Texas

[harley1975]

Welcome from Tyler Texas or should I say whitehouse. I ordered 36 chickens from ideal to be here the 1st of May. If you live in Texas their shipping is very low. This will be my 1st time getting chicks so I am hoping it works out fine.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Just bought two 2-month-old pullets! I believe they are buff orpingtons, but they might be mixes. Either way, they are really cute!

I decided to put them with New Year's Eve chick and they are eating together now. Hopefully, he'll show them the ropes. One of them is super spunky and tried to pick a fight with a huge Brahma hen, haha!

Don't you quarantine? The two Cochins I bought from a breeder/judge are still in quarantine after a month. All it takes is for one of your new birds to have something like mites, and you will have a major headache getting rid of them. These new birds have been stressed, so any disease they might be harboring/successfully fighting off or exposed to could show up in the next few weeks. They might bring pathogens that are normal for the flock they came from (and they are immune to) but are new to your flock which might become sick. Or, vice versa, your flock is immune to the pathogens on your property, but these new chickens are not and could get sick.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

That is one ugly looking chicken!

You talked me into them.

He is gorgeous. I can have peacocks where I live. I've thought about them. They like to wander too much though.

It's been an hour....

Tamina - IB Peahen



Tulsa - IB Peahen



Ms. Jellybean - Mine have never free ranged. I keep them in a large covered chain-link dog kennel and they do just fine. I recently bought them a 2nd dog kennel to add on to theirs (it'd make their pen 20+ ft long and 10 ft wide), but I'm having to use it as a goose pen at the moment.

Just bought two 2-month-old pullets! I believe they are buff orpingtons, but they might be mixes. Either way, they are really cute!

I decided to put them with New Year's Eve chick and they are eating together now. Hopefully, he'll show them the ropes. One of them is super spunky and tried to pick a fight with a huge Brahma hen, haha!

Edit: Here is a pic of NYE chick and his new lady friends.



NYE chick is on the left (he's such a nice red color. Definitely an RIR).



I'm letting them sleep outdoors tonight. It's a bit cold but I think they'll be fine together.

To think that each of those pullets were only $5 and NYE chick was given to me. Yay for valley prices!

Pretty pullets!

Blessings -

~ Aspen

 

[TexasLisa]

Welcome from Tyler Texas or should I say whitehouse. I ordered 36 chickens from ideal to be here the 1st of May. If you live in Texas their shipping is very low. This will be my 1st time getting chicks so I am hoping it works out fine.

Welcome from Rosenberg!! What kind of chicks did you order?

Don't forget the pictures--we LOVE pictures!

Lisa

 

[jajeanpierre]

Tamina - IB Peahen




Ms. Jellybean - Mine have never free ranged. I keep them in a large covered chain-link dog kennel and they do just fine. I recently bought them a 2nd dog kennel to add on to theirs (it'd make their pen 20+ ft long and 10 ft wide), but I'm having to use it as a goose pen at the moment.

For those thinking of peacocks, they are noisy and sound alarms for everything that is not right in their world, including big trucks driving down the road and strangers walking on the road. Their call sounds like a woman screaming, "Help! Help!" Unless penned, they do wander and do damage to neighbors' gardens and property. My next door neighbor's peacocks used to go sit and poop all over another neighbor's garden furniture on their front porch. They had to go across two properties and up a big hill to get there. My own garden was covered by the previous owner to keep the peacocks out. They often sit (and poop) on roof tops.

Peacocks are fabulous alarm birds, and my own parrots and chickens pay attention to the alarm calls of the peacocks next door. I think peacocks are pretty smart about flying predators. My scarlet macaw (a really big bird) swooped just over the head of a peacock the other day, and the peacock paid it no attention. My parrots are outside most of the year 24/7 and fly free a lot, but still, they are a big bird and this macaw just buzzed over the big male peacock's head. He didn't care. If a hawk is in the area, everyone knows about it.

