Groupings, Personal Space, Garden Art, and Color forum: Toni's Chickens, 2017
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| OK, I'm gonna see if I do better this year about logging what I'm doing with the chickens. I'm going really try this year to keep up with what I'm doing. And because I've got the chickens on the main level of the house rather down in the basement, it'll be easier for me to take pictures I think. I'm on the wait list for various chickens at one of my "local" feed stores. We, surprisingly, only have 2 feed stores in my city.. I'm really surprise that we don't have more feed stores mainly because we're a VERY much so a horse-friendly city. But, I usually drive all the way to Kiowa to get my chicks. I used to be able to get them in Elizabeth, but that feed store closed (the owner wanted to retire & no one bought the business), so now I drive about 41 miles for stupid chicks. I never said I was smart! Today, Feb 26th, I picked up the first set of chicks. I got 2 breeds, 2 each. I got Araucanas and Cuckoo Marans. Araucanas are also known as Easter Eggers as they lay multi-colored eggs. Green, blue, brown, white, tan, and everything in between. I've even heard of them laying pink, but that's pretty rare. They're a South American breed that does well here. This is the first time for me keeping these birds. I bought pullets, so I should only have 2 little girls. Cuckoo Marans are a French-bred chicken that lays brown eggs that are known as "chocolate" because they're so very dark brown. They're supposed to be a very friendly bird, so let's hope so. Here are the babies.    The black babies with the white spot on the head are the cuckoo marans and the brown & tan babies are the araucanas. I'm on the list to get Black Jersey Giants, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and some White Orpingtons. I may get some white Silkies too.. I love having walking cottonballs!! Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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I love love love these. How do the cats do with the chickens? My kitties would have them for lunch I'm afraid. Glad to see you are raising them again.  |
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| Susan - Oh, my kitties would have Chicken McNuggets if they could. They're in a 36" flightcage w/ 1/2" bar spacing, so too tight for little kitty paws. So I have CatTV going on. Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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| Toni, They are absolutely adorable!! A small town has no secrets except itself |
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| Toni interesting breeds, I only know about domestic ones, like the Rhode Island red here. I hope that they give you a diversion from work. Less exciting, but the tree people are here & the big tree should be out of here this morning, 65 feet of probably nuisance to walk around. |
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| Toni, this is exciting. I don't know anything about raising chickens so this will be a fun learning experience for me to follow along as you raise yours. “Surely as cometh the Winter, I know there are spring violets under the snow.” (Robert H. Newell) NGA Blog..........Pinterest Boards..........Tablescaping Blog |
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| Took some pictures this morning. It's my goal to handle them every day so that they grow up to be people friendly. Terri - Chickens are fun, but they're also pretty dumb, so you have to watch out for them. They have, what I call & apparently a LOT of people call, 3 different phases. You have McNuggets, which is when they're itty bitties like these babies. They were hatched probably on 2/20, mailed out 2/21, received by the feedstore on 2/23, and then I got them on 2/25, so, technically, they're a whole week old. Chickens aren't like other birds that require a mom to care for them.. they're actually self-sufficient from the get go. Their only drawback is lack of body temperature. They need to be kept at about 90degs for their first 2-3 weeks of life until they get feathers. They do have a soft floofy down, but it's not really enough to keep them warm, so you have to keep them under a heatlamp if you don't have a broody hen to sit on them. But they eat food & drink water completely on their own from the time they're hatched. It's amazing compared to a lot of other birds that require a parent to feed/care for them for the first 3-5 weeks. And chickens will change a LOT in their 2 months of life. Right now, I have Nuggets. At about 4 weeks they'll really start feathering out and will stand about 5-6" tall and are gangly teenagers. I call that the Dinosaur phase. At 2 months of age, they'll actually look like chickens and will have their adult coloring (babies look completely different, for the most part, from what the adults look like). They can go outside, depending on temperatures, by that time (I watch for when they're sleeping away from the heatlamp. If they're sleeping away from the heatlamp, then they're ready for outside provided it doesn't get butt-chilling cold). The two Aruacanas. One is definitely going to be a character, I can tell.     And the two cuckoo Marans    Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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| They are just the cutest things! Sara raises chickens too and has my grandma's heat lamp and roosts. Dad used them when I was 2 years old and we had chickens. A small town has no secrets except itself |
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Those are so cute Toni  NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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| they are cute! For some reason, I always think it AMERIcaunas!!! I told you I wasn't good with breeds! |
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| Arlene - no, he could have Ameracaunas! Thats a breed too.. its the American version of the Easter Egger. http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Ameraucana-B5.asp... Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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| Well dang, that just confuses me more. I'll have to look when I go to the farm next time and ask. I know they lay blue/green eggs. |
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| http://www.wideopenpets.com/4-chickens-that-lay-blue-eggs/ Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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| On the job that Mike was at on Monday, the homeowner gave him a half dozen eggs from her chickens. Two were light brown, two were light bluish green, and two were light brown with speckles. I used them this morning in the breakfast casserole I made. The yolks were so much bigger than what I'm used to from store bought eggs. Pretty cool. “Surely as cometh the Winter, I know there are spring violets under the snow.” (Robert H. Newell) NGA Blog..........Pinterest Boards..........Tablescaping Blog |
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| Terri - And the yolks supposedly will have more Omega 3 in them... chickens that are allowed to eat bugs & grass & green stuff usually have darker yolks. And you'll probably notice that the shells were a little thicker, too. Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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| Yum, breakfast casserole! Ira gave me a carton (18) of eggs today too. They do taste so much better! |
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| Took bad pictures last night. I decided that I was going to start desensitizing the animals (dogs/cats) to the chickens. So what I do is, while holding a chick, I let everyone who wants to sniff the chick. But I don't let them do anything more than sniff. If a tongue appears, they get squirted by the waterbottle. That gives them the association of "look but don't touch" type thing. I've done this in the past w/o any problems before, but I have new critters now, so have to redo it. But, surprisingly enough, none of the cats were interested in doing more than sniffing. In fact, a few cats apparently remembered the "lick the chick, get squirted" from the past and actually ran off when I offered them a chick to sniff. Good! Less chances of carnage if something were go wrong & a chick got out of the cage some how. Anyways, two of the chicks are growing at a fast pace, but two others are a little slower. To be expected, really. So here's some bad pictures. Cuckoo Marrans   And the Araucanas. I honestly think that one isn't an araucana... I don't know what it is, but she doesn't look anything like the other. This one looks right.  This one doesn't. But from doing some research, could be just a different color pattern.  And Ripley decided she wanted to sniff.. but that's all she did was sniff.  Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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| sweet photo's Toni - especially with Ripley. NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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| What a great way to get the animals used to the chickens! Cute picture of Ripley! Matt got ten new hen chicks today. I haven't seen them yet. |
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| Arlene - YAY!! Do you know what kinds of chicks? Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
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