California - Northern

[tommysgirl]

Yes. Breese were kind to me this year. Clovis is a man of mighty sperm.

 

[Audio51]

DH left this morning for Street Vibrations in Reno. I have theplace to myself for the night so I decided it was time to try the quail (he refuses to eat them soI haven't cooked any until now). They were wonderful! He doesn;t know what he is missing....

 

[SpringPeeper]

If I remember correctly they get their bird from Privit and/or Ideal hatcheries. I'll ask the next time I'm there.

Cool, thanks.

It is good that you sent them to the lab. The initial examination did not show a visual cause of death. That indicates that there was no trauma- brain injury and etc. It also rules out coccidiosis, fungus, organ damage and such that can bee seen.

What is left is bacteria and other little things that are hard to see. They are growing cultures now to see if they can get whatever killed the chicks.

My guess is a type of e coli. I have read about that happening and if so the breeder needs to start again since it would be in the flock and is transmitted via egg to the offspring. isbars have had this problem and it came from GFF if I am remembering correctly.

They did mention e. coli in the one chick... still waiting on the full report for more info, but I did pass on what I had so far to the breeder.

@spring peeper where are you located again? If you...or anyone else... do put together a SH order make sure to let us know. (Esp if you round out your order with Misc Frizzles

)

I from time to time waste a few hours putting together a "Dream Flock" from Sand Hill. I know some people have had a hard time with them and it can take months past your original requested date to get your birds but what others have told me is that if you order one specific breed and then allow them to ship you an assortment to round out your order, your odds for on-time delivery are increased.

Anyway...It is nice to know there is another Australorp fancier in Northern California. I saw hatching egg auctions on ebay last night but as usual on the East Coast. Seems like between you and me and Ron we might be able to get something going at some point in the future. But for me W A Y in the future lol

I did a head count last weekend I have

10 girls currently laying
4 girls raising chicks
11 pullets not at POL
11 boys at or awaiting placement in Camp Kenmore processing on 10/12 and sometime in late Nov
4 week old chicks
Reese
2 cockerels
1 rooster
I am picking up two more pullets in a couple of weeks

To the lay person that would be 46 birds
Using Chicken Math it is only 10 but my feed bill tells a different story...Time to rein myself in for awhile

Still gonna give broodies eggs though maybe not quite so many...who am I to stand in the way of nature??

I am in Glenn County, the closest town to me is called Willows. About 85 miles north of Sacramento. If I add on the misc. frizzles, I'd want to know I had people willing to take them. I don't really care for Frizzles myself. I definitely want to send in a reservation order for 2015 in October- you get to use 2014 pricing if you do it before November. He has a lot of breeds I'd love to try, but I think I'll wait a few more years on. I know I am going to reserve some of the RIW, and possibly some Australorps. I'll post in this thread when I am ready to send the reservation in to see if anyone wants to try to piggyback. I didn't realize Australorps would be so hard to find. It seemed like they were one of the 'standard' breeds available around here, then I spent about a decade in a very restricted lock area without them. Moved back to where I could have a real flock and all the Australorps have disappeared.

Has anybody ever fixed a cracked egg and hatched it successfully? How did you repair it?

Yes, it was already developing when it was pretty badly cracked by my husband jostling the incubator. I immediately sealed it with birthday candle wax, and hatched out a healthy chick.

I've lost a few to e. coli, it's a nasty bacteria, but can be treated if caught soon enough and if one has a potent antibiotic like Baytril.

-Kathy

Edited to add:
E. coli yolk sac infections are *much* harder to treat.

It sounds like that is what it could have been. They didn't (that I noticed) show signs of infection, but so far it sounds like a possibility.

@SpringPeeper and
@tommysgirl Someone on NorCal Rare Breed Poultry Buy/Sell/Swap page just posted black Australorps for sale in Palermo (just south of Oroville), just FYI

I'll check it out.

Alright everyone - I need some brutally honest info: for those of you that sell eggs and chicks - how large of an operation do you need to actually make money, not just cover feed, etc but actually cash in hand? Is it possible to do without shipping? What kind of equipment do you run (i.e. do you need a large cabinet incubator, or multiple small ones, etc) What do you do with the chicks that don't sell as day-old straight runs? How young can you take them to an auction (provided I can find one close)?

I ask because the company my husband has been with for the last 17 years was bought out and is being shut down next month. So, I need to make some fast hard decisions on what direction my "hobby" is going. We have 1/2 acre and a 3 year old so I think raising to POL for pullets and butchering size for roos to sell is out, at least for a while.

