Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

OH-- I think my new favorite silkie color is the Silver Partridge! I just saw them a couple days ago and a lady on BYC named Birds and Eggs has them!! I'm soooo tempted to order eggs from her, but after the treatment of my eggs in the PO from Checoukan... I'm really nervous to waste any money on eggs that might get shaken to death. What to do, what to do!

These are her Silver Partridge--- I don't know how easy they are to breed true, though. I think for now, I'll hold off and concentrate on getting my own eggs and go for this another time, but aren't these pretty!!!?


http://www.birdsandeggs.com/Other_Project_Colors.html

I took the picture off because I was looking at her site again and it said not to use her pictures without written consent. I didn't want to get into trouble! So there's the link instead!

 

[HEChicken]

Then whenever I get back I'll be heading to town to tend to my parents. My sister has a granddaughter who is very sick and they don't expect her to live so I am pulling double duty today. when it rains it pours!

Oh my goodness, you really are under a lot of strain. So hope things work out for your grand-niece - what sad news. How did your parent's anniversary work out?

OH, Checoukan, you don't have to do that!! This is totally NOT your fault in the least! I really think the PO messed these eggs up. I'm a little worried about shipping more-- they might get the same treatment. WOW-- Day 18 and your babies are hatching! That is amazing! Glad your Jury Duty is done! I never minded being called in. Never got put in a jury, though.

Hawkeye, you took great pics of your eggs while candling - do you have any tips? I've never attempted it. Do you use flash, or turn the flash off and try to hold it still while you take the photo, letting the flashlight provide the light?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Oh my goodness, you really are under a lot of strain. So hope things work out for your grand-niece - what sad news. How did your parent's anniversary work out?

Hawkeye, you took great pics of your eggs while candling - do you have any tips? I've never attempted it. Do you use flash, or turn the flash off and try to hold it still while you take the photo, letting the flashlight provide the light?

Yeah, you can't use the flash. Make sure it's turned off so it doesn't keep popping back on. Then, be sure your room is dark and I use a faster shutter speed, but you can slow it down, too if you have a "night setting" on it. However, you'll either need to use a tripod or be really steady if you are using a slower shutter. This last go around, for some reason my camera didn't want to take the pictures, and I had to use a bit more light in the room and open a curtain half way so it would take. It still showed up pretty good despite having to do that. But before that, I was taking pictures in the bathroom with the lights off. I put a big thick towel in the sink and laid the eggs in there so they were safe while I was looking at them. To get them to look clear and not blurry-- back away from them and then zoom in. If you have a macro setting or a macro lens-- use that and then you can get closer. But the closer you are, the tougher it is to keep focus in the dark.


ETA-- oh, and the original pictures I take are a pretty big field because of the hard to focus in the dark-- I then edit the pictures in Adobe and crop out everything except the egg. The picture I post on here-- that's not the original field.

 

[sharol]

I would also suggest that you check out the "Raising Baby Chicks" forum here at Backyard Chickens. There is lots of good info there. It saved my neck a couple of years ago when I first got my chickens.

Sharol

Hello All,

I am here in Wichita! Finally convinced the spouse to let me get chicks!!! Anybody know where I can get specific breeds in town or within an hour drive? I have been to TSC and At Woods and all they have are assortments

. I have done a bit of research to find what breeds i think i want, and would like to end up with them. Can't order online because I only want 4! I'm in a pickle!

What do I do if I get a male? I can't even think about that right now, DH would make me sleep with the chickens for sure!

Hoping to get my chicks this weekend, perhaps even tomorrow. Waiting this long has been soooooo hard!!! The minute he agreed I designed a coop and run for them!

How high should my fence be when I let them free range in my garden? I have a setter and a grey hound and really don't want to worry about them getting out of the garden when I'm not looking?

When I clean out their coop can I just throw bedding and all into my compost pile or do I have to do something special?

What should I have on hand before I bring my babies home? We have a LARGE dog crate and heat lamp. What kind of bulbs do I need? I have 60 watt plant bulbs right now. How often should/can I handle them?

I have so many questions, seeing as how I am terrified I will accidentally murder my chickee chickees, but it is very late and I am very tired!

Looking forward to being a part of this wonderful group!!!

Rachel

 

[cherwill]

Welcome new people! I don't have much to add except to have fun with your chickies.

