Texas

[AmyLM]

If you want a laugh read this:

My husband is a city boy from Chennai India. I am a country girl from Washington state. Most of the time my husband has to explain over and over to his friends about his white wife... usually they bother him about have I learned to cook yet... it doesn't matter that Ive been a rather accomplished cook my entire adult life if I cant make things THEY are familiar with right? Well NOW his friends are making him explain the chickens over and over. Hes gotten pretty good at it. He rattles off the egg colors we will have and the benefits of fresh eggs in baking and how much better fresh eggs taste then goes on to explain how there REALLY IS a difference between farm birds and major producing plant eggs/meat. His friends are now demanding meat and eggs from me.... which is great... but they still arnt willing to try anything I cook.

 

[AuntGoose]

Hey AmyLM! That is great! LOL! But seriously, your hubby should write an article if he is that persuasive!

If you want a laugh read this:

My husband is a city boy from Chennai India. I am a country girl from Washington state. Most of the time my husband has to explain over and over to his friends about his white wife... usually they bother him about have I learned to cook yet... it doesn't matter that Ive been a rather accomplished cook my entire adult life if I cant make things THEY are familiar with right? Well NOW his friends are making him explain the chickens over and over. Hes gotten pretty good at it. He rattles off the egg colors we will have and the benefits of fresh eggs in baking and how much better fresh eggs taste then goes on to explain how there REALLY IS a difference between farm birds and major producing plant eggs/meat. His friends are now demanding meat and eggs from me.... which is great... but they still arnt willing to try anything I cook.

 

[AmyLM]

I think he should too. He might not want to admit it... but I think hes falling in love with the chicks. He was away from home for two days this week and called back... not to check on me... to ask how the dog and chicks were doing First thing back home after getting the dog to quiet down he went to the back bedroom to see how the chicks were.

I was waiting outside Tractor Supply at 7:45 this morning because I was told that they would have chicks in today morning... well... nope. No chickens. darn it. I really want to get some bantams to replace what I lost in shipping. I will go back at noon and hope for the best. I have a dream of putting up a coup like this just for bantams: (hubby and I have no carpentry skills so we would have to hire someone to build it...anyone in the dallas area this good?!)

Found on this site here: http://onetreephotography.com/jpthome/trevorsprojects/?p=94

 

[orumpoultry]

Chicks generally come in (to my store, at least) around 10A.M. I know our first shipment isn't until Saturday morning, plenty of people lining up begging me to hold them chicks!

Also, that coop is adorable. I would have serious coop envy.

 

[orumpoultry]

Okay guys, when is this humidity supposed to end? Where's the sunshine? ( Rain don't quit now, I'm not complaining! I just want some EGGS! ) - My ten replacement hens that I picked up from my uncle have been sick. First we treated for worms, then cocci, and now we're treating them for DON'T FLY OVER THE FENCE! The game x roo that is in there with them has taught them how to get up and over the fence. So I took a good section of it down, and am going to have to replace it. Until then, supervised outings only!

We took home the ten survivors, but only six managed to pull through multiple treatments. There's a BA that was hatched on 9/11/11 and still laying strong, an Aceel ( most likely, my best guess at least ), and four RSL hens. Currently only the BA is laying, and an egg a day at that. They're enjoying their lives outside of the pig pen, the fresh grass and all of the ROAMING room. The first day I let them out, they kept running back into the coop and hiding. The wind is blowing, BAWKKKKK. Oh no! The sunshine! BAAWKKKKKK! IS THAT A BUG! BAWK! It was funny to watch. All of the hens ducking and dodging from all the unfamiliar outdoor world sounds. Mind you, they've been in a completely enclosed hog pen next to a show cow barn their whole lives. When the owner died, they were just left there. They still refuse to lay for me, maybe if I bribe them with meal worms... Alas, everything is kicking back off.

I had hatched 30 BA and 30 EE chicks out of some eggs from my stock in Houston, we have 12 BA and 12 EE left. Accidentally left a light off on one of the pens and lost a few the first week. OOPS. I had unplugged it to move the pen, and forgot to plug it back in. Of course it would drop to 30 that night. Well, the surviving 24 are spending their first full day outside today. They're playing in the grow out coop, which is for daytime use only (it's chicken wire) and having a blast. Also picked up some RIR ( possibly PR ) chicks from the feed store on Monday. Chicken math adds up quickly! I had a few hundred before the losses of this summer,, and am already back up to...

1 pair of Clarets
1 Claret x RIR rooster
4 RSL Hens
1 BA Hen ( Who is 11 this year! )
1 Aceel Hen
7 RIR ( or PR ) pullets, 1 week old
12 BA chicks, 7 weeks old
12 EE chicks, 7 weeks old.

I hope we get at least one rooster out of each batch of chicks, so I can start breeding again. Extra roos will be going in the freezer. BUT Life is almost back to normal here at Cacklin Ranch.

 

[AuntGoose]

My Hubby and I are not real hammer skilled either, but we managed to put this together mostly with a kit and partly with imagination:

I think he should too. He might not want to admit it... but I think hes falling in love with the chicks. He was away from home for two days this week and called back... not to check on me... to ask how the dog and chicks were doing First thing back home after getting the dog to quiet down he went to the back bedroom to see how the chicks were.

I was waiting outside Tractor Supply at 7:45 this morning because I was told that they would have chicks in today morning... well... nope. No chickens. darn it. I really want to get some bantams to replace what I lost in shipping. I will go back at noon and hope for the best. I have a dream of putting up a coup like this just for bantams: (hubby and I have no carpentry skills so we would have to hire someone to build it...anyone in the dallas area this good?!)

Found on this site here: http://onetreephotography.com/jpthome/trevorsprojects/?p=94

 

[orumpoultry]

Okay, so I still have some serious mini coop envy. How many hens will it fit? If I had a small flock, that'd be perfect! It's adorable, I like it.

edited because I can't type today.

 

[AuntGoose]

Thanks! I have 5 Buff Orpingtons and 1 RR that are full grown. I cannot imagine any more in it. They share a roost inside and have just enough room for all.

Okay, so I still have some serious mini coop envy. How many hens will it fit? If I had a small flock, that'd be perfect! It's adorable, I like it. edited because I can't type today.

 

[henryholub]

Quote:


Yes I have discovered there is certainly a difference. I have not started an incubator investigation yet. I figure I'll either make one, or, if one of these bantam silkies I have turns out to be a hen, problem solved. I guess I could always just go to abilene and wait till the temp gets up to the right level out here and leave them laying in the grass, lol. You mentioned bases. I take it you are at Dyess now?

 

[Zootopia]

Yes I have discovered there is certainly a difference. I have not started an incubator investigation yet. I figure I'll either make one, or, if one of these bantam silkies I have turns out to be a hen, problem solved. I guess I could always just go to abilene and wait till the temp gets up to the right level out here and leave them laying in the grass, lol. You mentioned bases. I take it you are at Dyess now?

We have had some super pretty weather lately. We have the nets up to catch anyone who accidently gets airborne, or they'd end up in El Paso. Give me a month or so and my hens will just lay them and they'll "speed hatch" in the shade. Yes, we are retired sometime back from Dyess. Came out here from Shaw after I got back from the 1st big

desert Vacation. BTW, you'll have to bring your own grass, after last year you won't find any around here.