Colorado

[dennarahl]

That was suppose to be a question not a statement. Oops! The sticker won't kill them??

not likely. the area where we put our first coop/run was a field filled with them, now there isnt a single one in there. If it weren't a chicken run with poo all over the place I could roll around on the ground without fear of being stabbed. Also, i had a pair of meaties who decided they loved nails, little one inch nails with heads about half the size of a dime. the nails got spilled in the garage they lived in and we obviously missed some. we found something like 7 nails in one of their gizzards. ive also had a hen pluck a stud right out of my ear and shes still going strong.

 

[jgurshtein]

Well, you kind of have to play it by ear - I add shavings every day, but by the time a week is up it has to be totally changed out. In the interim, when I take the feeders and waterers out, the chicks have a blast pecking around where they were If you think it's getting too wet or smelly before that, change it sooner, and if in a week it still seems pretty fresh and dry, give it another day, and make another decision.

Chicks and chickens don't read the books on raising them, unfortunately, and some things you just have to follow your instincts on. When they are wrong, you learn, like it or not. It is a lot like life - just because something isn't supposed to happen, doesn't mean it won't, you know? The more you watch them the more you will instinctively know what they need/want. The fact you are spending so much time with them will help you determine what is best, regardless of what any book or poster tells you. I've tried lots of things that sounded great that didn't work out that way for me. Sometimes it was because the recommendation came from someone in a very different climate, sometimes it was just because the flock dynamics were different, and sometimes it's just dumb luck that what worked for one person didn't work for me. The whole experience teaches you in a general sense that the world may or may not share your concept of your future, and that nothing is as predictable as we would like it to be. You might be the person that learns to just roll with it and accept that it is the way of mother nature, and you might be the person that decides the sometimes life and death decisions you have to make to be a chicken keeper are not for you. Either way, you learn something about yourself, and often those around you.

Wow, you really have a way with words. Thanks for the encouragement, again. T-minus 10 days to chicks for me!!

 

[Pozees]

Thanks for the tips

. It been a lot of fun, stressful, but a lot of fun. I plan on setting some of samsr's eggs after this batch... Speaking of setting eggs..maggiemo, it would be totally awesome to swap you for a few fertile eggs if you have any

.

I know I have learned a lot and hopefully my results get better and better. I am going to put a turner in my bator to make it easier for next time. I have been seriously slacking turning my eggs. Also I set my eggs before my bator had time to warm up all the way and the temp was swinging too much for my liking at the beginning. I also need to check my thermometers and find out what one is correct as all 3 of mine say something completely different...

Any way.. Eggs go into lockdown tomorrow evening when I get home from work. I'm leaving the 3 eggs I suspect are quitters. Who knows. I certainly am no expert! I haven't seen much for movement lately.. Not sure if that's due to the size of the chicks now or what. I'm going into lockdown with 13/16 I think might be viable down from 18 that I started with.

Best suggestion I've seen is test with a meat thermometer, if you have one. Just put all on the counter and wait until they all stabilize - shouldn't take very long, maybe 5 minutes. I tested mine that way. I didn't trust how fast they reached the same temp so I left them sitting there 20 minutes and came back to check, and they hadn't budged.

 

[Pozees]

not likely. the area where we put our first coop/run was a field filled with them, now there isnt a single one in there. If it weren't a chicken run with poo all over the place I could roll around on the ground without fear of being stabbed. Also, i had a pair of meaties who decided they loved nails, little one inch nails with heads about half the size of a dime. the nails got spilled in the garage they lived in and we obviously missed some. we found something like 7 nails in one of their gizzards. ive also had a hen pluck a stud right out of my ear and shes still going strong.

LOL it is amazing how accurate they can be with those beaks, isn't it?

 

[Pozees]

My breeding pens now have occupants!

Abe is currently in pen 3 (A) along with #4, #12, #9. and #33. Pen 4 (B) has #7, #30, #41, and #42. Abe gets to rotate to breeding pen B on Friday.

