Utah!

[Whittni]

Whittni, congrats on your babies..I love the mama hen, what is she? The black one.

Whittni, seeing those pictures of your broodies just made my night last night. Thanks for sharing them. What breed is your little black hen? I want to guess Minorca, but I honestly don't know

She's cute.

Ava is a Rosecomb Bantam, about the size of an Old English Bantam.

 

[the-bird-man]

in the past i had major issues with kidney stones, best thing to do is mix lemon juice with water and drink it, the acid helps break down the stones.

for lice if you do not heat your coop the cold will kill them off but that does not stop them in the summer, remember they can get them from wild birds and other animals. i use de too and never have a problem.

 

[Cynthia12]

Yep, DE for buggies.

Lisa, I'm going to get some of that spray you have talked about. Sounds like good stuff. I have been putting the DE in there, but it's hard to get in most of the cracks, so, thinking .. yeah... spray!

 

[auntie hattie]

Whittni I forgot to say congrats on your new little chicks! They are super cute. It is so much fun seeing the little mother hens take care of them too. Have fun.

I've got my son in law coming now to help this weekend. I promised them some golfing too.

The roof isn't so much for the snow as it is for rain. When it rains it comes into the run all around about two feet. Then the sand gets all wet and it starts to smell if it doesn't dry out. Not to mention the food getting wet too. I'm going to have them built the roof out with an over hang of about a foot. Hope that helps.
The weather here is getting so nice. Only in the 90's during the day and 60's at night. So now is the time around here to do outdoor projects. I was suppose to replant my garden for fall but the chickens have been enjoying it so much I can't bring myself to kicking them out of it again. I might just section off an area and plant kale for them.

Here's some pictures from the girls today



Minkie the partridge Silkie is still getting her head feathers in from her molt. Her body is huge compared to her head. Haha




My little Purdy. You can't even tell I cut any feathers on her but she can!

 

[jesusfreak806]

question for everyone tonight.. i have a aunt that is going to give us a laying hen. what is the best way to introduce her to the current flock? mine are about 5 months old.

 

[Whittni]

Through a fence. A dog kennel works well or any cage of some sort. Keep her their for a few days at the least.

 

[themadchicken]

quarantine her for at least two weeks. look for any disease or bugs. after that get some wire and make her an area inside the other girls run and leave her for a couple weeks so they all get to know each other but can not hurt each other. once you mix her it will take a week or so of arguing and some fighting until everyone knows their place. i know it seems like a lot of work but if you love chickens then it will turn into a lot of fun and you will learn the best way to do this over the years. but every once in awhile you will get one that just wont mix, don't worry its not your fault its just the way life happens.GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!!

 

[SashaT]

Oh my goodness beautiful eggs! Love the coops! So much is happening on here. I need to check more often!
Sasha your little Polish you gave me she has just been staying in the same spot and we were having to put her in front of the food and water because she wasn't eating and drinking unless we did. I have been pretty worried about her. Anyway I started wondering if she just couldn't see at all and with it being a new place she didn't know where things were. So it killed me to cut her feathers back but I couldn't believe she had so many over her eyes I know now she couldn't see! Her head feathers are so full and huge! Poor little thing. I feel so bad it took me this long to figure it out. She is a different bird now. She goes everywhere and has been eating on her own. We love her! She has really helped me move on from losing my Gertie. Thank you so much!
So this weekend we are going to attempt to put a roof over the run. I just have a tarp over it right now. Then we are going to put up lattice over the garden area that the chickens LOVE to get into. Ever since we have had the hawk we have that comes into our backyard we have had bird netting up but it is getting messy with leaves and flowers dropping from the trees here. So we are going to make a more permanent covering. It will help the garden too because we get so hot here.
Hope this all made sence! It is late. Goodnight everyone.

Aww, Jill, I'm so glad you love Purdy. I figured you would probably end up having to trim some of those hat feathers eventually...she has a TON! I'm happy she's got such an awesome, loving home with you.

Edit: Just saw your pictures-aww! All your girls are so pretty, and Purdy sure looks happy being able to see.

 

[Sphinx]

Hattie, I just love your flock. They are so gorgeous! I think even if you do plant them some kale, you'll have to keep them out of there for a while for it to really take off and grow before they start nibbling.

JesusFreak, the others gave you the very best advice. That's the very best way to do it. However, I understand that sometimes that just isn't possible. So, I would check the hen over very carefully for lice or mites or any other disease. Then, if you HAVE to put her in with the rest right from the get go, stick her in the henhouse at night when everyone is sleeping.

 

[aravis227]

Thank you for all the thoughts for my husband. I've also heard that they usually re-occur...although my dad only had one bought of them many years ago and hasn't had problems since so I'll just hope for him!

Also thank you for the all the comments about the DE! I'll definitely be using it. I have a couple of coop questions since we're hopefully starting ours this week. Do you insulate your coops? Do you heat them in the winter?