The Front Porch Swing

[OHhappychicks]

Yes she is a speckled sussex hen. I have 4 ss hens and 1 ss ROOSTER (yes I said that) and 1 Light Brown leghorn hen. I gave her 9 eggs 6 ss and 3 ss/light br.leg. 2 SS eggs got broke and 2 were clears so ended up with 2 ss and 3 ss/leghorn.
Please post pics when the hatch love seeing them out on the grass. I can't quit watching mama and chicks TV.

I love my ss! But unfortunately, they were all taken by a fox this spring, so I don't have any left. I will get some more next spring. I would like to post pics of my chicks and hen, but just went out to check on them and she was not on the eggs but in another nest! One was broken, so I brought them back in and will have to put them in the bator! I'm very disappointed. I was counting on her! I have another broody in the barn, but she has been on her eggs for a couple of weeks already, so that won't work. Oh well, I still love chick tv!!

 

[Triple Willow]

eeewwww!! That would put me off for a while!

Cheerios might look good for a bit. lol

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Brodie's will set for a long, long time. Eggs will keep for about two weeks before hatch-ability gets too low. It seems to be okay if eggs cool down during incubation ... we've had hens get lost on the wrong eggs for hours, and we put them back and eggs still hatch.

Can you put the broody in a special enclosure with her eggs to hep keep her organized. That's what we do ... it works.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Brodie's will set for a long, long time. Eggs will keep for about two weeks before hatch-ability gets too low. It seems to be okay if eggs cool down during incubation ... we've had hens get lost on the wrong eggs for hours, and we put them back and eggs still hatch.

Can you put the broody in a special enclosure with her eggs to hep keep her organized. That's what we do ... it works.

Well I thought of that. We have a chicken tractor we could put her in. I'm just afraid if I disturb her or change her surroundings, she might quit, but I guess if she does, I can still put them in the bator then. I'm going to keep the marans in the breeding pen for a few more days to collect more eggs. We will move her tomorrow morning. Got to come up with a nest box as the marans have the portable nest box. It is an old wooden potty. The kind you would put the chamber pot in. The door came off and it makes a perfect nest box! See Bee, I told you we reuse everything!!!

 

[enola]

I love my ss! But unfortunately, they were all taken by a fox this spring, so I don't have any left.  I will get some more next spring.  I would like to post pics of my chicks and hen, but just went out to check on them and she was not on the eggs but in another nest! One was broken, so I brought them back in and will have to put them in the bator! I'm very disappointed.  I was counting on her!  I have another broody in the barn, but she has been on her eggs for a couple of weeks already, so that won't work.  Oh well, I still love chick tv!!

It is so nice to know that you have a rooster and we don't have to be hush hush about it

 

[enola]

Has anyone here been following the thread - a cat killed the duchess of yolk?

Some one please come over and drag me awawy!!!!

 

[zinia8]

Has anyone here been following the thread - a cat killed the duchess of yolk?

Some one please come over and drag me awawy!!!!

no I haven't looked at that thread. I heard we get in trouble if we leave the porch.

 

[enola]

I do! got to stay here........

Blooie could make new words for this one. Wondering if blooie is having a good time???

 

[Blooie]

Not in a real good mood, so weird after the exciting, wonderful week we had with Little Diane and Dustin. Kendra started acting funny yesterday - grabbing her head, crying wildly, and exhibited some eye movements different than her regular seizures. She gets periodic mild headaches, but this was way different and Jenny knew it. She called Denver Children's and the neurologist called her right back, on a Sunday evening. Just that was a big clue that this might be serious. He gave Jenny a special phone number to call first thing this morning, and when she called it they confirmed that he had scheduled Kendra for an MRI on Wednesday and an appointment on Thursday. She and Kendra fly out tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm, so I've got Katie until whenever they get back. Tammy and I are supposed to leave on our cruise on Sunday morning, and Ken said not to worry about a thing - he can take care of Bug just fine. I have total faith in him.

Kendra has mild hydrocephalus due to her Spina Bifida, but so far she hasn't accumulated enough spinal fluid in her brain's ventricles to require shunts. In Spina Bifida, the opening in the neural tube interrupts the plumbing of the cerebral spinal fluid so in addition to the fluid the ventricles "'make", she also has the fluid that backs up retained there. We were told by her neurosurgeons that the longer she goes without shunts, the more likely she is not to need them, a rarity for kids with SB but certainly not unheard of. She seemed to have self-balanced fluid and the amount of fluid hasn't changed that much since she was born. The unknown factor was her Chiari Malformation. That's where the brain stem is actually pushed downward into the spinal column. Hers wasn't too bad, but if it's now getting worse and starting to block what little normal draining she has, that changes everything.

We don't know what they are planning to do....Chiari Malformation surgery is pretty drastic, not always effective, and it's almost a given that any Chiari surgery will be accompanied by the shunt surgery. They may simply change her meds around, add a pain medication, and watch and see how she does, or they may end up doing the Chiari procedure, removing a piece of the skull to accommodate the displaced brain tissue then do the shunts. They could also decide just to shunt and see if the pressures are relieved enough not to push the brain stem farther down. I don't know yet - this is all speculation based on Jenny's three conversations with the doctors and the neurosurgeon's nurse. I just don't know about this cruise. It seems so selfish and wrong to go at this point, but I can't change anything anyway. Ken is determined that Tam and I still go...if they do anything about the Chiari and do the shunts it won't be done this week - they need time to schedule and prep and such, which will mean another flight to Denver in a couple of weeks. If they do just the shunts to see if that relieves the pressure, that will most likely be done this week while Jenny already has her down there. Shunt surgery is pretty straightforward and routine, but the Chiari surgery isn't. Kenny is still there in Denver, and she needs her hubby much more than she needs her mother-in-law, but I have been with Jenny since the last 5 weeks of her pregnancy and all of the subsequent stuff so it feels strange to even consider being gone right now.

I am praying so hard that the doctors make the right decision - what's best for Kendra - and that I make the right decision about taking the cruise despite what's going on. All this has made me rethink the other decision that I planned for after the cruise as far as my legs go. Oh, everything is so just so mixed together and I can't seem to make heads or tails out of it right now. Maybe I need a good night's sleep, a lot of prayer to make the right decisions and the strength to live with those decisions. Any volunteers?

 

[Alice28]

We are Christmas babies,well almost! My bday is 4 days after!

Worst time of year to have a birthday! Probably why I'm not really into birthdays, but oh well what can you do. It's nice now because I'm just home with my son and husband and have an excuse to make a cheesecake and home made chicken noodle soup!