The Middle Tennessee Thread

[LeMasterParty]

to the dark side of chickens.  You are now hooked and will never be the same. ..... mmmmuuuuuhhhhhhh..........

I've got to keep a grip on it for next few years lol. We are in suburbs with plans to buy a few acres for more chickens of course lol

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
That incubator might cause a problem then LOL.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

We just got power back, it's been out since Monday. No power and no water. I lost all the eggs in the bator, but a dog crate of newly hatched chicks spent the week next to the wood stove and appear to have come through it ok. My how we get creative when necessary.

We knew Monday morning things would get bad so we filled the tub. We were able to flush toilets and water rabbits out of the tub all week. The volunteer fire department brought us 175 gallons of water mid week for the cattle, sheep and poultry.
We are still kicking ourselves that our switch panel and battery bank were not hooked up at this time of year. We're redesigning all that so it was just sitting there not hooked up - not good when that means you have no well pump.

We have a broken windshield and acres and acres of downed trees on fence lines and in pastures, but everyone came through it ok so i guess we can't complain.

On a positive note, I got a lot of experience cooking a variety of meals on the wood stove.

So... now to get the youngest back to TTU tomorrow IF they even have class Monday.

Oh man, a whole week without power AND water? That stinks. Fortunately for us, even though we live a good ways out of town, we're on town water. So we at least still have drinking water. I made breakfast and lunch on the wood stove yesterday, the kids loved it!
I'm glad your powers back on and everyone at your place is safe and sound, people and animals alike!
Good luck with the clean up (I haven't even been out to look at my fence lines yet, kind of scared to, but luckily we don't have anything in the field right now)!

 

[Gentry1350]

We're out of power...probably for several days. It went out Saturday morning around 5am.

Guess what? Saturday was hatch day. 6 of the 7 that hatched early were dry and had been moved to a brooder box for about 6 hours. One of the six died in the brooder after we lost power. The wet one that was still in the incubator died and I lost the other 16 eggs. Three of the eggs had pipped or zipped but got chilled and died.

I have five fluffy ones that might make it (intermittent generator Heat....we drove 4+ hours to Knoxville yesterday to buy a generator). 2 Buffs and 2 EEs from @Citygirlinthecountry, plus one Danish Brown...those hatched early, late Wednesday night thru Thursday night (I pulled them out of the BATOR late Friday night)

I also have a couple in a brooder in the shed that are now four weeks old....they lost their heat lamp and are "roughing it". I will probably bring them inside tonight as it will be down around 20*.

I'm not too far from @howfunkyisyourchicken....I'm surprised she has power back on. It looks like a war zone over here. Our local power co said there were over 300 power poles snapped. Roads are barely passable. Most gas stations have been without power and the ones with power could not take credit/debit cards.

We had a really bad ice storm back in the late 90s where we were out of power for 5 days....this is worse!

 

[BrandyJK]

Tractor Supply in Springfield has chicks and ducks already

 

[Cinny]

6th Annual Easter Hatch-A-Long
It's time to dust off those incubators and join 100s of BYC members from around the world for our annual Easter Hatch-A-Long! Every year tons of members set eggs to hatch on the same day… the day BEFORE Easter. As a group last year, we had 10,585 eggs set for hatching. Join the fun!.

I DON'T HAVE THE SPACE OR KNOWLEDGE TO HATCH MY OWN, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE A FUN THING FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DO.

 

[Gentry1350]

@citygirlinthecountry

Here's a pic of the babies that survived this weekend. Two Buffs and two EEs from Anne, plus the little Danish brown. So cute!

I'm never going to hatch before mid-March again!

 

[cree57i]

@citygirlinthecountry

Here's a pic of the babies that survived this weekend. Two Buffs and two EEs from Anne, plus the little Danish brown. So cute!

I'm never going to hatch before mid-March again!

You did great to keep them alive with all you guys have been going through on the plateau. They are adorable. I think hatching is kinda like child birth. As time goes on you forget the bad stuff and just remember the precious baby.

 

[Gentry1350]

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Man, you have had a time of it. Yell at me when you get the bator going again and we can try again. I'm really impressed that you saved those five. They are adorable. Fingers crossed for lots of pullets!

I gambled back in January (right before I lost my job!) and had chicks shipped and eggs ordered. The chicks arrived in January and are doing great, except that they are now six weeks old and STILL in my dining room. I am so ready for it to warm up and dry out a smidge so they can move to their outside pen! The eggs, of course, showed up last week in the midst of the uber cold. They are in the incubator right now. Hopefully they didn't all freeze to death in transit. The shipper put in 72 hour heat packs and at least my post office kept them in the front office so they were warmer. Arg!

And our winter was going so well too. So nice and mild and dry. Sigh. When does spring get here?