NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Day 7 of incu and candled row one. Tossed on clear. Not sure about the others but they can't all be duds. Brown eggs are hard to candle. My green/olive is harder. Since they all have something in the middle I left them.

I have five rows so I figure to do a row a day. It decreases the time the incu is without those eggs and open.

The broody is still fighting and since she won't lay eggs anyhow, I might as well give her some eggs. I'll have to start working on the crate for a broody coop. It's just that it's cold but heck she's in the outside nest boxes so how warm can that be? Temps going to the 20's for the day and then up again. I def. am not complaining. I'd be in a better mood if we had more money for supplies.

8 eggs yesterday. Not happy.

Not so much for the eggs as the feed. Those darn BR's should be laying and I'm not sure they're going to survive here if they don't produce. I don't care how "heritage" they are! Perhaps that's why the heritage breeds were dumped. What good is a chicken if it's doesn't produce eggs or meat?

Anyone here use a chicken plucker? With this economy we may all have to pluck our birds. I might do a beef cow , but I'd have a hard time lifting that sucker up to the plucker.

Course I suppose you could use the hides to carpet the house. You wouldn't want to give them names though. I can see it now. "Oh you spilt coffee on Docboy". "Daisy is the dogs favorite place on the floor to sleep".

Well take care folks,

Rancher

 

[java girl 2]

UMM. LAST I CHECKED COWS DO NOT HAVE FEATHERS!!!!!!!!!

 

[happyhensny]

Day 7 of incu and candled row one. Tossed on clear. Not sure about the others but they can't all be duds. Brown eggs are hard to candle. My green/olive is harder. Since they all have something in the middle I left them.

I have five rows so I figure to do a row a day. It decreases the time the incu is without those eggs and open.

The broody is still fighting and since she won't lay eggs anyhow, I might as well give her some eggs. I'll have to start working on the crate for a broody coop. It's just that it's cold but heck she's in the outside nest boxes so how warm can that be? Temps going to the 20's for the day and then up again. I def. am not complaining. I'd be in a better mood if we had more money for supplies.

8 eggs yesterday. Not happy.

Not so much for the eggs as the feed. Those darn BR's should be laying and I'm not sure they're going to survive here if they don't produce. I don't care how "heritage" they are! Perhaps that's why the heritage breeds were dumped. What good is a chicken if it's doesn't produce eggs or meat?

Anyone here use a chicken plucker? With this economy we may all have to pluck our birds. I might do a beef cow , but I'd have a hard time lifting that sucker up to the plucker.

Course I suppose you could use the hides to carpet the house. You wouldn't want to give them names though. I can see it now. "Oh you spilt coffee on Docboy". "Daisy is the dogs favorite place on the floor to sleep".

Well take care folks,

Rancher

My DS and I built a little chicken tractor, aka broody hut, out of all pallets. Took a long time getting the pallets apart but we've had it 3 years or so and is still fine.

Have you ever seen the chicken plucker "tool" that goes on the end of a drill? Here is a YT link for one:

I thought about beef cows but I think they are 18 months old or so before butchering time. If we only had 1 or 2 the kids would have definitely named them by then.

 

[greymane]

You kill me, Rancher! If only I had known I could use a plucker for my deer!

Well, so far so good. At least our Red Stars are keeping up the pace. We are getting at least four (and usually five) eggs a day from the five of them. As for the others....slackers, I say!

 

[Henicillin]

MMMM!cherry-apricot kefir!! sounds really tastey! I will probably need to have some eggs. I think my husband will be off on Tuesday, so how about Monday?

Monday would be great for a clandestine parking lot egg deal - I'm on 1-8.

 

[greymane]

Monday would be great for a clandestine parking lot egg deal - I'm on 1-8.

I think I saw this on Dallas Swat last night on the CI channel. Take down of some big-time egg dealers in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly. It was NOT pretty.

 

[Framac]

Rancher, too funny. I can see someone now with the drill attachment plucker going at a cow carcase.

