San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Cari Here is a thread that you might appreciate

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...er-house-follow-my-progress-with-updated-pics

He used a shade structure frame and swapped the legs for the overhead parts. making it wider than it was tall. It would be an investment but if you did something like this right it would most definately be moveable.

deb

WOW now that is cool!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hi everyone, it's me again. The two ducks that with with the duck that Knock-Kneed Hen rescued are still alive, but it doesn't look good for them. They hang around the edge of the parking lot and don't eat and drink much. There is a worker at the lake who is going to be bringing a couple of cages for them tomorrow and I have her phone number. So, if anyone wants to contact her and co-ordinate a time to pick them up, PM me. Otherwise, if anyone still wants them, but can't make it tomorrow, they will have to bring their own cage. These two ducks are much faster than the other one, but I still think they're catchable, especially with two people involved.

I am willing to help catch the ducks. If anyone wants them and lives close to town, I could try to catch them and meet them somewhere. However, though I've gotten better at duck-catching, I'm still pretty poor at it and it will take me forever to catch them on my own. The worker at the lake is good at catching things, but her boss doesn't want her to get too involved in things like this and I don't want to jeopardize her job as she's already supplying the cages.

This morning, I herded them down to the water and made them stay there so that they would drink some water as I don't think they've been drinking hardly anything. They also managed to eat some algae. I know people have given them food, but they don't seem to want to eat. The worker lady said when they first arrived, they smelled like they had been in a cage for a long time and doesn't think they'll make it. Someone else said they've been at the lake for two weeks, but I doubt that. I think they were dropped off last weekend.

Anyway, here is a photo of them that I took when I made them go swimming. They seemed to enjoy swimming, but as soon as they noticed I walked away, they followed me and then went back to their spot. They did no bathing, which is weird because even other dumped ducks I've seen love to bathe as soon as they're put into the water. They're both girls by the way.

I hope that someone will be able to take them, even temporarily. I found a home for the one I picked up but they can't take her right away. She's doing better already. She loves the kiddie pool and is enjoying attention. Very sweet girl as I'm sure the other two will be once in an environment where they feel safe.

 

[desertdarlene]

Oh, they're at Lake Murray if anyone wants to go look at them. Last few days they've been hanging out on the north side of the parking lot not far from the brick BBQ grill to the "right" of the boat docks. I doubt they're going to move far from there in the next few days. They're the only two female Pekins there. Even though the ducks are molting, I think all the male Pekins still have their curly tail feathers, so it shouldnt be too hard to distinguish them from the girls who dont have a curly feather. Plus, the males like being in the water while these females don't.

 

[DonaldFan]

I can help with the ducks. Will be busy Thursday and Friday until late, though. Have this afternoon, off, though.

 

[desertdarlene]

That's great! I can meet you today, but I won't be able to be there on Saturday.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Dana, I think it was the Andalusian X that hatched today, I have a Marans X pipped, and a light blue egg ?Easter Egger pipped too. Also two of Cara's Gamefowl hatched. They are bigger than my 3 week old Seramas!! So I plopped them in the brooder while we wait for the others to do something. I will absolutely take a pic of my little babies for you. I fenced off an area for my broody hen, so she can hopefully raise the babies without being disturbed by the other hens. She's low on the pecking order, so I thought it was a good idea to secure an area for them. I hope the remaining 5 eggs hatch. She's a HUGE hen, Light Sussex if you don't remember, very capable of warming 8 babies. We're going to sneak them under her when the rest hatch out.

I will give Cara her gamefowl back, but keep all the hens from the eggs I got from you.

 

[Compost Girl]

Well, I did the transfer of chickens to Mom's house on Sunday and thought 30 pounds of feed would be enough to last 9 teenagers for at least a week or two. No such luck. I think the mice are throwing Crumblestock Lalapaloosa 2012 in the coop, as the feed is nearing the bottom already.

Is anyone doing a Modesto order any time soon? My list:
3 soy-free layer pellets
6 soy-free chick starter (depending on the mice)
1 as-yet-to-be-determined sprouting grain for forage filler (suggestions welcome)

If it keeps up at this rate and the traps don't work, maybe I'll ask Modesto if they have an organic mousechow. Would be cheaper than the current direction, I think, and I could put their feeder on the other side of the coop so they don't keep the chickies up at night with the party noise. Rodent Cops did nothing when we complained about the noise ordinance, either.

 

[desertdarlene]

The duckies are now rescued and no longer at the lake!

 

[dfdesigns]

I'm so glad the ducks were rescued!

Elara - MM left five bags off of our last North County order (plus another bag was pretty shredded), so we may be getting another delivery sooner than we think. If not, I have extra soy-free feed here that I can give you (especially if you need it in a hurry!)

Like you, I was losing A LOT of feed to mice, rats and squirrels. Someone told me to add cayenne pepper to the feed to make it unpalatable to those beasts, but still delicious to the chickens. (I asked about the cayenne changing the taste of the eggs, and was told it wouldn't.) I bought myself a few 1 pound bags of organic cayenne off of Amazon, and I've been adding it in. I'm not doing any sort of scientific measurements, but it sure seems like I'm not filling feeders as fast as I was previously... it's worth a try! Cayenne has some good health benefits for the birds, too.

 

[dfdesigns]

Chaili - yay! I can't wait to see them! Is the Andy chick black or blue?