We start collecting breeding pen eggs for hatching on Monday. Hopefully we will have enough for an incubator load on Sunday.

OMG I can't wait to see your new babies!!! Did the ladies have to audition and bring glamor shots? LOL. How did you decide which hens went into each pen?

 

[wsmith]

OMG I can't wait to see your new babies!!! Did the ladies have to audition and bring glamor shots? LOL. How did you decide which hens went into each pen?

ROFL...
Yes, they had auditions.......
Two of them were gauranteed a spot in the pens, they are from the breeder stock i hatched out last spring. The others were from hatchery stock. Out of the original 40 Dom pullets, we only kept 10. Out of those, we selected what I thought were the best 6 to go into the pens. Even then it wasn't really easy. Some have great heads and combs, but tails that carry too high or are slightly pinched. we tried to pick the best and those that complimented the traits we see in Abe. Abe's tail is carried slightly lower than what I would like, so we picked out pullets who carried a little higher than 45 dgrees to get the tails up in the males and down a little in the females. at this point ists kind of a crap shoot, but it is a lot of fun. I spent several hours last saturday watching and taking notes. We also decided to include #30 in the breeding pen this go around. She has a single comb.......which is a fault. Here's why: Rose comb birds tend to lose fertility rates over time unless there is a recessive single comb gene in the mix somewhere. So we included her in there as sort of a long term insurance policy. We won't breed from a single comb rooster.

 

[dennarahl]

ROFL...
Yes, they had auditions.......
Two of them were gauranteed a spot in the pens, they are from the breeder stock i hatched out last spring. The others were from hatchery stock. Out of the original 40 Dom pullets, we only kept 10. Out of those, we selected what I thought were the best 6 to go into the pens. Even then it wasn't really easy. Some have great heads and combs, but tails that carry too high or are slightly pinched. we tried to pick the best and those that complimented the traits we see in Abe. Abe's tail is carried slightly lower than what I would like, so we picked out pullets who carried a little higher than 45 dgrees to get the tails up in the males and down a little in the females. at this point ists kind of a crap shoot, but it is a lot of fun. I spent several hours last saturday watching and taking notes. We also decided to include #30 in the breeding pen this go around. She has a single comb.......which is a fault. Here's why: Rose comb birds tend to lose fertility rates over time unless there is a recessive single comb gene in the mix somewhere. So we included her in there as sort of a long term insurance policy. We won't breed from a single comb rooster.

i dont understand a lot about breeding,... why wont you breed from a single comb rooster?

 

[wsmith]

i dont understand a lot about breeding,... why wont you breed from a single comb rooster?

Too much influence on the entire flock. One hen will influence some offspring, but for example, next year I plan on using two breeding roosters. If i used a single comb rooster, he would pass on that single comb gene, and a huge number of his offspring would have it. By only using one hen, only 1/8 of the offspring should have it, keeping the gene in the pool, but limiting its effects

 

[krcchickens]

T

not likely. the area where we put our first coop/run was a field filled with them, now there isnt a single one in there. If it weren't a chicken run with poo all over the place I could roll around on the ground without fear of being stabbed. Also, i had a pair of meaties who decided they loved nails, little one inch nails with heads about half the size of a dime. the nails got spilled in the garage they lived in and we obviously missed some. we found something like 7 nails in one of their gizzards. ive also had a hen pluck a stud right out of my ear and shes still going strong.

Thank you

 

[Chook Chick]

Well ladies and gentlemen, thanks to the wonderful Pozees, our family now includes 3 lovely little girls: 1 Blue Andalusian chick, 1 Araucana chick and 1 Barred Rock chick!

The girls are adjusting nicely, eating and drinking, sleeping and doing what chicks do.

The Araucana peeped all the way home, and is the biggest of the chicks, so I am naming them Patty (Araucana), Maxine (Barred Rock) and Laverne (Blue Andalusian)....the Andrews Sisters....!

I'm so excited and happy!!!

Plus, I received my Brinsea Mini Advanced late last night too........