Hawkeye, I had a little chick the other day hatch & it was flipping over on it's back just like the turkeys I had do that. I gave it one dose of vitamin E & after that it seemed to be fine. Usually I have to give more doses that that, but this one seemed to either resolve on it's own or one dose was all it needed I don't know. Good luck with sticky & stuck, but I'll bet if you give them a little time they'll be OK. Sometimes chicks just need a little more time to get started & a little more care than others. I had a couple with mild spraddle leg the other day & I put them on paper towels & by the end of the day they were already better, they just needed a little more time in the hatcher & some traction.
I now have 12 Ameraucana chicks in my brooder, I counted them yesterday, 6 of which are sold already. I'm taking them on Friday when we go to see my DH's family & meeting this gal from Pittsburg in Baxter Springs so she can pick them up. My DH doesn't know yet that we're taking chicks with us in the car again, oh well, he should be used to it by now. I was going to ask her if she would pick up my rabbit for me since she is going to the place where he is to pick up a horse, but then that would mean I would have to take the rabbit with me on my trip & my DH's brother & sister-in-law are not animal lovers. I don't know where I would be able to keep it down there, so I'll have to figure something else out I guess. Anyway, I have about 4 more eggs in my hatcher that are supposed to hatch before I leave & then I won't have any due until after I"m back. I hope the incubators behave themselves for the weekend. I'm going to tell my DH that we need to come back earlier on Sunday than we usually do so I can check on all of my critters & he's not going to be happy about that, but I have told him before I don't like to leave them for that long, he just doesn't seem to get it.
We got the foundation just laid out for my breeder coop yesterday & had enough cinder blocks for it, I figured we were going to come up short, but I had a few left, which I'm sure I will use for something, they seem to be handy things to have around. I use them for putting under waterers, legs for my brooders, steps to get up in tall cages, just whatever. I was totally surprised that my DH didn't even argue with me about where I wanted to put the coop, I figured he would have some reason he thought it should go somewhere else, but he actually saw the wisdom of my choice. It's in a clearing with a bunch of trees around it so it will have lots of shade there & the water hydrant is fairly close by, so I won't have to drag hoses all over tarnation. I also wanted it fairly close to the other coop & rabbit hutches & all so the dogs could watch it all fairly easily. We're going to have to take down some low hanging tree branches & get them out of the way, but for the most part, it's pretty clear there & fairly level, which is unusual for much of anywhere here since our house is built into a hill & everything goes downhill from there. He made a comment about how big it was going to be but I reminded him that it will have 4 sections in it that will have 3 chickens each. I know he still even after the pictures I drew doesn't understand what I'm talking about. It's really hard to get through to him what something is going to look like, he just doesn't have the ability to picture in his mind like I do. I can get a vision of how things will look when it's done, but I think I have a big imagination & that plays into it I'm sure.
This afternoon my goal is to get started on building my chicks a pen for in the run, they're just way too crowded in that brooder now. Those little things sure do grow fast! I kept one little Ameraucana chick so far for my breeding program & she has grown like a weed. I have seen no signs as of yet that it's a rooster, so I think it's a hen, which is a good thing because I haven't figured out yet where I'm going to put another rooster. I just committed to buying some more Royal Palm turkey poults too from someone on BYC since I didn't have much luck hatching them, so now I'm going to have to figure out something for them to stay in too. The other two seem to be doing fine now & actually are starting to get some bulk to them. They run from me when I try to catch them, but when I pick them up & hold them they settle down. I think since they have been with the chicks in the brooder they think they're chicks. That little Black Spanish was a mistake, but it does have a cute little face, at least for now until it gets it's turkey head. I have no idea of sex on either of them as of yet.
IVY, that's kind of worrying about your DH having chest pain, I agree with Hawkeye that he shouldn't be having that. What does his Dr. say about it? I hope your foot pain goes away, that nerve pain can be bad. I'm glad you did so well otherwise after your surgery. That gives me some hope that when I get to that point & have to have a new knee that maybe I will do OK too. Arthritis runs in our family & my niece, my brother's oldest daughter who is about 5 or 6 years younger than me already has had both knees done because she had it so bad. She is a Respiratory Therapist & is on her feet all the time at work. She has done wonderfully with her new knees.
I know we have rattle snakes here in the Flint Hills, but fortunately I have not encountered one. They are a different variety than the prairie ones, but still just as venomous. I just hate snakes myself, just not one of my favorite things. I have had big black rat snakes hanging in bushes before & draped up over my planter when I had one hanging on the front of the house. That is enough to give me heart failure in itself. Those things get really big & long & since they're black you don't always see them right at first until you're right on them.
My pups were putting up a racket last night. My DH said the coyotes were close by again when he went out to take the trash out & the pups were barking them out of here. They were going on for quite awhile while we were still up. They're doing really well I think chasing things off now, I'm really proud of them for not having any older dog here to teach them, it's just instinct with them. We sure don't have any deer that wander through any more like we did before the pups came, they don't dare come here now, I guess they by pass around us. That's OK, I really didn't like them damaging my trees anyway & at times they came right up by the house.
Well I hope everyone has a great day, don't work too hard!
