Groupings, Personal Space, Garden Art, and Color forum: Toni's 2019 Chicken thread
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Starting a month late, but nothing super exciting (or eggciting, as we like to say on our FB pages) has been happening, but this is about to change VERY soon! I'm getting these babies in TOMORROW! Yay!! I have my brooder cage set up & ready to go, now just waiting for the USPS to hopefully not lose them or freeze them or kill them in any way. Chickens naturally slow down laying in the winter time. So when eggs start to show back up, that's when you know that it's getting closer to spring. I got these beauties on Sunday.  Last October, I had purchased some birds from a local breeder up north near Fort Lupton or Fort Morgan or something like that.. 2 hours north of me. I got 2 Lavender orpingtons (one died, unfortunately) and she gave me a bunch of "cockerels" (baby roosters who haven't crowed yet). I gave 13 of them to my Hmong friend who raises them up & then eats them, but I kept 3 for myself as I wasn't sure about their genders. Well, of the 3, 1 was definitely a rooster.   Another one I'm still on the fence about.. he *MIGHT* be a he, but with easter eggers it's harder until they lay an egg or start to crow. But the 3rd.. now THAT is definitely a little hen! And she is GORGEOUS! Right now, i don't have a picture of her, but as soon as it warms up, I will get some pictures. Saturday was the Denver Earthdog swap. It's held on every 1st Saturday of the month. This early in the year there's only a few vendors that show up, and this time, it was just me & 1 other guy who shows up every month. He drives in from south of Fountain up to Fort Collins a couple of days before, visits his daughter up there, then on his way home, stops by Earthdog to do the swap & then go home. It's a bit of a hop for him, as Fountain is almost 4 hours south of Fort Collins, so this is right in the middle for him. He always has a bunch of birds and they're always way over priced, but he does seem to sell them, so good for him. A lady had called him earlier that day & asked if he could take in her 3 birds. He agreed, then asked me if I wanted them. I'm always willing to take in birds as I have a couple of isolation coops and, if I don't want to keep them, either I give them away or sell them super cheap ($5-$10 for a laying hen). Well, at about 11ish, lady showed up & gave him her 3 birds & food & everything... basically, her husband made the choice of her 3 chickens or the dog & him as the dog was constantly trying to kill the chickens & he wasn't about to give up the dog for "no damned chickens when you can get eggs & chicken in the store." So he took them in, boxed 'em up, and then after she left, he brought the box to me. In it was 3 full grown hens, but all I could tell was one was a Buff Orpington. The others he said was Black Star & Rhode Island Red. What confused him, though, was the RIR was named "Speckles".. why name a solid-colored bird "Speckles"? Now here's the kicker. This guy has been doing the chicken thing for about 40 years. And he wasn't able to tell the difference between these two birds? These are pictures I googled, not my pictures.   The 2 birds on the left are Rhode Island Reds. The Single girl on the right is known as a Barnvelder. You can definitely tell a huge difference in coloring with these birds. And what I was given was a Buff Orp, a Black Sex Link (sometimes known as Black Star by some hatcheries to make it seem like it's a fancier chicken) and a Barnvelder. I was looking into getting another Barnvelder as I had 2 last year who were spectacular birds, but very flighty (I didn't get them as chicks, so it was almost too late to tame them), but they're VERY expensive ($8-$35/3 day old chick). And to have 1 adult who's laying AND very nice just GIVEN to me? Yay Karma!!! 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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We used to raise Rhode Island Reds... Never heard of a Barnvelder  Pretty bird  NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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| Toni, yes, it is early in the year for chicks. I hope your babies arrive safely. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/forum54.php |
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| I never heard of a Barnvelder either but it sure is pretty. Good luck with the new chicks. Hope the weather stabilizes for you. |
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| Arlene - Colorado is very infamous for extremely wacky weather. In fact, NOAA has a branch here to study our Front Range weather. Theres a hill on I25 called Monument Hill, altitude of like 7400 over a mile in length. It could be snowing & a total whiteout on the north side and literally broken clouds & 10-20degs warmer on the south side. Here in the Denver metro its just as wacky. Traditionally the Southside (where I live) gets way more snow than north of Colfax (north side). We're talking a ft vs 2-4". On the other side of the coin, north gets a gadzillion times more rain than I do. It really sucks. Gave the girls scrambled eggs today for breakfast. Yes, they love eggs. I just scramble the eggs whole, including the shells. That way they get the calcium they need for shells. Tomorrow they'll get a roasted chicken. I was given a chicken last week that I processed... this bird was supposed to be only 6 months old, but this was the stringiest bird I've ever tasted. The drumstick was pretty much inedible and the thigh was super chewy. The breast was very flat and tough as well. Oh well, the girls need the extra protein. More protein = more eggs. They *are* dinosaurs, afterall... 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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That's really cool about the egg shells. I remember our chickens laying a whole egg without a shell and we had to give them a supplement. I don't remember what it was but it was like broken up shells and all along I could have been giving them egg shells. Who knew???? You did  NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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| Vic, that was probably oyster shells. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/forum54.php |
