Illinois...

[Pixie]

Well spring is here and so are the local busy bodies... The distant neighbor and I were both burning stuff today, I was using the burn barrel instead of the normal open fire area as I didn't have much collected to burn, yet the neighbor on the other hand had quite a collection of stuff from all the wind storms we have had... About 10 minute after they lit up their fire the county cops showed up over there, but no fire department meaning it was likely someone just complaining about the fire not reporting a structure fire... Cops never swung by my house this time so no 2 alarm fire chaos like what happened to me about a year and a half ago when I was burning some stuff in my barrel... Appeared the cops asked/made him drag a hose and some buckets of water out to the fire area then left...

FYI opening burning is legal on our lots as long as it's 25 feet away from a building, but across the street is a different story...

I was outside burning too and saw a big plume of smoke (figured someone over there might have burned a tire??) and then a little bit later the sheriff's department cars go screaming by to pull into your neighbors driveway. I was wondering if that it was a case of the "gated community" having nothing better to do. LOL

 

[MeepBeep]

I was outside burning too and saw a big plume of smoke (figured someone over there might have burned a tire??)  and then a little bit later the sheriff's department cars go screaming by to pull into your neighbors driveway.  I was wondering if that it was a case of the "gated community" having nothing better to do.  LOL

The 'black' smoke poof was I believe an overly generous dose of accelerant, as the pile went from nothing to full fledged shooting flames in a split second... I saw the pile build over the last few weeks and it appeared to be almost all branches and other lawn debris, but they did toss some no-no white painted wood stuff on at the end, but not a lot...

Obviously I don't know exactly what happened, but the lack of the fire department being dispatched leads me to believe someone complaining vs someone reporting a fire, and someone in the 'gated community' is the likley culprit...

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 Sounds like Cuddles is doing well, you never know. I want to hear about your Eco Glow like heater. I am going to try something that I found on one of the threads here. Its called Mamas heating pad brooder. Now I use a heating pad underneath the brooder, but apparently, these people use hardware cloth to make like a cave, put the heating pad on top, and the chicks go in to warm up. The plus here, is that they put the chicks directly out in the coop with this method. Separated of course, but they say the chicks feather out more quickly and integration is much easier. Going to try.

@chickendreams24 I am hatching my pullet Orp eggs, could be black, blues, partridge girls, with either Thor or Al as sire.

Yes. That's where I first heard of the idea. Mine is a blending of that and an EcoGlow.

At 1st I looked into a sweeter heater or pet mat, but figured I could find something cheaper. My orig idea was a wood frame with scrap piece of garden fence. 4 corners with dowel rod legs. Then drill one hole about every inch down the dowel rod to make it adjustable. Simple nail / peg to lock at my chosen height.

Anyway, my father happened to have a long piece of L-metal around, so my basic frame turned into something a little nicer. The 12x24" heating pad fits perfectly. It's a cheap Sunbeam one that doesn't have the auto shut off after 2 hrs (perfect for this use!) I had it n for 7-8hrs yesterday & it stayed on the whole time. This is the exact one I got. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FGDDI0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00




I raised the height in this pic.




My 2nd project was turning an old Graco Pack N Play into a brooder - or Peck N Play. I lined it with Press 'N Seal, then used an old feed bag as a liner. I will start with it in the house to make sure the Mama Heating Pad is working. I hope to have them in the garage or coop around week 2.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Yes. That's where I first heard of the idea. Mine is a blending of that and an EcoGlow. At 1st I looked into a sweeter heater or pet mat, but figured I could find something cheaper. My orig idea was a wood frame with scrap piece of garden fence. 4 corners with dowel rod legs. Then drill one hole about every inch down the dowel rod to make it adjustable. Simple nail / peg to lock at my chosen height. Anyway, my father happened to have a long piece of L-metal around, so my basic frame turned into something a little nicer. The 12x24" heating pad fits perfectly. It's a cheap Sunbeam one that doesn't have the auto shut off after 2 hrs (perfect for this use!) I had it n for 7-8hrs yesterday & it stayed on the whole time. This is the exact one I got. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FGDDI0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 I raised the height in this pic. My 2nd project was turning an old Graco Pack N Play into a brooder - or Peck N Play. I lined it with Press 'N Seal, then used an old feed bag as a liner. I will start with it in the house to make sure the Mama Heating Pad is working. I hope to have them in the garage or coop around week 2.

