The Old Folks Home

[bamadude]

...

You should just get your own thread. Apparently you don't need us to respond!



Awww. Thats so sweet of u to say.

 

[bamadude]

How do u catch a unique rabbit?

 

[bamadude]

U neek up on it...
How do u catch a tame rabbit?

 

[bamadude]

Tame way

 

[bamadude]

Sorry yall. I am super bored today.

 

[CanuckBock]

CanuckBock, I too use the type of storage totes that you are using. Here is my set up, and how I did it.

My concern over switching sizes of containers stems from the bigger depth going from shallow grocery bin size to deeper container. Gives birds like the turks more head room and species like ducks that love to jump straight up more head room not to bonk da head! Agh....

My fear is the heat lamp (suspended from an eye hook in the celing and the ele cord secured too...two safety connections...heat lamps can start fires and I respect that threat immensely!) is too HIGH up and away from the day old chicks in the bin to provide adequate day old warmth (99.5F).

​

With my old groc bins setup, the heat lamp is suspended right on over the bins (hardware cloth tops are not going to catch fire!). I knew the birds were good because I didn't see them huddle under (too cold) or be pressed to the very sides (too hot)...sorta lounging around in the middle of the bins is a good sign (like Goldillocks!)...temperatures are making birds happy.

I am getting the impression that you have NO issues then with a heat lamp suspended up farther than I have used in the past? As I can easily see from your above photos...the lamp is way up there and the bins are just as deep and tall as what my intended new ones are. Good to see.

I am thinking that because the heat lamps "warm the areas the light stops at" (at least I believe Rick explained that is how they are suppose to function!) that I should not be concerned! I know you are suppose to raise the lamp up higher as the birds get older since they need less warmth ...I guess I put that together with the increase in depth in the taller containers than those green grocery bins and thought..."Wonder if it will not be close enough?" I get all stoopid every season festering if I still remember how to do all this...very amusing really to all but myself.

I will continue to brood older birds in the Duece Coop (I expose them to Marek's Disease present in the dander of older birds as we breed for natural resistance instead of inoculating).

Young Chants in October of 2011 in a recycled stainless steel hydro therapy tub--there's that chrome finish again--oh my eyes!​

Because the Hatching House's only purpose is hatching and brooding...I am at liberty to fill the ceiling with whatever holes I deem necessary. Rick has left the small step ladder there just for me to do that--pokey the holes in the roof. Human house mortgage is life insured so I figure any electrical I lance with the metal scribe making holes for the eye hooks...ups the anti on the place being paid off.

Hatch House with paper on floor and two tables - one for brooder bins & one for trays of eggs to candle on.​

The construction of your PVC heat lamp suspenders are marvelous. Looks like a very nice setup!

I tend to suspend things from the ceiling. I guess I would worry myself with my monster dogs that live in the house...they are like a furry tornado with four legs (better now they are older but still can act young at times). The PVC stands would be something they would delight in hitting and knocking (agh!) over, so would still have to suspend a heat lamp from the roof via an eye hook in a roof stud and hope the dogs don't venture up there too...dang dawgs--thankfully they have not evolved to possess wings as of yet--I think they call those ones gargoyles!

​

Thank you for posting the pics and taking the time to explain this.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Lacy Blues]

Yes, going and coming all the time. I have some old girls that will go via the soup pot this fall.

They are starting to mate the younger hens. Hormones must be getting messed up with them.

I have a young bantam project hen that has been doing this. She did it right in front of the rooster one time and he let her know how to get the job done! LOL! I, in the meantime, stood there with my jaw on the floor as I had seen hens get on the backs of other hens, but I'd never seen one dip in behind the other hen like she actually had the tools to get that job done! Of course, the subordinate hen did her fluffy duty immediately afterward.

You are where you are because I get not wanting to move. I expect to be moved only once more and that's to be cremated...forget another move for any reason now--got too much junk because it's easy to find a place to put it here ...those are untold full of nightmares and for what purpose...to go another 10 to 15 years to be exactly where we are at now and established with? We moved from Kamloops in 104F heat...Rick rented a ten ton truck for our freezable items we had in storage while we lived in transition looking for our piece of dirt. The truck had air conditioning thankfully...but when I say we ran from

, I mean that literally. When it is so hot you want to peel yourself out of your skin...I will take cold any day...put on another layer, eat another fatty meal...get jiggy with it! LOL Heat makes me miserable and unproductive...that just sucks and is a waste of a good day.




laugh now at the cure.

What a delight to read your post! Oh my goodness! And I agree with you on the heat thing. I hate summer for those very reasons. I don't like camping anymore for those very reasons as well. I grew up in Canada and loved it! I will always love the mixture of trees and the riot of color in the fall. Loved snow too... not so much anymore on that because of the mess, not because its cold.

Other than Mediterranean breeds for heat, Cubalayas and Fayoumis are good.
The best bird I've found for extreme heat and extreme cold is the smallish, tight feathered Jaer. They're fast maturing, lay a good size white egg for their size. They work well since I have temp extremes.

Is a Jaer, a Jaerhon? The Swedish bird? If not, could you post a pic? I've never seen one.

Yes, me too!

Glad I'm not the only one that cares for obviously/fatally flawed birds, at least for a while.

No you're not alone. My first hatching year (can't believe its been ten years!) I had one chick hatch that had "congenital tremors" He was my problem child for about 4 months. He wobbled a lot and had to be helped to eat and drink the first couple of days to maybe a week or so but then he could do it on his own. He wobbled, but never fell down. He was the sweetest little guy. Why is it that I cannot remember what I named him but I can remember what my husband called him? He called him "Spasmo-lad" and I hated that name... oh well. I knew that if he ever fell down that he wouldn't be able to get up again. He fell down one day and come to find out he got mareks disease and I couldn't save him. I can't tell you how I cried for that little guy. I'm sitting here now with tears threatening to run down my face so I'll stop.

 

[dsqard]

oooohhhhh, you are so breaking my heart!!! Seeing the Colorado rockies up close is on my bucket list (along with Yellowstone) but unfortunately it's still in my bucket

Your pics are so great I can almost smell the mountain air!

chickisoup I also have Yellowstone on my "list". I went there many years before but did the "whirlwind" tour with my ex and feel like I really didn't see the park. Yes I saw Old Faithful but not much more. I am hoping to get there this year but if not this year, definitely next year. DH is also promising Banff next year. It is about 1000 miles from here and looks gorgeous. That will have to wait until next year since we still have the two weddings to go to this year. Yellowstone is only a little over 350 miles from here so that is possible this year, maybe

 

[chickadoodles]

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this cockerel's legs he is the buff in the middle? When he stand and walks it looks like he is knock kneed? His legs spread out sideways to eat so he does not have to bend his head down.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

I forget to bring up the BYC page for one day...and I am 121 posts behind!!

Welcome to the newbies by the way!! To the OFH..anyways