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Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

Well, tissue the white stray hen that comes to visit hasn't shown up in a few days, I hope she wen broody and is nesting somewhere, but just in case I'm gonna try to catch turkey, the other stray hen, tomorrow. Poor thing has been hanging out a lot in our backyard so I'm gonna try to lure her into the garage to catch her. Wish me luck!

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LordOfThePants
Sep 25, 2002

Ceridwen posted:

Thanks for the feedback about the chicken nipples. I've got a few on order and they should get here tomorrow or thursday. Then I can build a new waterer and hopefully quit having to deal with all the shavings getting in.

Are some breeds of chicken more inclined toward roosting than others? We gave them a place to roost a few days ago and only the SLWs seem interested. The Easter Eggers just hang out and sleep on the floor. The SLWs also seem much more interested in what lies beyond the brooder, and are much more committed to attempting to fly out of it whenever the lid is off.

Also, should I be worried at all that they ate a bit less today than over the last few days? Like ~20% less than usual. I just gave them a treat and they were all still going crazy to get some, and they are drinking and behaving as normal.

Storey's says to give them perches at four weeks for light breeds and six for heavies.

I wouldn't worry too much about the feed, to be honest I was kind of worried because it didn't seem like mine were eating as much as yours, but they're eating almost two feeders a day worth of food now. I upgraded them to a hanging waterer last night because they were drinking a lot more and kept filling their waterer up with shavings.

WrathofKhan
Jun 4, 2011
I just wanted to throw in my two cents on Craigslist, since I've sold chicken's there. Buying on Craigslist is not a way of making sure that you're getting 'local' chicks or that you are getting superior birds. At best, you'll get someone like me, who raises a few 'extra' chicks to laying age, and then sells them to help cover feed. At worst, you'll get unhealthy birds, or someone who is looking to get rid of poor layers, old birds or behavior problems.

In defense of hatcheries, the that sell to feed stores, are not, for the most part, ones that are selling to huge industrial egg producers. They tend to specialize in rare and heritage breeds, and by helping to maintain a market for those birds, are doing a lot to help preserve the genetic diversity of chickens.

Some hatcheries are better than others, both in terms of the way that they treat their breeding stock, and in the quality of that stock, but its important to remember that "hatchery" isn't equivalent to 'puppy mill'.

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

... do you guys remember the two stray hens that come to our backyard to eat and hangout? Well, one of them, Tissue, disappeared for a few weeks... only to appear today with 7 chicks behind her. My brother-in-law caught her and the chicks, and we found a home for the chicks, this family we know want to get into chicken keeping so they are taking all 7 chicks with them. They love animals and take great care of their dogs, so I trust them they'll do great with the chicks. We're keeping Tissue the hen since she already hangs out in our yard, we just have to tame her and hope she gets over us stealing her babies soon.


Now, why do I ask if you guys remember these strays? Well, it's because these are Roo's girlfriends. He has already mated with them, and well,... see for yourself:

Aww cute scared little wild fluffballs



But wait, what's this?



Fuzzy wee chicky leg...





Yep, Roostroyer is a daddy :psyduck: and this is the mom, Tissue the gamey mutt

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

:neckbeard: Oh my gosh, good job Roo! And out of those two they are going to be silliest silky looking chickens with giant feathery feet.

wheatpuppy
Apr 25, 2008

YOU HAVE MY POST!
You had best keep in touch with the new owners so you can post photos of Roo's babies as they grow. :3:

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

wheatpuppy posted:

You had best keep in touch with the new owners so you can post photos of Roo's babies as they grow. :3:

They are my sister's friends and their kids go to my nieces' school, so I'll keep you guys updated as often as I can :3:



Edit: VVV Sent her a pm with the news, I hope she sees the pics.

Chido fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Mar 24, 2012

c355n4
Jan 3, 2007

:hfive: Roostroyer

Did you show this to VS?

Velvet Sparrow
May 15, 2006

'Hope' is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune, without the words, and never stops--at all.

Well, way to go Roo-boy! :stonk:

Seems he beat his brothers to daddyhood by a few weeks...Tissue will have to be watched in the future that she doesn't pull the same stunt of laying away and then brooding the nestful of eggs. Banties are so clever they are VERY good at that kind of thing.

Beautiful chicks! :) Two weeks to go for ours, we plan on candling the eggs about the 26th.

