Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Well I couldn't keep from candling my Lav Orp eggs. I usually try not to be a candling maniac (although I think we all start out that way

). Technically they are only day 6, but development is pretty obvious even with just a bright flashlight and TP roll technique. I am fairly certain that 5 of 9 is developing

, although + 1 I am unsure of. So 3 of nine I am certain were not fertile, which I am told is common with Orpingtons (fluffy butts and all). Fingers crossed that the 5 develop into fluff balls!

Of course 8 of 10 of my mix breeds are well on their way. I really didn't need them but couldn't have just 9 Lav Orp eggs in a 41 capacity now could I?

Haha you made me laugh with that last statement, you have the chicken math problem just as bad as the rest of us!

I have more eggs on their way here in the mail, we'll see how this batch does. The last one I got one 2 out of 16 are developing, not a very good average but the person who sent them said I can get more in the spring when their birds are laying better for just shipping so that will make up for it. I also have Jubilee Orp chicks that were shipped today, so I'm hoping they're here tomorrow. Sometimes things from GA do get here the next day, it has something to do with the hubs they go through, we'll see.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Yes Chicken Math is a real problem

. I just sold off several of my laying hens, and pullets, because I knew that this would happen LOL. I also have a broody on 9

!!! I will sell off my mix breed pullets in the Spring, and caponize the roos.

Good luck on your new arrivals!

 

[cherwill]

Good morning peeps, rise and shine!

I've had a tough weekend. Planned to deep clean the coop but didn't really do much except I removed some molding straws. My beloved Sheltie crossed the rainbow bridge on Saturday very unexpectedly. I was/am very sad. I just can't imagine he is gone. He started to not feel well last week. By Friday, he was clearly in discomfort so I called the vet after I got home from work, right before they closed. I took him in on Saturday around 11:00am and by 12:00pm, he was gone. I had to put him down because his lungs were full of cancer tumors. It was terminal and he was clearly in distress and having difficulty breathing. My vet said his cancer was aggressive and even though I took him in every 6 months to do blood test, nothing showed up in his blood work. His weight was normal till the end. I am glad that he waited until I came back from India. My best buddy is now in a better place. He would have been 11 in 2 weeks! My vet was very nice and supportive. His staff stayed late on Saturday and gave me all the time I needed to say my goodbye. I'm having him cremated and will put his ashes right in front of the pond. We will be getting a tree and plant it next to his ashes. We'll also be going to the stone yard to pick out a stone and have his name engraved.

Thanks for reading. I just needed to put it in words. I hope everyone has a good day.

Tweety, I'm so sorry. It's never easy. I can't imagine life without a dog or two, but they just don't live long enough. I'm glad your vet was so supportive and gave you the time you needed, and I'm glad you were able to spend time with your buddy before saying goodbye. You gave him the greatest gift, though I know it's the hardest thing to do.

I finally had to break down and sell a bunch of eggs because we simply weren't using them fast enough. I gave the lady who bought them a good deal - $2 for the first dozen and $1/dozen thereafter just so I could clean out my fridge!

And here I am having to hoard my few eggs!

On a different topic, I am excited to be looking at the possibility of upgrading my internet! I have been limited by download speeds of UP TO 1 mbps for 3 years now. I finally looked into alternatives and wish I'd done so MUCH sooner! I'm waiting on the dealer to call me to set up an appointment for an install, but I'm looking at getting 5-10 mbps download speeds with the new provider. Plus, I'd be getting a larger download limit and faster upload speeds as well. I am thoroughly excited to move OUT of the ICE AGES!

You'll be so happy!

 

[sharol]

I have some more pictures of my 5 week olds.

These are 2 of the 3 barred rocks. The 3rd one looks exactly like the 1st one -- I can't tell them apart, and this is the one I caught.

Chick 1 (I believe male) What do you all think?




Chick 2 (I believe to be female) Again, input?




Both together: (for comparison purposes.)


Speckled Sussex:




All 3 of them



Two of them appear to have a bit more white in their wings, but otherwise they are pretty much alike. The first 2 pictures are the same bird. I couldn't catch the others without risking hurting them. I think the 2 lighter ones also have slightly bigger feet, but I can't get a decent picture. They are "flighty" in the most literal sense of the word. How do you determine the gender of SS's?

 

[zigzag45]

A couple questions for this morning....

First, when I open the shed door in the morning, my broody hen will leave her nest and go dust bathe and walk around the yard. We've given her 30-60 minutes and then "help" her back into the shed. How long should she stay out? I hate having to catch her as that is stressful on her, but I also want her sitting on her eggs. Once we put her back in the shed she happily goes back to sitting. What do you think?

Second question is feed in the litter. There is a ton (maybe literally) of feed around the feeder in the litter. If they run out of feed in the feeder, will they peck it out of the litter? Right now, they're a bit more high-brow than that and I've never seen them do that. Last thing I want to do is deprive them of feed. Keep the feeder full or "encourage" them to find what they've spilled?

