Consolidated Kansas

[Ivywoods]

What a day. I'm exhausted. I got quite a bit done, though. It's time to put my leg up and ice it down. aaahhhhh...

I got all the little chicks out of the nest that were in there with the broody hens. One chick wasn't doing well, so I put it in the hatcher in the basement for the night. I took all the eggs that didn't hatch and put them in the incubator. I candled them and they had all started to develop. One didn't look good, so I left it out. I think these others just need a little more time. The second hen probably got in there and laid them after the other hen had started on the first set of eggs. Stupid me. I had all the chicks out of the nest and the hen off the nest for about a half hour before I had the foresight to gather the eggs for the incubator.

They should be okay, though. I found one dead chick in the nest. It looked like it hadn't completely gotten out of the egg. It may have gotten smashed though. Who knows. With those two big fat broody hens crowed into a 5 gallon bucket for a nest it would be entirely possible to smash one or two.

I took the rooster out. He was good around the chicks, but he mated with those hens about 4 times while I was out there and each time chicks went scattering every which way. I decided that was enough and these working moms needed some alone time with their new babies. My big boy went into a cage. He is not at all happy about it!

I finally got my auto water system started. I didn't finish getting it set up, but I will in the morning. I brought some of the parts back in the house with me to finish putting together tonight, then it will be a piece of cake to get it finished and going in the morning.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Sunshine!! We have to see pictures of these silkies! hehe
Ivy, Question for you since you mentioned the silkies laying: Do they start laying at about a year? Are they late layers compared to other chickens at 5-6 months?

Today I sat on the ground of the pen (it was SOO nice outside!) and took some really great pictures, thought I'd share with ya'll:


My beautiful ducks enjoying the sun and the pool. They are so much more relaxed now that Quackers is gone. I think they are smiling!

Ducky says "Howdey All!"

Goose is finally stretching her wings!

Daffy is staring to get the green tint on her head!

Pearl is checking out the camera.

Love this one. Onyx posed for me on top of her coop.



Here she is giving me the "Whatcha doing mama?" look.



This on is my favorite. This is Ruby with Opal in the background. I love the contrast of this photo. It's super clear with the fuzzy background. You can see the intelligence in her eyes.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Had a question... I'm still new at this chicken keeping I have 4 silkies and and I don't know if they are 'he' or 'she's' but I have thought that the one is a hen, and now I have the others pecking on her back. It's starting to get bare, but not bleed or look abnormal, yet. What do I need to do? Or is this 'normal'? No eggs yet and they will all be a year old in June of this year. Is that 'normal'? Thanks for helping a 'Greeny' out!

This is one of my pullets with Pinless Peepers. They are the blinders that Ivy was talking about. These will keep the others from picking on her. I had the SAME problem, and this solved it! You can also buy a chicken Apron if it's just on her back. But that might make them really want to check it out and peck at it. But it would also be a place to start, too and they are cheap. I'd start with the Pinless Peepers, they aren't that expensive. I bought mine from RandalBurkey: http://www.randallburkey.com/Blinders-Debeakers/products/12/ I bought the 10 pack and I picked out yellow and they threw in a couple of pink ones, too. In the notes, you can ask for what color you'd prefer. People here in BYC said NOT to buy red ones, that it might incite them to keep pecking, because of the color of blood. My 10 pack was $6.99. BEST money spent for my flock, I'm telling you!!! Everyone's feathers are growing back, yay! Anyway, you just pull them open a bit and they snap down into the nostril. Don't worry-- there is PLENTY of room for them to breathe.

 

[Hawkeye95]

So pretty out!!

Ivy hows the trio doing? Be sure and save me some lavendar chicks too! I still want some blacks. Be sure and try the head lift on the chicks after they hatch, on the 3rd, or 4th day. See if it works for you.

Trish, glad you are getting good hatches.

Hawkeye, there is a JR. APA-ABA club you can join for the kids, it is on one of the websites. Has some really cool stuff for the kids.

We have a new 4H agent here, I am going to see if we can get one of the shows started here. They are a lot of work, but I think they would be a big help in getting kids to come and show the birds.

I just saw that today! I'm going to check into it!! They do Showmanship,too! What fun! I noticed there was a ABA show in ElDorado-- but it said something about OEG-- so I'm thinking it's breed specific. I might call and just check, though.

 

[Hawkeye95]

What a day. I'm exhausted. I got quite a bit done, though. It's time to put my leg up and ice it down. aaahhhhh...

