Spring 2011 RAISE-A-LONG!

[foREVer]

Some have their hatch-a-longs so they have others hatching with them, we need a raise-a-long so we can raise our chicks together!

Here you can share about:
Coop concerns
Introduction concerns
Stories and pics of your new chicks
First egg experiences
And anthing else related to your babies growing up!

Remember to have fun!

 

[foREVer]

My chicks!

I got 16 little fuzzy butts on March 9th from TSC, and I got:

2 mystery bantams (Suspected to be Old English Games)
4 Buff Bantam Brahmas (May be Cochins judging by their combs)
3 Silver Laced Wyandottes
3 Gold Laced Wyandottes
And 4 black mystery pullets (I am thinking 3 of them are Barred Rocks)

Their names are:
Jeffy
Frisbee
Trippy
Spanky
Tippy
Nubby
Hammy
Cheesy
Swissy
Squishy
Pinkly
Slappy
Dippy
Zacky
Lefty
Righty

 

[bjengel]

OK, I guess I will go second:

We have finally dived in and as of yesterday afternoon, are the proud owners of 8 little day old chicks out of the "assorted pullet" bin at TSC.

I've been lurking on this thread and site for about a year now since my boys and I started talking last spring about getting chickens. Everything has been going good in the brooder and they all made it through the nite, - temp is pretty good (about 95 degrees) and they have all been eating and drinking fine. One had a bit of poo stuck to his butt this morning (not a full-blown case of pasty-butt by any means, but I figured better take care of it now before it does get worse).

This is my very first time ever owning chickens, so we're learning as we go, but after continuously lurking on this site for the last year, I feel pretty comfortable............... now it's just time to try and figure out and settle on what type of coop to build - there are just so many different styles and choices.

The absolute worst part though is being stuck here at work all day and wondering about the chicks.............. are they all ok, is the temperature ok, etc. etc.................

I'll try and take some pictures tonight when I get home and post them and maybe try and determine what breeds I have, as I mentioned, all the bin said at TSC was "assorted pullets". Four of the chicks are a yellow/buff color (oh please, please, please let them be Buff Orpingtons) and the other four are mainly black with yellow underbellies. I was hoping for Barred Rocks, but they don't have the white mark on the top of their heads, so I don't think they are Barred Rocks.

My biggest concern right now is the coop - as I stated above, I'm just overwhelmed at all the different style coops there are and what kind I should build. Everybody says to look at the coop design pages on this site and it just confuses me so much more, I'm sure I'll come up with something and figure it out, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about it now!!!

- Brian

 

[foREVer]

bjengel-

Welcome to the thread!

I am pretty concerned about a coop myself. So far mine is just an old shed with a poor-conditioned run attatched to it from my last flock, who sadly passed. I will be posting updates about the construction of my coop, and maybe that can give you a few ideas

The interior of the coop is 10x10, but I think I am going to make the area around the door a storage area for food, etc. I am even planning on fiding a mini fridge off craigslist for eggs, but that isnt exctly necessary

Another thought of mine is linoleum flooring for easy cleaning.

At this point, my goal is for my coop to be a chicken paradise.

 

[Knittycat]

I've got my chickies listed in my sig. My daughter has been rather...creative (or uncreative?) with names suggesting Britteny, Riley (her friend from pre-k. She has had 4 pets named riley to date), and of all things Oceana.

So our blond EE is Britteny, and I nixed Riley (we have too darn many rileys as it is), and Oceana. LOL
I'm waiting on the rest of their personalities to develop before I name them.
The coop is 3/4 done and they are a week/10 days old.
I love my little peepers!

 

[Peep Talk]

FoREVer, this is an awesome idea for a thread! I'm sure there are many of us who have come down with the TSC chick bug!

I, myself, have gotten numerous chicks from TSC in the past two weeks, and I fear I might be in trouble since chick days don't end until May.

But, in the past two weeks I have become the proud chick mom of the following :
8 Pekin Ducklings
3 Khaki Campbell ducklings

21 Assorted bantams to include: silkies, gold and silver sebrights, porcelain d'uccles, cochins, OEGB, mottled japanese, and buff brahma
21 Assorted colors of Easter Eggers (saw the multiple colors and just had to have one of each color

)
24 Assorted sex links including: gold comets, production reds, amberlinks and black
6 Speckled Sussex

So far that's all I have from TSC, but they made the fatal mistake today and told me that they will be getting in a different specialty breed every week, and they will be getting more bantams every week as well! I think my DH is going to build me a loft in the coop once he finds out how many chickens he has to build a new coop for!

Oh, and did I mention that I put 49 eggs in my bator on the 4th from my flock??

Pictures to come soon

 

[foREVer]

Quote:
Thanks! I ws bored, and thought BYC needed another thread

No fair!

I was literally at TSC for two hours trying to find silkies, but had no luck. Instead I just picked out a bunch of colorful/interesting looking ones, and ended up with these guys

I would load up my 'bator myself, but there is still snow around here, so I was afraid of having any eggs shipped.

I am SO jealous of your line-up of chicks! I would be getting more every week myself, but the only problem is that I'm in High School, and my mom makes ME pay for it! (She is beyond fed-up with my chicken addiction

)

 

[BrynnRDH]

Hi guys! We had chickens when I was growing up, but this is the first time I've ever raised them on my own! This Tuesday I got 3 chicks from the feed store: one Welsummer, one Buff Orpington, and one Easter Egger. So far they're doing great! They've got cute little wing feathers and are starting to get little tail feathers. As far as the coop, we're turning an old storage cabinet in our garage into one. Yesterday we detached it from the wall, added a bunch of 2x4s to the frame for support, added a roost, and made the little ramp. We still need to add a nesting box, some plywood for the back (it was attached to the garage wall and didn't have a back panel on it) and a pop door, and some latches to lock the cabinet doors shut. We'll open the cabinet doors and reach in to collect the eggs. I saw a coop online that was very similar, and they had netting hung down inside the door so the chickens couldn't fly out when they collected the eggs.

Right now I'm really worried that one of my chicks will turn out to be a rooster!

 

[itsjustjen]

Adding myself to the thread. First round of chicks are growing like weeds and have already taken over the box they were in. Making them a spiffy and much larger brooder tomorrow!

Have ( so far that is )

2 orpingtons
1 red mystery chick
1 Blue Swedish

Small but funny little flock

 

[foREVer]

Quote:
I think I might have a couple of roosters myself, but every spring there is a poultry auction/trade at the local fairgrounds, and that is where I find all of my funky breeds and sell my roosters. Try checking craigslist, your local paper, or fairgrounds webpage for info about poultry swaps and auctions.

That is a great idea for a coop! I think I might try that idea for nesting boxes myself! For being one who will turn stuff my family is going to throw away into chicken stuff, I can't believe I never thought of that for nesting boxes.