***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[miohippus]

According to the news we are currently being infested w/ army worms and some people are spraying toxic chemicals on their lawns to get rid of them. I say bring them suckers on, I have a hoard of hungry chickens to take care of that! And no chemical residue just some tasty eggs and lawn fertilizer.

I must have saw some on the road the other day idk what they look like but i saw a tone of small green caterpillar like worms crossing the road. I have seen a ton of blister beetles around never seen so many before i'm a little worried because i have heard they can kill horses and they are in my hay barn too they seem attracted to animal feed and my brooder is in the hay barn and some of the teen chicks i have in there have been spilling feed and the beetles were crawling around in it. I wonder what would happen to goats and chickens if they ate them? most of the hay in the barns is for the goats we get round beals for the horses but i have seen a lot of them running around outside too.

 

[miohippus]

Mitzi, I am going to have to get behind you in line to beat on @Kassaundra ! Bow ties are cool! My daughter and I now watch Dr Who. Thank goodness for the reruns on BBC!. We've gotten through most of David Tennants episodes (our favorite) and about 2/3 through Matt Smith's. I actually finally joined the 21st century and got a DVR so that we might record the episodes last Saturday in spite of having to get ready for our local livestock fair. Anyway - I have done a few episodes of Dr # 9. When I realized that there was a long term story line running through the 'seasons', I couldn't help myself! We are officially hooked - have over 30 hours of back episodes to see before being caught up with the modern versions. I do not think we will be going back to the 80's series, thank goodness. Thanks Kass!

Netflix has a lot of Dr. Who episodes if you have that.

 

[erinszoo]

Yeah we thought rabbits bred like ... rabbits too. Lol. Our first female got pregnant and gave birth to four big babies, but being a first time mom she didn't build a nest and they got too cold and died. Then she had her next litter of seven. They all lived. We thought that was great but ...


She got wry neck and died. So we bred two of her daughters. Both first time litters died. Second litters one of our turkeys killed all but two. Third litter we planned on bringing inside but they were born three days earlier than we planned and froze before we found them in the morning. Fourth round only one doe produced. We brought her inside where she had four babies ... until one of our cats ate two of them despite having them in a cage inside a fully covered box.


As soon as they were weaned, the doe died from unknown causes. Alive one minute, dead fifteen minutes later. Our other doe has so far avoided getting pregnant again despite numerous breeding attempts.


We are somewhat stymied by all of it and ready to throw in the towel. We love what meat we've gotten from them but we either need new breeding stock or a new housing set up or something. Its been a frustrating three years.

I would definitely switch to new breeding stock, but only after addressing whatever housing issues you have.

What is your housing set up, any pics?

Our first housing was hutches four feet off the ground with hardware mesh floors. We had two males and one female (long story) and each portion was 18" x 4'. Our vet told us, before we figured out our rabbit died from wry neck, that she might have had heat stroke, so we moved the hutches from the yard space into our chicken house and built in solid floors. We have a small a/c in the house for really hot weather. Since we went almost two years without losing another adult, we figured we were fine on the housing end. We clean them out three times a week and use pdz in them.

After reading through this, the other girl who died recently could have cocci because we found out our daughter was putting the rabbits down in the deep litter bedding of the chicken house and letting them dig through it. Teenagers ... ugh.

But the one who's refused to get pregnant and knowing where we got the starter buns from makes me really think its the genetics of the stock.

I don't know that I want to delve in deeper with housing set ups where we live now, though since we are actively trying to buy some land and move.

 

[HeyBigRhondaq]

What's your hatch date? Mine go into lockdown tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous. 8/11 are doing great. I'm also impressed with the brinsea. My only complaint is our a/c broke a week ago so outside temperature is not stabilized. Oh well. Still rocking and the fluctuation has been minor.

And so sorry you lost 2 this heat is tough. It feels like a full time job keeping these babies cool.

I still have two weeks to go. Just a few more days for you! Yay! No a/c? I believe you told me you don't use yours much, but it's been HOT! Be careful!

 

[ashtree]

I still have two weeks to go. Just a few more days for you! Yay! No a/c? I believe you told me you don't use yours much, but it's been HOT! Be careful!

