Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[stoopid]

She may be bloated from the humidity issue, don't think roo just yet....

 

[lichick28]

There is a fox running around in Commack

 

[stoopid]

They are like rats, if you see one, there are many more.

 

[Toxic Chicken]

Got my Appen spitz eggs today !
The auction was for 3+
They sent me 6 .
They are resting.
Cream legbar and mottled Jave are in the mail
I have tracking #s I'll prolly set them all together
My second incubator is in the mail too.
I really need it SOON. Not enough room in
the Brinsea for the eggs in the mail.
I'm a Spaz.
Total spaz.
and.... Shhhh I have bids on welsummer and
Barnevelder eggs.
Shoot me
I'll be over the limit by like 40 chicks.

 

[Toxic Chicken]

I got up early and did the postmortem on the eggs that didn't hatch. One was a few days behind (a replacement) and even that one didn't make it. One wouldn't have hatched - it apparently had died early on. Of the two that really were viable, one looked ready to pop out and the other one right behind it. Both looked like high humidity was the issue. I have 12 White Orpington eggs waiting and 12 Light Sussex eggs arriving today. They will all go in the freshly cleaned incubator tomorrow morning. I am going to replace the hygrometer with a more exact one, but in the meantime will keep the humidity low. The baby that did hatch was so lonely I put a screen up in the brooder box with the bigger chicks (3 weeks old) so they can all be together, but not. She seems warm enough and calm now, but not interested in water. She pecks at the food, but I haven't seen her drink yet. I let her spend a little time with the big girls and they showed her what to do. I'm hoping she's still working on her "box lunch" from the egg and will be eating and drinking normally by tonight. Fingers crossed that she makes it. She looks so tiny compared to the others! Here's a picture I took last night: Look at the size of those feet! Roo for sure.

That chick is adorable.

 

[Toxic Chicken]

To make sure the humidity is good you can weigh
the eggs. You can weigh them all together on a kitchen
scale. They need to lose 12% of their pre incubation wt
by day 18 when you put them in lockdown.

 

[Toxic Chicken]

You could also try the dry incubation method.
As long as humidity doesn't go below 25%
don't add any water. If it does just add a few
tablespoons. Untill lockdown then you do 65%
I think.

/shrug.

I guess that's what I'm doing. When it goes to the low
20s I add a little water to one reservoir. It goes up to
about 35% and slowly drops over the next few days
then I repeat.

But I haven't hatched any yet so I have no idea
If this will work.

 

[smkchick]

The Light Sussex eggs that were supposed to be delivered today were NOT. Tracking info says they're still in Georgia. It's deja vu all over again like with the chicks. My mail has already been delivered, so that's it for today. Which means my WO eggs have been sitting for over 24 hours now and I still can't put them in.

I think I'm gonna set the WO eggs and take the loss on the Light Sussex.

I am CERTAINLY cured of my incubating addiction after all of this....

Plus I missed a meeting this morning, and got a call from my mother's alarm company that the burglar alarm went off and no one can reach my mother. When I called the alarm company, they wouldn't tell me anything coz I don't remember the password. They did say, however, that no news is good news. right....

 

[ChickenAl]

[SIZE=10pt][COLOR=000000]I came home to a massacre tonight. [/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=10pt][COLOR=000000]I have been expecting a predator attack at some point because I pasture my birds, but there is usually so much activity around here they are pretty safe (3 dogs running around, a half dozen kids, 4 households surrounding the immediate vicinity with people in the yard (we kind of have a common yard, big, but common), and I am almost always out there. This was a rare occasion when everyone was inside and I was not around because I had to run my DD to the ortho for a cast removal. Thank goodness I came home when I did or I would not have a flock left.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][COLOR=000000]I pulled into the drive and noticed the flock was still out (odd since it was dusk), I called them and they didn’t come running (usually they run at the car whenit pulls in), so I got out and walked toward the coop. I was met by several piles of feathers. One I was able to ID as my roo, Velmer, the other a faverolle hen. I was tracking the feather piles in an attempt to determine which ones were missing and the fox was standing right there staring at me. If only I had a gun at the time... I hit it with a big rock instead. It ran off and while I was gathering the remaining birds who all looked very harassed, the thing came back and made a grab at one of my sussex while I was gathering birds. I went flying after that fox with a short handled shovel and scared the fur off of it, but I didn't get it. Then I hear my roo calling from clear across the hay field (opposite direction) and I haul off over there and pick him up. He was out a lot of back feathers and had a gash, but actually managed to escape the fox's den. That roo has 9 lives, I am telling you (he is the one that went missing one night in an ice storm and showed back up in the morning). I never found the other 3 hens. I imagine they were dinner for a gray fox's kits tonight.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][COLOR=000000]All of my neighbors saw me out there running about like mad and came out to help. I have great neighbors. They each offered to “dispose of” the fox in various fashions (all country boys here...).  All of them asked after their favorite hen to be sure it wasn’t one of the ones that was taken. I have the best neighbors. The chickens visit each of their houses each day for treats and petting, so everyone loves them. They also like their tick eating skills.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][COLOR=000000]I am sooooo mad and my little one is distraught. I mean, I know the fox is only doing what it is supposed to do and is feeding its kits, and I elected to free range, but it needs to go eat something else. I could permanently pen my birds (I do have a large enclosed run), but I use them for tick removal and I like my eggs pastured. I also think I have been lucky that I made it over a year with no attacks given the rural area I live in (surrounded by marsh and forest). I thought the hawk would get to them first. We have seen the foxes here for years, but they have never braved the property to go after any of the livestock that has been kept here over the years. I was worried that this one may have been rabid because we have been seeing it about in the middle of the day and it is not a very healthy looking animal.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

I'm sorry for your loss. That has to be a gut wrenching experience. Hang in there.

[SIZE=10pt][COLOR=000000]My DD, who is 5, is sitting on the bed right now and just said "I am so mad at that fox right now. I will even be mad at it after it is dead.". She even thinks the kits should be "culled", because, she reasoned, they will grow up and eat our chickens too. In case you can't tell, she is very, very, attached to her girls and brutally logical for a 5 year old. I did explain that the fox is just feeding its family and we should expect it to attack the birds so they will need to be inside for a while as we determine how to manage this fox’s proximity to our property. She is also drawing a design for the fort knox of chickendom that looks like it will be huuuuuuge and include several chicken play areas (not that I can afford to build such a thing). Perhaps I will have to do a true pastured plan with the 4 pasture areas and a coop in the center (or a moveable coop) so they can be penned. It is just a lot of fencing...  [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][COLOR=000000]Thanks for listening, I just needed to share...[/COLOR][/SIZE]

 

[ChickenAl]

The Light Sussex eggs that were supposed to be delivered today were NOT.  Tracking info says they're still in Georgia.  It's deja vu all over again like with the chicks.  My mail has already been delivered, so that's it for today.  Which means my WO eggs have been sitting for over 24 hours now and I still can't put them in.

I think I'm gonna set the WO eggs and take the loss on the Light Sussex. 

I am CERTAINLY cured of my incubating addiction after all of this....

Plus I missed a meeting this morning, and got a call from my mother's alarm company that the burglar alarm went off and no one can reach my mother.  When I called the alarm company, they wouldn't tell me anything coz I don't remember the password.  They did say, however, that no news is good news.  right....

Suzanne, you have not had anywhere near a pleasant experience with all of this. So sorry about the ones that didn't make it.

Hope everything is alright with your mom.