NY chicken lover!!!!

[featherz]

I'd love to go to chickenstock, but still no car.. The Subaru is coming near the end of next month if all goes well.

Put a few of my own eggs under my broody cochins - I have 6 broodies so far /sigh. Wanted to put a few in the incubator yesterday but let the pump run without a 'towel' and the bator smells musty. Clean and oxine time again. argh!

I am hopeful there's not going to be a lot of mud for me to work in this weekend.

Can someone please shut off the tick factory? Pulled the first one off just last week and I haven't even gone in my woods!

Still wanting to rehome nine older (2yr) chickens - cheap to free to a good home if not intended to use for food purposes and you come get them here (wilton).. Still laying well except the po'd broody. Australorps, easter eggers and one mean broody. Trying to 'decommission' one coop. pics available if interested!

Hi ho hi ho..

 

[SAHchickenmom]

Featherz, I would love to take those chickens off your hands but you are 3 hours away

The cabinet incubator is coming along nicely The heater kit we ordered online so won't have it til Friday but I'm expecting to have it up and running by the end of next week! I can do 140 eggs at a time so I will be looking for some nice hatching eggs at chicken stock LF Cochin would be awesome! Also anything Lavender!

 

[help4me]

Boy this thread moves so fast, I am trying to figure out how to keep up. When one wants to respond to a certain person what is the best way? How does one remember all the different names when wanting to include them all, do you write them down or is there an easier way? New to chickens and new to posting on public forums so much to learn.

Here is a question I can't seem to find the answer to. I just realized that Collette is starting her first molt, she will be 1 this coming May 17Th. I am wondering if she will still go broody? I have some eggs that I was hoping to put under her. If she does go broody is it O.K. to have her sit on some eggs, or is she already stressed enough? I don't know what kind of mother she will be as she has never hatched out any, maybe molting is not a good time to try? Or is molting not really stressful just an ugly time. Should I be feeding her anything different? Thank goodness for this site, or I would have no idea what is wrong with her. I guess Ricky will be starting to molt sometime too? Thank you so much!

O.K. I did find out about feeding more protein, but still don't know about the whole molting and broody thing.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all! Woke up to five silkies hatched out and more pipping! Go little silkies go! Now I just have to do the brooder shuffle to accomodate them. The brats are doing well out in the coop despite the cold and the rain. Of course I have it pretty closed up right now with just the vents open for ventilation and there are 20 of them in there. I am very happy with how hardy they are. My reds are looking really nice and everyone is eating me out of house and home. Hopefully the weather is better by sunday so I can attach the run and skirting so I can let them out to play all day. My second hatch of reds and mutts are doing well and really starting to grow. Cant wait till they can go out as well.

Thelma has gone broody and screams at whoever gets in the nesting box with her. Too bad I am done hatching mutt eggs otherwise I would let her hatch some out. Bill may go to canning camp sooner rather than later. It would give the girls some relief from his constant mating of them.

A dreary day today so Im glad im off to the pharm. Have a good one everyone.

 

[Metella]

Boy this thread moves so fast, I am trying to figure out how to keep up.

HELP4ME - you can put in the name for a general answer - like I did on this line. OR you can use the quote button which is at the bottom of a post - so that we all know what you are responding to.


As far as keeping up - I try to read all the posts in the morning and then can keep up with any new ones at lunch and dinner - that way I read with my coffee while I am waking up ... but find a way that works for you - you don't even know what you don't know unless you read all the great experiences on here !!! So if you are sick or away - I would say don't worry about it - but try to get a daily habit going and it really is not hard at all.

 

[Glasshen]

Help4me, on your chicken/molting/broody issue...First of all, you can't really count on any particular chicken becoming broody, nor can you control when it happens. It seems to be a hormonal thing that some breeds are more likely to experience than others, but even if you have a hen from a breed likely to become broody, that individual may not do so. For instance, my first chickens were barred rocks and rhode island reds, neither breed is likely to become broody. Against all odds, and without a rooster one of the reds became unshakeably broody. I bought her some day old chicks and she raised them beautifully. The next year she raised two groups for me. Don't know if she or any of my other more likely to be broody hens will decide to raise chicks for me, it's a wait and see.

