Cheryl's Hen House...

[Finnie]

Hi Terry! I was wondering how your hens were doing, and whether the rest of them had started laying yet. Yeah, it's that time of year when we all get the itch for new chicks. I wasn't planning to start my incubator up this early, but one of my favorite girls got taken by a hawk last week, and I decided to see if the two eggs I had from her were fertile. And so it starts all over again!

 

[aart]

Quote: Sounds good Terry...you have 3 left from last year?
Can't wait to see your brooder setup.

I was a bit overcrowded this winter, still need to cull.
Am not too excited about hatching this year.
Have no great contenders for crossing, but they aren't laying well yet either due to no supp light this winter.
But local farmette asked me to hatch again for them this year, so that should get the juices going.

 

[Dmontgomery]

Glad you are back posting again Terry. I missed reading your updates.

 

[TerryH]

Glad you are back posting again Terry. I missed reading your updates.

Thanks. Not much to update recently. Just waiting out winter. Looking forward to getting some new babies now.

 

[TerryH]

Sounds good Terry...you have 3 left from last year?
Can't wait to see your brooder setup.

I was a bit overcrowded this winter, still need to cull.
Am not too excited about hatching this year.
Have no great contenders for crossing, but they aren't laying well yet either due to no supp light this winter.
But local farmette asked me to hatch again for them this year, so that should get the juices going.

Have 4 now. Interestingly enough 1 of each original breed. I feel like they all are laying but not for sure. Guessing it's the winter low light blues causing us to just get 2 per day. Appears that Edith (BLRW) was the last and just started a few days ago. Getting some dark speckled ones that I'm pretty sure are from Louise (BCM) but truly all speculation at this point. I have still never seen any of them on the nest except for Laverne(BA). She's remains a late afternoon layer. I've told her over and over that she's supposed to lay in the mornings but she continues to ignore my instruction.

Something I've been meaning to do is get a pic to share of something going up near my house. Tyson is building a unbelievably ginormous facility for "Incubating Technologies Research" about a mile from our house. I'm not interested in incubating personally but I'd love to see what they are gonna be doing in there.

 

[TerryH]

Hi Terry! I was wondering how your hens were doing, and whether the rest of them had started laying yet. Yeah, it's that time of year when we all get the itch for new chicks. I wasn't planning to start my incubator up this early, but one of my favorite girls got taken by a hawk last week, and I decided to see if the two eggs I had from her were fertile. And so it starts all over again!

Hi Finnie! Everyone is doing great. They are like the rest of us, fat and happy.

So sorry about you losing one. That's a bummer. Lots of hawks around our place. So far no problem but ours stay in the covered run most of the time.

 

[Molpet]

Have 4 now. Interestingly enough 1 of each original breed. I feel like they all are laying but not for sure. Guessing it's the winter low light blues causing us to just get 2 per day. Appears that Edith (BLRW) was the last and just started a few days ago. Getting some dark speckled ones that I'm pretty sure are from Louise (BCM) but truly all speculation at this point. I have still never seen any of them on the nest except for Laverne(BA). She's remains a late afternoon layer. I've told her over and over that she's supposed to lay in the mornings but she continues to ignore my instruction.

Something I've been meaning to do is get a pic to share of something going up near my house. Tyson is building a unbelievably ginormous facility for "Incubating Technologies Research" about a mile from our house. I'm not interested in incubating personally but I'd love to see what they are gonna be doing in there.

ummmm

"....The incubation center will be located at the corner of East Huntsville Avenue and North Monitor Road in east Springdale and will be built with an emphasis on technology. The company plans to install robotics to assist with worker safety and ergonomics, and use state-of-the-art ventilation and internal environmental controls. The facility will be built with the latest advances in biosecurity measures, which is designed to help promote better overall bird health...."
http://www.tysonfoods.com/media/new...ks-ground-at-site-of-future-incubation-center

 

[TerryH]

ummmm

"....The incubation center will be located at the corner of East Huntsville Avenue and North Monitor Road in east Springdale and will be built with an emphasis on technology. The company plans to install robotics to assist with worker safety and ergonomics, and use state-of-the-art ventilation and internal environmental controls. The facility will be built with the latest advances in biosecurity measures, which is designed to help promote better overall bird health...."
http://www.tysonfoods.com/media/new...ks-ground-at-site-of-future-incubation-center

That would be the one.

 

[aart]

Have 4 now. Interestingly enough 1 of each original breed. I feel like they all are laying but not for sure. Guessing it's the winter low light blues causing us to just get 2 per day. Appears that Edith (BLRW) was the last and just started a few days ago. Getting some dark speckled ones that I'm pretty sure are from Louise (BCM) but truly all speculation at this point. I have still never seen any of them on the nest except for Laverne(BA). She's remains a late afternoon layer. I've told her over and over that she's supposed to lay in the mornings but she continues to ignore my instruction.

They could all be laying, just not every day or even every other day.
Do a butt check to confirm.
Vent Appearance:
Dry, tight, and smaller - usually not laying.
Moist, wide, and larger - usually laying.

Pelvic Points, feel for the 2 bony points(pelvic bones) on either side of vent:
Less than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means not laying.
More than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means laying.

 

[mobius]

They could all be laying, just not every day or even every other day.
Do a butt check to confirm.
Vent Appearance:
Dry, tight, and smaller - usually not laying.
Moist, wide, and larger - usually laying.

Pelvic Points, feel for the 2 bony points(pelvic bones) on either side of vent:
Less than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means not laying.
More than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means laying.

Yes Terry, you were going to do a butt check...as I recall...