EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[Pensmaster]

I highly doubt he made it very far.

No just like Big Blue here. Disappeared without a trace. I kept thinking he’d show up for several months after. One of my little roos did come back after a few days. Boy was he hungry.

 

[kwhites634]

No just like Big Blue here. Disappeared without a trace. I kept thinking he’d show up for several months after. One of my little roos did come back after a few days. Boy was he hungry.

I made a cursory check for remains or feathers, figuring the snow cover would make them highly visible, but the ice was bad enough that I didn't venture very far.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Probably not, but I might shovel snow up against the sides. I want them to have access to it in summer.

I use strips of hardware cloth to temporarily keep them from going under buildings.

Helps keep them safe from hawks and dogs. They have somewhere to run and hide that said bitey things don't.

It is also the coolest place to hang out in summer and likely the only place to dustbathe in wet weather.

I realized today that the house bulb is a new kind that doesn’t emit heat. The chicks are 2-weeks, but fine in 65*. Makes sense considering that I’ve put chicks/poults/ducks outside in the winter at this age, but I’m still surprised.

LED lamp is it?

...
I'm jealous that you have chicks already. I'd be setting now if I had anything to set.

I hatched out chicks at the end of November. They should be laying by May.
About half of my pullets from late summer and fall hatches are laying now.

I honestly got hatchery chicks because I refuse to go any longer than necessary without eggs. It would have been great to have just two breeds (no, the bantam Am hasn’t laid yet), but it’s worth having hatchery birds if it means eggs in May instead of August.

I like fall hatched chicks for that reason. But without any forage in winter, I have to give extra attention to nutrition.

...
That Ameraucana is under the coop still. It's currently -1F, which is a tad better but still cold. She hasn't had liquid water for about two days now and I can't get any under there to her.

She looks perfectly healthy and came right up to the edge (and darted away when I tried to grab her) but she won't come out.

Do you have a trap? I catch chickens in traps frequently.

Send a mink under the coop, and then we will see if she is still stubborn! Stupid potentially schnitzel!

A mink will find it eventually.

Or one of these!

I made a couple a few years ago and then finally bit the bullet and bought one like that.

We thought of it. I was going to try and make my own but I evidently tossed the old fishing pole. I'll find something else to make one with if she doesn't get her butt out today.

I made mine from a heavy gauge galvanized wire. Fairly easy to bend but strong enough to grab a leg.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I made a cursory check for remains or feathers, figuring the snow cover would make them highly visible, but the ice was bad enough that I didn't venture very far.

With all black birds, a peek out the back window will show the aftermath of disaster.
If I leave something black like a dustpan laying about it gives me a mild heart attack till I realize it isn't a bird.

 

[Akrnaf2]

This thread lost so many good friends, and that is making me SO SAD.....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

This thread lost so many good friends, and that is making me SO SAD.....

Human or avian friends?

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I made a cursory check for remains or feathers, figuring the snow cover would make them highly visible, but the ice was bad enough that I didn't venture very far.

Please be careful. I hope you find some closure soon

 

[kwhites634]

Please be careful. I hope you find some closure soon

Thanks, Jess, but it's not the end of the world, or anything like that. Anyone who raises animals is likely going to lose one now & then; that's just how it is. It's more of a case of being surprised and not being ready to replace a good rooster just yet. Whenever you let a flock free range unattended just about all day, every day, the odds are that Mr. Murphy is going to pay a visit eventually. He and the others I've lost here & there all had good lives, though, rather than being confined to a run or chicken yard constantly; they got to be chickens.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

This thread lost so many good friends, and that is making me SO SAD.....

I'm trying to fill the void..

I have stories..

First, I hope everyone is A.0.K.

Now first a show & tell for @Pensmaster ,
DH gave tenderloin/ham/ribs/sausage to his Brewery pal-zey, now the phone is ringing every 3 days. PLUS..
Bags and bags of un spent grains..

What a treat... Clean out your freezer, fill your barn day.


Last but not least.. This is a balance of unprotected birds from last season. Once they get so big we unlist them. They have too much money and time invested in them to even break even. BUT..

Payday.. the batch is starting to lay. They will be integrated into the big house very soon.
MUTTS.. and a couple heritages.

A top of the evening to all! I'll be back.

 

[BantyChooks]

Do you have a trap? I catch chickens in traps frequently.

Nothing chicken-sized, only skunk and weasel sized.