Rachel, my australorps flew over our 6' fence the first year. I think they did it by flying up on a lilac branch, then flying to the top of a fence post, then jumping off. We clipped their wing feathers and haven't had any flyers since. It's not hard to do if you should eventually find it necessary. We also have buff orps, a silver-laced wyandotte, and have had a production red and Rhode Island red. None of those ever flew over the fence so we left their wings alone.

It IS possible to get a roo out of the pullets bin; I have gotten two there. Whether it was due to the possible percentage of failure or birds being put back in the wrong place doesn't really matter; they were roos. With some effort, you can usually find someone who will take them, especially if you are willing to give them away. It's easier if you don't mind them becoming dinner.

I took this picture last week after we'd had the chicks for a week. I need to get one this week; they already look different. They change so fast!

 

[honeycreek]

Having candled hundreds of eggs over my lifetime, at 14 days you will see movement and they would be dark about 3/4ths through. These are no good. At 5 days you will see veins. At 10 days you will see about 1/2 of the egg dark, at 14 days, 3/4ths of the egg would be dark, or close to it. A few more days in the incubator isn't going to make any difference. These are not fertile eggs, other than the one on the far left. It got so far and stopped.

These are Day 14.
Okay, here we go... for some reason, my camera would not work with all the lights off, so I did the best I could with some light in the room. I can try again if you all think there is anything there to see. If there is, I'll certainly try again! These are all diff eggs... Every one of them has a clear air sac at the top, as well. They must have all settled, because today I only noticed ONE egg that had a loose air cell.

This one is a bit more interesting since it does have a darker spot in it... but I still didn't see any veins or anything.

 

[CanChaser]

Does anyone have any polish crested chicks or eggs I could buy? I just want a few.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Cherwill, cute chicks!! great photo!

Honeycreek-- thanks for the info on my egg pics! Looks like one started, hu? Wonder why it quit? Well, I'll look at them all again in a couple more days and toss them. I just want to be doubly sure before I do that.

CanChaser-- Chicken Danz has Polish-- really pretty ones, too.

 

[rvroman]

Here it is!!! My home for my chickees! Going to get them as soon as DH and my boys come home! any recommendations! I have my light, I have the cardboard up to prevent a draft, I will be buying bedding at At Woods, along with the feeder and waterer. Any recommendations on food? I bought a 5 lb bag of medicated purina for chicks, cant remember the name, but am open to suggestions. Am I forgetting anything? Oh, is there a difference between metal and plastic feeders? I was planning on getting the round ones with the 1 qt bottle.

Less than an hour and I am gonna be a MOMMA HEN!!!!!

 

[Trish44]

rvroman, that 5 pounds of chick starter won't last you long, but it's a start. How many chicks are you getting? The little feeder & waterer will work for awhile, but then you will need the bigger ones as they grow. You will be surprised how much the little fellas eat & how much of a mess they make. They're so cute though & fun to watch that it kind of makes up for that. It usually recommended that you keep them on the chick starter for about 8 weeks then switch to grower feed until they're old enough to lay then layer feed. Make sure your light fixture has a guard on it to keep the bulb from coming in contact with anything flammable. There have been mishaps from that sort of thing. Have fun with your new chicks!

Well we just got back about a half an hour ago, we hadn't planned on being gone that long, but that's how it happened, the best laid plans & all you know. DH ended up taking 3 hours off work to get the paperwork done for the new car we're buying. We just took our car in today to get an appraisal from the dealer & see what kind of deal they were going to give us. We were honestly kind of shocked at what the allowance ended up being on it, quite a lot more than we had figured, which was nice. We always take really good care of our cars though & they could tell that. Anyway, we decided since we were there we might as well get all the paperwork done & have that out of the way so that when we go next time we pretty much just have to give them our old car & they give us the new one. The new car is supposed to be in Wichita next week at the dealer, so they're going to call us as soon as it gets there & they have it all ready for us. I have only had a brand new car one other time in my life, so it's pretty exciting!

I need to run to Orschelyn's to get feed soon, but I almost dread going there because they still have chicks & I have to make it past those to get the feed. I know in my head that I don't need to be getting any, but they're still calling me even from afar. Those of you who have gotten chicks know what I'm talking about. I'm thinking maybe I might get a couple turkeys though. Hawkeye, I really like your turkey, I think she is so pretty, if I can find some of those I might get a couple, we'll see.

Danz, good luck at Gardner, I hope you sell all you take there. You're still in my thoughts & prayers along with your folks.