On the same note; anyone interested in some 8 week old BBS Marans pairs or trios?

Really sorry you have to deal with this. I don't have too much wisdom to share on the money-making end because most of my non-keepers are eaten or claimed for family member's flocks. Two possibilities- I have seen people make money 'renting' their incubators to hatch for other people (hatching out the chicks at their place for a fee), or (if you process, I can't remember if you do or not) processing birds for others for a fee? Just be careful with biosecurity if you pursue either route. Possible sources of chicken revenue, anyway.

Thank you! I'll make contact and see what I can learn for all of us.

Cool!

Yes. Breese were kind to me this year. Clovis is a man of mighty sperm. I would have made money if I could have gotten my white showgirls and sizzles seperated in time .

 

[SpringPeeper]

DH left this morning for Street Vibrations in Reno. I have theplace to myself for the night so I decided it was time to try the quail (he refuses to eat them soI haven't cooked any until now). They were wonderful! He doesn;t know what he is missing....

Looks good! I'm excited to make some when my 'extras' are ready. I got my first crow today! He froze up with this bizarre look like he'd been struck by an amazing epiphany, then puffed up and let loose. It was hilarious. I did find the first thing I don't like about them, though. All my neighbors cats that didn't care much about chick and duckling peeps come flooding in when the little Goldens start calling.

I almost regret teaching my dogs not to chase cats. Luckily, the screened-in space the brooder is in hasn't been breached, and the brooder itself has a second covering to protect them from the feline scourge.I'd be putting out live traps if the neighbor wasn't otherwise a wonderful neighbor. I'm sure she's about ready to do in the cockerels I haven't processed yet as well.

 

[AmyPaperlady]

All three eggs have veins and a shadow

My light wasn't bright enough to get any good photos, though.

 

[Happy Chooks]

All three eggs have veins and a shadow

My light wasn't bright enough to get any good photos, though.

 

[sol2go]

Alright everyone - I need some brutally honest info: for those of you that sell eggs and chicks - how large of an operation do you need to actually make money, not just cover feed, etc but actually cash in hand? Is it possible to do without shipping? What kind of equipment do you run (i.e. do you need a large cabinet incubator, or multiple small ones, etc) What do you do with the chicks that don't sell as day-old straight runs? How young can you take them to an auction (provided I can find one close)?

I ask because the company my husband has been with for the last 17 years was bought out and is being shut down next month. So, I need to make some fast hard decisions on what direction my "hobby" is going. We have 1/2 acre and a 3 year old so I think raising to POL for pullets and butchering size for roos to sell is out, at least for a while.

On the same note; anyone interested in some 8 week old BBS Marans pairs or trios?

Hi, although we don't know each other, best wishes to you during this change (and all the others that are sure to follow - I don't know how anyone has a predictable life that follows a plan?).

 

[ronott1]

It is raining in Woodland!

I spent yesterday from 4:15 to 8 at the Ortho Docs in Sacramento@ucd medcenter for an appointment for my Wife. Her knee is painful but will be fine. The ligaments are intact but there is bruising on the bone and tissue in the knee. That was great news! The broken then pinned and plated bone is healing fine.

Bad news was that the dislocated wrist joint that was reduced right after the accident was back out. It has been out for several weeks so has started to "heal" in the wrong position. They tried to put it back in but that did not work. We will be back there this afternoon to see a hand specialist--Likely to set up a surgery for the hand and then 6 weeks in a cast.

Should of had a cast to hold the joint in place fro a couple of weeks at least any way....what do I know though....

 

[DoubleMM]

Good morning Ron

Wishing your wife well...

 

[Happy Chooks]

It is raining in Woodland!

I spent yesterday from 4:15 to 8 at the Ortho Docs in Sacramento@ucd medcenter for an appointment for my Wife. Her knee is painful but will be fine. The ligaments are intact but there is bruising on the bone and tissue in the knee. That was great news! The broken then pinned and plated bone is healing fine.

Bad news was that the dislocated wrist joint that was reduced right after the accident was back out. It has been out for several weeks so has started to "heal" in the wrong position. They tried to put it back in but that did not work. We will be back there this afternoon to see a hand specialist--Likely to set up a surgery for the hand and then 6 weeks in a cast.

Should of had a cast to hold the joint in place fro a couple of weeks at least any way....what do I know though....

Great news on the knee, but bummer on the wrist.