North Carolina

[The Howards]

how much salt and baking soda to how many eggs or pot size?

To be honest I just splash some in there. Someone here on BYC mentioned it. We use an electric skillet, I just fill it with water to cover the eggs, usually boil around 2 doz at a time. I would estimate that it is around .5 tablespoon salt and 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of baking soda.

 

[Lizabelsherrill]

I was just perusing the week's weather. Only up to the mid 90's. And I've already seen two huge V's of geese heading south. We've had no summer to speak of, we've had no winter for two years running... I'm thinking Mama Nature is getting ready to slam us with a heck of a winter. I also hope I'm dead wrong.

The humidity has made it feel hotter, but really...upper 80's and low 90's? In August? That's ten degrees less than it should be.

Yeah, this "summer" has been unusual. I had a couple of nights in July that we slept with the windows open! I haven't checked our oak tree for acorns...they say if the acorns are bountiful that there will be a harsh winter. I wouldn't mind snow but PLEASE no ice!!!!!

I hope everyone has a fantabulous weekend. Hoping to finish our run and tractor this weekend. I need it to only rain at night.

 

[wildriverswolf90]

Tried all the suggestions(Thank you everyone ) and its salt and baking soda by a mile, they peeled as easy as a store egg. I cookEd two dozen in a gallon pot and did 2 tbsp of baking soda and I guess a tbsp of salt. I don't measure.

 

[The Howards]

Tried all the suggestions(Thank you everyone

) and its salt and baking soda by a mile, they peeled as easy as a store egg. I cookEd two dozen in a gallon pot and did 2 tbsp of baking soda and I guess a tbsp of salt. I don't measure.

See that is my problem too, I don't measure. Just dump some in the pot till it looks about right. So glad it worked.
DH threw away around a dozen eggs he was trying to peel one night out of frustration before we found this trick.

 

[greenchickenman]

Hope everyone is doing well. Just skipped to the end because I have a question and I know there are some experts on here so... Im looking to buy some Silkies. I found someone who has them but they are Bantam Silkies. I did a little research and it seems American Silkies are referred too as Bantams (about 18 ounces)? European Silkies are more full sized Silkies at about 3lbs. With some cross breeding you can get close to a full sized Silkie but you cant really buy them here in the states. (Disclaimer-Im sure for the right money and right connections, you can always find anything you want. Im not talking in definites just generalities) Just making sure I was informed right before I order bantams.

 

[greenchickenman]

Double Post

 

[wildriverswolf90]

Hope everyone is doing well.  Just skipped to the end because I have a question and I know there are some experts on here so...  Im looking to buy some Silkies.  I found someone who has them but they are Bantam Silkies.  I did a little research and it seems American Silkies are referred too as Bantams (about 18 ounces)?  European Silkies are more full sized Silkies at about 3lbs.  With some cross breeding you can get close to a full sized Silkie but you cant really buy them here in the states. (Disclaimer-Im sure for the right money and right connections, you can always find anything you want.  Im not talking in definites just generalities)  Just making sure I was informed right before I order bantams.

You are correct. The silkies found here are bantams

 

[sbrooks88]

Hello everyone. Hope all has had a good day. off to bed been a long day!

 

[DSTchickencraze]

Originally Posted by NewHomesteader2010


BIG MEANIE!! How am I to narrow down this list if you all keep helping to ADD more to the list?? LOL Although a JG would be a good dual purpose one as I hear they get BIG (after a year or two??)...I wonder if it would be TOO big for my girls though...LOL Wouldn't want to traumatize them?!?
Thank you for the offer, but I am literally overrun with cucumbers this year and I don't want them to go to waste. I'm trying to learn HOW to can (I failed miserably the last time I tried...my water turned cloudy white and I was too afraid to test them) and find a small recipe for pickles as no one here is a HUGE fan of them, but I thought if I could make small pint jars of pickle chips, I could give them to friends/family and keep a few in the pantry for when we have cookouts and such (DH will ONLY eat pickles on burgers). Thank you again, you are sweet!!