Its actually being serviced right now

But we only turned it on for the eggs to begin with. We really spend so much time outside its never a big deal for us. We like sweating and we drink TONS of water. I promise!

 

[NanaKat]

Well back from the doctors..
Roger had a 6 month checkup with his CPAP doctor.. He has had so many nights with cramping in his legs and feet that the readings were way off. And for some reason his BP was elevated today. We are thinking the chemo is part of the influence.

I received a huge shot in my knee instead of an aspiration...steroids and anti-inflamatory. But I will be scheduled for shoulder surgery in September after the labs, ekg and chest xrays. Surgery will most likely be mid Sept as the doctor only does surgeries on Mondays. Bone spurs at the collar bone junction, a hole in the rotar cuff and a ligament that is 3/4 torn loose ..So reconstruction is in order.

On chicken notes...have had two babies hatch under a bantam hen in the nest boxes in the brooder room. I ended up moving both of them inside because one was cold yesterday evening and today while we were gone, a Wyandotte hen took over the bantam hen's nest . The banty baby while warm was dwarfed under the big hen. The Bantam hen had taken the Wyandotte's nest and was trying to cover three large eggs. I switched the eggs under the hens. The Wyandotte got her three eggs and the Bantam hen got the remaining banty egg. I put her in a quiet cage with her egg. If it doesn't hatch by this evening, I will give her the two chicks and slip out the egg.
Found another Cochin hen hiding in a corner under one of the cages. She had been pilfering eggs and had 4 under her...not sure how long she has been sitting...so I let her keep them.
The other five broody hens are sitting on empty nests in the layer room....forcing the layers to go lay their eggs in the 10 nest box in the brooder room.
Sheesh...
At least the swamp cooler is keeping both the brooder room and the layer room cooler than the outside temps.
Four 4 week old chicks have drowned in the open tub water containers this week. They each have a brick in them just in case...for the chicks to get up on if they fell in. I also have those 1 gallon waterers with the tray....
Freeranging has it's disadvantages sometimes....soooo frustrating.

 

[subhanalah]

Our first housing was hutches four feet off the ground with hardware mesh floors. We had two males and one female (long story) and each portion was 18" x 4'. Our vet told us, before we figured out our rabbit died from wry neck, that she might have had heat stroke, so we moved the hutches from the yard space into our chicken house and built in solid floors. We have a small a/c in the house for really hot weather. Since we went almost two years without losing another adult, we figured we were fine on the housing end. We clean them out three times a week and use pdz in them.

After reading through this, the other girl who died recently could have cocci because we found out our daughter was putting the rabbits down in the deep litter bedding of the chicken house and letting them dig through it. Teenagers ... ugh.

But the one who's refused to get pregnant and knowing where we got the starter buns from makes me really think its the genetics of the stock.

I don't know that I want to delve in deeper with housing set ups where we live now, though since we are actively trying to buy some land and move.

the species of cocci that affect chickens is different from the species that affect rabbits.
They will refuse to breed if they are ill or in pain.

 

[Ksane]

Mercy sakes, @NanaKat! It's one thing after another, what a lot to worry about on top of everything else you have going on :-( I've got a portable swamp cooler and a fan on the deck where 3 x-pens are with rabbits in them. It really makes a difference. It's worked so well I'm going to get a few more bigger ones for the birds next summer.
Here's some Bun Pens. Not as elaborate as Kass's set-up but it's too hot to set fence posts so their Bun Yard has been on hold. I'm ready for 80 degree temps.
Hey-I'm just counting my blessings that I don't have as many rabbits as Kass. Yet
The last picture is my 4 mo old English Lop, Dennis. He just got neutered a few days ago.

 

[bardies]

Eccleston is my second favorite Doctor but not a "good looking and flashy" as the Tennant / Smith Doctors.

Did you see the new one? He is older, getting away from the young guy trend. If you did see it, did you like? Does one just adjust to the new Dr and enjoy the continued theme?

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote:
he is going to take some getting used to, but reminded me of some of the earlier Dr's...as always i miss the previous drs, but will get to liking the new guy too...kind of felt sorry for Clara!