I feel your pain on the eggs. I took part of my coop and made 4 little breeding pens. 9 of my 17 hens are in those. The are the ones that I would like to hatch. I get 2-3 eggs a day from the 9, the eight that I did not move give me 6-8 a day..... Can't figure it out. Was getting 12-14 before the reorg. Hopefully they will get acclimatized and start laying again.

My wife is perplexing me a little these days. back in the Summer/Fall I kept looking for a used Cabinet Incubator. She was very against this.Saying that we would end up with too many chicks/chickens, and that it was not necessary, etc. I decided it was better for family happiness to start smaller and got a 1588. After reading a little bit around, I thought that it would be a good idea to get a separate hatcher. I decided to tell he of my plans fearing for the worst, and got a, "Well that will keep the 1588 cleaner if nothing hatches in it, I think that is a great idea".

I was surprised to say the least. I think I am going to try a LG 9200. If anyone has a better suggestion please let me know.

Then a few days ago, I asked my wife (with 35 eggs in the bator and already planning hatches 2 and 3) How many chicks am I allowed to have at any one time? I was thinking that I would hear a number in the 20-30 range. Her response, " Try to keep it under 100"

I think from my awestruck face and the lack of a response that she realized she went a lot higher then I was expecting. I did have a neighbor that got cleaned out this fall by skunks and Racoons (lost 25 of 32 hens, But did not take and of the 6 roosters), and a few friends who are looking to expand. So assuming 60-70% hatches, I should be able to keep things going until July.

Chris

 

[rancher hicks]

My DS and I built a little chicken tractor, aka broody hut, out of all pallets. Took a long time getting the pallets apart but we've had it 3 years or so and is still fine.

Have you ever seen the chicken plucker "tool" that goes on the end of a drill? Here is a YT link for one:

I thought about beef cows but I think they are 18 months old or so before butchering time. If we only had 1 or 2 the kids would have definitely named them by then.

Dingitty, ding dong , ding! My uncle Billy used to shave all the boys heads for the summer and I was thinking it's a good thing for them he didn't see this contraption. I used to feel so sorry for them. Bald as cue balls they were come the end of the school year.

Grey - you might want to use a Dewalt cordless. I can see you now chasing those deer through the woods.

Or would you shoot 'em first?

Framac - got the word last night that the fact that I didn't have enough eggs to supply customers was no excuse to get more chickens.

Don't matter anyhow, I'm tired and got plenty to deal with right now. I always just hatch a full bator anyhow. No sense running the thing with half a load. Folks will take anything for free even mutt chicks. I always have a few of those.

Don't have a hatcher though. To afraid they won't hatch after the move. Of course if I had another 1588 I might consider it. Still I don't hatch that much. Maybe twice a year.

With a broody hen I can stick her with 6 eggs and then just take the chicks and toss them in the brooder. I will most likely give this one I got now some eggs. She ain't laying so she might as well do something to earn her keep. I keep tossing her out of the nestbox but she just goes back to sittin on her bum. To cold to dunk her. 'Cides that's kinda cruel. Maybe I should go out there with that plucker thing and scare her out of being broody. She'll start laying pretty darn quick I think.

 

[rancher hicks]

Mood-Boosting Food #10: Eggs
Eggs are loaded with mood-promoting omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, B vitamins, and iodide, and because they're packed with protein, they'll also keep you full and energized long after you eat them. Need another reason to crack some shells in the morning? A 2008 study in the International Journal of Obesity found that people who ate two eggs for breakfast lost significantly more weight than those who ate a bagel breakfast. (Tip: Don't buy into unregulated supermarket-egg claims like "omega-3 enriched" or "free-range." If you're looking for the most natural eggs, hit up a local farmer.)


I'll explain later.

Rancher

 

[Glasshen]

This keeping the two mean girls away from the other four may backfire. Today I was cleaning the crate in the basement, so I opened the door to the backyard and put some food outside. The two girls went out, but when I shut the door, they were very upset. I had thought they would enjoy some free ranging and would be hard to corral again. Wrong. They were distressed until I let them back into the basement. Went right back in the crate, and one gave me an egg.

Maybe they like it inside? I don't understand these creatures.