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| YES Mary - that was it! NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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| Toni, Looking forward to pics of the new chicks. I put eggshells out for all birds. A small town has no secrets except itself |
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not a happy camper about this:  Went to the post office... "uh, we don't know where it is, it *should* be here today, but more than likely tomorrow is when it's going to be delivered." FREAKING LIVE CHICKS YOU MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT SAYS TO PLEASE RUSH!!! HOW DOES IT GET FROM DE MOINES, IA TO DENVER IN 8 HOURS, BUT CAN'T MAKE IT FROM THE AIRPORT TO PARKER, 27 MILES AWAY, IN A BLANKITYBLANK DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sigh* Oh well. I took some pictures of some my girls. It was pretty cold out there, only 11 degs. Rainbow Dixie "Miss Clucky" (John's fav chicken)   Easter Egger "Crockpot"   Easter Egger "Stevie Nyx"  White Maran "Weirdo"   Juvenile Lavender Orpington   Juvenile Rhode Island red  Adult Rhone Island Red "Rudy"  White Cochin "Snowball"  Blue Cochin "Fluffenutter"  Baby Sapphire Gem (grey in background) and Easter Egger (black/white in foreground)    and I think one of my favorite birds... juvenile white splashed Easter Egger. I'm keeping this one.  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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| Ooooh, pretty birds. I like John's favorite, "Miss Clulcky. |
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| Toni, It's the same delivery story here. Sara used to run to the post office to get hers so they didn't have to wait until afternoon delivery. Then they started selling chicks at the farm stores and she quit ordering. I hope your chicks aren't starving by the time they get there. They are all beautiful and I love their names, lol! A small town has no secrets except itself |
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| They are all so pretty and they sure look warm - I hope the babies arrive safely. We ordered ours from the farm store too and went in and got them. NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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| Toni, did you get the new babies? Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/forum54.php |
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| No. I never received the box. Tracking still says "In Transit". By this time, they're dead. I'm so angry right now that I'm all the way to sad & numb. The USPS doesn't give a damn. Sally - I didn't want to have to wait til the stores get the birds in, plus a lot of times they're so stressed out that they die within a day or two. Last year I had a horrific time with them. *sigh* 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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 Poor babies.Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/forum54.php |
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Toni - I'm so sorry   NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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| spent 1hr, 18 min on hold w/the national level of the USPS to get to a live human. Talk to them for 3 minutes. Got the phone number for the Consumer Affairs Dept here in Denver. Called them, got yet ANOTHER live human (OMG). She said she'd call me back. About an hour & half later, got a call from yet a DIFFERENT live human, this one from the actual depot. Supposedly, and this is a long shot here, the birds were transported by TRUCK from De Moines, IA to Denver. According to GMaps, it's a 9.5hr drive, they MIGHT have gotten here in the 7 hrs as it's only about 700 miles, but I kinda doubt it. However, the lady at the distribution center insisted that the birds were in a wire rack w/no flight tag, meaning that they were not put on a plane. So those poor things were dead by the time they even hit here in Denver. Reason why I didn't get them is because the distribution center didn't want to deliver a bunch of dead birds to over 2 dozen people (I apparently wasn't the only one getting birds that day), so NO one got birds, dead or alive. She was rather pissed about the dead bird thing because it falls on HER shoulders as to why are they all dead? So what she wanted me to do was get in touch w/the hatchery & have THEM talk to HER to find out the big time WHY was this done via ground travel rather than air, especially in this weather? And of course, with the time difference, by the time she called me, they were already closed (the hatchery is in Iowa... hey, maybe Sally or Larry can go get 'em for me!). So I'll be calling her on Monday and then conferencing the Hatchery in with her so she can talk to them directly. Those poor birds. 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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| so sorry Toni hatchery run by a lot of stupid people. |
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| Toni - This is so freaking unacceptable. I think you should call your local news in CO and also the idiots at the hatchery. NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
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