***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[bfrancis]

Nanakat, I feel your pain....that was the same type of snake that I got out of my quail brooder two nights in row (2 separate snakes...) and just as long! I lost 8 quail to the both of them...never would have figured it go for something so big though...WOW!

Elwood, we got the copperheads bad here too...just killed one on our carport a couple weeks ago. I'm "doctoring" a roo that got bit on the foot. Seems to be doing pretty good now though. (No he's not in the house, he gets his wounds cleaned daily and dressings changed then back to the run...SQ Australorp or would have gone another direction)

Rexfires...good to see you back! Wondered where you'd gotten off too....finally, another quail guy on the board!

Okie Tina....next auction you really got come down to the table...then we can see the birds up close and visit.

 

[prettychicks]

At Newcastle last Sat. I bought a few bantam partridge wyandottes . Trouble is I have no idea how old they are.

I could really use some help here.

At what age should I expect them to start laying? I am so used to my orps and australorps.

She looks to be about 2-3 months old.

 

[ladyokie]

Thanks!!!

 

[prettychicks]

Quote: Glad you took care of the snake. Sorry you lost your chickens in the process. I had one get a guinea of mine that was that big one time. Black snakes sometimes travel in pairs too so keep watch for another one.

 

[Ksane]

You'd have to peel me out of the top of the cedar trees if I saw that snake here, Nana!!!
I'm THIS ------->.<------- close to offering some rooster meat up to one of those snakes though. The 2 Maran's boy have the feathers worn off their girls wing bows, the Faverolles boy has his favorite girl bald on her head.....We separated those boys from their girls tonight and I'm thinking of making each of those sets of boys a nice yard-with NO girls! It bothers me a lot to have my girls feathers messed up

. The huge Blue Cochin boy only has 2 girls in with him (2 of the girls from you, Seth!) and their feathers are in perfect shape. Why are some roosters so rough on the girls??? Sheesh.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

My hen that has the fully developed spur on one leg hatched 2 babies three days ago out of a nest full of eggs, I knew that a couple of fresh eggs had been laid in the same nest so I gathered all the eggs tonight and candled them all to throw out the bad ones and there were five of those, several good fresh ones and to my surprise four eggs that have live chicks still in them, can't really tell how far along they are but they are alive and active so I put them in the incubator that should prove interesting trying to guess when to place them in the hatcher LOL
The hatcher is alive with lots of cheeping going on I did an almost completely dry hatch and sounds like I might have improved my rate some, I'll be opening it up and taking them out tomorrow so I will be able to count them then,
I'm thinking I might have some more broody hens now I think Ms Thang started something when she hatched out her two little ones, I had three hens setting on nests this evening when I gathered eggs and they tried to eat my hand off to the elbow, I guess I'll select some eggs to get under them and hope they don't play musical nest boxes, I was proud of Ms Thang she stayed with her nest of eggs and didn't get confused about which nest was hers like the last two did, those killed a few dozen eggs before I moved them to separate cages,
I got a little rain here mostly it missed me but cooled it off outside will be good sleeping weather tonight I hope everyone else got the water we didn't, see everyone later...

 

[mjgigax]

At Newcastle last Sat. I bought a few bantam partridge wyandottes . Trouble is I have no idea how old they are.

I could really use some help here.

At what age should I expect them to start laying? I am so used to my orps and australorps.

Pretty birds!

 

[artsyrobin]

Yes they will ce up on your porch, my mom had one on hers a few weeks ago, it was looking in the window she said. He porch is raised about 3 to 4 feet off of the ground, it has several steps to get onto the porsh. Gives me the eebe geebies !

Quote:
see, what i am wondering, with the dogs on the porch at nite, would that deter the snakes? last year we had a black snake that would eat duck eggs, but never a poultry loss to one

 

[poultryand bees]

. Right now I have her in a upside down langstroth hive with pine shavings in the lid and a screened bottom board as a top because I am plumb out of chicken spaces.

I too, have used a deep langstroth hive body, covered with a queen excluder, as a temporary brooder. My pheasants have a shelter made from two langstroth hive bodies with a hole cut in the side and a telescoping lid on top and a solid bottom board. The equipment in the pheasant pen was a homemade hive body that I bought from a retiring beekeeper - it was too heavy and rotten to actually be desirable for bees.

I just sold every baby chicken I own about 1 hour ago. I am baby chicken less what am I gonna do between now and the 10th I already miss them I have not been without baby chickens since February and I have not been under 100 since February. It is so quite in the house. I usually have the newly hatched in the guest bed room for a week or so them move to the brooder in the barn. It just fells like somthings missing.

I am not too far from you and would be delighted to give you the mixed chicks that hatched under broody hens yesterday. I don't have a clue how many chicks there are. I just picked up the broody hens and chicks and put them into a 5 gallon bucket for transport to a cage, then slid them out into the cage and closed the door so the broody wouldn't get alarmed. Always happy to be an enabler

Quote: I was late getting to Newcastle, so the ducklings were only in the barn for about 45 minutes before going into the auction. They only brought $2 - $2.50 each.

From the last post it looks that a hen can sit on eggs in this warm May. Have anyone experience a hen sitting on eggs on the hot summer days of Oklahoma? I am collecting eggs for my hen as she is a Cochin and went broody in April after she laid her first hatch and now she has laid about 15-20 eggs. Have not show yet any signs of going broody but I want to be prepare. This time I am going to move her to a shed to a cage that was for my former bunny.

I am constantly amazed at how dedicated hens can be, including in the heat of the summer when I don't even want to go into the coop because it is so hot.

 

[Tony O]

Watch your gardens.

Killed my first Japanese beetle today.

To earily in the year. And the grasshoppers are growing like crazy. My guineas are going to get fat on them,

but so far they haven't put a dent in them.

My field is full of them.