Can't sleep. so ...
Fr Chuck hang in there with the hatching of chicks. I tried a crock pot and a few other things before breaking down and spending the money on a good bator. then I had problems I think I nailed down to me opening the thing up to check on the eggs. It seems the more I ignored them the better they were.
Bluedog... how old are your Delawares? and what kind? How much? My meaties are Delaware x Cornish and I think I will keep a few to Breed and see what I get. I have had Delies before and the hens were okay and the roos were too as long as you only had one. I had 5 roos in a pen and came home to find blood splattered walls, hunks torn out of combs and waddles on several occasions. So several were invited to dinner.
I bought 4 one hundred pound bags of Grower Mash for 16+ Dollars a bag. This is much cheaper than my regular feed and it has 20 percent protein. Supposidly it is a university derived formula using mash from distilleries. I hope it works well because it is much cheaper.
I am up to getting 5-6 eggs a day now from 7 hens but one (Port) is molting. She still is a bossy hen. Star her sister is still laying.
Picking up the feed this morning I missed the mailman with my barred rock eggs. I will have to find a way to pick up the eggs before they freeze. I didn't expect them here soo soon so I guess I screwed up.
I have finished my Pinot Noir. It has been a while since I have had some good wine. I am supprised it was so good. Gee! I hope I don't become a lush in my old age. ... Well everything is relative... for me to finish off a bottle of wine within a week is a bit exessive.
My three New Hampsire hens are now laying medium to large size eggs and within a few weeks I think I will start breding them. Right now I have them seperated from the roos. So if anyone is interested in eggs around the first of March I can make about 6 eggs available within a couple of days. ( three per day 48 hours after breding) I will need to confirm the fertility/ability of my roos as well. I'll try that in a couple of weeks.
Everything else I have, I consider as barnyard chickens. Even tho I am working with them to a specific end; none of them are pure except the NHs.
In the mean time I plan on harvesting a couple of meaties next week. So far they have been very nice birds. Slow growing but nice. I have already picked out the first roo. He doesn't like me. So...
One of the roos started to try crowing today for the first time that I am aware of. ooh ohooo... really lame but not too embarrasing. He seems to have more Delie in him than cornish. He may be # 2. All the rest seem to be quiet. If I breed any I might as well breed for quiet roos.
I will be keeping the fastest growing for breeding purposes. Better feed conversion.
Anyway I have written a lot but I couldn't sleep inspite of the wine so... Have a good day. Stay warm.
Fr Chuck hang in there with the hatching of chicks. I tried a crock pot and a few other things before breaking down and spending the money on a good bator. then I had problems I think I nailed down to me opening the thing up to check on the eggs. It seems the more I ignored them the better they were.
Bluedog... how old are your Delawares? and what kind? How much? My meaties are Delaware x Cornish and I think I will keep a few to Breed and see what I get. I have had Delies before and the hens were okay and the roos were too as long as you only had one. I had 5 roos in a pen and came home to find blood splattered walls, hunks torn out of combs and waddles on several occasions. So several were invited to dinner.
I bought 4 one hundred pound bags of Grower Mash for 16+ Dollars a bag. This is much cheaper than my regular feed and it has 20 percent protein. Supposidly it is a university derived formula using mash from distilleries. I hope it works well because it is much cheaper.
I am up to getting 5-6 eggs a day now from 7 hens but one (Port) is molting. She still is a bossy hen. Star her sister is still laying.
Picking up the feed this morning I missed the mailman with my barred rock eggs. I will have to find a way to pick up the eggs before they freeze. I didn't expect them here soo soon so I guess I screwed up.
I have finished my Pinot Noir. It has been a while since I have had some good wine. I am supprised it was so good. Gee! I hope I don't become a lush in my old age. ... Well everything is relative... for me to finish off a bottle of wine within a week is a bit exessive.
My three New Hampsire hens are now laying medium to large size eggs and within a few weeks I think I will start breding them. Right now I have them seperated from the roos. So if anyone is interested in eggs around the first of March I can make about 6 eggs available within a couple of days. ( three per day 48 hours after breding) I will need to confirm the fertility/ability of my roos as well. I'll try that in a couple of weeks.
Everything else I have, I consider as barnyard chickens. Even tho I am working with them to a specific end; none of them are pure except the NHs.
In the mean time I plan on harvesting a couple of meaties next week. So far they have been very nice birds. Slow growing but nice. I have already picked out the first roo. He doesn't like me. So...
One of the roos started to try crowing today for the first time that I am aware of. ooh ohooo... really lame but not too embarrasing. He seems to have more Delie in him than cornish. He may be # 2. All the rest seem to be quiet. If I breed any I might as well breed for quiet roos.
I will be keeping the fastest growing for breeding purposes. Better feed conversion.
Anyway I have written a lot but I couldn't sleep inspite of the wine so... Have a good day. Stay warm.
