Illinois...

[MeepBeep]

The ferrets were enough stink.

At one point I had the crazy idea to breed ferrets and secured myself an fully intact male, and was on the hunt for intact adult females.. While I waited to find some intact females, the male became a house pet and the odor was pretty much the same as descented & fixed ones, that was until one day something startled him and his glands let loose... Not as bad as a skunk but the house stank plenty bad for weeks after that and I decided breeding them wasn't for me, especially when I shopped around and priced what it would cost to get them fixed/descented as is required to sell into the pet trade in most areas, there was zero profit and likely loses for the small breeder that didn't have a staffed vet to do the surgery for cheap...

 

[Faraday40]

As I sit here at my computer, Godiva (My new choc orp) is cuddling on my lap. She's a needy little chick & cries out often. I believe she is spoiled b/c as soon as I pick her up, she peeping.
It's not like she's lonely. She came with 2 brothers and has about dozen younger chicks to share the large brooder.

Orps are definitely not a dumb breed. My Cuddles performs several magic tricks. (Mostly I trained her to peck at certain cards or props with a tiny red dot....and not peck at the unmarked items.) She responds to her name & follows a few simple commands. I think when orps refuse to roost or climb it's because they are so big. It takes a lot of energy & agility to perform such tasks, and let's face it; orps were not gifted with either. I would not choose a Great Dane to compete as a Frisbee dog or a Chihuahua to pull a sled. Orps are awesome lap chickens & fun pets. Not the best for egg production, flight, or free ranging.

 

[MeepBeep]

**** Skippy...

Took my DIY Styrofoam cooler incubator out of storage today, cleaned it up and sanitized it... Let it air out in the sun all day then brought it inside tonight and plugged it in...

It's been plugged in for about 2 hours now and stabilized, and this is the reading on the 'fake egg' aka 3 oz baby bottle filled with water...

This little thing is so rock solid, I have not adjusted it during an incubation season ever, and last year after taking it out of storage I just had to slightly tweak it into perfection, this year it's still dialed in...

I keep wanting to build a bigger and better one, but this thing just works so well those new ones just never materialize...

Amazing how rock solid an $8 water heater thermostat can be, regardless of what others might claim...

 

[Junibutt]

As I sit here at my computer, Godiva (My new choc orp) is cuddling on my lap. She's a needy little chick & cries out often. I believe she is spoiled b/c as soon as I pick her up, she peeping.
It's not like she's lonely. She came with 2 brothers and has about dozen younger chicks to share the large brooder.

Orps are definitely not a dumb breed. My Cuddles performs several magic tricks. (Mostly I trained her to peck at certain cards or props with a tiny red dot....and not peck at the unmarked items.) She responds to her name & follows a few simple commands. I think when orps refuse to roost or climb it's because they are so big. It takes a lot of energy & agility to perform such tasks, and let's face it; orps were not gifted with either. I would not choose a Great Dane to compete as a Frisbee dog or a Chihuahua to pull a sled. Orps are awesome lap chickens & fun pets. Not the best for egg production, flight, or free ranging.

I am glad she is becoming friends with you. She may be missing one of her other siblings. Also glad that she is still a "she"! Her siblings that are left with me Tequila, Kanye and Kim are all become friendly by the day. Also you are right, because of their size, it may be becoming some Orps innate behavior not to roost.

BTW one of my friends here (not naming names) has enabled me to buy some choc mottled (or split to mottled) chicks. DW will not be happy when they show up at my door especially since I also have a few Legbar eggs in the incubator.

 

[Faraday40]

I am glad she is becoming friends with you. She may be missing one of her other siblings. Also glad that she is still a "she"! Her siblings that are left with me Tequila, Kanye and Kim are all become friendly by the day. Also you are right, because of their size, it may be becoming some Orps innate behavior not to roost.

BTW one of my friends here (not naming names) has enabled me to buy some choc mottled (or split to mottled) chicks. DW will not be happy when they show up at my door especially since I also have a few Legbar eggs in the incubator.

DH just kind of rolled his eyes when he was told about the additional chicks. Honestly he doesn't care about the spring summer numbers. It's the final fall-winter number that matters. I will have to get rid of 1-2 current lav orps to make room for my choc orps.

Meanwhile I sold a bunch of chicks & have a waiting list for any EEs that may hatch next week. The brooder had about 27 chicks a week ago & it now has only 7. (including those 3 choc orps that somehow ended up in there.) The last guy who came to look was vent "sexing" them. He tried to show me what he was looking at, but I just didn't see it. He also talked about how the females' tails sprout quicker. I found that true with all my EEs and my orps from 2014. Those female orps also grew their back feathers in quickly while the males had porcupine-like backs. Last year, I was baffled because none of the feather sexing tricks worked (different breeder, different line). I tried to explain to him not to judge these particular orps by their feather growth but to look for pink combs & dropping wattles. At 6-7 days old, there's simply not enough comb to compare. Oh well. By 4 1/2 weeks, I can usually compare & tell easily. The simple answer is to wait, but no one likes that answer.

