Texas

[jajeanpierre]

I was a bad mommy today. I over did it out in the yard, didn't realize I got to hot until I fainted. I was clearing fence line for the runs. Got about 300ft done... Did I mention I hate Yaupon? DF has me sitting on the couch with a cold rag, water, and a fan on me. Told me not to go back outside today. He even did the dishes... I must of looked bad. :-/

I was only out there for three or four hours in that hot sun, normally I can do it all day. Guess I was more tired than I realized after shopping this morning? :shrug

Honey, didn't your doctor explain that your body is getting ready to grow a new person? Your blood volume is changing dramatically--all kinds of things are going on. You do NOT want to overheat--you can kill that little baby or worse. Yes, there are worse things than an early miscarriage.

You pamper yourself! Those women who run those marathons while 9 months pregnant are NOT normal and, from my perspective, idiots, have idiots for doctors for going along with it or just plain selfish. Baby comes first. As you get further along, your ligaments get lax, so you can injure yourself pretty easily.

 

[SlipsWife]

Ok, ya'll my family has raised chickens for years while I was growing up and my grandparents, my daddy's parents, raises lots of chickens... and I just don't remember them having all these issues. LOL Momma got her chicks in the mail and I don't remember pasty butt....or any of the things I have been doing for my peeps. Yes they are spoiled and ours were not when I was growing up. lol
My dad even rescued a crate full of chickens that fell off a big truck on its was to the processing plant one morning on his way home from work. It was half roos and half hens. They were just sitting on the side of the road along with a lot of dead birds, so he just put it in the truck and off he went.

So, like us humans, have chickens just got weaker as time has progressed?? lol

What happened was...people started treating chickens as pets instead of livestock. Back when my grand-daddy had chickens, if it had an issue, it was culled and put in a pot. He didn't incubate nothing. The chickens reproduced naturally. There wasn't a vet visit for the farm dog much less a chicken. So no, chickens are not weaker, people are...of course this is just one rednecks opinion.

This year we learned just how much we 'babied' our group from last year. The new guys had heat for the first couple of days and that was it. We did brood in the house because it was easier. With them being in the house, we were ready for them to be outside at 2 weeks, no extra heat. Power in numbers on the no heat thing though, I probably wouldn't do it with less than 20 chicks. I am not using that as an excuse to always have at least 20 chicks at once...

The new chicks from this year have grown faster, run around like crazy, flutter up higher and more than our group from last year. The biggest issue we've had, and only losses, is that our grow out pen was secure for the 6 week old chicks (that had been brooded in our garage last year) but not secure enough for the smaller guys. Our dog has killed a number of chicks that have gotten out this year, we kept thinking we had fixed the spot and they would find another...We had no losses during the crazy cold snaps and all they had was hay for bedding with an upside down Rubbermaid container with a cutout and each other. Keeping in mind we live in Odessa and rain is not an issue here.

I think we will always brood in the house for convenience but my husband does have some extra space in his shed that might work...

 

[orumpoultry]

Honey, didn't your doctor explain that your body is getting ready to grow a new person?  Your blood volume is changing dramatically--all kinds of things are going on.  You do NOT want to overheat--you can kill that little baby or worse.  Yes, there are worse things than an early miscarriage.


You pamper yourself!  Those women who run those marathons while 9 months pregnant are NOT normal and, from my perspective,  idiots, have idiots for doctors for going along with it or just plain selfish.  Baby comes first.  As you get further along, your ligaments get lax, so  you can injure  yourself pretty easily.

Problem is, I'm used to working all the time. To constantly being on the move. Its hard taking it easy especially with all that has to be done around here. With DF working 13 on, one off, 14 hour days.... I don't get much help anyways. This is why the in-laws come every weekend, to help out with this kind of stuff.

I'm stubborn, but not stupid. Today was a wake up call. Time to slow WAYYY down. My MIL is moving in this weekend to stay and help until everything gets done around here... Lord help me I love the woman in small doses.

Hydration is my only problem. I forget my body needs LOTS more water than I usually drink. Chugging three bottles at lunch just doesn't do the kick anymore. Slow and steady all day the doc says. All bright, measured out two water bottles ( a quart each ) and will drink through out the day per the time lines noted on the bottles. Don't drink yo catch up, drink on time.

They are adorable!!
Hey, you better take it easy Missy!!  And No beer for you unless it has root in front of it! lol

Joking about the beer! That stuffs horse pee anyway. I drink tea, mostly, but need to up my water as I said earlier.

This year we learned just how much we 'babied' our group from last year.  The new guys had heat for the first couple of days and that was it.  We did brood in the house because it was easier.  With them being in the house, we were ready for them to be outside at 2 weeks, no extra heat.  Power in numbers on the no heat thing though, I probably wouldn't do it with less than 20 chicks.  I am not using that as an excuse to always have at least 20 chicks at once...   The new chicks from this year have grown faster, run around like crazy, flutter up higher and more than our group from last year.  The biggest issue we've had, and only losses, is that our grow out pen was secure for the 6 week old chicks (that had been brooded in our garage last year) but not secure enough for the smaller guys.  Our dog has killed a number of chicks that have gotten out this year, we kept thinking we had fixed the spot and they would find another...We had no losses during the crazy cold snaps and all they had was hay for bedding with an upside down Rubbermaid container with a cutout and each other.  Keeping in mind we live in Odessa and rain is not an issue here.

