***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Sagetown]

Good Morning Folks: Sure is cold this morning. Checking my brooding records, one of my white Jap Blacktails should be hatching 4 eggs on the 7th of this month. Supposed to be in the 60's by then. She's only 28 weeks old today. Another pullet is setting also, but so far she's not as dedicated to the task at hand, but time will tell. My 3rd pullet, is a real layer. She's been laying regularly for 5 weeks now at 5 to 6 eggs per week.

 

[Poco Pollo]

Hello all you Okies!! Anyone from the Ardmore area? We just started our little flock of 4 adult hens and 6 approx. 2 month old pullets.
I only have one who is laying at this time, but baby its cold outside!

I'm wanting to let my girls do a little free ranging in the afternoon, but they will have to be supervised because of my neighbors dogs. We also have a coon problem, so I don't want to loose any of them. My hubby and I have spoiled them rotten! They only have to hear one of us then they meet us at the gate of the coop.
We have australorps, silver laced Wyandot's, RIR and a mix of RIR/ white leghorn, and a couple of partridges. I have really enjoyed getting reacquainted with raising chickens. I grew up having them on my folks place.

Welcome to the thread! Sounds like you have lots of color in your laying flock. We're happy you're here.

 

[Kyzmette]

Quote:
When they talk about all the antibiotics found in supermarket chicken, this is the reason. They don't give them antibiotics to keep them healthy (although some of them would be for that reason, since they live in cramped, awful conditions); they give them antibiotics because the antibiotics make them grow to abnormal sizes. When things get sick, the occasional antibiotic isn't bad. Most people don't understand that, because they hear about the evils of antibiotics in our food, but it's not the actual drug, it's how it's being used.

 

[Kyzmette]

Quote:
NanaKat, this weather has been absolutely terrible to you and yours. I just keep telling myself to hold on until March 28th (last frost, per the Farmer's Almanac). Incidentally @NotSuperWoman , I lost Little Girl. I knew it would happen sooner or later, poor thing.

 

[Ksane]

I'm of a different opinion when it comes to "detached air sacs". Everyone always said it was the PO being too rough but then I started questioning that theory. I believe 100% that it's people sending old eggs. Eggs older than a week start to get bigger looser air sacs. At 2-3 wks they slosh when you barely wiggle them and when candled have the "broken air sacs" you all are talking about. You can test them yourself by putting them in a bowl of water. If the egg goes right to the bottom it's fresh, less than a week old. If you candle that egg you can see a teeny tiny tight air sac. If the big end starts standing up it's between 1-2 wks and getting too old to hatch. I know it's *possible to hatch older eggs but I really think that's what gives us weak chicks. The yolk loses nutrition and the chicks just don't thrive like fresh-egg chicks. My 1st hatch that I float tested the eggs was my Silkie hatch last fall-every egg from both those Ebay sellers was super fresh, *19 out of 20 of those eggs hatched! Think about it.....just cuz everyone blames the PO doesn't mean it's true. Float test your eggs when you get them and I think you'll find far too many eggs are just getting too old.

yep, so far these seramas won't touch it - the others love it, maybe they are gourmets??

Or just holding out for the scratch I use to ferment lol They were eating it real good here, but then again it's straight *scratch. What chicken won't eat that? My 2 pigeons even swoop down and steal it right out from under the chicken's noses in that pen.

He's so beautiful, Robin. I wanted so badly for you to like him. The second I saw him I just felt like you 2 needed each other, Come hell or high water I wanted *that* boy for you lol Both are such pretty birds but JoJo looks so much like Channing & Joe and your camera takes such awesome pictures, he looks like royalty Nana, that blows about your Delaware pullets. I've got boys with frostbitten comb tips left and right and I 'm just sick to death of this cold.

