Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Trish, you're not close to me but you are almost directly on the way to my brother in laws. We don't get there often but we do occasionally. Let me know if you'd have a pullet or two available sometime and we may be going by.

I'll let you know if I have any extras later on when I decide which I'm keeping. I do have a really pretty splash lavender but I have no idea on sex yet on it. I hadn't planned to breed splash, it was just an extra the breeder sent me along with the chicks I ordered from him. I got them from one of the officers in the Ameraucana Breeder's Club so they have good bloodlines. I know I need to keep several pullets for breeding since I'm kind of starting over on breeding stock after my older ones are now over 3 years old. I don't know how much longer they will lay.

I went out this morning as soon as I got up to try to put up something to divert the sheep with to keep them from going to the neighbor's & eating his garden, but it seems they have remembered it so they wouldn't be swayed on staying up in the yard to eat. There is plenty of green stuff to eat up here but they have gotten in the habit of going next door & from there go across the road. I decided to rotate days I let the lambs & goats out on opposite days so the goats don't pick on the sheep & see if they will stay closer. We'll see if that theory works or if I get another call today. I wish I could afford to just hire someone to finish putting up the fence & get it done, but I'm sure I don't have enough money for that. My DH has all the corner posts & supports up for gates but now has to start pounding in t-posts, so he has a ways to go yet.

 

[chicken danz]

Danz, We used one of the shadiest spots on the yard for my chicken coop. The chickens seem to approve.

we had a bad storm come thru here early summer and it took out several old dead trees. One barely missed our house and the other fell right after hubby and idea her the house after running under it! I was shaky the rest of the evening. Thankfully there wasn't too cub damage to our other trees.
The chickens had a fine time free ranging yesterday. They aren't proficient grasshopper catchers yet but the love it when you catch them for them! Lol
Sure hope you have a better day today than yesterday!!!!

It has been better so far. I've been busy and have tons more to do.

We are getting a nice shower!

Danz, you might get the other side of this cloud, it just skimmed us and is going between you and us. Keep your fingers crossed!

Broody hens did a good job for us, we hatched seven peachicks and have two more to go in these two clutches, all from our black shoulder.

We got some really high winds and a brief but heavy shower. I wish it had lasted longer but I'm not going to complain. If we'd get about that much rain about every 3 days I'd be thrilled. Of course it dampened the top of this clay soil so there's mud to track in. I'e been busy taking care of other things and need to get outside to feed and water again.
I got a phone call and was told I need to go to town to sign some papers today but I don't know when I am going to have time. I swear I need to be able to split myself into about 4 people to get things caught up.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

I Took some photos of some of my free-ranging Muscovy ducks the other night and also of a Mottled Java hen that roosts next to the gate of their pen. She has 17 white guinea keets that she tries to cover. Some of them are shown in the daytime photo with her.


We had some strong winds and heavy rain that lasted about 1 hour today. I think it has let up enough for me to see what damage it did.

 

[Ron Rose]

Finally get to sit outside and enjoy it. Last 2 days have been awful.

Last weekend I isolated my dominate rooster for the whole weekend. Let him out Monday because of the heat. This week the 3 roosters have been a lot calmer wondering how long it will last.

Hope everyone is getting through this heat ok. Looking forward to cooler weather and tree stand time.

 

[HEChicken]

Ron Rose, I finally remembered to take my camera out with me this morning and get pics of the broody pens I mentioned last week.

I have two of these. They are about 5x5' and are pallet wood with hardware cloth covering the sides and top. Bottom is open. There is also plastic covering three sides and top, though you can see where the plastic has come loose in places. On one the plastic is mostly gone from the top which at this time of year is a good thing as it creates more air flow. I cover it when there is a bird in there and rain on the way.


I also have two of these. They are about 5' long by 2' wide. The enclosed area is 2x2 (or so) and the "run" is about 3x2. I added the dog kennel top to provide shade and shelter from rain since the top is open. There is a door in both sides of it so I can easily get birds no matter where they are.


All 4 of these pens are for temporary use only. I can use them as a "sick bay" but more often they are used by a hen for the first few days after her chick(s) hatch. Once I know the chicks are bonded to the hen, I open the door and let them out. For a little while they'll return to the pen to sleep at night but after awhile I encourage them to teach their chicks to go to the main coop at night and that usually only takes a night or two before they start going to the coop at night without a reminder.

The smaller ones are really only good for a chicken and I prefer to use them for bantams (I have a few bantam hens as brooders). The larger ones can accommodate a turkey hen with poults.

 

[Ron Rose]

HEChicken thanks for the pics. So if I'm reading this correctly the hen and eggs stay in the laying box until hatched then you move them here for a day or 2 until the hen accepts them then you let them out to be with the flock? Or do you move the hen and eggs here to let the hen sit and hatch? If you move them here after they hatch do you move the chicks first or the hen?

