Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[ozexpat]

Actually all is good. I would have been hard pressed to find where to put the eggs in my luggage.

After my last trip with about 150 eggs no-showing I did like the airlines and overbooked. I would have had to offer bumps LOL.

All packed and just cleaning up the mess of all those peanuts, shredded paper, tissues and bubble wrap that people pack eggs in then off to LAX

Hasta manana people!!

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote: Gawd I wish I had dirt..... sigh. you now like soil with earthworms in it and microbes and little roots ..... I just have decomposed granite. My annual precipitation is between 10 and 12 inches per year. Grass doesnt grow here except in shady sheltered spots. I dont water anything except my animals.

Each person collects info for a problem they want to solve. And then makes an informed decision. Its all according to availability, portability, and feasibility.... LOL i am in alliteration mode.... ahem. Here the stream beds are only wet during the rainy season and then you'd better stay out of em because they are freaking dangerous. The only place my chickens had to scratch about was the Horse manure pile..... yummy stuff in there. Especially the green steamy piles.

Cleaned and sterilized river sand is not expensive its probably a tenth the cost of play sand. including transporting it to your property. So its not like shelling out the big bucks.

I just lost an incredible investment in a flock of Welsummers and Guinea fowl. I dont breed for show or for birds for sale.... but that doesnt mean I dont Care about their quality of life....

deb
Not to start a hoo-rya! here, But I think that some people are over reacting. I live in a area that has never had any factories near it (one reason I can not get cable, not enough people)
So I am sure that any sand I get is good!
I see that you are in the High desert? I spent several years in CA back in the early 70's with the Air Force, nice place to vist, don't want to live there!

Scott

 

[ozexpat]

I have to get going but....

I just got a text from Bernie

19 days ago set 28 eggs. 20 have hatched, 2 pipped and 2 chirping

looks like we are all systems go for as good a hatch as shipped eggs will allow.

adios!

 

[perchie.girl]

Not to start a hoo-rya! here, But I think that some people are over reacting. I live in a area that has never had any factories near it (one reason I can not get cable, not enough people)
So I am sure that any sand I get is good!
I see that you are in the High desert? I spent several years in CA back in the early 70's with the Air Force, nice place to vist, don't want to live there!

Scott

I dated a fellow who was stationed at an ICBM tracking station back in the late 70s. San Diego is a Navy town so it was very unnusual to come across an Airforce guy..... LOL. Were you in San Diego or further North.

WRT pollution.... each area has its problems. I happen to live in an area where I would drink puddle water if it were clear enough.

Yep eighteen acres on teeny little finger of the Sonoran Desert about half way between the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez. About two miles from the Mexican border and one and a half miles from paved road. No Cell, No TV Barely power because I am at the end of the grid. Id have phones if the goats hadnt "rewired" them. The land is magnificent... Crisp burned air and when the wind blows the screens on the house scream so loud you cant have a conversation. Sometimes from the deep low desert and some times from the Pacific. I live where the earth breathes.....

I miss it so much sometimes. Living for now, here in town caring for Grandma. I drive the sixty miles twice a week to tend my animals. A neighbor keeps an eye on the place for me.

This picture is looking due north. Look north west and you could see my house if you were up about twenty feet.



my little shack notice the rocks and the driveway are the same color. all Granite.



Its at about 3000 feet so we get about 72 hours worth of snow in the winter.

deb

 

[ozexpat]

I am on the plane. 1st row yipee. Reminds me of a joke. What is the last thing to go through a bugs mind as he hits the windshield? His nose. Ta-da.

It turned out that the eggs not hatched today did not hatch because the were removed. This means a 100% hatch on fertile eggs. That's acceptable.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Wow and wow and more wow.

Deb, your land looks amazing, Oz, welcome to our time zone and a big congrats on the successful hatch rates!

