Consolidated Kansas

[Dani4Hedgies]

Got a bit of ice but not a biggie though I walked into a coop and found one of my Turkey Toms with a bloody front and a missing toenail. So take him into the bathroom to wash him up and see what he has done to himself. At first I thought something had tried to get into the coop and he fought it off. With the help of DH we realize its just the nail but he tore it clean off and boy that toe wouldn't stop bleeding was thinking that maybe I was going to superglue it when finally it clotted.

So candled my 13 turkey eggs that have been in the incubator for 7 days though I didn't see any veins I left them in and hopefully on day 10-14 we will see veins. I also went ahead and filed my incubator with chicken eggs as out of the 70 we did in Heathers incubator none of the 30 turkey eggs did anything and while 30 chick eggs were looking great on lockdown only 6 hatched (we think her humidity was the problem) and I let Heather keep them since I still have Limpie one of my turkey hen trying to hatch plastic eggs but she has only been serious for a week so figure I will just slip some real eggs under her on night 17 that are developing good and let her hatch them hopefully a few will hatch.

 

[chicken danz]

I spent my whole afternoon cleaning the utility room and disinfecting and cleaning one of the incubators. It was almost dark before i got out to do chores. Then it was way after dark when I did finish. One of the young turkeys from last summer has laid an egg. I've been getting eggs all along in the main turkey pen but figured they were the older birds. Now I know the young ones can lay. They have been very active out there. There are four pairs. And normally at least 3 of the toms mount the same hen. I need to sell these guys. I've had several people say they wanted a pair but no body has taken them yet. The guy that is buying my buff orpingtons mentioned getting a pair when he came after the buffs. I either need to sell the pairs or put the girls in the breeder pen and butcher the boys. I would rather sell them.
I treated all the birds in the building to yogurt tonight. It was late and some were already napping. But the some that were still going went crazy over it. In other pens they just ignored it. Chickens are so weird. Yeti had come in the building and he was really enjoying cleaning up the cartons when I was done with them.
I've got chicks in the incubator I need to get in a bin yet tonight. Then I can finally relax for a while.

 

[Trish44]

Gosh danz I don't see how you do all you do, you make me tired just reading it. I am not hatching any more chicks now till hatching season starts. I have one order so far that is a fairly large on that I'm waiting on a deposit for. With this weather people are starting to think about chicks but not acting on it yet & that's OK. I imagine Feb. will get a bit busier with people starting to order.

On another note, it looks like most of my Isbar chicks are turning out to be roosters, ugh. I thought you got more pullets in the cold weather. I hope I have a few pullets in there to use for breeding. I know outside I have two blue pullets. I really was hoping for one or two splash pullets, but we'll see. So I will be weeding out a lot of roosters it looks like.

danz my dogs & cats would love that yogurt but I'm not sure my chickens would like it much.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

So having issues with my new incubator so to ensure my hard broody turkey hen Limpy has something to show for all her hard work sitting on the nest today when I went to gather eggs I took a marker and put X's on 6 eggs two that she was currently sitting on any 4 more in the main nest box that another hen had just jumped out of after making her "daily room and food payment" and since since she was sitting on the others they were nice and warm when I put them in Limpy's nest which she quickly returned to after tending to her broody needs and quickly tucked everyone safe and sound under her. Now just to wait 22 days and see what she hatches.

 

[chicken danz]

Gosh danz I don't see how you do all you do, you make me tired just reading it. I am not hatching any more chicks now till hatching season starts. I have one order so far that is a fairly large on that I'm waiting on a deposit for. With this weather people are starting to think about chicks but not acting on it yet & that's OK. I imagine Feb. will get a bit busier with people starting to order.

On another note, it looks like most of my Isbar chicks are turning out to be roosters, ugh. I thought you got more pullets in the cold weather. I hope I have a few pullets in there to use for breeding. I know outside I have two blue pullets. I really was hoping for one or two splash pullets, but we'll see. So I will be weeding out a lot of roosters it looks like.

danz my dogs & cats would love that yogurt but I'm not sure my chickens would like it much.

