Texas

[hensfortherapy]

It's chick day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm waiting to hear when I can go and get them. They just hatched yesterday. e

You are going to be smiling a lot today.

 

[tjo804]

Well since mine free range they make their own. They have several all over the yard. Even in large clay pots where the plant has died and I haven't replanted. They just jump up and dive in.

Shallow and wider works best. Mine like to get in the dirt together.
What is the Sulfur Dust benefits?

I am in the process of trying to get rid of mites. I want to add a small amount of sulfur to the bathing suite to make sure they do not re-infest between the Whole Ladies and coop de-mite and

Sulfur dust is good for many things not just bugs it can be used from antiseptic to snake repellant. still just learning its benefits but it is in soil amendments, bug killers and even in human acne medications.

it is a fine particle dust but can be added to water for spraying roosts and laying boxes.

like I said I am still learning the benefits and am not sure if there are side effects. Sulfur is non toxic by itself so I hope not.

 

[bnjrob]

This is something you sould always feel ok doing. Praying for each other is all we really have in this world to rely on! Sending prays for all this families!!

FYI - There have been some people on this thread that do not like mention of "God", "prayer", etc and they have run off people who dared to offend their "delicate sensibilities" and they have "tattled" on people who discussed things they did not like so that the moderators banned other people for daring to speak about such matters.

 

[bnjrob]

Ok, I have a Question!
Do any of you show chickens? If so how do you know what are show quality chicks? Where do you get show quality? What type chickens are good for showing? Yes I have been bitten by the bug and I have the addition.

Technically is no such thing as "show quality chicks". Chicken genetics is pretty complicated and you can have a hen and cock that are spectacular show winners but the genetics get thrown together in their offspring that only a couple and sometimes none of them will be "show quality". You have to wait until they are older and more developed to be able to determine how they look compared to their breed Standard. There is no perfect chicken, but the Standard is a guideline for breeders and exhibitors to use to examine their birds to see how close they come to the ideal characteristics for their breed. You can buy "show quality chicks" but at that age, they are really too young to see how they will mature, if they will have any disqualifications present (such a floppy comb in a non-floppy combed bird), and if they demonstrate good characteristics of their breed. There is a lot more to chickens than just the coloring of the feathers.

The American Poultry Association (APA) is the organization that determines what standards a chicken should meet. This is known as the Standard of Perfection (SOP).

Not every chicken breed out there has been accepted into the SOP, because chickens have to be able to "breed true" and there is a process to get a breed recognized officially and have a Standard written for it that breeders follow in order to try to get the birds to have a uniform look. If you are going to show at an APA/ABA show, you'll need a breed that has been accepted into the SOP.

For a true APA/ABA sanctioned show, you'll need to have a copy of the SOP to help you determine how your birds compare to the Standard and whether or not they have enough of the best qualities to show them. For a county fair type show, chances are they aren't going to be strict about adhering to the SOP and any pretty looking bird is likely to win. Of course even in an APA sanctioned show, if you have the only birds of a particular breed entered into the show, then chances are you'll win something just because you didn't have any competition.

It is a lot of work and education to breed birds good enough to show. I would recommend that you get a copy of the SOP, which runs about $50, and read through it carefully and keep it on the shelf ready to refer to often. There is a lot of excellent information that is pertinent to the breeding/examining of all breeds, and then there is also the individual Standards for whatever breed you might choose to raise.

 

[surfdok]

Good grief it's cold again!!! Lol

I know. Just as things were feeling nice this cold front came through, 55degrees down in the Rio Grande Valley. I had just built the rabbit hutch but the rabbits survived. The chickens seemed to like the weather, playing in the drizzle rain.

 

[aatx]

Hello, fellow Texan here - Erath county.

We're just now in the planning stages on getting into having a few chickens. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this, but right now I would like to get silkies and easter eggers. My husband would like some doms. We're thinking 6-8 total. I'd like to stay with smaller, docile birds. Need the silkies to interest me and the other one for eggs. I would not raise them for eggs alone - they'll need to be a pet aspect there, but everyone else wants eggs, so looking for a balance. We live on the land with my parents, but the coop will be much closer to our house than theirs.

I'd love to get them as chicks, but I don't think I could do all the what-ifs not knowing the sexes of the birds. (Not knowing how many to buy to get 3 hens, not knowing what to do with the males or how long it would take to determine which are males/females, etc.) So, we hope to be able to find pullets/hens. (Please let me know if you know a good source.)

