*** OKIES in the BYC ***

[TheBarnSwallow]

Today was a good Mothers Day indeed, as I am proud to say our Naragensett Turkey Hen is now the proud surrogate momma of not one but 2 NN chicks at the current moment with I am sure 13 turkeys and 2 more chicks and 2 duck eggs left to hatch... She is already quite protective over the lil scarf babies as I got a taste of what it meant to be Paparazzi trying to get a good shot of the newbies alas only one of the golden NN allowed me to get a good shot of it...

Marybeth: any Idea if there is such a thing as wingless bees?

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
http://www.kill-fireants.com/ants/velvet.htm

It is a wingless female wasp and it's sting HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nnbreeder]

And they are tough too. If you step on them on the dirt they will just walk off.

And the NN will probably mature out to be a buff or a light red. Nice chick!!

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
First, congrats on the mama instincts of your turk. Second, that little beastie is called a "cow killer ant". As Kassaundra said, it is actually a wingless wasp, but looks like an ant. Supposedly its sting is so painful people claim it could kill a cow.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/cowkiller.shtml

 

[al6517]

I just finished setting 25 more Standard White Cornish egg's, I have 25 in there now due to hatch next week, I have them on a 12 day stagger, so in 12 more day's I will set another 25 and so on and so on. I still have 60 or more on the ground at 3 different stages in the outdoor brooder pens now. Hopefully by Sept/Oct I should have enough to make some good decisions on what will stay and what will go, and be able to plan next years breeders.

BTW the dang wind has put what I was hoping to be some great looking rideyes on the outdoor wood grill, on hold. things are still dry here and I don't want to risk it.

AL

 

[Sooner]

Quote:
It could be more then one factor. An incubator, no matter what brand, has hot and cool spots and the eggs devoloping in a cool spot will devolop slower, hot spot faster.

If using a Sportsman, new eggs go in the top tray. second week they move down one slot and so forth. Also when candling I swap my eggs and change their position in the rack paying attention to the fullness of the eggs. If fuller they are devoloping faster and need to be put in a place where the slower eggs were.

Another trick has to do with storage of eggs. If storing eggs to get a full tray store them in the fridge, as long as they don't freeze they will be fine. Warm them to room temp before adding to the bator or else they may sweat and introduce bacteria to the eggs. An egg starts to devolop at around 80 deg. and keeping them in the fridge will put them in suspended animation till it is time to set them.

By far I am not anywhere close to NN on hatching but when I first started using the sportsman I had a hard time getting the temp to stablize, after asking on here & I believe it was NN & someone else that had me close a couple of the vent holes & partially cover another, after doing that my temp stablized thoughout the incubator & my hatches were great. Sorry I am late with this & it may not even apply since I don't know what kind of incubator you are using.

 

[Sooner]

Quote:
Mr. Cornish man,

I will need a hook up on a white bantam show cornish as soon as I figure out what sex I have now. Think you will be able to help Lil'Sooner out?

 

[Kassaundra]

We have some happy chickies today!!!!!!!! Finally got enough of the fencing/gates to move them to the next run in the garden rotation. They had eaten their current run down to dirt, now they have plenty of green grass.

Also got 200 feet of adzuki beans planted. I have never grown adzuki's before so we'll see.

 

[nnbreeder]

Quote:
I did cook on the grill today and the wind came up so I went out and made sure the coals were dead. Sure is fun carrying a big container of water with a walker over rough ground. Especially while the free-rangers are at my feet to see what is going on. LOL

Sure will be glad to get rid of that thing,

 

[TheBarnSwallow]

Quote:
Our NN Rooster to whom we named Yosamite Sam was a gift from P&B long time ago... he literally rules the barnyard

and he sure was tagging nearly all of our female chickens(who range in different breeds) and we werent sure if he was gonna be the proud pappa or any one of our other 3 Roosters( Americana, Bantam,polish)

anyhow when I candled the eggs this past week all of the eggs were very progressed and I knew some of them would be hatching this week and most next week...

so yea us!