Recent content by Hoosier_RIRs

Quote: Mine are livestock.. however I will tend to their needs as is fit for livestock.. if they are sick they get medication.. if they are looking like they are suffering from the heat they get misters turned on.. they are an investment.. and if i ignore their basic needs.. to me that would...

I've never help one out, and that has taken a lot of self-control. This little guy finally hatched out. (better late than never) this morning he seems "perfectly normal"! For me I'm pretty sure this one set a record for taking so long to crawl out of the shell.

Over the last 5 or 6 years I've hatched 120 or so successfully and have had my share of "quitters" and "candled good at day 14" eggs to disappoint me. This one - on the other hand, after sitting through my eighth hatch kinda baffles me. It is still alive, takes hours of breaks, pipped at day...

One last egg to hatch in the incubator.... and it isn't normal! It pipped just fine, has been chirpping and rocking all day... but not fighting it's way out like normal.... for the last 24 hours or so it just seems content to grow until the shell cracks more and more... I know k=not to "help...

Thanks to all that have contributed some really good ideas for me. I believe that I'm finally on the right track with this thing! Now I just need to keep it updated, and work in some of the fancy stuff like javascript and flash..... that's gonna take a bit, as I'm kinda self-teaching as I go!

Most of my hens have picked the far end of my driveway to dust bathe (or as my son puts it.... dig a hole to China) and for the last three years or so, I've dumped the ash from the wood stove out there on the advice of "old chicken rancher"..... Long story short... no Lice or Mites here.... So...

You didn't say how far away your neighbor is.... but is there a chance she could have ended up over there? I'm assuming you've already checked... but if not that would be the 1st place I'd look. I hope you find her but if not... the previous post are good advice... get another, get 'em...

$1.50 / Dozen..... not trying to make any money, just buy a bag of feed occasionally along with a bale of pine shavings! (everyone else around me sells for $2.00 to $3.50 a dozen....) I also donate any unsold eggs every two weeks to a local food pantry over in Kokomo, IN

You are most welcome! I also have learned a lot from this thread! I will be posting (or attempting to post) a video of my automatic coop door on my website this weekend! It was an easy, an inexpensive thing to do, and has saved me TONS of grief so far! Good Luck and God Bless!

Quote: i feel this statement really discounts numerous concerns people have when buying food. being organic is much more than just organic feed (no meds, no vaccinating etc)....yet its not access to fresh grass and bugs....being free range could be a house full of de-beaked hens and 2...

As a totally true "free ranger" (I don't have anything that even resembles a fence on my property....) I would tend to believe that organic vs free range vs pasture raised has little bearing on the quality of the product. The buyer (if sensitive to all this verbatim) needs only to be informed...

I think prices vary pretty widely depending on where you live.... for example here in north central Indiana free range eggs go for about $2.00 / doz. on average. But I've seen them as high as $5.00 / doz out on the east coast!

I set the timer on the automatic door opener to about 1/2 hour after sunrise, and program it to close about 1/2 hour after completely dark. It seems that most of the hens go out immediatly after the door open for an hour or so, then wander back to the coop the begin their business of...

Quote: I've only tried the hot potato method to date..... not very bloody at all and aside from the roo being a bit more skittish than usual around me for a day or so I've seen no ill effects. Just givving it a quick twist without softening it up first, does seem a little more violent though...