Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I have some silvadine. I've kept it on hand for years. I put my hand to the test and not in a pleasant way.
When I was gathering eggs yesterday I noticed one of my big fat cornish X hens comb was sort of blueish. I thought at the time, I need to butcher her. It looks like her heart is failing. Well today when I was getting eggs I found her in a corner and the other chickens had pecked a really large hole in her back end. It was too deep and she wouldn't have survived long, and she was weak. So I had to butcher her. I made DH actually kill her because I had gotten attached to my big girls. Then I did the rest of the butchering and cleaning I wouldn't recommend butchering in the winter. I was in and out with hot water and then dealing with cold air. This chicken was so full of fat I could barely gut her. I didn't do a good job of getting her plucked either. I'm thinking I may skin her for the most part. There's so much fat she shouldn't dry out even without skin. I may just cut out those breasts and cook the rest to give the dogs a treat. I don't like dark meat anyway. At 13 pounds it will be like cooking a turkey breast anyway.
This ole gal was quite the egg producer. She must have had several dozen eggs in all stages of development in her.
It's sad to me. I don't like butchering anyway and especially not if it's a bird I'm fond of.

 

[rittert3]

Babma I saw a sportsman on the claycenter craigslist not to long ago for $400. Danz- I can definatly see where you're coming from, not liking to butcher, it's a very bittersweet time in my mind.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
I have a GQF Sportsman incubator I would sell. Actually, it is technically a hatcher since it doesn't have the turning trays. I would need to plug it in and test it out first because I have not used it. I would want to be sure it is in working order before I would sell it. Just send me a PM if you are interested.

I had intended to use it, but since DH and I are considering a move in the next year or so we are trying to pare down on some of the excess stuff.

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
I have a GQF Sportsman incubator I would sell. Actually, it is technically a hatcher since it doesn't have the turning trays. I would need to plug it in and test it out first because I have not used it. I would want to be sure it is in working order before I would sell it. Just send me a PM if you are interested.

I had intended to use it, but since DH and I are considering a move in the next year or so we are trying to pare down on some of the excess stuff.

I called dibs!!

All of my incubators are full...I need more space!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Does anyone know anything about the Brinsea? I didn't buy the one with the electronic read-out on top. I got the cheaper top. (both were reviewed to work the same) BUT... I'm going to buy one of those meters Danz is talking about, but I'm not seeing a hole I can stick it in thru? Aren't there supposed to be holes in it somwhere? I'll take a better look at it later.

 

[Trish44]

Hawkeye, there is a whole thread on Brinsea incubators, just do a search & it will come up. I plan to read it some more before I use mine. I guess I missed the post on the meter, what are we talking about? I need to find something for mine too, but there aren't holes in the Brinsea like some of the other incubators.

Danz, I hope your burns heal fast.

Well we're headed out to Missouri today, so we'll be in the car for 5 hours, ugh, I don't like that part of it. I like going places, but not the getting there. I hate to have to leave the chickens in their coop & run while we're gone, they're going to be mad at me when I come back. The pups aren't going to be happy in their run either. I don't feel comfortable leaving them out the whole time we're gone. They've been really good at staying here, but for their safety I feel like they need to stay in when we're not here. I got them an automatic feeder & it only took about a minute for them to learn to use it, really smart dogs.

 

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye just set that temperature/ hydrometer on top of the eggs where you can see it. It's not heavy enough it will bother the eggs. The other type has a little cord with an In/out button that you could just run under the lid, but of course it might make your bater work harder because you'd be letting in a little outside air. That may not be all bad because they do need oxygen. I like the little square ones best. I have two types I've gotten at Walmart. The first is made by Springfield. It says precisionTEMP on the front. (white color) I like it best because it is smallest. The last one I got is called Accurite. (black color) It is a little larger but still fairly small. I couldn't find the first one that last time I picked one up. Both of them read temperature and humidity quite accurately and were around $7 each. You can get the kind with the cord at Radio shack or harbor freight or maybe even at Walmart. Only a few of those read humidity as well.
For those of you who remember that I was buying 2 new incubators, it turned out to be a scam. I am trying to get my money back but if I don't get it resolved soon I am going to contact the DA in MS and file criminal charges. That's a lot of money that I could use elsewhere and don't have to spare. I should have known it was a scam but since she offered it to more than one person I thought it would be legit.
Duh! I sure hope I am not out all that money! Otherwise I'd be selling some of my bators. But for now I need them all.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
Oh no Danz!! I hope you get your money back without having to do anything else. What a crappy thing for this person to do.

I'm not seeing holes in this incubator.. I don't know what that means, as I've read they need a bit of air coming in, and maybe I just haven't come across them yet. I think the idea of just buying a small digital therm and humidity read out is a great idea. Yeah, that would be easy to set in there, and give me a really accurate reading. These incubators are supposed to be fool proof without touching them or doing much, but I'd still like know what it's doing in there. It has a thermometer glued to the underside of the clear window-- but it's one of those mercury ones. I think that would be hard to read. I haven't read any complaints about it, but I like your idea MUCH better!!

The window is basically the entire top- so it will be super easy to see in there.

Thanks Trish! I found that thread- lots of great stuff! I'll be really checking it out when I start getting eggs!

 

[Myabcs3]

Just caught this article on another BYC thread... I found it pretty interesting and thought I would share. sometimes as we are discussing illnesses and issues with birds, I wonder if we need to return to some old ways of poultry keeping?

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9QuJFt/www.plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html/

have a great day!

 

[chicken danz]

I use deep litter in my hen houses and it is great. I just cleaned the main one out and started over and can't believe how much more ammonia there is than before I cleaned it. I should have left it alone but I wanted a fresh start for winter. The author of that link you sent Robert Plamondon has a couple of really good chicken books. I used the raising chicks book he wrote like a bible when I first got back into chickens.
I really try to keep everything as natural as I can using herbs to treat with and letting the chickens free range most of the time. It really seems to help.
Hawkeye, Yeah me and this other guy both got scammed by this gal. She claims she had a car wreck on the way to get the incubators but that doesn't explain what happened to the money we sent her. I think it was just about the lowest thing someone could do. She obviously used our money to buy her Christmas presents. I'd better get it back! You know, the sad thing was it was on a forum similar to this one and I thought I could trust the person. You just never know.