***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[MacGuyver]

MacGuyver and Christina-I don't want any more chicks to raise! These Cochins don't need any more eggs. I've been raising separate batches of chicks since March 2nd when the Bantam Faverolles hatched at Carl's. I've got the newly hatched BBR Phoenix and I swear to God-those 2 Shamo eggs are at the mercy of the 4 girls fighting over them. I'm not raising them and I'm not turning the incubator on lol
Robin, Green Country is coming up in 3 wks so hopefully someone will be going your way. If it comes down to it, would you be able to meet me 1/2 way again? I'd be willing to go get them at Junes and bring them to our previous meeting place.

Oh, I just meant you could hatch out some for me AND GIVE 'EM BACK!

 

[MacGuyver]

Cathiesue, p&b is screen name poultry & birds

No, it's Poultry & Bees.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

LOL Right something like that... oops!

 

[erinszoo]

Built a new incubator today out of completely recycled stuff we had. So far we can't seem to get the temp up above 90 though so we'll have to keep playing with it. It's twice the size of the last we built and made into a cabinet. We put in a fan this time but still don't have a temperature switch for turning on and off the light. We did put in a mechanism for turning the eggs without having to open the doors even though it's manual operation. Last time we only used a 40 watt bulb for heat and kept the temps pretty well, this time we're using a 60 watt but may have to up it to 75 or 100 to get the temps we need. Hubby wasn't interested in building in a new one for just chicken eggs, but now he has turkeys laying every day so he wants to incubate them ... and our ducks are laying now too.

Our turkeys and chickens did something really weird today. The turkeys ganged up on our rooster. Our turkeys are notorious for running in a gang, but I've never seen them attack any of the other birds before. Today they had our roo cornered in the back of the yard and when we separated them they all went to different places for a few minutes and then cornered him in the house. We ended up having to move all the turkeys to their own pen to keep the peace. I'm just not sure why they picked today to do it. Our roo is a gentleman at all times and takes great care of his girls and leaves the turkeys alone.

 

[MacGuyver]

Built a new incubator today out of completely recycled stuff we had. So far we can't seem to get the temp up above 90 though so we'll have to keep playing with it. It's twice the size of the last we built and made into a cabinet. We put in a fan this time but still don't have a temperature switch for turning on and off the light. We did put in a mechanism for turning the eggs without having to open the doors even though it's manual operation. Last time we only used a 40 watt bulb for heat and kept the temps pretty well, this time we're using a 60 watt but may have to up it to 75 or 100 to get the temps we need. Hubby wasn't interested in building in a new one for just chicken eggs, but now he has turkeys laying every day so he wants to incubate them ... and our ducks are laying now too.

Our turkeys and chickens did something really weird today. The turkeys ganged up on our rooster. Our turkeys are notorious for running in a gang, but I've never seen them attack any of the other birds before. Today they had our roo cornered in the back of the yard and when we separated them they all went to different places for a few minutes and then cornered him in the house. We ended up having to move all the turkeys to their own pen to keep the peace. I'm just not sure why they picked today to do it. Our roo is a gentleman at all times and takes great care of his girls and leaves the turkeys alone.

I have no guesses for you. I know that guineas will gang up on chickens. Maybe turkeys and guineas are both just rude punk birds.

 

[jcatblum]

Bill hope you catch your intruder!

Erin I can't even keep count of ur projects!!!! u stay busy!

Mitzi you are looking at things all wrong, when momma hens hatch babies they do all the work! Think you could start a donate a flock ministry & provide local kids with a few birds. Bet you could even come up with a way to create a small coop out of those boxes your DH gets from work & pallets since you are crafty! You can get with your local 4H bet they could help you out finding children needing chicks. And at each chicken swap you would have chicks to donate to the raffle. Think of all the happy families you could build!!

I slept for 6 hours last night & was so proud, pain levels were low. But battled a fever & chills again past few days. I was determined I would sleep good tonight. Even took a sleeping pill for good measure. Slept a whole 30 minutes!!!!