 

[artsyrobin]

I'm of a different opinion when it comes to "detached air sacs". Everyone always said it was the PO being too rough but then I started questioning that theory. I believe 100% that it's people sending old eggs. Eggs older than a week start to get bigger looser air sacs. At 2-3 wks they slosh when you barely wiggle them and when candled have the "broken air sacs" you all are talking about. You can test them yourself by putting them in a bowl of water. If the egg goes right to the bottom it's fresh, less than a week old. If you candle that egg you can see a teeny tiny tight air sac. If the big end starts standing up it's between 1-2 wks and getting too old to hatch. I know it's *possible to hatch older eggs but I really think that's what gives us weak chicks. The yolk loses nutrition and the chicks just don't thrive like fresh-egg chicks. My 1st hatch that I float tested the eggs was my Silkie hatch last fall-every egg from both those Ebay sellers was super fresh, *19 out of 20 of those eggs hatched!
Think about it.....just cuz everyone blames the PO doesn't mean it's true. Float test your eggs when you get them and I think you'll find far too many eggs are just getting too old.

Quote: that little Jojo is spoiled rotten all ready, well so has Cole for that matter, he is in the living room learning we aren't ogres...




the way i got Sonny to eat fermented was make sure alot of it has seed in it, took him a few days to learn... gonna try that with these guys,

interesting on the detatched air sac- well, i know these were at least a week old, she had them packed well, the eggs were porous, not sure if that makes a diff? These were to be sonny's future hens... anyone have cochin chicks? i really would rather not get hatchery birds for him

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote: poor little Girl


this winter has been brutal- am ready for spring, not summer, i detest summers!

 

[artsyrobin]

has anyone seen this??

http://www.chickenwaterer.com/Brite...tm_content=BT100&utm_campaign=PeckToLearnMore

 

[hotcurltr]

NanaKat It seems this winter is starting to hit u a little hard. I'm so sorry. Your building felt a lot warmer than my coops. Glenn keeps telling me that's how nature weeds out the weak ones. I don't know that I agree. This cold could kill anyone or anything. Hugs for u

This weather has given me more work, so I'll get pics later.

Kyzmette Great post. We need to realize that a lot of what we think is a bacterial infection could be a virus. Antibiotics are for stopping a secondary infection. Maybe one day they won't put all those different antibiotics in the pig feed, but it does work great to treat a flock.

Ksane. Great post too. I get tired of everyone blaming the PO, although at times things do happen because of the way something is handled. I'm not sure if I agree about the older two week eggs, because in nature they lay a clutch before they set on them, unless we are just breeding it out of them by all the incubation. The last hen I had set, her chicks hatched on Jan 30 and some of her eggs were two weeks because I wanted certain eggs under her. BUt they were all backwards! We lost the first two because she pecked at them and maybe she was just trying to help. Hubby saved the rest by helping them , but they were all the same. So u might have something there on shipped eggs. Two or three of her eggs were fresh, but they still did the same thing being backwards with hardly any air sac. Of course they were pullet eggs and maybe not ready. I just know certain of my hens become broody at so many weeks so if I want certain chicks I save the eggs and have been successful. I haven't ever had any over two weeks though. Does it hurt the eggs to to the egg test? I don't know if it's fact or fiction but I was told that if you get them wet it can cause bacteria to get in them and you don't get as successful hatch. It's hard to tell what is fact or fiction unless I do researrch and I don't do much though I should. Thanks for your post. It's certainly something to think about.

Robin, I didn't click on your site, I will later. I'm already behind because of being so windy on here. LOL
Has anyone heard from Chickenfanfor life? She's usually a regular. I 'm a worry wart so I will pm her. Have a great afternonn everyone

 

[Sagetown]

One of my 4 buff Orpington bantams has laid her 1st egg just before noon. 28 weeks old today.
Another is singing,
and another seems to be in great pain
.
I'm worried about her. She spent 30 minutes in the nest clucking in repetitions of 3 clucks. Finally, it softened , but still she clucked. Then, after another 20 minutes she came out of the hutch, and was in a fluff and straining. I looked in the nestboxes, but she hadn't laid. I couldn't stand watching her, and had to leave. Fixing to go back out and check on them.