Washingtonians

[Nyrial]

So it's supposed to be pretty cold tonight I guess. (

)

I'm worried about my turkey hen, she's sitting under the Rhodies in my front yard on eggs. Do you think she'll be okay? Will the eggs be okay?

ETA: asked in turkey forums too.. not sure how many turkey peeps we have here.

 

[Illia]

What's the biggest challenge? Umm. . . Loss. I've had a lot of losses, but they were only because our first chickens in WA were given from friends . . . They ended up having a disease, and when we bought more chicks from a hatchery, we lost a LOT of them. So, we ended up culling the chickens given to us. . . I didn't end there. The bacteria stayed in anything the chickens touched, and we had to get EVERYTHING cleaned, thrown out, redone, etc. We also had to seperate and cull any bird who got sick afterwords. NOT fun.

Otherwise, nothing else really. I looove my chickens, and of course am in the middle of getting more. Got 32 currently, with over 40 eggs in the incubator, due in 10 days, and more than 30 eggs arriving after they hatch.

Ofcourse, less than or about half my eggs will actually hatch.

 

[TheReidHomestead]

I'm worried about my turkey hen, she's sitting under the Rhodies in my front yard on eggs. Do you think she'll be okay? Will the eggs be okay?

I don't know anything about turkey's, but I hope she'll do ok!!


Hmmmmmmmmm....the biggest challenge I would say is not going overboard in the number of birds we have.

We are down to 25 outside, we have 10 in the brooder box and 30+ eggs on their way...........

It's all about self-control I guess!

Tamara​

 

[ChristinaMae]

Quote:
For me the biggest challenge was the initial cost - building a coop and run, buying feeders, waterers. Then in the fall we had predator issues - I just don't free range anymore. I may again in the future, if we are ever able to completely fence our property. Currently the only challenge is restraining myself from adding more chickens, or any other birds.

It's like a snowball effect. We just started with chickens last year. We got 5 EE's and 5 Buff Orpingtons, lost one EE as a chick, and 5 of the others to predators. We just added 3 more EE's and 3 more BO's, so we're back to 5 of each now. Plus we got 3 ducklings. I still want more chicks. Ideally I would like 16-20 hens total and 4-5 roos, and I think I might like to get some geese next spring...

Self control: I have none.

Also, welcome to BYC!

 

[StevenMNielson]

HOORAY! I just found out that I won an auction for two 1yr old RIR! Looks like my farming days are here! I am sure that I will want to hatch my own in the future, but it seemed like an easy introduction to get some mature hens up front - and what better way than to pick up a few one year olds who lay an egg a day?!?

Before I pick them up (hopefully this weekend), I need to finish the coop. It is about 20% right now (converting half of my shed and about 16x6 of land for a run. Is that enough for two birds? Is that overkill for two?

Also, can two birds share the same nest for laying eggs? I was thinking of just building two, but if I can do with one...

Finally, will I need a lower hatch to let the birds out, or can it stay open to let them freely travel to and from the run? I don't want to sleep in one day and miss letting the girls out (I know - I am absolutely new to this...)

Pointers?

 

[Nyrial]

You can never have overkill on the space.

I think 4sq feet is the general rule for coop space and 10sq feet is general rule for run, or something like that.

Besides, the bigger you build it, the more chickens you can get!

(we're total enablers here)

ETA: They can share a nest box. I have 5 for 12 hens, but all of them end up laying in 2. You might want to give them 2 so they can pick the "best" one. Because they aren't all the same or anything

I wouldn't worry about sleeping in and not letting them out "on time" We let the girls out between 4 and 5 am during the week, but don't get around to letting them out till 7 or 8 on the weekends. They forgive you when you feed them. We have a pop door, but nothing fancy or automatic.

 

[Frogchickrincess]

Quote:
I have EExPolish - They lay colored eggs and have tophats, but since I don't have a polish roo . . . No purebreds for sale. Just my 4 girls. I can't wait until that changes though!

Down the road the EExPolish will be crossed back to Polish again to null out the EE looks and get a true colored egg laying tophat.

Oh, and I live a LONG way from you. . .

But in reality I consider you "close" to me compared to the rest of these members,

I think the closest is Weaveagarden, and the closest drive for me to get eggs and chickens for sale is 4 hours away.

Illia,
I am thinking about ordering some chicks from cackle I think 25 in like 54.00, not to sure but they are all different colors and St run, with my luck Iwill get alot of Roo's, Oh if I do I will let you know. Oh and U R not that far just 2 hours away, lol!

Has anyone here ordered fron cackle?

 

[RonB]

StevenN
Yep, the biggest challenge for me was the initial cost for set up. I bought $30.00 worth of chickens and it cost me $400.00 to get set up (coop,run feeders,waterers electric fence ect...)
I agree with Nyrial, you can NEVER have too much space

As far as nest boxes go. One box will be ok for two chickens. When I built my coop it was easier for me to just build five boxes in a row along one wall. I have nine hens. Today I got NINE eggs. Four in one box, three in another and two in one. They seem to use the first and last box the most. One day I went into the coop and a hen was in one box and another was outside of it screeming at the first one to get out of the box

. it was funny to watch
I think they say one box for every three chickens

My chickens get let out of the coop into the run, anywhere from 7:00am to 10:00am. I think I will start leaving the pop door open in another month.
they can take the cold ,just not the draft

 

[Illia]

Quote:
I have EExPolish - They lay colored eggs and have tophats, but since I don't have a polish roo . . . No purebreds for sale. Just my 4 girls. I can't wait until that changes though!

Down the road the EExPolish will be crossed back to Polish again to null out the EE looks and get a true colored egg laying tophat.

Oh, and I live a LONG way from you. . .

But in reality I consider you "close" to me compared to the rest of these members,

I think the closest is Weaveagarden, and the closest drive for me to get eggs and chickens for sale is 4 hours away.

Illia,
I am thinking about ordering some chicks from cackle I think 25 in like 54.00, not to sure but they are all different colors and St run, with my luck Iwill get alot of Roo's, Oh if I do I will let you know. Oh and U R not that far just 2 hours away, lol!

Has anyone here ordered fron cackle?

What magical route are you taking? You live at least 4 hours away if you're in Roy.

As for the rooster - Well, if it is from Cackle Hatchery, I'm likely not to take any. I really do not like hatcheries as their quality, especially in Polish, is so poor (yes hypocrite me has 4 hatchery polish hens. . .) and I only got lucky with a couple of my girls. Even if you end up with a really good looking one. . . Roy is really far away for one rooster, sorry. The next Polish I get will be Tolbunt or White from a breeder.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote:
Wow that's pretty expensive just to get them store bought looking white eggs.

Ron congrats on yer perfect day !! We are still waiting to get a perfect day. I did catch one of weavegarden's FBCM's setting in a nest yesterday so may not be long now. Diane was pretty eggscited today she got 2 eggs from our 3 BBR OEGB's