I received my email from Freedom Rangers!! Our new babies will be shipped out on the 21st of this month and should be here by that Friday. So, in preparation...WHAT do I need to do? Would these kiddos be okay outside under a heat lamp or do I NEED to keep them indoors for some time? I have instructions from the Hatchery, but all it does is tell me about temperatures (95 for a week then weekly decrease by 5 degrees)...also how do you know what the temperature IS under a heat lamp?? Do you just stick a thermometer in there?!? I am SO NERVOUS about these babies...we've only had babies via a broody OR older babies (1-2 months old) from awesome BYC'ers!!

Maybe I'm not ready for this adventure...LOL


-We haven't been raising chicks that long, but we have been successful with some friends raising ours, since our summer schedule is so busy, and we have had nothing but success with our/their process. Our friends had a broody hen and she hatched 5 little chicks (which we have taken four off our friends hands

) and so whenever an egg would hatch they would be put under mama. They stay with her 24/7 until they start to get their feathers. Once they are at least half feathered, we put them out in their little baby run. They stay in there for most of the day, then come in at night with a heat lamp, decently warm room, or with mama. This has worked out great! Now we have four little Japanese Buff Black Tail chicks that are roughly 7 weeks old or so (Two roos and two hens). They are so friendly, just sit on your hand, shoulder, or head (haha!).

Anyway the time they spend with mama is technically their time with a heat lamp. Not sure about the temperature of the heat lamp or anything. I'm not even sure if your answer has been answered or not... I'm still catching up with all of these posts!


Right now, or little bantams are outside but our little Cuckoo Maran chicks are safely inside a little carrier in our extra room.




Now, nobody can say I don't love my birds! We, like I said above, got our little chicks from our friends today/yesterday. We gave them some Cuckoo Maran eggs to hatch (4 did, but one passed away, so we have three; One roo, two hens) and they also hatched some of their little Buff Black Tail Bantams. I spent a good two hours today setting up our extra little baby runs today. We have a little "flight run" set up for our youngest chicks who can be out in the day, but have to come in at night (these are our Marans, they are only about have fledged), a little Juevenille run which has our 15 week Dark Brahma and our 13 week old Splash Orpington, then we have our "baby run" for our little 6-8 week old bantams, and then we have a large area for our laying hens.

Anyway, our Brahma and Splash got upgraded to Jeuvenille today from the baby run and the bantams went in the baby run, while the marans went in the flight run. Well we soon found out that the bantams could escape from our baby run. (Ugh!) So a friend of mine and myself spent about an hour to an hour and a half adding extra fencing so our little bantams couldn't escape. Once we got them settled in, we got our Marans settled in (its their first time without Mama!). We got everything all settled out and nice, then we went to dinner.

After dinner, I get back home, it looks like it's just about to open the heavens and drown ups, so I quickly grabbed the Marans, put them inside, and went to make sure the other birds were okay. Needless to say, the bantams proved they could jump pretty high! I looked up and they were all perched up on the top of their around 7 foot pen! I got them back in and then watched as they jumped up on their little house closely before jumping up on top of their run. I spent about 10 minutes getting them all down and decided they would just have to go in the little flight run, since the Marans were inside. They finally got in there and I went inside to tell my mom about where I put them and all. As soon as I stepped in the door, it started pouring! I then remembered that I needed to check on the laying hens just to make sure they were roosting where they were suppose to (Our rooster got them into a bad habit of flying up on to the top of their pen. He actually got picked up by someone else and is currently in a nice big home that cares about him, as well as their 200 other chickens! I mean you would think that once you had 200 you wouldn't be all that excited to get another roo, but these people were just absolutely ecstatic to get a cuckoo color roo to breed with their Barred Rocks). Once I got out there, getting soaked to the bone, I saw one of our Buff orps and one of our RIRs up on top. I had to get them down and put them in their little shelter. They didn't bother arguing, they were just like "Okay, just carry me to wherever I can be dry, for I am a spoiled little bird!" (got to the Hollowoak for them, because they are just absolutely amazing and sweet. They just have to learn where to roost! Once I got them all settled, I noticed our little Brahma and Splash were roosting out in the rain, when we have them a little shelter they can go into if they want. Great just what I needed right?! Well I had to kind of wake them up and get them in a dry place. By now it looks like I am swimming in my clothes. Once I get them all settled, my clothes are plastered so close to my skin that it looks like they are apart of me. This all occurred in about 10 minutes, tops.

Not to mention that my room and our spare room is completely torn up, getting carpet clean, furniture is everywhere! Since my aunt has finally moved out (YEEEEEEEESSSSS!) I am taking the spare room and my room is being turned into an office. Well everything is all chaotic, I've been at drivers ed for 7 hours out of a day, and then had to go to practice that, not to mention our horse camp going on... it has been quite busy. Now there are little Maran chicks in my future room, the bantams in their pen, and my house trying not to float away in the rain... So tomorrow I get to spend my day steam cleaning carpets, moving furniture, and remodeling baby run...

I must sound crazy to anyone other than you guys! My dad thinks I'm nuts for loving my birds so much, but they are just my little outdoor pets that can semi fly, walk around yet still have wings, and give me eggs! Chickens are so fun to watch and such a joy to have!

Anyway just thought I should share my long and wet day... Knew you people wouldn't think it would be going over bored for birds, but just something you do for your pets.

Oh and I just had a question. I hope someone can answer it. I heard today that you shouldn't feed hens mainly used for eggs fruit, because it either makes their eggs less nutritious or slow down their production... Is this true, or just a hoax? My birds love blueberries and bananas and was just wondering if it isn't good for them... Dang! I just realized that this post is really long....

 

[DSTchickencraze]

Originally Posted by NewHomesteader2010


BIG MEANIE!! How am I to narrow down this list if you all keep helping to ADD more to the list?? LOL Although a JG would be a good dual purpose one as I hear they get BIG (after a year or two??)...I wonder if it would be TOO big for my girls though...LOL Wouldn't want to traumatize them?!?
Thank you for the offer, but I am literally overrun with cucumbers this year and I don't want them to go to waste. I'm trying to learn HOW to can (I failed miserably the last time I tried...my water turned cloudy white and I was too afraid to test them) and find a small recipe for pickles as no one here is a HUGE fan of them, but I thought if I could make small pint jars of pickle chips, I could give them to friends/family and keep a few in the pantry for when we have cookouts and such (DH will ONLY eat pickles on burgers). Thank you again, you are sweet!!

I received my email from Freedom Rangers!! Our new babies will be shipped out on the 21st of this month and should be here by that Friday. So, in preparation...WHAT do I need to do? Would these kiddos be okay outside under a heat lamp or do I NEED to keep them indoors for some time? I have instructions from the Hatchery, but all it does is tell me about temperatures (95 for a week then weekly decrease by 5 degrees)...also how do you know what the temperature IS under a heat lamp?? Do you just stick a thermometer in there?!? I am SO NERVOUS about these babies...we've only had babies via a broody OR older babies (1-2 months old) from awesome BYC'ers!!

Maybe I'm not ready for this adventure...LOL


-We haven't been raising chicks that long, but we have been successful with some friends raising ours, since our summer schedule is so busy, and we have had nothing but success with our/their process. Our friends had a broody hen and she hatched 5 little chicks (which we have taken four off our friends hands

) and so whenever an egg would hatch they would be put under mama. They stay with her 24/7 until they start to get their feathers. Once they are at least half feathered, we put them out in their little baby run. They stay in there for most of the day, then come in at night with a heat lamp, decently warm room, or with mama. This has worked out great! Now we have four little Japanese Buff Black Tail chicks that are roughly 7 weeks old or so (Two roos and two hens). They are so friendly, just sit on your hand, shoulder, or head (haha!).

Anyway the time they spend with mama is technically their time with a heat lamp. Not sure about the temperature of the heat lamp or anything. I'm not even sure if your answer has been answered or not... I'm still catching up with all of these posts!


Right now, or little bantams are outside but our little Cuckoo Maran chicks are safely inside a little carrier in our extra room.




