Colorado

[Double Kindness]

I'm up and so excited to go get my bees today!!

I am so bummed about incubating tho that I stopped setting eggs for another week to give myself time to re-do my incubators. Again. My last hatch was 5 out of 40 eggs set hatched. looks like a white bresse, a ccl pullet and a polish x ayam cemani that is a splash but has fibromelanistic spots of pigmentation under its skin. 2 other ccl hatched but needed culling (roosters) with the once nice neighbor now hating everything I do. Calling and texting my bf at work tattling on me "She's watering the garden twice already today. I can hear your roosters"

Gah. Go move renter. We own. And.. ya'lls remember me telling you about the house next to me that has been abandoned for 6+years, well I am trying to raise the money to buy it to turn it into an even bigger urban homestead.

I need to start a go fund me acct, we can't get a loan on it because of the wood shingle roof or something to that nature. WHAT? I'm doing some bake sales and classes and private catered events to try to raise the money I need.

Do any of ya'lls have ideas to raise 150k to buy a 700k property?

I also have 2 broody muscovy ducks in 2 different pens. 1 is experienced, 1 is a first timer. Experience muscovy Johnette is on 6 eggs I can see, Trouble is on 12 eggs

 

[COChix]

Wow so sorry about your broody Late, but sounds like it was better anyway, maybe she knew the eggs were not viable.

I was doing some reading this am and did you all know there are two different types of Avian flu in the United States. The avian flu has now been found to affect birds in 17 states now. Minnesota and another state have declared a state of emergency due to the issue. 3 million egg layers will be culled this week in Iowa, I think I remember that correctly.

I am putting this out here now as there is chicken and water fowl swap today. Please keep your flocks safe and take all necessary safety precautions. I am not trying to scare people, but we all need to be aware of this issue and be proactive. If this hits more commercial producers then the cost of chickens and eggs will only increase.

I am so eggcited, I ordered an Brisnea Ovascope from Amazon, should arrive today. I will need to candle tomorrow and then the bator goes on lockdown. Is it on day 18 or 19 that is lock down? Should be hatching by the end of the week. I am super excited to get a good candler (high intensity) so I can see what is going on in our green/blue eggs and our Welsummer eggs. e

 

[maggiemo]

Sorry LateS about your broody. I bet she will be broody again and you can try one more time if you want.

DK, Bummer about your neighbor, but yay for bees!! I just picked up my bees too. I am off to install them now. I've never done it alone....I am always afraid of hurting the queen.
Good luck you all you beekeepers, wish me luck.

 

[uzisuzuki]

That's disappointing about your broody, @Latestarter, but probably better to happy early like everyone else has said.

@COChix I did lockdown on day 18 - are you there already with your eggs?

 

[saellis]

Got broody mayhem here too. I gave chicks to a broody earlier this month but she failed to accept them so I've been raising them in a brooder indoors. Now, the hen I hoped would become broody because she did such a great job last year has finally decided it's time to raise chicks. Too late. It's off to the broody breaker pen.

 

[suncatcher]

Yep, better she quit early on instead of mid way into it. Yay, for bees! Keep us posted on how your hives do!!!

Hmmm, I think I would use the Hovabator to set them in, and hatch in the plastic one, just how I would do it........ What model Hovabator do you have?

I finally have two broodies, yay!!! Going to give them a few eggs each, see how they do, as I think they are first time broodies.

Still a cold wind blowing here at 8700 feet, looking forward to a warm up later next week!

Going to be a busy summer here, as I am adding another coop, and dong some major gardening! We are three to four weeks behind the front range on being able to plant seedlings, so still another month to go.

Wow, lockdown already!?! That was fast!!!! Not for you I am sure, but seems like you just set those eggs!

 

[Mtn Margie]

Well, it is snow/hailing. Ridiculous weather. I saw fresh eggs at a farm stand for sale for $6. I may just have to up the price on my eggs for this here shortage..... there is your get rich scheme DK. I think you should just change you name. Drop the Kindness and go for something like Trouble or Devious...

 

[COChix]

Yes, tomorrow is day 18! You all made me doubt my set day. I had to go back and look at my post and yep set them on 04/09/15. My Amazon shows the Ovascope to be delivered today by 8:00 PM

 

[Latestarter]

Bees all installed:

 

[uzisuzuki]

Here are my week old Phoenix bantams! I think that Blue might end up not being very bantam-y because it is huge compared to the Blue Red & Frost & Mercury at that age. I'm thinking of naming it after the Marvel Comics character Galactus if it ends up being as big as it seems to be heading!

And here are the adorable days old chicks I picked up from @trsturself! I don't think they were sexed & I forgot to ask her, so I don't have names for them yet, either. But they are so cute & got along just fine with the phoenixes.

This afternoon was also the first time Frost & Mercury met their parents! That went a lot better than I expected since Odysseus usually tries to peck at the dogs when they get that close to the fence. The hens weren't too sure about the chicks; they'd walk up to them, get chatty with each other, walk to the far side of the pen, look back while being chatty, then come back up. Odysseus was extremely interested in them & they made him look like a T-Rex in size. The chicks themselves didn't seem very interested in their parents & were more interested in rolling in the dirt.

Definitely ended up with a male & female. Their combs are exactly like the Sebright combs. I'm happy about this because I want to get that mohawk trait passed down to some more chicks next year.