Spring 2017 first timers post!

[Merrymouse]

Chicken class sounds awesome! Not related but I want to take a bee rasing class. We want to get bees next summer

My hubby just got bee frames. They are currently sitting in a box behind my sofa in the family room. Unfortunately this is my hubby's go to spot for leaving junk he doesn't know what to do with

His laundry waiting to be folded, tools, and now bee frames

Its all good though because he's helping me build my coop so he's instantly forgiven

Not sure if he will get to the bees this spring, we are having a hard time decided where in the yard to put them. Boy our neighbors must love us.

 

[Merrymouse]

The Stork Has Landed!!!! Got the call from the Post Office came at 6 am and the chicks were being watered, individually, by 6:35 am. Was surprised at how small the box was for 16 chicks. They were in a clump of bodies but when the box was open they wanted OUT. No problem with them drinking and eating. After about 45 minutes of activity they were put under the MHP. The extra good news is that the older(5 days+/-) speckled sussex showed little interest in the newbies. Note the interest of our raccoon chaser, Raven, aka, the
mini Lap Lab. The Journey Begins. TBC, BB

So adorable! So happy for you! A couple of thoughts just from my very newbie learning experience. I would try a vertical nipple watering system. I had the same waterer as you and it was crazy trying to keep the water clean. In a couple days when you remove the towels or whatever you have on the floor those chickie babies are going to be kicking shavings or pellets or whatever all over the place. The water will get dirty like every 5 minutes. It was a little touch and go waiting for all the chicks to get used to the nipple waterer and the first night or two I did put the regular waterer back in just to make sure all chicks were getting enough water. But I watched them closely and then once they all got the hang of it I never looked back. I just bought the vertical nipple waterers on amazon. I think it came in a two pack with the screw caps already attached. Then just got a liter bottle and attached the cap. It keeps the brooder from getting wet (no coccidiousis) (spelling???) and it the chicks have constant CLEAN water. My 9 chicks drink almost the entire liter every 2ish days so then I change it out to keep it fresh and because its almost gone. I bought huge bucket with horizontal nipples for the coop so I also wanted them to get used to them from an early age. Good luck so happy for you both and Ill try to edit and post a picture in a minute....

 

[Merrymouse]

Couldn't edit from my phone @bajabirdbrain

Here is the picture or the verticals nipple waterer

I'm laughing at myself for the excessive use of duct tape

. The bottle is secured wth zip ties, elastic bands but then I had to add just a little duct tape to be sure it didn't fall down and hurt my chicks. Talk about over protective

 

[kbowman123]

I was looking at the vertical nipple water things at tractor supply store - now that I know kinda what to do with them I might have to give them a try. In the mean time my chicks are are new days old now and I put the other water thing( plastic screws on to mason jar) up on a small wood block still lower than back height with the bedding brow it and I've only had to clean it once today- much better than when it was almost nestled in the bedding

 

[bajabirdbrain]

Merrymouse: Thank you for your kind comments and advice. Concerning the nipple waterers, we are confirmed users BUT in the pictures of the brooder the conventional waterer only was shown. We ALSO had a nipple water bottle in the opposite corner. When we got the 2 speckled sussex they had already been drinking at the Country Store out of a conventional waterer. The good news is after only a couple of hours some of the newbies have found the nipple bottle and are using it, too. As we progress from the brooder box to the coop, we plan on utilizing a 5 gal bucket nipple waterer as the standard for water. Just like the mini perch/roost in the brooder, as the girls grow we will upgrade to more lady like apparatus(apparati?) Ooooo, this is fun. BB

 

[mcstewartchick]

This last baby chick looks a lot like our baby wyandottes.

I have a silver laced wyandotte and a gold laced wyandotte both, and they don't look like this chick. They are more of a brown or gray chipmunk pattern with stripey faces. I don't have an australorp yet, but she does look like the australorp chicks in the other photo. Cute baby

 

[ADVaughn]

I have a silver laced wyandotte and a gold laced wyandotte both, and they don't look like this chick. They are more of a brown or gray chipmunk pattern with stripey faces. I don't have an australorp yet, but she does look like the australorp chicks in the other photo. Cute baby

We had a set of three dark chicks that we purchased. Two were labeled wyandottes and one an australorp. For the longest time the australorp and one of the wyandottes looked a lot alike. The other Wyandottes looked different so I thought it was the aussie. Finally after a lot of consultation it was concluded that we had two blue wyandottes, one of which didn't breed true and looked black for now, and one aussie who has only now really started looking different. The chicks I was commenting on here looks like what the one aussie and one Wyandotte looked like when they were chicks.

 

[mcstewartchick]

We had a set of three dark chicks that we purchased. Two were labeled wyandottes and one an australorp. For the longest time the australorp and one of the wyandottes looked a lot alike. The other Wyandottes looked different so I thought it was the aussie. Finally after a lot of consultation it was concluded that we had two blue wyandottes, one of which didn't breed true and looked black for now, and one aussie who has only now really started looking different. The chicks I was commenting on here looks like what the one aussie and one Wyandotte looked like when they were chicks.

Got it! Interesting! So many different experiences, that is why it's fun chatting here and learning so many new things.

Here is my SLW, the silver looking chipmunk at the bottom of the photo, and a closeup of her face.

 

[ewerbos]

My hubby just got bee frames. They are currently sitting in a box behind my sofa in the family room. Unfortunately this is my hubby's go to spot for leaving junk he doesn't know what to do with

His laundry waiting to be folded, tools, and now bee frames

Its all good though because he's helping me build my coop so he's instantly forgiven

Not sure if he will get to the bees this spring, we are having a hard time decided where in the yard to put them. Boy our neighbors must love us.

My husband has been talking about bees also! But I think we decided that one type of creature (chickens) per year is plenty. He was talking about building frames/a beehouse or whatever you do, hoping that a wandering hive might show up... just in case.

 

[mcstewartchick]

I've been lurking on this thread for weeks it feels like, and I wanted to introduce myself and my babies! Got our first chicks last weekend, here they are...

We got 11 originally, we lost two on the 3rd day. Both our Iowa Blue chicks, and only those two so I think there might've been something wrong with the hatch.
Now we have 2 easter eggers, 2 wyandottes (one silver, one gold), 2 welsummers, 2 buff orps and a cuckoo maran. Here's the whole group together:


Here is my little gold laced wyandotte in the front, one of my EE, the black one is the cuckoo maran and one of my buff orps.



Another one of the group...



And my dog wondering how he is going to manage to herd these wacky little flufferbutters. He just stands there and stares, it's too funny!



Today the feed store is supposed to be getting a new batch including RIR and white leghorns, and then Saturday they're scheduled to have black australorps and barred hollands. Looking to get one of each and then my flock will be complete! For now....the chicken math is strong with this one. LOL! Looking forward to the journey with all of you!