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WrathofKhan posted:A bit of a chicken update. A guy I know from BYC had a bunch of cockerels that he didn't want to process, most of them were barnyard mixes of cuckoo marans and something else, but there was also a very pretty Barnvelder in there. He was really pretty, and they're supposed to be quiet and docile, so we are going to try having a roo again. I hope he's quiet and doesn't crow all day long. Today I saw him giving treats to some of the younger girls, so I think that is a good sign. We've named him Malcolm. :3 Don’t Barnvelder’s lay fairly dark brown eggs? Not quite as dark as Marans, but still pretty dark. Do you still have an Easter Egger? You should try hatching her eggs and see if you get an Olive Egger out of the deal.
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Jun 14, 2012 21:31
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Greycious posted:I ordered my chicks. They are coming in late July. Awesome! Mine are coming second week of August. Take lots of pictures.
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Jun 19, 2012 19:46
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Tim the Enchanter posted:Imagine a king walking regally through his castles courtyard,long flowing cape dragging behind and surrounded by his minions and whatnot. Now imagine his minions ate really bad chipotle covered mutton chop and all the toilets are out of order so they just take a dump wherever they happen to be standing. What you have is a king dragging a cape covered in turds over more turds. It sounds so romantic when you put it that way. I’m sold. I have been thinking about going the chicken tractor route instead of cutting all kinds of holes in my shed, knocking out windows, and attaching runs. I was thinking about something like this:  Is something like that adequate for winter? Or would this be their home for 9 months and I will need to put them in my shed during the depths of winter, maybe about mid December to beginning of March? If I put them in my shed I can give them plenty of room, but they won’t have access to the outside. The other concern is their water freezing. I am thinking about getting this. If I could keep them in the tractor, I suppose there would be nothing preventing me from using an outdoor rated extension cord. http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Feed-and-Water-Supplies/Electric-Water-Heater-Base-p481.aspx
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Jun 20, 2012 19:39
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Chido posted:Edit: I forgot to ask, what chickens are you getting again, Zeta? I'm getting Barred Plymouth Rocks (yeah Massachusetts!), Welsummers, Acondas, and Easter Eggers. I picked these breeds for cold tolerance, efficiency laying eggs, and diverse egg color. Funny how I am worried about cold tolerance. It is about 96 degrees and tomorrow will be hotter. It gets colder in Wichita but when it does get cold there it is probably drier. Our winters tend to be windy, wet, often snowy, but not usually bitter cold.
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Jun 21, 2012 00:35
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Pucklynn posted:Has anyone here ever tried more "exotic" birds like quails? My local organic grocery was selling quail eggs and it got me thinking about whether or not that might be a viable little side-business. I don’t know anything about quail. I’m barely knowledgeable about chickens, and that is all book knowledge, not the hands on knowledge that others have. But I will put on my BFC hat here. Also I grew up on a dairy farm. First, you should do it, but you shouldn’t jump into it. Do you have experience growing quail on your own? If not, get some and see if you enjoy doing it. That is the most important thing. There is no aspect of farming that is lucrative. Well  maybe. And it is not always fun, but if you don’t find it rewarding on some level, then there a thousand easier things you can do that will make more money. Next, there is a wide gulf between being able to produce food on a small scale and then being able to sell this food and get a high enough price for it to justify what you put into it. Someone who buys it is going to have different concerns. They need their suppliers to produce enough product to make it worth dealing with, and produce that product consistently. Also they want to make sure no one will get sick. A grocery store, even a small organic one will want to deal with a limited number of suppliers that are stable.I don’t have the exact formula, and you will need to study how others do it and learn best practices. But it might look something like this: First, you get a few birds and see if you like to do it and if you are good at it. If you are, then you get more birds and start selling a few eggs on the side to like minded people who appreciate your quality and local nature of their food. Word of mouth and facebook and they tell their friends about you. You reinvest the money you get into increasing the size of your flock and improving your facilities and learn what you need to be official and legit and you start selling at farmers markets. If the demand is there, then you expand more and start talking to your local natural food stores. Maybe you keep expanding from there. What you don’t do is to take a huge plunge and get a loan with the idea that you are going to hit a home run, and you don’t make big decisions by back of the envelope calculations knowing that a dozen sell for $5.00 and if you sell 20 dozen a day, and you need 300 birds to do that and you have the room and you can feed them for $25 a day and gently caress, that is a lot of profit! So go slow, don’t borrow money, keep track of your expenses, and good luck. If this is something you are serious about, you are welcome to start a thread in BFC if you have questions about the management/financial/tax implications of this.
