Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Well I got my DH out there today since it was so nice & he got all but one door together & we hung one today. I'm going to try to get him out there again tomorrow to hang the other 3 because it looks like it's supposed to rain Thurs. Starting with the weekend then we have colder weather coming again, darnit, I was kind of hoping it would hold out a little while so we could get more done. I may try to install the two end windows myself if I have time. I have to take my one little dog into the Vet for some shots tomorrow afternoon, so that will take up some time.

I also got all of my rabbit trays cleaned out again today except the two really big ones, I will have to have my DH help me lift those out, they're just too heavy for me when they're full. I will be glad when they can move outside again & I don't have to do this chore any more for a few months. If I put them in the hoop coop next winter then I won't have to do it any more, that would be great. I sure hope that works out, it would be a whole lot less work for me as far as cleaning out the droppings, I would just have to shovel them out instead of carrying trays of poop.

I got my first Wheaten Ameraucana egg today, it's a really pretty blue. I'm so glad to see them starting to lay. My lavender Ameraucanas have been on strike since they molted awhile back, I hope they start laying again soon. I have people waiting on chicks from all of them, so hopefully in the next month or so they will all start laying. My Salmon Faverolle hens started laying about a week ago & I would think some of the Swedish Flower Hens would also be laying soon as well as the Cream Legbars. I can't wait to see the color of the Cream Legbar eggs, they're supposed to be really pretty sky blue.

Here is a pic of my Wheaten Ameraucana egg:

The spot on it is just from the flash.

I finally got some pics of my two chicks:

This is the spotty one with the puffy cheeks. I guess it would be classified an EE, although it has spots like a Speckled Sussex. This is the loud one.


This one is kind of scruffy right now, but you can see the gold lacing on it's feathers. There are a few spots mixed in, that should be interesting to see if those are still there when it's fully feathered out. I'm pretty sure it came out of a gold laced wyandotte egg, I have two of them.

I will try to get pics of the Swedish Flower Hen roosters tomorrow, I just ran out of time today & daylight since I was cleaning rabbit cages after my DH left for work.

Frizzled Pink, I sent you a PM, did you get it?

 

[michelleml]

Trish those are beautiful chicks

 

[sunflowerparrot]

My little roo is starting to crow! What a horrible sound lol.

I already have a mature rooster, Jasper... but every time the little roo did his crow attempt, Jasper would very loudly crow back. I assume he is doing this for intimidation purposes?

 

[maidenwolfx80]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/newestpost/720941

Sorry I posted before I was ready. This lady needs help. What better place to get her help than with you guys. See if you all have any suggestions for her.

 

[chicken danz]

Ok the one thing that I see that will be a problem on the incubator is not having an easy way of adding water without opening bator. Does anyone have any tips for that with this incubator?

That's not abnormal for an incubator. If you add water always add very warm or faucet hot water to the bator. It helps create more condensation and keeps the temp up.
Also without seeing it you could use a funnel with a long spout to add water. If it has plastic viewing windows that can be removed rather than removing the whole lid you could take one out and use the funnel. I used styros for quite a while and with adding the warmer water and only having the lid open long enough to add the water never had a problem. I still have to open my hatcher to add water even though I do have an auto waterer. It doesn't create enough humidity for hatching. I just bring the water to the bator and keep it open just long enough to add water.


Sunflower, That is such great news. I am so glad to hear that. I do hope the clotting disorder corrects itself.

We had to have our house re-appraised a year or two ago now. My DH was at work, but I walked thru with the guy to see what he was looking at. He was VERY through and his forms were very specific. He had a rating on how clean each room was, what kind of condition it was and then rated the flooring and the walls-- like for the flooring, did it look new (1-3 years old) or worn (and then applied an age to it). Your floors could be new, but if they are worn and scuffed, he will rate them poorly which will effect the value of your home. (or vice versa-- old, but in great condition!) We had just installed hardwoods a couple years prior, but we don't wear our shoes in the house, so our floors appraised at New Condition, even though they were not. He appraised my walls at new condition-- I had just painted them all and touched them up. He looks at all the baseboards, the switch plates, everything! All of that goes into the "condition" of your home and either helps increase or decrease the value of your property. In the spaces where my basement is not finished--like under the stairs and in the utility room, he got up and looked for cracks in the foundation, and any evidence of infestation-- mice, insects, etc.. He went up on my roof and our new solar panels helped add value and if I could think of more, I'd tell you. He did at the end, say that he'd never been in a cleaner "lived in" home before. He couldn't find any dirt/dust or real wear and tear anywhere. Of course, I spent two weeks cleaning house, and we replaced a couple things that were looking grungy, since I knew he was coming! LOL We'd also just purged through a TON of stuff in this house and had gotten rid of it. The only thing that lowered our value was that our kitchen and bathrooms are not "updated" with granite and marbles, etc. I have formica on all the countertops. I have vinyl flooring in all (except for the downstairs bathroom that we finished ourselves and it's all tile, and granite, etc...) So we'll be updating the house as we go along, but we have a lot of "builders grade" finishes here in the house since we built it. But even at that, he told me that because my house was so clean, and everything was in near new condition (no beat up lighting or sink fixtures, no dents or holes in walls and flooring) that the builder grade finishes wouldn't increase the value of my home that much at this point since the rest of it scored so highly. So there's some input for the appraisal! I hope that helps! I enjoyed reading through our paper work when they finally mailed it to us and we could see all the notes he had written down and all the scores we got on each room.

