INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Mother2Hens]

Savannah has actually asked me to throw him away because he's going after us so much. I'm still hoping its teenage rebellion that can be tamed if we keep working with him.
That Savannah~ She's a Jr. Member of the Throw Away Society! jk! That's better that she thinks of disposing unwanted objects that way instead of something worse.

I LOVE the idea of the gold mining pans. We actually did have many of those when I was growing up....my dad was a geologist for BLM, so we were always out doing stuff like that. I just need to build something of that nature for cleaning the poo from the sand. I have also been reading all of the info Leah's Mom has been posting about the deep litter does and don'ts. The statistics on it look good if I could manage it properly.
I was just kidding about the gold mining pans-- they just popped in my head, and since you're a Californian, it was perfect. And I thought you'd like the "hands-on" aspect! haha I just googled: sand sifter long handle livestock --and saw this (below) from byc.
Also, Leahs Mom has mentioned her use of a child's metal garden rake that's handy for raking deep litter. At the end of our first summer with chickens, I saw a child's metal hoe on clearance at RK. It is great for scraping poop in the coop and stirring up sand and litter. That length of handle might be easier to control when attached to a scoop than a long handled one like the example below.

Originally Posted by Mother2Hens
I could not kill any animal-- not even a cute little mouse. I couldn't because I was not brought up around farm animals or hunters or guns. However, I admire those who can process their own animals in order to ensure healthful food, while not supporting mass production livestock industries. And I understand the need for humane hunting of over-populated animals.
As far as killing-- Flies are a different story!

It really has nothing to do with wether you were raised around that stuff or not. I grew up a "rich" city girl, with a very anti gun family and didn't set foot on a farm until I was in college! (I say "rich" because that's the reputation the city has. My family was not.) Some people just can't kill animals and there's NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! So not criticizing, just saying that's not a valid excuse

brown cow ~ I understand that you're not criticizing my observations, but I think you misinterpreted them.

My personal experience that I shared as part of the discussion was not intended as an "excuse," because that would imply that I was blaming my parents for raising me in that manner. It was my perception of why I choose not to kill animals; I wasn't generalizing that everyone who was raised the way I was would not be able to kill animals. I agree that some people (like me) have an innate inability to kill animals.

And I personally don't think that wealth or lack of it has anything to do with the issue.

 

[browncow15]

[rule] [COLOR=333333]Originally Posted by Mother2Hens [/COLOR]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=8B4513]I could not kill any animal-- not even a cute little mouse. I couldn't because I was not brought up around farm animals or hunters or guns. However, I admire those who can process their own animals in order to ensure healthful food, while not supporting mass production livestock industries. And I understand the need for [/COLOR][COLOR=8B4513]humane[/COLOR][COLOR=8B4513] hunting of over-populated animals.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]As far as killing-- Flies are a different story! [/COLOR] [COLOR=800000]brown cow[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]~ I understand that you're not criticizing my observations, but I think you misinterpreted them. [/COLOR]:/ [COLOR=8B4513]My personal experience that I shared as part of the discussion was not intended as an "excuse," because that would imply that I was blaming my parents for raising me in that manner. It was[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]my[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]perception of why I choose not to kill animals; I wasn't generalizing that everyone who was raised the way I was would not be able to kill animals. I agree that some people (like me) have an innate inability to kill animals. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]And I personally don't think that wealth or lack of it has anything to do with the issue.[/COLOR]

Excuse was the wrong word. I was trying to convey was that I don't think background has anything to do with it; which is why I shared mine.

 

[lilmizscareall]

Mystery solved. We had brought the Silkie in last night to sleep in the basement.
This new egg was found in the coop! One of the PCBs had spent most of the morning "purring" inside the coop while everyone else had breakfast outside.
Is that normally what a hen does/sounds like, when she's trying to figure it out? I can't tell the 3 girls apart at all... I should have taken her picture.