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Jun 22, 2012 21:54
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Tim the Enchanter posted:Standard Brahmas for Chido! I could only lure 2 out because a flock of tweety birds was sitting in a tree and OH GOD IT MIGHT BE A HAWK! So the rest were busy cackling at imagined danger. Please never stop posting pics. I wanted to quote your production chickens, not to detract from the super cute silkies and the fantastically different other breeds, but because I think all of your birds look amazingly happy and even the ones that are common breeds that you might not be showing still hold themselves with dignity and majesty. If in my next life I am born a chicken, I hope I get to live with you.
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Jun 26, 2012 20:37
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I’m running ideas through my head on coop design, and will go with the chicken tractor concept with their coop being a box on top of the run. I’ve seen people talk about “poop boards” where they put a flat board under the perch and because a significant percentage of the poop falls on that, it keeps the remainder of the coop cleaner. What would happen if I just didn’t have a floor, or a wire floor immediately under their perch? It seems like wire floors are not recommended for the entire coop because it’s bad for their feet, but I don’t see the harm in having a solid floor for 90% of their coop but leaving a small part open. It should even help with ventilation.
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Jun 28, 2012 16:48
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Greycious, As you can tell, I am learning along with you, but you might find this article interesting. It was written by a guy in Southern Ontario who does not put himself in the category of "super cold" and is therefore adding more ventilation to his coop, even in the winter. http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-coop-ventilation-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop WrathofKhan posted:Zeta Taskforce: The only problem with that is that you'd still need a way of cleaning up the poop that ended up falling through the wire. Just leaving it there would get really stinky and breed flies like crazy. Cleaning off a poop board isn't that bad, it takes me about five minutes to do it, I use a cheap rear end whisk broom and dust pan, and a putty knife, for scraping any stuck on poo. Sorry for the bad MS Paint drawing, but I was thinking something like this. I am thinking of a tractor that would have a coop portion with no more than 3 feet of headroom that I would access by hinged doors along the side. The coop would be partially above the run. I would be moving it around so I imagine I would get away with not having huge piles of poo poo build up. I could also get the old bedding out with a hoe and could collect it with a garbage can and then add it to my compost pile. Also my roof isn't levitating, but I was thinking holes along the top below the roof eaves that would allow air to come in and precipitation to stay out. 
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Jun 29, 2012 04:18
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I want to offer my condolences as well. The world would be an amazing place if all of us were as kind and gentle as you are.
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Jul 7, 2012 21:43
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Bantaras posted:I've been lurking on this thread a while and thought i might show off the coop we built a few months ago. I found a picture on the web and went from there. I found out later there's actually a company that makes these and you can order kits. O well, mine was cheaper! That looks awesome. What are the dimensions and how many birds do you have? I need to start building something soon and keep going back and forth between having a chicken tractor and blocking off a part of a side shed I have. Right now I think I will split it down the middle and block off part of the garage and build a run that detaches and can become a tractor for the warm months of the year.
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Jul 14, 2012 21:18
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Ceridwen posted:Here's a cock: They grow up so fast. It seems like just yesterday you were posting cute pics of them in their box. That is the most intense blue I have ever seen in a chicken egg. It looks like a Tiffany’s box. That said, it seems like everything is uncommonly blue except your hand which is sort of hot pink. What color is your egg similar to? Is it like a robin egg?
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Jul 23, 2012 15:22
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Greycious posted:I ordered mine through mypetchicken.com I'm getting mine from there too. I'm glad you had a positive experience with them. I decided to order 16 which ended up being practically the same price as ordering 8. I figured I could sell a few extras, plus my luck I would get a few roos. Is this how chicken math starts? I agree shipping is sort of steep, but I'm inclined to give them the benefit of doubt. New born baby chicks probably are more delicate and depend on each other for warmth. Reptiles being cold blooded just move slower if they get cold.
