The Old Folks Home

[Cynthia12]

Now who thinks this is a perfect enabler/enablee symbiotic relationship????????????

Who us??

 

[Cynthia12]

Well, I'm not supposed to have these hatch until Fri...I got three last night before bed, and woke up to two more! Two more pipped, three that may wait until tomorrow. That's two days early, and these eggs are huge. The big ones usually take until at least the hatch date. ??




Little sort of cute NN's. Either ya like em, or not. They are
cuter when little, and I like the ones with more feathering
going up the neck, which I have a few like that now, so,
will go eenie, meeien, miney, moe...All I know is that I've read
and, heard, that they do well in heat and cold. And, you shoud
see the size of these eggs that came! I personally thought,
oh man, the big ones like this usually don't do as well.
Well, I thought wrong. Two more are working at getting out now.
Fun to see what pops out..they can be different colors, or
some were penned to get a certain look, like I asked for whites,
I got one so far, and splash, but..sadly it isn't a NN..just normal.
Not sure what this color above is. Pretty sure that cap will be
white and black though.

 

[dsqard]

Cynthia I know SCG is going to

over your babies. Congrats! She has some and lives in Maine so I would say they do well in the cold.

 

[ducklucky]

AHHHH, so cute! Don't we all love the babies, so much fun with new life as winter breathes down our necks and everything around us shrivels up. Have great fun with them, they are gorgeous! Congrats

 

[ducklucky]

Thanks for the response bunnylady. This will be my first duck hatch, have hatched many chickens. She is extremely attentive to her nest, always primping it, and hardly leaves it. Allow them a couple hours out every day, she is the last to leave, the first to come back, right to the nest. I don't know how many to leave her with, I have 6 marked, think that will be enough for now. Will candle this weekend Even when she leaves to go out to range, she covers them all up and they stay nice and warm. My question is, will I need to separate her and the clutch as the time nears? Everyone seems to get along fine, they leave her to do her thing. Didn't know if the other Pekins will pick on her or the ducklings??? Don't want to disrupt her routine or discourage her. Should I wait and just not worry until the time comes? The others are still going into her nest and depositing.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I don't know alot about ducks brooding (that is for the future) but in free range chickens brooding I've been around the block. I have to say first and foremost depends on where the broody ranks and how well she can defend her hatch. I like to allow the hen to come and go as she pleases, but then I have to think about all the things that eat little ones and eggs. And there's the hen that nests in the woods...not safe. So you have to determine how safe is she. Obviously the nest site she picked has something going for it...temp-humidity...but if others are bothering it can you keep them out? I keep sterile potting soil in the bottom of my broody nests and cover that with soft grasses and pine chips...high hatch rates, they can just be picked up and moved onto a shelf, when they start to hatch I lock them in. It's a 2x2x8 foot shelf, nothing can get in. There's plenty of room and a little door to the private broody suite run, where they can grow and learn without being molested. The last hen did not want to leave. Why not? Must be the room service -me. Last week, she started pacing at the gate so I left it open so the kids can be socilized a bit. I've left it open before but she just looked at me, like what?! Are you crazy? And took the kids for a scratch elsewhere. It's a fine line between interfering and protecting...if a little voice is telling you to move them...ask it why...something is intuitively alerting you.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Well, I'm not supposed to have these hatch until Fri...I got three last night before bed, and woke up to two more! Two more pipped, three that may wait until tomorrow. That's two days early, and these eggs are huge. The big ones usually take until at least the hatch date. ??




Little sort of cute NN's. Either ya like em, or not. They are
cuter when little, and I like the ones with more feathering
going up the neck, which I have a few like that now, so,
will go eenie, meeien, miney, moe...All I know is that I've read
and, heard, that they do well in heat and cold. And, you shoud
see the size of these eggs that came! I personally thought,
oh man, the big ones like this usually don't do as well.
Well, I thought wrong. Two more are working at getting out now.
Fun to see what pops out..they can be different colors, or
some were penned to get a certain look, like I asked for whites,
I got one so far, and splash, but..sadly it isn't a NN..just normal.
Not sure what this color above is. Pretty sure that cap will be
white and black though.

Me love, me love! My turkens have so far been early layers (in fact some started laying as early as 17 weeks) and very good layers. They do excellent in the heat, and in the cold. Mine forage well, are friendly and I love that their butts are half naked - you get really clean eggs. If I had to have a flock of all one type of bird, I would seriously consider the turken. I mean, who can't love those chicks? Plus you get all kinds of different colors and egg colors, too. I have some olive egger turkens.

Cynthia I know SCG is going to

over your babies. Congrats! She has some and lives in Maine so I would say they do well in the cold.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know me well! And yes, we get insanely sub-zero here. No one has ever frozen to death, although I've come close. Here's Marge on Thanksgiving enjoying her slice of pie.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Now who thinks this is a perfect enabler/enablee symbiotic relationship????????????

... Said the woman who mailed me turkey eggs.


Which, by the way, they're starting to get pink heads and bigger didgeridoo (or whatever the face growth thing is called)... is that a signal of impending laying??!!


I think they're both going to survive the last round (hopefully last) of 2012 Camp Kenmore which is anticipated to be this weekend if the sore throat and fatigue BF started getting today doesn't progress to what I had earlier this week (and am still getting over). The turkeys are about twice the size of the full grown chicken hens I have now, but surprisingly the hens are mostly higher on the pecking order. But they're completely adorable.

 

[Cynthia12]

Me love, me love! My turkens have so far been early layers (in fact some started laying as early as 17 weeks) and very good layers. They do excellent in the heat, and in the cold. Mine forage well, are friendly and I love that their butts are half naked - you get really clean eggs. If I had to have a flock of all one type of bird, I would seriously consider the turken. I mean, who can't love those chicks? Plus you get all kinds of different colors and egg colors, too. I have some olive egger turkens.



Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know me well! And yes, we get insanely sub-zero here. No one has ever frozen to death, although I've come close. Here's Marge on Thanksgiving enjoying her slice of pie.

I'm so glad you posted this. I have been a bit worried about the cold weather. And, another thing I've heard is..it makes a great city rooster! I've never heard of any roosters not crowing, but the breeder that I have eggs from that go into lock down this weekend swears they won't crow, unless they hear it from another rooster. She's 18 years old, and loves her turkens. She says hers are quiet. So, will keep a boy for a while and see what happens.
Time for a photo shoot of this first hatch. Not bad at all. 9 babies out of 10 that went into lock down. Started with 13. Very very large eggs! Love the egg size! And, the different colors!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I wouldn't hold your breath on not crowing. This boy didn't crow a lot, but he still crowed at least 20 times a day. I have a pen of roosters ready for slaughter now, many of which are naked necks, and they start crowing before the sun comes up.