"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[LemonMeringue]

...

I'm pretty new to citrus. Something is eating the heck out of one of my trees - I found what looks to be caterpillar eggs but I'm not really sure. Any ideas? Why are you spraying with copper? Do you have problems with fungal disease?

Before our citrus trees got frozen out we had exactly what Terri said happen. We loved going out everyday and watching the caterpillars grow. I even saw the butterfly laying its eggs. I was standing 2ft from it and it didn't care one bit. Very neat. They don't end up eating much of the leaves.

 

[LemonMeringue]

A few pics from the week:

Great pictures!

 

[LemonMeringue]

This is my third year working with Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and I am really pleased with my breeders this year.

Love, love, love!!!!!

 

[LemonMeringue]

How do y'all quarantine chicks? Or do you? I seem to remember it's not necessary, but I can't find anything either way.

I picked up 8 chicks an hour ago from the lady in Dry Creek. I took a giant tote and divided it in half with hardware cloth and cardboard (was only supposed to get 4) and have my chicks on one side and the new chicks on the other.

Quarantine is something that can save your flocks lives. It can save your flock from being decimated be disease. Being that you already put the chicks together, now they basically should all be in quarantine together since they have been exposed to each other. I will see if I can find a good complete resource about the subject for you.

 

[LemonMeringue]

Holy moly. I don't think I could be more tired. What a LONG day! 16 pints of chili canned in the pressure canner, made kimchi for the first time, made WAY too much paste, lol, worked in the garden for a bit, picked that head of cabbage for the kimchi, made a delicious new salad and we loved it........ On and on. No telling when my superman will be back. It does take awhile when dealing with deaths of this sort, to go through all the steps, funerals and burials for each one. We miss him, but would not dare to complain. At least when he is done he does get to come home to us. Unlike the families of those 11 lost. Every day I think of them and am grateful for my family and friends and time we have had together. Time for me to unload the last jars out of the pressure cooker and catch some zzzzzzzzzz....

 

[campingshaws]

Quarantine is something that can save your flocks lives. It can save your flock from being decimated be disease. Being that you already put the chicks together, now they basically should all be in quarantine together since they have been exposed to each other. I will see if I can find a good complete resource about the subject for you.

Thanks Lemon! I understand about quarantine with adult birds (no contact for 30 days, not even breathing same air, etc.) but it was the chicks I couldn't remember. They'll be in the brooder for several more weeks. Since they range from one to six days old and haven't been around the adults, or on the ground, could they really have anything? I mean, if you got chicks from two different sources, would you keep them together or separate? I need to get my big brooder finished, so they'll have enough room. Tripling my number of chicks before I was ready probably wasn't the best impulse control I've had lately. :/

 

[mzstre]

Whoa! those are gorgeous! Total eye candy! How well do they lay? what size egg?

Thanks - I love them! It is amazing that such beautiful patterns exist in nature. They lay medium to large eggs. Most discussions I've seen say they don't start laying for 8-9 months, but my birds have started laying between 6.5 & 7.5 depending on the time of year they mature. My youngest breeding pen is producing 4-5 eggs per day from 5 pullets. My pen with the oldest hens (3 years) are producing 2-4 eggs per day with 4 hens. Really not bad, but the oldest hens do take a nice long break at molt. I'll be working on egg size in future generations.

i have had such a bad day...hope everyones has been better then mine

I hope today is better for you!

Love, love, love!!!!!

Thank you!

Holy moly. I don't think I could be more tired. What a LONG day! 16 pints of chili canned in the pressure canner, made kimchi for the first time, made WAY too much paste, lol, worked in the garden for a bit, picked that head of cabbage for the kimchi, made a delicious new salad and we loved it........ On and on. No telling when my superman will be back. It does take awhile when dealing with deaths of this sort, to go through all the steps, funerals and burials for each one. We miss him, but would not dare to complain. At least when he is done he does get to come home to us. Unlike the families of those 11 lost. Every day I think of them and am grateful for my family and friends and time we have had together. Time for me to unload the last jars out of the pressure cooker and catch some zzzzzzzzzz....

Wow- you were really busy. You should feel a great sense of accomplishment!

Thanks Lemon! I understand about quarantine with adult birds (no contact for 30 days, not even breathing same air, etc.) but it was the chicks I couldn't remember. They'll be in the brooder for several more weeks. Since they range from one to six days old and haven't been around the adults, or on the ground, could they really have anything? I mean, if you got chicks from two different sources, would you keep them together or separate? I need to get my big brooder finished, so they'll have enough room. Tripling my number of chicks before I was ready probably wasn't the best impulse control I've had lately. :/

Unfortunately there are some diseases that can be passed through the egg. Be sure to quarantine all new additions, even if you hatch them yourself from outside eggs.

 

[campingshaws]

Thanks - I love them! It is amazing that such beautiful patterns exist in nature. They lay medium to large eggs. Most discussions I've seen say they don't start laying for 8-9 months, but my birds have started laying between 6.5 & 7.5 depending on the time of year they mature. My youngest breeding pen is producing 4-5 eggs per day from 5 pullets. My pen with the oldest hens (3 years) are producing 2-4 eggs per day with 4 hens. Really not bad, but the oldest hens do take a nice long break at molt. I'll be working on egg size in future generations.
I hope today is better for you!
Thank you!
Wow- you were really busy. You should feel a great sense of accomplishment!
Unfortunately there are some diseases that can be passed through the egg. Be sure to quarantine all new additions, even if you hatch them yourself from outside eggs.

Right. But if my flock is clean, and her flock is clean...? I don't know what I'm looking for. But I guess that the brooder time counts as quarantine. The new ones were younger, so they stand a greater chance of catching something from mine, I would think.

Anyway, I'll keep my eyes on them. So if y'all get chicks from different places, how far apart do you brood them?

 

[campingshaws]

SS/FBMC on left, SS/australorp on right. I think "Sparkle" on the right will end up a roo. :/ Those legs are like tree trunks.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

SS/FBMC on left, SS/australorp on right. I think "Sparkle" on the right will end up a roo.

Those legs are like tree trunks.

So stinkin' cute though!