The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote: I'm in! Wouldn't mind some of Vickies meat bird eggs.

 

[delisha]

Quote: I love jammies too..I am in jammies as late as I can be. My chickens love them.

Has anyone's chickens not seen Jammie's? I think if I were dressed in the morning to go let them out might worry them.

lol..

Mine see them every morning about 630. I get dressed around 9 and feed after all the adults are gone foraging. They are still in the fenced in area and its almost 8

With so much hawk activity my birds are not going out. I lost a really nice silver laced Wyandotte to hawks yesterday. I stitched her up and than decided to cull her after she cried for a few hours..made me sick that I did not cull her right away. I am still sick about it. I was selfish and wanted her to thrive. Poor thing.

 

[delisha]

Anyone who wants the eggs just pm me..we can all do an experiment and share information about shipping eggs. The do's and don'ts.

I will just charge for shipping and supplies.

I have one request
you must post your information here.

When they were shipped
when they arrived
if you accepted shipment or returned it
how eggs were packed
how air cells looked after 12 hours

 

[Toast n Jelly]

That's a pretty little kiddo.

Did he ship hatching eggs? I have had about zero luck with shipped eggs from anywhere.

The main problem with shipped eggs is the distorted air cells. Special attention has to be given to hatching these.

I received 24 eggs, 22 viable and out of those I hatched 16 chicks. These eggs were double boxed and well wrapped, air cell up. The air cells were all over the place.. You may have read this article but in case you haven't here's the link, scroll down to hatching shipped eggs. The only thing that I would do differently would be to not raise the humidity too high through-out the incubation. My hatch rate would have been higher, the dead chicks were drowned.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[aoxa]

The main problem with shipped eggs is the distorted air cells. Special attention has to be given to hatching these.

I received 24 eggs, 22 viable and out of those I hatched 16 chicks. These eggs were double boxed and well wrapped, air cell up. The air cells were all over the place.. You may have read this article but in case you haven't here's the link, scroll down to hatching shipped eggs. The only thing that I would do differently would be to not raise the humidity too high through-out the incubation. My hatch rate would have been higher, the dead chicks were drowned.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

I'm going to raise my CX up and try to breed like Del. May be easier for me to ship. I'd do it for shipping costs alone as well. Hope that I can keep their weight at a good point so they aren't uncomfortable.

 

[delisha]

Quote: My cross bred girls are around 9lbs. I weigh them to make sure they do not get heavier. They are 2 now and still laying well.

They forage well and it is a pain to keep them out of the food dish some days. This time of year is the hardest, since everyone comes in earlier from foraging and they are starting to eat the grains. I do worry about fat and egg laying issues. I normally would have replaced them with there own chicks, but, I want to see how many years I can get them to be healthy and productive. I have just hatched out there replacements in my last hatch just in case this winter is too hard on them and they pack the weight on. I always worry about winter fat.

 

[camilleathome]

I'd be wearing Jammies full time if I didn't have to be at work. Nothing beats the comfort.

hahaha I can vouch on how much she likes her Jammies XD Sue as well!

 

[aoxa]

My cross bred girls are around 9lbs. I weigh them to make sure they do not get heavier. They are 2 now and still laying well.

They forage well and it is a pain to keep them out of the food dish some days. This time of year is the hardest, since everyone comes in earlier from foraging and they are starting to eat the grains. I do worry about fat and egg laying issues. I normally would have replaced them with there own chicks, but, I want to see how many years I can get them to be healthy and productive. I have just hatched out there replacements in my last hatch just in case this winter is too hard on them and they pack the weight on. I always worry about winter fat.

I think my two are too big already

Can I reverse the weight safely?

 

[aoxa]

hahaha I can vouch on how much she likes her Jammies XD Sue as well!

I did my entire electric fence in a nightgown on Sunday. No judgement allowed.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote:

I tend to wear mine as long as possible also. Tho my neighbors are closer than your so any yard work has to be jammie free. But during the winter when I am not outside as much I can usually go all day with my jammies on. As long as I dont have to go anywhere the jammies stay on.