Surviving Minnesota!

[MNChickMom]

Momof3+2, can we expect pictures by afternoon?

 

[Cluckies]

Quote: Love it too!

My eggs have begun to hatch!

Woot woot!

Today I am getting two turken hens, a crested Swedish flower hen, a Swedish Flower hen rooster three young Bresse hens and a Roo (these birds are white, nothing too exciting but they are known to be the most amazing meat birds ever), Bielefelder Rooster, and hen. They closely resembles a cream legbar but the hens lay big brown eggs. Bielefleders are a breed that could revolutionize the chicken industry in America), an Isbar×Svart Hona hen and rooo (these are only cool because of the fibro gene they have black feet so may have black meat and bones), and then a couple of chocolate Orpington Roos. waterers, plastic feeding bowls, an incubator. A nice big kennel, a big bunch of netting for top of runs a couple of cages for transport, etc.

Nice haul! How many birds do you have? a couple thousand? almost as many as Ralphie?

 

[Cluckies]

Morning, raining here too today. dreary. last two days i'm not interested in doing anything, hate this kind of weather... just want to nap.

 

[I Love Layers]

Nice haul!  How many birds do you have? a couple thousand?  almost as many as Ralphie?

Counting chicks right now I have around 60. Plus these will be around 75ish. Not as many as ralphie yet

My eggs have begun to hatch!

yay! Can't wait got pictures

 

[lvie]

Today I am getting two turken hens, a crested Swedish flower hen, a Swedish Flower hen rooster three young Bresse hens and a Roo (these birds are white, nothing too exciting but they are known to be the most amazing meat birds ever), Bielefelder Rooster, and hen. They closely resembles a cream legbar but the hens lay big brown eggs. Bielefleders are a breed that could revolutionize the chicken industry in America), an Isbar×Svart Hona hen and rooo (these are only cool because of the fibro gene they have black feet so may have black meat and bones), and then a couple of chocolate Orpington Roos. waterers, plastic feeding bowls, an incubator. A nice big kennel, a big bunch of netting for top of runs a couple of cages for transport, etc.

Exciting day for you ILL.

 

[lvie]

Good Morning Chickeners . . . . Thanks again, for the pics Holm. I realize how much each of you have taught me about chickens. So, so much! I did not realize how much I had picked up. Like a brand-new, born-again Christian I should have been locked up in a closet for that first year of having chickens. Everything was chicken this and chicken that. I am still enthused about chickens and I take good care of them yet my enthusiasm has been tempered. Still learning too.

Good morning phasianidae! It was interesting reading about your bantam project. Too bad its a time when you are moving and I truly hope that someone is interested in taking them off your hands.

ILL - I hate to disappoint you but . . . . Ralphie does not have thousands of chickens. Maybe a little over a hundred - I dunno as I never counted. But he does have a cool (and wet today) set up and keeps working at it.

Ralphie - How long since you began chickening as a hobby? I don't think I have ever asked. How is Judy doing? Haven't heard too much about Judy lately.

Loving the rain. Finishing the borders on a rag quilt for my soon-to-be thirteen year old GS. I will get the binding sewn onto it today so I can hand finish it in the next couple of days.

DH is starting his 'thing' up in Aitkin this weekend. Putting a small shed over the well so the pump can be added. Lottsa time to myself (it comes with age - I like it) and I can run - run - run around the house after I get the rest sewn onto the quilt and clean it before (hopefully its not raining in the Aitkin area - I need to take a look at the weather) he returns home to a delicious home-made meal. I am such a wonderful wife.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I was told a person should not say anything if they can't say something nice....

So I will not discuss the sale or the way it was run, other than to say $8 admission from every man, woman and child and 15% commission would have been little high even for a well run sale... let alone this one.

Nothing came home with me that did not leave home with me Holm.....

Where did you go?

EE pullet




EE Cockerel. This is the dark one I really liked!



