Hatching Eggs / Paypal CHAT Thread

[SewChaos]

Well DH is off again. He's been doing the over the road thing since last December. He's supposed to be home once a week but it doesn't happen like that. He's only been back twice this year. This last time only because he demanded it for my sake. If any of you out there have any suggestions on how to deal with this let me know. It's very similar to when my older son was in the military. The worst was Iraq, but Great Britain was no picnic either. At least I was able to talk to him over the Internet or via sat phone, but with my hubby it's not always that easy. He can't have his phone on when he's driving. There are so many times I just want to tell him something and forget when he finally does call.

He knows its rough on me so next week I get the Brinsea 380 I found on CL, but hatching is a poor replacement for a partner. And really the chickens aren't mine since they are the kids. Turkeys are my thing, so once I get the new bator and fill the orders for March I'm going to be doing Mine MINE mine every time I pick eggs.

It is rough, I know from experience. My Mr. tours with a ballet company (he's their stage manager/production manager) usually he's driving the truck with the set in it, and then once they get to the theater he's too busy to call until he gets back to the hotel which is usually after 11. (if then) I text him throughout the day, and send pictures. Even if his phone is off, he still gets the messages once he's able and I don't forget everything I wanted him to know. Also, we send each other pictures of ourselves in the morning once we're ready for the day. I thought it was a silly idea, but it actually helps a lot - not sure why. It's super hard on the kids though. He tries to call after dinner to talk to them, and it helps all of them.

 

[krazykat0373]

my hubby works oilfield, he is gone two weeks then home a week and half, other half of his days are spent traveling...if his relief doesnt show up then he has to stay...we have gone three months without him being home and it really sucks! I feel for you all that have military hubbies and OTR hubbies

...I try to keep busy with the two kids I have left at home, my birds and gardening when it isnt winter time...I am so glad I came to the BYC pages....I am not a social person either and now I have more to keep me busy, meeting all you wonderful like minded people and drooling over everyone elses birds....lol

 

[SewChaos]

An update on my leghorns from Ideal.

I ordered 8, they shipped Wednesday and arrived Friday.
Two died that day. I think one got beat up on the trip here and I don't think the other one was "right").

I called and left a message Friday evening and they called back Saturday morning and credited my account. Awesome customer service.

I went to check on them later that morning and another one was failing. It died that day.

So then I was down to 5.

This morning I checked on them and they were fine. Came home from picking up the kids (I was gone for maybe two hours, tops) and another one was dead!

This one baffles me because they were all running around happy this morning.

I'll be calling Ideal tomorrow morning.

Do you think it's the chicks or is it me?

They're in the house, with my eco-glow-20. They're still on paper-towels, not bedding. They have fresh water and chick crumble. They seem like super tiny chicks, but I haven't had day-old leghorns before so I don't know how small they start out.

I really wanted these leghorns and now I'm beginning to get totally bummed.

 

[flocksalot]

I understand where you are coming from. My husband is military and won't be home until April. He's been gone since Thanksgiving. His job has him gone quite a bit. So I keep myself busy. First I got chickens, then rabbits, now puppy. And I'm on here a lot. I'm not a social person, don't really go out unless I have to. We are here for you whenever you need to chat.

Thanks madamwlf, I understand the military. I as lucky with my older son he was intel and had access to many toys to contact me. I raised him by myself so we have a strong bond. When I found out I was pregnant with his little brother I tried to call him,but he had disappeared. I raised all kinds of stuff until I got a call from the G2 on his base. Seems they shipped him out overnight with no notice. I got a ship to shore phone call about an hour later. They might have might but don't mess with momma. Helps having friends in high places I guess, but that doesn't help everyone. I stay as busy as I can, but I'm disabled and somedays getting out of bed is almost too much. The kid keeps me going though. And my baby turkeys! I just hate the first few days after he's gone. I went through the same thing every time I put my son back on a plane. Chest hurts, head hurts, eyes hurt. I hope your hubby gets home early as you said in another post. If not when he does you will be completely over run with animals. Rabbits hmmm. I do have some stackable rabbit cages that we converted to chick pens. Hubby would just shake his head and go play with his toys.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Madam, vibration, as mentioned, will stimulate the doe. You can also just hold her for breeding, then come back in an hour or so and do it again. The act of being bred often gets them going.

Flocksalot, I'm another who got used to him being gone all the time. When the kids were little, I threatened...only half joking....to join Parents Without Partners! Hubby did 30+years in Special Forces, just retiring in 08. And now he still works for the government and travels a lot. When the kids were small it was tough, but we did things like look at pictures every single day, write letters, etc. One year when he returned, we had decorated each room in the house for a different holiday he had missed, including one for birthdays, so he got to do them all with us. Helping the kids focus on how hard it for Him to be away from Them, instead of the other way around, is helpful, too. "Poor Daddy" is much better than "poor me", I think.

