Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

Minnie when we ask for hens of course there is less demand for the baby Roos. Your honesty and the way you told us about male chicks puts it in a different light. I understand not bringing them up with feed costs as they are and dealing with a volume of chickens that you have.

I think also that working with those Asian folks is a great thing,

The lawn looks greener these last couple days but cold and snow for Monday and Friday?! Nooooooo!!!!!

I was looking at my Roos feet and I think he may have broken a middle toe. Looks a little swollen and bent. My buckeye hen also had a nail and small portion of her toe shrivel blacken and fall off. Any body else deal with winter toe breaks and loss of toes. Or do I have to lower those roosts even more?!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Minnie a hatching question for you.

I got that cheapy still air incubator at runnings to use as a hatcher. I am moving the diamond encrusted creamette eggs tonight or tomorrow to it.

I am hoping the still air will give the chicks a chance to dry slower and slow down some of the heat shrinking....

The thermometer on the incubator seems to be off by about 4-5 degrees. I use the old indoor/outdoor thermometers with probes on a wire, I put the wire at about eggs height to get a more accurate reading. I can also move the probes between incubators to check the accuracy of the thermometers. I did that and found the incubator off.
By turning the incubator down to 97 I am getting a 102 on my hatcher. Is that where I want to be?

Do you think I should disregard the one on the incubator?


Now the biggie.

When I last candled some of the eggs had air sacs on the side, should I lay them air sac up on the side for hatching? I have lots of room as I only have 7 eggs hatching sunday/Monday.


Thanks in advance..






As far as Bert goes, I looked at his feet, the left pad maybe a tad swollen hard to tell, He fought me the whole time I had him upside down. He is not waking much, but seem ok and he was crowing a fair amount after I checked him.

I could not see a broken leg, but have no idea if I would see it. He walks/waddles with a limp is all.

I raised the food up in the air so the turkeys and hens can reach it easily but he needs to stand on tippy toes or be happy with scratch and the stuff the others drop. That will at least keep him from sitting a pigging out at the feeder.


If he does die, I have a plan, it may not be a good one, but it is a plan. I will keep the Dixie chicks in the pen for 3 weeks and collect and hatch their eggs, hoping they are Berts babies. After 3 weeks, Ed will move into there with the Dixie Chicks. Ed is the partridge Chanticler I got from EJB. He is a big bird with huge long drumsticks. His only problem is his attitude. With the Dixie chicks, as long as he does not hurt them, he can be the biggest AAAAAAA ( sorry I dare not say the word) he wants, he will not hurt my Ole and Ernie.

Eventually Ernie will be going into a pen with just BA hens so I can raise them.

I am actually thinking of moving slowly towards a few breeds I keep "pure".
BA
Dominiques
and the Creamettes to start with.

You don't want it that hot, 100.5 is good, maybe 101.
I use 2 or 3 different little thermometers and a digital sometimes if I use one of those ones. I also don't use the water pan in the bottom, I use a tupperware type dish with sponges in it, and I line the wire with paper towel to keep the clean-up easier. Still air takes longer to dry, and I have experienced a higher number of them being too wet and drowning in the egg with those, but they do work okay if you follow all the 'rules' of using them. Make sure once you get a couple hatching that you open a vent plug to release the excess moisture.
A probe thermometer should work well though.

Good luck with those gems!!

Bert may just be coming to his end, the legs or the heart is what gets them. I am certainly surprised he has made it this long. I would be hard pressed to think you got some fertile eggs just because it would be incredible if he were to have done the deed. Even some pure Cornish who aren't that big cannot breed naturally. He sure has given us all loads of laughs as one of your main characters of your daily stories. I hope he has a longer time with you though.

 

[Rhetts]

Does anyone paint the interior of their coop? or whitewash? or poly it or deck stain it? Like the walls and ceilings I mean. I am going to do a big spring clean of the coop this weekend and fix a few things that needed fixing in the coop so I was wondering since I will have it emptied should I be putting something on the interior walls? Would it help in anyway? Should I paint it a pretty color so they can make it through the weary winters? Ha Ha Right now it is just plywood. What about nest boxes? Those were made out of wood and I did not 'paint' them with anything either.

 

[Minniechickmama]

The chicks will be 7 weeks tomorrow. DD saw one of the Welsummers trying to crow today. Is that normal for that breed to mature so young? Also wondering if comb development on wyandottes is normal at this age? This is our first go round with the rose comb type so I am not sure how quickly the pullets come in versus the cockerels.

