Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz, I'm so glad to hear Marshmallow is doing better & the pups are doing well, that's the greatest news ever!

IVY, congrats on your new chicks! I haven't gotten any eggs yet since I moved my Lavender girls in with their rooster. I'm hoping they will get comfortable enough to start laying again soon. I saw my little Speckled Sussex hen in the nest laying this morning, that was the first I had seen an egg from her I think. I think most of my hens are starting to lay now except for the BC Marans, I have not seen any eggs from them yet.

brahmaboy, I got a Brinsea Octagon 20 like Hawkeye got only I have the turner. I have not used it yet, but I know that turner will be well worth it. I incubated some eggs years ago with an old incubator that didn't have circulated air or a turner & it's a pain to turn those eggs all the time. I know that none of us can remember or have the time to turn them like the hens do. I also recently bought a Hovabator, the top of the line model with the turner, but haven't used it either yet, so we'll see which one I like the best. I'm waiting on being able to build my breeder coop so I can separate my breeds I want to hatch. If it stays decent I might be able to start on it sooner than I figured, I have started to collect materials for it. I don't see myself needing a huge incubator, but you never know. If I get the bug like some people on here I may have to get a bigger one, but then I'll have to have more places to keep chicks too.

Well I went & got 3 more baby rabbits yesterday. Now I'm getting the rabbit bug. I went to get meat rabbits & didn't come home with the breed I went for, they're so darned cute though. I got a male chinchilla rabbit that I will want to find a female for. My friend who I've been getting rabbits from is going to watch for one for me. I have 2 little spotted females now to go with my little Baxter, the spotted male, they're so cute. I'll post pics later. I found some black New Zealand rabbits up north of Springfield, MO & nobody here has seen that color. We'll be going there this weekend, so I will be asking hubby when he's in a better mood if we can make a little side trip while we're up there to get a pair. He thinks I've lost my mind all the time, so why would now be any different? After he gets over griping about having to bring rabbits back home in the backseat of the car maybe he'll decide I won't shut up until he gives in. We're going to Springfield for his mother's 90th birthday this weekend. She is getting more & more childlike all the time with the Alzheimers & I figure this may be the last birthday she may have or at least where she knows who everyone is. She is starting to slip away very slowly, but she has done a lot better than a lot of people since she got the medicines early on.

Well I need to get out there & enjoy this weather, see you all later.

 

[chicken danz]

Marshmallow and the pups are back in the dog house. She is still acting a little depressed but I know being able to get out and run she will start feeling better. I left the gate open so I am sure she'll be visited by a chicken or guinea or two.
Hawkeye that is great that Seymore is laying so much already. I am dying to get my first turkey egg. I really need a whole nother pen and housing for the turkeys especially since I'm starting to raise the domestics this year too. DH is just going to gripe some more. I'm trying to figure out what to keep and what to eliminate and it is really hard to think of getting rid of any of the breeds I have. I want more, not less!
Speaking of eggs I just hatched a lone crested cayuga duckling this morning. I have no idea what to do with just one baby duck. I'm kind of out of places to put him especially by himself.
Anyone want a duck?

 

[Trish44]

Danz, that's good that Marshmallow is getting around now, being outside will probably make her feel better. Boy I wish I was closer to you, I would be getting some things for sure, I would probably be getting myself in trouble, so maybe it's a good thing you're aways off. I would like to come up some time later on though & get a trio of Salmon Favoroles from you, I may have to wait until you can sex them so I know for sure what I'm getting. Nobody around this area has that breed, so it would be a good one to raise. I've got the Black Copper Marans trio, a pair of Speckled Sussex & I need another hen now that I lost one, I want Salmon Favoroles, & I want some Cream Legbars when I can get some this spring. I know nobody around here has any of the Cream Legbars because there are only a few people around the country that have them yet. If you all haven't seen them, look them up on the Cream Legbar thread, they're really interesting looking & lay blue eggs. They were just brought here to the US from England last year.