 

[raisinemright]

I have both ebay thermometers and a genesis. I have found the genesis to be the most accurate or at least I get the best hatch rates when I use the 1588 thermometer as the accurate one. Some of my ebay ones are 2F higher and 5% higher on humidity. Others are the opposite. I place the ebay one in the 1588 and just make a note of how far off it is when the temps are 99.7 and humidity 55. Once in use for lockdown the ebay thermometer is consistently off so it is not a problem. But I have noticed that the closer to 70F the temps are the less wrong the ebay thermometers are. Another reason I put them in the 1588 to find out how far off they are.

Ok thanks, My ebay thermometer seems to run +4.5 deg warm and +8 deg humid, according to the Genesis gauge. I made a note of that and will keep monitoring them both. I have 9 Maran eggs in there now and they should hatch on the 28th! cant wait to see what we get for our first ever hatching if anything

 

[CRSelvey]

That looks like it could work really well. I use the kitty litter scoop now and its not bad, but mine isn't very sturdy. I do have a little leave rake that is great for raking around the sand or mixing in firewood ash or peat into the sand. I know I have read mixed reviews on both, but I don't want the run getting so hard that they can't scratch around or get a dirt bath. Next year, I will sink in a barrel or something so that they can always have a nice place to get dirty (other than the coop floor). The rake catches the feathers and the shavings that get kicked out of the nesting boxes, but it would be nice to be able to shovel it into something to filter out the misc stuff and just leave the sand.

By the way, I painted the whole inside of my coop and tried to make it look pretty for the chickens (yes I know they don't actually care) and they showed their ingratitude by pooping on the walls. I mean seriously, do they aim above their heads or what? I can't find anything that will actually clean the sticky stuff off well enough to repaint this spring. I might have to remove all the sand, power wash, and replace all the sand just to make it look good again. That's probably a good idea in any case.

I NEED warm weather soon. .

Meyer's Hatchery is just teasing me sending all these cute little emails with sales on chickens

. As if I could order 25 chickens at one time. UGH.

 

[kabhyper1]

Today was a day of firsts. Lavender my large blue cochin hen finally laid an egg. I'm sure it is fertile. but most likely from Gus. Sl/wyandotte. When Blueberry starts his job, I will start collecting her eggs for hatching. Also I did vaccinations on our alpacas for the first time. I am a huge needle phob, so this is kinda a big deal. LOL

 

[CRSelvey]

Today was a day of firsts. Lavender my large blue cochin hen finally laid an egg. I'm sure it is fertile. but most likely from Gus. Sl/wyandotte. When Blueberry starts his job, I will start collecting her eggs for hatching. Also I did vaccinations on our alpacas for the first time. I am a huge needle phob, so this is kinda a big deal.

Congratulations! We have one of those too. My teenage step-daughter is so bad with needles that one time when I got one out to get her splinter, she passed out!!

I never even touched her

. I shouldn't laugh, but she laughs at me and spiders...

That's really good news about the Cochin. Would you try hatching the mixed chicks?

 

[CRSelvey]

M2H gave me an idea, so I went to Amazon and searched on sand scoops. Wow, did I find a lot of useful stuff. It turns out that treasure hunters use them to search the beaches with metal detectors. You can get a scoop from a few dollars to a lot of dollars. Here are some of the kinds I found:

 

[kabhyper1]

Congratulations!  We have one of those too. My teenage step-daughter is so bad with needles that one time when I got one out to get her splinter, she passed out!!  I never even touched her .  I shouldn't laugh, but she laughs at me and spiders...

That's really good news about the Cochin.  Would you try hatching the mixed chicks?

poor kid lol! I may hatch some in the summer. I always have eggs but i have chicks coming out the ears right now. Im mostly selling hatching silkie eggs but if someone wants a box of chocolates to hatch i would save the mixed ines back for them. Otherwise they go in the fridge.

 

[kabhyper1]

Oh yeah and Lily is all better. I went in to give her the last dosage of Tylan and her eyes were bright and shiny, not crusties or swelling. Those drops of my Jack Russell worked wonders. She is back with the rest of the flock. They had thier last dose of Duramycin today. No symptoms besides the occasional sneeze from the room being dusty when I cleaned their giant box out today. The air purifier did wonders too. No layer of dust on everything today. That may have helped Lily heal too. I put a few drops of Vetrycin on a paper towel and hung it on the purifier where the fresh air comes out. Thought it might help clear their sinus's.