I think we will always brood in the house for convenience but my husband does have some extra space in his shed that might work...

We brood in the house for the first four weeks on 15+ batches, first six on anything less... Depending on the weather. In then summer chicks are out in the shed from day one with no lamp. 80s at night isn't a problem in big clutches. Small clutches usually stay inside though. My 6 week old mutts have been outside for two weeks, granted there's 13 of them left... Lost seven a few nights back to a snake. Sucker scared that bajeesus out of me. He was so full and fat, and then my dog Blue ate him. The boys had a good shake and tug-of-war going over that sucker for a few hours before I burned it in the wood pile...

We try not to baby our chickens. They're exposed to every element Texas throws our way as early as possible. No fans or sprinklers in the heat. Just shade and cool dirt. If its extra hot they get rotted fruit from then store in town, get it for a steal! I just call ahead and they give it to me by the crate.

Hensbwith chicks are only separated if absolutely necessary. If an aggressive rooster is the only issue, he goes into isolation during the brooding stage.

Side note: Did anyone else in east Texas just get hit by that nasty thunderstorm and tornado? We lost four trees, power, and some fenceline I JUST fixed last week. Grr mother nature wins this time. Power company won't be out until morning. Guess the two week old Aussies are going without heat tonight. At least its in the 70s in the house still... Albeit dark, its not cold enough to worry about them.

I am, however, sitting in my car charging my electronics so if DF calls tonight to see how I'm doing, like he always does on his midnight break, I can answer.

its still eerily yellow outside after that last tornado. I'll post a video if I can from my phone here in a bit. Caught a tree falling on camera, woo!

 

[orumpoultry]

Bad tree. Almost took out my roses.

Can't see it but there's a tree limb between my nova and my car. Tornado threw it twenty feet!!

That tree there missed the house by twenty feet, and my flower bed by two... Close call!!

 

[ClovisMan]

So this is all I got done on my Run panels. All of them framed, one of them skinned with wire.


This is all the contractor got done on my dirt pad. He'd better finish Monday so the Building guy can set concrete forms on Tuesday!

 

[ClovisMan]

I just got a reply back from Paul Smith about the Ameraucana Chicks. Here are the prices:

Prices for 2014 priority mailed chicks are 10 for $95, 15 for $135, 20 for $175, 25 for $215 or 50 for $415.

Anyone in driving distance from New Braunfels wanna split an order? I can only handle another 5 to 7 birds.

 

[jajeanpierre]

You are very good with your birds. I don't know any of that stuff. I feel like a brand new mom all over again. As a matter of a fact I have one that I have tagged that has had trouble pooping. I have had to help her 4 times now. 3 day in a row and then nothing for a couple of day but then again to night. Her bottom just bulges out and the poo is right there with a little bit of white on it, but I think that is normal, the white part?? Anyway it seems like it is to firm for her to poop out. Not soft like all the rest of them. So that's what I started giving them the grass and cabbage and strawberries, things that have more water to them but she had to have help again tonight. I guess if I had left her alone she would have done it on her own but I was worried and it looked painful. What do I do for her??

I was just like you a year ago, and I've had parrots for over a decade so I already had a good understanding of birds, their physiology and their body language. I was surprised how little I knew about chickens. Recovering from a head injury didn't help at all, but I still felt a bit lost. I also have resources few people have--a dear friend of mine is an avian vet based in Abu Dhabi who is involved in education of zoological vets in Europe and who has written several teaching texts on avian medicine. He loves chickens. He loves teaching and I love learning. It was Jaime who suggested I get Silkies because they were so sweet. (Little side note on Silkies: Jaime told me that in the 70s when Peregrine falcons were on the verge of extinction from the effects of DDT, they used Silkies to hatch rare Peregrine eggs rather than trust the eggs to an incubator.)

http://lafeber.com/2006-dr-jaime-samour/

If I have a problem, Jaime helps me out. I've lucked out here in San Antonio and found not only an avian vet, but one whose first love is chickens and who doesn't charge an arm and a leg. Most avian vets' goal is to increase the bill to as high as possible. Not this one.

 

[topdycke]

Bad tree. Almost took out my roses.

Can't see it but there's a tree limb between my nova and my car. Tornado threw it twenty feet!!

That tree there missed the house by twenty feet, and my flower bed by two... Close call!!

Glad you are safe the sky was yellow when I came home and we hustled the horse to the barn but only got a bit of hail which is really unusual in the Houston area anyways

 

[ClovisMan]

And just for reference...these are not true Ameraucana's right?
http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/grd/4356333865.html

 

[Brookshire11]

Bad tree. Almost took out my roses.

Can't see it but there's a tree limb between my nova and my car. Tornado threw it twenty feet!!





That tree there missed the house by twenty feet, and my flower bed by two... Close call!!

Whew! Glad it missed you...scary.

Janet, here are my Silkie pics.

Keep in mind, my white has NO comb.
And it doesn't show it well in the pictures, but his comb is getting just a smidge of deep, deep red.
Oops, I said his...lol. I guess I'm leaning in the cockerel direction.
He/She's 7-9 weeks...leaning closer to 9.





I might have to change his name. Coco isn't very masculine...