***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[NanaKat]

Enjoying all the baby pictures! I fully understand the hatching stress....candled eggs in two incubators today.

Loving this warmer weather and since we may not be in the storms zone, will set out some tomato and pepper plants today.
I posted some pictures on the Wyandotte thread of some of the keeper/maybe CWs yesterday and will post a few more this afternoon.

BILs surgery will be Thursday. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers for Ronnie.

 

[ceocka]

I am suppose to have call ducks hatching today, but no signs of a single pip. Hope they surprise me soon.

Nana thoughts & prayers for your family.

Funchick have a blast in New Orleans & eat plenty of amazing food for all of us. If you are going soon you can catch a crawfish festival & enjoy so many fresh seafood selections. I love the aquarium & just looking at all the old architecture. When we arrive I instantly feel at home again & haven't lived in LA since I was 14. DH loves it as much as I do & we entertained the idea of retiring there, but Oklahoma is where we are staying.

The house is coming along. DH is certain we will be moved in before the end of the yr. Biggest challenge is me trying to figure out where I want lights placed. Think it will take longer for me to decide than it will for them to wire the entire house.

Me and my husband built our house ourselves and that and plugins was the hardest. You can never have enough plug ins. I have 3-4 plug ins on every wall. The lights I have in living room I have some on a separate switch for when I want low lights and ceiling fan is on its own switch. Good lunch planing it out and have fun with it.

 

[OkieT]

Oops! Sorry, Kass! Musta been too early in the morning for clear thinking.

Well, Okay, Funchicks, enjoy your trip!!!!

I changed light position and types several times myself. And, you can NEVER have too many plugins! When I drew in floor plugs in the living room and kitchen, the electrician wanted to know why. I told him not to worry about it; just install them! I hate dragging cords across the room!

Christina, I'm sure you guys should be in 'way before the end of the year. It took me about three months to do the interior of mine working solo for the most part. D.H. helped me stand the walls and put up part of the t.&g. in the living room and finished the hallway and utility room, and a friend hung the sheetrock, but the rest was all me from staining the concrete to building the showers and kitchen cabinets. It just depends on how many hours a day you can work on it and how many things go wrong. The neat thing about building your own house is that it can reflect your own personality and be exactly the way you want it. Mine is pretty unorthodox in some ways, but it's all ours and reflects our lifestyle all throughout. Good luck with yours!!!


Nanakat, I am keeping your family in my prayers and hoping the surgery turns out well.

 

[muesky]

Oops! Sorry, Kass! Musta been too early in the morning for clear thinking.

Well, Okay, Funchicks, enjoy your trip!!!!

I changed light position and types several times myself. And, you can NEVER have too many plugins! When I drew in floor plugs in the living room and kitchen, the electrician wanted to know why. I told him not to worry about it; just install them! I hate dragging cords across the room!

Christina, I'm sure you guys should be in 'way before the end of the year. It took me about three months to do the interior of mine working solo for the most part. D.H. helped me stand the walls and put up part of the t.&g. in the living room and finished the hallway and utility room, and a friend hung the sheetrock, but the rest was all me from staining the concrete to building the showers and kitchen cabinets. It just depends on how many hours a day you can work on it and how many things go wrong. The neat thing about building your own house is that it can reflect your own personality and be exactly the way you want it. Mine is pretty unorthodox in some ways, but it's all ours and reflects our lifestyle all throughout. Good luck with yours!!!


Nanakat, I am keeping your family in my prayers and hoping the surgery turns out well.

That is what I was thinking. Lots and lots of outlets. Hopefully in the next few years I will be at a place to build.

Through the years what I have heard as the best natural preventative is crushed Cayenne peppers. Birds don't have the recepters for "hot" as we do and they do like anything red.

Doing a withholding period on any type of critter used for food, including eggs, has been the norm through the years. It gives residues from the drugs time to clear the animal's system before getting consumed.

The active ingrediant in Wazine is the most widely used wormer worldwide and is even used on humans when needed, but residues instead of full doses can lead to immunity in the pests that you are trying to dispose of..

DE (Diatomaceous Earth) is a good natural wormer. It is also a highly soluble form of calcium. Have to be careful though because you can over do it and have rock hard eggshells (found that out the "hard" way). I try to alternate the red pepper and DE mixed in their feed. You can also add DE to where the chickens dust bath and that cuts down on mites.

I got this at the sand springs plant/herb festival. I want to put it in my coop once its built but now I'm wondering if the boxes are too small for the large fowl hens I'll be getting.

That is stinking cute.