Hawkeye, yay on the turkey eggs! Have you tried eating any yet? I was told that duck eggs are great for making cakes & such. A breeder I know says she sells quite a few duck eggs just for that purpose to regular customers. I had not heard that before.

 

[chicken danz]

I really like the salmon faverolles. They are so easy going and so pretty. I'm sure later on I'll have ducks as well. I hatched several hundred out last year and I have more ducks now. I need to eliminate a few that got hatched this fall/winter. I looked at the cream legbars. Interesting.
Yes you will have to come visit later this year. I still need desperately to get work done on my breeding trailer but it got put on hold by cold weather and Marshmallow. I treated her to a special afternoon snack that was virtually ice cream. (or rather ice milk.) Sugar, eggs, and milk. I left out the vanilla cause I figured she didn't care. She is sticking in the dog house with the pups. I think once she decidesshe has to pee and goes out, things will be great. Her biggest problem is she just doesn't want to leave the puppies.
They are looking great. BTW I'm not sure on how many of what but we have 2 solid whites which are both female. One of them is my rescue puppy and I am afraid it will be the one I have to keep....just because. The last one born has a dot on top of it's head and half a mask. Then there are 4 others with masks. I've been more concerned about making sure they are doing well than what sex they are.
I am still working on exhaustion. I need a day to chill.

 

[ChooksChick]

So glad to hear about Marshmallow, Danz- that is a great thing! Be careful- the temps are going to drop like a rock tomorrow, so make sure the pups are kept in by Mama.

I brooded my ducks with my chickens initially, and it wasn't until the second week that they got to be really messy. I put my quail drinker in a flat bottomed bowl and they made less of a mess, and now at a month, they're really messy, but outside (huge sigh of relief!!).

I'm very happy to have an rcom incubator, but I got it used on ebay or I'd never have been able to afford it. It is incredible and has a turning floor that works like a conveyor platform, so it's fully self-contained and you just put them in and come back in 3 weeks. It sings when it turns and beeps if you run out of water in the big reservoir. Soooo awesome.

I would probably go Brinsea if I wanted to get another, ubt I'd never get a small one, because you will always want more space, so you are committing yourself to fewer eggs than you usually need to buy. You'd buy another inside of a year and kick yourself, because you won't be able to make that back if you sold it.

On the duck eggs, I've hatched them precisely the same as I've hatched chicken eggs using the dry incubation method, but misted them daily for the last week.

I've seen ducks hatch chicks, but you have to make sure they don't try to take the chicks swimming- that is a very bad thing.

You can have very determined broody hens hatch ducks, and the time would generally be fine, because I know folks often order eggs when they get a broody and it takes a week to get eggs.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I don't need a duck- I hope you find someone who will want her. I bet it's adorable, though!

I'm sooo excited! Seymore just laid her 4th egg!! JUST now!! I mean, we caught her in the act and the egg is still really warm! So cool! She has laid the last two in the same spot outside, so I guess we can just start looking there. I had the boys on an egg hunt today, but no egg until this evening. BTW-- anyone know how often turkey's lay? Is she going to lay every day from now on?? Or is she going to have cycles like some birds do?? She's really putting them out, it seems kind of crazy how great she's being.

I sure hope Marshmallow gets back to normal soon. It sounds like she is on the upswing, though. I'm sure with you keeping a close eye on her, she'll be doing great in no time. It's great she is eating and drinking and doing her business.