I do like peacocks, but I think my roosters are more than enough bother for my neighbors.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

For those thinking of peacocks, they are noisy and sound alarms for everything that is not right in their world, including big trucks driving down the road and strangers walking on the road. Their call sounds like a woman screaming, "Help! Help!" Unless penned, they do wander and do damage to neighbors' gardens and property. My next door neighbor's peacocks used to go sit and poop all over another neighbor's garden furniture on their front porch. They had to go across two properties and up a big hill to get there. My own garden was covered by the previous owner to keep the peacocks out. They often sit (and poop) on roof tops.

Peacocks are fabulous alarm birds, and my own parrots and chickens pay attention to the alarm calls of the peacocks next door. I think peacocks are pretty smart about flying predators. My scarlet macaw (a really big bird) swooped just over the head of a peacock the other day, and the peacock paid it no attention. My parrots are outside most of the year 24/7 and fly free a lot, but still, they are a big bird and this macaw just buzzed over the big male peacock's head. He didn't care. If a hawk is in the area, everyone knows about it.

I do like peacocks, but I think my roosters are more than enough bother for my neighbors.

True. However, we live way out in the boonies and our neighbors are several miles down the road, so nobody gets bothered by noise. My peafowl are very quiet for the most part (they will be two years old this June), the only time they scream "Help Help!" is usually in the morning after I let them out, or if something is amiss. I can hear them calling all the way inside, but they hardly ever call, and when they do I know there must be something wrong.

Blessings -

~ Aspen

 

[lovingmyhens]

There was a neighborhood featured on the news here in Houston just the other day. The neighborhood is north of Houston if I remember correctly, but they were talking about how this neighborhood had 20-30 peacocks and they had been around for something like 50 years. No one really new. The people that were interviewed said they thought the peacocks had been pets at one time. But they peacocks just wondered around the neighborhood. They are truly the most beautiful birds. God was at his mist creative when he created them!

 

[tcmstalcup]

25 babies arrived alive and well from ideal this morning!!! 15 barnavelders and 10 wyandottes. Overnight from accross the state.

 

[LBejaran]

Don't you quarantine?  The two Cochins I bought from a breeder/judge are still in quarantine after a month.  All it takes is for one of your new birds to have something like mites, and you will have a major headache getting rid of them.  These new birds have been stressed, so any disease they might be harboring/successfully fighting off or exposed to could show up in the next few weeks.  They might bring pathogens that are normal for the flock they came from (and they are immune to) but are new to your flock which might become sick.  Or, vice versa, your flock is immune to the pathogens on your property, but these new chickens are not and could get sick.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

To be fair, the introduction wasn't very stressful. They were in a car for 5 minutes, then they were brought to meet a single chick (who had been separated for 2 months by himself because he had been with snakes and was too small to be outside in the cold). They did "meet" the rest of the hens, but not for long because I was feeding them. Essentially, they were introduced to a chick who had been quarantined. They aren't going to be close to the rest of the flock right now, anyway.

I do it based on the situation. I checked for mites/lice/bugs with the magnifying glasses I use for painting eggs. After that, I base it all in how they were kept. These chicks weren't with a flock. They were in their own quarantined area, separated from the flock that the rancher did have.

I separate older chickens that have been in their own flocks. I don't separate ducks because from my experience, they are hardier than chickens. If I got turkeys again or some other sort of quail, I'd definitely separate them because of how delicate they can be.

This isn't satisfactory for some people, I know. However, I've had really good luck with introducing new birds to the flock. Though, I'm not sure if I should call it luck. I'm being careful without being too careful. It's interesting, though, because every time I introduce chickens from the Valley to my flock, there are never issues. But bringing birds from other places like San Antonio just doesn't happen as seamlessly. Must be the air, haha!

I don't worry unless I need to. No one has died yet!

 

[MocFarm4]

So glad they arrived alive and well! I'm so worried about my chicks coming next week! 3 Golden Laced Polish .2 Black Frizzle Cochin Bantam , 2 Buff Silkie Bantam .2 Partridge Silkie Bantam , 2 White Silkie Bantam , 4 Salmon Faverolles .