4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[coldupnorth]

Candled my eggs this morning and I had to pull quite a few quitters. Not sure why, temp hasn't changed that I know of. I do have about 1/2 left in there, but some were questionable because of dark shells. I guess, whatever will be, will be..

 

[Bettacreek]

Yesterday morning was -12*F and that was without the windchill here (windchills were in the -25 to -30s). Today is a bit nicer at 0* this morning. We still have the coldest month/s to go, but at least not every day is that cold. We are up to 10* right now so we are going in the right direction. We did lose one of my younger pullets yesterday morning to the cold

Feeding the chickens is a two part job now, my hands get too cold with gloves on to finish the hour long feeding/watering chore. My warm winter mittens do not work well for feeding because I can't get gates opened or closed with them on.

I'm sorry to hear about the pullet. I lost my blue ameraucana as well. Darned cold. It's not nearly as cold here though, but at our house, the wind is terrible (ALL fields and hardly any wind breaks), this section of road is known as one of the worst in our area. It's officially winter now, eh? It's our first big snow here, but it seems like it should be spring soon, lol.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Happy Boxing day everyone! (I used to think we're supposed to watch a fight when I learned of "Boxing Day" when I was younger?) LOL.

Bettacreek, I want to congratulate you on your new and first home! How exciting, and a wonderful way to start the new year! I wish you and yours a wonderful life there

I just found out that my friend's boss has emu, and he's willing to give me an egg if he can collect them before they freeze. That would be the ultimate hatch

Only one of my Christmas chicks hatched... But it's a cutie! Merry Christmas everyone! Now to find a stuffed animal buddy for this little guy...

Aw, Hope he/she is a calm one! Or that you get another for company!

We have four christmas babies! Two leghorn one brahma mix and one FAT cornish cross mix.

Oh, gotta see a picture of the little fatso!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! AND WHAT DID MY HUSBAND GET FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR??????


A NEW BABY ON THE WAY!! I JUST CONFIRMED RECENTLY THAT WE ARE EXPECTING OUR THIRD (AND HOPEFULLY LAST) BABY!! PRAY FOR ME THAT IT IS JUST ONE BABY AND NOT TWO THIS TIME!!

Eeek! wonderful! I have 3 kids, they're perfect! 3 is indeed a magic number (schoolhouse rock, LOL)

Twins would be preferable to say..triplets!
No really, Congratulations!

Actually, I heard triplets are not much more extra work believe it or not (not sure I do,

)

Pic OVERLOAD

First up... BEST Present = 100% Free Range CHICKEN POOP lip Balm!



Next Chicken Girl Harmony!!



AND the HANDY Hen Bag !!!



I just cant leave out little Lucas can I??? SLURPY MACHINE!!



below is amazing.... my two male English Springers napping together.... IT WAS A FIRST!!



Even after loosing Melvin we did have a nice Christmas... Merry Christmas everyone!!

LOVE IT!!! Love your other pictures too, your children are beautiful

Thanks everyone for the congrats! Lots of people with kids close in age say they know what it must be like to have twins. To them I say BULL POOP!!! You have NO IDEA what it is like to have TWO babies want to BF at the SAME TIME. NO IDEA what it is like to have TWO helpless babies crying and wanting to be held AT THE SAME TIME!! And you have NO IDEA what it is like to give BIRTH to TWO BABIES within minutes of each other!! It is not just twice the work, it is more like 4 times the work of one itty bitty little baby.

It is NOT easy at all but well worth it!

They have each other to play with and keep each other company. And of course I get to enjoy TWO precious babies at the same time! I just really don't want to have to do it again.

I might just have a breakdown of some kind!

I often feel so EVIL, 'cause things like what you wrote above make me giggle! Actually, 'cause I know how happy you will be when they grow up to be wonderful youths and amazing young adults

and knowing how you will feel when you look back at these crazy difficult days with a smile! So maybe I'm not as evil as I think

Then again

Quote:

6Days Till Hatch Day!

Oh my gosh, really? Lord! LOL, it's going so fast now!!!

