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

[hennypenny99]

Quick Question.... For my incubator temp - How hot is too hot and how cold is too cold? It is pouring down rain here so the temp in my house dropped a little lower than usual last night. I woke up at 5 to take the dog out and one of the incubators was at 97.4. :O I have also seen it get up to 101 at times. I don't think that is too bad but when should I panic? What is too high and what is too low? Thanks.

 

[mstricer]

Most Ingenious Chicken Design Contest

This starts out as a large empty bottle of bleach. And ends up as a chick feeder and quail feeder. There is little to no waste. I made many attempts to come up with something to stop the quail chicks and adults from wasting so much feed. Now I use it for all chicks and when they get older I don't put the top on. They waste some but not near as much as those jar feeders. No bleach jug goes to waste here. I make a feed.

Like it. Looks like it would work for messy D'Uccle kids also

 

[chick-among-us]

Maybe is just the lingering feeling of doom from yesterday, but these storms have me feeling nervous and it seems like all heck is about to be unleashed out there! there are intense cells in these storms and I am now worried about not only wind but power going out.... tornados...I just feel really nervous and of course the migraine won't leave literally am nauseus with the pain of it....Ok lord I am about at MY personal limit! Keep the tornados away ok?! PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[kathyinmo]

Quick Question.... For my incubator temp - How hot is too hot and how cold is too cold? It is pouring down rain here so the temp in my house dropped a little lower than usual last night. I woke up at 5 to take the dog out and one of the incubators was at 97.4. :O I have also seen it get up to 101 at times. I don't think that is too bad but when should I panic? What is too high and what is too low? Thanks.

97.4 and 101. averages out to be 99.2
That is pretty darn good, if you ask me!

 

[kathyinmo]

Ok so here is the "STORY" Yesterday I hear a comotion in the coop

I am soooo soooo sorry for your trauma and loss.

 

[EnnisLakeFarm]

No they live in a house. They have a huge garden, 3 beehives, a tramp, and swingset that take up their back yard.

My goal is to get 2 beehives going next year. I am still working on my DH about that though, he isn't saying NO but he would rather I didn't.

Angelia

 

[chick-among-us]

Thanks Kathy! While I am thankful he didn't kill more,it is far more upsetting than I imagined.

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[kvmommy]

Oh I'm soooo sorry! I can't believe how traumatic that was. I had a beautiful white silkie roo and a really dumb partridge silkie that were inseperable. One day I went out and there was blood splatterd on the coop and white fluff in the garden. Whatever got my roo didn't leave any pieces but blood and fluff..and I think thats much better than finding the whole or injured. I was sooo upset that day. I can't imagine how you feel. And I think you're pretty BAD-***! I can't believe you just grabbed the hawk like that! That takes guts. You should show us the pic!!! I hope you're little princess gets better fast!

