***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[SharkmanDan]

Well I set 15 Narragansett eggs on the 9th, haven't had a chance to check them, but they looked pretty scrambled when I got them. I don't think I'll ever buy eggs again. Went to Memphis for 4 days and lost 10 of 13 jersey giant chicks. Don't ask! My teeth are still gritted. My daughter went to Atwoods and bought 30 straight run mutts which I wish she'd not done. Guess I can raise them and figure it out from there.
Picked up 10 RB poults today,from Country, they look great. 17 cinnamon queens and 5 BBB coming in a few days.

I had a terrible year with turkey eggs. Of the hundred or so that I set, ONE hatched. These were eggs from my own birds. I could observe them copulating. I was the one handling them gently. Some of those eggs went to others to incubate. Some I did myself. Yet, none seemed fertile. My birds are free range, with plenty of commercial food, in addition to the food the forage for. I found out, far too late, that I had a mineral deficiency, at least in my turkeys. By the time I figured this out, though, it was too late, and the weather was already too hot and humid, for me to incubate. And, being in a financial bad state, made it tough for me to purchase anything, from a commercial operation, until just a week ago. Now, I'm forced to wait, until September 1, and had to purchase a mix of Bourbon Red and Narragansett Turkeys, from Murray McMurray. I wanted just the Narragansetts, but they had just five left, unspoken for, and I had to buy 15, for shipping purposes. The Bourbon Red is my next favorite looking turkey.

All that said, sometime in the next few days, (likely Saturday) my wife will be driving through there, on her way to California. Right now, I am over run with chicks that I have hatched out. Can I offer you a few birds, delivered? I have Black Australorps, Jersey Giants, Golden Lakenvelders, RIR's, Cuckoo Marans, Speckled Sussex's, Ameracaunas and a few mixed breeds. The more interesting crosses I have, are RIR over Blue Andalusian and Black Australorps, over Spanish Marraduna Basque.

If you're interested, please, shoot me a PM. I've had so many folks here, that without second thought, have just jumped in and helped me, in some of my darkest days. I still don't have much to give back, but what I have excess of, I am happy to help others here with what I can, and I WANT to do what I can, if I see the opportunity to help.

 

[Sagetown]

I had a terrible year with turkey eggs. Of the hundred or so that I set, ONE hatched. These were eggs from my own birds. I could observe them copulating. I was the one handling them gently. Some of those eggs went to others to incubate. Some I did myself. Yet, none seemed fertile. My birds are free range, with plenty of commercial food, in addition to the food the forage for. I found out, far too late, that I had a mineral deficiency, at least in my turkeys. By the time I figured this out, though, it was too late, and the weather was already too hot and humid, for me to incubate. And, being in a financial bad state, made it tough for me to purchase anything, from a commercial operation, until just a week ago. Now, I'm forced to wait, until September 1, and had to purchase a mix of Bourbon Red and Narragansett Turkeys, from Murray McMurray. I wanted just the Narragansetts, but they had just five left, unspoken for, and I had to buy 15, for shipping purposes. The Bourbon Red is my next favorite looking turkey.

All that said, sometime in the next few days, (likely Saturday) my wife will be driving through there, on her way to California. Right now, I am over run with chicks that I have hatched out. Can I offer you a few birds, delivered? I have Black Australorps, Jersey Giants, Golden Lakenvelders, RIR's, Cuckoo Marans, Speckled Sussex's, Ameracaunas and a few mixed breeds. The more interesting crosses I have, are RIR over Blue Andalusian and Black Australorps, over Spanish Marraduna Basque.

If you're interested, please, shoot me a PM. I've had so many folks here, that without second thought, have just jumped in and helped me, in some of my darkest days. I still don't have much to give back, but what I have excess of, I am happy to help others here with what I can, and I WANT to do what I can, if I see the opportunity to help.

That's sad. I raise rhode island red bantams. Kept what I thought was the best roo out of the bunch, but he must be sterile . Couldn't get one of his eggs to hatch. Cross bred the hens, and the eggs hatched.

