San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[Phage]

It is a long shot but would anyone like a bunch of free cream legbar boy chicks? Great for making Olive eggers with brown egger.

Just had 7 eggs hatch.... 5 boys and 2 girls

 

[dfdesigns]

Oh, Fraunie... I'm so sorry. This sure has been a brutal stretch of heat! I'll keep my fingers crossed that she pulls through.

 

[Phage]

Sorry to hear about these losses.

To everyone here in san Diego who has lost a bird to heat I have some "spare" swedish flower hen pullets, and am happy to donate (till they are gone) to replace it. pm me.

 

[WFF]

Hi all,

We had a close call up at the ranch this week.

The Buck fire in Aguanga came to within about 1000 feet of our property. The firefighters showed up at about midnight with 12 fire trucks and made a stand on the ridge and stopped the fire from burning further south.

We have about 600 chickens at the ranch growing out and making fertile eggs.

Many thanks for the fire fighters and all the prayers.

Gail

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Hey San Diego chicken friends...

I have been talking with Jim Adkins of the International Center for Poultry, and we are trying to schedule two back to back events next spring 2013. The first is a poultry judging school, for aspiring judges. It would likely be held on a Friday, and then on Saturday, a whole day workshop on Backyard Poultry. The descriptions of the classes sound really interesting. I don't know what the costs would be, but I was wondering what kind of interest there is out there for these classes, as it would influence the location of the event.
Most of Jim's workshops have been in the northern part of the state, too far from us. This is an opportunity to get a great education. If you want to check out Jim's website, its www.centerforpoultry.com. You can see what he's all about.



(quote)
Backyard Poultry INTENSIVE Workshop
A workshop for backyard poultry enthusiasts and small, sustainable farmers who are interested in breeding, growing and enjoying standard bred poultry.

Tentative schedule:
8:30 AM Registration

9:00 – 10:30 AM – Session 1 & 2 - “Identifying Standard Bred & Heritage Poultry”
There is a lot of misunderstanding of what exactly is a heritage chicken and even a heritage turkey. In the opening sessions of this workshop, you will learn how to truly identify a heritage bird as described in the Standard of perfection published by the American Poultry Association. It is critical that you understand the differences of industrialized poultry verses standard bred poultry. You will learn how to properly chose your birds and learn of the best place to purchase your sustainable flock of poultry.

10:30 – 11:00 AM Break

11:00 – 12:30 PM Session 3 - “Facilities, Feed, Forage & the Backyard!”
What about facilities for your newly acquired standard bred, heritage poultry; and all this talk about pastured poultry? How much space do I need? In this session you learn about permanent structures verse mobile units. And how many birds can you raise on your property. Should you use organic or natural feed? Or maybe just the “good old” Purina feed? These details will all be covered in this session.

12:30 PM LUNCH

1:00 – 2:30 PM Session 4 – “Selecting & Culling your Flock for Production”
This is the “hands on” part of the workshop. You will learn the “Hogan Selection Principles” of selecting birds for meat production and rate of growth. You will learn how to assess your current flock of layers to see who is in production and who is not. Everyone will have the opportunity to learn how to properly handle fowls and learn the essential selection process for keeping the best birds to improve production in your flock. This session will also include a tour of the model farm that is hosting the workshop.

2:30 PM Break

3:00 – 4:00PM Session 5 - “Basic Poultry Heath Management & Disease Control”
This session could be titled, “Disease Prevention” – you will learn the basics of poultry management that encourages proactive care to keep your poultry healthy. In this session you will learn the basics sanitation that includes cleaning, removal of droppings, removal of unhealthy birds, protection from carriers of diseases and even quarantining new stock. You’ll also learn about the special challenges that you may face with your flock .These principles will apply to any size of flocks.