 

[joannefiddler]

I just lost an incredible investment in a flock of Welsummers and Guinea fowl. I dont breed for show or for birds for sale.... but that doesnt mean I dont Care about their quality of life....

deb

I may have missed your explanation, but what happened Deb??

 

[ChickenFox]

I am on the plane. 1st row yipee. Reminds me of a joke. What is the last thing to go through a bugs mind as he hits the windshield? His nose. Ta-da.

It turned out that the eggs not hatched today did not hatch because the were removed. This means a 100% hatch on fertile eggs. That's acceptable.

Woo on the new hatch! Lol I've heard that joke. Except as my big brother puts it, the last thing to go through the bugs mind is his 'butt'. Of course that isn't the exact word he uses but you get the idea.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: My well died. I had to scrape together 1500 to get the pump pulled up 450 feet and replaced.... Not a DIY job. Didnt know it till the big horse trough appeared to not be filling. Dang. The poultry pens each had enough water to last a few days in their 5 gallon tubs. All my livestock are on automatic waterers. The chickens were in a part of the back yard not accessible by truck.

So in order to water my animals I was hauling water every two days with a 300 gallon water tote. and about forty feet of 2 inch PVC pipe. The horse drinks a hundred gallons every two days..... So in order to water horse and goats and chickens I filled a couple of big tubs that were chicken height in the fenced yard. Along with the Goat water. So I had to let my poultry loose in the yard to drink.

For what its worth I get about with a rolling walker.... Weight and Arthritis so that was the best I could do.

My back yard is surrounded by dog kennel panels so I was hoping everyone would be ok for a week. Not so..... Tom my neighbor that keeps an eye on the place said a whole pack of coyotes hit my place on the fourth day. 10 Guineas, 25 Welsummers, 2 silkeys, 1 Araucana. Most were under a year old Some had never been out of their coop.

I wont be getting back into Poultry till I can be certain this will Never happen again. So I am doing a complete coop Poultry yard rebuild. Its all dog kennel panels so something I can do on a piece by piece basis. Then I will be focusing on Guineas and Sumatras only. Nothing that is a heavy egg producer.

I been slammed this year..... hard for other stuff too. So its time to take a break. besides its too hot right now to do any work up there, except that which is necessary.

deb

 

[joannefiddler]

My well died. I had to scrape together 1500 to get the pump pulled up 450 feet and replaced.... Not a DIY job. Didnt know it till the big horse trough appeared to not be filling. Dang. The poultry pens each had enough water to last a few days in their 5 gallon tubs. All my livestock are on automatic waterers. The chickens were in a part of the back yard not accessible by truck.

So in order to water my animals I was hauling water every two days with a 300 gallon water tote. and about forty feet of 2 inch PVC pipe. The horse drinks a hundred gallons every two days..... So in order to water horse and goats and chickens I filled a couple of big tubs that were chicken height in the fenced yard. Along with the Goat water. So I had to let my poultry loose in the yard to drink.

For what its worth I get about with a rolling walker.... Weight and Arthritis so that was the best I could do.

My back yard is surrounded by dog kennel panels so I was hoping everyone would be ok for a week. Not so..... Tom my neighbor that keeps an eye on the place said a whole pack of coyotes hit my place on the fourth day. 10 Guineas, 25 Welsummers, 2 silkeys, 1 Araucana. Most were under a year old Some had never been out of their coop.

I wont be getting back into Poultry till I can be certain this will Never happen again. So I am doing a complete coop Poultry yard rebuild. Its all dog kennel panels so something I can do on a piece by piece basis. Then I will be focusing on Guineas and Sumatras only. Nothing that is a heavy egg producer.

I been slammed this year..... hard for other stuff too. So its time to take a break. besides its too hot right now to do any work up there, except that which is necessary.

deb

Oh my, deb, how horrible. I am SO sorry to hear about this. It literally hurts my heart to read your description. We all do the best we can with the information and resources we have...again, I am so sorry. I hope someday soon you will be able to rebuild and restock and enjoy it all again.