South Carolina

[KrisH]

Kris--I feel your pain on the hatching woes--and I have only done it pretty unsuccessfully once! lol!! I have my one slightly deformed chick. Luckily I got a chick from Sam that is about the same age so it is not all alone. We will see what my currently baking batch does. I soo hope it goes better this time!!!

Trixie--congrats on your baby!! I love babies and pregnant mammas!!!

Avonshire,

I am so glad you got a chick from Sam, hindsight, we should have gotten a chick for Cujo. Lesson learned. I hope you hatch goes better this time. We have had our stuggles, but it isnt the eggs it is us and the incubator. They seem to develop, but not hatch. I know this last batch, we pulled 3 basically not developed, but the rest of them (13) had definitly been developed and were moving at lock dwon. Only 3 hatched. We have guinea eggs due to lockdown this weekend, watch they will all hatch

 

[Patsy29332]

Hey everyone!!!

I haven't been on in a while... (at least a month, I think.) It looks like everyone is hatching and mostly doing well. A lot of changes going on with me and I have been super busy. My moving schedule was pushed up. So I have been working on painting and moving and trying to get it all done by Memorial Day Weekend. The chickens and ducks will be moved to the 5 acres, ( they don't know it yet but i bet they will be happy when they get there.) I changed jobs, same company just different project and schedule so that has taken some getting used to. But the biggest news that I have for y'all is....



Yep. I am 12 weeks and have my 2nd appointment on Friday.

Needless to say things are crazy. My garden isn't producing so much because I haven't had time to tend to it, but my chickens and ducks are all flourishing spectacularly, the ducklings have gotten so big and they are all getting a bit more friendly since i started bribing them with dried mealworms. lol.

Dixie was kind enough to send me a PM and let me know y'all are having a cookout May 26th. Unfortunately I won't be able to be there but I hope everyone has a good time.

I will try to be here more often, i will be able to be after the month of May is over. I am really looking forward to June, But i still have a lot to do.
Best wishes to everyone!

WOW!!! CONGRATS!!! That is wonderful! Love the "candling pic"...LOLOL Congrats on the move also...hope all goes smooth with the move!

 

[Patsy29332]

Hope everybody is staying safe during this thunderstorm that is passing through.. I had my adventure for the day when I had to go out in the thunderstorm and rescue our duckling that had escaped from the enclosure. Considering that I'm completely terrified of storms that was definitely something I don't do normally. Thankfully I was able to rescue the little jailbird and her accomplice and bring them outside to further wait out the rest of this storm.. Hopefully it doesn't last too long or we're going to have to find some different accommodations for these little feathery escape artist.. LOL

Isn't it funny what we end up doing for our human children and our fowl children?!?! LOL...glad you didn't have much trouble during the rescue!

 

[Patsy29332]

Hello everybody, I've been MIA lately but this is a very busy time for me. There is so much to do and not enough hours in the day. I try to read and catch up about once a week but just haven't had time to post much. I have a health issue with one of my hens and need some help. Has anyone seen this before? It's different from any Bumblefoot that I've ever seen and it's in both feet. The poor hen is in pain, she hardly moves around. Other than the foot problem she seems to be in good health. The feet are very swollen and hot to touch. Also, she is in my layer flock, on pasture with about 135 other birds. None of the others are having any problems. I've never seen anything like this. Here's the pictures, let me know if you have any idea what this is. Thanks in advance!

OUCH! Bless her heart! That sure looks painful! Some sort of infection maybe? Or some sort of critter bite? I have no idea! I have never seen anything like that! I sure hope she gets better...and very soon!

 

[Patsy29332]

Avonshire,

I am so glad you got a chick from Sam, hindsight, we should have gotten a chick for Cujo. Lesson learned. I hope you hatch goes better this time. We have had our stuggles, but it isnt the eggs it is us and the incubator. They seem to develop, but not hatch. I know this last batch, we pulled 3 basically not developed, but the rest of them (13) had definitly been developed and were moving at lock dwon. Only 3 hatched. We have guinea eggs due to lockdown this weekend, watch they will all hatch

I have the same problem here...they make it to lockdown and IF any even pip...they just stop!!! Still trying...adjusting heat, humidity, different things...I hope I get a handle on what my problem is soon!!! I hope all you guys do too! It is hard to go 3 weeks happily developing and have them just quit at the end!!! Another whole 3 weeks till another is ready...and it quits too!!! Very sad and discouraging!