That bit you wrote about your mom--- just about made me cry. What a blessing to have you put it so well. Life is too short to be at odds with each other.


I was praying and praying for him! I just was astonished at how God works when you wrote how well he was doing this morning! Glad to see a picture of the little guy. Wow, you REALLY are that 1%. Shaking my head. I'm just so glad that he's doing better. Here's to more prayers that he will continue to fight! Also-- your vet did a fantastic job with him!

Hawkeye you just put the fear of God in me. I have unfinished remodeling projects everywhere and my house is far far from clean. With the incubators there is chick dust everywhere. There is clutter like crazy and a basement full of excess stuff I have no place else to put. It isn't finished either. Was once years ago, but it was all torn out due to leakage issues. Now I am super stressed. I need a real cleaning crew to come in and totally wash down the entire place. This place was a rat trap when I bought it. Seriously. It was full of mice and feces and really really nasty. But it was empty. I have done a ton of remodeling but have equally as much to do. Most of the materials are stored here cause I've already bought them. The work is just not done. And I never find time to completely clean. I get started but by the time the day isb over I have a lot more to do.
If I could lock DH out for a couple of weeks I might get it semi clean. But would need to hire a team of carpenters to finish the work. I can't afford that.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I am going to check on the windows to see if I can remove them. With the egg turner in there it will cover the water trays in the bottom. It has a hardware cloth bottom under the turner. I will just have to do some modifications to it. I ran it for hours yesterday and it maintained temp and humidity without having to fiddle with it one bit I am so eggcited lol. I want to find some hatching eggs of different breeds than I have now. I can hatch 41 at a time with the turner so I have alot of room. I am just giddy!!

 

[chicken danz]

I responded to that post you mentioned and hope she can find some tidbit of help in the information. I have learned some about helping agencies with dealing with my parents. Not sure if any of it applies or not.
If you have to open the incubator to add water it's not a life or death matter. Just be sure you add wet rags or sponges when you start hatching. On my little Giants I use to you they had a few little holes in the bottom. Never understood that cause they sure can't vent when it is sitting on something. I plugged those holes with a glue gun which left the entire bottom to be used as a water reservoir rather than just the little indents they provided. It made a huge difference on my ability to keep humidity up.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Ok the one thing that I see that will be a problem on the incubator is not having an easy way of adding water without opening bator. Does anyone have any tips for that with this incubator?

That is what I love about my R-Com... the fill hole is on the outside of the incubator - you lift the rubber tab and fill the tank till the little ball floats to the top to let you know it's filled.

 

[Trish44]

Sunflowerparrot, I'm anxious to see how this hatch goes in the new incubator & what you get this time. You really need a brooder box though if you're going to continue hatching chicks. Then you won't have to have them in the house all the time. The ones I have are really simple to make. I bought the first one & then copied it when I added the second one. I plan to build another one yet since I will have broiler chicks coming & this one probably will be a bit bigger since I will be hopefully hatching more chicks this spring. I keep adding people to my waiting list for chicks, so I hope I can get this coop done so I can hatch them.

maidenwolf, just remember that it gets crowded when you hatch, so leaving a little extra room when you incubate is a good idea. The chicks take up a lot more room than the eggs when they hatch.

Well I'm going to get my DH out there this morning & try to get the other 3 doors up on the new coop. We'll see if there is any time left after that to put up the windows.

I hope you all have a good day!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Sunflowerparrot, I'm anxious to see how this hatch goes in the new incubator & what you get this time. You really need a brooder box though if you're going to continue hatching chicks. Then you won't have to have them in the house all the time. The ones I have are really simple to make. I bought the first one & then copied it when I added the second one. I plan to build another one yet since I will have broiler chicks coming & this one probably will be a bit bigger since I will be hopefully hatching more chicks this spring. I keep adding people to my waiting list for chicks, so I hope I can get this coop done so I can hatch them.

maidenwolf, just remember that it gets crowded when you hatch, so leaving a little extra room when you incubate is a good idea. The chicks take up a lot more room than the eggs when they hatch.

Well I'm going to get my DH out there this morning & try to get the other 3 doors up on the new coop. We'll see if there is any time left after that to put up the windows.

I hope you all have a good day!

Thank you for the tip I didnt think about that.

That is what I love about my R-Com... the fill hole is on the outside of the incubator - you lift the rubber tab and fill the tank till the little ball floats to the top to let you know it's filled.

Maybe that will be my next incubator

I responded to that post you mentioned and hope she can find some tidbit of help in the information. I have learned some about helping agencies with dealing with my parents. Not sure if any of it applies or not.
If you have to open the incubator to add water it's not a life or death matter. Just be sure you add wet rags or sponges when you start hatching. On my little Giants I use to you they had a few little holes in the bottom. Never understood that cause they sure can't vent when it is sitting on something. I plugged those holes with a glue gun which left the entire bottom to be used as a water reservoir rather than just the little indents they provided. It made a huge difference on my ability to keep humidity up.

Hopefully she can find an agency to help thank you for helping.
I think the farm innovators is modeled after the little giant, cant remember. I love it I just need to tweak some things for personal preference.