The Old Folks Home

[Arielle]

I am so bummed! I am trying to start a line of Silver Campines and I have (had) two cockerels and a hen that I bought and had sent from Texas that I was going to start using this fall. Yesterday, I lost the hen....... the HEN! Not one of the roosters, no it couldn't have been one of them, nor one of the two dozen cockerels that I turned out last weekend to free range (because they are going to be culled anyway) and I thought they might distract any predator that happened by. NO, it had to be the valuable one. I found a pile of feathers and think it was likely a hawk. Grrrr!

And if that is not bad enough, the lone turkey from the Cinco de Mayo hatch died while I was at work ... AND IT WAS FINE WHEN I LEFT yesterday morning. Now I'm worried about the other two poults I have in the brooder. I don't know why my turkeys all die before they get full grown.

Somebody pass me a Margarita.........

Yum, margarita !!

Sorry Wisher, maybe your area won't support turkeys for what ever the reason. ANd really really sorry the silver campine hen was scooped by a hawk.

ANy hopes of getting another hen?

 

[ronott1]

I am so bummed!  I am trying to start a line of Silver Campines and I have (had) two cockerels and a hen that I bought and had sent from Texas that I was going to start using this fall.  Yesterday, I lost the hen....... the HEN!  Not one of the roosters, no it couldn't have been one of them, nor one of the two dozen cockerels that I turned out last weekend to free range (because they are going to be culled anyway) and I thought they might distract any predator that happened by.  NO, it had to be the valuable one.  I found a pile of feathers and think it was likely a hawk.  Grrrr!

And if that is not bad enough, the lone turkey from the Cinco de Mayo hatch died while I was at work ... AND IT WAS FINE WHEN I LEFT yesterday morning.  Now I'm worried about the other two poults I have in the brooder.  I don't know why my turkeys all die before they get full grown.

Somebody pass me a Margarita.........

Black Head? There are things you can do to stop Black Head.

 

[chickadoodles]

I am so bummed! I am trying to start a line of Silver Campines and I have (had) two cockerels and a hen that I bought and had sent from Texas that I was going to start using this fall. Yesterday, I lost the hen....... the HEN! Not one of the roosters, no it couldn't have been one of them, nor one of the two dozen cockerels that I turned out last weekend to free range (because they are going to be culled anyway) and I thought they might distract any predator that happened by. NO, it had to be the valuable one. I found a pile of feathers and think it was likely a hawk. Grrrr!

And if that is not bad enough, the lone turkey from the Cinco de Mayo hatch died while I was at work ... AND IT WAS FINE WHEN I LEFT yesterday morning. Now I'm worried about the other two poults I have in the brooder. I don't know why my turkeys all die before they get full grown.

Somebody pass me a Margarita.........

Bless your heart Wisher! I am so sorry your hen is gone.

Some turkey poults just are too weak to make it. I drove 7 hrs to pick two up from a breeder. By the time I got them home one was so weak it could not stand up.
I tried to save it to no avail! It is heart breaking I know! I am so sorry!

 

[chickadoodles]

He works for the state-- there won't be another truck any time soon. Should see how poorly these vehicles are kept up.( Not a factor in this accident.) I remember years ago, he drove a truck in which the drive door didn't shut =He had to hold it shut. The state has no money to repair anything it seems these days. So I expect it will be I drop him off Sundays and pick up Sat am. Naaaa. He can just stay at work!

Oh wait I have a chicken sale to go to Sunday-- maybe he can get a truck for the weekend to watch the kids.

We need to get our economy rolling again!!!!! I'm ready to dump all the folks in Washington in the river and elect new members. Oh wait, we already tried that.

"He works for the state" nuff said! All the states in the us are broke! Have fun at the chicken sale! But hopefully when we get some new members in WA we might see some changes?

But I would not hold my breath!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

My Middle daughter want to make a Duck recipe from the Game of Thrones cookbook.

I guess I need to hatch some Ducks....How long before Duck Dinner?

My pekins are ready in about 12 weeks. The one I hatched for Cinco de Mayo is huge already, but she's a girl so she's staying.


I am back from West Virginia. I made a bunch of different cheeses, but I think I'll probably only make ricotta and mozzarella now that I'm home. I also learned to make hot process soap (yes, Arielle, you can use chicken fat but you need to use a soap calculator to figure out what else needs to be in your base), lotions, sugar scrubs and some other things. It was at Chickens In The Road (if anyone reads that blog). It was nice to see my family, too. My dad's wound still hasn't healed from his emergency surgery back around St Patrick's Day. I am not pleased about that. My sisters kids are adorable and my garden has exploded since I was gone. I just picked about 20 cukes, and there's probably 900,000 left in the garden (that may be a slight under-estimate).

I am glad to be back. BF did excellent keeping everyone alive and happy, he even got the goats a spool to play with but it's too hot to push that sucker up the hill to the goat house this week. The house is even clean and he cleaned the garage and my chicken chore area, too. He's such a good boy even if he is a yankee.

 

[Wisher1000]

I dunno, Ron, there were NO symptoms, that I could see. I know Blackhead does not often actually produce a black head, but I would expect SOMETHING. I'm up for suggestions. I have two that are just 3 weeks old.

 

[ronott1]

I dunno, Ron, there were NO symptoms, that I could see. I know Blackhead does not often actually produce a black head, but I would expect SOMETHING. I'm up for suggestions. I have two that are just 3 weeks old.

Do you still have any of the dad ones? You can check to see if the liver is normal.

Birds dying of histomoniasis have characteristic enlarged livers with circular depressed areas and enlarged ceca containing a rather dry cheesy material (Figures 1 and 2). Recovered birds may show swollen hard and scarred livers at the time of slaughter.

 

[Bunnylady]

I wish (my turn?) that I could be helpful, Wisher, but "I don't know nuthin' 'bout raisin' no turkeys." I can say that you aren't alone in having difficulty - there are folks around here that can't get a mature bird to save their lives (though House of Raeford has been processing turkeys in this area for donkey's years, so somebody around here can manage it)

That is a bummer about your Silver Campine hen. You know that if you'd had two hens and only one roo, he'd have been the one to go, don't you?!

 

[Arielle]

I wish (my turn?) that I could be helpful, Wisher, but "I don't know nuthin' 'bout raisin' no turkeys." I can say that you aren't alone in having difficulty - there are folks around here that can't get a mature bird to save their lives (though House of Raeford has been processing turkeys in this area for donkey's years, so somebody around here can manage it)

That is a bummer about your Silver Campine hen. You know that if you'd had two hens and only one roo, he'd have been the one to go, don't you?!

I thought the same thing . . murphy's law . . . . bummer.

 

[Arielle]

SCG-- oh glad you had a wonderful time, and even better that all was well wehen you returned home. That Yankee is a keeper. I still think, after all these years since chem class and making soap, that making a cleaner to remove oils with FATS was backwards . . . .. another good use for extra fat . . . . THanks SCG.