INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

[Akrnaf2]

Thats just your winter coat

Blooie, C-18 just said that you are a bear.....

 

[LittleLakePhil]

Only a meager 100.000.000 posts! How are you my friend? No more ice fishing fir this year?

no Benny still ice fishing was out yesterday...lots of ice left...how you been?

 

[Jessimom]

What a day! Not caught up with the thread yet, but as I'm worried I'll face-plant on the keyboard before catching up, I thought I should give my building update now.

Got a lot of progress made - conduit put in place and secured, door built, roosting tray (to hold sand and sweet PDZ) constructed, screws for mounting nest boxes placed (it'll accommodate three), poop-scooper door framed, and roosts built (I need to lower that higher roost though - not enough head room).




After it got dark, I headed to both Lowe's and then Home Depot to get tarps and the rest of the hardware I need for all three tractors (hinges and latches, a door spring, etc.) - got soaked in a sudden downpour in the process. SOAKED.

So before heading home I got beer and a mini-cake. I figured I deserved it!!! Sitting here in comfy sweats and a warm shirt, drying off wit a nice Shiner Wicked Ram IPA. Dinner is my favorite chicken and zucchini butter melt - this time with my Monterey Jack that I made at New Years (the wax cracked, so I couldn't let it age any longer). It turned out fairly well - not award winning, but good for homemade hard cheese. Certainly stronger flavored than the grocery store kind. Very good in eggs.




Tomorrow I fix the roost height, mount the poop scoop door, frame and mount the egg door, cover and hang the front door, add the carriage bolts to the back for the wheels, and add pulling rope in front (covered in a piece of old garden hose to save the hands). Then out comes the pneumatic stapler and compressor (and a SUPER long extension cord!) and UV-rated zip ties to put hardware cloth around the base and front/back and welded wire fencing (I have it lying around) over the top (it'll be covered in a thick tarp, so no predator worry with the larger spaces). Then cover with 12' x 10' tarp over the top and shade cloth around the other open bits. It's always nice to have a second go at a given set of plans - gives you a chance to fix things you didn't like the first time.

Once that's all done, I'll drag it into position, add hardware cloth apron 2 ft all around, add the nest boxes, feeder, waterers, sand, and bedding, and then Tank and the Speckled girls will be ready to move in!!! I hope I can finish it tomorrow... And then I need to immediately start in the next two (well, actually, the next FOUR!!!). Oh, wait, I'm also supposed to be building a brooder...

I'm beat - I'm going to catch up and then watch a movie (during which I will likely fall asleep).

- Ant Farm

Very nice build!! Thanks for the photos!! How many are you building?????

 

[Akrnaf2]

Only a meager 100.000.000 posts! How are you my friend? No more ice fishing fir this year?

no Benny still ice fishing was out yesterday...lots of ice left...how you been?

thank you we are fine! How are you?

 

[COChix]

Um,   Got room here for me?

e

BTW, I'm going to make a MHP for the chicks I'm getting.... Gonna make brooding SO much simpler..

Did a tomato cage MHP last year had my hatched chicks outside by day 7 in April last year, love love love this system. Will be hatching and having chicks outside after they dry and I know they are ok. This year I am doing a flat shelf set up kinda like Aart on the MHP thread, what are you using?

I can see right now that I'm in BIIIGGG trouble here....left for a few minutes to read Sally's PDF file on shipping eggs and there were 20+ new posts in that time.....oh oh!

Ha that ain squat. I was gone most the day and come back to something like 700!

RECAP 3/11.... Cuz yall made me...