I think that when a hen is molting would be a bad time for her to decide to be broody, since she needs lots of high protein food for feathers and broodies frequently refuse to eat properly. If it happens, you can decide what to do. It is hard to plan for every possibility, but you will probably be a diligent chicken owner as you are trying to learn well in advance. Have fun.

 

[help4me]

Thanks so much for your reply. Collette is one broody chick, that's for sure. She has gone broody twice now just in the past 3 or 4 months when I did not want her to! The first time I let her run her course, the second time I broke her early as she is our only egg layer. I know that I can't make her, I just was wondering if she does go broody. should I put the eggs under her even though now she is molting? I will certainly give her all the extra protein, food and water she wants right in the coop, she would really have the place all to herself, as Ricky tends to come up to the house when she is brooding. Funny times, when I don't want her to brood she does, and when we decide we will let her hatch some she starts her first molt. Hmm, I truly don't want to stress her beyond any stress molting may cause, I just wonder if she does go broody would it be bad to let her have her wish?

 

[Lynzi777]

Morning Everyone,
Well the thing I dreaded most took place last night....
I went outside in the rain to check on my two rabbits who are due with litters and also lock up the chicken coops, heard my KC hen making all sorts of racket in the front yard. When they came around back from the front yard I counted 1, 2, 3, 4...Wasn't worried at first because my Black Runner drake has had a tendency to stay in the yard while the other 4 wander across the street into the neighbors yard. Sometimes he follows, sometimes he stays with the littles. When the 4 others came back and up the hill to the back yard I started looking for him, took one step down the hill, glanced across the yard and down across the street and saw him laying there in the road. Could Not Believe It! I ran inside to grab a towel and went and got him right away. He was still warm thru the towel so it must have JUST happened. That was the most awful thing I think I've ever witnessed with my birds. To have one die for no reason, or to an illness is one thing but to think some driver either wasn't paying attention, or just flat out didn't care to stop and just kept on going? It's just awful! Even if it was an accident! At least stop and apologize or Something! Unbelievable. All I can do now is hope that one of these ducklings hatching in 8 days is one of his and I can magically tell which one it is and hang onto it.

So now I don't know what to do. I love letting my ducks free range but now I feel I can't. I can keep them penned in but they fly out. Not all of them, but the KCs sure will. So if I go ahead and purchase another roll of that poultry netting and make them a pen around their pond how do I keep them from flying out of the pen?!? Or do I just hope they don't? I will definitely look at purchasing some that is higher than the one I have now with hopes it keeps them in. I just hate the thought of keeping them "in" all the time. I love seeing them waddle across my yard, I love when follow me around when I go out to feed everyone. I feel like I'm at a loss.

On a good note, all 5 duck eggs in the Brinsea are wiggling around already and they still have 8 days to go. Wonder if they'll pip early? I candled them this morning and it looks like there is barely any more room in those eggs. I candled the silkie eggs yesterday and 4 of the 7 she's laying on are developing, 3 are questionable. I'll look at them all again in about a week. today I'm going to candle the 3 Orp eggs she's sitting on as well.

 

[help4me]

Oh, I am so sorry.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

What's every human broody's nightmare?  Power loss during incubation.  Spent an hour and a half trying to keep my incubator warm.  I've got those three eggs in lockdown today, plus another few that are in the middle of hatching.

Turned on the woodstove and plopped that incubator right in front, wrapped in towels.  I managed to keep the temp right around 90.  Here's hoping the Cochin and BCM eggs still hatch!  Those were the three I REALLY wanted out of all of them in my bator!

Ugh. Stressful enough w/o the power going out. Fingers crossed they will all be ok.