4:00 – 5:00PM Session 6 – “Opportunities for Breeding, Preservation, Exhibition & Marketing”
Breeding poultry is a lost art! Very few people across North America are breeding for preservation. As a result, the historical, heirloom breeds of poultry are declining quickly. In this session you will be introduced to the essentials of breeding your favorite poultry. Learn about exhibiting and judging poultry. What about processing and selling your birds? You will learn some of the secrets to marketing and opportunities to network with other liked minded farmers. Our goal is to prepare you with the necessary information and skills to succeed and maybe even make a profit through your backyard flock of poultry.

5:00 PM – Workshop Ends
(/quote)

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hi all,

We had a close call up at the ranch this week.   The Buck fire in Aguanga came to within about 1000 feet of our property.  The firefighters showed up at about midnight with 12 fire trucks and made a stand on the ridge and stopped the fire from burning further south.  e We have about 600 chickens at the ranch growing out and making fertile eggs.   :cd   Many thanks for the fire fighters and all the prayers. :yiipchick

Gail

I didn't know that part of the county was on fire...I thought it was just out east here. Glad you're ok and all those 600 chickies ae okay.

 

[hemet dennis]

Hi all,

We had a close call up at the ranch this week.

The Buck fire in Aguanga came to within about 1000 feet of our property. The firefighters showed up at about midnight with 12 fire trucks and made a stand on the ridge and stopped the fire from burning further south.

We have about 600 chickens at the ranch growing out and making fertile eggs.

Many thanks for the fire fighters and all the prayers.

Gail

Glad you made it OK

That's one way to get the brush cleared around you, but one of the scarier ways.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I think I'm losing one to heat....

Star, my 12-13wk black langshan is acting kind of like she had a stroke.  in the past 24hrs it had progressed to where she can't stand and just lays on her side with her eyes closed and head wobbly.  I got some electrolytes in her this morning and hoping for the best.

We lost our Buffie, named Coyote Killer, to a hawk two weeks ago....my kids (and I) will be heartbroken if Star dies too!! 

Chicken rearing ain't for the faint of heart.......

Not, it's not is it How's your hen doing today? How old was Buffie when the hawk got her? I have a big Red-tailed that sits in the tree overlooking my coop and free ranging flock but it hasn't shown any interest in them. I'm just curious if they would kill a full grown hen or not.

 

[Fraunie]

My little Killer was about 10 weeks I guess? And she was pretty big, larger than my two OEGBantams. I'm not positive it was a hawk, but it happened between 1-5pm, still full sunlight hours. The other one I have lost during the night was a full grown hen, and all we found were a few bloody matted feathers in the corral. I accidentally left the coop door open....once. This time, we found most of Killers feathers in one location, then her body was about 10ft away, breasts gone and picked clean of feathers, but whatever it was didn't take the whole thing, didn't eat the entrails and left her mostly intact. We do have a hawk pair that circles, and our birds are free range in our corral, but I didn't worry about it bc they never got the bantams. So, I don't know......what do you think??

Star ain't good, end of the day is Baaaad. I'm actually pretty worried it's Marek's....it's like paralysis that moves around and changes in severity. Tonight I found she had moved around to get some water, but half her head and side were soaked bc she layed in the dish....seriously could have drowned herself. I'll keep doing and see how it goes.

Thanks for asking,

 

[Fraunie]

Hey San Diego chicken friends...

I have been talking with Jim Adkins of the International Center for Poultry, and we are trying to schedule two back to back events next spring 2013. The first is a poultry judging school, for aspiring judges. It would likely be held on a Friday, and then on Saturday, a whole day workshop on Backyard Poultry. The descriptions of the classes sound really interesting. I don't know what the costs would be, but I was wondering what kind of interest there is out there for these classes, as it would influence the location of the event.
Most of Jim's workshops have been in the northern part of the state, too far from us. This is an opportunity to get a great education. If you want to check out Jim's website, its www.centerforpoultry.com. You can see what he's all about.

I would be interested!! Being a complete newbie, I can use all the help I can get!!!