Consolidated Kansas

[RooksMom]

I know I haven't been on for a while.

I decided to take some of my eggs and try to hatch them. It's just a makeshift incubator, a toat, with a towel on the bottom, a 60W lightbulb and a thermometer (and a spunge, for humidity) I put a dozen eggs in around the 15th of august and two of them are hatching! I wasn't expecting any of them to hatch for another two or three days!

I am so excited. they are mixed breed. I have some Barred Rocks, one Rhode Island Red, several production red (white leghorn and rhode island cross) six easter eggers and two orpingtons, and a Wellsummer rooster. So they are definatly a mixed lot, but I am so excited that they are hatching!

 

[TakenBackBre]

I envy all of the building projects. I can't do much lifting being 36wks pregnant. So I must beg or borrow help from everyone which isn't much to my liking haha. I've had DH helping me with a couple breeder coops for the BCMs and the Chocolate Orpingtons but he's happy to do one or two things and call it a day. So that's been very slow. The baby will be here in less then 3wks now so I really need to get some stuff finished up before I have both a lot of extra company (family) and have to deal with being slowed up again due to the c-section. DH leaves on deployment not long after the baby comes so I'll lose out on much time to recover physically before he goes. I did get the chicks out into the barn today.

. They are still a bit over crowded in the new brooder but in a week or two I'll open it up into a modified 12x12 horse stall that I use as a chick nursery this time of year when it's so warm during the day and cool at night. I went to @chicken danz Monday morning to get more eggs and hopefully the last eggs I'll be incubating until spring. Danz was nice enough to send me home with a kitten haha. I'm a sucker.

She's fitting in okay but refuses to stay in the barn, so sleeps in a dog house next to the back porch. She follows me everywhere and when I'm not available she follows the roosters. Named her izzy. I made a quick feeder for the chicks in the barn too. The sides are a bit high but those that can't stretch seem to be hopping in. The high sides of the dish are keeping them from kicking it all out and wasting it at least.

. That was my morning thus far. Now I'm sitting for the heat of the day and maybe evening napping .

 

[sharol]

Any ideas about this little guy?

What I know: He hatched from a blue egg. He has a triple pea comb. He is clearly male. His feathers up around his neck are partridge colored/patterned. He is 13 weeks old.

I cannot get a decent picture of him. I took nearly 20 to get these two (and they don't show the partridge coloring on the hackle feathers at all. They are really lovely shades of gray) His mother was a true Aracuana.

 

[Trish44]

Wow everyone has been busy! I wish I could say I had gotten that much done, but I've been too busy otherwise to get much accomplished.

KSKingBee good job! You have some really pretty birds there too!

Well another busy day, not much computer time today.

 

[chicken danz]

I know I haven't been on for a while.

I decided to take some of my eggs and try to hatch them. It's just a makeshift incubator, a toat, with a towel on the bottom, a 60W lightbulb and a thermometer (and a spunge, for humidity) I put a dozen eggs in around the 15th of august and two of them are hatching! I wasn't expecting any of them to hatch for another two or three days!

I am so excited. they are mixed breed. I have some Barred Rocks, one Rhode Island Red, several production red (white leghorn and rhode island cross) six easter eggers and two orpingtons, and a Wellsummer rooster. So they are definatly a mixed lot, but I am so excited that they are hatching!

Your temp is probably just a little high. That will make chicks hatch a little early. But congrats on the chicks

I envy all of the building projects. I can't do much lifting being 36wks pregnant. So I must beg or borrow help from everyone which isn't much to my liking haha. I've had DH helping me with a couple breeder coops for the BCMs and the Chocolate Orpingtons but he's happy to do one or two things and call it a day. So that's been very slow. The baby will be here in less then 3wks now so I really need to get some stuff finished up before I have both a lot of extra company (family) and have to deal with being slowed up again due to the c-section. DH leaves on deployment not long after the baby comes so I'll lose out on much time to recover physically before he goes. I did get the chicks out into the barn today. Sharol he looks araucana. You can tell by the way the back end is curved. I don't think that is a true tail. I think it's probably overgrown feathers and he may not have them for life. One of my older araucana roos was a blue/gold splash color. I suppose it could be possible that one of the pullets was bred by him before I moved them into the building. But the aruacana girls have never been outside of a pen so it can't be a mixed breed. And your eggs came from the building for sure. I sold my other hens and cockerel. The comb sounds right as well. I think he is just an anomaly. I had thought I had an araucana born with a tail but it was actually one of my layers eggs after they hatched some broody chicks and abandoned the nest. I have read that occasionally an araucana will produce a tail but it is rare. He would make good soup stock if you don't keep him.

