California - Northern

[ronott1]

Congrats on graduating and your Polish settling in.


Update on my bantie; 4 days of Vetericyn (2x the 1st day and once a day after) and his eye is showing improvement. Swelling is down a bit and darkness is clearing. Pupil still seems dilated but it's open a lot more.

That is good news. Is the eye working?

 

[Audio51]

I gathered eggs, set the basket on a stump while I misted, came back to it not two minutes later to find a scrub jay has managed to open two and is guzzling the whites down with a pair of fledglings.

I left them unattended for two minutes!

I HATE those things. They have no redeeeming qualities I am aware of. They don;t even have a nice song!

Chiquita, egg update:
silkie/showgirl? 4 for 4, one is a little behind the others.
Marans I do see movement in 1, the others can just hang out since I can't be sure.
The quail are to numerous to candle, the one showing development earlier is still going strong so I'll just wait and see.

I have my quial eggs on locksown too....they are eue anywhere from today thru Wednesday. They are the Coturnix @Chiquita sent me so very hard to tell what is going on in there.

So, fermented feed...
I tried doing what I read online. Two 5 gallon buckets, drill holes in the bottom of one of them. When you're ready to feed the fermented feed, lift up one the top bucket and let the excess water drain out. Well, the water doesn't drain when I do that.
So what do I do? Can I leave the feed with just enough water in it that it's a sort of mushy paste? The chickens seem to enjoy it that way, but they also like it watery since this is how they are being fed it at the moment, because the water won't drain out of the feed.
Also, is it okay to just do the following? I take feed out, give it to the hens, and then replace what I took out with fresh feed, add a little water to moisten it, then stir it up really well. I do this about once or twice a day. This way the feed should always stay fermented, right?

The excess water will not hurt them. This time a year it will help keep them hydrated. I learned early on that you really can't drain the water off with the second bucket. The mix is too homogenous. It would be like trying to strain peanutbutter. I allow the outer bucket to collect enought of the liquid to keep a good scoby going and ensure I have plenty to innoculate the next batch. I also used it to start the new batch I have for my chicks. (no BOSS or scratch grains in it). Over time you will figure out how you like it. I make mine much thicker/drier....like thick peanut butter or cookie dough. When the inner bucket is empty, I add a little water to bring the scoby up above the holes, slosh it a bit, add my feed, then add water to about 1/2 to 1" above the feed and stir. Then I let it sit and ferment. The meat chicks just inhale the stuff and I have to refill their feeder 3-4 times a day. The older girls eat quite a bit in the morning before I let them out to forage, but leave a lot too. They come back thruout the day and pick at it. By lights out in the evening it is all gone.

Quote: Mine too....

UofA update:
Sad to report that both the last 2 to hatch did not make it (a black & a splash). The black one was really weak from struggling & getting cold so I wasn't too surprised but no real clue why the splash didn't make it. Maybe because it was developmentally behind the others it got steamrolled or shoved to the cooler spot under mama. Bummer but that's nature's way - the strong survive & thrive.
The other 9 are doing well, at least.

Awww...so sorry they didn't make it. You are probably right about the stonger ones, but it's still hard when they don't make it.

Ugh, some of my feedstore EE 'pullets' are getting suspicious streamers... and getting into small scuffles with the Maran that is already trying to crow. If they turn out to be cockerels I'm going to be annoyed. Having no luck getting my daughter some blue/green eggs.

That seems to happen with EE more than any other breed I have seen. I wonder if they are harder to sex at the hatcheries.

I'm supposed to graduate tomorrow, and what do you know, I can't find my list of assignments. Which means I can't finish my work.

Thankfully my teacher is going to email it to me...hopefully soon because I procrastinated a bit lol. I have a lot of work to do.

On another note, my new Tolbunt Polish hen has FINALLY come out of her shell! It's been almost two weeks, but she is finally acting pretty normal. The past two days she has spent her time out and about instead of hiding like she always used to do. She's also eating and drinking on her own now that I've put food and water on the ground. Yay!

Congratulations!!! I hope you are able to get everything done in time.

Good to hear your girls is settling in better now. It can take the a while to figure out their place. Has she started laying again yet?

Quote: I don't think I have ever seen a Magpie up here on the ridge. We don't get mocking birds either...they are one of the things I miss most about San Jose.

So I just learned that there's a flea market here in Anderson with an average attendance of 2,500 people, and chickens can be sold there. Looks like I know what to do with my extra chicks if I can't find homes for them! It's only $8 to set up a table there.

