Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Josie, I'm so glad you're going to get a pup from Candace, her dogs are so awesome & so is she! She is so helpful & has answered so many, many questions I had because this is my first time to have GPs too. I got two sister pups because of what she said about them working together & one not being able to rest properly by themselves. My girls are now 5 months old & they already weigh I'll bet at least 50 lbs. They will be working soon to protect my chickens & rabbits. They go next door to the junk dump over there is the only real reason they go there because they bring me presents of all kinds from there, lovely. But other than that they stay here where they're supposed to be. They sometimes go watch the horses next door, but just from up on our hill. They like to get up on the hill where they can see all around I think. They have been watching over my momma cat & her babies since she had them the other day too.

Hawkeye, after you started talking about your incubator I started messing with mine & now I've had a heck of a time getting it back to the right temp, I should have left it alone. I'm going to order a better therm/hygrometer though, I think the one I have is off some. We'll see what happens. I had an accident happen with one of the eggs today. The darned therm thing slid when the incubator turned & cracked an egg. I put tape over it, but I don't know if it will make it, grrrr. Danz, I don't know how you hatch so many eggs, you must really have a knack for it.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Really?? So you don't think the 100.9 is what killed my egg?? Well if it didn't kill it, it sure didn't help it! I'm now down to 99.8 and I just moved it another teeny tiny bit and will check again in a while. At least now, I'm in a much more reasonable temperature. I honestly didn't think to check the digital. My digital was reading 99-- and that is when it was actually nearly 101. And NOW my digital therm in there (the piece 'o crap) is reading 97! We're talking about a 2 degree difference!! That is kind of a big deal. Oh the neurosis I could have over this. I hope I sleep tonight! Now I'll be wondering if Rosie's poor little rosecombs might have been fine and instead I put them in the "Incubator Of DEATH" to torture and kill them off. UGH.

Hawkeye, I've been lying in bed for two days with this dumb swollen ankle, got sick today and am now on antibiotics and just generally mad at the world because I was such a dope to slip off the ladder. Oh the things I could've gotten done! Anyway, I am truly sorry about your hatching misfortunes but you've given me the best laugh I've had for two days with your "Incubator of DEATH" remark. I've got 70+ Aloha eggs in the incubator that should hatch this week and it's my first hatch and I've been so obsessed over them that I can well and truly identify with your distress. I didn't realize how truly neurotic I was until I attempted this hatch. Sheesh! Hang in there -- we'll get this.

 

[Trish44]

KarenS & Hawkeye, I'm with you two also, incubator hell here.

 

[Ivywoods]

Josie-Trish44 posted an add for someone on the poultry swap on facebook that has 3 GP pups. You might give her a PM about it. Personally, though, I think I would wait to get a pup until your female is fully accustomed to her new home.

It sounds to me like you have and are doing your homework regarding these dogs and I think you are going to have very good luck with them.

Oh, my! You guys and your incubator woes. So sorry. It is discouraging when they don't all hatch, or worse if none of them hatch. Frankly, I've never had that happen.

I'm still in the process of tweaking the temp on my new but used GQF. It is very close right now... 99.4. I'm going to leave it overnight and see where it's at in the morning.

I'm using the thermometer that I ordered from Sper Scientific. Not only does it tell me the temp to the tenth of a degree and the humidity, but it keeps track of highs and lows, so I know how much of a swing in temp I've had overnight.

In my humble but opinionated opinion nothing beats these GQF's!

Avery- Aw, too bad your's and Rosie's fair are the same week. I was going to suggest you do the 4H at your county and open at Rosies. There will be some pretty tough comptetion there.

You might ask her about her poultry club, the Kickin' Chickens. I don't believe it is limited to 4H kids and they have some pretty good programs and experienced people involved.

 

[cherwill]

Danz, I would love to see a picture of Chopper playing with toys! That would be the cutest thing.

Maybe it's a good thing I'm not in a position to incubate eggs. I'd drive myself crazy, and drive everyone around me there as well.