 

[Ironsights]

Part of my driveway is 50 yards of dam between two large ponds. The water was just getting ready to go over the dam at 2100. I took one of the pickups and parked it on the other side of the dam. I'm not sure why, if it goes, there's no other way out as wet as it is.

 

[mjgigax]

Part of my driveway is 50 yards of dam between two large ponds. The water was just getting ready to go over the dam at 2100. I took one of the pickups and parked it on the other side of the dam. I'm not sure why, if it goes, there's no other way out as wet as it is.

Oh! I hope it holds. This weather is sure "inconvenient"

 

[bardies]

Thought I would share my idea for free (upcycled) self watering seed starters or plant containers.

Start w/ a plastic bottle, any size will do

Cut the top off the depth you want your plant pot

Take your favorite ice cream store's paper bag. (this is ness if you want ice cream)

Measure a double thickness of the bag the depth you will need. You will need the paper to go nearly to the bottom of the bottom bottle and up an inch or more into the top bottle.

Roll it up and stick it through the cap hole like this.

Fill the top part w/ your favorite potting soil, and the bottom w/ water.

Watch your seeds grow, this is passion flower.

Shaped bottles can look really nice. You can spray paint the bottle w/ that krylon plastic paint (or anything that will stick) if you want a fancier opaque finish, like for potted plants (think African violets) instead of temporary garden seed starting.


You can use any size bottle.

bump

 

[bardies]

Its been tons of time since I've been here. Hope that everyone's pens/chickens survive any flooding we get. Glad I am not going into Texas today or soon. I've been spending the last month or so going back and forth for sales and cow shows. There are some areas pretty bad. We are muddy and have pooling water but luckily are on the west side of the most rain. Had a white heifer calf born yesterday - her name is Billy The Cowgirl (after TS Bill). Here's a pic, a wet calf is much prettier than a wet chicken!

 

[NanaKat]

Part of my driveway is 50 yards of dam between two large ponds. The water was just getting ready to go over the dam at 2100. I took one of the pickups and parked it on the other side of the dam. I'm not sure why, if it goes, there's no other way out as wet as it is.

Hope you made it thru the night!
We are still getting rain....since yesterday we have gotten 4 inches and since Monday, it is now over 7 inches for the week.

Its been tons of time since I've been here. Hope that everyone's pens/chickens survive any flooding we get. Glad I am not going into Texas today or soon. I've been spending the last month or so going back and forth for sales and cow shows. There are some areas pretty bad. We are muddy and have pooling water but luckily are on the west side of the most rain. Had a white heifer calf born yesterday - her name is Billy The Cowgirl (after TS Bill). Here's a pic, a wet calf is much prettier than a wet chicken!

Pretty calf. I was wondering what had happened to you!

 

[NanaKat]

While we are not happy with all the rain we have gotten these past two months, we are grateful for the full ponds, lush grasses and broken drought cycle. The pictures of flooding and the loss of life is heartbreaking.
In just a few weeks, we will be complaining about the heat that is so typical of the Oklahoma summers.

In preparation for my birds, I packaged summer ice block treats made of minced pea hulls when I canned the Sugar Snap Peas.
Removing the steam ends, I processed the pea hulls in the food processer and then bagged them in quart bags with water to freeze for this summer. These will be great for cooling off some hot birds and will give nice nutrients.


And of course the peas will be treats for us....along with the pickled beets. The squash was picked today and Red Pontiac new potatoes dug Tuesday are from raised beds....fortunately they drain nicely so no plants were seriously water logged. The blackberries are doing great too. Big Jim thorn vines from Stark nursery are heavy producers. One vine has offered more than a gallong of berries so far this spring.

 

[Poco Pollo]

I found one of the capons that went missing a couple weeks ago. He was hiding in a patch of weeds and berry brambles in the front pasture, about two hundred yards west of the barn. He'd sacrificed his tail to save his life. He has cuts and scrapes on his legs, a gash under his left wing, and he's horribly underweight, but I think he's going to make it.

This is what his glorious tail looked like before he was snatched away by a coyote.



This is what his backside looks like now. I'm amazed at how quickly he reintegrated with the free-range group. He gives towel drying a C-, but the blow dryer gets an A++.

 

[NanaKat]

Coral, Glad to see your boy turned up.