Mahonri's 3rd Annual, BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[AK Michelle]

This evening, on the way to dinner with DH, I got a call from a coworker. His wife would like him to buy some of my Icelandic chicks. 2 Dozen Icelandic chicks

After I take the call I am excited about my big sale and start thinking about how many eggs I can fit in my bator. I have a Hovabator 1588, The turner holds 42 eggs. I have 2 dozen eggs ordered and a swap coming, so that only leaves me room for enough Icelandics to fill the order and none left for me. But if I stack them I could fit....

When we got to the restaurant, DH says, You know, maybe it's time to get one of those big cabinet style with, what have they got, 7 trays?

He wants to know how much they cost, I told him we can build one like Cheryl's, That would be enough chicks at one time. Besides, retailers are crooks of the worst kind. They post a shipping charge and then find out we are in ALASKA so they quadruple it. No joke. And I LOVE IT when they charge me $80 for shipping and the package arrives with $18.75 cents postage attached. When I call them on that kind of stuff they tell me the extra charge is for HANDLING. Um, they drop it at the same post office that takes the stuff they are shipping 2 states over, what is the "Extra handling" exactly? That is usually the question that makes them hang up on me.

Anywho... looks like there is a bigger bator in my future

 

[java girl 2]

I AM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST FINISHED THE HATCH-A-LONG LIST.

Thanks java girl 2!! I know that took a lot of time for you...WELL DONE!












just trying to help in anyway I can.

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I don't know if I can ship eggs, don't you have to be NIPI to ship eggs ???

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love me, love my chickens!!!!!!!

I keep telling my husband that he needs to join and star a thread along the lines of, "Support group for spouses of poultry addicts"
I can just see the posts... DW has left me for Mahonri again... Or we're spending our date night on the Oklahoma thread.... Or my favorite... My wife just put something kind of like a kiwi in the bator... Anyone know what that is?

I can see it now..............................

I was just reading about guineas yesterday, and it said this.....
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http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Keeping_guinea_fowl.pdf


PS...... I know nothing about cats. Sorry.

I HAVE GUINEAS and they don't get them at all!!!!!!!!!!

and the rats are big ones too!!!!!! they know not to come out in the daytime, so they are out at night which is why I tripped over one tonight!!!!!!!!

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I love your cats!!!!!!!!!!! so pretty!!!!!!!!!!!

and thank you for giving me some ideas on cats as well!!!!

 

[craz e laid e]

OK, I have been talking with my mom and I may be able to get a cat!!!!!!!!!!

the Reason for the cat is we have been having a bad vole/mice and rat problem. our Fields are being taken care of by an old farmer Friend and the fields were hey fields but the last few years he has been growing corn and leaves the corn in the fields to dry, sometimes he can't harvests it till spring. we never had voles/rats till he started growing corn and the voles are eating everything that we are trying to grow!!!!!!!!!!

we have tried all kinds of traps and nothing in the traps!!!!!!!!!!!! my dad had to start shooting the rats and got them all, but now they are BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tripped over one tonight when I was doing something, not a good site to see !!!!!!!!!!

they are getting bolder and bolder every day now. SO I HAVE A FEW Qs, do any of you have indoor/outdoor cats or barn cats??? how did you get them to NOT go after the poultry??? I am thinking of getting one from a shelter because they have up to date shots and sometimes they are fixed, RIGHT?????? and I know there are a lot of cats that need a a good home at the shelters. have any of you adopted a cat form a shelter?? I need the cat to stay around so what is a good age for a cat ?? male or female ?? if it's an outdoor cat only, how do I keep the cat to stay around and not have the cat take off ?? or does it need to be indoors first?? I really want the cat to be indoor/outdoors but will have to see what my mom says. that is why I am asking the Qs, to know what I need to do. HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you get a cat from a shelter (kitten or adult) I would definitely keep it confined somewhere until it knows that this is "home" and where the food is! I know people that have cats that stay out all day and sleep in the house at night, but cats are nocturnal, and that's probably when they would catch the most mice/moles/voles. Of course, that is when they are most likely to become "prey" themselves. I don't know if they will go after a large rat, (luckily never had that problem) but if they kill the babies, that should help end the cycle. LOL.