Our new mowing job this year is for a guy who has lost his balance to the point where he can't mow anymore. He has lots of planted beds, a beautiful lawn and that patio I killed my back on when I weeded it. He said gardening was his love and he has a nice area set aside for it. He was wondering what he could put in that area so it would look nice, and that he wanted something permanent enough that it wouldn't be an eyesore. Later, we were talking about gardening again and I mentioned what a horrible year last year was at the community garden, especially for tomatoes. He said his tomatoes and peppers were wonderful last year. He offered us his garden as long as we would keep it up and not let it be overrun by weeds and stuff. He was excited about that idea because he hopes to be able to garden again and this way it would still be a garden area. I'm excited about it because it's a nice sunny area, but well protected from the wind. I just don't know if I can keep up so much garden between that, the two community garden plots and what little we do here at home. Still, it might be a great place to grow bell peppers because they wouldn't burn up in the sun. What to do, what to do.

Nearly all the peas we planted have sprouted, and a few of the beets are coming up as well. I always get so excited to see the little seedlings!

 

[rvroman]

Nearly all the peas we planted have sprouted, and a few of the beets are coming up as well. I always get so excited to see the little seedlings!

YAY!!!

I love it when the seedlings pop up, its like the highlight of my day when I get to see a new one!!!

I am nearly done filling my raised beds with soil. I am SOOOOO behind, but I am going to make it work! My front porch looks like a made house with all of my berry plants waiting to be planted in my garden. My DH got the fence put up around the garden, I had to wait to put more soil in the beds because my dogs thought they were there for digging and sleeping in! This weekend all the seeds I had planned for March will be going in the dirt all at once, so much for succession planting. AT LEAST I wasn't sick longer!

I put 40+ strawberry crowns in peat pots Monday, I don't have the planters to put them in so I figured I could at least throw them in the pots and just bury the whole thing.

I also worked on the run that will be attached to the chicken coop, I have it 4 ft tall, 10 ft long and 4 ft wide. Hopefully that will get them plenty of room to squawk about!

I am building a 4x4x4 coop, with external laying boxes, how many hens is that suitable for. I have one bantam and the rest will be big girls. I may get another bantam down the road, but right now one is sufficient. I also have my 2 girls, and possibly leroy/lillith (time will surely tell). That puts me at 4 now. If it so happens I have to give Leroy away, I really wan't my moms frizzled leghorn, and and hoping for at least an ameraucauna. Is 6 too many in that size coop with a 40 sq ft run?

Also, I have been seriously toying with the idea of insulating the coop since we have such bodacious wind here in Ks, any opinions on that? What are some good things to keep in mind when building/designing a coop. I had it all worked out in my head, but everytime I go to sleep I seem to lose a little bit more of my magnificent plan. I tried to draw it out and write it down, but being that my carpentry knowledge is, well, non existent I had no Idea how to get it worked out.

I love reading about all the GPs and LGDs. I have always loved big, happy, protective dogs, when I am ready for a new puppy I am seriously thinking GP may be the breed for me!

Have a Great HUMP DAY everybody!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye- Don't beat yourself up, incubating eggs is a lot of work and kind of an art form. I still lose chicks sometimes that I think should have made it and I have been hatching for over 2 years. I saw you have a Brinsea. Is it an octagon? I have found with my brinsea that I can't trust the "air" temperature. I have a Brinsea spot check thermometer and I make an "egg thermometer" for each batch of eggs I put in the bator. I just pick an unfertilized egg, make a tiny hole in the top and stick the spot check probe into the egg. Then I tape it to the egg with a band aid (don't know why, they just stick really well to eggs where scotch tape lets go over time) This will give you the temp inside the egg, my thermometer at the top of my octagon usually reads around 100.1-100.2 on average. I just ignore it and watch my homemade egg thermometer. This way you get a lot less of the temperature swings that you will see with an air temp, the temp inside the egg is much more constant. Chicks can die in the process of forming for a million reasons. A change in temp, humidity etc are only a few of the huge can of worms of variables involved with getting a chick to hatch. If it makes you feel any better, I have a fantastically hard time getting silkies to hatch, I get them all the way to lockdown and they never hatch. Some pip the air cell, some don't. It has taken me many tragically failed hatches to get to the point where most of my silkies hatch now. Don't give up, I know how hard it is to lose them and feel like it is your fault but it is a learning process.

