I was powerless to resist all the cool pictures and ordered 28 chicks (25 pullets and 3 roosters) for the first week of May... I had been planning to for a long while but I was waiting until I got everything ready. I had chickens when I was a kid and it took me this long to get to a place where I could get some.
I'm a little worried because I'm trying a portable 'electronet' fence and there's a lot of big dogs that run free in our area. I think the coop is predator proof but I'm worried about when I have them out in the fence during the day. When I was a kid I had several favored pets get eaten by Racoons or Possums.
This forum is dangerous...
Welcome to Daves jkehl, your gonna love it here! I'm a newbie actually, less than a year, but these great people here are so wonderful and helpful, I feel like one of the "Family" already!
Hmmm, I dont know if the electronet Fencing is good for Chickens or not! I 'm not familiar! Is it the buried elct. fence or above ground? I know My daughter had the buried fence and Her Great Dane had to wear a collar to keep him in! It did nothing to keep out the neighborhood dogs ! See I havent a clue!!! LOL!
Any way, you will have enough time between now and May to get set up for your "Special Delivery"!
E.
Welcome to the chicken world, jkehl. You will find everyone around these neck of the woods is as friendly, kind, and helpful as can be. Congrats on your new soon to be flock! Where are your little ones coming from? What type did you get? We ALL love to hear everyone's chicken stories, and please do post lots of pics! :-) See, its those darn pics that get you every time, huh? lol
I'm no help on your fence question either. All I have is the standard electric fence and thankfully my closest neighbor with a dog is a little over 2 miles away. Best of luck with your flock and please keep us posted! Hope to hear from you soon.
Belinda :-)
Hello and thanks for the welcome. The electronet fence is plastic fencing with wire running thru it that will hold a charge. Supposed to keep the chickens in and the predators out. The reason I went with it was so I could move it around easily. Put the chickens in the garden if I want to but keep them out when things are growing.
I ordered from Murray McMurray hatchery. I remembered getting their catalogue as a kid. I'm getting something called the 'ornamental layers collection'. Supposed to be 25 unusual breed layers. I love the odd breeds, the weirder looking the better.
I also ordered 3 Black Cochin roosters because my favorite chicken when I was a kid was a Black Cochin hen. She had the best disposition and lived aound 10 years.
Jeff
The electronet fence sounds like a great fence to have. With the plastic and the electric wire with a charge, your predators won't bother your chicks. It will be too much trouble for them. I've heard good things about McMurray, and I couldn't agree more about the unusual chicks. The stranger, the better for me. lol Maybe it fits my personality ? LOL The cochin are such a nice, dosile breed to have around. I have several cochin chicks in my brooder right now. I have the blues and partridge cochins. Let us know when your babies arrive and I can't wait to see pics of them.
Belinda
Ditto , Ditto on the Weird!!!! ( sorry Chickies), I love them all, but the odder the better! I just cant "Feel" the love though for a Turken!!
LOL Eufaula. Funny you mention that. My DH said just the other day "some things just shouldn't be allowed to breed"..........lol, he was looking at a pic of a Turken. He shares your no love policy for them! lololol
I like most animals but there's a few I had when I was a kid that I would avoid. Most of the male Muscovy ducks we had were just plain mean. The only chicken I had trouble with was a Polish rooster. If he saw you with your back turned he would run up and attack you with his spurs. If we didn't keep them trimmed he could draw blood. I'm hoping the Cochins will be nicer :)
I would also would never get Peacocks. My parents bought a pair and we let them out to stroll in the yard like you see them doing in zoos. It took about 10 seconds for them to be perched 50 feet in a tree and we never saw them again...
funnnnnnny Stories jkehl, Im a little like the woman in the Movie "Cold Mountain", I cant Stand a Flogging Rooster, Unless its in the Pot!
The only time I had dealins with Peacocks, they belonged to my neighbors! I didnt know it , and woke up one night to the Screams of a Woman in trouble ,calling for Heeeeelp! Heeeeey-yylp! It scared me to death! I ran to the window to see what on earth was taking place and there was that Sucker right out side my window Screeching its head off, Heee-yelp, Heeeey-yelp! NOT a good night!
