NY chicken lover!!!!

[Missymac]

Hello from upstate NY! Anyone out there interested in a blue breasted phoenix bantam rooster? lol. I know it is a long shot. My big rooster doesn't like him...

 

[magsrags]

Thoes sure are some adorable peeps ya got there! Isn't it fun watching mom ionteract with them? I just love it. Have blast!

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Click on the link in my signature line .... it will take you to a thread regarding a NY gathering. HappyHensNY is hosting it...but more important to you, she will probably be able to help you with eggs. She is probably 45 minutes from you, just west of Albany. PM or email her to see what she has.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Any clue on breed? They will be cuter if I find out they are all pullets.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
I'll trade you the world's largest silkie roo for him....the silkie is way to big to breed my teeny tiny D'uccles (but sure would be a funny looking mix, wouldn't it)...and I have 5 KNOWN roos....possibly more as the 6 chicks I have mature.

 

[magsrags]

I can't even guess! LOL

Quote:
Any clue on breed? They will be cuter if I find out they are all pullets.

 

[Sachasmom]

Quote:
I have three bators, but this year I only set up the one. Esp since I stink bad at hatching. And cleaning brooders while pregnant kinda ranks up there with things that suck about being pregnant... Of course now that I offered eggs two more hens have gone broody. Sigh. Not sure that the one is going to hatch a thing, it picked a really bad spot. Hen #2 is sitting on a good dozen ish eggs, they should hatch soon I would think. Hen #3 got eaten off her nest, her eggs are in the inbubator now, no clue if they are viable or not. Hen #4 was off her nest for a LONG time today and she just went broody, how long can the eggs cool down? Not that it was cool today. Hen # 5 just started today (after I offered her for sale, of course)

Then I have a Silkie and a Call who are apparently taking turns on a nest. Another call is also sitting. One of the Buffs is on Nest #4. (She stinks at hatching as bad as I do!) The Cayuga with month old ducklings is sitting again (I dunno if those are fertile or not)

The down side to all the broodies is I can't see in the dang eggs, stupid blue and black eggs! I stuck eggs in the bator from abandonded nests and darn if there are not like 13 chicks I had to set up a brooder for. So the secret to successful hatching here is apparently not wanting stuff to hatch? Plus the silkie out back has two chicks and so does an Ameraucana... I'm overrun!

I need like a whole bunch of tractors or something to stick broodies in!

I think my Lavender is a pullet, which means that something will eat it before I ever get to use it. I think at least two of the blacks are also pullets, pretty sure one is a Roo and the off colored thing I hatched I dunno.

I bought Lavenders last year and they either dropped dead or got eaten. I had issues last year mixing Jr birds with adults, so I culled anything that made me nervous.

Now if stuff would just stop eating stuff, I'd be all set. I desperately need some fencing to keep the fox out and the darn ducks IN. I'm missing two meat ducks and one Khaki Campbell (Not of course, the crippled duck.) And I need silkie hens again. I keep saying I'm going to lock them in rabbit cages but then I feel bad.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of the dang Rats? I've tried sticky traps, snap traps, box trap, cat, bait station. Nothing. I can't fix the coop to keep out mink because the rats keep making more tunnels! Anyone used the five gallon bucket of death thing or the fly bait and soda? Poisen makes me nervous, I'm afraid to just put out the bait and they haven't touched the bait station!

 

[featherz]

Quote:
Any clue on breed? They will be cuter if I find out they are all pullets.

Wow mom and babies are cute!!!!

Love your coop too.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Cass--beautiful babies! I soooo want to hatch some more but dh will kill me.

Sachasmom==I too am dealing with broodies. I have 2 glw hens who have gone broody and all attempts to break them have been futile so far. Betty is being witchy and so her flockmates have been beating her up. I have resorted to keeping her in a wire dog kennel during the day next to the run so at least everyone can see her but not beat on her. Trouble is more laid back so no one bothers her. Betty has been broody for over 3 weeks. How much longer should I let her go before I have to give in and find someone with fertile eggs for her to hatch and give back? With only 8 hens and 2 gone broody, this is killing my egg business with my neighbor!

On a side note, my silkie rooster Mumbles is finally learning that he cannot win when he challenges me and my husband. At a little over 5 months old, he is definately in that awkward stage. His crowing is not all that bad to listen to and he doesnt do it all that often. My blue silkies are just beautiful and I am hoping that next spring he and the girls will throw some beautiful chicks.

