NY chicken lover!!!!

[marquisella]

Morning all. Thanks for the sentiment Ginny. I was so hoping they would hatch but they didnt. At least I have one chick. I took the chick out yesterday and put it in with Stripe, my broody silkie (and its possible momma) and she has accepted it. It took a few minutes but she tucked it under her with her eggs and all was well. Prior to that, Dad (aka Little Man) came into the coop to see what the new noise was about and he tried to kill it! I watched him as he was looking at the chick then suddenly he grabbed it and threw it to the corner of the coop! I yelled at him and pecked him with my finger and grabbed the baby. It was okay but I was not impressed. I found some wire and there is now a fence dividing the coop that will allow Dad and the aunties to look but not touch any babies and the baby can eat and drink without being attacked. I think Sassy is jealous that Stripe has a baby and eggs. She screamed her fool head off yesterday when I took her egg but she wont sit, especially in the coop so she gets no mommy priveledges until she does.

Question--will my roo accept the babies after he has seen them in the coop with mama and is locked in with them at night? I will not be removing the fencing for a while until I am sure that he wont kill them and they are big enough to get down the ramp. Its kinda steep.

Are your Sikie eggs ready to hatch soon? I would be afraid that putting the chick under a sitting hen, would cause her to get off the eggs too soon. If the chick gets out of the nest, she might go after it & abandon her eggs. I've had this happen, that is why I'm mentioning it....

 

[happyhensny]

I had someone hatch some of the eggs from our hens and a few came back with leg issues, splay? If anyone wants them for FREE let me know. There are a couple D'Uccles and a few BA's.

 

[Henicillin]

My third BO appears to want to join the Broody Club, as she is now, yes, sleeping in the nest boxes on and off. Ah, the joys of spring! I haven't decided what to do with her yet. She's not fully in the groove, so there's still time to decide.

Gladys is a fantastic mom. She has the Peeps out in the run mingling with all the big girls and boys, and they fear nothing. I fed them some leftover rice, and the cheeky little brats run right up and snatch grains out from under the beaks of the hens. None of the hens so much as react to it, not even Crazy Sussex, so Gladys apparently has taught them "respect mah authoritah." The roos are great with the chicks, and try to feed them.

My two packages of bees are in transit in the USPS at the moment. They're expected to arrive tomorrow morning - good luck, thousands of tiny girls!

 

[Framac]

Bloody Hatcher. 2 hatches in a row, I did not need to touch the knob for the temperature. Went down yesterday morning, 105.6 slight adjustment, opened vents (Humidity at 85%) got home from work, 94.5 (Humidity at 60%) Slight adjustment, 2 hours later seemed to settle at 99.8, still at 99.5 when I went to bed, 104 when I woke up.

I think I have 21 out of 31 hatch, but of the 10 I really wanted only 3 hatched so far.

Framac

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Marquisella--thanks for your concern. It was mine too but Stripe is sitting tight on her eggs and the chick is under her most times but does come out to eat and drink and let everyone know its there. Stripe is being a fantastic mom for being a firstimer and she looks after the chick as well. Sassy is so jealous. She laid an egg (in the run again as usual) and sat on it all day and the screamed her fool head off when I took it when I got home. Little Man was determined to destroy my egg retrieval tool and hit it pretty hard. Sassy carried on for almost 5 minutes. I told her when she sat her butt in the coop and stayed there, she can have eggs. Until that happens, no deal.

I was cleaning the big brooder box this am and a couple of the boys thought they might rip off some flesh for breakfast. They are big enough to hurt now so I gave them a good swat to let them know that I wont tolerated that crap. I then reminded them once again that freezer camp opens in about 6 weeks and only 1 will make it out alive. Sort of a "Survivor--Chicken style" kind of reality show. Cant wait till they are out in the coop! My house is one giant dustbin!!!

 

[happyhensny]

My third BO appears to want to join the Broody Club, as she is now, yes, sleeping in the nest boxes on and off. Ah, the joys of spring! I haven't decided what to do with her yet. She's not fully in the groove, so there's still time to decide.

Gladys is a fantastic mom. She has the Peeps out in the run mingling with all the big girls and boys, and they fear nothing. I fed them some leftover rice, and the cheeky little brats run right up and snatch grains out from under the beaks of the hens. None of the hens so much as react to it, not even Crazy Sussex, so Gladys apparently has taught them "respect mah authoritah." The roos are great with the chicks, and try to feed them.

My two packages of bees are in transit in the USPS at the moment. They're expected to arrive tomorrow morning - good luck, thousands of tiny girls!

We are supposed to get bees from a friend on Saturday but one of DH's friends called him to let DH know that there is a swarm at his job hanging around. If we were experienced beekeepers I would say "No problem" BUT the jacket and veil won't even be here until Thursday, the hive was in the garage, together but not set up outside, no syrup made, etc. Off he goes to get the bees! No jacket, no veil, no gloves - just with a new trash can with a lid we happen to have and a pair of tree limb loppers to cut the branch off. Well, the can is open in front of the hive, I raced to make some syrup to hopefully lure them in. Tomorrow I will look and hope to see some happy bees in our NEW hive.

