We're getting more chickens!

[hippywife]

It took me a while to talk hubs into it but with three of our girls getting older, egg production is dropping off a little, especially in this heat. Saturday we are going to go pick up four new pullets, 2 Buff Orpingtons and 2 Barred Rock. They're only two months old and just $5 a piece. That will give us a baker's dozen in our little flock. More frash aigs in a few months. I can't wait! :D

[wildeyed]

1. Yay!

My barred rock is the sweetest thing.

I got a small incubator and will be hatching eggs end of the month. I am thinking bantam ameraucanas and possibly some silkies as pets for my 9yo daughter. I got an old dog house from a neighbor that I think will convert to a bantam hen house. Just need to add a door and some extra ventilation.

My big girls have finally become destructive to my veggie garden. I caught them munching on a ripe tomato they had picked yesterday. Time to build a fence!

[Denninmi]

2. It's an addiction.

My desire to have 4 chickens in 2008 is getting out of hand.

Added 4 ducks in 2009 -- I like duck eggs better than chicken eggs, especially for baking.

This year, I bought a better incubator with all of the bells and whistles. I've added 6 turkeys, 5 new ducks, 6 new chickens, and I am doing quail now -- hatched 7 last week and have 55 eggs in the incubator right now.

Yikes!!!

[elleng]

3. How can you do all that, in 'metro' Detroit???

:applause:

:rofl:

[noamnety]

6. You'd be surprised how many raise chickens here.

I know people right in Detroit raising chickens, and several in what you'd think of as regular suburbia doing it. It's not entirely within the zoning regulations everywhere but that doesn't really stop anyone - including at least one government employee I know of.

[wildeyed]

7. Chickens are less or a nuisance than your average pet dog.

As long as you don't have a rooster, they are quiet. If I don't rake their pen out every few weeks, there is an odor, but no where near as disgusting as dog poo. And they are a whole lot more useful than your average urban canine too. Zoning regs seem to be changing as more people learn about urban chickens :)

[elleng]

8. Interesting, but

turkeys, ducks, quail??? Just seems so non-metro, to this city girl!

[noamnety]

9. Believe it or not

there's a turkey farm in Troy Michigan (12th largest city in the state and definitely part of metro detroit).

I found this quote online which made me chuckle:

"A recent seminar at the Ferguson Academy on raising chickens in your backyard -- which began with a disclaimer that the practice is illegal in Detroit -- had more than 100 attendees."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20090424/LIFESTYLE14/904240359/Urban-gardeners-nurture-nature-in-Detroit#ixzz0tlRmgltf

[awoke_in_2003]

10. You can have chickens...

in Dallas proper- just no roosters.

[Denninmi]

13. Not a problem.

I've got a couple of acres. Land has been in the immediate family since the 1940's, no one ever bothers me. If they did, I would be fully protected under the Michigan Right to Farm Act since I follow "generally accepted agricultural procedures and practices" which don't amount to much more than common sense, and I sell just a few things in order to demonstrate "commercial intent."

Frankly, I don't think my neighbors have any idea I even have birds, or 6 beehives for that matter. My yard is too thick with plants to see, and the birds are not nearly as noisy as the wild geese and ducks across the street on the lake.

[bvar22]

4. Hoo-Ray for MORE chickens.

We just transferred our new Wellsummers from the bathroom brooder to a protected area in the outside coop. We're going to keep them locked up for a few more weeks before letting them join the rest of the flock.

We love all our birds, but the Barred Rocks are special.
They are very easy going, placid...
Never get upset, and always come in last in the Chicken Races.


We've never has a Buff, but I understand they are pretty laid back too.

[beac]

5. "Buff Orpington"

My dad used to quote an old radio show that featured "Mrs. Buff-Orpington"* who was forever starting her sentences with "My husband, Mr. Buff-Orpington, the man who invented the chicken, you know...." whenever the top of poultry came up.

