Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[motherhen71185]

There's sebastapol goslings on the york craigslist.....

NO!! not you too!!! I LOVE Sebbie's!! I think i would have to live in the barn though if i brought anything else home with out the ok. He is catching on to my chicken math! I try to keep him out of the coops and the barn. lol

 

[fisherlady]

It may not appear that way to some, but i have stuck to my plan also,,,ducks don't count,,,my vietnamese customers would come pick them all up with a phone call...
as soon as that darn plucker gets here, i will have alot less roo's.....so how hard will it be to get this thing off the truck,,,,we paid to have it delivered directly to the farm, but hubby refused to pay another hundred to have them unload it, he says well it is only 175 ounds packed weight,,,I sure hope this is not a disaster.

Our plucker is the tub style, and Radioman and I carry it pretty easy... I equate it to moving a washing machine. Problem isn't the weight, it is the awkward shape and no where good to get a hold of it. with a rachet style strap and a hand truck/dolly they can be moved pretty easily over longer distances as long as it's not too rough a surface.

i have no idea what he has in mind, he said don't worryit's under control......last time he said that he dropped a tree on the deck...but I got a new deck...

Glad you got a new deck out of it! So have him do this project beside anything else you happen to want redone/replaced!

Ruminant News:

Goats-2
Blarney-1

Translation: upgrade in fence charger on Saturday has kept ONE goat in, YAY! Although....the other 2 are eating my landscape

New grounding rods went in last night....although I think I hear a visitor clip clopping on the deck right now.

I REFUSE to give up! There is a poop free deck in my future, I just know it!!

and on an unrelated note, Fisherlady, any news on the pup? Have you considered 'Mork' for a name? Hee hee.

OK... not sure if this would work for goats or not, but I remember my Dad tying a light chain around the neck of one of our 'escape artist' sheep, the chain was like a dog collar (low on neck, near shoulders) with a long tail that hung down to about the sheeps front knees, and on the tail end of it he secured a 1 ft piece of light pipe (chain attached at middle of pipe) Pipe would just sway harmlessly when sheep was grazing or walking around at average speed, but if it tried to run fast or jump the pipe would bump against it's front legs and it didn't like it and would stop. Also prevented her from jumping for same reason.
Another option may be leg hobbles?? I don't know how well a goat could climb if legs were hobbled.

LOL on Mork... we joked about that before, but I don't think I could subject the poor guy to that one! I spoke to Tish this morning. We are shooting for next Friday as pick up day. It is about a 4.5 hr ride one way, so will be a long day.

We are shipping up the towels and stuffed animal tomorrow so she can introduce them to him and put them in with mama and the litter... when we pick him up we will get our towels and stuffed animal back and it will be his bedding and 'comfy buddy' for the ride home, because it will then smell like his family. The towels and stuffed animal have been in our bed for the past week so they smell like us now... so he will actually recognize our scent when he finally gets to meet us. We did that with Mindy when we got her and she had practically no transition anxiety... made things so much easier on everyone!

Note to self: I don't want goats. I don't want goats. Much much easier to go to Blarney's and visit.

Yep!!

I have mine tied. She's chewing my $20 lunge line, but she hasn't chewed through it yet. Once we get the new shed up for her and the future goat, we have 4' no climb fence and electric tape to install. I hope that keeps them in... I am concerned about it now with all your issues, Blarney.

OK... what is a 'no climb' fence? I may need to know for future reference since I am starting to think goats are pretty cute little critters.

Odd, I look up addiction in the dictionary and there is a URL to https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/162672/sally-sunshine. Huh.

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote:
YOU DID NOT JUST GO THERE!!!!! I'm turning the computer off now.

Missy's trying to get ME served divorce papers!

 

[beaglady]

See, I like chickens because you don't have to have a plan. If I get tired of the Cochins, I can sell and look for a new breed. If I don't like the Polish, I sell and get a new breed. I love it! It's the animal for people like me - can't stick with anything for a long period of time. Except Dewey. Over 10yrs with that chicken.

So glad I traded horses for chickens!

I agree, except that I need a short term plan. Not having a plan is why I'm working to get back to 'good' cuckoo Marans like I had years ago. I'm writing this down so all y'all can help me stick to it.

If I'm going to feed 70 adult chickens, over the longterm, they need to be good ones. Spare roos have a date with destiny tomorrow. Some of my old layers may be going for soup sooner rather than later. I don't need a couple dozen eggs every day, even after subtracting the ones I pull out to hatch.

I'm tired of the black copper Marans, so most of them are moving into the layer flock as soon as Motorcyclechick is ready for her eggs from me. I'll keep the blues, along with the BC hen that I got from Swataracreek. Might keep the BC roo to try making golden cuckoos somewhere down the line. The BC chicks I have hatched will be headed to Craigslist.