I had a turken roo and he was the cutest homely little chick there ever was. Names him Medusa. Found out he was a boy and had to re-christen him MeDuder. He was beautiful in his own way but MEAN as all getout.
If you let them free to roam around during the day, just be around and available if there is a crisis. I let mine out and I do lose one every once in a while, which is sad, but I also figure the quality of life for the girls is much higher if they can run free sometimes. They just love to run around the yaard on "urgent business", whatever it is that chickens must do.
I love my frizzle gal, she's so neat.
Haaaaaaaa, Meduder!!!!! Good One !!!!! I love it!!!
*bows*
I do love naming chickens.
My faves : Attila the Hen
Artemis Fowl (named after a human book character)
MeDuder ( of course)
Winged Victory
Then all the names I am wearing out before I have human babies: Vidallia ( It's so beautiful, but it's an onion and I'm not that mean) El Dorado ( gold brahma) Picaddily, and lots of famous women : Pandora, Cleopatra, Hildegard, Queen Elizabeth, etc.
I love Attila the Hen. I'll have to name my best hen that. My black cochin hen pet was called 'Gorilla Feet' or just 'Feet' for short. She was big and chunky and with the black feathers all over she sorta resembled a Gorilla.
Artemis Fowl is a good name too, but I'll only have 3 roosters for boys names...
Eufaula, believe it or not, I actually kind of liked the 'flogging chicken'. He was a bit like Cato in those old Pink Panther movies. I would go into the chicken yard and wander around until I heard him running at me and then try and dodge him at the last minute! Kept me sharp.
Jeff
Hi Jeff and welcome !!! I live on 5 acres and i let my little ones
run around in the day time when I am at work in the coop and
I have no peroblems it is poultry wirered and I have alot of poretiters around owls and halks to so keep them it poultry
fenecing.... Good Luck !!!!!!!!!!!
Tracey
Jeff with all of those new ones you will be quite busy here on the "free the chickens from cages forum". I feel good that my 5 pullets will have a life of free ranging and garden clean up in my garden. Welcome.
I named one of my hen's Artemis Fowl. I do like a good literary or mythologically based name for a chicken. They need all the dignity they can get! :)
BackyardHens, that is SO true about needing all the dignity they can get! lol I LUV that! I have seen a few of your names on some threads and I think you deserve the A+++ for the best chicken names around! :-)
Who doesn't love a great chicken story around here???? I love to just sit back and read through all the different threads..........makes for a great morning! Thanks for sharing!
Belinda
We need to correct many breed names. Cochin China was South Vietnam, Tonkin was North Vietnam. Leghorn is properly spelled Ligurno.
The Turks had a peripheral connection to the Guinea Fowl, but none to the bird now called a turkey.
I also had a mean Polish cockerel from Murray. They are supposed to be a mild tempered bird that doesn't do well with more aggressive birds.
I have heard that story before, UUallace. (about a mean roo from Murray) Hmmmmm, makes me wonder what that is all about. I've never ordered from them before, but someone who I trust implicitly told me that she wouldn't order from them due to the aggressive nature of their birds. Thanks for the info on correct names. Great facts.
I think that roos are a roll of the dice anytime. They are inherently bad tempered, it is their job to be! My naked neck turken ( sorry UUallace) I raised from a day old babe and at one point he would sit on my lap for hours and he still turned evil. I think individual personality has a lot to do with it.
I do agree , I have had "Bad Eggs" and I have had "good Eggs", the bad ones dont get a chance to stay long! I load them up after they go to Roost at night , when they cant tell Im there! Put them in a travel cage and off they go to market on Saturdays!
Now We have had really good luck with our Barred Rock Roo, He came from a sale barn, and he was so Big and pretty, I had to have him! I figured I would take a chance . Hoping that a Grown Rooster would be gentle and my luck held! He is the sweetest thing! He is very protective of Mama Rock, but will let me go any where I want around her. But he will not let my Chihuahua near the barn!
