The ups & downs of novice chicken owners.

[therapydoglady]

Our laying hen chicks will be shipped Tuesday, and probably arrive Thursday. We have the brooder all ready, heat lamps in place, feeders, waterers, and 2 50# sacks of non-medicated chick feed, and a couple of jugs of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar. We ordered hatchery chicks for our layers: 25 Buff Leghorns, 25 gold sex links. I ordered a pair of Cochin, a pair of Buff Orpingtons, and a pair of Black Australorp, just to see which ones I like the best! I can't remember, for sure if I got a trio or a pair of the last three. Hmmmmm. I must be getting old!

We will be using my mother-in-law's brooder. It isn't pretty, but it's very comfortable for both us and the chicks, easy to clean, and there's plenty of room for them to stay under the heat lamps or move away from them as needed. She has a nipple system in place that she always used, but I can't put ACV in it, so the first couple of days, I want them to have the benefit of that. I guess I could do both and let them choose. It is up on stilts, so we don't have to bend over to work with the chicks, and has removable trays for easy cleaning. She put sand in them because it helped keep butts and feet clean, and it stays warm for a long time after sunset. Pretty neat! Radiant heat for chickens! You just dump the sand and fill it again because the entire lot is sand.

This weekend, while Bryan and the kids have been away, I have finished taking the R-panel roof off the original coop that we are going to move and repurpose materials from for BJ's Dominique coop. That is all stacked nicely near the new coop spot. And I have taken down one and a half walls, removed the nails and stacked them as well, but I'm so tired I can't wiggle, so I had to stop! I do so envy a man his muscles! The trenches to be dug for foundation and burying fences will have to be done by the men. BJ, as his Mimaw did, insists that they have to be buried to keep predators from digging under. She seldom lost animals to predation because of this, so I guess this is another of her tried and true lessons from the school of hard knocks.

Whatever got in and killed the kids' bantam chickens this past summer definitely had to go over a 6' fence, because they sure didn't dig under or go through. The first day we came back to the place and met the electric people out there to turn it on, the electric worker said he had seen a bobcat several times in that area. We have not, but it makes sense. 6' is nothing for a bobcat, and as bad as the dog was torn up after that incident...

Well, I haven't selected anything from Mr. Welling's notebook for today, but when I can sit down long enough to read some this evening, I'll either post it tonight, or in the morning.

Galanie, I don't think we'll have trouble with flooding. We dug a hole with an auger, just to see how far down the sand goes, because we thought of that, too. We have the same problem in San Antonio. The auger bit was 4', we buried it, and never hit hardpan!

Brie

 

[therapydoglady]

We ordered our laying hen chicks last week, and they will be shipped tomorrow. YEAH! The brooder is all ready, we have ACV ready for their arrival, we have feed bought, their bedding is all in place. I am excited, even though they are all hatchery chickens. I know that the Old Timers on that thread badmouth hatchery chickens, but I figure, for a novice like myself, if I'm gonna screw up, I'd rather do it on inexpensive chickens. Not that their lives are any less worthy of the best I can give them. I have a lot to learn. I'd rather learn on $1.25 chicks that $10.00 chicks!

My mother-in-law's egg producers were always hatchery chickens that she kept for no more than two years, then replaced. She rarely butchered them, tho, but gave them to someone that needed to feed their families, whether they needed eggs or meat, or maybe both!

But I have ordered either a pair or a trio (I just can't remember! I must be getting old!) of 3 breeds that I simply want to see and work with up close, that I think I may like to show at some time in the future. I ordered 25 Buff Leghorns and 25 Gold Sex Links for our layers. And then I ordered Blue Cochins, Buff Orpingtons, and Black Australorps for me. I think I've done well to narrow that vast number of chickens that are available out there to just three types. Obviously, I love the big chickens ( I always loved the BIG rabbits when we showed, too!), and I like that rounded appearance as well. The Australorps at the show in Abilene weekend before last were gorgeous! I did not see any BO's there, but a good friend in Waco has 6 in her back yard, and they are beautiful as well. And I did see a pair of Blue Cochins at the show that I just wanted to squeeze! Yes, I know what they all say about holding chickens...

Mr. Welling, when he showed large fowl, showed BO's, Pheonix (a large "ornamental" breed with looooong flowing tails. Beautiful chickens), and Sumatrans. He switched to bantams and pigeons about ten years ago, but writes: "when you decide on the breed you want, and have coops and runs prepared... and feed stored...take your time...be patient... shop around, and buy the best stock that your money can buy... It may mean a slower start to get to where you want to go, but it's worth the effort, and the satisfaction in the end is worth it too. When a cock that you raised takes Best In Show, it's worth every sacrifice."

With the kids, they've already got a jump start. I know that Samantha's d'Uccles are already show quality, and so are her Sebrights. And although BJ's Dominiques (who arrived home last night) have never been shown ( Mimaw just didn't show), they were very coveted by Adam, who does show, and he reluctantly let us buy them back, because of who my kids are, not because he didn't want the hens. He had already culled all but two of the chicks, out of 21, that were hatched this summer. And the rooster that he sent with, is unproven, but was going to be shown when he was mature enough. Adam told my husband that he expected this young rooster to be everything that he was supposed to be. That being said, the kids will have to learn to prepare their chickens for show, and learn how to handle, transport, carry, house, etc. show chickens. They are still going to be on a tight learning curve. I am pleased that they have a good start.