I see that advertised all the time on TV. Is it the "Jolly Giant"? I wish we has something similar here.

Just to inform everyone in the area, I received an interest for an add I had to get rid of a pullet I thought was a rooster. An add I forgot to take down. Anyways the guy responding wanted to purchase it and wanted to send me a cashiers check of 700 something bucks for a 15 dollar chicken. He called this morning saying the cashiers check would be arriving soon in a middle eastern accent as his photo shows an American looking man. I am 100 percent sure it is a scam for I checked his page and see he is responding to several classified adds. Please be careful. Abraham something for his profile name. I will check when I can get on the computer but for now I'm on my phone and can't view multiple windows to go back. Please be aware.

Thanks for the warning! I'm surprised he didn't offer to send a truck to pick it up. I have had them do that when I advertise stuff on CL.

 

[ronott1]

Magpies were hit hard by West Nile. There are not very many any more and some sub species are thought to be extinct now.

They are a pest for those growing nuts.

I have Delawares and Dorkings hatching Two more to go!

 

[Audio51]

Magpies were hit hard by West Nile. There are not very many any more and some sub species are thought to be extinct now.

They are a pest for those growing nuts.

I have Delawares and Dorkings hatching Two more to go!

We have a lot of almond and walnut farmers up here along with the rice farms. They must be happy about it.

 

[SpringPeeper]

Congrats on graduating and your Polish settling in.


Update on my bantie; 4 days of Vetericyn (2x the 1st day and once a day after) and his eye is showing improvement. Swelling is down a bit and darkness is clearing. Pupil still seems dilated but it's open a lot more.

That's good news!

That seems to happen with EE more than any other breed I have seen. I wonder if they are harder to sex at the hatcheries.

I wonder, too. These were from a Feedstore. When we used to buy feedstore guaranteed pullets when I was growing up it seemed there was always a cockerel for every 3 or 4 pullets, so I knew it was a gamble but wanted replacements for my daughter's birds we lost to the accident.

 

[BCollie]

Quote:
Thanks for the input on the fermented feed! I plan on just keeping a constant fermented feed culture going by just replacing what I take out each day, hopefully that should keep it fermented all the time.

I finished all my work in just a couple hours, so that wasn't bad. & She has not yet started laying again. I wish she would, I would collect & set her eggs!

Yep, it's the Jolly Giant place. I've never been there but I want to go check it out.

 

[debs_flock]

Quote:
Me too!!! I grew up in San Jose. I moved here to the foothills in 1977. About twenty years ago I was taking a walk on my break at work. All of a sudden I heard that familiar trill of songs and stopped dead in my tracks. When I turned around there was a mockingbird singing it's heart out. The only one I've ever seen up here, but I sure do miss them. It must have been off path.

 

[Kaylish]

That is good news. Is the eye working?

He seems to notice movement but not quite as well as with the good eye.

I HATE those things. They have no redeeeming qualities I am aware of. They don;t even have a nice song!
...
I don't think I have ever seen a Magpie up here on the ridge. We don't get mocking birds either...they are one of the things I miss most about San Jose.

I had a really pretty pair of mockingbirds move in this spring; one of the first driven off by the jays. And some red and yellow sparrows.

Magpies were hit hard by West Nile. There are not very many any more and some sub species are thought to be extinct now.

They are a pest for those growing nuts.

We have a lot of almond and walnut farmers up here along with the rice farms. They must be happy about it.

We have a bunch of English walnuts that they love, we never get them all picked up so I really don't mind the chickens and local birds eating whats left on the ground.

That's good news!
I wonder, too. These were from a Feedstore. When we used to buy feedstore guaranteed pullets when I was growing up it seemed there was always a cockerel for every 3 or 4 pullets, so I knew it was a gamble but wanted replacements for my daughter's birds we lost to the accident.

Of my 4 feedstore "pullets" last year, one was a cockerel. (2 buff orps and 2 barred rocks, one of the rocks was the boy)

 

[BCollie]

Does anyone know if I need some kind of permit or license to sell chicks/chickens at a flea market? Or can I just bring them there & sell them as long as it's not against the flea markets rules to sell live animals?

 

[gander007]

Does anyone know if I need some kind of permit or license to sell chicks/chickens at a flea market? Or can I just bring them there & sell them as long as it's not against the flea markets rules to sell live animals?

Sounds like you need to contact the people at the flea market and find out their rules ..