Marshmallow and the pups are back in the dog house. She is still acting a little depressed but I know being able to get out and run she will start feeling better. I left the gate open so I am sure she'll be visited by a chicken or guinea or two.
Hawkeye that is great that Seymore is laying so much already. I am dying to get my first turkey egg. I really need a whole nother pen and housing for the turkeys especially since I'm starting to raise the domestics this year too. DH is just going to gripe some more. I'm trying to figure out what to keep and what to eliminate and it is really hard to think of getting rid of any of the breeds I have. I want more, not less!
Speaking of eggs I just hatched a lone crested cayuga duckling this morning. I have no idea what to do with just one baby duck. I'm kind of out of places to put him especially by himself.
Anyone want a duck?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Wow-- is anyone else having problems with posting?? The post above I tried posting around 3pm!! I left my computer for a couple of hours and saw that it never posted! I had to hit 'post' again! Geez!! It does that to me all the time here now! That and good luck trying to upload or do anything on here very fast. This site is so SLOW now! What a bummer.

Renee, that is really cool about the conveyor belt thing on the inside of the Rcom. My Brinsea octagon-- the turner is on the outside of the unit-- so even if you leave it on, there's no way a chick could get stuck or hurt, because it moves the entire incubator side to side. Very cool. Or you can rock it manually because it's shaped like a stop sign. I haven't bought the turner yet, I need to do that! I just didn't have the extra cash on hand and figured I was still a ways off from needing it.

Trish, haven't seen the cream legbars either. Revolution Mama bought something called a Lemon... ?? Ack-- I'll have to go look. They are yellow chickens!! They are the coolest looking things ever! I'm sort of imagining these legbars look something like that? Interesting. --Okay, just looked, they are Lemon Cuckoo Orpingtons.

My Wyandotte is making a MESS of that cage in the garage. I'm about ready to throw her back out into the coop. She has upturned her water and food, and dug out all her chips. WOW. My silkie trio in the cage next to her don't even make that kind of mess! They are so clean! This bird is a disaster!!! I'll hold out a day or two and throw her back in and see how she does with Cocoa my WCB Polish.

 

[rittert3]

I want cream legbars sooo bad but I didn't think that there were any in the states.
Ivy, lol on unplugging the 'bator, that sounds like something I would do.
Brahmaboy- I really like just about everything about the GQFs I've had my hovabator for 10 years and it a joy to use. I'm looking at a Dickey 2x2 next fall because it's more or less a GQF sportsman, 2 hatching trays and 2 turning trays instead of 1 to 3 and a little cheaper. They are supposed to last longer too. The guy that owns dickey incubators used to work for gqf and as far as I can tell most of the parts are the same or vary similar. I find alot of the other brands are really pricey for their capacity.
Danz- I'm glad to here your dogs are doing a little better!
Hawkeye - No problems posting here.

 

[Trish44]

rittert, yes there is a farm in the US that has imported the Cream Legbars & they're selling the chicks now. There are several on BYC that are now also selling hatching eggs & will have chicks in the spring. They're quite pricey right now because they're new here, but hopefully once all of these people start selling chicks & there are more of them the price will go down. I want some of these chickens so bad, but I'm going to wait till spring & see what happens with prices first. I have put my name on a couple of lists for chicks.

 

[rittert3]

Let me know if we get a bunch in Kansas. I don't have room for many chickens where I'm keeping them but I love the rooster coloration and they are one of the few breeds that are auto sexing and breed true. I'd hate to buy just one rooster and not breed them being as rare as they are right now.

ETA: I got all excited about the legbars and forgot to post what I came here to post, lol. Can anybody back up what I've heard about spangled OE over crele OE hens throwing sex links? And if so what markings on the chicks would indicate the sex? That was originally going to be my first project but I got the millies instead because all his creles where chicks and all his spangled were hens and I wanted birds to breed this year. I've got about 10 more chicken projects I want to do over the next 5 years or so and only have room for 2 quads at most so I need to prioritize what order I want to do them in. I only want them to last a year or so each but anyway... I'll go ahead and list a few of the breed / cross projects I want to do so everyone can see what I'm hoping to be upto... Spangled/ Crele for OE sex links, BBS Showgirls, White Giant Capons (I know the practice is out dated but I want to try my hand at it), BBS Sumatra Bantams, Black tailed white Japs, and there are a few others but I'm sure some will get scrached off for something better.