Googled and found that the radio show was "Blondie" as in "Dagwood &...": http://ourfriendben.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/mrs-buff-orpington/




* I must confess that until today I thought the spelling was "Buforfington" as my child's ears always heard it. :rofl:

[LWolf]

11. Congrats!

One of my oldest hens, the broodiest, is brooding again. I don't know if we'll get any chicks. My old rooster died this spring, leaving his son, who will be 1 next month; he hatched last summer. Most of the hens wanted nothing to do with him at first.

Should be another week or so before I know.

I don't have many "pure" hens left. One buff orpington, one australorp; she's the one brooding.

The rest are various combinations between those two and silver-laced wyandottes. The new rooster looks just like his dad, a b-o, but with a few black tail feathers; he's got wyandotte or australorp or both in there somewhere.

[LWolf]

12. Oops! Today was hatching day:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x3774

[hippywife]

14. Yaaaa!

That's wonderful! If it weren't for those damn roosters being so loud and hard on our little flock, we would have kept them. As it is, we're just happy to have the girls around and to have their eggs.

:hi:

[LWolf]

20. Trial and error:

I found that one rooster was all I needed, and my flock ranges from 6-12 hens at any given time. That spreads him thin enough that he isn't hard on them. My buff orpington was gentle and dignified throughout his life. His offspring, "junior," looks to be the same.

He IS noisy, though. :hi:

[hippywife]

15. They're here! (Pics!)

We went and picked up the four new little girls. They are soooo cute. He had tons of chickens in all sizes and varieties, rabbits for pets and meat, goats, you name it. He has a pretty good operation out there and all the critters are well cared for. He also believes in raising his animals without a bunch of chemicals.

[elleng]

16. Welcome Home!!!

[hippywife]

19. Thanx, ellen!

:hi:

[beac]

17. Chickies look great, though they might want you to brew them a little stronger cup of coffee.

Can't keep ahead of a curious pup on watery java! ;)

[hippywife]

18. You see her lying in the shadows

at the top right of that second pic? She's keeping her eye out...but so are we. They're only eight weeks old so way too small for puppy play yet. We have them in a segregated part of the pen so they can feel safe away from our hens, too.

:hi:

[LWolf]

21. Wonderful! nt

[bvar22]

22. Beautiful.

Happy Day!
:)

Love your pup.
Thats the dog we are waiting for.

[hippywife]

23. If I had known that

a couple of months ago, I could have gotten you one free outta that litter.

I'm so glad to have some barred rocks finally. I think they are so pretty. And do get some buffs for your place. They are very docile and easy going. You'll love them. Is Elvis an Americana? He had some Americana pullets there this morning, same age as the ones we got, with gold heads and black and gold feathered bodies. Made me wonder if that isn't what he is.

:hi:

[bvar22]

24. We're not really sure exactly WHAT Elvis is.

We ordered all of our chicks from Parks & Hanson's, and picked them up when they called.
There were several other people there the same day picking up their Special Order chickens at the same time, so there may have been a Mix-Up.
Elvis SHOULD have been an Australorp Hen.
We've looked at photos of Australorp Roosters, but they are all black, so we don't believe that Elvis was an wrongly sexed Australorp....

We've browsed the InterNet and Chicken Books looking for an ID, but have come up empty.
So your guess is as good as ours. :shrug:

BTW: Australorp is Australian Orpington.

On Edit:
We've added 3 Copper Marans, but two of them are looking like roosters,
and 11 Wellsummers, but two of them also appear to be roosters.
.
.
I pulled out your thread from last year about dealing with too many roosters.
We will be facing some tough choices.

[hippywife]

25. Then my guess would be...yes!

He is one of the most handsome roosters I've ever seen.

http://www.hiddenfallsfarm.com/ameraucana.htm



You two are going to have some very interesting looking eggs!



Sorry so many roosters! I wonder how Elvis would take to even another one in the yard. Could be some bloody battle being done.

How we found our chickens this morning is I put out an email to our coop mailing list to see if anyone had or knew someone who had pullets at least 4-6 weeks old for sale. You might try networking through the folks locally rather than ordering them from somewhere else. The local folks will usually guarantee the sex of your birds, and they're easier to return if they are wrong.

Wishing you luck with those decisions. :hug: