my very own micro farm

[lindalouly]

Newest members of the flock, 2 Hmong and 1 hona. Waiting on more pips but two days past now.

Some new colored ee's

This little hen came from my black bantams o.0

The hona pair

Hmong cross with gold coming in on back and crown.
Things to do happy for pictures on phone again.

Attimus

Beautiful birds. I really love the look of the honas. Even the cross is neat with the golden coming out.

 

[attimus]

Beautiful birds. I really love the look of the honas. Even the cross is neat with the golden coming out.

He's going to be a stunning bird for sure. There's alot of fun colors coming out in the birds this year as well as some familiar ones. Another ee chick I have could be described as snowy. There's also definitely a few running around that have kelso blood in them too, its interesting to see all the different feather patterns emerging.

 

[attimus]

3 seems to be the magic number for the fibro birds. I just got home from work and powered down my incubator once again. Candled what was left and looks Like mostly early quitters and some jiggles. Not sure if this will be my last one or not, I'd like to do some detail stuff to the tank before commit more eggs to it but we'll see.

Got offered 100$ for some chickens the other day by a co-worker. And she's not even picky about which ones as long as they aren't chicks. I've got a couple adults and about a half a dozen older chicks picked out, not quite pullets and still hard to tell on sex so it's a crap shoot for her.

Finished another box today in prep for the watermelons, a little late but hey who's counting, I'll be happy as long as they grow at all. While I was watering i found The zucchini are doing really well. One day it's all just flowers and bees, the next there's 8inch veggies coming out of it, lol. I'll definitely be getting pictures of all of it in the morning, no cantelope yet but the plants are healthy and the dark opal, Thai and sweet Basil's are all doing really well, though not in boxes per se they are on crates in the unfinished ones to keep things streamlined in that area. Again pictures. The dark opal always looks so amazing. Lost a branch of pears, should have propped it up sooner.
Note to future self; first year fruiting isn't always the best idea.
Everything else is doing really well too. Another dozen eggs and I'll have yet one more olive tree.

All of this and still every day is one closer to a new little human being wiggling around here. Tick tick tick the anticipation is killing me.
Ill keep picking at things while I can to try and stay ahead, who knows how my time will be divided once the addition is here. I Was just talking with the boss tonight about that specific aspect as a matter of fact. I'm out here doing all these things to give my self as much spare time as I can allot before I need to change the game plan entirely.

Anyways I feel like I'm beginning to ramble and we can't have that

Onwards and upwards
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Just got the final report on a bantam pullet I sent in to ucdavis. Feeling pretty boned right now. Seems it's Marek's, which means pretty much all my chickens have been exposed.

Won't be selling live birds anytime soon...

Kinda at a loss, still processing things. Not like I already don't have alot of other stuff going on right now.

...

 

[lindalouly]

Just got the final report on a bantam pullet I sent in to ucdavis. Feeling pretty boned right now. Seems it's Marek's, which means pretty much all my chickens have been exposed.

Won't be selling live birds anytime soon...

Kinda at a loss, still processing things. Not like I already don't have alot of other stuff going on right now.

...

So sorry.

 

[limited25]

Just read about Marek's .... bummer. So sorry Attimus. Guess it is really a good idea to send the bird in and see what happened to it.

 

[attimus]

Onwards and upwards, right.
It's been a week since I found out about the Marek's infected pullet I sent to ucdavis. I've had some time to read up and discuss the matter with the Misses and some friends, though highly disruptive to certain possible future plans, it's not the end of the world.
Aside from basically eradicating my entire flock and any remnants of there living spaces along with scorching the earth where they've been and leaving it fowl free for anywhere from 6 months to a reported 7 years there aren't alot of options to eradicate this from ones backyard. I've told my friends who own chickens that this is a problem that I'm dealing with and am looking into steps to keep it contained here.
For now and probably indefinitely my flock will remain closed off from sales, I will continue to hatch chicks at determined intervals as I closely monitor the well being of my existing flock. Breeding for resistance will now be my main goal, with egg production and meat footing the feed bill as neither is affected by this disease(barring they don't have tumors when culled). With mortality rates around 50% with an affected flock this is going to take some time and at moments I imagine will be rough. Over the course of the next several years there are going to be many birds growing and dying here for one reason or another and I will do my best to continue to document and share all that I go through until I can bring that number down substantially. I understand there will always be losses from this and some birds may never show symptoms, but I must try.

Pushing forward...

Attimus

 

[aart]

Bummer.....word is from MSU poultry expert here is that Mareks is everywhere, many birds already carry it, there are different strains.

 

[attimus]

Bummer.....word is from MSU poultry expert here is that Mareks is everywhere, many birds already carry it, there are different strains.

from what I've read it sounds like it truely is everywhere tho I'm not going to get all germiphobe on my chickens. However I will be keeping things a little more tidy. What's done is done now and all I can do keep moving forward.

Attimus

 

[attimus]

Update to the Marek's situation.
The ee that was hatch mates with the bantam that led to my discovery of the Marek's is still kickin' but there's been something wrong with it as long as the bantam was suffering, doesn't seem to be fazing it to much considering. Lost another younger one yesterday with another close behind, only noticed one with visible signs. And the other kelso hen who's been limping is still limping, not certain yet whether she is sick or injured, no other visible symptoms.

I plan on putting hermes into the kelso pen shortly. Was just waiting for it to get dark. He seems to have recovered fully, and should do well with just a few hens and no bothersome competition.

It's definitely slow going here right now. Plenty happening but I've got alot on my mind with the baby coming. Keeping up as I can.

Onwards and upwards
Attimus