***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Poco Pollo]

Evening, Okies : )

Hearing lots of coyotes tonight. DH and I went out for a while thinking we heard something near the fence. Couldn't see anything, but that's not a surprise. I hope they have a hankerin' for wild rabbit. Lots of them on the prairie buffet tonight.

My flock has been more active: dust bathing and courtship dancing. I hope to see better egg production soon. It's possible that the girls who get to go out to hunt bugs are hiding eggs during their tour of the yard.

 

[Oakieridge]

What a wonderful weekend. I don't think we could have asked for any nicer days to be outside. Dh and Jackson are on the mend in fact both sat outside for a while this afternoon. We had 3 families stop by to get hatching eggs. It was nice to visit with new chicken lovers. It seems there is a big increase of folks wanting a backyard flock of their own. I think this week I will start on a new chicken lovers guide with websites for reliable info. Where to buy supplies locally and online, like Oxine. I know we would have been lost without the great crowd here esp. Nanakat and Carl. They helped guide us to what we needed without making us feel stupid.

Nana that is a nice looking brooder! I hope our brooder a are full soon. Not holding out hope for the ones to hatch tomorrow or later this week. We had a power outage for about 10 hours 2 weeks ago messing with the temps in the incubator. But the next one is looking great.

Robin, Dora is adorable. We don't have any full size Cochins but the boys have bantam Cochins and they are the sweetest birds.

Joe it is encouraging to see you post. My 15 year old has dyslexia and dyscalcula and won't post on public forums. It is all I can do to get him to text me.

Okiedad those green eggs are the favorites of our egg customers. I need to add some more EE's to our flock. The two we have are great layers but real flighty so dh won't let me get anymore. Of course we won't tell him there are 8 EE eggs in the incubator. They "accidentally" ended up in there lol.

Well it is past my bedtime back to work tomorrow. I look forward to when I can call myself retired and spend all day with my feather babies.

 

[poultryand bees]

What a gorgeous day today! I actually enjoyed getting some chicken wire reattached to the bottom of the chain link pens, using metal rings this time instead of the zip ties that broke when a guinea somehow got between the chicken wire and the chain link. She managed to create a space for herself - 30 feet long - and still needed to be rescued from the chicken wire that she left flapping next to the chain link. I love the convenience of zip ties for attaching things, but they don't last multiple years in the sun.

 

[mjgigax]

Quote: EE can be pretty flight but some are friendly. I guess their temperments vary as much as their colors.
My bed time too, night all.

 

[Carebearsmiles]

Evening, Okies : )

Hearing lots of coyotes tonight.  DH and I went out for a while thinking we heard something near the fence.  Couldn't see anything, but that's not a surprise.  I hope they have a hankerin' for wild rabbit.  Lots of them on the prairie buffet tonight.

My flock has been more active: dust bathing and courtship dancing.  I hope to see better egg production soon.  It's possible that the girls who get to go out to hunt bugs are hiding eggs during their tour of the yard.

Dust baths here today as well. I have been wondering if there are any stray eggs in my yard.

Today was beautiful! The boyfriend and I got out and worked in the yard all day. Some cleaning and some fence work. Almost have all my yard privacy fenced in now.
Yay!

 

[jcatblum]

Nana I am sure you will need another new brooder soon. With all the chicks you have hatching that new large brooder will turn small over night. I put rubermaid shelf liner in the bottom of my brooder when chicks are very young. We usually only hatch large fowl, I would be nervous with bantams on wire. Only ever had 1 LF chick get stuck on the wire floor but those guineas always find theirselves caught.
P&B shocked your guinea was still alive when you found it. I have had 3 or 4 kill theirselves with fencing, they get their heads stuck and can't calm down enough to get out.
Cathie I agree most are EE are very flighty. How about taking an ameracuana & crossing it with a calmer bird, like your BO. They would hopefully the still lay colored eggs & calmer.
Taron came home sick today. She is coughing & has a fever. Hope it isn't the full blown flu.
I am ready for this spring time sunshine to stay. DH worked on prepping the garden all day, he plans on tilling some tomorrow.
My biggest goal for this wk is to set Silver Appleyard eggs. I only have 1 lady laying, but she lays everyday. Alexis doesn't get involved in poultry like Taron, but everyday she is the one in the duck cage collecting the lone egg. Going to have a bed time snack. Smokey Egg Dip with Fritos.

