California - Northern

[Hangtown Farms]

Oh Rebecca, so sorry to hear about your chickens. I am sick thinking about it.

agreed just horrible

 

[liz9910]

I am just sick.  No livid.  Sick and livid!  My house sitters didn't do their job!  They didn't take care of the chickens!  I came home to 5 dead    The grow out pen was bone dry.  No food or water in sight.  The birds are desperate.  It had also not been shut up the entire time.  Kids say they found hawk carcass so maybe 7 dead.  I can't look.  I am so angry.  

I am so sorry to hear about that! I would have freaked out on the sitters

 

[liz9910]

Great to hear that the seramas showed up!

Raccoons are so determined! A number of 4-H kids have lost birds to them, they just kept working at the latches until they figured out how to open them. If they couldn't get the latch open they started working on the wire instead, everything up here is welded wire.

Thank you I was so happy to see them in the morning and glad they can fly! I've never had to deal with raccoons before so this was a total shock to me. My dad and I installed new special latches, hardware cloth and hopefully the coop/run is raccoon proof now. I haven't been home but off work at noon so going to go check it out.

 

[Happy Chooks]

So sorry that this happened. What a horrible thing to deal with. I hate leaving my chickens because no one cares for them like I do. All I expect my adult kids to do while I am gone is to make sure they have food and water plus open & close the coop door. I usually call and nag them morning and night to make sure that they have done what they committed to do.

This is why I have auto coop doors, they are so worth the money. No need to worry about leaving my chickens and not getting them closed up on time. I have auto waterers as well, so I don't have to worry about them running out of water. And I have very large feeders, so they don't run out of food. (35 lbs) If I go out of town long enough, my MIL collects eggs - otherwise, I just throw them away when I get home if it's hot. If it's not hot, then I crack them one at a time into a bowl to make sure they are okay before using them.

I am so thankful to God for my chickens tonight. We left the house early this afternoon and went to the inlaws for a visit. My FIL invited us to stay for dinner but we declined because we needed to get home to shut the chickens up. We drove home and when I opened the front door, smoke poured out of the house. I rushed into the kitchen and found one of the back burners turned on and a bag of flour burning on it! We had a new refrigerator delivered this morning and had cleaned out the old one. We left a few partial bags of bread and a bag of flour sitting on the stove top. All we can figure is that our psycho cat got up on the stove top and turned the burner on. We had been away from home for over 3 hours and I really think that another 10 or 15 min. and we would have had a major fire going. We are dealing with smoke damage but at least no fire damage. I am so glad that I have chickens that needed to be cared for!

Wow, super close call! So glad you got home in time.

I keep chiding my Family members about putting flammables on the stove top!

Same here! We have a glass cooktop, so it's really easy to put stuff on.

 

[PetRock]

Oh, thanks for asking (and Ron for the introduction)! I'm in Oakland near the Ashby bart station. If it's not close to you, I do have a couple friends who I know can reliably check on the food/water situation. If you are close and willing, PM me! Thanks so much either way. You guys are great; I just love this forum.

I'm on the Delta in the East Bay so I'm about 30-40 min from you. It's probably too far for me to check on them while you are gone. But if you find yourself in a bind with no one else you can trust, I am willing to go there to check on them once or twice. I'll just plan a trip to IKEA while I'm over there.

 

[tommysgirl]

@CackleJoy Just wanted to tell you how sorry I am too. What on Earth did they have to say for themselves?


@ronott1 and any one else with a Brinsea. I am thinking the Octogon 20. How much easier is it to hatch with the more advanced Brinsea models. I don't mind turning eggs so I am not sure if I ought to go for the pricier model if ultimately the hatch rate will be close to the same.

 

[ronott1]

@CackleJoy Just wanted to tell you how sorry I am too. What on Earth did they have to say for themselves?


@ronott1 and any one else with a Brinsea. I am thinking the Octogon 20. How much easier is it to hatch with the more advanced Brinsea models. I don't mind turning eggs so I am not sure if I ought to go for the pricier model if ultimately the hatch rate will be close to the same.

The Octagons are turned by flipping the whole incubator onto a different side. It is very easy for incubation. I hatch in my Genesis.

I fixed my hatch cam streaming. One of the eggs has a pip! I will have a chick out soon!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ron-s-hatch-cam

 

[chrissyr]

This is why I have auto coop doors, they are so worth the money. No need to worry about leaving my chickens and not getting them closed up on time. I have auto waterers as well, so I don't have to worry about them running out of water. And I have very large feeders, so they don't run out of food. (35 lbs) If I go out of town long enough, my MIL collects eggs - otherwise, I just throw them away when I get home if it's hot. If it's not hot, then I crack them one at a time into a bowl to make sure they are okay before using them.

Wow, super close call! So glad you got home in time.

Same here! We have a glass cooktop, so it's really easy to put stuff on.

I agree with the automated stuff. Found a coop opener for $75 (you supply the door and just hook it up). Although not sure how great it is. But the auto waterers is going to have to be a must before we go anywhere. I got the water nipples to go on PVC piping, but my neighbor said with our hard water he'd be worried they would plug up. So perhaps a auto horse waterer set low for the big birds. The little automatic cups I've heard bad reviews on.

 

[tommysgirl]

The Octagons are turned by flipping the whole incubator onto a different side. It is very easy for incubation. I hatch in my Genesis.

I fixed my hatch cam streaming. One of the eggs has a pip! I will have a chick out soon!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ron-s-hatch-cam

Cool! what type of eggs are those Ron?

With the LG I elevated one end then another with a thick book. Is that what you would/could do with the eco 20 too?

 

[chrissyr]

@CackleJoy Just wanted to tell you how sorry I am too. What on Earth did they have to say for themselves?


@ronott1 and any one else with a Brinsea. I am thinking the Octogon 20. How much easier is it to hatch with the more advanced Brinsea models. I don't mind turning eggs so I am not sure if I ought to go for the pricier model if ultimately the hatch rate will be close to the same.

10% off coupon code for Brinsea.com ADozenGirlz . Use at checkout