Arizona Chickens

[NoSkiveez]

I don't let my dogs around the chicken either. My dog is pretty wimpy but she is a dog and they have instincts. I wish she could be completely trusted...but that would make things so much easier so that'll never happen. lol

 

[AZKat]

Another disappointment early this morning-an egg with a full formed chick had gotten stepped on/smashed in the night and the chick was dead. Lots of blood in the egg, I think it would have been a Monday hatch.
Then, in the late morning, things got better-a chick hatched and as of tonight she (I hope the chick is a she, after all this) was happy and healthy and being taken good care of. There is still one more egg left to hatch, it should be sometime tomorrow.
Attempting to fence off the broody's didn't work, so I kicked everyone out of the coop and run, once the hatching is over I'll try to relocate broody and chick(s). Of course, now it looks like Jean Grey, who went broody first is claiming the chick. So far Betsey seems to be letting her, but I think I'll try grafting some chicks onto Betsey.

And next time I have a broody, I'm going to move her to a secure location, and avoid all this trouble and heartache.

 

[newchickmom09]

Good morning AZ!

My family and I had a great weekend, very busy with pool parties and going to the lake. I LOVE summer time! One more good thing is that my last duck egg hatched.

This little one is a true trooper. She had started to come out around 3 pm Friday and we all went to bed that night and I woke up to see she almost out of her egg and she was panting, I looked at the temp and it was over 110+ degrees in that incubator! (my thermometer only goes to 110 and the red was past that) We have a homemade incubator with a dimmer switch for the light and my cat got up there and played with that stupid dimmer and wiring that night.

I thought for sure something was going to be wrong with her. She hadn't absorbed all of the yoke yet and her belly botton was still open a little. I guess it got so hot she just tried her hardest to get out. Today she is doing great! I think her name might be Trooper. The other two ducklings that have hatch in my incubator are also just perfect now, running, eating, swimming, doing everything a duck should do.

Now for the sad part of this weekend. As most of you know I had silkie eggs that were under my broody GLW. Well, this morning was day 25 and still no chicks. My poor hen has been sitting for 7 weeks straight now and non of those eggs developed and hatch.

I took away all of the eggs and she is still just sitting on an empty nest clucking her head off. This poor hen is just SO determined. I am going to have to start loking today for chicks. I REALLY wanted a silkie. SO if anyone is the Tucson area has silkie chicks and can spare one PLEASE let me know.

If not if anyone has any chicks and can spared them/sell them please let me know. So to add to this when my cat messed with the incubator I had my other 11 silkie eggs in there and after being at over 110 degrees I am sure those poor things are dead too. There was only 3 that I thought were going to even develop but I was just keeping the rest in there since I am till new at candeling. If all of this wasn't enough everyone remember my little duckling Gimp. I woke up this morning to find him drowned in one of the little kiddie pools. I don't know how it happened since he had been getting in and out of the pool fine since he was able to walk well.

He was my favorite, the only duckling with almost blue on his chest instead of yellow, the one that won my heart first, and recoved to walk and run just like the rest of the group. He had such a hard beging to life and then for him to die.

I am so upset I told hubby just to give away the last duckling my female is taking care of and to also get rid of my three inside in the brooder. Speeking of the ducklings inside of the brooder, we were going to try and give them to my female to raise but she just tries to hurt them.

So all in all we had a good weekend and just a sad weekend. I hope everyone else had a great weekend with no trouble.

AZKAt~

 

[LarryPQ]

Long, sad weekend:

Started injectables with the flock. Decided I have too many chickens

(half are roos for eventual processing)

Lost a few birds to the illness. Mostly teenagers. Noticed the teenagers still have red mites, which isn't surprising since they like to dog pile instead of roost. Faboulous. Time to uber-dust and flame throw the coop/run.

Had to put down Dozer's chick. It must have been stepped on, because it had a massively broken leg. Nothing I could possibly repair or nurse back to health.


ON A HAPPY NOTE:
I am babysitting Sommer's incubators. We have learned my egg-serial killing has less to do with me, and more to do with my craptastic incubator. Sommer's eggs-in her incubator- are hatching just fine. EXCELLENT HATCH RATE, even on shipped eggs. I'd say 80%? Yesterday I added 8 chicks to the 2 that hatched last weekend, and the batch due on the 13th were still hatching. When I left for work this morning, there were 4 in progress, 1 JUST popped. These chicks are in uber-quarantine from my flock.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
I thought there was no way my dogs and chickens could be together at the same time. This created a problem, however, because the yard is not divided so if the chickens were out the dogs couldn't go out to "do their business".
There was no way everyone was going to put the chickens up when the dogs had to go out and I wanted them to free-range to eat the bugs and weeds.
Then I saw a picture on here (I can't remember who's) with their baby, schnauzer and chickens all in the same picture! That started me thinking that maybe my schnauzers could do it too. So, I tried.
It took awhile but it worked! Now my dogs and chickens actually hang out together in the backyard (with supervision only, of course.)

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

for the hard chicken/duck sadness.

AZ Kat - hoping there is good luck with the ones left. How hard to find the little dead ones.

newchickmom09 - So sorry about gimp. Are you really giving up on ducks?

Laree- in all the trials with your poor flock, it is wonderful to hear you have some happy hatching news.

for all the hard stuff.

Becky - fun to see the dog with the chickens.

 

[newchickmom09]

Cheerfulhearts2~ No, I don't think I could ever give up my ducks willingly. I was just so sad and felt terrible about my poor little Gimp. this morning. Hubby called and tried to make me feel better on his way to work (what a great guy

)

***Does anyone have chicks or even 1 chick that they can handle selling in the Tucson or surrounding area (Oracle, Catalina, ect)***
Or if you know of any feed stores that have chicks right now please let me know.

 

[LarryPQ]

If you are going to be up this way, I still have chicks hatching. I am sure Sommer will be willing to part with the Barred Rock/SS crosses. If you are willing to make the drive, I can call her and ask her. (I usually take the "too dark for breeding culls")

 

[newchickmom09]

Quote:
I would love to but I just can't make that commute to Phoenix right now. Thank you so much for offering, I appreciate it!

 

[smjacob]

finally started building the new coop yesterday... Made me happy to get some movement on it. Just a few weekends to go and the chickens will have an area of the yard that is ALL theirs. Sweet.

it will be 40ft x 4 ft and then a 10 x 10 area on top of that.

Shaun