I've only had one outdoor cat since I got chickens, and she has not bothered them at all (that I know of), not even my tiny banties, although I am sure she would probably go after chicks if the mother wasn't around to protect them. I think a full grown LF could probably take care of itself, but I don't know that for sure, since I haven't had a problem. I had an old house cat that sneaked out and I caught him stalking a large wild turkey, but I'm sure he would have gotten the worst end of it if I hadn't stopped him. (I blamed it on senility, or stupidity - both applied.) If you want it to catch mice ASAP, I would probably get a young adult, but kittens are so much fun and they might bond with you better, but are not going to be hunters as quickly.

As far as male or female, I've heard that females are better mousers, but I had a Tom that was great at it, and in my opinion, males are sometime more affectionate, although it depends greatly on the individual animal. I have had females that wouldn't stay off of my lap. And males sometimes spray (but so can females to a lesser extent).

When you adopt from a shelter, most have already been spayed/neutered, or if they are too young, you have to agree to have it done when they are old enough.

But be prepared, they like to bring you little "gifts" (or at least mine did) and left "parts" on the front steps for me almost every morning. I kept kicking them off into the flower beds, and the next spring I would have a whole graveyard of little skulls. The other parts apparently disintegrated or something.

If the shelter has a "visitation room", I think I would just go sit in there and see which one(s) seem the most friendly and affectionate. Sometimes it's better to let them adopt you than you adopt them, and I'm sure the staff at the shelter can answer a lot more questions. Now that I've probably caused more questions, than I have answered . . . Good Luck!!!

 

[java girl 2]

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no, you have giving me a lot of answers to the Qs I had!!!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!!

 

[Mahonri]

MN called.

Marking my spot.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Silvadene... very expensive. (The nurse tried to score me some samples... they were all out) Trauma nurse also says that Neosporin on the large red parts should keep me infection free.

AWP of a pound jar of Silvadene is about 40 bucks (seriously, I logged into McKesson to check)... call around. Usually K Mart and Sams Club and any independents if you have them have the best prices if your insurance doesn't cover it. CVS used to do a "doctors discount" back when I worked for them (last in 2006). Ask them to order the cheapest SSD they can find and give you the discount.

Are you taking anything by mouth to prevent infection for the burn? Like amox/clav?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

So the reference to MRSA caught my eye, took my 21 yr old to dr today to have a cyst removed. We were worried about MRSA as she'd been exposed.turns out, not a cyst. Now we're testing for Hodgkins. Who would have thought that MRSA would be the better outcome? So now I'm sleepless.

and

 

[dsqard]

I got some when I laid my hand on a hot exhaust manifold. scorched the whole palm right off in less than a second. Yowie! But the doc gave me Silvadene, I was almost back to normal in just a couple days. No pain, fast healing. How can you put a price tag on that. THAT would be an excellent example for the kids. DON'T SUFFER IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO.

Yes Mahonri, it is expensive stuff but listen to all of the advice you have been getting from everyone if you don't have some yet. Especially listen to Michelle about the suffering. Why do men want to wait until it is so bad there is no other choice but to go see the doc/dentist?

A little really does go a long way.

 

[dsqard]

Anywho... looks like there is a bigger bator in my future

How cool is that?

I don't know if I can ship eggs, don't you have to be NIPI to ship eggs ???

It depends on the state regulations. I think I might be able to work something out with thebirdguy. He is just north of me in Idaho and has some. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble if your state doesn't allow it.

Besides he has BR too so I might pick up a couple of those as well so I can get a wider gene pool for mine. I can't keep breeding brother/sister as I replace the two I have with the new ones.
Soooooooo SCG, I might be able to hook you up with some BR eggs for after this hatch. Interested??????????

 

[java girl 2]

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Anywho... looks like there is a bigger bator in my future

How cool is that?

I don't know if I can ship eggs, don't you have to be NIPI to ship eggs ???

It depends on the state regulations. I think I might be able to work something out with thebirdguy. He is just north of me in Idaho and has some. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble if your state doesn't allow it.

Besides he has BR too so I might pick up a couple of those as well so I can get a wider gene pool for mine. I can't keep breeding brother/sister as I replace the two I have with the new ones.
Soooooooo SCG, I might be able to hook you up with some BR eggs for after this hatch. Interested??????????

hmm, I will have to look into shipping eggs. oh I have BRs as well