BYC Café

[krista74]

Good morning everyone,

It looks like a lovely day here, and I believe we are heading for 75F (24C) which is just about perfect in my book!

I have a day of cleaning planned - both house and chook house - and then hopefully time to watch a dvd in the afternoon.

It is Sunday here today - so Happy Easter everyone! I had an Easter Egg along with my toast for breakfast today

- Krista

 

[3goodeggs]

Happy Easter to you too!

I am baking the cheese cake now.
I have to get up early and start on everything else.

 

[3goodeggs]

Quote: NOOOOO!!! I'd be stuffing the rest of the eggs in my shirt and...It'd drive me crazy.
Then I have exploding rotten eggs going off in my blouse.
I am not cut out for such things.

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote: NOOOOO!!! I'd be stuffing the rest of the eggs in my shirt and...It'd drive me crazy.
Then I have exploding rotten eggs going off in my blouse.
I am not cut out for such things.
If you watch the broody close, you can candle the leftover/late eggs and see IF any might be worth trying to save.
You need to have a hard nosed approach (cut your losses, help the few who will make it) to this whole thing in a nice way.
Scott

 

[Chickenchick11]

NOOOOO!!! I'd be stuffing the rest of the eggs in my shirt and...It'd drive me crazy.
Then I have exploding rotten eggs going off in my blouse. 
I am not cut out for such things.

X2 Plus I'd never be able to cull the roosters, and my mom does NOT want roosters.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Yes, letting Mother Nature run its course is not easy at times. Psycho Broody and baby are doing well, eating and drinking. I am putting up a sight blocker so she can have some peace and not be stared at by the dogs. (or drooled on ) Big sigh, not my dogs or a more permanent solution would be called for and possibly a new vacuum as the Husky has exploded on the carpet in the living room like a stuffed animal. I haven't seen that much hair come off a critter since I last shed out my old Icelandic Horse. Seriously, not good.....

 

[krista74]

NOOOOO!!! I'd be stuffing the rest of the eggs in my shirt and...It'd drive me crazy.
Then I have exploding rotten eggs going off in my blouse.
I am not cut out for such things.

Ha ha, no, it's not easy to watch her reject the eggs. But in my experience (3 separate hatches) the Momma Hen has never abandoned viable eggs. Generally speaking, the ones that don't hatch are dud eggs - the chicks have started developing but quit part way through. You have to trust that Momma knows what she is doing in that regard. I always candle the eggs after she has abandoned them, and it's quite obvious when they have died.

If you watch the broody close, you can candle the leftover/late eggs and see IF any might be worth trying to save.
You need to have a hard nosed approach (cut your losses, help the few who will make it) to this whole thing in a nice way.
Scott

Agreed. As I said, I've never found a viable chick after the eggs have been rejected though. I think nature's way is to manage clutches so that all good eggs hatch out within 24-48 hours of each other. More often than not, those who don't hatch in that time frame have some other issue and are simply not fit to hatch. I have heard of some people assisting 'cling wrapped' chicks, but there must have been a reason they didn't hatch out correctly in the first place. It is very much 'the strong will survive' I have found.

Yes, letting Mother Nature run its course is not easy at times. Psycho Broody and baby are doing well, eating and drinking. I am putting up a sight blocker so she can have some peace and not be stared at by the dogs.

Am I right in thinking that there was only one chick? Oooh, that Momma Hen will love her little baby, won't she?! I always kept my Momma Hens and chicks partitioned from the main flock. They could see and be seen by them, but not touched. If it weren't for the fact that I have a cat with a killer instinct, I would not separate them at all. But I was worried my chicks would become her lunch, so they spent the first three months of their lives in their own little spot in the coop. All is well now though, they are integrated with the flock and about to start laying. Any day now.......

X2 Plus I'd never be able to cull the roosters, and my mom does NOT want roosters.

Yes, that is the bad part of raising chicks. Out of my 3 hatches I got 3 pullets (all of which I kept) and 8 cockerels I believe. I was lucky enough to rehome them all, but if I hadn't been able to do that they would have gone off to auction as 'meat birds.' I have one rooster and he is great, but one is enough!

- Krista

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote: You don't have to kill the roo's, just sell/give away the little snot-heads. Me, I'll eat them.
Scott

 

[Mtn Margie]

I think the really mean roos add a bit of spice to the dish! I think it is called the "Taste of Revenge!"

Anyway, good morning and Happy Easter to those that partake of this holiday, commercial or religious. Had a great day of not doing much and now I am over it and getting restless. DH and I worked on the PVC greenhouse/cold frame that he is putting in. This is a good project for him as it gets him thinking about what it takes to grow food up here. He has always been a - if it shows up on my plate, I will eat it kind of a person and not thought about the time and effort and that goes into the food. My sprouts did fine in the cold snap and now I have some row cover to add if it gets really cold. I guess we would be talking single digit area.

Going for more coffee and checking on the critters. I do not trust those dogs one bit not to be up to something doggy.

 

[scottcaddy]

Be careful about the kind of plastic you put over pvc, without coating it first.
Have fun with the DH and the Dogs being Dogs.
Scott