I am allowed 12 chickens per lot, and I have 2 lots, so 24 chickens allowed. I'm still waiting for Jim to call so that Kelly and I can go look at his chickens....sigh....
Henny Penny and Future Friends
good news re HennyPenny and the egg! and good luck re the re-homing of chickens and goats. Clarie, you CAN do this.... i was going to post that i felt the chicken fairy was going to pay you a visit, seems i am late in warning you... whatever you can't handle, other will help you with.
catscan, you tell those boys their other mama is gonna whoop their tail feathers off for being bullys! it likely is a feed issue though. just make a small area with wire where the nankins can go in and out for safety, and put their seed inside it. they will liely do better with a deluxe wild bird seed mix... millet, griso, sunflower seed, etc...
so far my chicks get along fine with the older JGs. but they don't look/act like canaries either...
congrats on the new chicken:)
josh
Thanks Josh! I'm so pleased with her!
TamaraFaye - do you have a direct line to the chicken fairy? It's interesting how the tooth fairy takes away your tooth, but the chicken fairy doesn't take away your chicken!
I'm still waiting to go see those chickens - I hope he calls today.
Oh, and egg number two came out yesterday afternoon and it is just perfect - normal hard shell and no 'squishiness' to it. She's such a good hen!
Claire
WOW you are one lucky chicken slave.
So this guy has goats too huh? I wonder how far he is from me? Nubians are cute....never milked any animal before. How much for the pasteurizer and such? No...must stop.......no more right now, lol!
I don't know prices yet. I have yet to see them and talk to him more. He was supposed to email or call this weekend but didn't do so. I will talk to him at work tomorrow, unless he's sick or something. Well, I'll let you all know what happens.
Right now, my BF is thinking he might want to quit his job and make artisan goat cheese and concentrate on his woodworking instead of doing his dead end job. This is an interesting and unexpected consideration from him. We'll have to see....
Claire
Claire, if you end up not using/needing the equpiment, i could use some of it. please be in touch...
WOW two eggs, you are speical. :-) just so you know the chicken fairy TAKES teeth. anyone's. grinds them up into special fairy dust that performs two things: enlightens people with a dose of chickenitis [for which a friend Down Under has developed a withdrawal patch], and doses chickens with extra calcium for more chick-hatching eggs!
i don't need much equipment, maybe your BF could just share?
tf
OMG Josh, think you'd better get that patch here to the states & quick! LOL
Hope it all works out on the chickens & goats. I have faith....
i have a case of it, and i am not sharing till he sends me the higher dosage...
Oh boy do I need that patch...
We are going tonight to check out the chickens and goats. We are going to be bringing home 10 to 12 chicks of unknown sex and type. They have to be some sort of variety or cross amongst light brahma, black australorp and barred rock. We will probably also get a couple of hens while we are there.
If the chicks turn out to be roosters, I will probably see if anyone here is interested, and if not, will put them on Craig's List locally.
The remaining hens and roosters and goats will wait until our friend/acquaintance gets back from his trip (he's going away for 2 weeks). He has goat care for the 2 weeks. Kelly is going to decide if we can manage to build a goat enclosure over those 2 weeks and if he really wants to get into this. If he does, then we'll take the whole package. Plus the rest of the chickens.
I cannot believe the magnitude of the chickenitis infection and how much magic dust the chicken fairy must have sprinkled on me.
Claire
It's confirmed, then, Claire...you have terminal chickenitis....YAY!!!! Congrats on your new FARM, lol
Catherine
lol, yeppers! terminal chickenitis! congrats to you! I am sooo happy for you!
*slapping patch to make sure its still in place on the arm! lol!*
Can I say it, can I please can I.........
HELP!!! CHICKEN CRISIS!!!
I hope somebody is still up. We went and got chickens tonight. 1 baby chick with 1 mother and 9 baby chicks with another mother. When we got them home and tried to transfer to the eglu, the mother of 9 got away into our garden. It's pitch dark out and we can't find her. The other one is in with Henny Penny. She won't go into the Eglu. Can I leave the door open all night?
The chicks (all 10) are in the house. What do I do with them for the night? Light bulb? Blanket? What? I am so freaked out. I feel terrible that the other one got away. She was an Auracana I think. Oh please give me some advice...
the chicks definately need a light on them as far as the one that won't go in the igloo I wouldnt worry about her give her time as long as she cant get out she will be fine. how old are the chicks?
They are small fluffballs. They didn't know exactly how old they are. They have a big barn and the chickens lay in the loft/rafters. Hang on and I will post a pic. Maybe that would help.
