TeaChick's Chicks

[TeaChick]

Hi! =)

I don't have much to say by way of update. I have seven eggs in the incubator. I haven't had a chance to candle them so I have no idea what's going on in there. Thank God for Brinsea. I don't have time to baby-sit an incubator and, even when I do have the time, I stink at it. Also, thank God for broody hens!!!

Oh, a little bit of an update on the Cochin and her chicks. We've been putting them in the large coop (where the Australorps, Barred Rocks, Peanut Butter (Golden Buff) and Onesie (single hatchling from around C-mas all sleep) during the day so they have some room to play around. =) There's a nest box in there, that a couple of NH hens were laying in, so the Cochin decided that she doesn't have enough to do w/ 8 chicks...so we took the eggs out of there. I'll have to think about whether I want her to go ahead and brood again, now that the weather is warming up. We'll see.

 

[TeaChick]

Well,we moved! =)
Much nicer house, and I like the weather better. So everybody's happier.
We were able to move all the chickens we had. We discovered that we'd lost a couple of Australorps, but that's life for free ranging chickens. We haven't lost anyone to predators at the new place and we haven't lost anyone b/c of the move. So we're super happy about that!

Now that we're settled, we'll start building coops soon. Well, as soon as school's over, in a few weeks; finals stink; we can't get any work done at that time of the term b/c the work load w/ school is so heavy.
We have hens laying all over the yard. Only one lays in the nest boxes we brought from the old place. We moved another one of them and now another hen is laying in that one. Otherwise, they're laying in flowerbeds and behind a shed. Eh, such is life with chickens, I guess. =)

I now have a little fenced-in courtyard in front of the house so I want to put a little flock of Cochin bantams in it; maybe, I'll put some other breeds of bantams, I haven't decided yet, but definitely at least a few Cochins. I want black smooth, black frizzle and red frizzle; DS calls the red frizzled ones "pine cone chickens". lol

And DH wants to get some Old English Game chickens, not bantams. DD got some bantams and they happened to be OEGB, but we lost them all. We'll get them from a better source this time and get LF ones. DH really liked how great a rooster her little boy was. Somehow, he had more hens (NH hens, mind you, huge hens he couldn't actually mate with to save his life) than the big NH rooster we have, and the NH was a good roo too. Who knows? Anyway, we'll see. I, of course, like the broodiness factor in the hens b/c I like baaaabieeeees!!! =)

That's it for me.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Must be fun going on an Easter egg hunt every day. I've got three black frizzle chicks in my order for next month, we will see how many are frizzle and how many are smooth. I like my bantam cochins. I think some silkies would mix well with them.

 

[TeaChick]

Must be fun going on an Easter egg hunt every day. I've got three black frizzle chicks in my order for next month, we will see how many are frizzle and how many are smooth. I like my bantam cochins. I think some silkies would mix well with them.

It's interesting, that's for sure. =)
I'm not having to hunt eggs anymore. I'm getting almost all the eggs in the nest box by the shed and apparently one hen is laying in the nest box in the courtyard. Beyond that, we'll probably have to start doing daily Easter egg hunts again soon, a few of the Australorps and Rocks have started laying so they should all be laying by the end of the month (I guess).

I'm starting to have chick withdrawal. I haven't gotten my incubator set up yet. I'll have to see to that soon.

 

[TeaChick]

Since I'm starting over with coops and I get to build my own with new materials, instead of just slapping together whatever I find lying around...I was hoping for some ideas from those who know.
I need to keep each of my roosters separately, which means several small/medium coops rather than one or two larger coops.
I need the design to be super simple.
I want to build two coop/run/tractor things: one for a breeding pen and one for a broody pen...Oh, and I need something to grow out cockerels in, so I guess that's three of those (but the third one won't need nest boxes).
The rest of the chickens will free range and/or be rotated in/out of the coop/run/tractor things as I use them for breeding or brooding.

I was kind of thinking 4x4 corner posts, 2x4 framing otherwise, plywood walls, fiberglass roofing???...and I'm not sure how I'm going to do nest boxes yet. Currently, I have about half of the tote nest boxes I made at the last place, but I had to leave half of them, so I've got to figure that out too.

That's all the time I have right now. Any suggestions and advice are very welcome!!! =)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We just made a temporary coop and pen for two extra roosters to spend the summer in. It's made out of a shipping crate from my husband's work, took about 2 hours. I know it's not predator proof, but is nice enough to keep them in until I need them.

 

[TeaChick]

We just made a temporary coop and pen for two extra roosters to spend the summer in. It's made out of a shipping crate from my husband's work, took about 2 hours. I know it's not predator proof, but is nice enough to keep them in until I need them.

Very cool!!! =) I like that!
I'll definitely incorporate this into our coop-building plans. We don't generally have very many extra roosters at a time either, so something this size would actually be perfect.
The fence helps deter predators.

 

[TeaChick]

I'm so, so, so sad!!!!! Since we moved very quickly, we didn't have time to figure out anything about the chickens. Now, we've come to the conclusion that we're going to have to get rid of almost all of them.

Well, I'm selling them for $5 each. The listing is in my siggie, but anyone who wants some could PM me.
They're New Hampshires, Black Australorps, Barred Plymouth Rocks; they're all hatchery birds, except the few that I have that I've hatched (either w/ a broody hen or w/ my incubator); most of them are crowing or laying, a few will be at POL soon, and there are about 8 that are between 2 and 5 months old.

Well, I'll update again, when I have news of which ones I've ended up with.

I'm glad I get to keep at least a few. I need the reduction in workload right now.

 

[TeaChick]

Wow! That eas a long time ago, huh?
Now my flock consists of a trio of Jersey Giants. My rooster thinks he's a bantam, and my preschooler thinks he belongs to her.

She has her own bantam flock of 6 pullets (varying breeds, mostly cochin, 2 porcelain bantams) and 2 silkie cockerels.

Oh! My little Jersey cockerel just started crowing the other day! I'm so excited; my Little Guy (that's his name) is growing up! In hindsight, I should have named him Andre, after the Giant. IDR, I think he was a wrestler?
Anyway, my hens have been laying for a while now. They're blue; he's black; I'm excited to see the chicks! Looking forward to spring this year!

Can't wait to see what my daughter's chicks look like too. Especially, Pinecone's chicks!❤

See y'all later!

 

[TwoCrows]

Do you have any photos?