silkiechic

Shes growing up! Here she is now! Maybe not as cute as she was before though

Woogie

lol that is hella cool. My chickens are growing too! I'm trying to get them to be more comfortable with human interaction though. I've just been spending time in the coup, trying to get them to eat close to me.

silkiechic

Hey, did you ever figure out what kinds of chickens you got? Some breeds are going to be inherently flighty. I've got a white silkie rooster to sell and a bunch of two week old chicks. Know anyone looking for some? The two week old chicks are california white/leghorn.

Woogie

I've been a little busy so I haven't been able to identified their breed yet. I'll ask my father about the chicks. I think he might be interested in one or two.

silkiechic

Sure thing. The next meet that is at a park she can come to. Maybe one in late september?

The chicks are straight run, so theres a 50 50 chance of boys and girls as I can't tell yet. 18 are available and you get to pick the ones you want. They haven't been socialized so are still skittish. Two dollars each as they are two weeks old but we can make a deal with larger quanities.


Here they are a week old, so they are a little bigger now.

Woogie

lol i move we strike "install meet" from our special agenda and replace it with "birds and the bees meet" for Nos.

jk nos.

I don't know too much about chickens myself. I bred pigs and lambs for quite a while, but spent very little time with chickens. I just think they're badass. I like watching them.

Redefined

silkiechic, would be happy to take a few baby chicks off your hands. Do they lay big eggs? Where are you located? Thanks

silkiechic

Nos:

Hey, I can tell you all you need to know about how to keep these little chickies.

Heating: For the first week they should be kept at about 75 degrees and each subsquent week lower it by 5 degrees untill they are fully feathered, meaning till they don't have baby chick fluff anymore. You have to keep them in a non drafty place so they don't get chilled.

Food: They eat baby chick starter/grower for the first 3 or so months, and then I usually switch them over to layer feed. They start to eat a day after they fluff up out of the incubator. They also need to have fresh water available at all times. These little guys are conveniently trained to drink out of thoes big hamster/rabbit water bottles you can get at the store for like 7 bucks. That makes changing water much easier and ALOT cleaner. For their food dish, you can basically use a dog dish or get a special chicken feeder where they won't waste as much food. Any local feed store will have food availabe for them

Housing: For the first two months, it would be best to keep them in the garage where it is safe. A large cardboard box will work. Mine are acutally in a wire/wood cage with carboard walls on the front porch. Eventually they will need to move outside though. A simple cage would work to keep them in at night and to keep them from being eaten. They can free range and if they are kept in their cage for a week, they will always go back to it at night to go to sleep.

Eggs: Yeah, only the females will lay eggs. This breed is highly prolific although a bit nervious, and will easily lay 200 eggs a year once they start. They will start when they are about 5 months old, give or take two weeks. You don't need a rooster to have a hen to lay eggs. These may start laying in mid november and definantly by spring. Their production is best spring to fall.

Protection: Don't worry too much about cats once they are a few months old. My cat is afraid of them. You might want to watch out for hawlks, and to be safe at night from things like coons, just have a stout cage built with wire on the outside. Fences keep them in and if they do manage to fly out, just clip the feathers on one wing.

How bout this. I will make a six chick special for anyone here for the next two weeks.

6 baby chicks of your choice, hint: pick the smaller combed ones at this age.
10 lbs of feed<-- Should last at least a month with these little guys,
for 15 bucks
and all questions answered

Redefined

Hi, what part of the State are you in?

silkiechic

I am in the South Everett/Lynnwood/Mukilteo area.

When these chicks grow up and if they are girls, they will lay eggs starting out small and will get larger over a few months to the extra large size you can find in the store. Sometimes even bigger. It depends on the hen, but this is the breed is the one that that they use for commercial egg production. They will be white shelled.

Here's another "seceret", want thoes expensive "Omega 8" eggs? Mix in a handfull of flax seed with your chicken feed and let them free range if it is safe. That will also increrase the color of the yolk.

Gaurentee that you will love the quality of fresh eggs, they are not runny like the store ones and have orange yolks!

Redefined

Hi again, do they need daily attention from us? Will we get in trouble for leaving them unattended for going away for vacation? When we had a kitty, she went to cat-sitter's place. Not sure about the law about leaving chickens in cage unattended for weeks (say 2).

silkiechic

Well, my chickens get daily attention because I have quite a few of them, 16 older ones? If you were to leave them, all they need is enough food and water to last. Generally for two weeks this is a tough thing to do. They might eat all the food and starve to death. The same with the water. They shouldn't be left in a cage unless this cage is adequate to provide at least 10 square feet of floor space per bird. The 18 chicks at two weeks old eat up their feeder in two days and drink 32 oz of water each 24 hours.

You can ask a neighbor to add water and food for you, but if you are going on vacation soon, I will probally still have some in a month. Not advertising very much at the moment.

They will cost more then though. But, if you are looking for only females, I will be able to identify them in about a month or two for sure. Once identifed though, pullets (young hens) will be between 8-10 a piece and roosters will be 2-3, depending on age.

Edit:
Oh yeah, that 10 sq ft is for when they are adults and if they are caged all the time, if you want them to be happy. (commercial egg producers by law only need .8 of a square foot a bird!!! )

And yeah, this breed of rooster isn't worth much as you can see.

Rondo1

um.... what forum am I in? I could have sworn I was in the Lexus forum. ;-)

Royicus

Nope, sorry, you are in the "Chickens of the Greater Seattle Area" forum Hmm, you were at the meet where the little red hen was. Not as little anymore, but she still might perch on people's fingers/hands...

ShaiKmai

Well you know Lexus and Chicks do go together, I was definitly thinking the same thing. Oh BTW silkiechic I've been trying to figure out the pic under your name, Like one of those puzzle things you have to stare at and relax your eyes? At first it looked like a cat, hopefully no offense taken, May it rest in peace