 

[NanaKat]

Cathie, Making a guide for your new chicken folks is a great idea! I'm still learning from all the great folks here and make notes for a folder all the time.

Christina, thanks for the tip on the rubber shelf mats for the brooder. Those would wash/disinfect easily too. I do have a roll of 1/4 inch mesh for banties. I like the wire mesh for the brooders because I find there are fewer curled toes than on slick surface like newspaper. Sorry to hear Taron is sick..hope it's just a little bug and not the flu. Tamaflu sure helps reduce the symptoms if it is. Doc has me keep a prescription on hand for Roger every year just in case.

MJ, are you doing better? Is Joe doing okay too?

Being retired just means weird hours...seems I'm up and down after 10 pm. I'm always checking on Roger or his machine and then it takes an hour to go back to sleep.

 

[Elbert Garrett]

Good Monday morning to all! <---(oxymoron)

It`s going to be a chilly visit with the birds this morning, 26°F/-3°C. A hot thermos of black coffee will take the edge off! I hope y`all have a great week ahead!

57 daze until Spring!

 

[Oakieridge]

Nana I am sure you will need another new brooder soon. With all the chicks you have hatching that new large brooder will turn small over night. I put rubermaid shelf liner in the bottom of my brooder when chicks are very young. We usually only hatch large fowl, I would be nervous with bantams on wire. Only ever had 1 LF chick get stuck on the wire floor but those guineas always find theirselves caught.
P&B shocked your guinea was still alive when you found it. I have had 3 or 4 kill theirselves with fencing, they get their heads stuck and can't calm down enough to get out.
Cathie I agree most are EE are very flighty. How about taking an ameracuana & crossing it with a calmer bird, like your BO. They would hopefully the still lay colored eggs & calmer.
Taron came home sick today. She is coughing & has a fever. Hope it isn't the full blown flu.
I am ready for this spring time sunshine to stay. DH worked on prepping the garden all day, he plans on tilling some tomorrow.
My biggest goal for this wk is to set Silver Appleyard eggs. I only have 1 lady laying, but she lays everyday. Alexis doesn't get involved in poultry like Taron, but everyday she is the one in the duck cage collecting the lone egg. Going to have a bed time snack. Smokey Egg Dip with Fritos.

Oh good idea, I would have to find an ameracuana or two for that. I could try a cross with my BO roo and a cross with my Splash or Cuckoo Marans boy. Both of those boys are laid back. Funny my Wheaton and Golden Salmon Marans boys aren't as laid back as the others. I really don't mind my EE girls being flighty it just means I get a bit more of a work out when it is time for them to go into the coop at night, lol. Nathanael have some EE bantam/Silver Phonix bantam crosses that we hatched from a friend and they aren't to bad of course Nathanael is like Taron and out there handling them all the time.

Sorry to hear Taron is sick, Jackson came home Friday night and threw up and then that was it other than he just felt bad. Never ran much of a fever and was back outside yesterday. He wasn't really playing but he did come out and hold Rootbeer (one of his little mixed bantam cochins, she has muffs so she is adorable!LOL). Hope it is the same for Taron and runs is course quickly.

Elbert, those 57 days till spring sound like to many,lol. Of course with days like this last weekend I don't guess we can complain, haha.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

If you ever get up Tulsa way I have Ameraucanas. My EEs are not flighty though, so it may depend on what breeds you use in the cross. Mine are Ameraucana roo X RIR and Black Austrolorp hens.