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

[Penny Hen]

Tomato Baskets!

See! I told my DH there was a reason to keep them!

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Bantambury you will "kill" a farm animal if you stay in agriculture. You will be tired or mad or distracted and miss a critical clue until it is too late to remedy it. Just accept that it will happen and forgive yourself when it does and try not to make the same mistake. I lost a pregnant ewe when she bloated and even though I tubed her and drenched her it wouldn't stop the bloat. She swelled so much it stopped her heart. I gave her CPR and revived her for half a minute and then lost her for good. It was an hour later when I remembered how to save her by puncturing her stomach and letting the air out. You might kill her doing that with a pocket knife but she was dying anyway and their was a chance at survival but I couldn't think of it in the heat of the moment.

While I was taking chemotherapy I had a dog attack an Angora goat of mine. I doctored him up but I missed a cut under his long fiber and it went septic and I lost him. I had my arms full and was headed to the door one day when a kitten darted underfoot and I stepped on his head. It was immediately obvious that he was terminally injured. He was a tiny kitten, his head no bigger than a tiny tangerine. I had been a soldier so I thought I could use the technique used to break a rabbits neck to quickly finish the kitten. I had never tried it before but I thought that a kitten would be easier than a rabbit. It failed horribly leaving the kitten in what looked like an epileptic fit. I finally drowned it in order not to cause it more pain. For small creatures that remains my preferred method for once a person is past the fighting for air part it becomes euphoric. I am making an assumption that it is the same for animals. For a larger animal like a dog or sheep a bullet through the ear or from below through the jawbones straight into the brain. Don't ever shoot a sheep or cow between the eyes. Some of them have thick enough skulls to bounce the bullet back at you.

That said I had a ram that had a stroke and couldn't walk. I fed him and watered him and cleaned him up for a week. He realized that he was not going to be able to recover and he quit eating. He was such a loving creature. He once entered the house and lay down on the couch to watch Saturday morning cartoons with my daughter. I could not bring myself to shoot him. It was winter though and I decided that he was not going to die cold. It was the third day since he had quit eating and I knew that night was going to be his last. It was also going to be cold. I gathered all the old blankets I had and wrapped him 4 inches deep and hooded his head with them. I sat with him for a while and talked to him and sang to him. Each time I would speak he would rouse just a little and answer me with a short bleat. I told him what an awesome ram he had been and how I had enjoyed his company for the years I had him. I thanked him for his lambs that he left me with to carry on. At last I was cold and checking him one last time to see that he was warm I went inside for the night. In the morning I checked on him and he was gone. I slipped my hand underneath the blankets and he was still warm. He had died warm knowing that he was loved.

All life on this earth is born out of death. All things must consume something whether it be plant life or animal life to continue. We must have the courage to face that truth and come to terms with the life we consume and respect and love it. Fleeing from it leads to denial and a separation of from the lifeforms that feed us. After that a guilty contempt creeps in for other lifeforms. In some people they separate themselves from the reality so far as to believe that meat and milk magically appear at the grocery stores. We, who heed the Call to be stewards of these lifeforms both plant and animal, must work to reconnect others to there source of sustenance. But first we must come to terms with it ourselves then we can teach others how to love and respect the lifeforms that keep us living.

I have come to the conclusion that all you can do is the best you can do at the moment under what ever circumstances exist. Each death has taught me a lesson

Very well put soldier.

 

[Penny Hen]

Had a dog attack today. Neighbors dog figured out how to get out of his fenced yard and ran after the chickens. Rufus and Raven took no damage. Cinder had some scrapes and a pinch or two of feathers missing. Long John Silver had all but one of his tail feathers and all but two of his saddle feather yanked out plus some scrapes. But Chicken Little took the most damage. She had 2 rents on either side of her spine over the shoulders. She had a puncture bite bridging her low back. But the worst was the rent that started at mid chest and curved around up under her wing, about 6 inches long. Even so only the punctures really went deeper than the skin level. Peroxide, Neosporin, powdered sugar and needle and suture thread then gauze and a Ace Bandage. She and Long John are camping in my bathroom tonight while I get my dog crate cleaned out to keep them until they are better.

