California - Northern

[ronott1]

Caj is great. Ron you u of as are not in breeding pens atm?

I have the UofA blue egg layers (AKA Arkansas Blues) in a Breeding pen but the Egg Farmer wants to



I will try to get some to ship out this week. I will contact people on my list in order and offer a dozen to them.

 

[chiqita]

Very nice housing! Is that small one a unit from Costco? I really wanted one for a grow out pen. Missed my chance.

Our costco had a pallet of them hidin in the back! They look easy to tip over I am going to add a door to close off the inside and fasten it to.. something.

I have the UofA blue egg layers (AKA Arkansas Blues) in a Breeding pen but the Egg Farmer wants to I will try to get some to ship out this week. I will contact people on my list in order and offer a dozen to them.

Haha cant you only set 40 + 48 at a time? Or is he hiding them like a broody hen?

 

[CackleJoy]

Sorry - this post will take on epic proportions that will put you in mind of a 13-yr old's diary.

Well my poor husband got a taste of the harsher side of farm life this last week. He is gone again - week 10 now. We hate this. Hoping this job is over soon! The people keep adding on more and more and more and more (you get the point) work.

It's all my fault because week before last I was feeling pretty good about things and actually said OUT LOUD, "Nothing has died recently, I think we must have finally gotten past that." Never say those words out loud.

So a week ago Sunday we were doing chores and found a dead Basque cockerel. DH has missed out on all the previous shocks. This time he fetched him out of the coop and got the full brunt of the shock. BTW, Davis said no explainable cause. Perhaps it was the infamous heart failure that effects some birds at 7 - 10 months.

Then this weekend was rough. Saturday morning he dispatched a failure to thrive (someone else hatched it) chick. He HATES that job.

Then while we were gone Saturday our LPD which has never hurt any of our chickens was found licking the broody hen. She was frazzled, missing feathers and shivering. There were feathers everywhere and no chicks. It must have been quite the fight. He ate all the chicks! Horrifying.

He didn't harm the broody mama at all. He was just licking and licking her. I saw the way she went after another chicken so I bet all the feathers were her trying to defend the chicks.

We gave her some new ones and she has settled right in.

Then Sunday morning the 2 four-week runts died. I had put the 4-wkrs outside and all are doing fine except the runts died. I was a little philosophical about it. Oh well, survival of the fittest and all. Unfortunately one wasn't quite dead and I when I hauled them out and let them flop on the ground it kind of screamed. My poor husband. He says, "I suppose I'll have to kill that one too". His parting comment. "I had no idea that chicken farming involved so much drama!"

So that was 9 dead chickens from Sunday to Sunday.

It's not normally that bad. What's really bad is that I'm almost laughing about it because my poor husband is in such a state of shock.

I cried the first time I had to dispatch a chick. He hugged me and told me to be a tough farm girl. While he's been gone, I've gotten tough and he's missed that process. I refrained from telling him to become a tough farm boy.

 

[CackleJoy]

I have the UofA blue egg layers (AKA Arkansas Blues) in a Breeding pen but the Egg Farmer wants to



I will try to get some to ship out this week. I will contact people on my list in order and offer a dozen to them.

Am I on your list? If not, please put me on the next list. I will need a heads up because I tend to keep the incubator full w/o shipped eggs. Thank you!

 

[ronott1]

Our costco had a pallet of them hidin in the back! They look easy to tip over I am going to add a door to close off the inside and fasten it to.. something.
Haha cant you only set 40 + 48 at a time? Or is he hiding them like a broody hen?

Last time I set 60. They are in locdown and 52 are in the hatcher. I did add some Partridge Penedesencas though....6 are still going.

 

[chiqita]

Last time I set 60. They are in locdown and 52 are in the hatcher. I did add some Partridge Penedesencas though....6 are still going.

Tell hjm its spring he can hatch for himself once it is too hot to ship eggs!!

Im a mercenary I say.

 

[PetRock]

Is anyone looking for a cabinet incubator??? Just saw this ad on CL.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/grd/4443275191.html

 

[casportpony]

Quote: I haven't actually started any of mine in an incubator, but I think I've got the assisting down, but most of mine have had normal looking air cells, so not sure how helpful I could be, but I'm will to try if you need me to.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

@chiqita , Have you seen this? https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubating-and-hatching-muscovy-eggs

-Kathy

 

[chiqita]

I haven't actually started any of mine in an incubator, but I think I've got the assisting down, but most of mine have had normal looking air cells, so not sure how helpful I could be, but I'm will to try if you need me to.

-Kathy

Well she has 2 or so weeks to sit still but I dont think shes gonna fix the air cells. I think it is because she waited so long to sit and they were sideways in the nest. Next time im going to steal the eggs and buy bait eggs for her to get excited about. Some of those eggs were really old! She saved eggs for several weeks sitting a bit pre incubating every few nights .