from beak to tail. She tried to dust bath in the flower bed today and took a mud bath instead.

I found a dead half eaten mouse in the beak of my head Red, Bertha , today. I laughed so hard I dropped an egg. Lucky for me my entire yard is a swamp right now so no lost egg.

 

[Devona]

Happy holidays to everyone. Hope Santa Claus was good to you all. I had a great Christmas Day with lots of food and family. Rancher hicks I hope you and your dw feel better soon. When I ordered from mypet chicken and entered my zip code, they said that I had until the 28th to order at least three chicks. After that, I'd have to order 25. I suppose that made me assume they would ship three chicks before the 28th. I initially went to Meyer when I was looking for pullets, but they were all debeaked, which I didn't want. So I ended up on mpc looking for pullets which they didn't have, so I just gave in and ordered chicks from them without looking elsewhere for babies. I didn't really want babies. Would've preferred pullets that could live outside right away.

 

[tao chick]

Devona, I recommend you call mpc. They have reps on here that have been advertising a 10% discount when you mention byc. They might be able to adjust your order to better suit you, as well.

Happy holidays, everyone.

I don't mind this weather at all. The forecast predictions are for snow and sleet this week. I look forward to sledding, but the chickens broke their waterer in the coop last week and I was able to take it all apart, clean it up, fix it and return it to the coop without problems of freezing temps.

 

[BakerzDozen]

Happy Holidays to all. I hope you all got want you wanted and deserved for Christmas.No coal hopefully.
I got lots of gifts from my family... none chicken related.

my husband says our urban co-op is too small for me to have and incubator and since we have a broody I can get babies that way.

Speaking of broody girl she is still setting her eggs. We take her "Midget" out once a day take her out to eat, defecate and exercise ((per Grama chicken

)) and soon stand by here brooder to go back in or jumps into my husband's arms to be brought back to her eggs.

NEW QUESTION: since all my babies are going to be mutts I want to add a bird with enough weight to make it feasible to butcher the cocks for the stew pot or for roasting. I want the hens for eggs at least a good egg layer. Our coupe Roo is a large EE "Chixsee" .

 

[Devona]

Thanks Tao chick, I think I will indeed call them

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Just checking in..Tried to skim over all he 100+ posts that I have missed, but just can't, not into it right now...Welcome anyone new. Sorry if anyone lost anything..

Things here the last month have had ups and downs to epic proportions.. My sister is doing fine now. Her lung is healing up nicely and her baby girl is incubating great. She will be hatching in March and if I'm lucky it ill be on my birthday. I started a new job after Thanksgiving as a Teachers Aid. I really like it. I have been a stay at home mom for 8 years and it is nice to be back to work. I was getting board and lonely being home alone with out the kids during the day.

This weather is driving me nuts Now don't get me wrong I love the nice weather and have been able to get lots done, but looking at the 2 snowmobiles that we got last year just sitting on my porch make me sad that they are sitting there and there is no snow so we can use them..

With this crazy weather it was hard for us to get in the Christmas spirit. Didn't feel much like celebrating then the unthinkable happened. My mother in Law passed away last week and it ruined Christmas for us this year. We tried to make it as positive for our kids (8 and 5) but it was a very sad house here.

I feel bad for my flocks. with working and then with my MIL I haven't felt like doing much with them. I let them out in the morning, make sure they have water and food and lock them up at night. I let out the ducks everyday and the chickens out most days. I just don't feel like doing much. Hoping that having vacation this week will get me back to normal. When I go out I'm getting scolded cause I don't bring out as many treats as they think I should be bringing to them.

Hope everyone is well and Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

 

[Lady Loveall]

Merry belated Christmas. I've had a brody game hen sence Christmas eve, My first! She's always been moody so it took me a day to catch on. Got the incubator all fired up and on standby in case she has a change of heart. Sitting on one lone egg, not sure if it's hers or Mille. My next coop is a run away from being finished, this will be the Delawares space, more or less a batchlor pad. My Cochin Ursula has had enough of them and now they are bigger then my bantams, so its just about moving day. I got the turkey I've been obsessing about. He's in poor shape but very friendly. My other half says he's a dirt ball but I say he's just grunge, so I named him Kurt. It's funny watching the bantams scatter when he walks by. Took down the tree today so I can sit in my rocker and watch them out the window. Poor muddy lil things. I can't imagine sitting in my living room without having poultry to watch. Saw an add for standard Lavender cochins on Craigslist... I'm already looking around to see if I have enough supplies for another coop, dying to get my hands on Lavender colored birds...