Chickies :)

[saxguy64]

Hey folks.

I know there's a few of you out there that have chickens, and we've joined the crowd. It's been a fun project, and something new to focus on, and learn about during the covid shutdowns. Truly amazing how different they are from our parrots, as far as being almost self sufficient from day one.

So, we got four little chickies back at the end of April. They're 4 months and a week old now, and sure don't look like babies any more! We've socialized and handled them as much as we could, so they're sweet and easy to work with. It never really occurred to me how social, and how SOFT they were!

Anyway, our babies are officially growing up, and this morning gifted us with this! So proud of those little girls!

They're so pretty now!

 

[SailBoat]

The girls will be changing your lawn care approach as adding fertilizers are not a good idea, but they will provide their own!

Consider cranking the deck up to about 4" (100 mm) cut height as that will keep the bugs higher and easier for your girls to add to their diet. And bonus, you will have fewer bugs around...

Free eggs! Now that is a win /win if I have ever seen four!

Yup, chickens are underrated!

 

[Scott]

A quad of gorgeous chickies!! That lush grass gives me pause for having laid artificial grass in my backyard.

 

[saxguy64]

The girls will be changing your lawn care approach as adding fertilizers are not a good idea, but they will provide their own!



Consider cranking the deck up to about 4" (100 mm) cut height as that will keep the bugs higher and easier for your girls to add to their diet. And bonus, you will have fewer bugs around...



Free eggs! Now that is a win /win if I have ever seen four!



Yup, chickens are underrated!

Fortunately, no lawn care changes necessary. I built them a nice run that's attached to the coop. It's covered with strong mesh as we have our share of raptor/predator species from Hawks, owls, and eagles to racoons, fischer cats, minks, coyotes, and even bears on occasion. We let them out to free range (supervised) for an hour or so every day so they can enjoy the bug buffet. We're pretty rural here and we have about 3 acres to keep mowed and somewhat limited time to keep up on it. If I can keep it at 6" or less, I'm doing good. No fertilizer needed, ever, since our yard was literally part of a hay field before we bought the property.

A later inspection this morning revealed 2 more eggs, so either some little girl has been extra busy, or all four decided today was the day to begin laying! Can't wait to cook them! Some of our friends tell us that once we've had them organic style from our own chickens, we'll never go back to commercial store bought. Time will tell, but not much time... Assuming we have more tomorrow, I know what I'm making for breakfast in the morning !

 

[HEEDLESS]

:04::04:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pgguHKUvQqWZzjQV6

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[HEEDLESS]

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[Jen5200]

Congrats on your first eggs - very sweet looking girls you have there! I love having chickens, they are lovely outdoor pets if you socialize them well. They are my best recyclers - they convert all of my leftover chop, veggies, spare zucchini and everything else into fabulous EGGS. Mine love to come with me when I’m pulling weeds and gardening to take care of the bugs and worms that inevitably come up - gardening with chickens....it’s a thing .

 

[saxguy64]

Oh my goodness! Lily, are those your chickie babes? They're gorgeous! Thank you for showing them!

Jen, thank you, they really are sweet. The smallest of the four, Waffle, is the most social, and is usually the first to try anything new. It's almost like the other three put her up to it, and wait to see what she thinks. (I'm not gonna try it... Let's get Mikey!)

I can't really take them to the garden, it's about 500' from the coop, with no cover, and the raptors would probably get them before too long. We do let them recycle leftover veggies though. Funny you mention zucchini- we wound up with waaaaaaay too much of it. An unexpected late frost killed most of what we had planted, so we put in more. Well, the dead stuff came back, and we suddenly had 20 zucchini plants! Oh my! We managed to give lots of it away, which was nice.

This morning they really liked having some corn that the crows kind of ruined. Rotten scavengers! We weren't going to eat it, so, why not, right?

 

[noodles123]

I want chickens! They all look great!

 

[saxguy64]

And you'll never guess what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow. Can't wait!

 

[saxguy64]

I want chickens! They all look great!

If you have the space, go for it. They're not nearly as much work as our parrots are And you can pet them lol. What's the worst that happens? It makes them hormonal so they lay eggs? Score!!!

 

[SailBoat]

May want to take a long look at the coop and consider adding wheels to it. My great-aunt had twelve and they moved the coop around the barnyard. Yes twelve is a bit more than four, but as I was told decades ago, Chickens Eat Everything!

