Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I guess that is what I am going to have to do. I was really wanting to keep him cornered so I could monitor him but if he won't eat or drink this isn't going to work. Too bad I don't have just one more big pen and house I could corner my chickens with colds in until they get well. No matter what it seems I just never have enough facilities.

 

[ChooksChick]

Danz- sooooooo glad it's not pox.

I wonder if they didn't have a tussle with something and the stress kicked up something. Also, if they are wheezy and not snotty, it could be air sac mites or damage from a fight. Air sacs are very fragile.

Poor guys. Hope they get better quick!

 

[chicken danz]

Well I filled his nostrils with VetRX and put him outside. He is drinking like it is going out of style. Obviously confinement was not for him. He is still very congested but the marks on his face are clearing some. I think that must have been from the cold or from maybe getting chapped from mucus. I think I'm going to go ahead and order all the ingredients to make my own vetrX formula and treat all the water around here for awhile. I just hope I don't loose any birds. It's drizzling here and that can't be good for them. They all have access to heat if they want it, but seem to prefer to just be out and about.
I really think a few of them just have colds. They are shaking their heads and I saw one roo sneezing the other day. I've been giving them some probiotic, diatomaceous earth and vetRX. It's hard to know where everyone is going to eat and drink. This just makes me more determined to get my breeder trailer done so I know who is getting what. I may make an additional section and pen just for a treatment facility if this kind of thing creeps up again in the future. Too bad I don't belong to an Amish community. A group of those guys could have my project finished in a couple days.
It would sure simplify things.

 

[Ivywoods]

I just came back in from the barn. I've been rethinking individual nests for my breeder pens and working on roosts in new pens that didn't have them. If they don't have a roost they tend to roost on their feeder.

I put some of the nests I talked about a few days ago in some of the cages. First thing they all did was pull all the hay out and make a big mess! That's chickens for ya!

None of the hens were actually going into the nests, but they sure were interested in the hay. Today, however, I noticed my little black rosecomb hen was in the nest and she was scratching around and doing some serious housekeeping. A little while later I noticed she was sitting in the nest!

She may be getting ready to lay her first egg.

I didn't want to start hatching until later, but now I'm really getting the "itch." I think I will start saving some of the FEW eggs I am getting. Right now none of them are laying very well. I'm sure it's the low light conditions of this time of year, but dang it! I wanna start hatching! I've raised and aquired some really nice breeders this year, and I'm eager to see what I can produce.

I went down the basement where my incubators are to start getting them ready. One is ready to go, but I still need to put a new wafer in the other one. I was thinking about putting in an auto turner in one of them, but it's going to be pretty expensive to do. They are both older model GQF's that I picked up pretty reasonably priced. It's going to cost as much as I gave for them to put the turner in one. I'd like to have one as an incubator and one as a hatcher, but we will see. No more eggs than I am getting right now I'm sure I could get by with just a small incubator. The GQF's work so well, though, that I hate to use anything else.

I bought a refrigerator style incubator last year. I gave more for it than I did for my GQF's. The darn thing didn't last one season, then my computer crashed and I lost all the info on where I bought it, so I was never able to return or get a refund on the thing. I think the refrigerator portion of it still works, and I am thinking what I might do is use it for fertile egg storage until I set them in the bator. The thing has a wide range of temp settings, but just the heater portion doesn't work. I could keep my eggs at ideal temp until I set them that way.

Whew. Long winded today. Hope everyone is doing okay. Good luck with your rooster, Danz. Hope he perks up and pulls through.

 

[chicken danz]

I just bought two new GQFs from a gal in Mississippi. She hasn't shipped them yet and it's starting to make me nervous. That was a lot of money to fork out. I hate to seem impatient but just the same it makes me a little up tight since I don't personally know her.
I think I will sell a couple of my other incubators after these get here. All of them have electronic thermostats and turners on them. I'm just not sure how many I need to keep. Last year I ran out of room with 3 big GQF's and two little Giant styros. I think I will for sure sell one of the CGF's and the styros. I'm hoping these new ones get here so I can get all set up for spring hatching.
Of course I've been hatching all along but not to any great degree. I just can't seem to stop. I did notice the last few days my brooder house is getting awfully full again. I need to sell some chicks before long. I haven't really been trying. I just sell a few here and there if someone contacts me.
Congrats on your Rose comb, Ivy.

 

[Ivywoods]

Wow! Two more GQF's! Do you use one as a hatcher? I think both of mine were originally set up as hatchers, but I sure would like to put an auto turner in the newer one. I don't think I can convert the old red one, and frankly, it works so well I don't think I want to mess with it.

I started saving a few eggs today. The only breeders that are laying right now are the black ameaucanas and the BC marans. I've never had very good hatch rates with my marans, and I don't hold a lot of hope for these eggs. They were REALLY dirty when I found them. They had laid them in the dirt in the corner of the pen.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

Quote:
I have a hen that will eat an adult mouse. I had caught the mouse and though she would tear it and eat it. I freaked the first time I saw the rear feet and tail hanging out her beak she then took the other one I gave the rooster and ate it.

 

[Ivywoods]

Oh... and I sure hope you get them without any problems. If you have any trouble maybe we could recruit a "Mississippi chicken posse" to go after her!

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

Quote:
Looking real good.

 

[chicken danz]

I have this one GQF hatcher in here. I have two that are strictly incubators with no hatching tray. One that is both and the two I just paid for are Sportsmans with hatching trays. The only one I don't have a turner in is the hatcher. I like it that way cause I can regulate the humidity higher for hatching without having to have all the eggs in the incubator due to hatch at the same time. I have one of the Little Giants set up with the turner and air and the other set up as a hatcher with just air added. I will probably use the new ones as just incubators and continue hatching in the hatcher. Of course I have hatched a bunch of chicks in the incubators cause I've forgotten to remove eggs some times. Duh! I just forget sometimes when I have eggs ready to take out. I spent nearly $700 on my last incubator I bought new out of necessity and had it full of eggs even with all my others within 4 days. I've gotten much better deals on the others I bought. Or it will be a good deal if I ever get these last two.