Online Large Fowl Chat Thread

[Chicken Coach]

 

[Chicken Coach]

Well that didn't work, This is one of my new hampshire roosters

 

[CapricornFarm]

Hey Coach, how are ya? How big is that new coop? I think I need one or two of those. Love your rooster!

 

[Chicken Coach]

I feel a lot better,thanks.The pen is 8 feet wide and 22 feet long.That's the one i pushed all of my old pens together and built a roof over over it. Remenber it took me forever to do it, All i need is 2 more.

 

[Arielle]

Great to see beautiful pics. Handsome NH rooster, Coach. ANd is that a polish, the bright white with a feather cap, Hot2Pot?

While haying this morning , I hear a BAAA. I go into alert mode to figure out if a baby lamb needs help. I listen , trying to determine the direction to head in. Constantly swiveling my head to locate the sound. Got it. Of course, it's a lamb born to a ewe that is in the holding pens, waiting to look pregnant enough to go to the lambing barn. Of Course! Murphy's Law always applies. LOL A nice black lamb just born is up on it's brisket. All looks well, now to figure out where to move her to. I need to get thru two horse pens each with a stallion to get to the lambing barn. As I'm pondering my choices, I see another lamb, a white one far away in the shelter. Twins! yes!

I pick up the lambs and as all good mothers do, she follows closely. Thru a gate, across first stallions paddock. ANd of course Charlie ROse needs to see what is going on and sniffs the lambs I'm holding. Now thru the next gate with Prince checking out the newcomers. He also looks and sniffs and is in my way and the ewe's way. She looses track of her lambs, so I quickly push them under her nose and move to the final gate. Once we are thru, another gate, into the horse paddock where breakfast has been served so I'm hoping those horses don't take notice. ANd into the lambing barn. I breathed a sigh of relief. Ewe and twins jugged and eating.

Now I can get back to the chicken breeding pens, hope to get some work done today. THe floor down and find sides to match from the pallet pile.

Cold weather is coming in this weekend for our area. Below 10 degrees again. Too cold. Marans already lost their combs; guess that can't happen twice.

 

[BHep]

Does everyone here know about the Easter Hatch a long............. Please join in. You know you will be hatching anyway !

Info in my siggy..........

 

[CapricornFarm]

Yes, signed up for the hatch along. Maybe by then I will have the rehab bator going. Yes, Arielle, that is an all white Polish rooster and he is a very mellow fellow. My favorite Polish rooster, poor guy , when he was younger the older hens gave him a hard time but now I gave him some young hens so it is working out. It is quite cold here too, I have fed the fire day and night to keep it toasty in here. The smoke alarm went off this morning, man that gets old fast. The goats can't seem to figure out where the kids are if you pick them up to move them. It's like they disappear or something. Duh!
I can't believe it is Thursday already, will have to get cages ready for the sale this weekend so I can sort chickens. I just want to hibernate with this cold weather.

 

[Arielle]

Haven't gotten round to the breeding pen today--another lamb born in the holding pen. 3 lambs and all born without help. Love it!! THe benefit of a smaller ram on huge ewes.

Our days warm up to 45 so I let the fire go out. Will need to restart it after dark again. A pain, but saves on firewood.

I have a local person wanting hatching eggs to try a homemake incubator ; and another person wants marans eggs for the Easter Hatch along.

What will you be bringing to the sale? What are you looking to buy???

 

[CapricornFarm]

I am taking a few extra chickens, some youngsters, some chicks, and possibly the baby quail. You never know what I might find that interests me, but I am going to try not to get any new breeds. Unless I can't resist. I sold two dozen hatching eggs right off the farm today. It was nice not to have to wrap and pack them or drive to the post office.
No new kids today but I have not done the midnight check yet. I cleaned out one of the pens in the barn today and started putting young chickens in there. I removed the hay rack off the wall in the barn and installed the new chicken feeder I made the other day. I poured in a whole bucket of feed, and there was room for about four more. So now I shouldn't have to feed those guys twice a day.

 

[Arielle]

Great going on the feeder--5 buckets of feed! That should save a lot of time. You''ll have to share what you see at the sale.

Didn't get to the breeding pens today. TOo much going on with the birth of 2 sets of lambs. DH drove to Walmart after dark for more heat lamps. On the lambing barn, he closed up one door with old plywood and added an old shower curtain over a half-door to keep in the heat. Very cozy. The lambs were lying under the heat. I expect at his rate all the ewes will lamb within a few weeks of each other. Not bad considering the second group of ewes were added to the first group 4 weeks later.

TIme for bed, hands are too cold to type well and I'm freezing cold.