The Middle Tennessee Thread

[believer01]

Holly, I can't believe you were 'banned' .... unfortunately that type of behavior seems to be considered the norm nowadays. And those poor kids will suffer for it at some point.

I too like chickens better than many (MANY) people! Even though they poop just about anywhere they still have better manners.

I'm bout brain dead from 6 hours driving and a day of hugs and tears. Everyone kept saying the same thing: We need to get together when there's no funeral sometime! Now if only someone would set a date.

CityGirl I've got cousins scattered from Cullman thru B'ham. One uncle and a few aunts left thereabouts too. I don't remember you having a southern accent....do you hail from Alabama too?

It's always good to get home and do a head count. So now I'm off to my nest. G'nite mateys.

 

[cpegram]

city girl i have 8 EE's 7 1/2 week old that i gotta get out of the big coop and put in there till they are a little bigger....I just hatched out 8 of 8 black Ameraucana and 10 of 14 so far of cuckoo Maran and 6 of 8 barnyard mix

so we are gonna be doing a little rotating thank goodness for this find i needed it

....

Holly sorry about your sisters kids....UGH they can be a menace...my sister, 2 kids were supposed to come down...thank goodness they didn't

.....hope everyone is well and have a gorgeous day!!!

 

[Jenski]

Morning all! I feel like I have missed a lot in the past few days! More boring computer issues going on, but today I am, well, HERE!

CityGirl, hope your former pet sitter is forming a new understanding of life, the universe and everything. More importantly, hope all your birds are doing well this morning. believer01 gave some great advice for you to *breathe* and take good care of yourself.

BTW, have you had any luck at all with your bumble foot roo? Interestingly enough, I have had a bantam hen with BF, and I did the surgery on her foot last Sunday. . . yep, scalpel and all. I found two excellent resources on it, one with a great explanation of the procedure -- with successful recovery -- and one video of a very cool foot bandaging system. If you want to discuss further, let me know. We can either PM or I can start a thread in the health section so others can follow.

1newegg, very cool coop find! Looks like it will be a most excellent grow-out pen. Good score!!
For my smaller temporary/moveable coops, I worried about high winds so I hammered four home made wooden stakes into the ground near the corners, at a very slight angle so they would not pull out easily. I then drilled pilot holes and planted two nice big deck screws into each stake to attach them to the coops. The only issue I've had was remembering they were there when I tried to move the coops at the end of the season, LOL! They do add a great deal of stability . . .

believer01, I am sending prayers for a swift Journey for your uncle, and thoughts of peace for your family.

HBuehler, well girl, whatcha gonna do with family! Dear Lord, mine is nuttier than a fruitcake, but they're my dear old nuts, eh! Isn't it interesting how very differently siblings will raise their own kids? I can't believe my brothers and I came from the same mother sometimes. Hope you got through the rest of the visit without any visible marks.
Your frizzle chicks are doing well with their sweet old bald-headed silkie foster mama. She just dotes on them, and loves to nibble food for them with her beak. They have moved from their nest box to the broody nursery pen inside the coop so they have more room to scratch around and see the rest of the flock without actual contact. I'll try to get pics if we can get some sunlight today.

Brown Chicka Brown Cow, welcome! - - - and I choked on my coffee when I read your name. Funny!

I don't know of a poultry processor in your area, but I sure wish someone would start a state certification program for that. . . something where there would be stations set up for small farmers, like the way they have it for deer season. We'll keep that question up here on the thread, and maybe someone could check the main TN board, so we can find a processor for Mid-TN.

1HappyFamily, not sure what is happening in your neck of the woods, but I'm sending prayers your way. Please let us know if we can help.

OklaDD, sounds like your hatching is going really well this spring! I'd love to see chick pics when you get a chance. Hope all is well up your way!


Looks like a crazy April weather day. Hope you all have a great day!

 

[Jenski]

Just updated the Dickson show thread with the info they sent me - -

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6221279#p6221279 for anyone interested . . .