WrathofKhan
Jun 4, 2011
D'awww. What cute little chickies.

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

I'm gonna keep Tissue in that rabbit crate for a couple of days until she calms down a bit, then we'll trim her wings and I'll put start putting her in the cage in the backyard with the other chickens. they kinda know each other since Tissue and the other stray would come to our backyard to eat and our chickens wouldn't try to attack them or anything.


then to teach her that coop = home... thank god I already got some practice from catching Dust and turning her from stray into a pet.




but seriously, WTF Roo?

Inveigle
Jan 19, 2004

Chido posted:

cute scared little wild fluffballs



OMG! Pure adorableness! :3:

You didn't want to keep Tissue with her babies for a few more weeks, just to help protect the chicks from their new owner's dogs? Are your neighbors prepared to make sure the dogs don't try to snack on the babies? A protective momma hen would certainly teach dogs a few lessons about messing with the chicks!

Perhaps you can offer them suggestions for their coop and how to fortify their backyard? You don't want Roostroyer's offspring wandering the streets.

LOL! Roo's kids are going to be the biggest, toughest street chickens ever! :ese:

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

We showed the family our set up and told them the basics about chick care, so they are going to keep the chicks in a cardboard box with pine shavings and a heat lamp inside their house.

I would have loved to keep the family together, but at the moment our coop is too small for some many chickens, and knowing my nieces, when the time came to rehome whichever chick was a rooster, my nieces would try to convince everybody to keep them all. Then they would cry for days because I'm so mean I "gave away" Roos' boys. I didn't wanna go through all that drama, so we let the family take the chicks before the girls would get too attached to them :(.

Edit: forgot to mention, but if they find keeping chicks not to be their thing, I offered to take them back, and I'd have to figure out how to rehome these chicks to people that won't eat them...

Chido fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Mar 24, 2012

spookygonk
Apr 3, 2005
Does not give a damn

Inveigle posted:

Roo's kids are going to be the biggest, toughest street chickens ever! :ese:
Ain't that the fact!

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

spookygonk posted:

Ain't that the fact!

Well who knows, half of my flock is made up of gamey mutts, and when I first got Roo the pullets would kick his butt. So either the chicks will be badass muthafuckas or they'll be dorky like their daddy.

Oh the burden of the white chicken...

Captain Foxy
Jun 13, 2007

I love Hitler and Hitler loves me! He's not all bad, Hitler just needs someone to believe in him! Can't you just give Hitler a chance?


Quality Pugamutes now available, APR/APRI/NKC approved breeder. PM for details.
A friend of mine is setting up a coop in her backyard and has three chicks waiting to go in it!




There's a buff Orpington, black Australorp and the little brown one is a Barnevelder, the favorite so far. She's getting called the crazy chicken lady for keeping them inside and by her bed, and her roommate who 'has had chickens' claims it'll be fine to toss them outside in the coop once they're a month old.

We live in Oregon, and while it is beginning to warm up, it's still 40-50 degrees during the day, with a significant drop at night. The roommate says they'll be fine inside their coop with a light and we are 'worrying too much about chickens', but what's the consensus here?

Peas and Rice
Jul 14, 2004

Honor and profit.
I'm up in Washington so our weather patterns are probably similar to yours.

First, keeping them by the bed isn't a great idea. Chicken poop has a lot of bacteria in it and you're supposed to wear a mask when you're mucking out the coop because breathing it can cause health issues. But keeping them where you sleep seems doubly risky (and once those chicks get to be twice that size.. it'll be REALLY stinky.) We kept ours in the living room when they needed constant heat for about the first 2 weeks, and then moved them to larger digs in the garage with a heat lamp.

They'll be ready to go outside between one and two months. The general rule of thumb as I understand it is when they start getting their pullet feathers and looking more like pullets than chicks, they're usually good to go. Or just use common sense and move them outside when it looks like they're too big for their box anymore.

Judging by the size of that terrarium they're in, you'll probably need an interim solution - we ended up using the kennel we had for our puppy and converted it into a chick/pullet house, but we also had eight of them at the time and they needed way more space.

Also tell her to pick them up and handle them - doing that when they're young is a great way to socialize them better.

Captain Foxy
Jun 13, 2007

I love Hitler and Hitler loves me! He's not all bad, Hitler just needs someone to believe in him! Can't you just give Hitler a chance?


