NY chicken lover!!!!

[pharmchickrnmom]

Well I guess its time Dh finishes the job. After feeding and watering everyone, I was tidying up in the big coop and found the first pullet egg from them in the corner. 16 weeks old. Time for chicken daddy to remove the cardboard and chicken mommy to put in shavings. Now maybe the eating machines might start earning their keep!!! I think its one of the sexlinks egg. I compared it to the silkie egg I pulled from their coop and they are the same size. Sniff, Sniff...our little girls are growing up. Now if only the boys would take a cold shower! Speaking of which, my top contender gets demerits today as he grabbed me on the hand while I was busy with the feeder. He sure did scream loud when I grabbed him by the neck feathers and held on. He is keeping a polite distance now. Some just are slow at learning who the supreme ruler is.

 

[rancher hicks]

Just dropped in to say I have a couple of guys coming for chickens and I've invited them to join us here.

 

[Lynzi777]

Hey Everyone,
Poppin on while I'm working, wanted to show a quick couple of pics of our BO/Black Sex Link mix chicken. I went outside today during my break and couldn't help but wonder where on earth that comb came from! It was NOT there a couple of days ago! LOL I have the pictures to prove it, I swear this thing grew in overnight.

Just a couple of days ago...



And then today...

 

[armorfirelady]

Thank you to you all again. I have it on my to do list to visit the feed store in Boston since they have always been great in the past. I was hoping that there might even be a sign up or htey know of someone who has some pullets they want to get rid of.

I am now trying to make the feeder for the coop (pvc style) and then the waterer (Nipple style) so that everything is set for when I get the birds.

Does anyone have a food preference to feed their hens? Tractor supply carries pullets at their store and I havent stopped at the feed stores yet. My girls wont be free ranged much so I know they will need certain things included in their food I feed them

. I plan on letting them out if I am outside with them but thats all. Hence the reason I need to enlarge the run. I have the list of veggies they can have from another forumn on here and figured they can go in the veggie garden in the fall when I am done harvesting. But can I give them the tomatoes that have fallen from the vines & rotted or soft on the bottom instead of throwing it in the compost?

And what about adding water to the food to make mash? I have been working my way thru the other thread (10-20 yrs ) and have gained some other knowlegde. But still so many questions.......I have a friend who has raised chickens so I will see what feed she uses since she lives near me

 

[Lapeerian]

Thank you to you all again. I have it on my to do list to visit the feed store in Boston since they have always been great in the past. I was hoping that there might even be a sign up or htey know of someone who has some pullets they want to get rid of.

I am now trying to make the feeder for the coop (pvc style) and then the waterer (Nipple style) so that everything is set for when I get the birds.

Does anyone have a food preference to feed their hens? Tractor supply carries pullets at their store and I havent stopped at the feed stores yet. My girls wont be free ranged much so I know they will need certain things included in their food I feed them

. I plan on letting them out if I am outside with them but thats all. Hence the reason I need to enlarge the run. I have the list of veggies they can have from another forumn on here and figured they can go in the veggie garden in the fall when I am done harvesting. But can I give them the tomatoes that have fallen from the vines & rotted or soft on the bottom instead of throwing it in the compost?

And what about adding water to the food to make mash? I have been working my way thru the other thread (10-20 yrs ) and have gained some other knowlegde. But still so many questions.......I have a friend who has raised chickens so I will see what feed she uses since she lives near me

I'm still fairly new to chickens too, but not the world of livestock. I would stay away from wetting down the food. I think flys, bugs, maggots... yes, chickens eat bugs but the feed would spoil quickly.

If you are getting started pullets, it would be wise to either continue using what they were eating, make any transition from one feed to another slowly to avoid digestive upset. I started with chicks and have used the Agway brand chick starter/grower crumbles, transitioning to the Agway Egg Layer next. And they have a new Hearty Hen layer feed that I may try if CountryMax carries it. Has a slightly higher protein which the heritage breeds like. Sticking with the crumbles here. Other options are mash or pellets, usually comes down to personal preference and more importantly, what the chickens will eat. Also, what would work best with the feeder option chosen.
I've been working through the Old Timers thread also, only on page 220....

Went to the Broome County Fair tonight, had a good time walking around. Always amusing people watching; seen a photo shoot with a cross-dressing male....he wasn't that pretty. My brother had a couple cows down there, talked to a few farmer friends. Brother is the talk of the fair: lost a rear wheel on a tractor as he was driving it to the fair. Very lucky no one was hurt, tire traveled across the road, through the corner gas station lot and across a second road before resting against a beat up mini-van. Walked through the chicken section a few times, some nice looking birds. Annie's orps would fit right in, the black roo and blue hen are quite the pretty pair. Seen a bantam partridge wyandotte pair, the lacing on the hen was beautiful, think I need me some of those....

 

[Mom2Munchkins]

Anyone local have BLRW hens or even hatching eggs??

