TSB

General => General Discussion and ??? => Topic started by: bj on February 02, 2013, 03:03:19 AM

Title: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: bj on February 02, 2013, 03:03:19 AM
On a lighter note, finally getting three baby chicks tomorrow.  Well, it's almost midnight so I guess I could say today.  Anyways, they are Mexican bantams so if you guys have any advice- greatly appreciated.  She  said to keep them indoors for 4 more weeks but that seems to quick to me, isn't it still too cold in a month from now?
Thanks as always.
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: screenxpress on February 02, 2013, 10:46:10 AM
One question. 


Will they fit in a medium skillet or do you need a large one?


Jest kidding  :D
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: mk162 on February 02, 2013, 10:55:59 AM
actually the deep fryer is the way to go.
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: screenxpress on February 02, 2013, 11:08:59 AM
You're making me hungry.  What side dishes goes best with them?
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: tpitman on February 02, 2013, 11:14:22 AM
Mashed potatoes and gravy. Green beans with bacon.
Got a buddy up outside of Gainesville with laying hens. He bought some kind of chickens with the intent of eating them, but I think the foxes beat him to it. Whatever kind they were, he said they were supposed to fatten up so quick that they'd be barely able to walk. Told him he'd have to do like my grandmother did. Grab 'em by the neck and swing 'em around.
I think he's got a horny old rooster in the mix, too.
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: Dottonedan on February 02, 2013, 01:27:02 PM
We had a family here in town (within City limits) that fought the city to keep chickens. They  have an autistic child that had chickens and he connects with having them around somehow. THe City made an exception under a Dr.'s prescription I think.


I've always wanted a rooster to wake me up in the morning. The neighbors wouldn't like it. I got a quail for my son for a while. Saved it's life from a shooting event.  :o  Paid a dollar for it. LOL.  Life has a price.


Funny that I mention that now. I just remembered.


TRUE STORY.


Not so long ago in a not so distant place (last week in my shop in down town St. CLoud.), I'm sitting here working on this very computer and it's about oh, 9pm. It was cool out so I had my doors open. It's quiet. the only noise you here is me...Draw, draw, type type.......the silence is broken......Swheeooart!  me thinks, did I hear somthing?   never mind.   Draw, draw, type type...Draw, draw, type type. Swheeooart! Swheeooart!


Hmmm. Must be a bird at the door step.  a few more minutes go by.


Swheeooart! Swheeooart!      Swheeooart! Swheeooart!




I raise my head and look to my left.....and see this small brown blur run across my floor. The first thought in my head was... Something does not belong? ...What could it be?


So I get up to investigate. Sure nuff,  It was a quail.  A QUAIL?   Yes, in down Town St Cloud. A quail ran into my from...from somewhere. So,  I love animals and have a few rug rat grand kids. I'm not that old really, but I have grand kids that were coming down to see me shortly. :)  So I caught that little booger. Funny to watch. Ever try to chase a chicken. Yea, a little like that but I have a small shop and shut the doors. :)


So the grandkids got to see it and pet it a little. Then off to the woods the next morning. It was a fun experience in my shop.


So far, the colorful situations I've had here are some drunk customers, vagrants wanting money, a Missing/wanted person that was off her meds and escaped from a mental facility that came in to stare at me...(she was apprehended minutes later elsewhere) and a quail.


Fun times. :)




Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: Chadwick on February 02, 2013, 01:37:04 PM
Raised and ate many a chicken back in the day.
A constant supply of eggs is nice.

We used to use peat moss for the chicks as a bedding or whatever.
Switched over to those wood chips that lots of folks put in flower beds and such, easier to keep clean.
Had a low hanging fixture with 3 heat lamps in it.
'Chick starter' for food for a month I think..can't remember, and then switch to 'chick grower' till they get big.
( the feed has directions and such on it )

We had alot of em though, and I imagine our climate is a bit different than yours.
Keep em warm, fed and watered, and you're golden.
Enjoy em while they're still cute.

( never thought I'd read about raising chickens on here, but it's all good.  :)  )

Cheers.
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: tpitman on February 02, 2013, 02:04:48 PM
So far, the colorful situations I've had here are some drunk customers, vagrants wanting money,  . . .

How can you say that, Dan? I haven't even BEEN by your shop yet!
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: bj on February 02, 2013, 07:04:03 PM
Raised and ate many a chicken back in the day.
A constant supply of eggs is nice.

We used to use peat moss for the chicks as a bedding or whatever.
Switched over to those wood chips that lots of folks put in flower beds and such, easier to keep clean.
Had a low hanging fixture with 3 heat lamps in it.
'Chick starter' for food for a month I think..can't remember, and then switch to 'chick grower' till they get big.
( the feed has directions and such on it )

We had alot of em though, and I imagine our climate is a bit different than yours.
Keep em warm, fed and watered, and you're golden.
Enjoy em while they're still cute.

( never thought I'd read about raising chickens on here, but it's all good.  :)  )

Cheers.
Never say never! ;)
I posted a couple months back that I was thinking about getting some and had some really great suggestions on what to get from the board members here.   I grew up on a farm so it is a bit different raising them in the city.  We at allowed to have hens here just not roosters.   I got a good deal off craigslist- she gave me everything from the feed to the heat lamp etc... I got everything including three chicks for 20 bucks.   I wanted The Mexican bantams-they are a smaller breed and a bit quieter.


Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: Gabe on February 03, 2013, 05:00:13 PM
Raising your own chickens is the smart choice ;), vs supermarket chickens with growth hormones added :P

Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: blue moon on February 03, 2013, 07:12:23 PM
Raised and ate many a chicken back in the day.
A constant supply of eggs is nice.

We used to use peat moss for the chicks as a bedding or whatever.
Switched over to those wood chips that lots of folks put in flower beds and such, easier to keep clean.
Had a low hanging fixture with 3 heat lamps in it.
'Chick starter' for food for a month I think..can't remember, and then switch to 'chick grower' till they get big.
( the feed has directions and such on it )

We had alot of em though, and I imagine our climate is a bit different than yours.
Keep em warm, fed and watered, and you're golden.
Enjoy em while they're still cute.

( never thought I'd read about raising chickens on here, but it's all good.  :)  )

Cheers.
Never say never! ;)
I posted a couple months back that I was thinking about getting some and had some really great suggestions on what to get from the board members here.   I grew up on a farm so it is a bit different raising them in the city.  We at allowed to have hens here just not roosters.   I got a good deal off craigslist- she gave me everything from the feed to the heat lamp etc... I got everything including three chicks for 20 bucks.   I wanted The Mexican bantams-they are a smaller breed and a bit quieter.

bj you should know this by now! if there are no pictures, it did not happen!!!

pierre
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: mk162 on February 03, 2013, 08:01:08 PM
not saying commercially farmed chickens are equal to home farmed, but hormones are illegal in chicken since around 1999.
Title: Re: Finally getting baby chicks tomorrow
Post by: ebscreen on February 03, 2013, 09:04:05 PM
My buddy had Bantams. The noise to egg size ratio wasn't worth it. Also lost a few to hawks.