I may not ever show. But with the three breeds I have chosen, I can get an idea of whether or not I want to buy show quality birds. I think it's a good place to start!

Brie

 

[galanie]

Pictures! we want to see those Dominiques.

 

[therapydoglady]

I was feeding and watering the goats yesterday evening and cleaning pens when I heard a huge ruckus over in the layer pens where we had put the Doms (which I will send pictures of as soon as I can unpack my camera). I dropped everything and went running, and came upon a scene so funny that I had to lean up against the coop to keep from falling over. BJ had gone in to take care of his chickens when that rooster flogged him. "I'll get YOU, you ole...ROOSTER!" BJ yelled as he snatched a tall careless weed, taller than he is, out of the soft ground (we had just had a nice rain). BJ took off after the rooster, flailing a weed about twice as big as he is, the rooster running for all he's worth and cackling with every step. Bj worked him in this fashion for about 6 or 7 minutes, before I stepped in and stopped him.

His face beet red from his "workout," he looked into my face and in all seriousness told me it was better to get a switchin' that what Mimaw would have done to him. "OH?" I asked, trying hard to look and BE as serious as BJ was. "What was Mimaw's cure for a flogging rooster?" He made a slicing motion across his own neck with a stiff index finger and said "Squiiiiiiikkkk!"

"OH! I guess a switching IS better than that!" I said, still supressing a smile.

"Too bad he's the only rooster on the place worth havin' " was the last thing I heard him say as he walked off to get layer pellets and scratch from the feed barn.

Brie

 

[galanie]

And if that doesn't work he can always try this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/249928/bad-roo-problem-fixed-i-think

 

[therapydoglady]

Bryan arrived home after dark last night with 5 Silkies. I had wanted a couple of Silkie hens because several people on the Old Timer's thread commented on what good broody hens they were, and I wanted to set some eggs under them in case I screwed up with the incubator...which is highly possible. Anyway, it was dark, and something about them just didn't look right to me, so I kept them here at the house in backyard cages (dog crates) until I could look at them. There are no bugs that I can see, but one of the hens keep gagging, kind of. It isn't a cough. Anyway when I caught her to look closer, she has a spongy, yellowish stuff growing in her mouth, down her throat and out one of her nostrils. On closer inspection, two of the other ones do too. I got a q-tip and scraped it out this morning, thinking it was only feed packed in there and wet, but it's not feed, and the top of the one little hen's mouth is well on it's way to growing it all back. When the kids get off to school in the morning, I think I will have to dispose of these little things. I sure don't want anything like this around the other healthy chickens!

On a lighter note, someone on the Old Timer's thread, either bruceh or loanwizard I think, said that silkies looked like aliens...they do!

Brie

 

[therapydoglady]

Yesterday morning, I took a good look at the silkies. One of the little hens would act like she was gagging. Not a cough. Like she was choking on something. I picked her up and thought she had chicken feed packed into the top of her mouth, so got a q-tip and raked it out. Peeeewwww! Did it ever smell bad! It was even coming out of a nostril. It looked the same color as chicken feed, and two of the others had it too. I raked it out of their mouths as well. It was pretty gross, to went inside when I was through with them, dropped my clothes and shoes in the washer w/ soap & bleach and hit the shower.
I sure didn't want to take anything to our chickens at the pens, which is, thank goodness, three miles from the house.

I, of course posted on the Old Timer's thread (they have all been soooooo helpful!) and got a couple of opinions on what it was. Gapeworm or fowlpox. I looked it up, and the pictures were sort of like what I was seeing, but not exactly. I just thought the pictures weren't very good. Anyway, I ordered vaccine for fowlpox.

This morning, however, when I looked at the little chickens, the little hen that was the worst wouldn't stand up, and was trying hard to breath with her beak open. I picked her up and looked. Everything I had removed yesterday with the q-tip was back and then some, so I took the three with visible signs of this and chopped their heads off and buried them. It was very obvious that she was in distress, and the other two not far behind. I posted again on the Old Timer's thread, and someone said it sounded more like canker, so I looked that up, and those pictures are EXACTLY what I was seeing. Canker. The articles I read said that it could be remedied, but that the birds would always be carriers, so, when I finish this post, I will go and chop off two more heads, and bury two more chickens. I do not relish this chore, but I would not infect our healthy flock for all the tea in China, nor would I send these birds to another home to contaminate someone else's flock. It just seems the only responsible thing to do.

Until next time,
Brie

 

[galanie]

So sorry to hear that they had Canker! But glad you have good advice and that you have what it takes to do all this. You really do. Congratulations on successfully protecting your birds! Especially those irreplaceable Doms!

 

[therapydoglady]

I PROMISE I will get pictures of them posted. There are still boxes and boxes of stuff I haven't unpacked, and although I have not gone to "work" yet, I don't seem to have enough hours in the day to do all I need to do. I was supposed to do some unpacking over the weekend when Bryan had both kids and I was by myself, but I looked at those boxes, and just couldn't do it. I went and tore down my mother-in-law's old chicken house instead and pulled nails and screws out of boards. Our clothes are unpacked, and our, sheets & towels & some kitchen stuff - enough to get by. Somehow, my heart just isn't in it. Even this is my mother-inn-law's computer, her e-mail addy, etc. I just haven't done everything I need to do, and you know what? I don't care!
I'm having fun with the chickens & goats!

Brie

 

[galanie]

LOL I know exactly what you mean. My house is a wreck. And guess what I do about it? I go outside and work in the yard or the coop or something. It's peaceful.