Texas

[henless]

We are up to 5 Orps so far. Two buffs, and three chocolates running around the brooder box.

I have thoughts of getting a chocolate English roo for future mauve chicks.

So.. I have awesome news. I will expand on this thought later but I am walking in to work.

We're getting a new (to us) trailer house. It's a 3/2 with a really nice kitchen and all the appliances work. Which will be awesome we haven't had a stove in almost two years. We've done a lot of bbqing. And toaster ovening. And patching holes in our current house with newspaper and spray foam.

For free.

We just have to pay the hauler to move it the five miles from their house to ours. I'm so excited I could cry. This is going to be a huge relief for John and I. Financially we were probably going to be stuck in the ugly green house for another year or so while we paid down some bills. This is HUGE. I'll give more details later.

So happy for you!

It's always good when you get to move ahead with your plans sooner than you thought.

Beautiful little chicks.....

Thanks! They look even better when their not covered in dirt. lol

Grrr. The hawk that was picking off my hens back in February finally moved on and I've had my hens back out in the pens for ranging fly control for the past 3 weeks. They've been so happy. Then, yesterday, foxes took off with 6 of them! I have lost more this year than in the 5 years I've had chickens. Its ridiculous! I'm going to set the traps tonight, but I'm not holding my breath. I usually just catch coons or my dog. Hens are going to be back to confined to the barn and the front pen.

So, now that the main coop is down to 20 hens and the 27 chicks are almost old enough to merge in (they're 14 weeks), I'm thinking of ordering some more chicks, just to have in abeyance in case I get another wipe out. Messes my plans up. I had moved my old rooster to the small coop since his son had wiped the floor with him and had him hiding in corners. Mr. Feathers is doing great with the young pullets and I know he'll be fine with the chicks when they have to come out of the brooder. My issue is that I had planned on moving the last of the originals (5 hens) in there with him, since they aren't laying much anymore, but only 1, possibly 2, is trustworthy around chicks. GAH! I need to think this through. There is a solution somewhere.

Thanks - just needed to vent a little.

Sometimes it helps to sound problems out. Makes us feel better and gives us the opportunity to look at our problems a little differently.

I usually just lay a baby gate over the top. You know the cheap ones with the wood frame and the plastic mesh stuff. You can adjust the size to the type of box and when not in use, you can use it for children or dogs! Then again, we also have a pack and play that several puppies, kittens, chickens, a goat, and children have been raised in. Didn't take long to figure out how to make a new bottom mattress for it using foam, cotton duck and plastic cut into rectangles.

I used a baby gate on my box brooder, along with a thin window curtain. It works really well on keeping the little buggers in their box.


@Starfire669 ~ Yikes!! I hope everything ends up ok at your place.


We just had another storm come through. Not as much rain as was expected, which was a relief. A tornado formed just East of us, near Marshall. Hopefully no damage or injuries occurred.

I left my babies out last night. They were 5 weeks old yesterday, and I didn't put them back in the brooder. They enjoy being out in the big coop. Now I need to start working on their permanent coop so that I will have room for some Legbars or Marans. Haven't decided which is next.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

I have thoughts of getting a chocolate English roo for future mauve chicks.

So happy for you!   It's always good when you get to move ahead with your plans sooner than you thought. 

Thanks! They look even better when their not covered in dirt. lol

Sometimes it helps to sound problems out. Makes us feel better and gives us the opportunity to look at our problems a little differently. 

I used a baby gate on my box brooder, along with a thin window curtain. It works really well on keeping the little buggers in their box.


@Starfire669
 ~ Yikes!! I hope everything ends up ok at your place. 


We just had another storm come through. Not as much rain as was expected, which was a relief. A tornado formed just East of us, near Marshall. Hopefully no damage or injuries occurred.

I left my babies out last night. They were 5 weeks old yesterday, and I didn't put them back in the brooder. They enjoy being out in the big coop. Now I need to start working on their permanent coop so that I will have room for some Legbars or Marans. Haven't decided which is next. 

Do you have a heat lamp on your 5 week olds outside? I was debating on putting mine out.

 

[henless]

Do you have a heat lamp on your 5 week olds outside? I was debating on putting mine out.

No. I have one of those Premier heating plates. They haven't been under it in a week, and off/on for the week before that. Even when I got in the 50's overnight a few days ago, they didn't get under it. I unplugged it a few days ago and let them keep themselves warm. Some are fully feathered except their heads, and some still need their back/neck feathers.

I've never used a heat lamp or brooded chicks in the house. I did last years chicks in my DH's shop for the first couple of weeks, just until we had the outdoor brooder built.

