Montana

[RoyalT]

Quote: Oh that's a ways

 

[ReneB]

Rene I have a standard bronze hen and a bronze tom and a narggensant tom. They free range so I will have to watch to see where she will lay her eggs.

The hi-line is where Highway 2 runs from eastern MT to western MT.

That would be fabulous herfrds! If I remember correctly- you and I aren't terribly far apart?

I went ahead and ordered a Reptipro 6000 last night. Not sure when it will be here, but today I'm going to dig out the stryofoam box and see if I can get it up and running as well. We hatched a few chicks out in it last year, but it's difficult to keep the temp constant in it. I was always going to buy a fan for it, but so far that is still on my "to do" list.

Cows are calving right along. Seems like we get a storm and they get serious about having those babies. 8 of the heifers calved overnight and a few of the old cows. In other good news though- our first mare due is beginning to bag. Our first Cleveland Bay baby!

I better run for now and get the daily calf numbers sent in to the boss lady~ Hope you all have a great day!

 

[ReptileMom]

Hi everyone! I just want to share something regarding my incubators. I have 3 Little Giants (plus two more that have had thermostats die), and one of the three has starting getting flaky with it's thermostat, so I decided I better buy another one and get it going before the other one either fried my eggs or died (they have done both).

I bought a Farm Innovators Pro Series 4200 from online. I set it up 3 weeks ago. It has held temperature better than any of the Little Giants, and the humidity has been great. I have to fill the Little Giants trays frequently. I have only put water in the Farm Innovators incubator twice in the three weeks. I don't know if all Farm Innovators 4200 are this good, but I know that my next incubator that I have to replace will definitely be replaced with a FI 4200. I am done with the flaky Little Giants!!

 

[Azriel]

ReptileMom, its nice to know about the Farm Innovators 4200 incubator, I've been looking at them, price isn't bad, and if they work well that's great. Just what I need, another incubator.
Well, I bought that yearling heifer I was looking at. I'll pick her up next Sat. She is a nice little girl, very pretty red, and seems to have a pretty easy going temperament. I'll get photos of her when we get her next week.
Karla, I think the chicks are 9 or 10 weeks now, and they are fully feathered, but I have not put them out yet. Its been pretty cold here the last few days. If I can get them out and acclimated to the weather, then I would think they will be fine in a dog house without heat. It should be warming up soon.

 

[herfrds]

Gotta set up my live trap. Just missed getting 2 raccoons tonight! They hit the ditch before I hit them with my truck. They play havoc on my eggs and birds.

Yes Rene we are pretty close. I am outside Fort Benton.

 

[ReptileMom]

Two years ago, we were living with my M-i-L after returning to Montana from living in OH for 12 years. I got chickens and they were free-ranging on a few acres. They never strayed very far from the coop or main house, but I lost several to raccoons. We set a live trap near the coop and near the house, over and over again. Caught 11 of those little buggers!! They were transported to new locations to set up home in the farther wilds of MT.

 

[ReptileMom]

March 19 is National Poultry Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o5jEcOvzZys

Have a FOWL day!!

 

[karlamaria]

ReptileMom, its nice to know about the Farm Innovators 4200 incubator, I've been looking at them, price isn't bad, and if they work well that's great. Just what I need, another incubator.
Well, I bought that yearling heifer I was looking at. I'll pick her up next Sat. She is a nice little girl, very pretty red, and seems to have a pretty easy going temperament. I'll get photos of her when we get her next week.
Karla, I think the chicks are 9 or 10 weeks now, and they are fully feathered, but I have not put them out yet. Its been pretty cold here the last few days. If I can get them out and acclimated to the weather, then I would think they will be fine in a dog house without heat. It should be warming up soon.

cool, I should be coming your way with in a few weeks, I'm heading the opposite way this weekend to get goat and cow milk, .will you take a pic of the girls, just so I can show mom and my son. There pretty happy and I want to keep mom upbeat.

 

[karlamaria]

Hi everyone! I just want to share something regarding my incubators.  I have 3 Little Giants (plus two more that have had thermostats die), and one of the three has starting getting flaky with it's thermostat, so I decided I better buy another one and get it going before the other one either fried my eggs or died (they have done both).  

I bought a Farm Innovators Pro Series 4200 from online.  I set it up 3 weeks ago.  It has held temperature better than any of the Little Giants, and the humidity has been great.  I have to fill the Little Giants trays frequently.  I have only put water in the Farm Innovators incubator twice in the three weeks.  I don't know if all Farm Innovators 4200 are this good, but I know that my next incubator that I have to replace will definitely be replaced with a FI 4200.  I am done with the flaky Little Giants!!

wow you must do a lot of hatchlings. I will have to back and look at what kind of chickens you have lol. I think I will stick to my broody, and yep she is hard at it, I have got to get her some eggs soon to sit on, she is getting pretty mean.

 

[ReptileMom]

I have been hatching eggs off of eBay for several months. Problem has been the very low hatch rates. I can put 42 eggs in and often only get 4-8 eggs hatch. I have had whole incubators full that have not hatched. I have thrown alot of eggs out!! I am about done with the major hatching - just need to get some of Azriel's eggs and get them hatched. They should give me a much better hatch than the eBay eggs. I will probably hatch a few to try and sell at the Fair this summer, but other than that... I will shut down for a while.

I find that the hardest part is raising the babies to a size where I can decide if I want to keep them or sell them. Takes up a lot of room in the house. Good thing this place is a fixer-upper and we haven't done much of the inside yet!! There are about 50+ chicks of various ages and lots of dust in the place. I always think of it as 'We sorta live in a barn' right now.