Colorado

[jgoldy2]

Well, I left work early because I've gone from stuffy head & cough to full on fever & everything else. Came home to my problem child hen, Penelope, needing a major behind soaking. Think I'll take a nap & let the cold medicine start working before I try tackling that. My first time bathing a bird. This should be interesting. Thank goodness I colour my own hair & don't have a shortage of gloves.

Everyone talking about their hatchings & chick orders coming in is making me crawl out of my skin waiting for my chicks/eggs! If I had a serious incubator like everyone else here, I think I'd stop waiting for the eggs my mom ordered me & just start my own flock's eggs now & do a staggered hatching! My broody hen is even more impatient than I am now - I took her off the egg she was sitting on in the barn coop & now she's sitting on the golf ball in the nesting box in their outside run trying to hatch it! I can't wait to get that coop built for them. She can hatch all the chicks she wants after that happens!

Let me know if you need help

 

[alebuela]

Maybe, although I have bantams, how is she near large fowl?

She herself is the largest of my birds and at the top of the pecking order. That means she does everything necessary to maintain that top spot, including the occasional peck to my three other large fowl hens. But she doesn't go after them as she does to my bantam, which she really harrasses. I would hope that a new situation with another well-established large fowl flock could curb her need to dominate.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Let me know if you need help

Oh boy, are you sure about that?

The bath went fine with Penelope. She was surpringly calm through the entire ordeal, even the blow drying part. She didn't have a freak out even while she was hanging out in my bedroom with my dogs so I could make sure she was completely dry. It was a hassle-free process. Well, mostly. Arya, my little dog, *really* wanted to get in the travel crate with Penelope. I can't tell if she still wants to eat them or not or if she's just better trained than she acts.

Unfortunately, this morning I found Odysseus's comb covered in blood & one of the little pointy parts ripped off. None of the hens showed any signs of damage & all I can think is that something (cat or skunk) wandered into the barn last night & he injured himself being a rooster. I feel like a terrible bird keeper today, though. It seems like he's had more injuries staying with me than he got in his time wandering around my grandparents' neighborhood. This might just be the combination of this really bad cold & my TBI overwhelming/exhausting me, but I still feel terrible that he keeps getting hurt. I hope once I get their coop built, this stuff will stop happening. Seems like whenever they have to be in the barn he ends up injured.

 

[COChix]

Good Morning Colorado!
Can you believe it has been 18 days since I got the incubator from PC and set my eggs? I am sure I will have questions over the next few days and my first one is; Is today lockdown or tomorrow? I set the eggs at 8am February 1st, so do you count the last day as one of the 21? Do I expect them to start to hatch on Saturday or to start Sunday?
I took out 9 eggs yesterday that weren't developing. None had anything developing in them. All were from PC, so I am guessing they weren't fertile? 
The rest (14) I can see veins and stuff moving, so 

Sorry, I cannot answer those questions, I need to read more on hatching.

X2

On a side note I am looking at Azure Standard order and I see there is a drop in North Boulder beginning of March. Wasn't sure if anyone was going to be ordering from them.

@trsturself Have you gotten your FF feeder made and using it yet? I am curious because since I built the bucket feeders and those do best with crumbles. Really want to order from Azure for the whole grains feed and mix my own when I start fermenting again in warm weather. Thanks!

 

[COChix]

Oh boy, are you sure about that?

The bath went fine with Penelope. She was surpringly calm through the entire ordeal, even the blow drying part. She didn't have a freak out even while she was hanging out in my bedroom with my dogs so I could make sure she was completely dry. It was a hassle-free process. Well, mostly. Arya, my little dog, *really* wanted to get in the travel crate with Penelope. I can't tell if she still wants to eat them or not or if she's just better trained than she acts.

Unfortunately, this morning I found Odysseus's comb covered in blood & one of the little pointy parts ripped off. None of the hens showed any signs of damage & all I can think is that something (cat or skunk) wandered into the barn last night & he injured himself being a rooster. I feel like a terrible bird keeper today, though. It seems like he's had more injuries staying with me than he got in his time wandering around my grandparents' neighborhood. This might just be the combination of this really bad cold & my TBI overwhelming/exhausting me, but I still feel terrible that he keeps getting hurt. I hope once I get their coop built, this stuff will stop happening. Seems like whenever they have to be in the barn he ends up injured.

First don't beat yourself up I wonder if Odys comb was really from frostbite? It would have been dis colored or blackish at the top? If so then it was more than likely frostbite, they bleed a lot from their combs and wattles. I saw Rocco had some on a one of the tips of his comb and he had bleed onto the back of his head some. These things happen with chickens/livestock, they are very resilient and he shouldn't skip a beat if it was small portion of the comb. Just watch for infection, you can put Bag Balm on it for a soothing effect and as a preventative in the future when it is suppose to be cold. You are doing great, you will probably figure out hatching before me! Dont worry, I know how that goes, I was a nervous wreck back in November when we got that first cold snap. We had a girl get frost bite, then a month or so later the roo's and two hens got frostbite from drinking out of the heated water bowls. Then finally a month later our roo's almost killed each other and this was their first fight. The only way to learn is by continuing what you are doing, reading/researching everything you can about chickens and asking questions here. The instincts are there, obviously you love animals, experience comes with practice and that takes time. I don't know where I would be as a chicken keeper if I wasn't involved with BYC.

 

[jgoldy2]

Maybe, although I have bantams, how is she near large fowl?

She herself is the largest of my birds and at the top of the pecking order. That means she does everything necessary to maintain that top spot, including the occasional peck to my three other large fowl hens. But she doesn't go after them as she does to my bantam, which she really harrasses. I would hope that a new situation with another well-established large fowl flock could curb her need to dominate.

Could you post a picture

 

[corancher]

Good Morning Colorado!
Can you believe it has been 18 days since I got the incubator from PC and set my eggs? I am sure I will have questions over the next few days and my first one is; Is today lockdown or tomorrow? I set the eggs at 8am February 1st, so do you count the last day as one of the 21? Do I expect them to start to hatch on Saturday or to start Sunday?
I took out 9 eggs yesterday that weren't developing. None had anything developing in them. All were from PC, so I am guessing they weren't fertile?
The rest (14) I can see veins and stuff moving, so

I think I can help with this. Yes, count the first day as day one. Expect the chicks to hatch on Saturday, however temp either too high or too low can cause early hatch or late hatch. Don't get to concerned until Monday/Tuesday if none hatch. Keep the lid closed no matter how tempting. Good luck.

 

[suncatcher]

You count from the day you set them, so if you set them on the 1st, then the 18th is day 18! lol How easy is that!

Roosters get into all kinds of things, and squabbles, don't worry, he will be fine. You are the best Momma for him!

I added new straw to the girls nest boxes, I have 10 boxes for them, but they only use two, and they are at opposite ends of my nesting box wall. Silly girls!

 

[alebuela]

Could you post a picture

 

[alebuela]

My internet connection went down when I was trying to post another picture, so I'm adding it here. The hen's name is Speckli - referring both to her breed and to the German word for bacon and (my interpretation) " Little Piggy".