We started working on the coop this weekend. We have a 4' x 8' metal shed that we are using. So far we have cut windows in the front and rear that can be sealed back up in cold weather. We covered them in hardware cloth. We have one small hole in the door for winter ventilation, but not sure if it will be enough. We framed out and cut out a pop door in the back. We got some roosts cut to size, but still need to sand them and decide on final position. We have two nest boxes (and each has two spots.)

I don't know if I have enough ventilation or not. I thought we did until I read more threads and now I am not sure.

We still need to extend the roof for rain protection, then tip the shed over and install wire on the bottom as some added protection for anything digging in. (Mainly skunks around here.) Also need to secure the roosts once we decide final position.

The shed will butt up against one of the goat pens. It has the small wire on it and parts of it are surrounded by an electric fence. It is about 60' x 100' and depending on which batch of goats is in there, they will be sharing the "run" with 2-10 goats.

We're thinking of doing sand for the flooring.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Miss Jellybean mentioned setting a bowl of chick grits out for the babies. On the package it says to wait until they are 2 weeks old. True or false? My thinking on one hand is it would be false. Mama Hen will have the babies outside scratching from the get-go.

Lisa

The risk is they will fill up with grit and not food. The grit could displace food so they can get into trouble. Also, a mama hen doesn't take them up to a bowl of grit--they might find little bits of grit here and there as they go about scratching for food, but not a bowl full of large bits of stone, all uniform in size and about the size of crumbles. They don't need grit when they eat chick starter.

 

[bnjrob]

I have one of my chicks with a bit of dirty butt. I cleaned it up and made sure the vent was clear but still has a little dry poop stuck on the feathers. I didn't want to rub hard and irritate the vent. Is there something like a bit of vasiline or something I can put on it to get it off so it doesn't build up again?

If they aren't sick, then then a common culprit for pasty butt is being too warm in the brooder. There is not anything you can put on to keep it from building up though. It's a husbandry issue usually, sometimes it's an unhealthy chick issue, depending on how old they are and their overall condition since hatching. I rarely have pasty butt. When I do, it is usually with a runty chick that just isn't thriving as well as the others - just had one this week from a new hatch and it was runty coming right out of the shell. To clean pasty butt, I run warm water and hold them in my hand with their butt under the running water and then as the poop loosens up, I can break the poop up with my fingers and not have to rub them too hard or risk pulling fluff off of them. Then they get gently toweled off with a rag and if need be, I will blow dry their butts. If you aren't putting apple cider vinegar in their water, I would recommend it. It can help keep their gi system working well. And keeps the slime from growing so fast in your water dishes - just don't use metal watering containers when you put vinegar in the water.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Some people use the plastic storage containers for Christmas Wreaths, old tires and plastic storage boxes. Even a small kiddie pool will work. Make a mixture of sandy soil and wood ash. Don't worry about the charcoal pits. It's good for them.

It's 34*! Brrr!!!!!!! Glad I brought stuff in and covered things last night.

I think I read that pasty butt was caused by a brooder being too warm.

I looked at my bag if chick grit and says to feed freely until they are 10 weeks old. No minimum age was given. Do you think I should take it out and just put a grass clump with dirt in there? I was planning on doing that in a day or two, but can do it today.

I would take it out and I would not add any grass and dirt for a couple of weeks. Give them a chance for their immune system to develop before you start adding pathogens that are in the dirt. You can dig up a clump of grass with dirt and roots and allow them to eat it. Just be careful they can't get long strands of grass as that can cause an impacted crop, even in a big chicken.

 

[bnjrob]

You can trim the little fuzz around the vent with a small pair of sewing type scissors. Olive oil can also be applied, or Vaseline. Under normal, healthy chick circumstances, I've never had to deal with it after the second day. I've personally found with healthy chicks if I give them plain, warm water when we first get them without anything extra, I feel like we don't have as much issue with pasty butt. I also don't keep the brooder as warm as some and just watch the chicks. As crazy as it sounds, the more you brood, the easier for the first couple of weeks. I would much rather have a group of 25 than 6. We've moved our chicks out at 2 weeks without heat this year, even with the cold fronts (we are in Odessa, so no rain) and no losses (other than from our dog...entire different issue...)

Sorry, that was pretty wordy for 'Yes, you can use Vaseline'

Putting stuff like that on their butts isn't a great idea. It can cause things to stick to their butts, as well as make them cold because it wets their fluff so that their fluff can't insulate well because it is matted down.