Climbingalbatross
Chirping
- Jul 25, 2022
- 90
- 81
- 96
I am new the this forum and look forward to learning more about my own flock and assisting others with troubleshooting issues. The information regarding my chickens is as follows:
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I opted to start my first flock September 2020 as a Covid hobby by purchasing 4 of Sherri Minkner's famous silkie and satin chicks. I purchased 4 sexed standard sized chicks to grow with the other chicks. On my birthday Oct 23rd, my boyfriend drove me out to the breeder with silkies and satins to purchase 3 more chicks (resulting in my future roo Firefly). Out of my 7 chicks, 5 became males and 2 females. I sold the cucukoo silkie roo, Prince, to a breeder who actually happened to be waiting for Sherri's silkie/satin chicks to be available. She drove 2 hours roundtrip to pick-up little Prince. I moved 4 of the roos (Firefly, Chicken Little 1.0, Bow Peep, and Chicken Hawk) for $20 as a group to a chicken horder who ended up with 2 of the roos dying after 3 months. I brought back Firefly, a beautiful black with silver frizzle satin roo, and purchased 5 more ladies for him (who go broody every other month).
I waited to purchase chicks while for my boyfriend to build a 10-hen Omlet with a 12-foot run. I've since extended it with the Omlet fencing, dog house (as a coop), modified cabinet coop, and feeders/waters. I also opted on a second flock when Firefly's son, Chicken Little 2.0 (hatched August 2021), after seeing his beautiful smooth satin red feathers and opting to keep his half-sister Eggatha, a blue frizzle satin. The second flock ended up with an extra large dog house that includes a door and self-heating dog bed. The backard cover includes pull down blinds and the dusting bath a pop-up tent. The dog run with a second wooden coop and run inside was the orginal housing for Chicken Little 2.0 and Eggatha, but has since become a grow out cage for my chicks after they leave the broody hen and young chick room inside my home.
Baby gates and fencing prevent fights by separating the two roos on separate sides of my yard. Daddy Firefly didn't mind Chicken Little 2.0 for the first 5 months of free ranging. Chicken Little 2.0 tried to step-up to big daddy and lost most of his crest as a consequence. I assumed he might have been scalped after arranging for my boyfriend's sister, a vet tech for standard pents, to view and disinfect the bloody injury. I thought for sure he would need stitches, but the avian vet assured me he wasn't scalped and would only need neosporin for 1 week on the wounds. Since the fight earlier this year, I have bought more silkie hens for Chicken Little 2.0, so he too will enjoy a 7 hen flock.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now? 14 hens, 2 roos, 2 outdoor chicks, 16 indoor chicks, and 3 eggs ready to hatch in 7 days
(3) What breeds do you have? 3 Bantam Cochins, 4 Satins, and 9 Silkies
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens? Spoiling the little cuties while learning about them.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? Climbing (indoors mainly), hiking, and gardening
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I am an underwriter in low-income housing for families and the homeless. My son will be 21 this year and calls my yard the ranch. I live with my boyfriend who built most of the chicken and gardening structures in my yard. My other pets include 2 female calico short haired cats, Sun Shine and Shyla, and 1 male gray short haired tabby cat, Bubbles.
I adopted 6 month old Bubbles after my standard sized hens pecked a hole on his bum Jan 2021 and my neighbors confirmed that the previous owners moved away. I sold the standard sized hens March 2021 because they were terrorizing my new cat (who would escape outdoors periodically) and bantams, opting to focus on bantam Cochins and Silkies exclusively. Poor little Prince wanted to exclusively mate with a larger Americana hen, Tina. Prince would follow Tina around while tap dancing and tid bitting little pieces of leaf for her to eat. Tina, not wanting a little admirer, would rush over to the larger Wellsummer hen who acted as her body guard. The Wellsummer would chase away Prince, while tearing out his crest and tail feathers. Prince received most of the abuse before I sold him, but the standards also bullied the other smaller hens by blocking food and water. I have since learned that a larger backyard size is needed to successfully raise bantams and standards together (even if they grew up in the same bin). The Wellsummer after pulling feathers would find that this type of power wouldn't be easily relinquished, so I would isolate her routinely until her flock moved onto a new home. Of course, this is before I found out about no-peck solutions (grape taste is really unpleasant for them).