Very nice. It even looks like the brinsea model. I have mine set up in the rabbit cage and just used the heating pads I have been using, they dont have an auto shut off, but only 3 levels of heat.Made it on the larger side to accommodate all the soon to come chicks. Seems to be working. The SL bantam cochin and Orpington chic aren't chirping to much at all.

And I think the Orp chick is Coco's baby, it looks like a chocolate or even GL because it has a red hood almost. Of which I don't think it should be, but AL was a project BSL. I have a 3rd SL cochin bantam out, and the other 2 eggs have pipped just waiting.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

@Junibutt here is a pic of your Orpington's wing color. It really looks solid white to me, which I know it shouldn't, but it does. He has some nice thick legs! So much fun, guessing colors on all these chicks.

 

[MeepBeep]

Got a surprise today, I isolated my bluest egg layer a few days ago to cleanse her system so that I can breed her to a blue male and get some more blue Easter Eggers, as most of mine are blue/green or green...

Anyway I tossed her in a pen with my younger Cream Legbars that were hatched on November 20 and December 3, putting them at about 15-16 weeks... I also tossed a nesting box in there since the EE is laying, and I figured she might as well have a place to lay... Today I went out there and was surprised to see two eggs, meaning one the 15-16 week old CL pullets is already laying as well... I know it's not unheard of for 16 week old pullets to lay, but I have never had any start laying that early and it sure caught me off guard...

I guess I really need to step of the pace on building more breeding pens, now...

 

[ChicagoClucker]

@MeepBeep Congrats! That is really early for CCLs. Usually they begin laying around 24 wks is what I was told on the CCL page. I had 1 begin laying about 21 weeks, if I remember correctly. But yours must really be an over achiever.

 

[chickendreams24]

@Faraday40 Sounds like Cuddles is doing well, you never know. I want to hear about your Eco Glow like heater. I am going to try something that I found on one of the threads here. Its called Mamas heating pad brooder. Now I use a heating pad underneath the brooder, but apparently, these people use hardware cloth to make like a cave, put the heating pad on top, and the chicks go in to warm up. The plus here, is that they put the chicks directly out in the coop with this method. Separated of course, but they say the chicks feather out more quickly and integration is much easier. Going to try. @chickendreams24 I am hatching my pullet Orp eggs, could be black, blues, partridge girls, with either Thor or Al as sire.

@Junibutt here is a pic of your Orpington's wing color. It really looks solid white to me, which I know it shouldn't, but it does. He has some nice thick legs! So much fun, guessing colors on all these chicks.

@Faraday40 Sounds like Cuddles is doing well, you never know. I want to hear about your Eco Glow like heater. I am going to try something that I found on one of the threads here. Its called Mamas heating pad brooder. Now I use a heating pad underneath the brooder, but apparently, these people use hardware cloth to make like a cave, put the heating pad on top, and the chicks go in to warm up. The plus here, is that they put the chicks directly out in the coop with this method. Separated of course, but they say the chicks feather out more quickly and integration is much easier. Going to try. @chickendreams24 I am hatching my pullet Orp eggs, could be black, blues, partridge girls, with either Thor or Al as sire.

@ChicagoClucker Oh how fun!! Let me know if you get some extra blue or splash pullets or cockerals that you need to find homes for and of course we need chickie pics Also that's exactly how the lightest orp chick's wings look I got from @Junibutt any ideas on color? I keep looking every couple of days but still can't decide on gender or color of course I look more than that but really examine every couple of days.

 

[MeepBeep]

@MeepBeep
 Congrats! That is really early for CCLs. Usually they begin laying around 24 wks is what I was told on the CCL page. I had 1 begin laying about 21 weeks, if I remember correctly. But yours must really be an over achiever.

Yeah, certainly early, the pullets are not full size yet while the egg weighted in at 59.6 grams or 'large' not some mini pullet sized egg... It also had the US CL mint green/blue color so it wasn't some double egg day fluke from the blue layer, as her eggs are noticeably more blue...

 

[Junibutt]

@Junibutt here is a pic of your Orpington's wing color. It really looks solid white to me, which I know it shouldn't, but it does. He has some nice thick legs! So much fun, guessing colors on all these chicks.

Interesting! If its solid, then its a she not a he because it came out of a choc cuckoo egg (its highly unlikely otherwise) and all barred ones supposed to be boys and solid ones girls. On the other hand, if the father was mauve, then it could be a mauve pullet. However, the feathers seem too light colored (almost white) to be mauve. Let me see if I have a picture of my mauve girl around 2 weeks old