CH is playing mariokart with his chickens while boating around in his backyard, MC's quotes play hide-and-seek, Banti hasn't candled since she last candled, the reason you keep looking for something after you find it is so yoy can find it again, MC is the official key looser and is stuffed full of awesome sauce, Ant farm motivates herself to clean by pretending Sally is coming over, coffee saves chick's lives, Banti has 11/12 eggs developing, e Benny forgot to say EYS, even coffee needs coffee today, Chaos shoots the same pheasant multiple times, only Sally holds the power to make K incubate again and she didnt even know she had any powers, shah has everyone guessing who gets to candle tomorrow, Sally and Banti are looking for gators in CH's run, Sally assigned MC a bday of April 1, local is passing out brownies, MC and Chaos are arguing in hebrew, veny's chick ate all the broccoli plants, things are only hysterical when they are hysterical, MC's dog lost weight, Wegmans has everything, gator is both good eatin' and good at eatin', (minor detail) nobody gets a coop before the chicks are 6 weeks old, MC is a special kind of stupid, nobody knows why the gator crossed the road, (florida's version of duck crossing) Sally forgot to tell us she had more lockdown eggs, chaos led the bunny butt parade, Sir Ur and his unicorn are bad influences, gators taste like duck, philly snapper soup is good, k is backwards, louly likes it when bators get named, there was a lengthy discussion on pizza toppings (which morphed into whether or not spicy things are edible,) Banti went more than a little picture crazy, the kitchen is closed due to illness, local catches bake sales, MC can't go on strike, Blooie finally joined and she can do anything with her furry rubber band legs, (just a winter coat) and will use an old brass spitton for coffee spray when reading through, Sally isn't nutty and doesn't spew coffee on readbacks (just chokes to death,) Banti used up her life supply of humor, there can only be 1 nut, Sally lost all the color in her face, Blooie is in trouble, you could spend your life doing readbacks, there is a curfew in the gallery, Mirajane is candling Mille Fouer eggs, very much did is more than did very much, and K says hi to an invisible Joey.

Happy now!???!!

Nite all tomorrow I set my bators. e

Another orchid shot. Another bloom opened today.

 

[COChix]

Added a couple newbies

And I just can't get enough of these fluffy cheeks

 

[COChix]

What a day! Not caught up with the thread yet, but as I'm worried I'll face-plant on the keyboard before catching up, I thought I should give my building update now. Got a lot of progress made - conduit put in place and secured, door built, roosting tray (to hold sand and sweet PDZ) constructed, screws for mounting nest boxes placed (it'll accommodate three), poop-scooper door framed, and roosts built (I need to lower that higher roost though - not enough head room). After it got dark, I headed to both Lowe's and then Home Depot to get tarps and the rest of the hardware I need for all three tractors (hinges and latches, a door spring, etc.) - got soaked in a sudden downpour in the process. SOAKED. So before heading home I got beer and a mini-cake. I figured I deserved it!!! Sitting here in comfy sweats and a warm shirt, drying off wit a nice Shiner Wicked Ram IPA. Dinner is my favorite chicken and zucchini butter melt - this time with my Monterey Jack that I made at New Years (the wax cracked, so I couldn't let it age any longer). It turned out fairly well - not award winning, but good for homemade hard cheese. Certainly stronger flavored than the grocery store kind. Very good in eggs. Tomorrow I fix the roost height, mount the poop scoop door, frame and mount the egg door, cover and hang the front door, add the carriage bolts to the back for the wheels, and add pulling rope in front (covered in a piece of old garden hose to save the hands). Then out comes the pneumatic stapler and compressor (and a SUPER long extension cord!) and UV-rated zip ties to put hardware cloth around the base and front/back and welded wire fencing (I have it lying around) over the top (it'll be covered in a thick tarp, so no predator worry with the larger spaces). Then cover with 12' x 10' tarp over the top and shade cloth around the other open bits. It's always nice to have a second go at a given set of plans - gives you a chance to fix things you didn't like the first time. Once that's all done, I'll drag it into position, add hardware cloth apron 2 ft all around, add the nest boxes, feeder, waterers, sand, and bedding, and then Tank and the Speckled girls will be ready to move in!!! I hope I can finish it tomorrow... And then I need to immediately start in the next two (well, actually, the next FOUR!!!). Oh, wait, I'm also supposed to be building a brooder... I'm beat - I'm going to catch up and then watch a movie (during which I will likely fall asleep). - Ant Farm

nice build and run down of it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ruthannnall]