I've had them outside since the day I got them, at 3-4 days old.

Here are a couple of my splash's that are almost fully feathered. My darkest blue is almost fully feathered.




Compare those to one of my other dark blues and you can really tell the difference. Also I have a couple of splash's that look like this splash. I'm thinking maybe these are roos? I've got 2 splash and 2 blues that have a lot of feathers. One blue & 3 splash that aren't quite as feathered.

 

[orumpoultry]

Too many posts to quote. Congrats everyone on your new fluffy butts. Lots of cute chicks!

Starfire, they make life vests for dogs. Just throwing it out there in case the flash flooding hits you.

Speaking of. Hope everyone in the Wimberley area is alive and kicking this flood in the butt.

Thanks everyone for the wishes on the house. We're hopefully going to have it moved out here next month or so. Hopefully before my nephews come to spend a week with us. We've got lots of friends helping us make this happen, feeling blessed.

Even with the bad power outages we've had due to the weather, I had 20 quail hatch out of 45 set. I'll take it!!

D, I'm enjoying tales of Lucky. Even on the fly. He is missed around here. One of the EE chicks I hatched out of him looks just like him. I'll probably keep it over the pullets from that hatch.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Too many posts to quote. Congrats everyone on your new fluffy butts. Lots of cute chicks!

Starfire, they make life vests for dogs. Just throwing it out there in case the flash flooding hits you.

Speaking of. Hope everyone in the Wimberley area is alive and kicking this flood in the butt.

Thanks everyone for the wishes on the house. We're hopefully going to have it moved out here next month or so. Hopefully before my nephews come to spend a week with us. We've got lots of friends helping us make this happen, feeling blessed.

Even with the bad power outages we've had due to the weather, I had 20 quail hatch out of 45 set. I'll take it!!

D, I'm enjoying tales of Lucky. Even on the fly. He is missed around here. One of the EE chicks I hatched out of him looks just like him. I'll probably keep it over the pullets from that hatch.

Two of Lucky;s chicks are remaining here, but three are available to a good home. There is one that is him crossed with a PBR that is living in my kid's pen, made by Ken. The other that is staying is him and one of his favored EE's, a brown and yellow mix of a chick that was born a week ago last Saturday. It was given some help hatching, so it feels comfortable with people and is very docile. He has three other offspring that need to go someplace, as my kids desire to put his fertilized eggs under the broody hen knows no bounds. But, there is no doubt, he can keep the EE; population going. He is very active and fertile. He is a really cool rooster. My daughter snatched him up twice today, and he was gentle as any of the hens.

 

[chickkrzi]

Hi all, I'm just a few miles north of Waco. Looks like I'm not going to get my fence up this weekend like I had planned to. Got 90% chance of rain today. Just checked out the radar and looks like another storm is coming from the south west. Man this has got to be the wettest spring I've seen in years!

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Hi all, I'm just a few miles north of Waco. Looks like I'm not going to get my fence up this weekend like I had planned to. Got 90% chance of rain today. Just checked out the radar and looks like another storm is coming from the south west. Man this has got to be the wettest spring I've seen in years!

We got a reprieve in the afternoon yesterday and finished putting up the hardware cloth on the 16 foot run. Now, it is a matter of putting up the chicken wife on top.

 

[needlessjunk]

Hope everyone is safe! My prayers are with those in Wimberly and anyone else who got flooded. We are suppose to get another round of rain later on today. Apparently Lake Georgetown was completely full as of yesterday! Lake Travis is looking as much better too.

My patio cover is sitting in the middle of my yard. It's a swamp out there so we just took down what we could so it wouldn't fly away. That cover has served us well and hasn't moved with all the crazy wind in the last year but now the ground is so saturated the stakes can't hold it down.

I did put together my new coop for my chicks yesterday and Put another coat of sealant on it. I need to go back to Lowes for real hardware not the junk that came with it but I think it will work for my girls in my yard. I got a deal on it so I'm not complaining. I'm sure I'll build a real coop I'm just feeling lazy and don't have the time right now.

 

[wilded]

Looking for someone within 40 miles of Lampasas to incubate eggs on the halves. I have guinea, Muscovy and Barnyard chicken eggs ready to be set. I am 10 miles west of Lampasas. If interested send me a Private Message, thanks Ed

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

I managed to get the chickens out for some free range time today.

this is my broody mom a with her one chick. None of the others hatched out. Two pipped and didn't make it. This will be one spoiled chick!

aaaand my poor soggy chicken coop