Maine

[Mainechick168]

I have a story to share and I hope you are not drinking anything.

Last night I was very lazy. I made breakfast for dinner; scrambled eggs, sausages and oj. SO and I sit at the 'head and foot' of the table per custom. I looked down the table at one point and saw the strangest expression on SO's face. He was nearly wringing his hands over the table and he had this suppressed expression that looked a mix of horror and humor or discomfort. Well of course I asked if he was ill? He was not. He got up shortly afterwards and left the table with his meal unfinished and not another word said. That evening, as is our custom, he came in while I was putting our youngest to bed and he said, he is 'all done eating eggs for a while.' He then explained that whilst sitting over dinner, with fork in hand, he came to the realization that fertilized eggs contained sperm from the rooster, thus his struggle to finish the meal. I could not keep from bursting with laughter but the reality of the situation for him was one I had to try to mollify. So I explained that those particular eggs had not been fertile as there was no rooster in that pen. It made him feel a little better but he stated whole heartedly he was in support of a 'just eggs' house but he still would not be eating eggs for a while as he was still obsessing over how many sperms he might have eaten in his lifetime and claimed he may even resort to buying himself eggs from the store just to be sure they are not fertile.
OMG
You can imagine, I was dying of laughter and still enjoy this story in a very naughty and deeply enjoyful way.

And wanted to mention that our Am eggs are fertile and the duck is now setting a nest.

hahaha This is funny!! DH does not have a problem with the fertile eggs here...he just told me to please not tell him every time which hen the egg came from and if it is fertile or not......

 

[lazy gardener]

Here's my question for you experts. My new chicks are about 1 week old. 3 Doms, and 3 Araucanas. 2 of the Araucanas are consistently pooping chocolate pudding. 2 Doms had pasty butt which is now cleared up. Their activity level is fine, though they are not as busy as the other 4. I'm giving them electrolytes, and probiotics, alternating with plain water and water with ACV. Should I be concerned about the chocolate pudding poops? I want to get them moved downstairs with the big chicks (10 days older) but hesitate to with the poop issue going on. Am I being overly concerned, or should I be medicating. I am using unmedicated feed, they are getting grit.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

What!?? I thought it was hilarious! I knew that SCG would tell me how trivial it was and could nearly predict the wording but honestly it was worth the laugh. SCG told me the other day that pieces of ovaduct could be in there too. I think sharing that wasn't probably the ball that got it all rolling. I am an imp secretly... not so secret now, but I am. He was much more supportive of me hanging out a shingle since. He is also totally okay with me buying a bunch of RO and moving forward with just ONE breed. I think he imagines that would mean significantly less cockerels (ie sperminators) and probably less need for pens. I figure THIS is why they say to work with one or two breeds. Right.Well, I have ones here I like. Quick: poll! Favs, Marans, Rocks, Ams or Orloffs... nevermind. Orloffs stay and the rest will .... stay too! lol

Anyone have a white Marans pullet/hen?

Am I really that predictable? By the way, just to make matters worse, I am pretty sure my houdans are a pair.

Here's my question for you experts. My new chicks are about 1 week old. 3 Doms, and 3 Araucanas. 2 of the Araucanas are consistently pooping chocolate pudding. 2 Doms had pasty butt which is now cleared up. Their activity level is fine, though they are not as busy as the other 4. I'm giving them electrolytes, and probiotics, alternating with plain water and water with ACV. Should I be concerned about the chocolate pudding poops? I want to get them moved downstairs with the big chicks (10 days older) but hesitate to with the poop issue going on. Am I being overly concerned, or should I be medicating. I am using unmedicated feed, they are getting grit.

Mine frequently have the chocolate stinky squirts the first few days/week. I have never lost a chick to anything other than unnecessary violence (meaning: they're all healthy).

 

[lazy gardener]

Am I really that predictable? By the way, just to make matters worse, I am pretty sure my houdans are a pair.


Mine frequently have the chocolate stinky squirts the first few days/week. I have never lost a chick to anything other than unnecessary violence (meaning: they're all healthy).

Thanks. So if you were me, you wouldn't hesitate with plans to move them down with the big girls this weekend? (with their own light and a hdw cloth divider between them??)

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I would (and do) move them in. I just had a double hatch about a week apart. I let the smaller guys get to about a week old, then moved everyone to a larger brooder, and that was it. I also took away the heat lamp when the younger chicks were about 2 weeks old - the basement is about 60 degrees.

Everyone's fine.

Because I moved everyone to "new" quarters, there was no fighting, so I didn't separate them. I think you're wise to separate at this point if the other babies have called the brooder "home."

 

[lazy gardener]

I would (and do) move them in. I just had a double hatch about a week apart. I let the smaller guys get to about a week old, then moved everyone to a larger brooder, and that was it. I also took away the heat lamp when the younger chicks were about 2 weeks old - the basement is about 60 degrees.

Everyone's fine.

Because I moved everyone to "new" quarters, there was no fighting, so I didn't separate them. I think you're wise to separate at this point if the other babies have called the brooder "home."

Thanks for the encouragement. My basement has no heat, so I'll keep the heat going for a while. Will play around with the light, and perhaps I may be able to get by with one bulb placed to give heat in the middle to encourage them to cuddle together for a few days with the wire divider between. The doms are so very tiny, but they're little spit fires.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Yeah, I have some Olandsk Dwarfs in with some Jersey Giants in the basement, along with a smattering of normal sized chicks. Now that's funny. But they all seem to get along right now.

When I moved everyone from the living room (near the pellet stove) to the much colder basement, they had to huddle together. It takes them about 24 hours to "get used" to the new temp, and then they're fine. We were joking that they were thinking "I don't know you, but you're a heat source. Come here and snuggle."

 

[kinsey228]

I have 3 chicks out, 3 piping and more chirping in the shells! Yay! FYI, Ashandvine, I like the dry incubation method soooo much more than the normal method. I am going to do this from now on.

 

[MustardTiger]

hooray for all the hatching! Someone should set up a hatch cam so we can watch I have often thought about putting a wireless cam in my coop just to see what they do when I am not looking.

The sun is out and we are on our way to buy the lumber needed to build a nice big brooder!

 

[Mainechick168]

SO glad the sun is out!! I spent a lot of time this morning watching the chickens and the wild turkeys- they were never too far from each other, and at one point, one turkey wandered up close to the chickens...actually, about a foot away from the rooster...and I thought he might chase it, but you know what he did? He tried to give it a snack!! He did the same little tid bitting thing he does with his ladies for this turkey...I think he was trying to convince it to join the flock I wish I had a video camera!