For me, the best part about selling chicks is meeting all the new friends. This weekend I met a fellow 4Her, a high school teacher, a carpenter, a mechanic, & a machinist. I even learned of a new local feed store to try out. My kids had a constant stream of visiting playmates while the adults talked chickens.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

I am glad she is becoming friends with you. She may be missing one of her other siblings. Also glad that she is still a "she"! Her siblings that are left with me Tequila, Kanye and Kim are all become friendly by the day. Also you are right, because of their size, it may be becoming some Orps innate behavior not to roost.

BTW one of my friends here (not naming names) has enabled me to buy some choc mottled (or split to mottled) chicks. DW will not be happy when they show up at my door especially since I also have a few Legbar eggs in the incubator.

DH just kind of rolled his eyes when he was told about the additional chicks. Honestly he doesn't care about the spring summer numbers. It's the final fall-winter number that matters. I will have to get rid of 1-2 current lav orps to make room for my choc orps.

Meanwhile I sold a bunch of chicks & have a waiting list for any EEs that may hatch next week. The brooder had about 27 chicks a week ago & it now has only 7. (including those 3 choc orps that somehow ended up in there.) The last guy who came to look was vent "sexing" them. He tried to show me what he was looking at, but I just didn't see it. He also talked about how the females' tails sprout quicker. I found that true with all my EEs and my orps from 2014. Those female orps also grew their back feathers in quickly while the males had porcupine-like backs. Last year, I was baffled because none of the feather sexing tricks worked (different breeder, different line). I tried to explain to him not to judge these particular orps by their feather growth but to look for pink combs & dropping wattles. At 6-7 days old, there's simply not enough comb to compare. Oh well. By 4 1/2 weeks, I can usually compare & tell easily. The simple answer is to wait, but no one likes that answer.

For me, the best part about selling chicks is meeting all the new friends. This weekend I met a fellow 4Her, a high school teacher, a carpenter, a mechanic, & a machinist. I even learned of a new local feed store to try out. My kids had a constant stream of visiting playmates while the adults talked chickens.

I have not had a problem with my Orps roosting, even my big boy Thor went up. But I did have Sophia hurt her leg last week jumping down from the roost. She is a big girl, and she is still not walking on it at all. I have moved her out to the garage so I can take her out of the dog cage and put her in my garden to try and work her leg without anyone bothering her. She is not really working on her leg when put out, just kind of pecking and cooing and being happy to be out of the cage. And that's ok with me. For now.

I found a home for 5 of my Orp cockerels, and they were picked up today. YAY, 2 more are going to a friend. Not the friend above that I enable, but a different friend who is also an enabler. LOL. I still have an easter egger 9 weeks and some of the mottled and SL bantam cochins. I have to sell these before the next round of chicks hatch. My son and husband were counting chicks in the garage yesterday, and my husband shook his head and was wishing for an asteroid! Haha, I promised him I was only keeping a total of 4 out of the 20ish in the garage. He is aware that the bantams are sitting on eggs, but it won't hit him until he sees the chicks.

 

[Faraday40]

I have not had a problem with my Orps roosting, even my big boy Thor went up.

I remember Thor.

But I did have Sophia hurt her leg last week jumping down from the roost. She is a big girl, and she is still not walking on it at all. I have moved her out to the garage so I can take her out of the dog cage and put her in my garden to try and work her leg without anyone bothering her. She is not really working on her leg when put out, just kind of pecking and cooing and being happy to be out of the cage. And that's ok with me. For now.

Hope she feels better soon.

I found a home for 5 of my Orp cockerels, and they were picked up today. YAY, 2 more are going to a friend. Not the friend above that I enable, but a different friend who is also an enabler. LOL. I still have an easter egger 9 weeks and some of the mottled and SL bantam cochins. I have to sell these before the next round of chicks hatch. My son and husband were counting chicks in the garage yesterday, and my husband shook his head and was wishing for an asteroid! Haha, I promised him I was only keeping a total of 4 out of the 20ish in the garage. He is aware that the bantams are sitting on eggs, but it won't hit him until he sees the chicks.

I kind of wonder if BYC should have a special support group / thread for "Spouses of BYC members."

You have been tempting me for a while with those cute little Cochins - not to mention Thor. Of course, I always know that I can get my bantam fix via your adorable pics. My little Cookie is enough broody for me right now. She went broody 5xs in last year. The last one was in Sept 2015 with her "unauthorized hatch." Technically I could have tried to "break" her, but I had told DH I was done hatching for the year. I even stored the incubators in the attic! but.... but.... I saw breeding & wanted to know if a 4mo old orp could actually fertilize eggs. ChickenDreams24 was the enabler. She agreed to take chicks if they hatched, so why not. I simply let nature continue. Poor DH didn't even know we had a broody until after the chicks hatched. By then we were already making plans to meet 1/2 way, so it was moot. Like I said, our poor spouses would have their own versions of these stories to share.

 

[chickendreams24]

Lol I love being that kind of an enabler. It's the best kind! She gets to hatch beautiful babies and I get to keep beautiful babies!!!

The girls are all stunning they've calmed down so much and continue to get better. They're big and fluffy and gorgeous! Will try to get you some pics tomorrow or Tuesday.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Loving the stone IN the run. Need to get some edging to help keep the stone in.

 

[Faraday40]

Loving the stone IN the run. Need to get some edging to help keep the stone in.

Well worded!
I had the same issue with my sand.