Marquisella--thanks for your concern. It was mine too but Stripe is sitting tight on her eggs and the chick is under her most times but does come out to eat and drink and let everyone know its there. Stripe is being a fantastic mom for being a firstimer and she looks after the chick as well. Sassy is so jealous. She laid an egg (in the run again as usual) and sat on it all day and the screamed her fool head off when I took it when I got home. Little Man was determined to destroy my egg retrieval tool and hit it pretty hard. Sassy carried on for almost 5 minutes. I told her when she sat her butt in the coop and stayed there, she can have eggs. Until that happens, no deal.

I was cleaning the big brooder box this am and a couple of the boys thought they might rip off some flesh for breakfast. They are big enough to hurt now so I gave them a good swat to let them know that I wont tolerated that crap. I then reminded them once again that freezer camp opens in about 6 weeks and only 1 will make it out alive. Sort of a "Survivor--Chicken style" kind of reality show. Cant wait till they are out in the coop! My house is one giant dustbin!!!

We have a BA cockeral that thinks he can attack. Uh, NO! I grab him and gently but firmly hold him down on the ground like a grown rooster would do until he stops wiggling around. No harm done, except that he is now named by DD #2. "Roaster"

 

[Henicillin]

Quote:

We are supposed to get bees from a friend on Saturday but one of DH's friends called him to let DH know that there is a swarm at his job hanging around. If we were experienced beekeepers I would say "No problem" BUT the jacket and veil won't even be here until Thursday, the hive was in the garage, together but not set up outside, no syrup made, etc. Off he goes to get the bees! No jacket, no veil, no gloves - just with a new trash can with a lid we happen to have and a pair of tree limb loppers to cut the branch off. Well, the can is open in front of the hive, I raced to make some syrup to hopefully lure them in. Tomorrow I will look and hope to see some happy bees in our NEW hive.

Good luck! That would be great if they'd decide "hey, shiny new home!" and move in.

I'll be picking them up from the post office when they arrive, but I've been instructed to leave the boxes in the garage, as Alan wants to hive them himself. He's all over this - he likes the bees like I like the chooks and ducks.

 

[Henicillin]

Mrs. Beasley, my biggest BO, is officially broody (third night in the nest box), so, like a hatchin' fool, I slipped four randomly grabbed light brown eggs under her, because, hey, what the heck. So, if the fifteen eggs now incubating all hatch, I'll have nineteen chicks running around, which is grounds for a major run expansion. Realistically, of course, I expect a couple of duds or dead-in-shells, but hope springs eternal. Any boys will be heading to Camp Maytag in twelve weeks or so (unless one is exceptionally beautiful and isn't getting his tailfeathers kicked by his dad/uncle), because experimenting with raising birds for the table is part of this exercise, but all the ladies get to stay on board.

I'm greatly enjoying hatching with broody hens, although all these hormonal ladies have cut into egg production somewhat. I love watching the peeps, but I'm not developing strong attachments to any of them like I do with my brooder-raised birds. We can handle the chicks with no problem and do pick them up daily to acclimate them to the idea of being touched and examined (I was checking feather development this evening, as a matter of fact). However, we're generally hands-off, and are letting Gladys do her job. This will make processing the cockerels much easier on me, I think, since I'm not constantly in contact with them. Yeah, I'm a bit of a wimp.

I should go to bed, as I expect a phone call first thing in the morning to "come get these bees out of here!" So, where am I? Posting here, of course!

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all. The cool temps this morning are delightful but my body objects to such a violent temperature change. The perils of getting older I guess. I was thinking as I was out at 5:45 am letting the cheeps out about how I spent so much time setting up brooder boxes, getting heat lamps positioned just right and checking constantly on the chicks I have downstairs (now 6 weeks old). I opened the door on the silkie coop (its 45 here this morning) and there is Stripe, sitting on her eggs and the chick. I lift her up to check on everything (someone laid an egg in there) and cleaned out her nasty poop. Out pops the chick and runs around, pecking at the hay and chips, gets a drink, has a snack, walks around momma a few times before ducking back under her for warmth. Why have I spent so much time doing all that work when having a broody momma works so much better??? I like this idea of having the hens do the work. After all, its what they do best right? Oh, and I cant forget the cuteness factor of watching momma and the chick either. Have to candle the eggs tonight to see where they are at (without losing any flesh!) as they should be hatching any time now. Given my dismal record of hatching, I hope she does better.

Hen--love the name of your bo hen. Did you name her after the doll on the tv show Family Affair? (Yes, I am really old enough to remember watching that show.)

Happy--I will have to try that when they move into their new, big coop. I will be able to sit in it with them and socialize them more. Its hard with 26 to know who you have held and petted and who hasnt been. The new coop is big and roomy so I can work with them for longer periods of time. I am only keeping one roo and it will be the most respectful and nicest one.

 

[queenchick16]

Is anyone from here going to the Sussex NJ Poultry show this SAT.I know its far for most, but I've driven crazier distances for things.Six chicks bummed a ride home with me from Brimfield Mass this past weekend while I was antiquing. My husband was upset. Wait till he finds out that I'm expecting eggs in the mail today. Its going to be "Move over girls I need a place to roost". I can't understand why this isn't OK and him bring home every reject animal is. ( at one point I had 13 animals (not including him and my son)running around my house. OK my son isn't he's my baby. New soap opera "As the Chicken arrives" wish me luck