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I opted to start my first flock September 2020 as a Covid hobby by purchasing 4 of Sherri Minkner's famous silkie and satin chicks. I purchased 4 sexed standard sized chicks to grow with the other chicks. On my birthday Oct 23rd, my boyfriend drove me out to the breeder with silkies and satins to purchase 3 more chicks (resulting in my future roo Firefly). Out of my 7 chicks, 5 became males and 2 females. I sold the cucukoo silkie roo, Prince, to a breeder who actually happened to be waiting for Sherri's silkie/satin chicks to be available. She drove 2 hours roundtrip to pick-up little Prince. I moved 4 of the roos (Firefly, Chicken Little 1.0, Bow Peep, and Chicken Hawk) for $20 as a group to a chicken horder who ended up with 2 of the roos dying after 3 months. I brought back Firefly, a beautiful black with silver frizzle satin roo, and purchased 5 more ladies for him (who go broody every other month).
I waited to purchase chicks while for my boyfriend to build a 10-hen Omlet with a 12-foot run. I've since extended it with the Omlet fencing, dog house (as a coop), modified cabinet coop, and feeders/waters. I also opted on a second flock when Firefly's son, Chicken Little 2.0 (hatched August 2021), after seeing his beautiful smooth satin red feathers and opting to keep his half-sister Eggatha, a blue frizzle satin. The second flock ended up with an extra large dog house that includes a door and self-heating dog bed. The backard cover includes pull down blinds and the dusting bath a pop-up tent. The dog run with a second wooden coop and run inside was the orginal housing for Chicken Little 2.0 and Eggatha, but has since become a grow out cage for my chicks after they leave the broody hen and young chick room inside my home.
Baby gates and fencing prevent fights by separating the two roos on separate sides of my yard. Daddy Firefly didn't mind Chicken Little 2.0 for the first 5 months of free ranging. Chicken Little 2.0 tried to step-up to big daddy and lost most of his crest as a consequence. I assumed he might have been scalped after arranging for my boyfriend's sister, a vet tech for standard pents, to view and disinfect the bloody injury. I thought for sure he would need stitches, but the avian vet assured me he wasn't scalped and would only need neosporin for 1 week on the wounds. Since the fight earlier this year, I have bought more silkie hens for Chicken Little 2.0, so he too will enjoy a 7 hen flock.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now? 14 hens, 2 roos, 2 outdoor chicks, 16 indoor chicks, and 3 eggs ready to hatch in 7 days
(3) What breeds do you have? 3 Bantam Cochins, 4 Satins, and 9 Silkies
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens? Spoiling the little cuties while learning about them.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? Climbing (indoors mainly), hiking, and gardening
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I am an underwriter in low-income housing for families and the homeless. My son will be 21 this year and calls my yard the ranch. I live with my boyfriend who built most of the chicken and gardening structures in my yard. My other pets include 2 female calico short haired cats, Sun Shine and Shyla, and 1 male gray short haired tabby cat, Bubbles.
I adopted 6 month old Bubbles after my standard sized hens pecked a hole on his bum Jan 2021 and my neighbors confirmed that the previous owners moved away. I sold the standard sized hens March 2021 because they were terrorizing my new cat (who would escape outdoors periodically) and bantams, opting to focus on bantam Cochins and Silkies exclusively. Poor little Prince wanted to exclusively mate with a larger Americana hen, Tina. Prince would follow Tina around while tap dancing and tid bitting little pieces of leaf for her to eat. Tina, not wanting a little admirer, would rush over to the larger Wellsummer hen who acted as her body guard. The Wellsummer would chase away Prince, while tearing out his crest and tail feathers. Prince received most of the abuse before I sold him, but the standards also bullied the other smaller hens by blocking food and water. I have since learned that a larger backyard size is needed to successfully raise bantams and standards together (even if they grew up in the same bin). The Wellsummer after pulling feathers would find that this type of power wouldn't be easily relinquished, so I would isolate her routinely until her flock moved onto a new home. Of course, this is before I found out about no-peck solutions (grape taste is really unpleasant for them).
Glad you joined.