Know what you mean by all the other meat eaters around. They greatly limit outdoor (free roaming) time.

And, somehow I knew from the start, this was not going to be a single page Thread! There is just something about Chickens!

And, Scott! FYI: You're 'green stuff' is cause it never rains in Sunny South California -- until it pours!!! Right?

 

[Scott]

And, Scott! FYI: You're 'green stuff' is cause it never rains in Sunny South California -- until it pours!!! Right?

Ain't that the truth! Water shortages in my town will ease the next year or so as a waste treatment plant converting into potable water is under construction. People screamed about "toilet-to-tap" but the science is proven, and good ol' Mother Nature has done this since the early days of Earth! The process treats and returns to an aquifer for further purification, and is in turn run through the usual treatment process before released.

 

[SailBoat]

And, Scott! FYI: You're 'green stuff' is cause it never rains in Sunny South California -- until it pours!!! Right?

Ain't that the truth! Water shortages in my town will ease the next year or so as a waste treatment plant converting into potable water is under construction. People screamed about "toilet-to-tap" but the science is proven, and good ol' Mother Nature has done this since the early days of Earth! The process treats and returns to an aquifer for further purification, and is in turn run through the usual treatment process before released.

Thanks for proving that Californians will agree to anything 'Mother Nature'.
FYI: Those that live along the Mississippi River are drinking recycled (passing though at least three or four humans) before arriving at the Gulf...

Only concern is the ever increasing volume of Human Medications that are showing-up in the river water systems. It's a question worth asking.

Hence, having chickens is much better for everyone! Had to link this turn back to the Topic!

 

[HEEDLESS]

And you'll never guess what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow. Can't wait!

Their eggs taste WAAAAAAAY better than those at the stores (even organic)

I have been feeding the chickies with the feeding-fish I purchased from pet stores. The cutest thing that those fish swimming in the pot; chikies just digging their heads in the water for the fish.
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[noodles123]

I want chickens! They all look great!

If you have the space, go for it. They're not nearly as much work as our parrots are And you can pet them lol. What's the worst that happens? It makes them hormonal so they lay eggs? Score!!!

Oh, I know lol! They were the second birds in my life (other than TAG and parakeet) but they were funny/fun. I liked them a lot. A good friend of mine also had chickens, guineas, banties (bantams?) and peacocks and I was OBSESSED with them lol. From age 7-13 I spent a ton of time with them and I have been jealous ever since

I actually almost died when I was about 10 because we climbed a 20 foot latter to the hay loft (which we did all the time..) and we were playing- I slipped in peacock poop and slid down hay to the very very edge of the barn loft..legs hanging off, butt squarely positioned at the edge. LOL!

 

[saxguy64]

Mmmmmmm, the old peacock poop slip and slide. Weeeeeeeeee! Hahaha!

Noodles, you're way ahead of me on the chicken experience. This is our first go around with them. We have lots of friends that have them, so at least we have resources for info, and we've learned a ton. It's like thinking backwards though. Everything is so much easier, except the mess lol! Wow do they poop a lot!

So, first fresh from the bird scrambled egg breakfast today... Soooo good! For their first ever laying, they were perfect, except for being slightly smaller than store bought medium sized. Two more appeared this afternoon, so hopefully the other two will gift us later today. Go chickies!

BTW, yes, our girls have names... They are, Biscuit, Nugget, Patty, and Waffle.

 

[LaManuka]

Jon I am quite enamored with your chickie-babes, as well as your coop-building prowess! They look so happy and healthy and i know those eggs taste WAY better than store bought, and must be better for you too.

However I think HEEDLESS takes the prize for the most relaxed chickie I've ever seen!

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HEEDLESS have you been studying this book by any chance?

 

[SailBoat]

Oooh, do not hypnotist your chickens! I learned the hard way that leads to the hens not laying eggs for a week! My great-aunt assured that I never did that again and had difficult sitting the rest of that day!

 

[Inger]

Oooh, do not hypnotist your chickens! I learned the hard way that leads to the hens not laying eggs for a week! My great-aunt assured that I never did that again and had difficult sitting the rest of that day!

Wait what? You hypnotized your aunt’s chickens? We need to know more.


In my dream world, I have a couple of chicken buddies who keep me stocked with fresh eggs, but in real life I live in an apartment so I still go to the store.


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