Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!

[TwoCrows]

Hi Friends,

We have had chickens since August of 2021. We started with 8 (2 Easter Eggers, 1 Plymouth Barred Rock, and 4 black austrolorps, and 1 sapphire gem. We purchased a coop and the chickens that were 2 years old. In summer of 2022 we added 4 EE chicks (one was a roo which we kept). We culled one austrolorp who was an egg eater. We are planning on purchasing 3 more Plymouth barred rocks very soon. I know we suffer from chicken math, but we are thinking of the new chicks as replacements for some of our older population.

BYC continues to be a huge resource for us. My biggest treasure finds on BYC have been the Mamma Heating Pad for raising our baby chicks, and a recipe for creating our organic fermented chicken feed. Thanks for this useful resource!

So glad to hear BYC has been such help to you, we sure are loaded with the info! Chicken math gets us all, no escaping it.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Hi everyone, been busy, a bear got a hold of most of my flock except two hens. We just purchased 15 hens, brown leghorns, was disappointed there wasn't a rooster. My husband is going to start building a more secure pen for them that I can move around the yard.

I'm sorry you lost most of your old flock. I hope you can enjoy your new hens! A more secure pen sounds like a great idea.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Hatched or some chicks last month for my sister. Set 8. 6 hatched, one wasn’t fertilized and one quit. So not a bad hatch. Lost a hen a couple weeks ago to impacted gizzard. Everyone else is great and laying like champs!

Gorgeous rooster, and I love your egg colors! So glad to hear you've been doing well lately.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Hello to everyone! My husband and I have had chickens for 4 years now. It was his idea to get them and I was like, what?! you want what?!
Of course when they're peeps what's not to love but as they grew so did my love for them. And chicken math is a real thing so we now have 26 hens, 3 roo's and 2 chicks (and a broody sitting on 6 eggs) We have 3 separate coops so I could keep 2 roo's we hatched here at home. I absolutely love roosters! Mine are love bugs and can't get enough hugs and love from me. So, as y'all well know, keeping 3 coops and runs cleaned, watered, fed, raked, strawed, sprayed, y'all know the drill, is very time consuming. I found this wonderful group during the first few months of chicken keeping. My hubby purchased ISA's from TSC and we didn't research therefore were not aware of the reproductive issues that breed has. We lost our first girl Lily at 7 months. I can't tell y'all how many hours I spent reading posts and writing down information to help my babies when they go down and how thankful I am for this group! Y'all have helped me prolong the lives of some of our girls and prevent illness in the first place. So bless all of you for your wisdom and for sharing your knowledge. My chickens are my kids, really! We have them and a lab dog, no human kids. Either me, my hubby or both of us is broken somewhere lol! But that's ok because I get to have so many feather babies!! I don't have lots of pics but I'll share a few I do have.View attachment 3813165View attachment 3813175View attachment 3813181View attachment 3813186

I love your photos! I also was a little skeptical of chickens at first, but as they grew I got more and more attached, and I love them now. I'm sorry about the issues you had with your ISAs, I too got some production hens before I knew about their problems. Now I know heritage breeds are the way to go! Best of luck to you and your feathered family.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

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Hello, nice to see you here. What have you been up to lately? Have any birds?

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Well, hello again, everyone. I haven't been active much with our chickens. With our first flock, my family would sit in lawn chairs in the chicken yard and the hens would hop up on us. Our first rooster was a sweetheart who would snuggle with us—Buckeyes are supposed to be very friendly, so we just thought that's how they all were. Then a bobcat wiped out the entire flock.

We hatched five of their eggs, two of which were roosters, who are traditional rooster jerks. We can't turn our backs on them or they attack, so no more sitting in the yard and relaxing with chickens! No amount of "conditioning" no matter the method has convinced the boys to change their ways, although if I carry a rake with me, they don't charge (it's a visual deterrent). Our first rooster died trying to protect his girls. On challenging days, I'm tempted to let the sons "free range."

I'm so sorry for your loss. Your new boys sound pretty challenging. Honestly, I would get rid of those guys, either put them in the freezer or sell them to someone else to put in their freezer. Having to protect yourself every time you go out there is no fun. You may not want to get rid of them, but once you do, you'll realize you didn't know how much harm they were actually causing. Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Hi there! Thanks for checking in! We don't have chickens yet - still finishing up our house and hoping to move in by the end of May. There's a small barn on site that I want to convert to a coop, but I don't know if we'll be able to finish that in time for fall. My plan is to start with incubating/hatching eggs as a sort of homeschool project.
My goal is to have a small flock of Icelandic chickens by next spring.

Thanks for stopping by! That barn looks perfect for a coop, though it'll probably need a few modifications. Icelandics are a great breed, and they're very tough little chickens. Hope to see you around more, and don't hesitate to ask for advice when you get your birds!

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Mimi the goose has turned out to be Marvin, but protects the flock just the same! 25 ladies and 2 roos free roam any day it's not storming here in Ohio. Hoping to add a few young ladies this spring, but still deciding if I want the extra work of chicks this year. Any suggestions of cool new breeds? I'm always up for trying something new!

Nice to hear from you! I'm not sure what you're looking for in a breed of chicken, but some of my favorites for looks are Wyandottes and Speckled Sussex. Brahmas are also gorgeous, but can get huge! Be sure to post some photos if you end up getting chicks. We love chick pics around here.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Hi everyone,

I've got rid of my Quails and raised some chickens now

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Gorgeous birds! I must say, buff laced Polish are some of my favorite breeds to look at. Their little crests look so neat. Hope you enjoy chickens!

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Hello fellow "chikkinn" peeps! We are still in springtime here in Michigan and we've had some cold temps. Moving slowly but thinking about getting some more meat birds this year and a guinea hen to replace the one we lost last year. Hope all is well with you.

Hi, thanks for popping in! Spring sure can be brutal sometimes. I'm thankful that here in Washington it's mostly sorted itself out, and the hens sure are happy! Hope your weather warms up soon, and enjoy your new birds!