 

[HBuehler]

My babies are so lucky...a Momma

So far we have 4 wheaten Ameraucana 1 Wyandotte 1 FBCM and a Bantam Cochin hatched.The Cochin hatched on time but rest are my over achievers hatching early.
Sold nearly everything we had for sale...not often my pens look so spacious but it's really nice.
I'm going to be putting up several Easter Egger hens already laying if anyone needs some..I have a rose gray, blue wheatenish, Columbian and not sure what else but none of those boring browns and oranges..I will keep my chicken math in check...I will keep my chicken math in check...maybe

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Good morning, all! I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful day out there. I did my first grass cut of the season yesterday (well past time, but the mower has been broken). The big chickies are happily wandering around eating yummy things and enjoying the shorn lawn.
The outside chicks are back to their normal zippy selves. Actually feeding them makes a huge difference.

I talked to my erstwhile housesitter last week and she insisted that she had checked food and water bowls. I finally said "I know you did not as I know how long it takes them to empty (several days). It is impossible that you topped everything off Sunday morning before I got home. The bowls would not have been empty and the chicks would not have died trying to get to food. I know it is not fun to do chicken chores in the rain and dark, but it was your responsibility to see that they had food and water. Now a chick is dead and three more look iffy. This is a direct result of your behavior." It didn't seem to make an impression on her.

Holly- you are a woman among women! I am so impressed by your hatching and selling. I tend to get attached and have a hard time selling them all. I always want to keep a couple.

Jenski- My bumblefoot boy is still running around like it doesn't bother him. Interestingly enough, the swelling seems to be going down. Perhaps it is working itself through? Dunno. I'm keeping an eye on him either way. He pretty cheerfully ignores his feet and goes about his business. He and Horatio (the big blue roo) got into a knock down drag out rooster fight yesterday while I was mowing. I tried chasing them down with the scary lawn mower, but they were too intent on trying to kill each other to notice the mower of doom bearing down on them. I finally had to stop the mower and go seperate them. Boys.

1newegg- Whoohoo on your 100% black AM hatch! That is awesome! They are part of your lav project, aren't they?

Believer01- I was born in Birmingham and then moved to Louisiana until I was 6. We then moved back to B'ham until I was in grad school. I also lived in Montgomery, Auburn and Tuscaloosa. I have family in Huntsville and the Muscle Shoals/Sheffield/Tuscumbia area. My parents were born in Cherokee and we have lots of family in that area as well. I have wandered all over the state.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Did we ever decide when and where to do the next meet up?

 

[cpegram]

Hi all!! My company left this morning so I have been straightening up oh and had to run out and get easter stuff this morn. I usually don't procrastinate but been busy.

Jenski. Definitely we are not done with it we had to cut in doors on the back it only had one on each side. And predator proof doors. I just wanted it off of the ground while we were working on it. I plan on putting it higher with concreted posts. Paint ect.

City girl. Oh yes only for my lavender Ameraucana project. Just wish I did not hatch them with the cuckoo marans. They are all starting to look alike. LOL. Soon enough the marans will be barred.


Hope everyone that went to the show had fun.

 

[believer01]

Put on yer thinking caps friends! I gots me a problem and it's no easy one.

I inquired before about finding soft shell eggs and the general consensus was to provide oyster shell and grind up their own eggs shells ~ both of which I do. I can't tell that there's much consumption of the oyster shell going on, though they do eat the ground eggs pretty well.

This afternoon I noticed Gypsy Rose Lee didn't look "right" so I stopped and watched her for a spell. Finally grabbed the Intensive Care tincture and gave her a few drops (it's garlic and St Johns Wort). Just 5 min later she laid a soft shell egg! I'm not sure she's the only one (I think one was larger than her usual eggs, and once there were 2 - one large, one tiny) but I sure enough saw her this time.

Thing is, she gave an egg this am - her's are the smallest; shaped and colored differently and very easy to distinguish from any one else's!

I need to know how to get her to eat an adequate amount of something to ensure proper egg laying. She looked like she was trying to expel something huge or hard and really had to work at getting it out. Don't want to put her thru that if possible. I also noticed that she is very thin - I can feel her breast bone easily and I don't think that's good. None of the others are that thin.

Advice? Opinions? Suggestions?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Jenski]

believer01, what is your regular chicken feed?

Have the soft-shell layers always done this, or was it only recent? How old are they? 2-ish?

There are several kinds of viral issues that can cause soft shelled eggs, and not just nutritional issues. . . I'll do some more research.