NY chicken lover!!!!

[pharmchickrnmom]

Thank you everyone for your welcomes. I live in Eden, NY which is in western NY near Buffalo. I only have 4 chickens at this time but am hoping to get some chicks next spring and hopefully be able to integrate them to my original 4.

I've been begging my husband for the past 13 years to get chickens and he finally said yes but it was too late to be able to buy chicks from the stores, so the only ones I could find were 8 week old pullets on craigslist and it's been just perfect for us so far. I love my girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm told I have a Black Star, New Hampshire Red, Easter Egger and either a Red Production or a Rhode Island Red (not sure which it is).

However, the purchase I made of a used chicken coop for $75 on craigslist turned out to be a TERRIBLE purchase and a waste of my money My girls are still free range during the day and in a dog crate at night or if I have to go out longer than an hour, they'll go back in the crate until I come home and can watch them. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so I'm mostly home.

My husband is building a coop and run currently but it is taking a long time (cannot blame him--he works full-time plus overtime, it is a learning experience for him as he is not the most experienced, and it's been HOT). He is rebuilding the coop from our eldest son's old tree fort/house my father-in-law built him years and years ago.

Would it be best if I started a new post for the questions I have regarding insulation vs. non-insulated, ventilation, windows etc.? Should that be put in the coop section? Thank you in advance!

Glad to hear that your husband is recycling as it saves a lot of money. I think you should read through the learning center at the top first to see if anything there answers the questions you have. Please feel free to ask any questions here as most of us have already been down that road of learning about these things. Since you are out near buffalo, keep in mind that your birds will be in the coop part of the year due to weather (unless you are shoveling out the run and/or covering it), so space is at a premium. The more space the better. Minimum requirement is 5 sq ft per large fowl but more is better. Since you are already planning to add to the flock in the spring, make sure you build to accomadate the space the newbies will be taking. Looks like you have some good egg production girls there so enjoy those fresh eggs and read, read, read! We will be happy to give you our 2 cents worth when you have questions.

Sunny---we are hoping the girls get some quiet after the boys go to camp. I will enjoy every bite as I reflect back on their bad behaviour!

 

[vmdanielsen]

I am gone for a few days and you guys chatter up a storm!! This heat and humidity is terrible!! Can I go back on vacation?

Welcome all newbies!!

 

[Lynzi777]

You are more than welcome to get as many fieldstones from us as you would like. We have acouple large piles from when they plowed for the cornfields. That is what we used when DW cleaned up our hedgerow.

How nice of you to offer! I woke up this morning and told DH I am officially DONE with all the yardwork. I made everything look the way I wanted and I am officially done! My body is aching but the yard actually looks like a yard now. Rather than plot of land with a house sitting on it.

This humidity is killing me today! I can take 100 degrees of heat but humidity - forget it! It is distugsting out there. I just heard some thunder so hopefully we'll get soem rain soon to cool things off a bit.

We finally got our baby holland lop bunnies last week and the kids have been bugging me all weekend to sit out on the front porch with them while they take them out their cage to play with them. Today I haven't been able to last more than 10-15 minutes out there. and I feel so bad for the bunnies. I've been freezing water bottles and putting them inside the hutch for the to the rest up against. They're out there panting like dogs! Poor things.

 

[ChickPrincess]

Yay! We got some rain we needed so badly! I put our two "baby" chickens (ok, not babies... around 4 months old) in with the others during the rain. The rest of the flock will NOT let these two into the flock. I didn't want them getting hurt, so I babysat them during the rain. About two hours in the coop watching it rain. lol Talk about chillin' with the peeps!
Our well was about 75% emptied which has NEVER happened to us in the 9 years we've lived here. Dh didn't realize it and he added chlorine to shock the well since our water has been yucky, smelly. There's so much chlorine you can smell it when you run the tap. ARGH! I can't even give the chickens clean water to drink. Hopefully it works it's way through quickly. I'm even afraid to do laundry!

On the topic of the two babies not being allowed to join the flock... I have tried and tried. It's just the two of them up against 20, and I think that's why. My thinking is, that if I remove others from the flock and put them with the babies for about a week, when I reintroduce them they will ALL be newbies, right? If I pull several out, do they need to be kept completely out of sight from the others? The way it is now, I have a separate run, but they all sleep together just fine. Or, I could set up a temporary thing in the garage, but it would mean they would have to stay in the garage for a week. This would be out of sight from the others, though.
Any suggestions?

