North Carolina

[tammyfarms]

Tammy.. I break all the rules.. I don't even use chick starter or raiser. Straight to layer for all my birds, no problems here. So at 31/2 months old..go for the layer. LOL
AND the AM x white Legs are SUPER BLUE EGG LAYERS. They will be either smutty white colored or white with black spots. Odd pea combs and lay a nice big blue egg.
I was making them...but sold off all the breeders and just sold my last 2 hens this weekend. Ya know.....downsizing, to make room for the new breeds growing out.

Dutch...snake, rat or human. Anything else would have left a massacre behind.

Thanks Beth! I am excited to get some eggs in the incubator... LOL.. hubby might not be so happy. I have a dozen or so coming from FL and eggs coming from Hollow... My little Splash Blue Wheaten Roo is not yet crowing or interested in girls so I am guessing it will be another few months until I hatch any of these.

Appreciate the info on the starter vs layer too!

I don't use DE either. There's no research on it's internal use, and since intestines are more tender than intestinal worms, if it was going to cut up worms it would do worse to the chicken. So, spring and fall worming here, too. Getting them all neatly divided up and staggering the worming means I still get usable eggs.

Padlocks here, too. I've had friends lose entire flocks to the two-legged beast. Expensive, specialty birds. Since my main henhouse is closer to the road than the house is, it's padlocked. And since I have expensive babies out back, it's padlocked there, too. Padlocks. Good for peace of mind.

Thanks Hollow! I have read the same on DE I use it in their coops and dust baths but not in food. Since my newbies are on quarantine, I am thinking the same thing about rotation so I can continue getting eggs.

RF - I have never fed pumpkin but will give it a try this fall. Do you just feed it raw straight from the pumpkin, guts and all?

 

[tammyfarms]

Thanks, I meant to weigh them before incubating them but in my excitement I forgot to so I didn't know how to make up for not knowing the original weight. I am not 100% on the humidity for the first 18 days it was between 20% & 50% first 18 days. Only added a little water once a day to keep the humidity from getting in the teens. They slipped out of the shells really easy once I zipped it around from the hole they started.

I am so proud of them. They figured out how to use the chicken nipples all by themselves!

Sounds like you did all the right things! I would guess the ones that didn't make it just weren't strong enough. Nature's way of taking care that only the strongest survive.

 

[BHep]

Thanks Beth! I am excited to get some eggs in the incubator... LOL.. hubby might not be so happy. I have a dozen or so coming from FL and eggs coming from Hollow... My little Splash Blue Wheaten Roo is not yet crowing or interested in girls so I am guessing it will be another few months until I hatch any of these.

Appreciate the info on the starter vs layer too!

Thanks Hollow! I have read the same on DE I use it in their coops and dust baths but not in food. Since my newbies are on quarantine, I am thinking the same thing about rotation so I can continue getting eggs.

RF - I have never fed pumpkin but will give it a try this fall. Do you just feed it raw straight from the pumpkin, guts and all?

Your birds will LOVE the pumpkin. I just drop the pumpkin on the ground, it cracks open and they attack, leaving nothing left but skin !!! LOL

 

[Banriona]

Padlocks is a good idea! I don't think a person came and took them, but I guess anything is possible. Better to be safe than sorry! And would keep kids from accidently leaving the gate open.

I hadn't thought of a snake. A snake probably would be able to creep in there where another predator wouldn't. However, I have NEVER seen a snake over by me (not to say there isn't one). We live in the city with no woods or water or anything close to our house. I went and looked for a snake pattern in the run since they've eaten all the grass down to sand and didn't see any marks, but that doesn't mean anything since it rained.

Possibly the barred rock could have been trampled by larger chickens if there was a snake causing her to hurt her leg? Though we never heard anything and they're right out our window.

The Isbars are only about 5 weeks old so they were small enough to be eaten. Though 3 disappeared and 3 chicks the same size (2 marans & another Isbar) were left behind. We had chickens for about a year before we started over and never had a snake come after the eggs or other chicks, so it could be a new one.

Is there a way to check for snakes or trap or something? If he got a good meal I don't want him coming back for more, especially since my exchequer leghorns & bredas are supposed to hatch this week!

I read somewhere (probably on BYC) that crawfish traps work to catch snakes.

 

[dutchbunny83]

You know, now that you say that I remember seeing something about a month ago on here I think, some guy fashioned his own snake traps out of crawfish nets. I'll have to search that again and see if I can fashion something. Haha you know I'm going to freak out if I somehow catch a 6ft snake in my yard. My husband thinks they managed to squeeze through the fence and go into the neighbors yard and the dog got it. They are small enough that they possibly could, but there were no feathers or anything in their yard and they've never attempted it before so I am thinking we somehow did get a snake. I've been scowering the yard looking for it. Don't they go like a week before they strike again to digest the food? I remember someone had a pet snake and they gave it a live mouse like once a week, pretty gross!

 

[Regin]

Once we had a snake that got in the garage and had gotten caught in the net that holld the insulation in place. He was dead.

 

[lindz8504]

Chicken math is striking!!!!! I am debating on adding 2-3 EE pullets to my flock.... Have to figure out how to quarantine though.... What do you all think? They were hatched either in Dec or Feb. $10 each.... good deal or not?

 

[2Sesslers]

Helloooo to all of my fellow chicken lovers! Glad everyone is doing well for the most part. Our girls are still regular on their laying schedule, and our summer garden is through.

In other news, I haven't been around much because we found out a few weeks ago that we are having TWINS in April (and inhave been illllll)! Ohhhhh what a shock & a blessing! In the upcoming weeks and months I presume we will be busy with the holidays and then two babies before we know it! Oh the joy

 

[Matt A NC]

I use deer/wildlife netting to catch snakes. It comes in 100'x7' rolls at Lowes. It has 1 inch holes and is a pain to work with as it snags EVERYTHING. I loosely zip-tie a double layer to the outside bottom foot of the lots, when I used lots. Check it when you can. No point it letting the snake die a slow miserable death.

Matt

 

[ramirezframing]

Quote:
congrats on the double trouble heading your way...but double the love too