Now, nobody can say I don't love my birds! We, like I said above, got our little chicks from our friends today/yesterday. We gave them some Cuckoo Maran eggs to hatch (4 did, but one passed away, so we have three; One roo, two hens) and they also hatched some of their little Buff Black Tail Bantams. I spent a good two hours today setting up our extra little baby runs today. We have a little "flight run" set up for our youngest chicks who can be out in the day, but have to come in at night (these are our Marans, they are only about have fledged), a little Juevenille run which has our 15 week Dark Brahma and our 13 week old Splash Orpington, then we have our "baby run" for our little 6-8 week old bantams, and then we have a large area for our laying hens.

Anyway, our Brahma and Splash got upgraded to Jeuvenille today from the baby run and the bantams went in the baby run, while the marans went in the flight run. Well we soon found out that the bantams could escape from our baby run. (Ugh!) So a friend of mine and myself spent about an hour to an hour and a half adding extra fencing so our little bantams couldn't escape. Once we got them settled in, we got our Marans settled in (its their first time without Mama!). We got everything all settled out and nice, then we went to dinner.

After dinner, I get back home, it looks like it's just about to open the heavens and drown ups, so I quickly grabbed the Marans, put them inside, and went to make sure the other birds were okay. Needless to say, the bantams proved they could jump pretty high! I looked up and they were all perched up on the top of their around 7 foot pen! I got them back in and then watched as they jumped up on their little house closely before jumping up on top of their run. I spent about 10 minutes getting them all down and decided they would just have to go in the little flight run, since the Marans were inside. They finally got in there and I went inside to tell my mom about where I put them and all. As soon as I stepped in the door, it started pouring! I then remembered that I needed to check on the laying hens just to make sure they were roosting where they were suppose to (Our rooster got them into a bad habit of flying up on to the top of their pen. He actually got picked up by someone else and is currently in a nice big home that cares about him, as well as their 200 other chickens! I mean you would think that once you had 200 you wouldn't be all that excited to get another roo, but these people were just absolutely ecstatic to get a cuckoo color roo to breed with their Barred Rocks). Once I got out there, getting soaked to the bone, I saw one of our Buff orps and one of our RIRs up on top. I had to get them down and put them in their little shelter. They didn't bother arguing, they were just like "Okay, just carry me to wherever I can be dry, for I am a spoiled little bird!" (got to the Hollowoak for them, because they are just absolutely amazing and sweet. They just have to learn where to roost! Once I got them all settled, I noticed our little Brahma and Splash were roosting out in the rain, when we have them a little shelter they can go into if they want. Great just what I needed right?! Well I had to kind of wake them up and get them in a dry place. By now it looks like I am swimming in my clothes. Once I get them all settled, my clothes are plastered so close to my skin that it looks like they are apart of me. This all occurred in about 10 minutes, tops.

Not to mention that my room and our spare room is completely torn up, getting carpet clean, furniture is everywhere! Since my aunt has finally moved out (YEEEEEEEESSSSS!) I am taking the spare room and my room is being turned into an office. Well everything is all chaotic, I've been at drivers ed for 7 hours out of a day, and then had to go to practice that, not to mention our horse camp going on... it has been quite busy. Now there are little Maran chicks in my future room, the bantams in their pen, and my house trying not to float away in the rain... So tomorrow I get to spend my day steam cleaning carpets, moving furniture, and remodeling baby run...

I must sound crazy to anyone other than you guys! My dad thinks I'm nuts for loving my birds so much, but they are just my little outdoor pets that can semi fly, walk around yet still have wings, and give me eggs! Chickens are so fun to watch and such a joy to have!

Anyway just thought I should share my long and wet day... Knew you people wouldn't think it would be going over bored for birds, but just something you do for your pets.

Oh and I just had a question. I hope someone can answer it. I heard today that you shouldn't feed hens mainly used for eggs fruit, because it either makes their eggs less nutritious or slow down their production... Is this true, or just a hoax? My birds love blueberries and bananas and was just wondering if it isn't good for them... Dang! I just realized that this post is really long....