I got all the little chicks out of the nest that were in there with the broody hens. One chick wasn't doing well, so I put it in the hatcher in the basement for the night. I took all the eggs that didn't hatch and put them in the incubator. I candled them and they had all started to develop. One didn't look good, so I left it out. I think these others just need a little more time. The second hen probably got in there and laid them after the other hen had started on the first set of eggs. Stupid me. I had all the chicks out of the nest and the hen off the nest for about a half hour before I had the foresight to gather the eggs for the incubator.

They should be okay, though. I found one dead chick in the nest. It looked like it hadn't completely gotten out of the egg. It may have gotten smashed though. Who knows. With those two big fat broody hens crowed into a 5 gallon bucket for a nest it would be entirely possible to smash one or two.

I took the rooster out. He was good around the chicks, but he mated with those hens about 4 times while I was out there and each time chicks went scattering every which way. I decided that was enough and these working moms needed some alone time with their new babies. My big boy went into a cage. He is not at all happy about it!

I finally got my auto water system started. I didn't finish getting it set up, but I will in the morning. I brought some of the parts back in the house with me to finish putting together tonight, then it will be a piece of cake to get it finished and going in the morning.

Poor little chickie, I bet it did get trampled. Sounds like a good deal to get the roo out if he was still busy with the girls. Yay on getting your water started!

Sunshine!! We have to see pictures of these silkies! hehe
Ivy, Question for you since you mentioned the silkies laying: Do they start laying at about a year? Are they late layers compared to other chickens at 5-6 months?

Today I sat on the ground of the pen (it was SOO nice outside!) and took some really great pictures, thought I'd share with ya'll:


My beautiful ducks enjoying the sun and the pool. They are so much more relaxed now that Quackers is gone. I think they are smiling!

Beautiful pictures! They all look so happy! Thanks for sharing those, everyone seems like they are really growing out well. My silkies started laying at 8 months. I think that is probably pretty typical from them. I've been talking to a lot of other silkie breeders on the ASBC and I think that is right about it, but they did say, it's not unheard of for a pullet to wait until a full year, but it's not as common, I don't think. They are slower to mature, but I'd guess you'll be in eggs by 8-9 months. When are you getting your new additions?? Can't wait to see pictures of them as they grow!!

 

[Ivywoods]

Tweety-I don't know specifically when the silkies start laying. I've never raised silkies. I believe almost all chickens start laying before they are a year old, though. Hawkeye can probably tell you when her silkies started laying. It can vary a lot just from flock to flock.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I'm worried about Danz.

Still thinking of you Danz and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers today.

 

[tweetysvoice]

I'm worried about Danz.

Still thinking of you Danz and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers today.

Me too, I was hoping to have heard from her today. I hope everything is okay.

Choocks said the eggs are due to hatch this weekend, so you know i'll be contacting her on Friday to see how they are going! LOL

 

[Hawkeye95]

Me too, I was hoping to have heard from her today. I hope everything is okay.

Choocks said the eggs are due to hatch this weekend, so you know i'll be contacting her on Friday to see how they are going! LOL

That's exciting! How many are you getting? What will you do if you get a roo?? If it's a BLACK roo... I might be interested! LOL I was told by more than a couple of people that I can help cover up the gold leakage in my broody hen with a black roo. It might cover with Zorro-- he has no leakage... but Splash X Splash just dilutes the coverage at some point. Sigh. I'm going to give it a shot, though, since I don't have black. What colors are you interested in? I think Renee has Lavenders!

I'm going to guess that Danz is really busy with her family. I sure hope she's alright.

 

[checoukan]

tweety, I thought Ruby was thinking "What is wrong with her EYE"!!!

Sunshine!! We have to see pictures of these silkies! hehe
Ivy, Question for you since you mentioned the silkies laying: Do they start laying at about a year? Are they late layers compared to other chickens at 5-6 months?

Today I sat on the ground of the pen (it was SOO nice outside!) and took some really great pictures, thought I'd share with ya'll:


My beautiful ducks enjoying the sun and the pool. They are so much more relaxed now that Quackers is gone. I think they are smiling!

Ducky says "Howdey All!"

Goose is finally stretching her wings!

Daffy is staring to get the green tint on her head!

Pearl is checking out the camera.

Love this one. Onyx posed for me on top of her coop.



Here she is giving me the "Whatcha doing mama?" look.



This on is my favorite. This is Ruby with Opal in the background. I love the contrast of this photo. It's super clear with the fuzzy background. You can see the intelligence in her eyes.