LoL yeah I'm thinking I'll tell Christmas that he had better behave himself.
Yeah unfortunately I don't have any lavenders to process or any blues etc. Maybe though.
Sounds like a great hatch!! But yes my guess would be that the incubator has hot and cold spots. I can't wait to see that possible lavender laced feather in. But the photo on my phone looks a bit dark for a lavender. I'm guessing blue? Very beautiful chick.
Okay guys we've got some great news and some bad news.
I'll start with the bad. Last night we had another predator attack and loss. Our mauve cuckoo Orp rooster was taken and while he was never a bird that we had planned to keep he had been spared to keep last year's bachelor group in line so he would have been two this year. He was an amazing boy and more than once alerted the flock and saved hens from the hawk attacks of last summer and fall. We believe he died to save the other three birds in that pen with him as they all escaped. Including a blue laced hen(our own breeding hapf Wyandotte). Today I will go pick up as many of his beautiful feathers as I can by the run he was in. His saddle and hackles aren't there but some of his sickles were along with quite a lot of other feathers. Hopefully they haven't blown away.
Now to explain why they weren't locked up. The two coops were but that is the run in the old grainery building. The bachelor group moved back after the big freeze and have been doing well. However all the ice storms we had while they were moved froze the door open about 4 inches. We couldn't close it but since they had been safe up until now we thought they were okay. We couldn't get in there to get them.
Last night when we got home the hen and a cockeral were out across the yard roosting on a stock tank. When I carried them back is when we discovered the rooster had been taken. The other cockeral was in the run again/still idk if he ever came out. They usually slept on a roosters about 3 feet high but there is a higher roost in the run that's about 5 feet.
I feel very bad about the rooster. While he was supposed to be a meat bird we had grown to respect and like him and he was always nice. The other leftover cockerals from the bachelor group last year have all integrated with the main flock and were safe in the big coop. They will be separated again when the weather gets nicer and fattened before butchering. Not that they're thin now.
We had to break the run door kickplate board off to get it to close but we did close it and lock them up last night.
This fox has been coming every other night like clockwork. So tomorrow night we plan to try and get the awful thing. I hope it's just one and not a pair.
Now onto the good news sort of. LOL
Yesterday atternoon we found out that the meeting about the egg farm was at 7pm. Pretty short notice but DH2B, my Mom (who was visiting) and I were in attendance along with most of our neightbors and a good portion of people from the town.
This was kind of a meet and greet q and a session. First they showed us a PowerPoint slideshow and talked about their proposed plans. Then they took questions. I had some great ones!
Okay so first some info they shared.
The whole thing will be fenced and yada yada yada. It's supposed to be a family owned farm they run I think it's three different huge facilities and this one will be the largest.
They're talking 3 million(yep I said million) birds when it's all complete. It made me feel physically ill.
Only one person spoke up at the meeting that was for the company. I know there were others there but pretty much everyone seems against it. Of course unfortunately that doesn't matter and it seems like there's little hope it won't go through.
However there were some good points brought up and made by everyone who asked questions myself included. We are the people that will be closest to this place although it's on the other side of a small railroad and a tree line.
Some of the comments/questions posed for it include the effect on the aquifer as we are all on wells using the same aquifer. The proposed final number of birds will drink approximately 200,000 gallons of water a day and 10,000 gallons of water a day will be used to wash eggs. During weather allowing months they plan to then spray or spread the water onto the field. They kept bringing up how the farm irrigator that is there right now can spray more water than they'll be using etc. But it was total bologna. An irrigator might run every other or every few days maybe 3-6 months of the year and that only if we don't get the rain(some farmers also use them to apply liquid fertilizer) DH2B's family hasn't since we've been together. They kept bringing up the irrigators so I put them on the spot and brought up the fact that the water spread on the fields filters back down through the soil and limestone and back to the aquifer and the water that the plants absorb goes into the natural process of water that then evaporates into the air and falls back to ground (somewhere) as rain. 200,000 gallons of water give or take a say is a ton to pull from any aquifer even a healthy one like ours.
They don't keep a vet on staff.
There birds are on wire constantly (although they do have a cage free system as well for brown layers and they're not on wire). I asked them how they deal with bumble foot. Dead silence. None of them knew anything about chickens.
The birds live for two years and are then culled. Usually rendered. If they are shipped live they can be used for human consumption. If they are killed there they are put into pet food. Those that die while raising or on an average day in the facility are sent to the landfill or may be rendered for pet food.
Anyone else thinking about the fact that (I think) it's illegal for those of us with trash pickup to put dead animals in the trash?
Then I asked about the light pollution and others asked about traffic. Etc etc.
All said and done when complete the building will have approximately 12 or maybe more buildings. They said the buildings can be up to three stories tall for the laying buildings. Now I know for those of you in the Chicago area might not think anything of that that out here the only things that tall are usually the grain silos and maybe some of the shops that the farmers own and work on their equipment in. Maybe a few buildings in nearby towns/cities.
I grew up in a town that didn't even have a stop light.
I wish you all could have been there and asked questions with me. I feel like only chicken people can really shine the light on what they're doing and the wool they're trying to pull over everyone's eyes.
They're talking about how they dehydrate the manure and that's all well and good and they keep it in a building etc but the building has to open sometimes and the dry manure can easily have tiny microscopic particles become airborne. They kept touting how they developed a technology that allows them to further process the manure into crumbles or pellets all three products of which they sell as certified organic fertilizer. "The pellets are safer and can't become airborne" etc(but they don't propose to do that here so they're just blowing a smoke screen to cover their butts).
I have asthma so this is of upmost importance to me. Just ask
@Faraday40 about the wind we often have at our place it's very very windy. Even cleaning our coop I wear a dust mask and if it's very dusty DH2B often makes me leave and he does it. Or we trade off and on and then I take a nebulizer when I go in the house.
Ugh anyway I rather enjoyed leaving the big wigs and their lawyer speechless. They're calling this venture agricultural. This is not agricultural in any sense of the word in my book.
Some people in the crowd also asked if there aren't limits on the number of birda that can be raised per acre. They responded by beating around the bush so I spoke up and said that there are. To which they replied but because their birds aren't ever on the ground in this kind of a system they don't have to follow those rules.
Oh and I haven't gotten to the worst part our neighbors friends that have been renting their house for 20-30 years didn't show up last night. Their house is on the proposed site. I asked them what will happen to the house and the family. They will be evicted and their home demolished.
However they did say that they have no plans to require that anyone get rid of any fowl within the vicinity. So it seems that our flock for now at least is safe. I however have no faith in them and don't trust them at all but at least they said it in public in front of many many people.
Praise God our floor is safe! But I'm still sick to the core about this especially knowing what it means for our neighbors.
If anyone has any questions for me about the meeting or company name please let me know. If anyone has any questions they feel I should post at the next meeting please also let me know.
It was rather funny because after I brought up some of the things I asked or spoke about they refused to call on me for some time or my Mom and we got a good laugh about that.
I'm still nervous and sick to my stomach at the prospect but I feel better about my flock for now at least.
The farmer who's trying to make a buck by screwing over the community showed up last night but sat in the back with his head down. Some friends and us joked about egging his house lol okay yes it's vandalism but you gotta admit it would be almost poetic. Anyone have any rotten eggs we can use?
More later my friends.
to the fox and to the company 