What is up with my duck egg? See that dark spot on the bottom left

 

[Akrnaf2]

Can anybody guide me through fermenting feed or link me in? I've done sauerkraut, pickles, kombucha, and yogurt so you would think I would just know...but I dooooooon't

In a glass bowel you put a double daily portion of feed, you cover it +10 cm ( 4 inches) of water. You add one open capsule of probiotic pill or a full tbs of probiotic yogurt. You cover it fir 4-5 days. You should see bubbles( ) and fermentation in it. After this time you open and smell if the smell is nice acidic smell you give halve of it to the chickens add new feed to it ( the same as you used) an change the water. If it has an alcoholic smell in it trow it! And begin a new batch! You need lactic fermentation not a ethanol fermentation! Good luck!

Can anybody guide me through fermenting feed or link me in? I've done sauerkraut, pickles, kombucha, and yogurt so you would think I would just know...but I dooooooon't

Take a bucket, add feed to it (about as much as you think you'll need for one day) cover it with water by a few inches (it WILL expand). Stir twice a day for 3 days but do not use anything metal. After 3 days, you can start to use it. I use a plastic ladle with holes drilled in it for drainage. Scoop out what you need for the day and feed it to your flock. Full the bucket back up with more feed, cover again with water, stir, and you note have a continuous ferment. Use what toy need every day and replace what you've used every day

2 things:
1. You can speed it up if you put in it a open pill of probiotic. Or a tbspoon of probiotic yogurt
2. You should always smell it it should have a nice acidic smell(= lactic fermentation) if it have an alcoholic smell (= ethanol fermentation) throw it and begin a new batch.!

 

[Akrnaf2]

What a day! Not caught up with the thread yet, but as I'm worried I'll face-plant on the keyboard before catching up, I thought I should give my building update now. Got a lot of progress made - conduit put in place and secured, door built, roosting tray (to hold sand and sweet PDZ) constructed, screws for mounting nest boxes placed (it'll accommodate three), poop-scooper door framed, and roosts built (I need to lower that higher roost though - not enough head room). After it got dark, I headed to both Lowe's and then Home Depot to get tarps and the rest of the hardware I need for all three tractors (hinges and latches, a door spring, etc.) - got soaked in a sudden downpour in the process. SOAKED. So before heading home I got beer and a mini-cake. I figured I deserved it!!! Sitting here in comfy sweats and a warm shirt, drying off wit a nice Shiner Wicked Ram IPA. Dinner is my favorite chicken and zucchini butter melt - this time with my Monterey Jack that I made at New Years (the wax cracked, so I couldn't let it age any longer). It turned out fairly well - not award winning, but good for homemade hard cheese. Certainly stronger flavored than the grocery store kind. Very good in eggs. Tomorrow I fix the roost height, mount the poop scoop door, frame and mount the egg door, cover and hang the front door, add the carriage bolts to the back for the wheels, and add pulling rope in front (covered in a piece of old garden hose to save the hands). Then out comes the pneumatic stapler and compressor (and a SUPER long extension cord!) and UV-rated zip ties to put hardware cloth around the base and front/back and welded wire fencing (I have it lying around) over the top (it'll be covered in a thick tarp, so no predator worry with the larger spaces). Then cover with 12' x 10' tarp over the top and shade cloth around the other open bits. It's always nice to have a second go at a given set of plans - gives you a chance to fix things you didn't like the first time. Once that's all done, I'll drag it into position, add hardware cloth apron 2 ft all around, add the nest boxes, feeder, waterers, sand, and bedding, and then Tank and the Speckled girls will be ready to move in!!! I hope I can finish it tomorrow... And then I need to immediately start in the next two (well, actually, the next FOUR!!!). Oh, wait, I'm also supposed to be building a brooder... I'm beat - I'm going to catch up and then watch a movie (during which I will likely fall asleep). - Ant Farm

The cheese look wonderful! I can taste it from here!