Thanks for being so helpful it is so nice to go to a place to get help.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

[COLOR=0000FF]I'll let you know if I have any extras later on when I decide which I'm keeping. I do have a really pretty splash lavender but I have no idea on sex yet on it. I hadn't planned to breed splash, it was just an extra the breeder sent me along with the chicks I ordered from him. I got them from one of the officers in the Ameraucana Breeder's Club so they have good bloodlines. I know I need to keep several pullets for breeding since I'm kind of starting over on breeding stock after my older ones are now over 3 years old. I don't know how much longer they will lay.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]I went out this morning as soon as I got up to try to put up something to divert the sheep with to keep them from going to the neighbor's & eating his garden, but it seems they have remembered it so they wouldn't be swayed on staying up in the yard to eat. There is plenty of green stuff to eat up here but they have gotten in the habit of going next door & from there go across the road. I decided to rotate days I let the lambs & goats out on opposite days so the goats don't pick on the sheep & see if they will stay closer. We'll see if that theory works or if I get another call today. I wish I could afford to just hire someone to finish putting up the fence & get it done, but I'm sure I don't have enough money for that. My DH has all the corner posts & supports up for gates but now has to start pounding in t-posts, so he has a ways to go yet.[/COLOR]

Keep me posted! I'd be interested in any pullets you decide you don't want.

 

[HEChicken]

HEChicken thanks for the pics. So if I'm reading this correctly the hen and eggs stay in the laying box until hatched then you move them here for a day or 2 until the hen accepts them then you let them out to be with the flock? Or do you move the hen and eggs here to let the hen sit and hatch? If you move them here after they hatch do you move the chicks first or the hen?

Thanks for being so helpful it is so nice to go to a place to get help.

I don't let most of my hens actually sit on eggs. My experience is that the eggs either get cracked and broken, or contaminated from all the coming and going with poopy feet. So I collect all eggs out of every nest box, every day. This gives me greater control over what is being hatched here as well, so I don't have a bunch of hens hatching out barnyard mutts that I have no use for. Instead, I run my incubator and hatch the eggs that I want hatched.

Many people say to put a pipped egg under a hen and in feeling it hatch under her, she'll accept it more easily. Personally I've had minimal success doing that. I've had more hens attack the chick as it hatches, than I've had accept the chick. So I prefer to let the chicks fully hatch in the incubator. On the day they hatch - even if it is early in the morning - they are fine to stay in the incubator until it is dark outside. Then, once it is fully dark, I take the chick(s), grab a broody hen from out of the coop, put her in one of the broody coops with the chick(s) under her and leave her for the night. By morning she has accepted the new chicks AND the move to the broody pen. I've done this dozens of times and only a couple of times did it not work.

The hen will continue to sit for up to 48 hours. This is "pre-programmed" to allow for any late-hatching eggs to complete hatching. Even if there are no more eggs under her, she'll continue to sit for this time because Mother Nature tells her to. The chicks don't need to eat and drink for the first 48-72 hours so they are perfectly happy during this time. They will spend most of the time under the hen, emerging for quick explorations close to her. She will start to cluck-cluck-cluck to them and respond to their various sounds. At some pre-determined time she will decide it is time to show the chicks how to find food and at that point she'll leave the nest and lead them to food and water, encouraging them to sample both. She will not return to the nest, however she will frequently sit to allow the chicks to get under her to warm up. How often they need to warm up depends on the time of year. As time goes by, they will spend less time under her and more time out learning to forage. I only leave them in the pens pictured above for up to a week. By that time the hen knows the sounds of her chicks and will protect them while attacking any other bird that approaches - including chicks that to us look identical to hers. She can tell them apart from their sounds and will treat them as intruders and a threat to her chicks. Likewise, after the first few days, the chicks are bonded to their mother and will respond to her cluck-cluck-clucking sound and not the same sound made by another hen. They will follow their mother and eat and drink where and when she tells them to.

I set up "chick creepers" (see my blog link in my signature) that contain chick food where the chicks can access it but the adults can't. The mothers very quickly learn where these are (I have two set up in different locations) and though they can't eat from them themselves, the mothers will make sure the chicks get access to them regularly so they are well-fed. The rest of the time they will take them out and show them what is good to eat. That is the primary difference in my mind between raising them myself and the hen raising them. When I raise them, they will eat the chick starter but regard anything else I offer as poison. But with a mother hen saying "this is good - eat this", they will try anything, so from the beginning are learning which vegetation is good, which bugs are delicious and which bugs they should avoid.

 

[Trish44]

I haven't had much luck with letting broody hens hatch chicks either due to the same problem with contaminated eggs. When the nests are outside especially they're subject to the weather conditions, mud, & whatever. The few times I have actually had hens hatch chicks I had to take them into the brooder to raise them because I'm just not set up for hens to keep chicks, that just hasn't worked well for me either. I guess it's all in how you want to do things & what you're willing to set up for it. I hatch a lot of different pure breed chicks during the hatching season of a lot of different breeds, so it's just better for me to gather the eggs & incubate them, then keep them in the brooder till they're sold.

For those of you that know about my continuing saga of the broken leg, I saw another specialist today & he said that I most likely have soft tissue damage as well as the bone fracture that is causing me problems. He told me that you don't get this type of fracture without twisting the ankle as well, which I indeed did when I fell. He said that there is a big tendon that runs the length of the bones inbetween them & when I fell I tore that & caused the bone to fracture. So this is not just a simple fracture problem evidently. He put a brace on my knee that runs equal distance above & below the knee & is hinged so it can bend. It's really awkward feeling & it did make my leg hurt a lot more when I was trying to run errands after my appt. It also is hot, so we'll see how I tolerate this thing. If it makes me have more pain than I already had I can tell you it will not be worn. I'm also being sent back to physical therapy again, he seems to think I need that to gain more range of motion I have lost. He did say though he does not want me to overdo it there. Physical therapists are known for pushing you past your limits, so we'll see how that goes as well.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

Hope you feel better soon, Trish!! That sounds really miserable!!
I'm really enjoying hearing about how everyone does things! Thanks to everyone for all the informative posts!!