Quality Pugamutes now available, APR/APRI/NKC approved breeder. PM for details.
Yeah the bedroom thing is temporary; they have a playpen in the bathroom downstairs that is intended for them when they get bigger, the roommate was just teasing her because she wants to keep a close eye on them for the time being. With only three chicks, she's still scooping bedding every few hours just for her own personal satisfaction, so I imagine they'll be moved down to the bathroom soon enough.

Once they're pullet-sized, would they be all right with a heat output lower than 70F? I think the main concern is finding a lamp that will produce the right temps and still work with the outdoors, but she's also insulated the walls of the coop, and its backed up against the heating vent from the house, so hopefully they'll be cozy enough. The other concern is rats from the neighboring junked up backyard; rats could kill a pullet, right? Or an adult hen? What's the best method of rat- proofing, if any? My friend is very :ohdear: about predator prevention and is taking massive precautions with her build, but rats get in everywhere, don't they?

Dear lord, these chicks are handled all the drat time. Two of them even perch on fingers and 'step up' when prompted, and they all come running for food and company. They were named by the (very gay) roommate; Goldie Hawn, Bjork and Ru Paul. :3:

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

Captain Foxy posted:

She's getting called the crazy chicken lady for keeping them inside and by her bed, and her roommate who 'has had chickens' claims it'll be fine to toss them outside in the coop once they're a month old.


VS told me chicks that are really young have to stay warm, at about 95 degrees the first week of life, and then decrease the temperature by a few degrees every week after that until they are completely feathered and ready to go out. That's why a heat lamp is necessary, the chicks can get under it if they are cold, and get away from it if they get too hot.

Also, tell your friend she's not the only one who has kept chicks in their bedroom. I kept my chicks in my room and would let them cuddle inside my hoodie whenever they get too cold in my room despite the lamp I had in their box, or too lonely and kept peeping their wee hearts out. And well, chicks inside the hood while raiding = poop right at the back of the neck @_@

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

Caught turkey, the last of Roo's street girlfriends, today. Poor thing screamed bloody murder, then suddenly got quite and... not moving? When I held her. I hope she didn't stress so much that it harmed her, but right now she's in a partially covered rabbit cage in the garage with some water. I'll post pictures of the girlfriends later.

Velvet Sparrow
May 15, 2006

'Hope' is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune, without the words, and never stops--at all.

Chido posted:

Caught turkey, the last of Roo's street girlfriends, today. Poor thing screamed bloody murder, then suddenly got quite and... not moving? When I held her. I hope she didn't stress so much that it harmed her, but right now she's in a partially covered rabbit cage in the garage with some water. I'll post pictures of the girlfriends later.

This is very typical and instictive behavior from a prey animal. She figures she gave it her best shot and after that, that you were gonna eat her. :keke: They struggle and then just give up. Just keep petting her, talking to her and making it a positive experience, she will at least come around enough to tolerate you, if not become all the way tame. Different birds behave differently, especially wild bantam or bantam mixes--they are closer to the wild version of a chicken.

Shmooz her with goodies, the way to a chicken's heart is through it's stomach!


Edit: I never put my chicks out in the flock for good until they are 8 weeks old--old enough to fend for themselves against adult chickens or predators, and old enough to be smart enough to recognize trouble and stick together. At one month old and with no mama hen, the chicks will have feathers, but still be very young mentally and not experienced, and not have a lot of meat on them to help them stay warm. At 1 month old you could certainly start taking them out during the day for short outings in the yard while you stay right there to get them used to the outdoors. If they were in a totally secure, predator-proof coop during the day when it was warm, I see no harm in leaving them in it till nightfall. Beware of drafts, a chill can kill!

Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 09:41 on Mar 28, 2012

The_Milkcat
Jul 25, 2009
Currently I'm emptying the old gardening shed in (and around) which my uncle and before him my grandmother held pheasants. I removed a great deal of plants in the processs first thinking I was going to grow hennep there (which is legal in my country and would be for fabric production).

The desire to keep quite a number of chickens in the future is pressent already, as I have good memories of visiting those my uncle kept as a child. Besides that I would like to provide my chicks a good amount of space to explore.

I would like my chickens to have more but sand and woodchippings to play in but am not sure if they will like the plants that are still there nor if it would be save for them [the chickens] for perhaps they might think they can eat the plants or something. Really it would be my first time keeping chickens and I could do it on a trail and error run but would rather not lose em to ignorance.