Great to know! I do have the Brinsea octagon. This was supposed to be fool proof. Then again... I was supposed to have a therm that worked.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye, I've been lying in bed for two days with this dumb swollen ankle, got sick today and am now on antibiotics and just generally mad at the world because I was such a dope to slip off the ladder. Oh the things I could've gotten done! Anyway, I am truly sorry about your hatching misfortunes but you've given me the best laugh I've had for two days with your "Incubator of DEATH" remark. I've got 70+ Aloha eggs in the incubator that should hatch this week and it's my first hatch and I've been so obsessed over them that I can well and truly identify with your distress. I didn't realize how truly neurotic I was until I attempted this hatch. Sheesh! Hang in there -- we'll get this.

LOL!!! Okay, so I'm not alone is being a nut ball over this incubator trouble! I'm so glad that yours is running well and you are so close to hatch! And hey, glad I could afford you some entertainment while you're laid up! hehe! So sorry about your ankle and I sure hope it feels better soon. But that's just awful to add insult to injury for you to get sick on top of your ankle! Sheesh! I hope you take pictures of your little ones hatching or newly hatched!!

KarenS & Hawkeye, I'm with you two also, incubator hell here.

Uh oh! I'm so sorry I got you all worried about your incubator. I probably shouldn't have messed with mine from the factory setting they had it at. But I was trying to make it match my new therm-- ooooh, wrong thing to do! Sigh.

 

[Ivywoods]

I just came up from the basement where I have my incubator. The thermometer I have in there says that overnight the incubator did not vary except between 99.4 where I started and 99.7. That's stable enough, so I went ahead and put my bantam wyandotte eggs in there. I think there are about 30 of them. The humidity is running a little higher than I want, so I may have to cover part of my humidity pan. Like to run it between 40-45% and right now it is at 50%. I think by simply covering part of the pan I can bring it down a little.

I hope I can get a pen set up for my royal palms I need to pick up. I'm still trying to decide just what I want to use and where I want to put it. I think I'm going to have to build a quick house for them, too. I hope I've got enough scrap lumber I can use to do it. I bought a new circular saw the other day. I have a small one that I love, and it is great for one inch material, but it's too small for a 2x4. My DH's circ saws are too big and bulky for me to handle, and to make it worse he's left handed. I can't begin to make an accuarte cut with his. This one I found is a 6 1/2" that we saw at Home Depot when we were in Topeka the other day. I'm kind of eager to get out and use it.

 

[chicken danz]

Ivy you should have some vents on that GQF. Older ones have metal flaps that move back and forth. Newer ones have plastic plugs in them that can be removed. If your humidity is too high open a vent it will make a lot of difference. I personally like the old ones better because I can tweak the opening to just where I need it.
I have dropped eggs before taking them out of the incubator and I just put scotch tape on them. It works great to keep the moisture in. I have also used occlusive dressings on big breaks that allow air in but protect it. These are pretty darned expensive though. They are typically used for burn victims or people who have body openings for one reason or another. I've also considered buying some of the breathable bags for fish to put cracked eggs in. But good ole scotch tape works really well.
I have another big bunch of chicks hatching today. I've got a bunch of ducks in there. I'm definitely running out of room to put chicks and not really selling any. I have no idea what the problem is. I normally sell tons of them.
IMO one livestock dog does fine as long as she doesn't have a lot of animals or a large area to patrol. They are smart enough to retreat when they get in over their head. It would be wise, I agree to let the dog gets used to it's new home then get a pup for it to train. I certainly wouldn't put a pup in with a dog that wasn't at home yet. If you have two dogs they work as a pair. One usually works the outside area while the other works up close to the animals. If one or the other has a big problem they have a certain bark and the second one will come running to assist. However if you don't have a lot for them to watch and you have two dogs they can easily get bored and that is when they might start wandering some. A pup along with an older dog to train it is the perfect set up in my opinion. The older established dog will train the pup and it keeps them both occupied. If I were you Josie, I would ask the people you are getting the dog from where they got their dog. There is an outstanding GP breeder in the LeRoy area with huge dogs that are known for their excellent abilities. Unfortunately I don't know what their name is and the person I could ask if off work on medical leave right now so I have no way to contact them for the information.
People will argue till they are blue in the face about LGD. But the one true thing I think everyone agrees on is there is no dog better suited all around for livestock as well as poultry than a Great Pyrenees. They are beautiful, smart, loyal and majestic.