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Jul 25, 2012 04:02
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^^^I hear you, but I think I should get away with it. MPC is in Connecticut and the post office considers New England to be one zone. Most regular first class mail sent anywhere in New England to anywhere else in New England almost always arrives the next day.Chido posted:Yep. I said at one point that 3 chickens was the limit. Then we got Roostroyer. Then we caught Dust. THEN we bought Spaghetti and Flake at the feed store... to yet then again we caught and kept Turkey and tissue... and I ordered 4 more large breed chicks from MPC. We're gonna have 12 chickens in total by the end of the year most likely @_@. I promise that I will sell the ones I don’t want. ….unless someone knows someone in Boston with an extra Olive Egger or Lavender Orpington, I would soooo trade.
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Jul 25, 2012 14:14
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Greycious posted:
I think it varies, they can lay good when they are laying, but they are very broody so I would think not very consistently. But they make excellent mothers. I'm trying to connect with other people in the area who have chickens and one woman said that anytime there is a pile of eggs, her silkie gets excited and immediately tries to sit on them.
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Jul 28, 2012 17:05
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Greycious posted:Cute little girls with cute baby chicks! There are too many layers of cuteness to count. 
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Jul 30, 2012 19:44
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My chicks are being shipped today! I’m so excited and nervous. I’m going to set up my brooder tonight when I get home. They will be in my outdoor shed eventually, but I’m thinking it is better for the first couple weeks to set it up in my basement because the temperature will be more or less stable and I won’t be constantly needing to raise and lower the heat lamp with every change in temperature.
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Aug 6, 2012 22:08
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Chickens arrived today! What am I getting myself into?  
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Aug 9, 2012 03:51
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12_String posted:The chick with the adorable eyes is an Americaunas, commonly called Easteregger because they lay blue or green eggs. I'm glad you know because I can't begin to tell them apart. I was looking at pics of baby chicks and trying to guess. I have 4 each of Barred Plymouth Rock, Aconda, Welsummer, and Easter Eggers. One thing I didn't realize until seeing them first hand was how much they move and how fast they can run .
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Aug 9, 2012 12:08
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jenelle posted:Actually both breeds can have that pattern. The cute chick with eyeliner and puffy cheeks in the last pic is probably an easter egger, which come in lots of colors and patterns but the cheeks are the real giveaway. The two chicks by the waterer in the first picture look like Welsummers to me. They seem to have more 'defined' markings and a longer stripe of brown eyeliner than the EE's do. I have one of each and it was a bit hard to tell them apart when once they started feathering out. Zeta you may want to use this website to guess what they will look like as adults: http://www.plumjam.com/poultry/breeds/ee-colors.cfm Congrats on the egg! I'm going to check that site out and spend more time this weekend with them. I think you are right about the Welsummer. They have the dark thick triangle mohawk thing going on. The aconda are the cream colored with the dark patches.
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Aug 10, 2012 14:45
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    More pics. They grow so fast, I took these last week and I can't believe how much they have grown even from then.
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Aug 22, 2012 14:50
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Inveigle posted:LOL! Chickpile! One of the cutest things ever! I love how they have made a pile but some have stretched out flat to get comfortable. I waited so long with the camera to get a somewhat still chickpile. They would all be settling down and then one of them decided to readjust and that woke up the two who were using her as a pillow. They got all set again until another one walked by and decided they wanted to be at the bottom of the pile so she plowed her way in. Not sure about the Welsummer at top. She must have had too much to drink because she was passed out flat on her face.
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Aug 22, 2012 16:25
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Fermented Tinal posted:I have a flock of 36 birds, 29 black sex link hens, 6 brown layer hens, and 1 penedesenca rooster. I've seen the rooster doing his job but the eggs I've collected from the brown hens (the sex link are a few weeks shy of laying age) don't seem to be fertilized. 36 birds and you want more? High production breeds besides. I'm curious, do you really like eggs, or are you planning on selling them?
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Aug 22, 2012 21:57
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Raw_Beef posted:We're unsure if where we're going to end up living will even have the yard space available to keep hens, and trying to rent and telling landlords you want to keep chickens is a good way to get denyed right away. Rent from me! I own a 2 family, really close to public transport. I hear you completely though. Their legality is somewhat questionable in Boston. Farm and auxiliary animals are not allowed, but they do carve out exceptions for people raising them for shows, but the official exemptions are hard to get. Most people here get their neighbors on board and keep quiet about it. I thought about it for a long time before I took the plunge but if I was still renting there is absolutely no way I would do it.
