Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: Sean Kelly on May 12, 2011, 08:50:40 pm

Title: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Sean Kelly on May 12, 2011, 08:50:40 pm
Hey guys!
Just wanted to brag, got 10 Barred Rocks today.  These are the first chickens my wife and children have ever been around.  I grew up raising chickens and have been wanting to get back into it ever since we moved back to the country.
Will upload a picture of my new girls soon.

Sean Kelly
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: AllenF on May 12, 2011, 10:54:34 pm
Chicks are great.   I thought about throwing some eggs in the incubator around Easter, but ending up just buying some baby quail to play with.  More mouths to feed.   And a little harder to raise than chickens I am finding out.   Chicks are great.
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: VolunteerK9 on May 13, 2011, 11:13:17 am
 And a little harder to raise than chickens I am finding out. 

Real prone to drowning if you dont have the quail size waterers. And dont even think of buying pheasants. Dumbest birds around.
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: hardwood on May 13, 2011, 11:40:18 am
We picked up 4 more Barred rocks about a week ago...maybe we should set up a play date? :-D

Scott
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: AllenF on May 13, 2011, 09:04:23 pm
A play date with some chicks?   There you go again.
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: McGoo on May 13, 2011, 10:15:54 pm
Congrats on the chicks....so much fun.  I'm a big chicken person.... got about 10 hatching out tonight/tomorrow.    I belong to backyardchickens.com  they're crazy chicken lovers over there.  :-D

I've found that chickens and bees coexist really well.  Neither seem to care about the others. 
All the best with the little ones. 
Colleen
Kelly (:
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Brian D. Bray on May 16, 2011, 04:42:59 pm
Having chickens can be very entertaining.  Watching chickens is as mezmerizing as watching the bees.  I have bees on one side of my garden and chickens on the other side, seems like I get little done in the garden,  I blame it on the rain.

Sean, we need to get together, we can trade bees, chickens, music, and ideas.
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Sean Kelly on May 16, 2011, 11:36:00 pm
Brian, I think about you every time I drive my semi through Anacortes on my way to Oak Harbor.  Would be really nice to see you, your bees, and chickens.. maybe squeeze in some fishin.  I finally got a pickup truck now too, though it might need some work before I'm able to drive it that far.

Here's a pic of my daughters with the new chicks.  Since my bees are all dead, the empty hive bodies and telescoping covers make great brooders!

(http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/1346/girlswithnewchicks.jpg)
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: VolunteerK9 on May 17, 2011, 09:29:40 am
Get ready to throw a super on in a week or two. They will outgrow that deep in no time  :-D
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: SarahM on May 17, 2011, 09:48:51 am
Congrats with your chicks! They're always fun to have . . . and they can be quite entertaining. We just got 40 more chicks this spring to raise up to replace our current layers. We got Barred Rocks, too, as well as Partridge Rocks and Buff Orpingtons.

Hope you all are enjoying yours . . . it certainly looks like your daughters are judging by the photo. =)
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Sean Kelly on May 17, 2011, 09:53:51 am
Get ready to throw a super on in a week or two. They will outgrow that deep in no time  :-D

That's awesome!!!!  Lol   :lau:

I've actually moved them into a medium rubber stock feeder.  These little guys grow FAST!!!!  In just a week, it looks like they've doubled in size!  I need to hurry up and get the coop finished.

Sean Kelly
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Brian D. Bray on May 21, 2011, 07:15:25 pm
Sean,

It's time to schedule and long lunch and some minor tractor trouble so we can hook up.
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Sean Kelly on May 29, 2011, 12:22:21 am
Sean,

It's time to schedule and long lunch and some minor tractor trouble so we can hook up.

Brian, I just drove through town again today.  Delivered a load of gas to the Seaplane base on Oak Harbor.  I'm sure I could work out a scheduled stop with my dispatch.  Problem is, I don't know I'm going up there until the very last moment.

As for the chicks, we couldn't help ourselves and ended up going back to the feed store to pick up two turkeys and a duck!
One turkey is a Broad Breasted Bronze and the other is a Broad Breasted White.  For some reason the white is growing 3 times faster than the Bronze.  The Bronze is EXTREMELY friendly and loves people but the white is very skiddish.  Our duck is a Peking and VERY cute.
Turkeys are for meat, duck is just a pet.  :-)

Tried to keep the turkeys and duck with the chickens, but they did NOT get along at all.  The duck seems to get along alright now, but the turkeys wont do.  So the duck stays with the chickens and the turkeys are in the house until I get their pen finished.

Oh yeah, got the chicken's coop all done too.  Looks sweet!  Will post some pics in a bit!

Sean Kelly
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Sean Kelly on May 29, 2011, 12:31:07 am
Here's the new coop I built
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6504/24245519904968898171465.jpg)

The Bronze and White turkeys.  The White is named Thanksgiving I, the Bronze is Christmas I.  lol
(http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3966/24123719904926897121465.jpg)

And of course, the Peking duck.  My daughters named her Lilly.
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3289/24121519905105701591465.jpg)
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: AllenF on May 31, 2011, 06:43:56 pm
Like that coop.
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: VolunteerK9 on June 01, 2011, 09:03:35 am
Thats one sweet hen house. Im jealous.

Turkeys eat waaay too much for me to fool with and ducks can make a mudhole out of a spitball. I did have one cool duck though. He was an Indian Runner named Howard. Poor Howard aint with us anymore though.
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Sean Kelly on June 14, 2011, 01:18:18 pm
The turkey pen is just about finished.  They're ready to go outside now too.  The Chickens, turkeys, and duck are HUGE now!  Man they grow fast!  Our duck seems kind of lame though.  She doesn't want to stand up.  My Ex is a vet and she suggested feeding "Sav-a-chic" suppliment since she thinks it might be a vitamin or niacin problem.

Sean Kelly
Title: Re: I got chicks!!!
Post by: Keeperwannabe on July 18, 2011, 01:46:21 pm
You are living the dream.