Yesterday morning was -12*F and that was without the windchill here (windchills were in the -25 to -30s). Today is a bit nicer at 0* this morning. We still have the coldest month/s to go, but at least not every day is that cold. We are up to 10* right now so we are going in the right direction. We did lose one of my younger pullets yesterday morning to the cold

Feeding the chickens is a two part job now, my hands get too cold with gloves on to finish the hour long feeding/watering chore. My warm winter mittens do not work well for feeding because I can't get gates opened or closed with them on.

Sorry the cold is taking your babies! For you though, maybe you should buy some of these:
http://www.amazon.com/HeatMax-Hot-Hands-Handwarmer-Pairs/dp/B0007ZF4OA
I read about them here on BYC, and they apparently work well. If they're not staying warm enough, they just need a little oxygen so "air out" your hand by pulling open the glove a bit,and it will reinvigorate the reaction and warm up more. I hope you find this helpful!!! I'm thinking of sending some to my daughter in France, as she isn't used to that kind of weather

 

[coldupnorth]

Sorry the cold is taking your babies! For you though, maybe you should buy some of these:
http://www.amazon.com/HeatMax-Hot-Hands-Handwarmer-Pairs/dp/B0007ZF4OA
I read about them here on BYC, and they apparently work well. If they're not staying warm enough, they just need a little oxygen so "air out" your hand by pulling open the glove a bit,and it will reinvigorate the reaction and warm up more. I hope you find this helpful!!! I'm thinking of sending some to my daughter in France, as she isn't used to that kind of weather

We use these when we ski, snowshoe, snowmobile and winter hike, but they don't really help the fingers of gloves, just the main part of the hand. They do work well in your boots and mittens. Luckily, winter is not forever, even though it feels like it when we are still getting snow in April and May. I'll take the snow, but prefer the cold to stay at the north pole.

Sorry bettacreek that you lost you blue AM.

We are lucky in that we have lots of trees around, so the wind has a bit harder time biting through.

 

[debs_flock]

Quote:

Quote: I went winetasting once in a wine cellar during the winter, it was freezing. I had the handwarmers in my pockets. Everyone I showed them to was SO jealous, LOL

My hands are always cold! I buy those things by the box full.

Deb

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm down to 22 out of the 40 I set originally. Of the 2 eggs from my flock, one had cracks throughout and didn't develop. Of the 26 shipped eggs, I still have 13. None of the Sussex developed. Of the 12 local farm eggs, I still have 8.
Of the 18 discarded eggs, 4 started development and may have quit during one of the power outages. The other 14 were probably infertile or got too beat up during shipment.

 

[crissycriss]

My power went out last night.Cause of all the bad weather my kids and i stayed with my sister for the night.My Nephew called me and told me the power was out on our street.I call my dh to see if he plugged up the genorator.He left and wasnt home.So i ask him to go home a plug it up for me(he got so mad).The temp went down to 90 dont know for how long. will candle tonight to see if any are alive.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

We have a chick , an Olive egger!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Everyone will be locked up for the next three days because of this storm. I'm not a fan of the cold, wind, snow and all that stuff, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere besides good ol' Pennsylvania. The birds might be thinking differently right about now though!!

 

[TMNfarm]

The heater in my water bucket has been a life saver for me! I don't have to worry about my girls not getting enough to drink. I have a heat lamp in the coop, but it doesn't keep,it very warm. It's a big coop. This morning, it was only 6 above in there, but as long as their water is not frozen and they have food, they seem to be handling it well... They don't venture out of the coop in this weather, though. I have Prim and her babies in the barn, and I think it is colder in there than the coop. I'm thinking about moving them out there, but I'm worried about how the others will react to them... I have a heat lamp shining directly on their water, but I still can't keep it from freezing. I switch it out every morning and every evening. This morning, they all went nuts after the water...

My biggest problem with the cold is doing barn chores. It takes the kids and me about an hour to clean 8 stalls, give everyone water (thankfully have heated water buckets for everyone too!), get all 9 horses in the barn (2 are minis, so they share a stall), feed them their grain and hay, and sweep the barn. Like ColdUpNorth, the work is not really conducive to wearing mittens, and the fingers get quite cold despite having hand warmers. The toe warmers keep your ties pretty toasty, if we remember to put them in. I'm thinking of making a run to town today to buy a big Mr Buddy heater just to run when we do chores... Maybe at least keep it above zero in there. I am also concerned because I know the coldest months are still ahead of us!