Re: A FAQ
- From: "Kathleen" <lovebirds1201@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 07:44:45 -0500
Darn! I typed out a huge long response of questions and my program shut
down!
When I got my chicks, I got 33 chicks from several places, several
varieties.
1 barred rock
2 Americaunas
1 Rhode Island Red
15 RIR
15 White Leghorns
30 were raised for my Dad just until they were big enough to join his flock.
I had the special feeding trays and I had the heat lamp.
They were all in the house in an open cardboard box (DH works at the box
factory) with my black lab. I had a small rabbit hutch outside.
Questions I had then:
How long until they can be introduced to an established flock?
How long until they can go outside with the heat lamp?
How do I keep them from pooping in the water feeder?
How big does the coop need to be for 4 chickens, and how long do I have
until they need it?
(It was finished just in time - a cheap PVC pipe creation)
How do I keep my dog from eating them? For some reason I thought she would
adore them the way we do, but that doesnt' seem to be the case.
When do I feed them chick grit?
What extra foods or table scraps can I feed them?
How am I going to train them to come back to the coop at night?
Questions I have now:
They are 4 months old today. (We have 6 now- the rest went home to Dad's
farm)
Is it OK that I am still feeding them medicated crumble? The bag is almost
gone.
Then do I switch to 'layer' crumble?
When do I start feeding the oyster stuff?
What extra foods or table scraps can I feed them?
(We let them free range for 4-10 hours a day, and throw a handful of scratch
out daily)
Can I use the rabbit hutch for nesting boxes if I put a lid on it? Right
now they roost on the edges of it. I figure I have a couple more months to
figure all this out.
They don't always come home to the coop, and I suspect they roost in the
trees on those occasions. How do I discourage that?
How do I know if they are roosters? I suspect my RIR is a rooster because
tail feathers stand up, and shinier than the others at Dad's. Hard to tell
with the combs and underthings (wattles? sorry, just dont know the
terminology yet) They all have beginnings of both. The 2 leghorns we kept
look different, and one of them was 'skirmishing' with the RIR. How do I
figure out if one of them is a rooster?
That's all the questions I can think of right now. It's been very
interesting and fun... I'm not emotionally attached to them, but we really
like to watch them and like having them around. And in the midst we got
another dog, who has trained our black lab to not be so very interested
anymore. To the point where we don't have to supervise when she's outside!
The new dog is a ACD or "red heeler" and I was hoping I could teach her to
heel the chickens back into the coop but so far she only herds my feet as
they are herding chickens back in the coop!
With hope and heart,
Kathleen
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: A FAQ
- From: Mary Fisher
- Re: A FAQ
- References:
- Prev by Date: Re: A FAQ
- Next by Date: Re: A FAQ
- Previous by thread: Re: A FAQ
- Next by thread: Re: A FAQ
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
