***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Fallenone05]

There are several groups on FB.
With BYC we don't always know the real name for members unless we met up off line.

it would be nice to get our OKIE thread active again and reconnect

Agreed! I miss seeing everyone update on here. I know I was inactive for a bit, but there's lots of faces I haven't seen since the site update. I don't remember where they all migrated to, though.

If anyone is interested, I did make a facebook group here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/938990606299201/

Anyone in the forum, feel free to join! Share updates on your hatches, your birds, or just what y'all had for dinner.

 

[Fallenone05]

@Karen523 it always seems like best get caught, injured or have an ailment! I've never been able to figure that out!
We had bobcats late in the summer and they hit the Cochin breed pen, my freezer rooster pen and took 11 birds before they were eliminated from the equation.
Between the raccoon, skunk, possum, coyote and hawks, we lost another 12 birds from the layer flocks.
Then lost Martha to a sour crop.
We lost Gertrude the duck to an owl that hit the duck pen just as I was going out to coop them up. She got hit hard and while the owl fled the scene of his crime, she had two broken ribs and talon punctures that just would not heal.

I've been doing some selective hatching until I get my new pens built and separate the breeders from the layer flock....then I'll hatch as many Columbian Wyandotte and Cochin as I can before the summer temperature get too high.
Including the hatch this weekend, I have 50 chicks. Will soon have some baby ducks since there are 44 viables in the incubators. Another 45 chicks are incubating now too.

Oh man. I'm so sorry y'all lost so much last year. It's always rough when you lose them. Hopefully the bobcats and owls leave y'all alone this year.

It really does seem like your best options for your pens are the first ones to get sick! It's so aggravating at times.

 

[Fallenone05]

How is everyone doing with hatching this year? I hatched out lots of Serama chicks over the last couple of months. I want to put all of my Seramas in one coop/pen, but I needed more girls to keep my roosturds from fighting over the girls. I've been giving away the cockerels and keeping the pullets.
I also bought 18 Ameraucana chicks and was given 11 extras from the two breeders that I bought from. I'm really looking forward to watching our new chicks grow up.
We had a dog attack in January and lost 12 of our 22 chickens. The dog got every single one of my pet/favorite chickens.

I'm so sorry about your losses, too! Dogs never fail to get all the ones you want to keep. :/ I hope your Ameraucana chicks do well and thrive! Get all those pretty eggs and pretty birds.

Seramas are such cute little birds, though. ♥ What all colors have you got?

 

[Karen523]

NanaKat,
I'm sorry that you lost so many. It's always hard to lose your favorites!
I'm working on new/better pens to keep the predators out. I also want to add better feeders and waterers so the food and water stay cleaner and automatic doors.
It sounds like you do a lot of hatching. I have a large GQF cabinet incubator, but I don't really hatch that many. I was thinking about getting a smaller incubator, but it would cost more to do that rather than just keeping the one I have.

 

[Karen523]

I'm so sorry about your losses, too! Dogs never fail to get all the ones you want to keep. :/ I hope your Ameraucana chicks do well and thrive! Get all those pretty eggs and pretty birds.

Seramas are such cute little birds, though. ♥ What all colors have you got?

Thanks. My Ameraucana chicks are doing great! I have lots of colors of Seramas. Black, black and white, gold laced etc. I think I even have a mauve pullet! Of course the mauve pullet will be staying here Some of my Seramas are becoming my new pets. They're adorable!

 

[Karen523]

I have a confession. I bought 3 more chicks today. They are Buff Orp pullets. It was my husbands fault! I was going to walk right past them, but he pointed them out and told me to come and see them. He knows very well that telling me to loo at chicks is the same thing as telling me to go ahead and buy some.
So now I have Ameraucanas, Seramas and Buff Orpingtons.

 

[NanaKat]

Found two hatchlings under broody hens in the henhouse today....not that I wasn't aware the girls were sitting on eggs. Three hens have been fighting me for eggs for over a month. I finally decided not to take their clutches and let them have at it. Other hens were adding to their nest so the chicks will start popping over the next several days with a staggered hatch.
Tomorrow I will pull the eggs to candle and divide them back to the hens by due dates.
And my ulterior motive is to add to their clutches with chicks I'm incubating for them to raise.

 

[Karen523]

Found two hatchlings under broody hens in the henhouse today....not that I wasn't aware the girls were sitting on eggs.

Congrats! I love finding chicks under my hens! I occasionally give up on fighting broody hens and let them have the egg, but It's always so much fin to see a new little face peeking out from under it's momma.

 

[Karen523]

What are some good plants that I can grow in my garden that my chickens will enjoy eating? I need some fast growing plants that produce a good amount of food. I understand that free ranging is best, but I don't want to let my chickens free range due to a dog attack that killed most of my flock a few months ago.

 

[NanaKat]

@Karen523 anything you grow can be enjoyed by your chickens except onions and raw potatoes.
Any type of greens...spinach, radish, beets, collards, lettuce, even polk.
They love fruits and vegetables.
Ours get the pea pods when I can peas. I run those thru the food processor and freeze in bags with water to make a hot summer treat.
They can turn a watermelon rind into a thin paper hull....same with cantaloupe.
Any weeds and grass pulled from the garden go to the chickens along with any grass clippings from the lawn mower....just make sure there are no lawn chemicals.