 

[Avonshire]

OK girls who are having trouble ... what incubator are you using, what temp are you using, what humidity are you using and are you using a turner? I did not use a turner the first time and my temp was set to 99.5 at the top of the eggs. This time my temp is higher. I had 3 eggs pip, one came out on his own with curled toes, one I helped out and had to cull, and another that died in its shell. This time I am using a turner and I am doing the dry incubation technique. Have you read this article? https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubation-cheat-sheet This is what I am trying to do with my Little Giant. I talk to people who have had good hatches with the LG so I am hoping that with more information I will have a better hatch this time. It is always scary to hear that people continue to have bad hatches. I am not sure I am up for multiple bad hatches!!

 

[Patsy29332]

OK girls who are having trouble ... what incubator are you using, what temp are you using, what humidity are you using and are you using a turner? I did not use a turner the first time and my temp was set to 99.5 at the top of the eggs. This time my temp is higher. I had 3 eggs pip, one came out on his own with curled toes, one I helped out and had to cull, and another that died in its shell. This time I am using a turner and I am doing the dry incubation technique. Have you read this article? https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubation-cheat-sheet This is what I am trying to do with my Little Giant. I talk to people who have had good hatches with the LG so I am hoping that with more information I will have a better hatch this time. It is always scary to hear that people continue to have bad hatches. I am not sure I am up for multiple bad hatches!!

I have a Hovobator with turner and a LG without a turner (however - the turner fits the LG). I have alternated using one or the other as the incubator and the other as the lock-down. I have run hatches at 99 thru 101 increasing a smidgeon each time. I have just set a few eggs in each and trying one with the turner and one turning by hand. Time will tell on this try...I think the weather outside this spring with the highs and lows changing so much was affecting my last couple hatches. I had good success during the winter (even had a good hatch once when my temp had spiked to 107 mid way thru) ...just this spring I have had this problem...thanks for the suggestions! I hope to upgrade to a cabinet incubator soon...not for the number of eggs necessarily...but for the better quality of hatch!

 

[dixiebeast]

YAY TRIXIE!!! CONGRATS!!! Who's a broody hen now!! LOL

Dee it is nice to see you are like so many of us and will put the farm babies first! We are responsible for them!! GOOD JOB!!

I have a question...is it possible for a chick to sunburn itself under a light? even though it is the one choosing to sit there and it has plenty of room to move away..(I had some singed (okay fried) feathers one time from a light I moved to low a while back)...I am trying to help figure out a lil chick...poo is a lil runny but nothing I have never seen...butt is unfeathered around vent but I have seen some lose them in wierd ways during growing up(butt,belly,between wings,I call it grow out moulting)...a little gripey but not extremely so...but overall feathers seem thin and skin is pink?? no sign of mites but is kinda preening alot?? I am thinking the lil bugger has enjoyed the nice heat light way too much!! LOL BTW it is 2 weeks old...

 

[momd29]

Isn't it funny what we end up doing for our human children and our fowl children?!?! LOL...glad you didn't have much trouble during the rescue!

Yes it truly is. Hubby asked me when I came back in if I had realized what I had just done, and I said yeah I went outside in a thunderstorm. He was amazed since up until that moment I've been completely petrified during storms. I've always had a bad fear of storms since I was little and literally watched a tornado hit my house through a large picture window. Ever since then I would be so scared of storms that I would leave my house and go to the local walmart or other large building to feel safe, even if it was in the middle of the night. I've gotten a little better since we moved to our new house last year since I feel much safer here, but to go outside in the storm was a huge accomplishment for me, but I told hubby that I would have done it for one of my human babies so of course I would do it for my feathered babies. LOL

 

[momd29]

Thank you Samantha that means a lot to me. I try my best to treat my feathered babies the best I can. It's exactly like you said, we are responsible for them. They can't really take care of themselves so we must do it. I'm just so glad I had the intuition to walk out there and check on them when I did. I'd be afraid to think of where our escape duck would have ended up if I had not went out there when I did. They are still not very used to being around us (and the storm was scaring them bad). so I had to chase her a little bit to catch her. So by time I came in I was soaking wet, but overall it was well worth it to know that my duckies are safe and sound.

YAY TRIXIE!!! CONGRATS!!! Who's a broody hen now!! LOL

Dee it is nice to see you are like so many of us and will put the farm babies first! We are responsible for them!! GOOD JOB!!

I have a question...is it possible for a chick to sunburn itself under a light? even though it is the one choosing to sit there and it has plenty of room to move away..(I had some singed (okay fried) feathers one time from a light I moved to low a while back)...I am trying to help figure out a lil chick...poo is a lil runny but nothing I have never seen...butt is unfeathered around vent but I have seen some lose them in wierd ways during growing up(butt,belly,between wings,I call it grow out moulting)...a little gripey but not extremely so...but overall feathers seem thin and skin is pink?? no sign of mites but is kinda preening alot?? I am thinking the lil bugger has enjoyed the nice heat light way too much!! LOL BTW it is 2 weeks old...