Anyone could shed some light on the possible nature of chickens vs plants?

Shifty Pony
Dec 28, 2004

Up ta somethin'


Velvet Sparrow posted:

This is very typical and instictive behavior from a prey animal. She figures she gave it her best shot and after that, that you were gonna eat her. :keke: They struggle and then just give up. Just keep petting her, talking to her and making it a positive experience, she will at least come around enough to tolerate you, if not become all the way tame. Different birds behave differently, especially wild bantam or bantam mixes--they are closer to the wild version of a chicken.

Shmooz her with goodies, the way to a chicken's heart is through it's stomach!

It is really funny how they go from freaking out and running away to just calm "whelp, that's it I guess" resignation. When we decided to free range our chickens (read: the bastards kept getting out of the run no matter what so we gave up containing them) we had to rely on this behavior to catch them. One of our dogs learned how to catch them from watching us and would help us by running after the chicken and then just... standing over it. The hen would just sit there frozen and let us pick her up and the speed at which he could "catch" them made the whole process a bunch less stressful for everyone involved. We gave them some food when they were caught so eventually every time this would happen they would go from being frozen to frantically looking around for the treat as soon as you picked them up.

Speaking of holding chickens, has anyone else tried this? It is fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dPlkFPowCc

redmercer
Sep 15, 2011

by Fistgrrl

Captain Foxy posted:

A friend of mine is setting up a coop in her backyard and has three chicks waiting to go in it!




There's a buff Orpington, black Australorp and the little brown one is a Barnevelder, the favorite so far. She's getting called the crazy chicken lady for keeping them inside and by her bed, and her roommate who 'has had chickens' claims it'll be fine to toss them outside in the coop once they're a month old.

We live in Oregon, and while it is beginning to warm up, it's still 40-50 degrees during the day, with a significant drop at night. The roommate says they'll be fine inside their coop with a light and we are 'worrying too much about chickens', but what's the consensus here?

I'm no chicken expert, but the fact that they seem to be crowding away from the light as much as possible seems to indicate it might be a little too bright/hot/close to the ground

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

CaptBubba posted:

One of our dogs learned how to catch them from watching us and would help us by running after the chicken and then just... standing over it. The hen would just sit there frozen and let us pick her up and the speed at which he could "catch" them made the whole process a bunch less stressful for everyone involved.


I thought this was just them resigning to being mated or something?

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

Ok, picture time!

Here's Roostroyer being his handsome self



Street hen no. 1, Tissue



Tissue has adapted well, she already got into a few fights with Dust, our head hen and former street chicken, And Godzilla. Dust is still the head hen, Godzilla was put in place XD

Here's Roo and Dust. Tissue and Dust are about the same size, they have heavy, compact bodies and aren't fluffy at all. So you can have an idea here that they aren't that small.



Turkey, street hen no.2, is smaller. She looks a lot like Godzilla bu she isn't that big.



I had originally let her out with everybody to let them sort out the pecking order, but Roo was being a poop. He definitely prefers brunettes because he mounted her like 4 times within 5 minutes. I grabbed Turkey and put her in a rabbit cage so she'd be safe from Roo "sitting" on her so much and having the other hens chase her around.



Now my coop is too small for everybody :saddowns: Gonna try to buy a shed from home Depot in the following weeks if they get them on sale, or wait until the end of May so my sister can help me build one. I know the chickens will be rather tight at night, but I'd rather have them be a bit uncomfortable when sleeping than seeing the strays being chased by dogs again... or see them with baby Roos around :psyduck:

Ceridwen
Dec 11, 2004
Of course... If the Jell-O gets moldy, the whole thing should be set aflame.

My chicks are 4 weeks old today! I think we'll be waiting until about 6-8 weeks to move them outside. The weather here kind of sucks during the spring (raining and 30's-40's every day) so I don't really want to put them outside early.

Roommate has almost finished building the coop, and just needs to get the stuff for the run. We won't be setting it up outside until about a week before we move them outside though. I've also been able to turn the space heater in the room the chicks are in off completely, so it's down to ~65 in there and ~75 under their lamp. They don't seem to spend much time under the lamp anymore, even with the lower temps.