 

[rancher hicks]

To all the newbies,

As was stated there are lots of "ideas", not opinions on how to do things. Fact is you have to decided what works for you. Me I look for the easiest way to get things done and it ain't the same for all of us.

tdmom - I used to be a snob about breeds and this and that but now I just think, if you like your birds, it don't matter. However I am partial to Delawares and think Silkies are aliens from another planet. I swear I saw some on the farm in the beginning of MIB.

Gotta run dinner is ready,

Rancher

 

[featherz]

Yay! We got some rain we needed so badly! I put our two "baby" chickens (ok, not babies... around 4 months old) in with the others during the rain. The rest of the flock will NOT let these two into the flock. I didn't want them getting hurt, so I babysat them during the rain. About two hours in the coop watching it rain. lol Talk about chillin' with the peeps!
Our well was about 75% emptied which has NEVER happened to us in the 9 years we've lived here. Dh didn't realize it and he added chlorine to shock the well since our water has been yucky, smelly. There's so much chlorine you can smell it when you run the tap. ARGH! I can't even give the chickens clean water to drink. Hopefully it works it's way through quickly. I'm even afraid to do laundry!

On the topic of the two babies not being allowed to join the flock... I have tried and tried. It's just the two of them up against 20, and I think that's why. My thinking is, that if I remove others from the flock and put them with the babies for about a week, when I reintroduce them they will ALL be newbies, right? If I pull several out, do they need to be kept completely out of sight from the others? The way it is now, I have a separate run, but they all sleep together just fine. Or, I could set up a temporary thing in the garage, but it would mean they would have to stay in the garage for a week. This would be out of sight from the others, though.
Any suggestions?

What I generally do is put the newbies into a cage inside the coop where the others can see but no touchie. So far this has always eventually worked. Failing that, I've heard that you should pull out the 'ringleaders' and segregate them away, then introduce back and they will have to start again at the bottom.

 

[Lynzi777]

Yay! We got some rain we needed so badly! I put our two "baby" chickens (ok, not babies... around 4 months old) in with the others during the rain. The rest of the flock will NOT let these two into the flock. I didn't want them getting hurt, so I babysat them during the rain. About two hours in the coop watching it rain. lol Talk about chillin' with the peeps!
Our well was about 75% emptied which has NEVER happened to us in the 9 years we've lived here. Dh didn't realize it and he added chlorine to shock the well since our water has been yucky, smelly. There's so much chlorine you can smell it when you run the tap. ARGH! I can't even give the chickens clean water to drink. Hopefully it works it's way through quickly. I'm even afraid to do laundry!

This may sound like a stupid question, but we are new to the whole water system with a well - how can you tell the water supply is getting low or see that the well is almost empty? I feel like we go thru so much water between all that we use inside the house, but I've also been using it outside ALOT to water all my plants twice a day, sometime to run the sprinkler because our grass was drying with the lack of rain, my kids use the sprinkler as well, and we also have a pool they like to use once in a while so we'll fill that up. We haven't has any problems yet though with any water coming thru faucets that looked dirty or smelled.

 

[ChickPrincess]

What I generally do is put the newbies into a cage inside the coop where the others can see but no touchie. So far this has always eventually worked. Failing that, I've heard that you should pull out the 'ringleaders' and segregate them away, then introduce back and they will have to start again at the bottom.

That's what I was thinking. Funny, but the worst offenders are my "bottom rung" chickens. There are 5 all together, so I may just put those 5 in the garage for a week. A time out will do them good!

 

[Henicillin]

I sent my first mean rooster to the crock pot today. I hope he was worth all the work and feed he ate. It's awfully quiet it the yard today.

He'll be delicious. Mine was.

 

[Henicillin]

Quote:

Being a noob myself, I'll defer answering your questions to the more knowledgeable members. Besides, being the only Pennsylvania "member", I'm only tolerated, 'cause I'm from the other side of the tracks.

Oh, no - you've been assimilated. You're one of us now. Be afraid - be very afraid.