Cathie if you pass your oldest your car then what about the next? Our original plan was to give one of the girls the Camry & then let them drive it for 2 yrs & give it to the other, but the Camry is still in good shape & retail on it is $14-- so we decided it is too nice to give to the kids-- mean parents right?? Plus if child one tears it to crap next child gets the short end of the stick. So we re thought it, I am thankful we have had them saving all this time. I know it has been a good lesson for Taron, but I don't know that Alexis still gets it! Oh well each child learns differently.

My sister confirmed the extra ducks are not going to her MIL pond, so I need to sex them then figure it out from there. I am not pushing the issue-- my sis was diagnosed with diabetes last wk so she needs to figure out how to manage her sugars before worrying with something like ducks. Going to be a hard one... Her cooking skills are limited to prepackaged foods, so major lifestyle change!

Well I am off for a midnight snack & going to watch some late night tv-- oh the joys of insomnia!

 

[lynn1961]

It sounds like the Turkeys have decided that he is oing something they don't like, it could be just about anything, from crowing to mating the hens. I have noticed that close to or during mating season for turkeys, they act a little strange.

 

[erinszoo]

jcat - I share your joy of insomnia ... maybe that's where all my crazy projects come from, hmm ... Been up since 4:15 and have to work this morning. Not happy because I'm pretty sure there will be no nap time later.

macguyver and lynn - thanks for the turkey help! They could be just big bullies at times ... although they are mating now. The big tom struts around ALL the time. We hardly see him when he's not in strut mode, puffed out and booming. It was just so weird to see our entire flock of turkeys all acting together against one chicken. A little scary too. I tend to think of our turkeys as big dumb two years olds with more curiosity than sense ... but I was actually scared of them today when I went in to break up the cornering act. They didn't charge me or anything and ran off as soon as I intervened but it could have gone the other way I fear. The only other problem we've had with them has been a few random times they have destroyed an entire nest of chicken eggs. Odd.

 

[BetsyOK]

Sitting here at the computer a few minutes ago, with a sterelite brooder containing 13 baby silkies and showgirls from one to five days old behind me, I heard one CROWING! I've heard one or two week olds crow, but never one this young. Of course, it is just a sort of squeak, but after you've heard that squeak several times you do recognize it as first attempts to crow. I have no idea which one it is, but it has done it at least a dozen times now. Probably a showgirl, as they do mature a lot faster than the pure silkies. But five days? I'm sure a lot more of us would hear these early efforts to crow if we spent several hours a day (off and on) in a room with the brooder.

 

[NanaKat]

Elwood...hope you catch the predator!

Our turkeys and chickens did something really weird today.... The turkeys ganged up on our rooster. they had our roo cornered in the back of the yard and when we separated them they all went to different places for a few minutes and then cornered him in the house. We ended up having to move all the turkeys to their own pen to keep the peace. I'm just not sure why they picked today to do it. Our roo is a gentleman at all times and takes great care of his girls and leaves the turkeys alone.

... they are mating now. The big tom struts around ALL the time. We hardly see him when he's not in strut mode, puffed out and booming. A little scary too. I tend to think of our turkeys as big dumb two years olds with more curiosity than sense ... but I was actually scared of them today when I went in to break up the cornering act. They didn't charge me or anything and ran off as soon as I intervened but it could have gone the other way I fear. The only other problem we've had with them has been a few random times they have destroyed an entire nest of chicken eggs. Odd.

Tom turkeys and jakes are notorious for their aggression...will even go after small children. The mating season is the worst. That's why chickens and turkeys are not to be penned together.
We had an incident with our last set of turkeys...ended up butchering early when the tom charged our little nephew thru the fence.


Quote:

Sitting here at the computer a few minutes ago, with a sterelite brooder containing 13 baby silkies and showgirls from one to five days old behind me, I heard one CROWING! I've heard one or two week olds crow, but never one this young. Of course, it is just a sort of squeak, but after you've heard that squeak several times you do recognize it as first attempts to crow. I have no idea which one it is, but it has done it at least a dozen times now. Probably a showgirl, as they do mature a lot faster than the pure silkies. But five days? I'm sure a lot more of us would hear these early efforts to crow if we spent several hours a day (off and on) in a room with the brooder.

Awww...bet he has some real male issues when he grows up.....