I want to concentrate on the cuckoos again. Some of the ones I have now are headed for the layer flock too. I'll hatch most of the dark eggs from the good ones, and I have cuckoo chicks and hatching eggs on the way.

I want to separate the faverolles into 2 breeding trios. The remaining smaller hens will be moving to the laying hen group, and the extra roo will be going to live with a neighbor and a flock of pet chickens. Most of the fav chicks I've hatched will grow out before I decide who stays. I've got shipped fav eggs in the 'bator too.

Same story with Ameraucanas. My plan has evolved to include 2 nice roos from Heatherscooby77, so I have to sort thru the chicks already hatched and decide which ones will fit into the new and improved plan. Then on to set up trios with the new roos.

The duck eggs in the bator now will end up on CL. I'll pen up the nicest ones for a while to hatch my own replacements.

Next week, I'll have Narrigansett turkey eggs to hatch. Most of those will go to my friend to raise for her CSA - I'll grow out 6-8, process most and keep a nice trio.

For a while, the plan included adding Delawares, but I'm rethinking that I might wait a year. Still have to decide.

So, I have to resist being enabled into getting speckled Sussex at H&H.

 

[roseschickies]

gezz.. 543 missed posts... Hope everyone is well! Hello new peeps

.. Will try to catch up, nice to know I have some light reading to do!! lol

Couple things here.. I go into lock down tonight, I have my Humidity up to 60-65, temp a cool 102 ( Still air incubator) Removed the eggs from the turner.. What else..

One of my chickens seems to like to poke a hole in her egg.. getting very frustrated with that.. They have plenty of Protein, Calcium and all that, i am going to start crushing up the used eggs shells and try feeding those back to them to see if I can stop this habit, the one day I didnt get to check tilll late and the egg was completly destroyed in the nesting box.. They have like 5 to choose from but all seem to lay in the same box.. grrrrrr

Oh I saw this ad on CL
Looks more like a frizzle to me? I would this be considered a pure breed? Just curious

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pet/3691459808.html

Have a wonderful Day!

 

[roseschickies]

Breathe first...... if you have a mister you can mist the side or top of the bator when you grab the egg....never mist the eggs.

Have a sterile needle ready, tweezers, guaze or clean ptowels, Qtips

Just check the pip with the needle careful not to pull off anything but a tiny pc of shell and create a tiny hole with the needle DONT GO DEEP or you can hit the chick, if you have a tweezers u can use that too, but I like to use a needle as I don't make such a big unnecessary hole.

check to make sure there is no excess fluid or any running out if there isn't put it back in and wait. If there is fluid use a qtip and soak as much fluid from the hole as possible, you may have to make a bigger hole if you cant soak it all up, check its beak for life, if there is fluid a lot of times they drown at pip.

You may need to assist more after the "resting" phase which could be over 24 hrs..... link is below in my signature but most times they can get out themselves! Good Luck!

OMG!! What is this!! I am a little freaked out!! lol!! My babies are in lock down stage now.. Oh my....

 

[sharron]

Does anyone make their own ACV? (Besides me). Just curious how much making it yourself saved, s I only ever bought one bottle.. Apple cider is about $7 a gallon and makes just less than a gallon of vinegar. Am I wasting my time?

Edit as my eyes open

we do apple cider every year that the apples are good, but we don't drink it fast enough so we get apple jack, then vinegar with the mother

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Lil'B It was nice chatting with you today!

 

[cskotek]

Not sure if your talking her feather color or not...... but here this is in case

if you see yellowish, sometimes they stick their feet into the yolk and tear it, how long has it been pipped? you don't want this one to sit too long, but it still has to have veins absorbed. it can get infected if you let it stew in there. If it is ruptured and hanging emptyish (not like ball) you will need to dip some dental floss in betadine and tie off the yolk and add betadine to the navel and keep it separate from the others, it may need a quick wash in warm water DO NOT get any in its beak! I like to wash them fast after tying yolk, since they are already mostly wet anyways, over and done. just reapply the betadine and keep and eye on it. when the chick is active offer electrolyte solution its in the hatching 101 article at the bottom if you need to make some homemade fast.

AGAIN only when those veins are not active!

I am talking about their feather/ beak color. Opps..

Well I have opened up the pip a little bit.. going by sallys guide. Since I work at a grocery store.. and I have to go in tonight I am going to grab some of the betadine if they have it..... And some floss if needed. They are VERY actve (thank god) but I am going to go super slow. The one with the small end hasnt absorbed much of the veins and that one I will let sit longer.. the one in the middle I am starting to move around the shell like when the duckling would "zip" and stopping when I see any blood. The veins seem very thin but I am still going to wait and check it again before I leave for work.. then its in my Dads hands.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: Hi Rosie, its ok some people don't assist a chick, its personal preference and depends on cost of the eggs. If you run into something I have both articles in my signature.