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Aug 23, 2012 05:08
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Little Miss RKO posted:Man, I really wish Chicago winters weren't so snowy! Having chickens would be a blast, and I'd love to be able to go outside whenever I want some nuggets or eggs. I think your problem is the chickens would be a lot tougher than you are. Seriously it is a certain measure of responsibility and if you do it you can't be in love with just the idea of. having chickens.
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Aug 23, 2012 13:04
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Finally finished the coop over Labor Day. I portioned part of the shed off. It is sort of L shaped with main part being 5 feet by 10 feet, and the other part coming out another 4 feet by 3 feet. I wanted to have that shape so they could have windows on 2 sides, not just one. I still need to build the nesting boxes, roosts, and the run. The coop is big enough that I'm going to have nesting boxes on the inside. I have a six inch area I will access through a (yet unbuilt) door so I will be able to have access to the eggs without disturbing the chickens.     It's time for a new feeder.
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Sep 5, 2012 04:32
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piscesbobbie posted:Zeta Taskforce - looks like a great set up. Your chickens are so cute. Do you know what breeds you have? Any roosters? I want a really colorful egg basket, so I have 3 Welsummers, 3 Barred Plymouth Rocks, 4 Acondas, and 4 Easter Eggers. I used to have 4 of each, but until last week they were still in my basement, and I was having work done to my stairs going down there. I don't know why contractors bring dogs with them everywhere, but he did, and the dog heard chirping and managed to eat two of them before they could stop him. I don't know if I have an roosters. I ordered all females, but that isn't done with 100% accuracy. My goal is to wait another month, and see what happens, get rid of the roosters, and sell the rest to get down to 2 of each breed. All my breeds are at least average to good layers, it would be reasonable to get 30 eggs a week, and that should be more than enough for me, my boyfriend, my next door neighbors who have done so much for me over the last few years, and still have enough to barter for trips to the feed store. On second thought, that is a lot of people. I might need to keep all 14 of them. Chido, how is your eye?
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Sep 5, 2012 14:28
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Chido posted:I woke up about half an hour ago to let :black 101" Roo and the henhoes out, and noticed my eye is not swollen anymore. It's a bit sensitive to the light and there is some redness, but I don't really feel any pain or anything atm, and the feeling of having something stuck in my eye has lessened. I'm debating whether to still go to the doctor today or wait one more day, since it seems to be healing well on its own. As dumb as it sounds, I don't like doctors I say this because I care, but you are as hard headed as my dad. See a doctor. They will either look at your eye and decide it's fine, or they will look at it and then do something to make sure it will feel better, heal faster, and make sure there is no damage. Dad had a urinary track infection for a week, and he kept thinking it was getting better until he started vomiting and mom ordered him to go to the emergency room. Turns out it got so bad his kidneys had stopped working. Don't be like my dad.
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Sep 5, 2012 15:27
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piscesbobbie posted:ZETA TASKFORCE - I would hope those idiots made some type of restitution for your loss. What kind of people bring animals without asking permission? IDIOTS! That makes me so angry. Just call me Zeta. We are all friends here.  The fact is I'm not really upset. The guy is a friend of a friend, he does quality work at a fair price, he shows up when he says he will. I was talking with other friends and co-workers and they said that contractors have weird bonds with their dogs. It's not like having 2 week old chickens in the basement is a normal thing, and I didn't think to tell him ahead of time. Plus they cost about $4.00 each, I bought more than I need, and in a way it was a relief it was instant because I had just leaned boards up against each other and I was afraid 2 of them got out and were wandering around the basement hungry and scared.
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Sep 5, 2012 16:34
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More pictures! This is what happens to an Easter Egger in 40 days. She still has the dreamiest eyes.  Barred Plymouth Rocks  Welsummer  Aconda with the white Easter Egger  My goal was to have 2 of each breed, but all 4 of the Easter Eggers look so different from each other I don't think I can let any of them go. I might have to have a flock of 10. When will I know if I have any roosters? No one is acting any different or growing any combs, except for the Acondas and a lesser extent the BPR, and all of them are growing at the same rate. Could I have lucked out and gotten all girls?