DH has been busy cutting down and sawing up pine trees into wood to use to build our northwoods open air coop next spring. He wants to expand (woohoo!) but we are still arguing about which breeds. I want javas and he wants sexlinks. Still working that one out.

Hope everyone is doing well despite the heat. May your cheeps be healthy, happy and laying!

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
I have three bators, but this year I only set up the one. Esp since I stink bad at hatching. And cleaning brooders while pregnant kinda ranks up there with things that suck about being pregnant... Of course now that I offered eggs two more hens have gone broody. Sigh. Not sure that the one is going to hatch a thing, it picked a really bad spot. Hen #2 is sitting on a good dozen ish eggs, they should hatch soon I would think. Hen #3 got eaten off her nest, her eggs are in the inbubator now, no clue if they are viable or not. Hen #4 was off her nest for a LONG time today and she just went broody, how long can the eggs cool down? Not that it was cool today. Hen # 5 just started today (after I offered her for sale, of course)

Then I have a Silkie and a Call who are apparently taking turns on a nest. Another call is also sitting. One of the Buffs is on Nest #4. (She stinks at hatching as bad as I do!) The Cayuga with month old ducklings is sitting again (I dunno if those are fertile or not)

The down side to all the broodies is I can't see in the dang eggs, stupid blue and black eggs! I stuck eggs in the bator from abandonded nests and darn if there are not like 13 chicks I had to set up a brooder for. So the secret to successful hatching here is apparently not wanting stuff to hatch? Plus the silkie out back has two chicks and so does an Ameraucana... I'm overrun!

I need like a whole bunch of tractors or something to stick broodies in!

I think my Lavender is a pullet, which means that something will eat it before I ever get to use it. I think at least two of the blacks are also pullets, pretty sure one is a Roo and the off colored thing I hatched I dunno.

I bought Lavenders last year and they either dropped dead or got eaten. I had issues last year mixing Jr birds with adults, so I culled anything that made me nervous.

Now if stuff would just stop eating stuff, I'd be all set. I desperately need some fencing to keep the fox out and the darn ducks IN. I'm missing two meat ducks and one Khaki Campbell (Not of course, the crippled duck.) And I need silkie hens again. I keep saying I'm going to lock them in rabbit cages but then I feel bad.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of the dang Rats? I've tried sticky traps, snap traps, box trap, cat, bait station. Nothing. I can't fix the coop to keep out mink because the rats keep making more tunnels! Anyone used the five gallon bucket of death thing or the fly bait and soda? Poisen makes me nervous, I'm afraid to just put out the bait and they haven't touched the bait station!

Well trilyn has agreed to hatch for me with her broodies but how to get some eggs I haven't figured out yet. I've got EE/DEL crosses and they're laying beige as are my Lav Amer/Dom crosses. I just need some more colored egg layers and it's to late in the years for an hatch of my own. To much going on.

Now about the fox? A hedge row might help. I've been thinking about this for some time. I have wild roses about the place and I've read about using hedge rows. Making them out of pricker type plants can help. If you pound in some stakes you can weave rose canes on them and use them as a fence of sorts. Encircle your chickens yard with canes of raspberries and such. Plant shrubs that have prickers and pack them in tight. You can run a row of chicken wire first and then plant pricker type things up against it so it creates a natural fence. I also think goose berries have prickers too. You could do a mix of pricker type fruits. I have read about using hedgerows to keep unwanted animals out of the yard.

I know this is unorthodoxed but I'm going to put it out there anyhow. I whiz on trees around the yard at night or early morning when I let the chickens out or close them up. I know folks laugh but I know there are fox in the area and I know that they use fox urine to keep rabbits away, so I figure human urine from a male will keep foxes away. So far I have bunnies in the yard and that's just fine with me cuz I fence the veggies and they seem ok with that. I've not seen a fox yet. This year I tied rags to selected trees and use those thinking they will hold the smell longer. Of course humans can't smell it but animals have a stronger sense of smell than we do. Thank the Lord. I got the idea from a movie on wolves. Seems to me it can't hurt.

As for fencing, if you have access to some branches for rustic fencing it can help. I use those green metal stakes and then chicken wire and then the branches. Of course you can use any type of stick or branch or even old boards. You can't see but behind the sticks is the chicken wire. Behind the fat vertical taller sticks is the green stake pounded into the ground. Also shown is the beginning of the new garden and fencing. I use two foot chicken wire but you could use taller. You just need to use your imagination. Too, you could plant raspberries or what ever on the outside of the fencing and the chicken like berries. That Idea just came to me as I want to plant some myself.

Gotta run have a nice day,

rancher