NY chicken lover!!!!

[ChickPrincess]

Wow, you guys have been busy! Do any of you guys use rain barrels? I am thinking of getting a couple.

Is anyone interested in 2, 4 month old Buff Orpington Pullets? They aren't laying yet, but they are such sweeties. We have gone in a different direction with our chicken venture and they are going to be too large for us to keep. PM me if interested.

Wish we were closer. I'd take them in a heartbeat!

 

[ChickPrincess]

Discussion of you know what isn't allowed here. They don't even like it mentioned, from what I have seen. So I won't. I'll just say I like my roos to go to humane homes, even if they plan to eat them. I generally rehome them long before they are of an age to be eaten, so I'd prefer they live decent lives until that time. I rarely have to bring birds to the auction, but that's my option if I have to. I haven't met any scary people of the people that have come to pick up my chickens, although a few that have emailed me I had to turn down. I also will google email addresses and names - helps to know who you are dealing with.

Oh, and anyone who no-shows me or flakes I *will* remember and I don't respond to those emails. LOL. Since craigslist is usually anonymous, they don't realize they are emailing the person they stood up last month. =)

Good to know. I didn't know.
I think I'll be a bit leery of CL for awhile though!

 

[ChickPrincess]

Phew! I got a lot accomplished today with the coop. Built a window frame, with hardware cloth as the screen, and installed it with a shelf for a small fan to blow air OUT of the coop, put in electric a little more permanently, fixed the tops of walls with 2x4's where they didn't quite meet the roof and had a gap, and created another vent area above the door with hardware cloth. Also trimmed a bunch of branches above the roof.
Best part...
We finally got our two "babies" to become part of the flock!!! They are all one big happy family of 22 now.

We will be looking at the back end of a box truck tonight for possible use as our second coop. It's an old Chemlawn truck, and that's all that is left is the box trailer. Has anyone else done this and did it work well? I love to be able to recycle things and give a second life to junk.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

So I started processing early and it was purely unintentional. I managed to let out all the girls today and left the boys in the coop/run so the girls could do chicken things without fear of being jumped or ganged. Anyways, I was outside with them the whole time (I am the predator deterant) and all was well for a couple of hours. I ran inside the house to get a drink (maybe 20 yards away) and I hear commotion outside. I ran out to discover that 5 roos had ganged up on Mr. Big, the head roo and by the time I got down the stairs and to the run he was dead. I have never seen anything like it before. I dont know why they killed him all of a sudden like that. My dh thinks it was too much stress of being separated from the girls. The ringleader has been going after another roo mercilessly as well. I turned the hose on jet and nailed him good in the face several times. He didnt like that. He is going to freezer camp anyways. I can only hope nobody else gets killed. Dh is on duty now. I hope these boys dont go after the girls real bad or Im calling in tomorrow and finishing off every last one. Everything was peaceful this afternoon until this happened.

So, does anybody raise them separately from the girls in their own pen successfully till processing time???

 

[featherz]

Just had a 'miracle' chick hatch - have a few california white eggs in the bator - hoping to get enough to give to my broodies, but shipment was hard on them and only had a few cracked eggs that I tried to save with wax, etc. One egg, patched with wax, ended up with the aircell running down the long side of the egg - not sure how that happened, but I was pretty sure I'd have to help it out. So I marked the side of the egg with the aircell with an X, left that face up, and the silly chicken busted out the other end and is just fine.

 

[stonykill]

Just had a 'miracle' chick hatch - have a few california white eggs in the bator - hoping to get enough to give to my broodies, but shipment was hard on them and only had a few cracked eggs that I tried to save with wax, etc. One egg, patched with wax, ended up with the aircell running down the long side of the egg - not sure how that happened, but I was pretty sure I'd have to help it out. So I marked the side of the egg with the aircell with an X, left that face up, and the silly chicken busted out the other end and is just fine.

 

[Cass]

Lynzi and featherz, thanks for the rooster discussion. As a result of being included in the feather sexing of my last three chicks, I find there are two roosters. One speckled Sussex who may not know he is a roo, and one americauna who is huge, silvery colors with greenish legs and a full beard. He started crowing at ten weeks and is now thirteen. Maybe a week ago he started to feel the hormones, and if a hen had her back turned he would run up and jump her. They mostly looked displeased and puzzled. But yesterday he jumped on one of the teens, who has been laying eggs, but she didn't like it at all. Two of the older girls went after him, and pecked him off. Such a show of feminine solidarity! We have not had much of that in our coop.
He is gorgeous, and never caused any problems until he started his sex crazed actions. He has a nice crow...only in the morning for a few minutes...
Will he always be this brutish, or will he learn to woo the ladies?

He'll calm down in a few months. If you want him for breeding, you could keep him in a bacholor pad until he outgrows this "randy" stage....and now you know why people who are always looking for adult entertainment are said to be "randy as a rooster". LOL

 

[vmdanielsen]

So I started processing early and it was purely unintentional. I managed to let out all the girls today and left the boys in the coop/run so the girls could do chicken things without fear of being jumped or ganged. Anyways, I was outside with them the whole time (I am the predator deterant) and all was well for a couple of hours. I ran inside the house to get a drink (maybe 20 yards away) and I hear commotion outside. I ran out to discover that 5 roos had ganged up on Mr. Big, the head roo and by the time I got down the stairs and to the run he was dead. I have never seen anything like it before. I dont know why they killed him all of a sudden like that. My dh thinks it was too much stress of being separated from the girls. The ringleader has been going after another roo mercilessly as well. I turned the hose on jet and nailed him good in the face several times. He didnt like that. He is going to freezer camp anyways. I can only hope nobody else gets killed. Dh is on duty now. I hope these boys dont go after the girls real bad or Im calling in tomorrow and finishing off every last one. Everything was peaceful this afternoon until this happened.

So, does anybody raise them separately from the girls in their own pen successfully till processing time???

I have removed buckeye cockerels at 3 months and raised them successfully until 5.5 months, when they were processed. Some bickering, nothing major. However, I hatched 4 Americanas and 4 am/ leghorn crosses that only made it to 4 months. I could not stand the screaming. The leghorns matured more quickly and picked on the americaunas, which wasn't so bad, but as the Americaunas matured and started to fight back, it was just too noisy. The crowing was ok. The fights were making me crazy. Then they would gang up on somebody. They had started to give ME the hairy eyeball. They went off to freezer camp early. They are a bit scrawny, but they'll be great in soup!!! Maybe it depends on the breed?? I will do separate pens again next year with buckeyes and yes,I would consider it a success.

 

[gunnarwordon]

the pigeons are now free, anybody who wants them PM me. I am in Columbia County.

 

[vmdanielsen]

the pigeons are now free, anybody who wants them PM me. I am in Columbia County.

Gunnar, what does one do with a pigeon?