What do you have in your flock?

[silkiechickens8]

Quote: I actually found a dog sitter that would take care of them when I'm on vacation (I got VERY lucky) as for when I get sick I still do it unless I'm very sick. The chick (I still have to name her) with no tongue manages to scoop the food and let it slide down her throat. Poor thing is probably going to need a sweater (until they grow back at least) because she lost all of her feathers from being picked on. I grew up around rescues so I guess I just have a soft spot for the underdogs My bantams go right in with the big girls (and guys) and they're completely fine. My 10 ounce black d'Uccle bantam is best buds with one of my RIR (they were raised together) who is probably bigger than she should be. My Polish (both my standard and my bantam) get their crests at picked at sometimes, but they're is this special ointment (I forgot what its called) you can put on them to prevent that. I'm hoping to post some pictures as soon as the weather clears up.

 

[Chicktastick]

Silkiechickens8, you have a heart as big as the sky. May all your critters live in harmony.

Seems like we have a chickens anonymous going on...hi, my name is chicktastic. I have a chicken habit, but just a little relatively speaking.
3 red sex link
2 RI red
1 black sex link
3 PBR
3 Black australorps
1 silver laced Wyandotte
1 Buff orpington
2 speckled sussex
2 EE

Still want more. I admit I might have a problem lol

 

[Sylvester017]

I actually found a dog sitter that would take care of them when I'm on vacation (I got VERY lucky) as for when I get sick I still do it unless I'm very sick. The chick (I still have to name her) with no tongue manages to scoop the food and let it slide down her throat. Poor thing is probably going to need a sweater (until they grow back at least) because she lost all of her feathers from being picked on. I grew up around rescues so I guess I just have a soft spot for the underdogs My bantams go right in with the big girls (and guys) and they're completely fine. My 10 ounce black d'Uccle bantam is best buds with one of my RIR (they were raised together) who is probably bigger than she should be. My Polish (both my standard and my bantam) get their crests at picked at sometimes, but they're is this special ointment (I forgot what its called) you can put on them to prevent that. I'm hoping to post some pictures as soon as the weather clears up.

You must have a very large property for all those birds. Unfortunately we're zoned for no roos, but can have 5 hens. However, we consider ourselves lucky because some suburban cities aren't zoned for chickens at all.

 

[silkiechickens8]

Silkiechickens8, you have a heart as big as the sky. May all your critters live in harmony.

Seems like we have a chickens anonymous going on...hi, my name is chicktastic. I have a chicken habit, but just a little relatively speaking.
3 red sex link
2 RI red
1 black sex link
3 PBR
3 Black australorps
1 silver laced Wyandotte
1 Buff orpington
2 speckled sussex
2 EE

Still want more. I admit I might have a problem lol

Thank you! Once you start getting chickens, its impossible to stop!

 

[silkiechickens8]

Quote: I'm fortunate enough to have my home on land and pushed back far enough that no one complains about the roos crowing. Sometimes its best not to have a rooster because you can get very tempted into hatching some eggs of your own. Having three well let's just say I may or may not have just bought an incubator last night.....haha

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm fortunate enough to have my home on land and pushed back far enough that no one complains about the roos crowing. Sometimes its best not to have a rooster because you can get very tempted into hatching some eggs of your own. Having three well let's just say I may or may not have just bought an incubator last night.....haha

I thought chickens would be addictive because when I first got them for the backyard I wanted every breed there was to be had. However, one trip to the vet with a sick bird cured me of wanting too many. Glad I'm zone restricted to 5 hens only or I could've been tempted to suddenly overrun my backyard! I lived on a 25 acre farm and even then we restricted poultry to 50 Babcock Leghorns and only a dozen Pekin ducks and Toulouse Geese. The horse, cows, goats, and sheep were too much trouble but poultry was a whole lot easier. The horse ate too much, the cows always needed milking twice a day or they moaned awfully, the sheep were always butting us, and the goats ate everything in sight -- bicycle tires, hand tools, tack, wood fences, laundry on the clothesline, vegetable garden, you name it and they damaged it! Poultry turned out the easiest farm animals to manage.

 

[lcertuche]

black sex-links
"Reds"

I can't be sure what the Reds are until they grow a little more.

 

[silkiechickens8]

 
I'm fortunate enough to have my home on land and pushed back far enough that no one complains about the roos crowing. Sometimes its best not to have a rooster because you can get very tempted into hatching some eggs of your own. Having three well let's just say I may or may not have just bought an incubator last night.....haha

I thought chickens would be addictive because when I first got them for the backyard I wanted every breed there was to be had.  However, one trip to the vet with a sick bird cured me of wanting too many.  Glad I'm zone restricted to 5 hens only or I could've been tempted to suddenly overrun my backyard!  I lived on a 25 acre farm and even then we restricted poultry to 50 Babcock Leghorns and only a dozen Pekin ducks and Toulouse Geese.  The horse, cows, goats, and sheep were too much trouble but poultry was a whole lot easier.  The horse ate too much, the cows always needed milking twice a day or they moaned awfully, the sheep were always butting us, and the goats ate everything in sight -- bicycle tires, hand tools, tack, wood fences, laundry on the clothesline, vegetable garden, you name it and they damaged it!  Poultry turned out the easiest farm animals to manage.

I'm thinking about getting a goose to put in with my ducks. How did you like them?

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm thinking about getting a goose to put in with my ducks. How did you like them?

It depends. They can be nippers. My folks kept a gaggle of them - like most birds, geese like to hang out with other geese, ducks like to hang out with other ducks, and chickens like to hang out with chickens, etc. My folks had Toulouse geese - Mom liked to bake with their large eggs. Same with duck eggs. Eventually the Babcocks were butchered, then the ducks, and last the geese. My Mom was partial to goose for eggs and meat - maybe because they were so large so they lasted the longest on the farm. Folks didn't find farming self-sufficient enough so eventually all the animals were dispatched and the fruit orchards and avocado groves left fallow. Only 5 acres were used for house, barn, and livestock while the other 20 acres were never used. Farming was a hard life since Pop had to work a regular job while Mom was left with way too many chores. It wears you out before you're 50.
One of Mom's Toulouse geese around 1955. They were good about staying on the property close to the pen where they were encouraged to stay with feed, food scraps, and water.

 

[silkiechickens8]

Quote: Thanks for the info! I'm still debating it so I'm not sure yet. Maybe a goose egg will find its way into the incubator.......