NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Morning all. Opening day and seven shots heard this morning. Dh left at 4 am to grt to his spot at his secret hollow. Hope he gets one.

Lynzi...just keep at it. I have a hen the same way. I use eprinex and put some dust in her crest. Keep changing the bedding and spraying and dusting. You will win.

Rancher...x-ceptional! Did you decide on a heritage breed yet? I like my heritage rir. Going to get some more in the spring and hatch some of my own.

Tab...happy bithday to your middle daughter! I have 3 daughters myself. I knoow all about making cupcakes at late hours!

Going to be a nice day. Enjoy it for me as I will be at the pharm!

Well I do have my Dels and BR's and CR's, so I will stick with these. Plus the BM's which are not as popular as I had thought they'd be. Also the EE's. I may have to give up the orps.

While Dels are easy to find. Good ones are not. Again like a fool I expected to get more from Paul Harter and he won't have any this year. Not that it's his fault, but I didn't keep enough of those I hatched. I need to keep two flocks in order to breed, I think.

The same with the CR's and Br's. If you are going to breed I suggest keeping at least two roosters. Roosters are much more important than I had thought. Lose the one you have and you're up the creek.

I should have realized after reading in PP magazine how an entire breeding flock can be decimated by a predator or disease. Also I am still learning the husbandry of breeding chickens.

There are just to many breeds to choose from. Perhaps I should just put the names of those I like in a hat and draw three or four and go with that.

 

[miquwid]

Glass those are some good tips thx. Sorry you have to get rid of a nice looking rooster. I love it when they call their girls and the come running love watching hens run.

 

[rancher hicks]

Went to CM today for shavings. Not surprising to find they were nearly out. I did get a rain check for what I needed though. I would have had to make two trips anyhow. With no barn storage is a pain.

There was a guy there buying a whole truck load of hay too. Seems to me he could get a better deal from a private person. Right?

I do buy mine there sometimes if I need it but I only need one bale at a time. Same with straw. I know I pay more but it's not worth it to drive far away for one bale.

I wish I could afford a truck.

 

[JLaw]

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!

cant stop itching. While bathing my prolapsed hen again I noticed white bugs crawling up her neck away from the water. I'm guessing lice they was longer than they was wide and big enough I could see them moving. Time to google how to get rid of lice on chickens. As if I didn't have enough problems with her.

Update on her status though. The prolapsed part of vent swelling has gone down but when she poos it comes out. I noticed some dried poo/gunk on it I tried to clean off with out doing any damage and then used some more Prep-H. I gave her some new water with some ACV with mother in it to try and help clear anything up.

 

[horsekeeper]

JLaw, you deserve some praise for the amount of chicken lore you have collected since you started. I see you have done your research and work hard to get it right. Now don't forget to treat the rest of the flock for the cooties. I used garden dust tied in a length of panty hose to "pounce" it on the back of the neck and under the wings. Got it at TSC.

 

[JLaw]

Thanks for the advice horsekeeper I will be going tomorrow and get some. Have to go hit the field in a bit to see if any deer come out.

 

[NookNook01]

I forgot to mention, I DID decide to add light to the shed yesterday. Seeing as how ke5hde won the competition of who's lavender hen will lay first and mine still isn't (they're the same age) I decided to try the light factor. So DH picked up an extension cord for me last night so I could run it from my side porch to the shed in order to get a lamp turned on in there. Hopefully with these mites gone fl ) and the added light my lavender hen will be up for laying soon. 

I added this light to my run to keep my gang outdoors a bit longer, the shade creeps up quick over the run even though its still early. Maybe something like this would work in your coop to be rid of the extension cord?!?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0057Y5JNC/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit

 

[Lynzi777]

I added this light to my run to keep my gang outdoors a bit longer, the shade creeps up quick over the run even though its still early. Maybe something like this would work in your coop to be rid of the extension cord?!?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0057Y5JNC/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit

That does look neat! How long does it actually stay lit for? I get nervous about solar powered lighting not working as well as a regular light would. We have a lot of gray and dreary days here so if it wasn't exactly sunny out one day would it still work after dark? And also how long will it light the shed for before it would "run out" of energy?

 

[Gramma Chick]

Morning
Today is my middle daughter's birthday. My family is coming over to see her. I have to make a lot of cupcakes for her party tomorrow. Then I am up at 1:30am on Monday to go back to work. Having a paycheck again will be nice but I'm not so keen on getting up that early again.

If I may ask ...What do you do that you have to get up at that hour ?

 

[marquisella]

Quote: Anytime, I'm ready. I can get up to 5 of them, they are small geese, or if there is't much room, just 3.

Yesterday, 2 Marans pullets started laying. Not bad color for their first eggs, found 2 again today...yeah!

Also my Coronations are starting up, but no one else....

Asking because I take vacation time 1st week of december and was looking for something to do with my son.

So does it take time for the maran egg to get darker?

I have a wellie that should be laying soon. Funny thing is I have a amber sexlink who lays darker eggs and I wonder what the wellie's egg will look like I don't think it will be as dark as my sexlink LOL
Congrats on the new layers!

I know my Faverolle recently started laying but will her eggs ever get bigger? they are silkie eggs size, I think I'm being impatient she's only been laying for a week.
My Marans start out laying a lighter egg, and then they get darker in a week or so. I had Welsummers ,their eggs were about the same from start to finish. Big eggs as I remember, but not as dark as a Marans can be.