Ok so here is the "STORY" Yesterday I hear a comotion in the coop so I go in the gate of the Covered run and walk over to the window of the side with the younger chickens...look in the window and I can see thru the entire coop I see the big chickens in the corner and the new rooster sreaming his head off and kinda Gaurding the girls by standing in front of them all....I look down to where they are all looking...and see something huge on the FLOOR OF THE COOP fighting with pinkachu our little silkie cockriel...well he WAS. So I am thinking somehow one of the EE girls have gotten over there and is killing him....nope...I start yelling and take off around the other side to the pop door...well the bird Flew out the pop door was now trapped in the outside COVERED run. We had just moved birds around and put the silkies in this run the day before...WE had kept pinkachu and ALL the silkies in our dang house until he was CROWING!we love them so much....ALL our favorite BANTAMS are in this pen it is secure (we thought) and no hawk had ever gotten in! but yesterday I lured the babies out with cooked spagetti...and sat outside the pop door and showing them it was safe...after I left I guess the hawk perched on the roof of the coop and dive bombed the netting (every inch is covered in netting it is all zip tied together and stapled up) when he hit it he broke thru....we found the hole RIGHT over the spagetti...(I'm gonna be sick just trying to tell this) well when he broke thru he was right in front of the pop door! All the babies prolly ran for the safety of the coop and he followed them, where he went on a killing spree I interupted him slaying pinkachu...which evididetly he was TRYING to fight the hawk and the hawk severed his little spine he was alive and fighting then was just dead,with a blow to the back of the neck.He was a pure white silkie,boy. a Maran pullet was tapped in the head and was leaking brain fluid I had to put her down. she about two months or so from laying only one of 4 maran girls....another Maran girl did have blood on her but I can find it now....and little princess another white silkie (girl we think) princess for the crown of a hairdo....she was torn open on her side then down the back of her little leg I held her and honestly after putting down the maran girl,I knew I could NOT kill princess even in kindnes,I had nursed her during that respritory crap....we had sat with them in our laps, I didnt think I could bear the red blood on the gorgeous soft fur...so as I was sitting there thinking she was taking her last breath, she drank! then ate a bit of egg....SO I decided to stitch her up....long story short of this was that you could see the clear membrane and under that the lung or heart or whatever and I knew it needed to be closed...I only have regular needle and thread so I soaked it in hand sanatizer let it dry and stitched her up she was a good girl too and :talked to me if it seemed to hurt... I had no way of easing her pain and I want you to know I felt a rage yesterday that I have never felt in my entire life. When I went into that run and that bird was trapped inside there I don;t know what came over me....There was no fear, only rage intense and consuming...he WASN't EATING! he was killing indiscriminatly for pleasure, it seemed willy nilly all over! I don't have a gun except a bee bee gun so couldnt kill him... So I walked over to him and he tried to fly away and he hit the netting and fell to the ground and I was so angry I walked over to him and stepped on him. and picked him up by the feet like one of my mean old roosters! And carried him away from my babies! He was turned over to the appropriate people....but my babies and THOSE chickens are our babies as they are just fun little darlings that cuddle.... some people say they are just chickens and trust me some are....but not those ones....when it was over and the bodies counted 3 dead and one deathy injured...another we arent sure... I went and SAT in the coop with them and called them poor little splenda came and cooed and got in my lap and wouldnt be PUSHED OFF she would chirp and fuss if I tried to put her down other ones that rarely wanted attention were crawling into my lap...I had no treats...they wanted comfort and were tramatized...the durned thing flew into the POP DOOR!!!!!!!! it was a huge hawk I have a picture of me holding it... the kids knew I was on the phone with AUTHORITIES.... when they took the ****** picture.frankly I was ready to bash it on a tree. NO I didnt do that. While it WAS magnificent I was filled to overflowing with hatred....I could have easily killed it.
You know this brought up something....I DONT want to cut the head off of a pet....these bantams ARE just that... PETS and if We are processing our roos that is one thing, but is there not something for euthanesia that is HUMANE? for a suffering bird? I thought of insulin, but that makes you FEEL so bad....I dunno ...They are staying in, I DO know that, the big chickens wouldnt go out at all, after the incident,our rooster is new and he did a great job, for not even knowing his way around yet....pinkachu gave his life...as the hawk was inches from a whole pile of his silkie family... MY children are farm kids they have to bury animals, for various reasons all the time, chickens croak, you cant eat em and they bury them for me....yesterday they buried all the littles together and made a headstone for pinkachu they said he was a hero....they also said they wont ever and no one should, mess with mom....that I looked like a hard Butt walking out of that pen carring a bird with a 6 foot wing span....very much alive. Princess is trying to live and all the littles have been brought back in the house, they were so upset they wouldnt eat or get out out of the silkie huddle....Splenda is back on Nanny duty in the brooder................ pray for princess....she is trying I hope she didn't go thru surgery for nothing. And today the rage is sadness deep and intense....and the coops are quiet as the birds wait....on the weather? the storm? or another Hawk? They dont seem to mind being in....

 

[Marty1876]

Im sorry. How awful for you.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
We're adding bees this year. It was DH's idea. We get to the store and pick out the hive stuff, then go over to the bee suits and DH looks at me and says "pick out what one will work for you". I was