I have my chicks in a small dog crate with a small shop like light on them outside and they do fine. If you have them inside they need the warmth of a light. Do you have some sort of light you can put on them?
I put a light in there. A magnifying lamp.
Here is one in my hand.
group
They are in a large rubbermaid tote. The dish is 7.5 inches (inner circumference, not including handles)
it is not deep, I put chick feed in it with warm water.
I have a heating pad (for sore neck, back, etc). Should I turn it on and put it underneath the rubbermaid tote?
Mom is probably asleep.. and your thinking shes hunched and scared... nahh.. I'm new to chickens.. but I have learned enough when it is bedtime, nothing, not even babies will stop them from going to bed.. whenever that might be..
I saw somewhere.. where someone had taken a large (very large) flower pot, plastic, turned it upsidedown and hung a lightbulb from the center and cut a small mouse hole in the side.. it was enough to keep the chicks warm and they could go outside if they wanted.. a good way to "move" them out into the world.. I am guess these chicks haven't been too babied.. but we definitly want to keep them warm.
Your doing fine.. deep breaths.. and don't spend all night looking for her.. trust me, I know where all their hiding places are.. and if I am latre getting home... I don't know where they sleep.. still haven't figured it out.
This message was edited Aug 4, 2008 10:16 PM
That looks good, I don't see the water though... careful with the water.. chicks are "dumb" (sorry they are) they will drown in a drop of water.. if you gave them a bowl of water.. go back and fill it with rocks so they have to put their beak sort of between the rocks to get a drink..
yes it looks like your set up is fine watch them for a little while they will shiver if their cold mine did and I did put a heating pad under their crate until I got a bigger light. Good luck.
if you dont have the light, cover the top to keep their body warmth inside.. and drafts out.. you would be amazed at how warm the get when grouped together...
ANd if I was in a panic... I might wrap the heating pad in a thick towel and lay in along a wall, not the floor and not under.. but along a wall.. that way if they get to warm they can go to the other wall.. and I would put it on low..
Thanks. I put a light on. I put a towel in a smaller box and they are in there. Here is another one. I will post a pic of the setup. They are peeping a lot.
Here's the setup.
looks good yall will be fine
I still don't see their water and they do need access to water.. especially with the upset.. maybe water with a touch of sugar.. but remember to use the rocks or marbles.. if you dont have that at least give them a drink and remove it.
Looks like a good quick setup... panic times are always the best.. in a few days you'll laugh over this silliness.
Good luck... no fair loosing sleep... ??hey are these babies in your living room?
I'm just south of you in Cedar county, CMoxon, and I'll bet she just didn't want to be in the eglu tonight with as humid as it is. There's a nice breeze blowing outside and it's starting to cool off. If I were her, I'd sleep outside too. Sounds like your chicks are set up fine inside. As long as they don't have any drafts they should be fine.
The chicks got their water just after that. Ceramic dish, small, about 1.5 inches deep, water about 1 inch deep. I should put rocks in it? I don't have marbles. What about the granite grit that I have for the adult birds? Will that work?
I am not sure how large granite grit is... but.. it is just so the don't fall asleep in the water... if you haven't seen them fall asleep.. just wait.. you will laugh till you pee.... BUT.. the silly thing will drown in just a touch of watet.. so the rocks are to stop them.. it the granite that big? I can say.. pea gravel will not work.. does that help?
I am tring to think what is in the normal kitchen that would work in a pinch but I swear nothing comes to mind.
Personally, I would remove the water dish for the night. In the AM give them some water again (supervised) then remove it until you get some small rocks or marbles(I think the granite grit might be too small).
Well, I put the granite grit into the water dish. Here is the revised setup. I sat a towel half way across the tote as well. Maybe I should take out the water. I could float a cork or 2 in it?
What about some nuts and bolts? Would you have a handful of nuts and bolts or screws somwhere? fran530, do you think that would work? They would have to be larger ones..larger than pea gravel. Think of a marble size for reference.
agreed Heidi... you've done a great job claire... I would hate those silly little sleepy birds to go bout making you feel bad...
I think these are some lucky birds who are going to live happily ever after... now for names... lol.. the really will name themselves... you watch... you calling in sick tomorrow?? lol
I think I'd just take the water dish out for the night. Better to be safe than sorry.
yea.. that would work... anything that will keep them out of the water...
Oh, what about this? I put a bunch of those plastic bag clips in a dish with water? Is this good?
I am so worried about this. They keep walking in that food mash stuff and getting it all over themselves! Is that OK?