 

[flocksalot]

Thanks you guys! I knew there were other people out there dealing with this too.

It is hard on our son too. He feels like his dad has abandoned him. They are both very active and into sports, and before this job they would be going off together all the time. Now my son has no one to do those things with. It's difficult just getting him rides to CCD. This spring when baseball starts we will have to hope he is on a team that has someone willing to pick him up. Driving is really hard for me and not always safe. I really wish we had waited to build a house and bought property in MN near my family. Hubbies family are 2 hours away and not nice at all.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

The first SFH egg (from dahlisgrams) hatched overnight. This has got to be one of the cutest chicks I've ever hatched.

Yay! Looks like a definite crest!

 

[Dahlisgrams]

It must be difficult being alone so much. I don't know if I could handle being a military wife.. I give y'all a lot of credit.

 

[wife2abirdman]

An update on my leghorns from Ideal.

I ordered 8, they shipped Wednesday and arrived Friday.
Two died that day. I think one got beat up on the trip here and I don't think the other one was "right").

I called and left a message Friday evening and they called back Saturday morning and credited my account. Awesome customer service.

I went to check on them later that morning and another one was failing. It died that day.

So then I was down to 5.

This morning I checked on them and they were fine. Came home from picking up the kids (I was gone for maybe two hours, tops) and another one was dead!

This one baffles me because they were all running around happy this morning.

I'll be calling Ideal tomorrow morning.

Do you think it's the chicks or is it me?

They're in the house, with my eco-glow-20. They're still on paper-towels, not bedding. They have fresh water and chick crumble. They seem like super tiny chicks, but I haven't had day-old leghorns before so I don't know how small they start out.

I really wanted these leghorns and now I'm beginning to get totally bummed.

No offense, I know a lot of people like Ideal but I personally think it's Ideal. I got a batch last fall and out of 18 I ended up with 13 and of those only 5 have truly thrived. I was thinking it was the weather and it was the first time I had the chicks outside instead of in the house. But of the the 5 I kept only my pair of Speckled Sussex has truly truly seemed like they are growing. One of the people I sold some of the chicks to says the Brahmas and Cochin I sold him are doing great. One chick never grew past 1 week old and died just after 3 weeks old. I also lost a healthy (or so it seemed) EE at 3 or 4 weeks. I will probably not go there again myself. That is just my opinion. I even gave my chicks gro-gel and Quik chick when I got them. Even if I were to be dissapointed with a breed or color I at least was happy from where I got them, this was beyond not the case with Ideal for me.

 

[RiddleMe]

An update on my leghorns from Ideal. I ordered 8, they shipped Wednesday and arrived Friday. Two died that day. I think one got beat up on the trip here and I don't think the other one was "right"). I called and left a message Friday evening and they called back Saturday morning and credited my account. Awesome customer service. I went to check on them later that morning and another one was failing. It died that day.

So then I was down to 5. This morning I checked on them and they were fine. Came home from picking up the kids (I was gone for maybe two hours, tops) and another one was dead!

This one baffles me because they were all running around happy this morning. I'll be calling Ideal tomorrow morning. Do you think it's the chicks or is it me? They're in the house, with my eco-glow-20. They're still on paper-towels, not bedding. They have fresh water and chick crumble. They seem like super tiny chicks, but I haven't had day-old leghorns before so I don't know how small they start out. I really wanted these leghorns and now I'm beginning to get totally bummed.

No offense, I know a lot of people like Ideal but I personally think it's Ideal. I got a batch last fall and out of 18 I ended up with 13 and of those only 5 have truly thrived. I was thinking it was the weather and it was the first time I had the chicks outside instead of in the house. But of the the 5 I kept only my pair of Speckled Sussex has truly truly seemed like they are growing. One of the people I sold some of the chicks to says the Brahmas and Cochin I sold him are doing great. One chick never grew past 1 week old and died just after 3 weeks old. I also lost a healthy (or so it seemed) EE at 3 or 4 weeks. I will probably not go there again myself. That is just my opinion. I even gave my chicks gro-gel and Quik chick when I got them. Even if I were to be dissapointed with a breed or color I at least was happy from where I got them, this was beyond not the case with Ideal for me.

I received 25 chicks from Whelp on Friday and as of this morning 9 had died (1 was DOA). They all just never really perked up, mostly slept and then slowly slipped away, despite my trying sugar water, electrolytes and nutri-drench. Everyone else is energetic though, so I hope that's the end of my losses. But I'm guessing they may have gotten to cold in transit and just couldn't recover...