Trish don't assume that those Isbars are mostly cockerels. They develop large combs for pullets and I think you'll be surprised what you end up with. At least they aren't large birds so you'll be able to tell for sure before a long wait like you have to do on some of the Orpingtons.
Quote:

So having issues with my new incubator so to ensure my hard broody turkey hen Limpy has something to show for all her hard work sitting on the nest today when I went to gather eggs I took a marker and put X's on 6 eggs two that she was currently sitting on any 4 more in the main nest box that another hen had just jumped out of after making her "daily room and food payment" and since since she was sitting on the others they were nice and warm when I put them in Limpy's nest which she quickly returned to after tending to her broody needs and quickly tucked everyone safe and sound under her. Now just to wait 22 days and see what she hatches.

Dani, did you try the things I suggested with your incubator? No air movement, non changing temperature area, no windows nearby. Let the incubator run for a minimum of 24 hours before attempting to adjust the thermostat and then do it in baby steps. It is best if you have a digital thermometer with a probe so you don't have to open the lid. Once you have a stable setting mark the dial with a permanent marker and make sure the knob stays there.
I've just been tossing my turkey eggs to the dogs because it has been so cold. Even if they are fertile if they get cold enough they won't develop. I'll be tired of hatching long before they are tired of laying for sure.
The geese are going into breeding season and starting to get excited and argue with each other. And my white peahen who is a pet of sorts, is getting more friendly. She sits for me when she is ready to breed. They all seem to be in a hurry to start the season. I'd rather they hold off their efforts until I don't have to worry about eggs freezing.

 

[Trish44]

Trish don't assume that those Isbars are mostly cockerels. They develop large combs for pullets and I think you'll be surprised what you end up with. At least they aren't large birds so you'll be able to tell for sure before a long wait like you have to do on some of the Orpingtons.
Quote:
Dani, did you try the things I suggested with your incubator? No air movement, non changing temperature area, no windows nearby. Let the incubator run for a minimum of 24 hours before attempting to adjust the thermostat and then do it in baby steps. It is best if you have a digital thermometer with a probe so you don't have to open the lid. Once you have a stable setting mark the dial with a permanent marker and make sure the knob stays there.
I've just been tossing my turkey eggs to the dogs because it has been so cold. Even if they are fertile if they get cold enough they won't develop. I'll be tired of hatching long before they are tired of laying for sure.
The geese are going into breeding season and starting to get excited and argue with each other. And my white peahen who is a pet of sorts, is getting more friendly. She sits for me when she is ready to breed. They all seem to be in a hurry to start the season. I'd rather they hold off their efforts until I don't have to worry about eggs freezing.

That's good to know about the Isbars, but I still think there are a lot of roosters, we'll see. I just really don't want to feed them all out if they're mostly roosters. Yeah the Orpingtons do take forever to mature & sex but they're big birds too.

I saw one of my geese checking out a nest I have in there for them, so maybe mine are thinking about laying too. It seems kind of early to me, but maybe not. I guess I had better get some straw in their nests.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Trish,
Please keep us in mind when you go to sell your Isbars as we would love a nice breeding group.

Danz,
I did but I think part of it is my unknown and fear of messing them up so yea.

We didn't get too bad here in the city with the ice storm how about everyone else? Hope no one had any problems or lost anyone?

 

[spree56]

The weekend was not near as bad as they were predicting for Manhattan. Yea!
It has been a cold, wet, dreary day here though. With all the moisture, thank goodness it has not been colder.

 

[rlh1]

We got mostly rain, just a little ice. My husband went out to let the chickens out this morning and realized that half the run had fallen in on itself. So, the chickens had to stay inside most of the day. It took him and my son 5 hrs to get it all put back together and secured. At least now no more water can accumulate on the tarp we have on it for a roof. So we should be good now and my chickens will stay dry

 

[Trish44]

We got mostly rain, just a little ice. My husband went out to let the chickens out this morning and realized that half the run had fallen in on itself. So, the chickens had to stay inside most of the day. It took him and my son 5 hrs to get it all put back together and secured. At least now no more water can accumulate on the tarp we have on it for a roof. So we should be good now and my chickens will stay dry

That has happened to me before on my pens. I found the only way to stop that from happening with tarps is to put boards across the top of the pens for support & anything else I can find as well. I regularly go out & empty water out of places. It will build up on top of my run as well since I have chicken wire on top & it sags in places so I have to empty that too. Before I shored everything up I had one top fall in & it actually bent the one pole on top of my pen. I could still use it but eventually I had to replace that part.

We pretty much only got rain here too, of course it froze at night but thank goodness it didn't get too bad. I'm looking forward to some warmer days for a bit.