California - Northern

[PetRock]

This is me running around excited that the eggs Chickengirl1304 sent me have arrived safely!!! And she sent me extras, too! Thank you so much, Launi! It's kind of crazy that I'm excited about eggs because I have flats of fertile ones sitting here on my counter. This is my first time with shipped eggs and it is so fun to see eggs from someone else's birds!

 

[ronott1]

This is me running around excited that the eggs Chickengirl1304 sent me have arrived safely!!! And she sent me extras, too! Thank you so much, Launi! It's kind of crazy that I'm excited about eggs because I have flats of fertile ones sitting here on my counter. This is my first time with shipped eggs and it is so fun to see eggs from someone else's birds!

Opening up packages like that is like Christmas Morning!

 

[PetRock]

Opening up packages like that is like Christmas Morning!

Really!!! One box had a hole punched in the top of it but Launi had done such an awesome job packaging them that not an egg was damaged!

 

[Audio51]

This is me running around excited that the eggs Chickengirl1304 sent me have arrived safely!!! And she sent me extras, too! Thank you so much, Launi! It's kind of crazy that I'm excited about eggs because I have flats of fertile ones sitting here on my counter. This is my first time with shipped eggs and it is so fun to see eggs from someone else's birds!

Woo Hoo!!!

 

[PetRock]

Oh oh, can you tell me more about that?

I have a BW Ameraucana who has been leaving me wind eggs for the past 2 years. I have two bowls full of her tiny eggs. I found one in the yard a couple of days ago and it was the tiniest one yet. I'm guessing that she didn't even feel that one come out. She does lay regular eggs, too, but neither kind very often. She is one of my worst layers but she is beautiful & was an excellent broody mama last year so I overlook the infrequent laying.

 

[PetRock]

Maybe I should get some of those Pita Pintas when we got to lunch. My brooders are empty I already sold the last hatch.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, if money wasn't always an issue...... I would never have gotten my Brinsea cabinet except I asked for it as a birthday/Christmas present when Brinsea was having the holiday sale. The R Com I have was my $125 deal from a breeder than tried it once & didn't like it & then you had problems with it too. Dyann Blaine told me the fix on it & it is now working great at no cost to fix. My new Brinsea Octagon 20ex is only because all my years working for the phone company & earning free stock paid off with an unexpected dividend check that I took advantage of & after searching everywhere, Craigslist, Amazon, Ebay, Brinsea themselve's had a special on a combo of the incubator & the humidifier that beat everyone else's price. By the way the new egg candler works great I can even see in my Marans eggs.

Let me know if you want me to bring you some! The eggs that they are hatching from are not very big since the girls have not been laying very long but the chicks are vigorous! I haven't had a single problem with them developing or hatching. And they sure are quick to catch on to the food and water thing. They are smart and cute and friendly! Win/win/win!!!

Which candler did you get?

 

[fowlman01]

Now see...I am the opposite. I intercede as little as possible and fortunately it seems to be working for me. I have never given probiotics. I do not keep the coop/pen immaculate, I had never wormed until this past fall (and that was not because of any problems...just a "routine" worming). I may occasionally give vitamins, but not routinely. My girls go out to forage as often as weather permits. I am feeding Fermented Feed, but just started that last fall. I have been feeding plain old Layena (this is what I ferment) but, now that I know Costco has organic, I will be switching to that. My chicks have been getting Start & Grow, but I also bought a bag of organic starter and am feeding it to the meat birds already. My girls have been healthy and my only losses have been to predators and 1 to the heat last summer.

I am the same with my finches. They get a good quality finch mix, fresh water daily and eggfood when breeding/molting. I do a twice a year air sac mite treatment and offer heat when needed. I lose some a few occasionally, but assume those were the weaker ones that would not have improved my stock anyway. Fortunately, this practice has worked very well for me. I'm not sure I could convince my husband the chickens (or the finches) were something we could afford otherwise. I hope they continue to do well for me this way.

I'm with you. I do feed medicated feed to brooder chicks as they will die here on this property if I don't. Chicks raised by a broody do fine on this ground, but not artificially brooded chicks. They will die within a week or two if I put them on this soil without medicated feed. Other than that they only get off the shelf food and on occasion scraps. I keep it pretty simple here..with the amount of birds I have I can't imagine doing it any other way.

Walt

Walt

 

[sewandgrow]

Really!!! One box had a hole punched in the top of it but Launi had done such an awesome job packaging them that not an egg was damaged!

My very best wishes are coming your way Debi............ I am considering one or two batches of shipped eggs myself after a long time of swearing off of them. I would like to add to Aaron's Red Shouldered Yokohamas for him & am looking at some Mottled Ameraucanas. We'll see....................

Let me know if you want me to bring you some! The eggs that they are hatching from are not very big since the girls have not been laying very long but the chicks are vigorous! I haven't had a single problem with them developing or hatching. And they sure are quick to catch on to the food and water thing. They are smart and cute and friendly! Win/win/win!!!

Which candler did you get?

Yes Debi bring some pure Pita Pintas to me at lunch. PM me the cost & I will paypal you or have cash with me at lunch.

I got the Ova scope high intensity one. I need to wait a few more days to try it on the eggs that are in the incubator now.
I just set the new incubator a little while ago. I filled it with a few of my darkest brown Marans eggs, a bunch of Delaware eggs from the same line I have ( I think) that Jules brought me & some Orpingtons, some Lavenders that Jules brought me & a couple of my own B/B/S oh yeah a couple B/B/S Ams. Like I said I want more AMs & I am happy with the eggs mine lay.

 

[sewandgrow]

I'm with you. I do feed medicated feed to brooder chicks as they will die here on this property if I don't. Chicks raised by a broody do fine on this ground, but not artificially brooded chicks. They will die within a week or two if I put them on this soil without medicated feed. Other than that they only get off the shelf food and on occasion scraps. I keep it pretty simple here..with the amount of birds I have I can't imagine doing it any other way.

Walt

Walt

Now that's what I am talking about. When I find a seasoned pro who is willing to share their methods with us, methods that have been working with great results for years..........how can I dispute that?

 

[Audio51]

Quote:
I think it leads to hardier birds in the long run. Although I don't breed chickens (Can't have a roo here), this seems to also work with the ones that have been raised from eggs or chicks here. The started birds I keep have done very well too!