5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[CackleJoy]

Ooooo where can I find that part of the forum????

Like I said, poor attendance. I'm the last poster there, 2 1/2 weeks ago.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/94095/barred-easter-egger/240#post_12415083

 

[brahmabreeder]

His first attack was directed towards me...nothing painful, but still an attack. Over the past three months his aggression has gotten worse. First time he went after my 8 year old, my husband almost chopped his head off then. Well, he threw the hand axe at him cuz he couldn't catch him. Then he thought about it and said we'd give him another chance...after we taught our boys how to show Zeus who's boss. Since then he's had his 2nd chance...and his 3rd, 4th, 5th...you get the picture. I was hoping that with some positive reinforcements from me and my boys that he would calm down. Once one of us puts him in his place, he's good for a while...up to a week. Then he's at it again. And he likes to getcha from behind.

A month ago my mom and stepdad moved in. Apparently Zeus has made my mom his new target. He does NOT like her. She's put him in his place every time, but every day he goes at her again. Then last week I looked out the window and he was chasing my 8 year old who was running as fast as he could from Zeus' sharp claws!

That was the last straw. Zeus just is NOT gettin' it. I wish I could wait until he turns a year old...just to see if his hormones calm down by then. But I'm not risking one of my boys getting seriously hurt. They are short. And Zeus jumps feet first at them. That's all I need is for Zeus to take one of their eyes out.

So freezer camp bound he is.

Get a Brahma if you want a nice rooster. Mine NEVER attack me.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So dh figured out why all my $$ is supporting the feed store each month. He was out sighting his new BB gun and heard the chickens squawking loudly...so went to have a look and not only are there wild birds, but ground squirrels.

I just bought 25x50' nylon aviary netting and was up and down the ladder what seemed like a hundred times Sunday to hang around the edges of our 3 stall covered horse coop. I have it 3/4 done...now I just need to attach the second 25x50' net to the front end and have it go down over the run/paddock. I wrongly thought it was BIRDS stealing all the food. At least he took out the two invaders, but I am sure they have friends.

...

All my bulk feeders are inside the coops. The wild birds have only found one. I'm going to be hanging wires or something else in the doorway that won't inhibit the hens but won't allow the sparrows to fly in and out.
I have pans under each of the feeders that catch the billed out feed so I can pour it back in.
I also now ferment feed. I can't believe what a difference it has made. I don't go through nearly as much feed. I kick myself for not keeping better records so I don't know the exact savings but it is noticeable. I still keep the dry bulk feeders in place just as backup.

... They were just over 10 weeks old. But the female did not survive the night last night. I'm thinking either heart failure or failure to thrive.

Failure to thrive can be from lots of things. At that age, possibilities I might look at improper ventilation in hatcher unit, diseased or poorly conditioned breeder flock and improper nutrition of breeders

This is why I have cats & store my feed in steel barrels with clamp on lids. My cats won't touch my birds but anything that scurries or slithers is fair game.

I've always heard to keep feed in metal barrels. But in hot climates, the metal will sweat and possibly mold the feed. I now only use plastic.
I also use the water bath type of homemade mouse traps.

just did my day 7 candle! 10/12 are showing development! 2 are clear. what am I gonna do with that many chickens? I even saw embryos in the light colored eggs

I think my humidity is too high, i traced the air cells and they still seem a bit small. ill let it go down and check again next week with the chart. 2 of my developing eggs have detached air cells tho

if I put them in an egg carton for lock down will that help? I still dont know what ill do with ten chickens! I hope i dont screw up now!

Build another coop.

CC, 650 members?! Holy chicken-chat, Batman! That's a lot!

By the way, thanks for the tip on the ThermoWorks thermometer, placed my order yesterday - I just got a Spot Check, it has been very helpful, but I need more measuring devices. I'm almost embarassed to admit, I currently have 3 incubators running - they are all now full - and will be firing up the hatcher tomorrow morning to move eggs tomorrow evening. AS I said to DH the other night, I should have just bought the cabinet I want to begin with, to which he (amazingly) replied, "Yes, I find it's always best to just go for the best you can get, look at all the money you have tied up in what you did buy - you could have used it all toward a cabinet." I about fell over. A year ago he could not tell me often enough how stupid it was to have chickens. Now he names them and calls me daily with updates on who has done what today. I call him The Accidental Poultryman.

...

650 yes. I think we have the 4th largest group in the country.

I agree. If I had purchased and installed automatic doors every time I built a coop - the cost would have been covered by all the birds I've lost. I'm in the middle of designing and building some.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

We have a coop with an automatic door. I love it. I have it set to open a touch late and close a touch early. Then there is the option to leave it open or closed. I have used the closed all day once. It worked great. But it was a lot more money than a standard chicken door.

I think it might have been the parents of the chicken. I got my CL from ebay and it is always a gamble with ebay and shipped eggs. So far I'm losing just like most of the people who choose to gamble in Vegas. I still have the roo left, awfully expensive rooster though at $20. But not the most expensive rooster I have as a different shipment of eggs gave me a $35 rooster. I really should not use shipped eggs but sometimes that is the only way to get the chicks I want.

 

[bugglesmommy]

I kept forgetting to actually post and join! I set all I had (2 sultan eggs and 1 mix egg on time, and set 11 more shipped to me yesterday!

 

[Pozees]

Sally, too bad we aren't neighbors, I have 2 very expensive CL pullets. You are right, unless/until someone local has some, it's the only way to get certain breeds, or certain quality. I do have a fellow keeper about an hour away who got some youngsters this past summer from GFF, so hoping she decides she has one extra cockerel, if not at least I know where I can get chicks or eggs

 

[CackleJoy]

Get a Brahma if you want a nice rooster. Mine NEVER attack me.

Our Brahma trots after us like a puppy. Eats delicately from our hands and lets the littles haul him around like a cat. He's too big to fly and flap, that helps too.

 

[CackleJoy]

Sally, too bad we aren't neighbors, I have 2 very expensive CL pullets. You are right, unless/until someone local has some, it's the only way to get certain breeds, or certain quality. I do have a fellow keeper about an hour away who got some youngsters this past summer from GFF, so hoping she decides she has one extra cockerel, if not at least I know where I can get chicks or eggs

And I have 2 cockerels that were peanut packers in my order of SFH from Greenfire Farms. It's the world of chickens, never have quite enough

Someone is always needing a mate!

 

[Pozees]

Oh, automatic doors, that would be heavenly LOL - then again, I would miss saying goodnight to them all. So silly, I know.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

...
So far I'm losing just like most of the people who choose to gamble in Vegas. I still have the roo left, awfully expensive rooster though at $20. But not the most expensive rooster I have as a different shipment of eggs gave me a $35 rooster. ...

My starter flock of Black Penedesencas cost me about $23 per chick with shipping. Out of the original 23, 9 were cockerels but only 2 were good enough to keep for breeding.
2 of the pullets died from egg binding. I lost a couple to predators. I lost the best rooster this summer to raccoons, he was almost 4 and I was devastated. He was majestic
I still have 5 of the original hens. I've tried to keep sons and grandsons of the best roosters.
Not counting egg production, offspring, feed, water, housing and labor, you could probably say the original price of the 5 hens I have left from the original shipment cost over $100 each.