I did take 3 week old pics of them last Friday, but will probably wait to put them up until we do the 4 week old pics this week. They are huge though, and finally starting to get individual personalities along with their feathers. I've got to say, I don't think the Easter Eggers are very bright. The Wyandottes seem like geniuses in comparison to the EEs.

Lyz
May 22, 2007

I AM A GIRL ON WOW GIVE ME ITAMS
Ah... this thread is reminding me that I really need to get going if I want to get back into chicken keeping. On the plus side, most of my coop improvements are on my neighbor's tab, since I'd have four lovely, full grown Silver-Laced Wyandottes a-layin away if it wasn't for her drat pitbulls.

I think this time I'm going to try to do a mix of Silver- and Golden-Laced Wyandottes.

Zaran
Mar 26, 2010

Get a Silkie or two, said fluffballs need more lovin!

Edit: Herp Derp not thinking straight at all today >_<

Zaran fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Mar 29, 2012

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Zaran posted:

I hope said pitbulls are no longer around, if I was you I would be tempted to throw them some poison over the fence if they did that to my flock. (If I had one :()

Also get a Silkie or two, said fluffballs need more lovin!

You're going to poison dogs for eating chicken? It's not the dogs' faults. It's the owners.

Zaran
Mar 26, 2010

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

You're going to poison dogs for eating chicken? It's not the dogs' faults. It's the owners.

Yea, agreed, not thinking straight today at all my bad there.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Zaran posted:

Yea, agreed, not thinking straight today at all my bad there.

Hey, don't worry. I got upset at the puppy when she found a chick in our yard, picked it up in her mouth and ran away with it a bit ago but it pretty much ended up just being me making her go inside while I checked the chick over and made sure it was alright.

I do hope the pits are better secured though. They're stubborn pups. The one behind us practically came over the 10 foot wall to try to get at the chickens that were wandering around after the dust storm last week.

Lyz
May 22, 2007

I AM A GIRL ON WOW GIVE ME ITAMS

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

I do hope the pits are better secured though. They're stubborn pups. The one behind us practically came over the 10 foot wall to try to get at the chickens that were wandering around after the dust storm last week.

Well, there was apparently one other incident with the dogs - the police stopped by to check to see if I had gotten any more chickens to make sure the dogs weren't harassing them. I guess they were trying to get into a rabbit hutch.

Well anyways, I'm redoing my coop with the heaviest gauge wire fencing I can find and it's all on the owner's tab, so yay! I might charge her for the stone foundation I'm going to mount the run on too. Probably not the plastic roof though, I'm not that vindictive.

Jenner
Jun 5, 2011
Lowtax banned me because he thought I was trolling by acting really stupid. I wasn't acting.
Okay so, question. What do you guys do about fertilized eggs? Seeing as you have a rooster that is fertile and does some boning. How do you handle them to make sure there aren't a bunch of chicks? Are fertilized eggs edible?

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

Jenner posted:

Are fertilized eggs edible?

You've obviously never heard of balut...

Shifty Pony
Dec 28, 2004

Up ta somethin'


Jenner posted:

Okay so, question. What do you guys do about fertilized eggs? Seeing as you have a rooster that is fertile and does some boning. How do you handle them to make sure there aren't a bunch of chicks? Are fertilized eggs edible?

They are perfectly edible. Nothing happens in the egg unless it is kept incubated at a proper temperature for development.

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

Jenner posted:

Okay so, question. What do you guys do about fertilized eggs? Seeing as you have a rooster that is fertile and does some boning. How do you handle them to make sure there aren't a bunch of chicks? Are fertilized eggs edible?

I use the fertilized eggs for chickenrun deathmatches. Rawr.


Actually we eat them, there's no danger in eating them as as long as you collect them every day :).

Karma Monkey
Sep 6, 2005

I MAKE BAD POSTING DECISIONS

RazorBunny posted:

You've obviously never heard of balut...

I should not have Googled that. :barf:

Tim Jong-un
Aug 22, 2008

:shepface:God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title:shepface:

Fertile eggs taste/look no different than unfertilized eggs. I usually get 4 or 5 dozen a day,what I dont keep or give away I boil and mash up into their food.

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wheatpuppy
Apr 25, 2008

YOU HAVE MY POST!
My mom used to tell me that double-yolk eggs only occur if they're fertilized. But she also told me ponies were baby horses, so... grain of salt.

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