The Middle Tennessee Thread

[Tracyree]

Getting excited about the coop renovation! It was painted today and looks so good. It's amazing what new paint can do. I thought my husband was going to insist the coop gets put far away from the house (it's on skids, so he can move it with his truck/trailer), but he showed me where he had in mind and it's right out behind the house.

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How's everyone handling this crazy heat?? I feel silly having chicks under a heat lamp in the house, they'd probably be just fine outside all day!

 

[Jenski]

Morning all!

Tracyree, let's see some pics when you get a chance. Very exciting!

matlock, how are those eggs doing? Anything yet?

radfarm, welcome! Aren't these birds just the greatest.

Brown Chicka . . . oh . . . oh my . . . I can't even type your name without saying it out loud . . . and dancing a little in my seat. Ahem. Anyhoo, are you just looking for roos to pair with some hens? I don't have any of those breeds, but that should not be too hard to find in Mid-TN. And as for mousers - - while any of my big hens would get after a mouse, the best mouser I have found is a nice little snap trap. Nasty to empty, but boy do they work. A crumb of Fig Newton and voila! *SNAP* I just finished a round of trapping to empty any last little buggers from the area, and now I'm getting ready to Quick Crete all the cracks and holes. Good times.

Holly - - g'morning there, woman! Hope you're staying cool.

I will have the box fans running this afternoon by the pens . . . then a little spray with the hose in the dust bathing areas so the birds can have nice cool sand, and an afternoon ice break - - I have Pyrex brownie pans from the dollar store in the pens, and I fill them with ice and a little water every afternoon when it gets into the mid-90s. Some birds just like to sip it, some perch on the edges and cool their tooties, and some just walk on in and stand in it, LOL! Silly critters. I also freeze water in leftover 1- or 2-liter bottles and leave them in the coops for the broodies who won't quit. Helps keep them a little cooler.

Hope you all stay cool and have a good day!

 

[emmalynn]

Hi there all. I have a box of M Robbins eggs that arrived today. Does anyone want to buy half?

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Quote:
You had to post this

I love Mrs Mary and she has some nice babies!

 

[HBuehler]

Jenski...it looks like shanty town here..tarps and canopies all over but they are helping...4 fans inside the Big bird house is stirring the hot air for them as well. The chick house is staying nice..all that insulation won't allow the sun to bake it..sure does save on the electric bill..no heat lamps in there now at all. Most of the big birds are all free ranging but the poor bantams cant for their own safety other than Lucy and Wild..OMG Wild was terrorizing my big Marans Roo this morning...after I got done laughing my butt off I did rescue the big fella from the ladder while Wild stayed below letting him know all about the rules

Bad news on chicks Lucy lost one of her two last night..no idea why it was bouncing around just fine at bed time-maybe it got too hot under all those mama feathers or something.

Sam is on probation..my bad little Ameraucana Roo has had his last warning..as much as he is loved he is a stinker and got into Big's pen-solid bantam Cochin's and tore into him making a big bloody mess...Big is no match for such a tiny bundle of brat so he's recovering with his favorite hen Little in the chick house.Now,aren't we just glad kids can't name parents

yeah I know they have some for us though

 

[Jenski]

Yah, I know what you mean with the tarps. . . I can hear the theme song from the Beverly Hillbillies when I look out at the banty playhouse now . . . eh, at least they have shade. !!

 

[emmalynn]

Quote:
You had to post this

I love Mrs Mary and she has some nice babies!

Do you want first dibs on the chicks that I don't want? I am going to put them in the bator if no one is interested.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Hello, all!

Swim team has started and I have turned into a hermit!

I am NOT a morning person and I am leaving the house at 7am.

<<that is me falling asleep. All in all it is going well though. 75 squealing little kids (37 of them age 8 or under!). It is like herding chickens.

My place looks like tent city as well. It is too blasted hot out there! The LF pens are out ranging once I get home and I have tarped the silkie and banty pens. Of course, they acted like I was KILLING them when I hung the big scary tarp up. Silly chickens!

It is broody central here. Sheesh! I do not understand why they never go broody when the weather is nice out. We insist on being broody when it is either 2 degrees or 97 degrees. Poor things are hunkered down in the milk crates panting away. In the broody pen I caught three silkies and a sumatra all crammed up in the same milk crate (while another sat empty nearby). There are two babies with an ameraucana mama and two more broody in that pen. The silkie pen has 5 babies running around timesharing two mamas and another silkie is broody. There are two definite broodies in the banty pen and another two that are seriously thinking about it. The sell off pen had a silkie go broody so I just let her go for it. She was sitting on what I thought were non-fertile eggs. I was waiting on some to come in to slip under her. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I went in to check on her and there was a tiny little silkie baby sitting next to her! Guess somebody in that pen is actually doing the deed!
To add to the final broody wierdness, I have a welsummer broody. That hen is one of my original hatchery girls and has never been broody in her life. First time in three years! I slipped welsummer eggs under her yesterday. Hopefully she will be a decent mother.

Maran and welsummer eggs arrived yesterday. Okiehen put some golden lakenvelder eggs in there as well, so hatch day should be exciting!


Matlock and Econman- how are those hatches coming along?

 

[matlock585]

Hello ladies... and econman and radfarm.

Hope this weekend finds you all well and with no bad sicknesses or broken bones or lost beloveds.

So I've been having an issue with my incubating eggs air pockets looking small. I held the humidity at 50% +/- for the first week and a half, but after candling I decided the air cells looked something on the small side in 4 of my 5 eggs. My first action was to raise the humidity to target 60%. I just candled again and now the cells look like 7 days or so, but tomorrow will be 14 days for me. Right after I candled tonight I opened the vent at the top of my bator and the vent at the bottom that lets the fan bring in fresh air. So now I have my humidity dropped to around 40% and I'm going to try to hold it there all weekend and see if that changes anything. I think they all still seem to be growing though. In all 5 eggs you can only see light through a small portion of the pointy end of the egg. I don't see any movement when I candle, but I don't think my candler is quite brite enough. I have a porcelain light socket mounted to a piece of wood with a coffee can that has a hole in it covering it. I haven't seen much detail with the candler since day 5 when I could see the circulatory systems forming. Am I still good? Do ya'll think lowering the humidity will help the air pockets grow?
Thanks for any input, and thanks to all who keep asking how it's going with the eggs.
I should be going into lockdown Wednesday after returning from work, and a week from tomorrow is my day 21. I can't wait to see how it turns out. This Monday I start a new position at work; I'm gonna be the new office manager. I'm excited and glad I'll have something to keep my mind off this incubator. And I'm looking forward to getting those tin snips outta my hand for a while. I love that I can make all kinds of nice things, but I'm definitely ready to get off my feet for a while. I'm not getting any younger, right?

Hope you all enjoy your weekends.
Sam

 

[Rollerman]

Hey folks,is anyone interested in Seramas? I have a nice tiny pair of Silkied ones for sale. They are black but the roo has some white in his tail and wings. They are out of a flock raised for show in another state so not related to any here. I am located in Portland,Tn.