Big thanks to my friend Zoey and my daugher, Morgan, for being my assistants for the chicken surgery.

 

[carriebain]

Had a dog attack today. Neighbors dog figured out how to get out of his fenced yard and ran after the chickens. Rufus and Raven took no damage. Cinder had some scrapes and a pinch or two of feathers missing. Long John Silver had all but one of his tail feathers and all but two of his saddle feather yanked out plus some scrapes. But Chicken Little took the most damage. She had 2 rents on either side of her spine over the shoulders. She had a puncture bite bridging her low back. But the worst was the rent that started at mid chest and curved around up under her wing, about 6 inches long. Even so only the punctures really went deeper than the skin level. Peroxide, Neosporin, powdered sugar and needle and suture thread then gauze and a Ace Bandage. She and Long John are camping in my bathroom tonight while I get my dog crate cleaned out to keep them until they are better. Big thanks to my friend Zoey and my daugher, Morgan, for being my assistants for the chicken surgery.

Good job patching her up, sorry about the attack. Let us know how they heal

 

[Pozees]

@Penny Hen, powdered sugar ... can you help me with that one? How/where/why used? Sorry about the attack, glad it wasn't worse.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

 


I think there are a few people hatching grocery store eggs, most likely they are Leghorns.

You can hatch grocery store eggs???  Tell me more!

Yup! There are whole threads on it!


Judi (Pozees): I like your way of thinking. Personally I don't know if I could take scissors to a chick, I've done the freezer and used an ax on older birds...never easy.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

I have my fingers crossed I will get a incubator of Christmas!

Hope you get your..ahem..surprise!    

X2! And I hope you're feeling better today, Cnthia!

 

[Pozees]

X2! And I hope you're feeling better today, Cnthia!

X3 and X2 LOL - Cynthia12, hope today is happy recovery day

 

[SilkieSensation]

Had a dog attack today. Neighbors dog figured out how to get out of his fenced yard and ran after the chickens. Rufus and Raven took no damage. Cinder had some scrapes and a pinch or two of feathers missing. Long John Silver had all but one of his tail feathers and all but two of his saddle feather yanked out plus some scrapes. But Chicken Little took the most damage. She had 2 rents on either side of her spine over the shoulders. She had a puncture bite bridging her low back. But the worst was the rent that started at mid chest and curved around up under her wing, about 6 inches long. Even so only the punctures really went deeper than the skin level. Peroxide, Neosporin, powdered sugar and needle and suture thread then gauze and a Ace Bandage. She and Long John are camping in my bathroom tonight while I get my dog crate cleaned out to keep them until they are better. Big thanks to my friend Zoey and my daugher, Morgan, for being my assistants for the chicken surgery.

Make sure you get everyone with injuries onto antibiotics as soon as possuble as well. Infection is the biggest worry as long as they make it past the shock stage. Duramycin-10 powder in the water works well. 1 tsp per gallon mixed fresh daily. I would also suggest vitamins & electrolytes for a week as well. It can go right in the water with the antibiotics & will help speed healing.

 

[Pozees]

Okey dokey, I am pretty sure I know this, but wanted to check here with others who have used them. Got my yellow plastic hatching trays (2 of them) in the mail, they are washed and disinfected, and tomorrow morning I will fire up the hatcher and get everything set to move eggs in tomorrow evening. I usually put a bowl of warmed water with a clean, disinfected towel in it (chicks can't drown if they find their way in), and I haven't tried it yet but pretty sure the bowl won't fit sitting on top of the tray. Seems like I should be able to cut part of the tray away so the bowl still fits, or alternatively I could soak a couple of towels and just lay them across the grate for the tray to sit on, but that would block humidity from the plastic undertray, where I usually fill both slots 1 and 2 (GQF 1588). I could fill the center slots in the undertray I guess. I just hate to change the one thing I had figured out - achieving the correct humidity for hatching LOL.