EE pullet



EE Cockerel




EE who's gender is confusing me but it's looking like a slower blooming Cockerel.





These are all just guesses on the EEs but I am pretty sure I am getting the genders right. What do you all think?

Oh and I forgot my Dom! I change my mind on its gender every day! But it's barring doesn't have as much white to it as a cockerels normally would for most Barred breeds BUT I am not sure if this goes for Doms or not.

I agree with your sexing. If you're Dom was a BR, I'd say pullet for sure. Comb still looks nice and yellow, too. I love EE's. DH thinks they're ugly, but I think they're beautiful. I do find mine are always a bit more stand-offish than my other birds even if I smother them with attention. They're just.....busy.

My eggs have begun to hatch!

Awesome!

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I think I'm going to pull the hatching eggs trigger on some Pencilled Chocolate Palms from Porter's. It'll either be an incubating disaster or success. I've never had hatching eggs shipped to me before, so I'm a bit nervous. I trust their intentions of sending me fertile eggs, but then you have transport, and I have also never incubated Turkey eggs. I tried duck eggs a few times last year and it sucked. My hatch was a big fat 0%. I can hatch chicken eggs like a champ.

 

[duluthralphie]

@MinnesotaNice I went to the Exotic and poultry sale in Pierz, I should have know to turn around and go home when I saw all the signs posted by the sales barn saying they had nothing to do with this sale and Mr. So&so was renting the building and grounds.


It is a great place to pick up a disease or a cheap bird that would bring home and expensive virus. I am debating actually starting a thread on places to go and not to go, kind of a review of sales and swaps. I understand I am maybe a tad more paranoid about diseases and healthy stock than most people. BUT The birds I brought home never left the boxes I had them in and I have them in quarantine for the foreseeable future.

The people running it and the auctioneers they were using had no idea of the value of birds and breeds. I stayed by my birds the entire time until they went into the ring, telling people not to touch the birds or the box when they reached for it. Yep, I am that guy. I got some pretty dirty looks from people when I told them they could not touch my birds or eggs.

I also know I am really protective of my Legbars, I had labeled a box of White Legbars as "Rare" they started them out at $1 a chick.... Yep, that ticked me off. At auctions where the auctioneers starts kind of sets the finsihing price. People seem to think the auctioneer knows the value of something.

I let some birds go at ridiculously low prices, just as I did not want them all back. My quarantine area is only so big. I bought them back at around 10 bucks each. I think a lot of it has to do the crowd that is there for prices also. I was just disappointed. When I had called to see what I needed he said "bring three copies of you NPIP paperwork". I did

I went to hand t to the guy doing the "intake" and he said " what's this?" Another hint the place is not on the up and up.

There was a woman behind me that had ducks, she asked me what the paper work was. I told her and she asked me "Do ducks need that too"

I said under state law they do.

She asked the guy, and he said, " oh no, that's just for chicks".

Which is why I stayed by my chicks and eggs until they went into the ring. I guess I get worried, when we see the beginnings of another year of AI, and while I do not completely believe it is all spread by wild waterfowl, I see this type of sale and cannot help but think it and places like it are huge transmitters of disease.

When my Dad was alive and farming he never bought anything from a sales barn because he thought it was just a good way to bring a disease home. I think my Dad was way smarter than me. When I hear the stories of people buying eggs and now chicks on Ebay without any idea of who they come from and if they have even the least amount of disease control. I can see how AI spreads.

I like knowing where and how birds comes from. I have been a little more lax in the past but the last few years I have become more aware of this. All day yesterday, I heard my Dad's voice saying " never bring and animal home from the sales barn" I sure hope I don't regret it. I hope those little guys don't mind a month in the old shed.



I got eggs from Porter's last year. I got 11 out of 24 to hatch.

 

[jerryse]

I setup the low pressure water system . Gray day but not raining now . Shirt sleeve weather if you are working . Muddy . At least I got out and did something .