Surviving Minnesota!

[duluthralphie]

Ralphie, from your description of the housing situation for Ed it does not seem that there is not adequate room. Perhaps he needs some vitamin E or some Cialis?

I think we need some sexual enhancement drugs for roosters......You might have hit on something there.


Maybe I will go buy him a can of oysters.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I will check in once in a while. It has been busy days of course with redneck kids running around a beach resort asking me for money every 10 minutes. I feel as though this group of Minnesotans may be an economic shot in the arm for this Mexican town! Lol. Every thing is pretty reasonable here in ixtapa though. I have to say. 1 hour massage is $12 or $200 pesos. Guess what momma will be spending money on?

My son got a message from the chicken keepers which said Sadie misses you, but the photo showed her with the rooster stick in her mouth...? Hopefully all is well and she is helping keep Roger in line with our guest chicken keepers back home. I'm assuming they have free range now of the whole yard as I see 60-70s for temps.

 

[lvie]

Quote:

Quote:
Thanks for the post Bogtown. It is beautiful! We have beautiful sunsets however there is nothing like the sun setting over the ocean. Enjoy! Hope the kids are soaking it in also.

 

[KlopKlop]

I will check in once in a while. It has been busy days of course with redneck kids running around a beach resort asking me for money every 10 minutes. I feel as though this group of Minnesotans may be an economic shot in the arm for this Mexican town! Lol. Every thing is pretty reasonable here in ixtapa though. I have to say. 1 hour massage is $12 or $200 pesos. Guess what momma will be spending money on?

My son got a message from the chicken keepers which said Sadie misses you, but the photo showed her with the rooster stick in her mouth...? Hopefully all is well and she is helping keep Roger in line with our guest chicken keepers back home. I'm assuming they have free range now of the whole yard as I see 60-70s for temps.

Oh man I could use some beach therapy too

I remember being in Jamaica and all the guys walking by selling cigarettes and cheesy trinkets. It wasn't intrusive and there was even some decent musicians that came through. The resort security was good at not letting pest vendors or kids through the beach which was nice. They also had to stay down close to the water away from the resort.

I hope to go back next winter sometume

 

[lvie]

BC Glad to see they have internet down there so you can follow us?

Did you get a good pool (cabana) boy? Are you sorry you did not take me with yet?

Is your Hubby getting to see the proper amount of skimpy beach wear?



I just candled eggs, while it was still dark out. My turkey eggs are on day 14, no sign of development! I am happy about that. However, that means I have several dozen infertile turkey eggs to get rid of. It is too early for turkeys IMHO, but the turkeys feel otherwise. I did not throw the turkey eggs out, day 14 is too early for them to be thrown.

At the same time I candled the 20th Hatch. I am disappointed there. Not one of Ed's eggs are any good. This is the first batch I thought would be good. but I do not think I have seen him perform his duties in the breeding pen. All the BA eggs are good as most of the SS eggs are. There were a few Creamette eggs that were not good, but not more than expected.

At the NPIP school they told us we should get close to 100% hatches. I have my doubts on that one. I have increased my humidity and am going to raise it again today. They said 50% is where we should shoot for and 65% for last three days. I was running 25% and aiming for 40 on last three days. So I am changing and will see what happens.

Back to Ed. Is it possible he does not like his breeding pen and is on strike? He has a 4x6 coop and a run divided into 2 parts, a 6x8 run and a 8x8 run. That's 136 sq ft for 5 birds. There are corners and places to get away from each other. If his eggs are not good soon, I will switch him and the BA's around. They are living in a large covered pen, but have turkeys with them. Ed and JJ never seemed to get along, so that is why I did not put him in that pen.

Ivie You think all three of your SS's are boys? That seems unreal. Maybe it is just too early to tell.

Kloppers I have never seen an egg like that, maybe you have a hen trying to make the perfect "dipping" egg .

BC Glad to see they have internet down there so you can follow us?

Did you get a good pool (cabana) boy? Are you sorry you did not take me with yet?

Is your Hubby getting to see the proper amount of skimpy beach wear?



I just candled eggs, while it was still dark out. My turkey eggs are on day 14, no sign of development! I am happy about that. However, that means I have several dozen infertile turkey eggs to get rid of. It is too early for turkeys IMHO, but the turkeys feel otherwise. I did not throw the turkey eggs out, day 14 is too early for them to be thrown.