I have a hen that is eating chicks. I am not sure if she is cracking eggs open and eating them or if she is killing them then eating them. I have seen her the last 2 days with a chick in her mouth However I have not heard any peeping or signs of a chick getting ready to hatch.

Also thought that I had lost a GL pullet yesterday. Today she showed up outside the pen looking for a way to get back in. When I started walking towards the pen she met me halfway then she let me pick her up and carry her back to the pen. I wonder if a hawk might have picked it up then dropped it.

I don't keep hens who I catch eating eggs. They teach others to do that.

that is cute will have to paint my nest box now, lol If i can get it fixed my MIL gave it to me they are no longer doing chickens so hopefuly it is not to bad and i can get some use out of it.


not sure how to fix the two openings that are rust out yet.

Cut out the holes bigger and add metal flashing. That is what I would do.

5 of 6 spitzhaubens have hatched and one has pipped. The last one pip on the underside of the egg and alot of fluid drained out. I can see his beak sticking out of the egg but no movement so I don't know if he/she will make it. The first one to hatch is struggling. she is smaller than the others and hasn't been able to stand up yet. She's a fighter and keeps trying so we will see. If she can't stand by tomorrow I guess I will try to make a little brooder for her and see what happens. She will need water by then. 3 of 11 Cochins have pipped and one of them is zipping and 1 of 4 Japanese bantams has pipped and is staring to zip. Hopefully the rest will pip soon. They are due tonight/tomorrow.

Whoot! Whoot!

Home from taking 85 year old MIL to her doctor appointment. Her blood pressure was up only slightly...she is a tough lady: A mother of 5 children, she has already lost one son to a heart attack when he was 69. Yesterday Roger's brother Ronnie (68) had a mild heart attack in the emergency room of the hospital where he has been receiving radiation and chemo treatments for his kidney cancer for the past 4 weeks. He will undergo heart by-pass this week, "if his body will allow it" according to the ER heart doctor. They were able to balloon his artery and get the blood temporarily flowing again in a Y intersection on the back of the heart. MIL's comment "what better place to have a heart attack than the ER of a good hospital!" Please keep this family in your prayers.

Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

 

[Kassaundra]

Harvested my first batch of comfrey today. (3 five gallon buckets) I am not feeding this batch to the chickens though, I am going to ferment it, then add some liquid Ca++ I made from my girls eggshells, and LAB then fertilize my garden w/ it, especially the tomatoes. My home made fertilizer should be ready in about 2 weeks


The rusted nest box, I would probably screw a 1 X 2 peice of wood to either side mostly b/c I would worry about the thin metal edge that they could get an injury leading to bumble foot.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

OK. Here a some pics of the new babies. I will take close-ups of them this weekend.
These are the Cochins and Spizthaubens.



This is the The Gimp (the Spitzhauben I nursed back to health) and the only Japanese Bantam that hatched.



These are the 2 Cochins left in the hatcher. The bottom one is struggling a little so I will probably help it out after it fluffs up a little.






So I got 5 out of 6 Spitzhaubens to hatch. 7 out of 11 Cochins and 1 out of 4 Bantams. Still disappointed with the Jap Bantams. Really wanted these to hatch. Luckily I have more in the incubator. I candled all the remaining eggs in the hatcher today and no movement. So this hatch is done. The next one starts on Saturday.

 

[CruchyJeepMama]

I just went out to put my girls in their coop for the night and I noticed that one of my girls has a large fluid filled pocket on her breast area. Any ideas what it is and what I need to do about it? She is around 9 weeks old. There are my first chickens and I don't know much about them.
Here are some pics of her chest

 

[sdsknifeworks]

Update on the two chicks that I thought I had crippled by my failure to pay attention. They seem to be almost completely healed! One of them is even roosting and the other one barely has any limp at all. I am feeling a LOT better now. I felt like a complete idiot for injuring them.

I am going to wait until this weekend and move them back outside again. I need my garage back and they are getting big enough that I think they will benefit from the fresh air and grass under their feet.

Thank you to everyone who offered advice.

SDS

 

[Poco Pollo]

I just went out to put my girls in their coop for the night and I noticed that one of my girls has a large fluid filled pocket on her breast area. Any ideas what it is and what I need to do about it? She is around 9 weeks old. There are my first chickens and I don't know much about them.
Here are some pics of her chest

Is her crop full? compacted? Some birds develop a pendulous crop if they are chronic overeaters. I can't really tell from the photos. Does she have a sour smelling breath? Any other symptoms or behaviors displayed that are uncommon for this pullet? Has she eaten a lot of grass lately?

 

[CruchyJeepMama]

I didn't notice any smell. She was acting normal and didn't seem to mind when I was pushing on it. She didn't have any grass today, but she might have eaten some yesterday.