"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[grambysfarm]

Kuntrygirl - Congrats on the new babies!!

Also your guys are BEAUTIFUL!!!

Gracie - you still have that incubator? I'll PM you.

Rcajun -

I also want toot my own horn a bit..... I passed my clinical!!

I'm so happy and exhausted. Now to just take my final exam and my HESI.

PLUS -- I put some goose eggs in the incubator this morning!! I can't wait!! They all look like they made the trip good. Only had one "partially" detached air sac. I'm keeping my finger crossed as this is my first attempt with shipped eggs and the first time I've hatched eggs in about 6 years.

Congrats on the clinical! That is hard work but it will surely be worth it.

Good luck with the goose eggs. I recently purchased goose eggs online and had 2 out of 6 hatch. I was happy with the results because 1st they were shipped eggs, and 2nd goose eggs are harder to hatch than chicken or duck eggs. As long as you have reasonable expectations you'll do fine.

 

[bugglesmommy]

Those goslings are so cute! I'm trying my hand at goose eggs for the first time.

Anybody know when the next deridder swap meet will be?

 

[grambysfarm]

Julie, your blue peacock is just absolutely stunning. I will have to get one of those from you once I get settled. One of these days...

 

[chickenbelle]

Julie, I don't have the luxury of your "natural incubators" and therefore have to rely on my mechanical incubator to hatch my goslings.

This past weekend was so gorgeous that my first batch of sebbie goslings got to have their first swim. Boy, did they enjoy that! They looked like a bunch of wet rats!

After their swim, they dried off and had a chance to eat grass for their first time. They sure are cute when they're all dried off and fluffy. My best guess is that two will be white, two possibly splash, one gray saddleback, and one buff saddleback. I also have one Pekin duck in the mix that thinks he's a goose. I can't separate him from the group.

Silly Duck!!

After moving this group outdoors, I hatched a "bumper crop" of sebbie goslings. As best I can tell these will either be white or splash, and possibly one saddleback.







Ashleigh, Pearl's baby is the one in the bottom right corner. That little gosling is very danity and petite -- it really looks female.

And, since 13 is an unlucky number, I was lucky and had four more babies hatch today to bring my total sebbie gosling count thus far to 17.


"Sebbie Nursery"

I have to work harder to get your birds for our trade off. Or cash--either way...I am wanting some sebbie babies! Beautiful! I'd love splash or the grey saddleback...

. Geez...I may be asking for a trio before I'm done.

How well do they get along with ducks when they're free ranging?

 

[grambysfarm]

Those goslings are so cute! I'm trying my hand at goose eggs for the first time.

Anybody know when the next deridder swap meet will be?

Hatching goslings requires lots of patience. Most say that goose eggs hatch in 28 days but mine seldom hatch in 28 days. Also, once they pip the egg you can expect that it'll take a couple of days to zip and hatch. Don't plan to sit around to watch it hatch -- you'll get tired waiting.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

WOWSERS!! Congrats! I guess that means you are hooked now, right?

Yeah....just a bit. Sadly, I got interested in showing because of my geese and ducks, but didn't own my own coops, so couldn't take any to the show.

I really hadn't thought about taking any chickens, but when Chris told me it looked like the show didn't have many entries wanted to help out by taking a few. The only one I knew would have any sort of chance was the Cornish. I had three Dorking cockerals and three New Hampshires to choose from, so got out the SOP and looked at photos online from other show winners and just picked. All my birds free range every day, so I had to catch them Wednesday morning, bath them and pen them till Saturday. I was really lucky their feathers were in good enough shape to take them.

I am really super excited because I picked up another WL Red hen this past Sunday and had 4 Dark Cornish eggs from exhibition stock hatch yesterday: I have more eggs on the way for that breeder too!
I just need my source for more Dorkings to come through and am waiting on word from somebody with another breed I raise and love, but don't have quality enough birds to show. I'm keeping mum on that one till I get a yeah or nay either direction though.

 

[grambysfarm]

Yeah....just a bit. Sadly, I got interested in showing because of my geese and ducks, but didn't own my own coops, so couldn't take any to the show.

I really hadn't thought about taking any chickens, but when Chris told me it looked like the show didn't have many entries wanted to help out by taking a few. The only one I knew would have any sort of chance was the Cornish. I had three Dorking cockerals and three New Hampshires to choose from, so got out the SOP and looked at photos online from other show winners and just picked. All my birds free range every day, so I had to catch them Wednesday morning, bath them and pen them till Saturday. I was really lucky their feathers were in good enough shape to take them.

I am really super excited because I picked up another WL Red hen this past Sunday and had 4 Dark Cornish eggs from exhibition stock hatch yesterday: I have more eggs on the way for that breeder too!
I just need my source for more Dorkings to come through and am waiting on word from somebody with another breed I raise and love, but don't have quality enough birds to show. I'm keeping mum on that one till I get a yeah or nay either direction though.

That's awesome! Sounds like you really had a great time. That's something I think I'd like to do too at some point. Sounds like lots of fun.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Twiley, those babies are gorgeous!!! There is sometimes a downside to having the "natural incubators". Mechanical incubators are always good because you can always plug them up. Try plugging up a hen. :/

If I sold all of the broody hens, I could buy me a VERY nice cabinet incubator and then I wouldn't have to worry about future incubating because I would know for sure that I could incubate at any time.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I saw something on DYI that I am going to try.  It is to cover  a wood frame with hardware cloth, then put the frame on the ground and plant grass under it.  The chickens and bunnies can eat the tops of the greens, but not destroy the roots so it can continue to grow.  I saw fotos and people say it really works.  I want a way for my girls to get fresh growing grass.  Two of them got into the backyard a couple of weeks ago, left the gate open, and in the time it took to go to church and come back home those two chickens had made a huge mess of every garden and planted pot in my whole back yard!  So much destruction done in so little time by two chickens.  So, I am planning to put the frames in the chicken yard to give them live greens.  Have any of you heard of this or tried this before? 

I saw that somewhere but never tried it.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Those goslings are so cute! I'm trying my hand at goose eggs for the first time.


Anybody know when the next deridder swap meet will be?

Hatching goslings requires lots of patience. Most say that goose eggs hatch in 28 days but mine seldom hatch in 28 days. Also, once they pip the egg you can expect that it'll take a couple of days to zip and hatch. Don't plan to sit around to watch it hatch -- you'll get tired waiting.

You're right about patience. The goose eggs that I have hatched took longer than 28 days also. You definitely need a bottle of glass during the incubation and hatching period. :/