At the same time I candled the 20th Hatch. I am disappointed there. Not one of Ed's eggs are any good. This is the first batch I thought would be good. but I do not think I have seen him perform his duties in the breeding pen. All the BA eggs are good as most of the SS eggs are. There were a few Creamette eggs that were not good, but not more than expected.

At the NPIP school they told us we should get close to 100% hatches. I have my doubts on that one. I have increased my humidity and am going to raise it again today. They said 50% is where we should shoot for and 65% for last three days. I was running 25% and aiming for 40 on last three days. So I am changing and will see what happens.

Back to Ed. Is it possible he does not like his breeding pen and is on strike? He has a 4x6 coop and a run divided into 2 parts, a 6x8 run and a 8x8 run. That's 136 sq ft for 5 birds. There are corners and places to get away from each other. If his eggs are not good soon, I will switch him and the BA's around. They are living in a large covered pen, but have turkeys with them. Ed and JJ never seemed to get along, so that is why I did not put him in that pen.

Ivie You think all three of your SS's are boys? That seems unreal. Maybe it is just too early to tell.

Kloppers I have never seen an egg like that, maybe you have a hen trying to make the perfect "dipping" egg .

Good Morning Ralphie - I watch the birds often enough that it is affecting my day. LOL. I watch the SS and again, I watch the SS because I am mesmerized by what sex they might be. From what I could find on line it told me that it is easier to tell when they are a day or two old because the girls will have more of the markings that are distinctively chipmunk-like. IDK. Of course this is all new to me so I watch them closely. All three are developing combs. One of the three is a little darker than the other two. Two of them are very indistinct markings. We will see. Interesting to me.

 

[duluthralphie]

I did not think you could sex Speckled Sussex by looking at them. I just tried the dangling leg method and I think I have mainly hens on mine. I think I have 5 but not sure as they kind of mingled together and am not sure I checked the all or if I got one twice.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Holm I'm so sorry about your momma cow loss. That's tough to see I'm sure. But as you said part of the farm. You are so far beyond your years... You amaze me sometimes.

Coffee: there are no words. You are a hero. Jeesh. Keep the dang phones out of your hands when you drive people. Even the Siri voice command texts I think are distracted driving.

Uhhhh this sounds weird I know... But seeing spring break in Minnesota makes me think of all the things I want to be doing there with the coop and yard. Apparently I need to go down to breakfast and get parked under a palm tree and realign my thoughts.

Buenas Dias, amigos con pollos.

Ralphie there are no cabana boys but there are towel boys. You could work with Cleo. ( great guy!)

 

[lvie]

I did not think you could sex Speckled Sussex by looking at them. I just tried the dangling leg method and I think I have mainly hens on mine. I think I have 5 but not sure as they kind of mingled together and am not sure I checked the all or if I got one twice.

Dangling? LOL. What is that method? And IDK if the chipmunk theory holds any weight. Just what I read on-line. I am okay with roos too. I would like to have two nice roos. I have one, Tom Hanks, that I get along with pretty well. I should end up with one more out of this batch. The rest will be a meal sometime. I talk a big talk huh? I may pay to have them dressed out.

 

[duluthralphie]

Here is how it is done, I have no idea how accurate it is, I have heard/read it works with chickens too.

 

[Dandelioness]

Hello everyone

It's raining today. I think I will go out and sprinkle some oats, timothy and alfalfa in the muddy patches around here. Separating the breeders out has left enough room in the coop to leave everybody inside. I plan to let my plantings get a good head start before I start ranging them again. I know it's going to be much less tropical in the coming weeks, but I still think I can get a head start on the garden. Eggplant, pepper, collards and broccoli seedlings are up! The kids came over to give me a hand potting them up and commented on how good the dirt smells!

My incubator is almost ready to roll! With the ventilation holes open, it keeps a steady 35% humidity, I am tweaking things to get it to hold at 55-65% humidity with the holes closed. I pirated some of my DH's earplugs for this purpose. Shhhh! It has been a steady 50% for a day now under the current configuration. I may add another tray of water or apply more wax to the interior (we built it out of wood). It's looking good, though!

I have four cockerels that I need to get into the freezer soon. The hormones!!

Good to hear from you, Bogtown!

Klop Klop, hope you're feeling better soon. That egg almost seems like its shell formed around part of the next egg's membrane, and just pulled it out when it was laid. Since you found the torpedo the day before, it may just be someone firing up the old ovipositor for the season.

Holm, sorry about the cow. And good luck with your hatchling sales this year. That is pretty cool!

Have a good day, everybody.