 

[Pyxis]

Hi all! Popping back in to say hi. Featherz gave me chicks for my broody and they are all doing spectacularly. I might have to put up some pictures I'm also working on building a bigger duck house. Does anyone on here have any advice for that? And would anyone around glens falls be interested in a free rouen drake (as a pet, not for meat)? He's just too mean to my littler boys. He's very sweet with the ladies, though, and he loves my larger pekin male. Just does NOT get along with my Welshie boy and my mallard drake. He's the duck I've had the longest, too. I don't want to give him up, but I'm at the end of my rope here. He has the other boys so terrified they hide under my deck all day and won't come in to sleep at night. So unless someone can tell me a surefire way to get everybody playing nice together, he's gonna have to go.

 

[featherz]

I'm still fairly new to chickens too, but not the world of livestock. I would stay away from wetting down the food. I think flys, bugs, maggots... yes, chickens eat bugs but the feed would spoil quickly.

If you are getting started pullets, it would be wise to either continue using what they were eating, make any transition from one feed to another slowly to avoid digestive upset. I started with chicks and have used the Agway brand chick starter/grower crumbles, transitioning to the Agway Egg Layer next. And they have a new Hearty Hen layer feed that I may try if CountryMax carries it. Has a slightly higher protein which the heritage breeds like. Sticking with the crumbles here. Other options are mash or pellets, usually comes down to personal preference and more importantly, what the chickens will eat. Also, what would work best with the feeder option chosen.
I've been working through the Old Timers thread also, only on page 220....

I wet down food all the time, mostly during the winter - make them a warm mash. They LOVE it. Just don't put down more than they can eat and if during the summer remove anything they don't eat before it can get moldy. I do it as a 'treat' tho, not as an everyday thing. Right now I feed everyone starter/grower + oyster shell since i have mixed ages in the coop.

 

[featherz]

Hi all! Popping back in to say hi. Featherz gave me chicks for my broody and they are all doing spectacularly. I might have to put up some pictures

I'm also working on building a bigger duck house. Does anyone on here have any advice for that? And would anyone around glens falls be interested in a free rouen drake (as a pet, not for meat)? He's just too mean to my littler boys. He's very sweet with the ladies, though, and he loves my larger pekin male. Just does NOT get along with my Welshie boy and my mallard drake. He's the duck I've had the longest, too. I don't want to give him up, but I'm at the end of my rope here. He has the other boys so terrified they hide under my deck all day and won't come in to sleep at night. So unless someone can tell me a surefire way to get everybody playing nice together, he's gonna have to go.

Would love to see pics of my grandchickies!!! =) My broodies are doing well with the two chicks I gave them. I have a few eggs in the bator now for two more broodies - they are getting ONE chick each (LOL) and anything else that hatches will end up on CL. I'm not sure how good of a hatch I will get - these were shipped eggs and most of them were broken and/or tossed about.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Thank you to you all again. I have it on my to do list to visit the feed store in Boston since they have always been great in the past. I was hoping that there might even be a sign up or htey know of someone who has some pullets they want to get rid of.

I am now trying to make the feeder for the coop (pvc style) and then the waterer (Nipple style) so that everything is set for when I get the birds.

Does anyone have a food preference to feed their hens? Tractor supply carries pullets at their store and I havent stopped at the feed stores yet. My girls wont be free ranged much so I know they will need certain things included in their food I feed them

. I plan on letting them out if I am outside with them but thats all. Hence the reason I need to enlarge the run. I have the list of veggies they can have from another forumn on here and figured they can go in the veggie garden in the fall when I am done harvesting. But can I give them the tomatoes that have fallen from the vines & rotted or soft on the bottom instead of throwing it in the compost?

And what about adding water to the food to make mash? I have been working my way thru the other thread (10-20 yrs ) and have gained some other knowlegde. But still so many questions.......I have a friend who has raised chickens so I will see what feed she uses since she lives near me

I have a pvc feeder for my coops and it works best with pellets or crumbles. If you are getting pullets or hens(or even chicks) find out from the seller what brand of food they are on and contnue with that. As with any animal, if you decide to change the food source, you must add it gradually to the existing food until they are on the new food completely. A sudden change in diet can be very disruptive to their digestive system. Letting them into your veggie garden when you are done harvesting is a great idea. They will till the soil for you, eat any bugs in there and help turn over and fertilize stuff for you. The general rule about giving chickens stuff is that if you wouldnt eat it, they shouldnt either. Definately no rotted tomatoes. Anything with mold or black spots is a potential health hazard and can kill chickens. I have never fed mash but when I feed an oatmeal mixture, I pick up the dish as soon as they are full, even if its not all gone. Spoiled food can also kill.

Keep those questions coming and we will answer them to the best of our knowledge. Make sure you pick your friends brain and see how she raises her cheeps. May I suggest a good book I am reading call The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery. He writes about everything you will ever need to know about keeping chickens and he has been doing it for over 30 years. Worth every dollar.