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Sep 17, 2012 02:58
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piscesbobbie posted:ZETA TASKFORCE I thought hens also have combs and wattles? Your chicks/pullets are so adorable. I think so. All 4 of the ancona are growing combs at the same rate and amount, I think it might be part of the breed they get combs earlier. Chido, I cracked up hearing about wild poultry landing on your doorstep. Word must have gotten out that you are a really good chicken mom
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Sep 18, 2012 04:32
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Sorry to hear the Chido. I was wondering how things were turning out but I was afraid to ask. I would also ask for a full refund, especially since it sounds like their error. They can’t undo the mistake, but they should at least make you whole financially. I personally had good luck with MPC and I think they are a good company, so I think this is an exception, but when the exception happens to you, it is still painful.
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Sep 20, 2012 20:29
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Saint Darwin posted:So is there any reason that raising 2-3 would not be do-able or practical? I don't have a giant back yard. Three should be entirely practical. Even 2 would be doable, but if one dies the one remaining would be really lonely. Three would be barely more room than two. How much space do you have?
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Oct 2, 2012 18:31
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Saint Darwin posted:Very little. The coups posted here would take up most of the open space which is why I'm really not sure if it's even worth considering. Plus the zoning might just not be there. The usual guideline is 10 sq foot per bird for the run and 4 sq feet per bird for the coop. More is better, but somewhat less isn't going to matter too much. That said, chickens at best have an odor and at worst smell pretty bad. Also they poop A LOT so it helps if you have a garden or some place to use it. You can post pics, but if space it that tight, it might not work too well. If it is marginal but you still want to try, you can get bantams.
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Oct 2, 2012 21:27
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http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/which-breed-is-right-for-me.aspx You can use this breed selector tool, or of course you can watch Tim's videos and see what is the prettiest. (In my opinion the Sebrights)
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Oct 13, 2012 23:33
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Sicilian Buttercups are awesome little birds, a friend of mine has one who lives as a housechicken, named Dixie: That is way too cute. But I thought house chickens needed to wear diapers. Is this not the case, or did she take them off for the camera and put them back on after?
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Oct 18, 2012 17:29
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I just realized there is a breed, the Croad Langshan, that lays purple eggs. Aren't they pretty?   It looks like they are almost impossible to find in the US though.
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Oct 22, 2012 15:41
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Yesterday at work I noticed an apple that someone threw away after taking 3 bites sitting on top of the trash. Just below that I saw a half eaten Lean Cuisine creamy noodle thing. In the fridge there were two soggy English muffins because some someone’s juice spilled. On a scale of 1 to 10, how crazy am I for sneaking in and bringing all that home and making some girls very happy?
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Oct 24, 2012 19:35
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Velvet Sparrow posted:For the benefit of people living outside the US, I thought I'd share one of our lesser-known holidays... What percentage of the pumpkin do they end up eating?
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Nov 2, 2012 15:51
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piscesbobbie posted:VS that must be so difficult, they are very long lived chickens. I just watched the video on Ustream of Boots telling Bloop who is boss, that was so adorable. You truly take great care of your chickens, something that I hope to aspire to one day. My cat is 18 and acting like it's close to the end. My other cat lived to be 20 so I am feeling robbed, but it is old for a cat so the vet says. There would be no problems about getting one of each breed, (unless you get day old chicks and you are unlucky about the one from the breed you really wanted being a roo). I'm not an expert, but I would aim for all of them to be around the same size and not mix breeds that are especially aggressive (like Rhode Island Reds) with ones that are especially docile (Favorelles or Polish). If unsure, err on the side of more space.
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Nov 17, 2012 19:39
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Customer Service posted:I have a question about when it would be safe to banish my chicks to the garage. How cold do your winters normally get? I don’t know what you should do because while chickens can acclimate to very cold weather, acclimate is the key word. The usual advice is you can lower the temp by 5 degrees per week. If they are 2 weeks old they would still need temps at least in the low 80’s. In a couple weeks they would be able to take ambient room temperature, but it’s a big jump from that to 30’s. Is there a way you can regulate the temperature so they are slowly subject to temps in the 60’s, 50’s then 40’s, etc? Mine were shipped on August 8th and when I brought them outside in September they were fully feathered and it was still mild and were outside constantly as our days got shorter and colder, and right now at the crack of dawn they are outside in the run even if there was a frost.
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Nov 20, 2012 19:52
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