Deleted
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Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2012 19:48:07 GMT -5
Last year I decided I wanted to raise chickens. At first the wife was "Absolutely not! Chickens are dirty nasty animals". I had to hide my chicken sites like I was looking at porn or something. I worked on her for a while until it was"I don't care what you do, just leave me alone and I'm not touching them or taking care of them". So April 1st I went to Rural King and bought 6 chicks. 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Legorn, 2 Rhode Island Reds and 2 ISA Browns. It was supposed to be 2 Buffs but one ended up being a ISA. They earned names in the first couple of weeks. The Leghorn is Foghorn. The RIR's are the island girls Ginger and Mary Ann. The Browns are Izzy and Poop Stain (She had problems with a pasty butt when she was little). The Buff is TLC-Tastes Like Chicken. ;D They have been growing fast. It's quite the experience raising them. I built a coop. It started as a 4x8 pallet. I put it up on legs to get the floor about 36" off the ground. That way I can pull a wheelbarrow right up to it to clean it out. I painted the floor with some really ugly green paint but it was free. It's usable but there are a few things I still need to do. The entire back wall is hinged. Here's the hole they use to get to the bottom. I mounted trailer jacks on both sides. You can crank them up and move the coop.
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Post by txdirtdog on Jun 26, 2012 21:11:48 GMT -5
Very nice Bantam!!!
Heh-heh. I think my wife is on board. May get some this fall or spring. The moveable coop idea is what I want to go with also.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2012 6:17:47 GMT -5
The first day I put some feed in her hand and had them eating out of it. A couple of weeks later, I was at the races when she called to tell me she cleaned the pen. She now has "her chicken" the legorn. It'll will actually fly to her sometimes when she calls it by name. She's looking forward to getting eggs now too.
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Post by txdirtdog on Jun 27, 2012 8:37:38 GMT -5
;D
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Post by stratcat on Jun 30, 2012 1:00:20 GMT -5
Cool, Bantam! Nice to see you here.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2012 21:03:04 GMT -5
???32bantam how are the chickens doing now? Like you I wanted to have some chickens for eggs but my hubby said "no way". After about a year he's come around and we're looking to start next spring. Any words of wisdom on your coop and do you allow your chickens to run at all or move the coop alot? We're trying to plan space and location but are considering starting with about 4. With only two of us we'll have eggs to spare I'm sure. I've researched and am considering Welsummer, Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes. We live in Wisconsin so need the cold-hardy breeds.
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Post by izitmidnight on Apr 8, 2013 8:42:51 GMT -5
Just wondering how the chickens were doing....
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Post by horsea on Jun 10, 2013 19:54:40 GMT -5
I have a small flock of 5 Delaware hens and 2 roosters. Today I see that one hen is just standing there, in front of the water pail. She doesn't move when I come up to her and touch her. Not a good sign. I don't kill my animals, they are for laying eggs for us. They die either a natural death or else from a predator, but this latter doesn't happen anymore because I watch over them when I let them out of their little yard into our large backyard.
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Post by izitmidnight on Jun 10, 2013 20:33:48 GMT -5
I'm sorry to hear about your hen. Even if they 'work' for us they are still a member of the family.
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Post by horsea on Jun 11, 2013 23:08:39 GMT -5
Thanks, izit. My poor hen died. She hadn't suffered long, I don't think. She couldn't make it on her own steam into the chickenhouse so I placed her in a cozy strawfilled barrow in the garage, nice and quiet and peaceful, where she passed on a few hours later. I haven't a clue as to what hit her. Just the day before, she was rooting around with the others in my "compost pile", a crude mountain of coarse garden wastes, etc.
I placed Henny under a bush in the tall grass after at which time I asked the lord to receive her spirit.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 12, 2013 1:23:12 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about "Henny." It sounds as though you did all you could to make her last day comfortable.
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Post by horsea on Jun 16, 2013 2:05:06 GMT -5
Many thanks for your kindness. My chickens are not just working animals, they are companions, too, and I just hate it when they die right under my nose at a young age. Henny was only 2. My oldest have lasted 5+ years.
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Post by izitmidnight on Nov 22, 2013 22:58:46 GMT -5
How is everyone's flocks doing?
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dogfish
Junior Member
Posts: 56
Joined: January 2014
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Post by dogfish on Jan 3, 2014 10:14:34 GMT -5
2 is young for a hen to die. I had a mixed banty hen called "Goldie" that lived for 18 years. The last 4 all the feathers on her head were white and we just referred to her as "The Old Hen" She was my best bird for broodiness ever. When most people take fertilized eggs and hatch them separate in an incubator then separate the chicks from the flock until they can hold their own ol Goldie would hatch them out and protect them as they grew. Have never had another bird that would do that. My flock right now is: 1-Barred Rock rooster 2-Barred Rock hens 4-Rhode Island red hens A little boring but a classic backyard flock
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Post by izitmidnight on Jan 3, 2014 10:29:22 GMT -5
Sounds like a wonderful flock!
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