Also my brother in law candled the duck and goose eggs he has in the incubator. He wasn't too sure but thinks there is development. However, he found the incubator to be 6 degrees too hot! He doesn't know for how long it was like that. He constantly checks it since it is a new bator. Well, all we can do is wait and see I guess.

For any home schoolers out there,anyone going to MACHE this weekend? I WISH I were but alas DH work schedule doesn't work out for me to go. I was completely bummed.

I have seen cockerels try to crow as young as 2-weeks, which is INSANELY young, but it does happen, and I did say TRY!
Rosecombs won't usually fatten up for a while, but the males tend to get redder about that age. Wyandottes could be a real pain for me. I do an early feather sexing, then they get me stumped pretty quick and for about 3 weeks before I start being able to pick them out one sex from the other.

If that was a foamie type bator, have him change the wafer thermostat when this batch is done. That is a typical problem with those, the thermostat starts going and will spike. It is not pretty when it is in the middle of a hatch, and less pretty when you have about $300 worth of eggs in it when it does. I keep a wafer on hand for when I run mine, but you have to readjust it before using it again after replacing so changing in the middle of a batch is likely going to kill the batch if they are growing. Remember, waterfowl eggs need more humidity too.
Good luck, I hope it's just a thermometer error.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Does anyone paint the interior of their coop? or whitewash? or poly it or deck stain it? Like the walls and ceilings I mean. I am going to do a big spring clean of the coop this weekend and fix a few things that needed fixing in the coop so I was wondering since I will have it emptied should I be putting something on the interior walls? Would it help in anyway? Should I paint it a pretty color so they can make it through the weary winters? Ha Ha Right now it is just plywood. What about nest boxes? Those were made out of wood and I did not 'paint' them with anything either.

This was before the chicken wire was put on everything and the blue on the upper parts of the doors was done.
YES paint everything! It isn't just for looks, it does help to seal the wood from mites and other creep crawlies that like to hide in little spaces. It doesn't mean you won't ever get them, but painting helps.
Also, for roosts, use cedar, it is naturally pest and rot resistent. The only pen I have had an issue with leg mites or feather mites is one where I have one 2x4 that is fir and not painted. It isn't even intended to be a roost, but until I get a shelf set on it, the birds are using it as one. I have to treat the birds and sprinkle Sevin on the wood there.
Don't be fooled, it isn't that clean in my coop after 4 years. I need to pressure wash and repaint this year if I can find the time. It looks cool, but I failed to include one very important thing... an easy way to clean it all out! I have to start in the center and go pen to pen with a muck tub to get it all hauled out.

 

[Rhetts]

Ah YES! Finally, thanks to Ralphie's tutorial : "How to post a pic on BYC 101" I was able to upload my picture that I tried to do a few days ago. This is the fella/lady that is spending lots of quality time here at our property. So far, it has just been cleaning up the pasture and has left my birds alone. I hope it stays that way! We have been able to walk within about 10 feet of it. Pretty cool!

 

[holm25]

That is a beautiful pic!!! What would we do without Ralph!! Everyday he posts something that makes my day!

 

[Rhetts]

This was before the chicken wire was put on everything and the blue on the upper parts of the doors was done.
YES paint everything! It isn't just for looks, it does help to seal the wood from mites and other creep crawlies that like to hide in little spaces. It doesn't mean you won't ever get them, but painting helps.
Also, for roosts, use cedar, it is naturally pest and rot resistent. The only pen I have had an issue with leg mites or feather mites is one where I have one 2x4 that is fir and not painted. It isn't even intended to be a roost, but until I get a shelf set on it, the birds are using it as one. I have to treat the birds and sprinkle Sevin on the wood there.
Don't be fooled, it isn't that clean in my coop after 4 years. I need to pressure wash and repaint this year if I can find the time. It looks cool, but I failed to include one very important thing... an easy way to clean it all out! I have to start in the center and go pen to pen with a muck tub to get it all hauled out.

WOW! That looks pretty neat!! I will heed your advice and find something to paint the interior with. The roosts were made from pine so I should paint them too right? Obviously, I need to find the least toxic paint there is. Do you have a recommendation on the type to use?

 

[nordicacres]

Gorgeous owl!

I actually spent my day today painting the interior of the coop! My DH picked out some sort of indoor/outdoor sealant paint at Menards. If it doesn't rain tomorrow I'll be painting the wood on the run.

Fingers crossed that the electrician actually shows tomorrow AM like he said he would! Then we can move them all out to the Coop e

 

[Rhetts]

That is a beautiful pic!!! What would we do without Ralph!! Everyday he posts something that makes my day!

Thanks. I can't believe how close this owl lets us get. And yes, I can't start my day without my dose of the Minnesota thread with a cup of coffee.