On a side note, I'm looking forward to day 10 when I can candle the eggs. I was watching some YT videos on it and was surprised how hard it looks. I thought you shine the flashlight and the chick inside gives you a thumbs up or thumbs down based on how he/she is doing. As I understand it, if the veins look like a spiderweb, things are good. But, if there's a vein that runs a complete circle around the shell that's bad.

Thanks.

 

[sharol]

A couple questions for this morning....

First, when I open the shed door in the morning, my broody hen will leave her nest and go dust bathe and walk around the yard. We've given her 30-60 minutes and then "help" her back into the shed. How long should she stay out? I hate having to catch her as that is stressful on her, but I also want her sitting on her eggs. Once we put her back in the shed she happily goes back to sitting. What do you think?

Second question is feed in the litter. There is a ton (maybe literally) of feed around the feeder in the litter. If they run out of feed in the feeder, will they peck it out of the litter? Right now, they're a bit more high-brow than that and I've never seen them do that. Last thing I want to do is deprive them of feed. Keep the feeder full or "encourage" them to find what they've spilled?

On a side note, I'm looking forward to day 10 when I can candle the eggs. I was watching some YT videos on it and was surprised how hard it looks. I thought you shine the flashlight and the chick inside gives you a thumbs up or thumbs down based on how he/she is doing. As I understand it, if the veins look like a spiderweb, things are good. But, if there's a vein that runs a complete circle around the shell that's bad.

Thanks.

 

[HEChicken]

Sharol, I'm going to say 2 cockerels and a pullet on the BR's. And on the SS, I only see two in the last picture but of those I'd say the one on the right is a cockerel and the one on the left is a pullet.

Zig, on the broody hen, 60 minutes is longer than most of mine stay off but this time of year it is an acceptable amount of time and if that's what she needs in order to sit comfortably for the next 23 hours, then I'd let her do it. My situation is different in that I don't have to get them off the nest and put them back - I can let them just take breaks when they need to. So its possible they take multiple short breaks in a day rather than one long one. Each broody hen is a little different.

I would not like to leave a lot of food in the bedding as it only encourages mice. Although chickens will also eat mice, in reality mice are mostly nocturnal and will come out at night to eat when there is no danger a chicken will catch and eat them. I don't keep my feeder full all the time as they have access to free-range and I want to encourage them to get out there and forage and find their own food since the greens and bugs they eat on their own are probably better for them than the grain anyway. So - I fill my feeder at night and when its emptied the next day - whatever time that is - it stays empty until night. Depending on the number of birds I have, the feeder might be empty by mid-morning or it might retain some feed until mid-afternoon but it is always empty by evening. Trust me, when the feeder is empty, the birds clean up every speck of it that spilled into the bedding underneath it - that's what desperation gets you I suppose

You'll get a feel for candling once you've done it a few times. I don't usually candle eggs broody hens are sitting on since it upsets them too much however if your hen is leaving for a period of time each day it sounds like you'll have a good opportunity to candle then. You need to be somewhere there is absolutely no light, and then I make an O with my thumb and forefinger and place the egg in that, then hold the flashlight up against the shell. When there is good contact, it will light up the whole egg. By day 7-10 you should see good veining and a fetus swimming around. However if you see nothing, leave the egg there - its not going to hurt anything. A blood ring is quite obvious as it is a continuous line rather than the spider webbing of veining. Just be really careful not to drop an egg. It is heartbreaking to drop and break one and know you killed the fetus inside, and it happens while candling more often than you'd think.

 

[zigzag45]

@HEChicken and @sharol - Thank you. I think I'll give her longer today and see what she does. I'd like to trust her instincts....

I'm anxious to try candling. Thanks for encouragement on not dropping - that makes alot of sense. I did think that if I did it at night I'm not sure how I could tell which egg was what, I could see myself candling the same egg five times (four eggs and the assumption that I'd loose track of how many I'd done...

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

@zigzag45 HEChicken is totally on spot with the feed issue. I feed in the mornings, and after that they have to clean up their mess. They won't starve as long as the feeding has adequate food. I usually fill the feeder then scatter some feed outside to split the flock and ensure that the little ones don't have to fight too hard for food. I also moved all of the bedding out from under our feeder and put and flat screen under it to catch any excess food.

Candling is such fun. I use a high lumens flashlight and as sharol said you can use a sleeve to focus the light. I use a toilet paper roll and works fine. Good luck.

 

[sharol]

Candling is such fun. I use a high lumens flashlight and as sharol said you can use a sleeve to focus the light. I use a toilet paper roll and works fine. Good luck.

That's what I use. I fasten it on with painters tape and make little sleeve to focus the light, too.