I actually had three extra males here and butchered them the same day. I just skinned them rather than plucking like normal. I took them in and cooked them together and made a couple batches of chicken stock and meat for use later. I knew they weren't something any one would pay for for meat because of their size and they weren't going to sell as breeders cause I didn't have spare females. I just plucked the meat and saved the broth so it's ready to use. Takes up a lot less space than three whole chickens do in the freezer.
I was busy and gone most of the day yesterday.
With this cold or whatever I have I am feeling pretty worn out. I'm glad to stay home today for sure.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
I'll see if he will let me feel his back end tonight when he is on the roost. He is a character, that is for sure. He was raised by the broody in the coop, so he thinks he owns the place. Thanks for the info. I'll still try to get a better picture of him. I probably will be butchering him simply because I don't want the hassle of an additional roo in the coop -- Jake is patient, but not THAT patient. The Araucanas will be living with the layers in the existing coop, I think. and the Orps will be living in the new coop with one of my layers that hangs out with them. Edited because I misspelled Araucana yet again. Just can't seem to get that U in the right place.

 

[chicken danz]

LOL it's a difficult word to spell. By the way, Bud is doing just great and is very happy with a pen full of orp pullets right now. I hope to sell a good deal of those soon and he will probably move to the rooster quarters after that.
I've been busy processing and getting veggies put in the vacuum bags to put in the freezer. I discovered some thawing food in the door and it's got me worried. DH is terrible about shutting the freezer doors. He says they are supposed to shut on their own. Not sure where he got that idea. But I didn't notice it open, so I'm worried my freezer is quitting. That would be a total disaster. I am going to give it a while to recover then check it again.
He may be making a trip to Topeka to pick up a new freezer tomorrow when he is off.
I feel awful. This cold or whatever is making me feel terrible.

 

[sharol]

LOL it's a difficult word to spell. By the way, Bud is doing just great and is very happy with a pen full of orp pullets right now. I hope to sell a good deal of those soon and he will probably move to the rooster quarters after that.
I've been busy processing and getting veggies put in the vacuum bags to put in the freezer. I discovered some thawing food in the door and it's got me worried. DH is terrible about shutting the freezer doors. He says they are supposed to shut on their own. Not sure where he got that idea. But I didn't notice it open, so I'm worried my freezer is quitting. That would be a total disaster. I am going to give it a while to recover then check it again.
He may be making a trip to Topeka to pick up a new freezer tomorrow when he is off.
I feel awful. This cold or whatever is making me feel terrible.

We replaced our 30+ year old freezer last spring for that reason. It took it nearly 12 hours to get back down to 0 after being left slightly ajar overnight. I decided it wasn't worth the risk and bought one. I gave away the old one to a guy who thought he was going to be paying me $25 for it. He was pleased, and it isn't in the landfill. Everyone wins. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new freezer (Kenmore, manual defrost).

With Bud gone, the other little Araucana cockerel is coming into his own. He has taken over the rooster job with the girls, and is doing fine, so if he doesn't get in fights with Jake, he gets to stay. He is black with gold laced hackle feathers. He is very jaunty and comes out to check to see whether my treat offerings are sufficient before the girls get to eat them.

 

[chicken danz]

We just bought a new freezer last summer because our other one quit and I had two hogs to pick up at the butcher plant. Thank goodness this one is working fine. The one I was concerned about is 35 years old and it's ever dependable. When that thing dies I'll be heartbroken. The new one is an auto defrost and the old one that died was an auto defrost, That is what went wrong with it. It had a part that kept sticking on the defrost cycle so it would heat and not cool. I replaced the part and it worked fine but then the compressor was low on freon after that. I decided it wasn't worth it to me to have it recharged. I tried to give it away but it's still here. You'd think someone would want to recharge it and have a free freezer.
I also have a small one in the basement. I had purchased it for my Dad so he could have some convenience foods . He was complaining about the meals on wheels he was getting. So then my siblings and I bought him several frozen dinners that he could microwave and he got it in his head he didn't want microwaved food. So the freezer and the food was a bit of a waste to buy. After he passed away I took the freezer and put it in my basement. I have a lot of frozen garden goods in it. I probably should spend another day going through all that and seeing what can be eliminated.
I tried to go care for the birds and was going to do some other things but I just don't feel good enough. I hate being sick. You'd think if you took enough decongestants that eventually they'd work!

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Danz, I have a small chest freezer that was not freezing. I noticed frost built-up near the top. Thinking the gasket wasn't fitting tight enough, I started putting a jug of cat litter on top to make sure it closed tight. That fixed my problem, now it freezes everything as it should. Now I have to lift off a heavy jug of cat litter every time I get in the freezer.