San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[MandaMunky]

@niqueie Thanks for sharing your story!! I hope that it turns out to be awesome for my son, too. How did you go about rehoming your roosters?

 

[froggiesheins]

Hi Trish & Knock Kneed Hen!


We have family in Carmel Valley & close to Downtown as well.  Trish, I think that's so cool about you becoming the "chicken feed lady" - I"ll have to get some from you sometime, too!?


I just recently got back into chickens with the STRONG encouragement of my 3.5 year old son.  The little guy had been asking for baby chicks for no less than 18 months!!  Not a puppy, or a kitten, or something "normal" but CHICKENS!  LOL... we picked up 4 little munchkins from the local feed store, they were SUPPOSED to be sexed pullets & I'm afraid our Golden Sex-Link is turning out to be a rooster.  Go figure?  


I'm really nervous because although I have the space & there are no ordinances against roosters in my city (unless they're a nuisance) I'm afraid "he's going to get mean.  I've been looking around for a place to rehome him, but it looks like rehoming a noisy, or naughty rooster is nearly impossible.  He's being raised as a pet & we don't have the heart to send him somewhere where he'll be eaten or have to defend himself from predators.


I so wanted this to be a good experience for my son & I'm just dying inside over the dilemma... I know we can't protect our kids from everything, but Pineapple (our very possible roo) is my son's just absolute favorite bird.  Just yesterday he wanted to take Pineapple with us in the car to go on a quick errand.  


SO!!  That's my story!  Nice to meet you girls <3

Welcome to the world of "the crazy chicken peoples" I live no where near SD but know so many peeps there, I feel I belong too!
You simply MUST post pictures of your little munchkins for all of us to enjoy and watch grow too.
Taking a chicken with for a car ride is perfectly normal here.
Cockerals do go thru many "hormone stages" where they get wierd, so, hang in there with your possible boy, they do outgrow it.

We also live vicariously thru everyones chickens.

 

[MandaMunky]

Pictures?!?! Sure!

Here you go:

This is Pineapple (Gold Sex-Link Roo?)















This is Hattie (Barred Rock)










This is Penny (Ameraucana/Easter Egger)








This is Little Miss Marbles (Silver Laced Wyandotte) - She's the underdog of the group, small, shy, extremely hard to photograph, but oh so gentle & sweet & for those reasons she has my heart!









& that's them!

They're 3 weeks old as of yesterday & I'll continue to take weekly photographs of them, which I'd be more than happy to share if you're not already sick of them!? LOL

@froggiesheins Thanks for the reassurance regarding the rooster ordeal. I'm going to hang in there until there's a reason why I can't, which would be because my neighbors complain or because he's mean to my son. If either of those things happen then I hope & pray that we can find him a new home that will provide him with what he needs, protect him from predators & most of all... not eat him!

 

[froggiesheins]

Pictures?!?! Sure! Here you go: This is Pineapple (Gold Sex-Link Roo?) This is Hattie (Barred Rock) This is Penny (Ameraucana/Easter Egger) [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] This is Little Miss Marbles (Silver Laced Wyandotte) - She's the underdog of the group, small, shy, extremely hard to photograph, but oh so gentle & sweet & for those reasons she has my heart! & that's them! They're 3 weeks old as of yesterday & I'll continue to take weekly photographs of them, which I'd be more than happy to share if you're not already sick of them!? LOL @froggiesheins Thanks for the reassurance regarding the rooster ordeal. I'm going to hang in there until there's a reason why I can't, which would be because my neighbors complain or because he's mean to my son. If either of those things happen then I hope & pray that we can find him a new home that will provide him with what he needs, protect him from predators & most of all... not eat him!

WELL THEY SURE ARE ADORABLE MUNCHKINS!!!!!! To cute for their own good! ENJOY THEM, they grow up SO fast... (just like human kids..sigh ) IF he does turn out to be a cockeral, it doesn't mean he WILL be mean. Not all roos are mean....treat the possible "BOY" just like everyone else..... p.s. On the second pic of pinneapple his tail sure does suggest roo...see the down turned feathers. Also check his legs for the tell tale red line that indicates roo....

 

[MandaMunky]

@froggiesheins I'm going to have to check the red line theory. Do you you have any reference photos to help me understand a little more what you're talking about?

PS - we do treat Pineapple the same & will always treat him the same. If anything he's way more spoiled than the others because my son always wants to hold him & give him treats (mealworms, yogurt, strawberries are what we've tried so far)! The funniest thing about the little guy is during their outside time Pineapple is a CHICKEN (LOL) always jumping up on me or huddling next to my side when something scary happens!

 

[niqueie]

We rehomed our roosters by craigslist. I gave them away to good homes. One is with a flock in valley center and my silkie is having fun at some Escondido home. You can take them to the Hawthorne country store in Escondido or other feed stores too.

I found that if you don't let the roosters think your below them they treat you better. Make sure they know you are the head honcho and your son too. As they get older they test you by an occasional peck, not painful but a test, don't let them get away with it. 'Peck' them back or hold them to show your the boss. Never back down or run away. It doesn't take much if they have a good temperament. Overall a good rooster looks out for the flock if he's sure your good then he should treat you well. It's fun and great to have roosters if the situation works. Hope he is a great bird for you. I think you picked some great breeds. I love our Wyandotte too she is beautiful and sweet but not getting picked on.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

You have a nice assortment MandaMunky. Roos are usually all nice until they hit 5-8 months. Then they go through a period of raging hormones. I have found that my nicest roos never EVER were aggressive to me or the kids. There are good ones out there, hope you got one!!

 

[MandaMunky]

I sure hope I ended up with a nice one, too!! Also, we'll do our best to exert our dominance & not let him get away with anything, not even once! I actually have a lot of experience with training dogs & what you gals describe sounds very similar. We have to have the pack leader type mentality.

It's funny because right now I have them in a large dog crate out on the front lawn & they're literally sunbathing... a couple of them are on their sides! LOL too funny! I'm excited to finish up their coop in the next couple weekends.

We're following this plan for this coop (https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bosch-build-it-uk/Build_it_with_Bosch_chicken_coop_blueprint.pdf) with a couple minor changes & it will be inside of a large 10'X6' run. Hopefully it's plenty of space for our little micro flock!

 

[dfdesigns]

Welcome! I think I saw you on CPP's FB page, too!

Cute chickies! Keep an eye on the one that you think is an Ameraucana... those are some beefy legs, and quite the upright stance! And just so you know, it's not really an Ameraucana. Anything that comes from a feed store is an Easter Egger, plus that chick is not one of the recognized Am colors. This has absolutely no bearing on how awesome a chicken it will grow up to be; I just like people to know what they've actually got. You aren't the first and definitely won't be the last to have been sold an "Ameraucana/Americana" that's really an Easter Egger.

Dana

 

[MandaMunky]

Yeah, you saw me there too, Dana! Thanks for all of the info & you're right they'll all be great regardless of breed!

Regarding the upright stance.... I was teasing her with worms... thick legs wise... well, you got me there!

I'm going to cry if I have two roosters...