South Carolina

[RedBugPoultry]

OK so here's the ladder for the D'Uccle habitat( I like this word better than coop and run)

Yancy, this is so great! You need to start a business where you design bird habitats!

 

[RedBugPoultry]

New to the hole chicken thing here. Had a long weekend off from work and was able to finish up the coop and run. I guess the next thing will be waiting for some eggs. I have 6 RIRs and 2 Speckled Sussex. What am I looking at for laying age. I've read anywhere from 5-7 months old. Does that sound about right?

This is so nice--Wish I could do this! Great job!

 

[KrisH]

Awww...sweet! Now you might can relax a bit! A big CONGRATS to you! Welcome to a great home little peep squeak!

ha ha, good one. a first time chick mom relax, that's a good one. Now comes the worrying, like when you look in and they are sprawled out sleeping and you hold YOUR breath looking to see if they are breathing. Everyone here knows what i mean.

RobertH

 

[FreeBSDCacher]

OK First I thought the same thing about the pics...well I and many others LOVE the pics...I get ideas from them SO post away!!!!!(hey if anybody doesn't want to look at them they can just move on to the next post) Next I do see SpeckledSussex in you batch!! Love them I dont have one but some time I will... So does the Jack Russell like or don't like the chicks?? I trained my dogs that chicks and chickens are family and other pets,they must socialize with them and be protective of the house and the yard plus the flock!!...AnyWho..Yes we like pics!!!

That is one crazy Jack Russel, Moonchild. Pork Chop, the Jack Russel, got so worked up over the chickens that he started foaming at the mouth and fall over. I think he had some kinda stroke or something. We put him in his pen and got his heart rate down and he was fine about 30 minutes later.

 

[sunnysc]

Wow! What incredible habitats! I am new on here and located in Chapin, SC...just outside of Columbia on the Newberry side. I have loved learning so much about our new babies. My boys talked my hubby and I into 7 baby chicks in March so we are learning as we go. Turns out we think we have four boys and only three girls. So, we are trying to figure out what to do with our extra boys. We definitely want to keep our EE roo (the other 3 are barred rocks). Any suggestions for finding them new homes? I have asked a couple local chicken farms around here and one doesn't want them. The other said they'd take my boys to the flea market...I just ant them to have good homes. My boys (8 and 2 1/2 years old) have already loved having the chickens! I definitely see a long future here!

 

[Avonshire]

Thank you everyone for all the support.. It's been a long couple of days for sure.. I barely slept any last night, impatiently waiting on our little pip squeak to hatch. We haven't had any more action from any of the other eggs. No wiggles, pips, or chirps I'm going to leave them for another day (just in case)... and cross my fingers.. It's funny though little pip squeak has been wobbling all over the incubator knocking around eggs.. We jokingly said he's saying "hey wake up, your turn.." LOL.. So my question to everybody.. I know they must stay in the incubator until they are dry? (right?) When do I move to brooder? When do I offer food for the first time? After the crazy incubating and hatching experience I want to make sure I do it right Oh and I almost forgot.. Congrats Pasty on the early pips

OK here is what I know. They should be ok for 24-48 hours in the bator. Then you can move to the brooder. Now I waited about 24 hours and my guy was not puffing up(she was suppose to in like 4 hours) so I took her out and put her in the brooder. It took a few hours but she finally puffed up and looked cute! She looked wet in my bator and I was afraid that it was not warm enough for her but she was dry--just kind of sticky like she had mousse in her hair or something! My one chick also bowled over all the eggs too--and I was being so careful not to disturb them! lol! This time I am going to try the egg carton approach and see if that helps. I know that my one chick did hang out with the other egg that was trying to pip. I do think they were encouraging each other. I had food and water available for the chick when it came to the brooder. After I put it in and made sure it was warm(I had trouble getting the light in the right place.) then I also put its beak in the water--making sure it knew where the water was. Any new pics???

 

[dixiebeast]

Ok here is my catch up post!!

Yancy...great pics as always and the garden pics on FB...WOW...I need you to be my new BFF so bad at the wasteland here!!

Amy...the pics are great...I will be posting some here and FB when I slow down today!

Sunny! Welcome...I am on the bottom of Lake Greenwood so we are not too far apart...Roos will be an issue you have to learn to handle if you hatch...only you can decide if you can put them to use as a food source...some folks sell with no questions asked because roos are hard to rehome... =(

Thanks Everyone for the great day...my lil farm is always open !!

Lauren...do not feel bad...I am sure we will be arranging something soon...I think we should all take turns hosting so we can peek at each others birds and learn sooo much!

Dee... congrats on the chick...fingers are still crossed but I have more eggs when you are ready!!

If I missed you I will catch up later...so many folks yakking today!! HUGZ EVERYONE!!

 

[dixiebeast]

Oh and Free...AWSOME coop!!!

 

[CarolinaChickenKeeper]

Amy- u have to find out where the silkie doll came from.....too cute

 

[gvilledh]

Thank you for the compliment on my Marans. They are a handsome bunch. I have put several years into building this flock up for better meat production and egg layers along with great egg color. They are not show birds and I don't breed for that silliness with this breed, that's what my Cochins are for!

I breed Marans for meat and egg color, what they were bred for to start with. Oh yeah, and temperament! For anyone that has been here and been greeted by them they know what I am saying.

Lou Ann and I are both getting really excited about the new babies hatching. I keep reminding her that they may be more than 21 days since the eggs are so dark. The best thing is they should hatch over the weekend, which will be convenient for us and we won't be at work worrying about them (and believe me, our co-workers will be happy about that!). One question. We put the eggs under on a Thursday around noon. Is Thursday day one or is Friday day one? I'm thinking day 21 is this coming Thursday. I am counting Friday as day one, which make day 21 this coming Thursday. Hope I am right.