Utah!

[thebirdguy]

Shawn, are you kidding me, YOU are running out of room??? Now THAT is chicken math gone crazy=) What kinds of Ameracaunas are you going to breed?

Mostly just for egg color lol.... I don't have room to do all the individual breeds I want....I have plans for more coops in the future but for now I'm trying to be good..

Birdguy, love the solar panel idea. I may have to check into that on a mini scale it would be great to have solar power out there. We have itty bitty solar lights up and down the eaves on the run roofing, to keep "spotlights" going at night to scare off the critters....it would be great to have a whole panel converting to light inside the coop at night, and even to power other things out there!

Ummmm....no more turkeys. I promised my husband. LOL

I thought the trick was to say something like... new turkeys? oh no, I've had these for ages...

My mother-in-law does this with shoes.. she'll throw them in the closet and then weeks later wear them.. if dad notices them she'll say she's had them forever..

 

[thebirdguy]

Lisa... there are university studies in huge commercial incubators out there that actually showed a better hatch rate when the eggs were NEVER turned!! I have experimented a little last year and couldn't really tell that it made much difference if I turned them or not.. I still turn my eggs but because of these studies and my own experience have decided not to stress so much about turning a certain number of times or at set times everyday. If you think about it.. a broody hen doesn't turn her eggs exactly 180 degrees every 2 hours... she just "resettles" them whenever she feels like it...LOL. just my 2 cents...

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Daloorashens, not to enable you at all...lol...but IF you decided to hatch, they are fine in the garage, in a rubbermaid tote, with a heat lamp on them no prob. I had some from Cynthia last year and it was freezing out there and the light was plenty, I just lowered it in the beginning about 15 inches up, blanket over opposite end of the tote, the other end open with the light shining down....they were toasty, it got too warm at times even and I had to take the blanket off. By two weeks I was just using the 125 w and then a 60 w after 3-4 weeks. My EE's from her last year were born 11-15, I put them out in the coop in January, and they were fine. I had to worry more about the big girls chasing them than them staying warm.

Just sayin'! lol

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Lisa...  there are university studies in huge commercial incubators out there that actually showed a better hatch rate when the eggs were NEVER turned!!  I have experimented a little last year and couldn't really tell that it made much difference if I turned them or not..  I still turn my eggs but because of these studies and my own experience have decided not to stress so much about turning a certain number of times or at set times everyday.  If you think about it..  a broody hen doesn't turn her eggs exactly 180 degrees every 2 hours... she just "resettles" them whenever she feels like it...LOL.  just my 2 cents...

I believe it! The turning in the first few days for sure does not seem to matter at all. I would be scared to go the whole time too. The rolling on the sides really just seems more like mama hen though. I use the turner for convenience when there is alot, but I swear they do better on their sides randomly rolled around lol I am still debating putting a couple under my white rock who is broody...but the problem is the others jump in the nest with her and lay, I worry they will get broken. She is not mean enough to scare them off. :/

That trick your mother in law pulls? That would be my DH. "Oh didn't you notice that? Those have been there forEVER."

 

[Daloorashens]

Hey, Mesha....if you are using a blue roo you need to start hatching NOW! You will lose egg color in your first generation because of the dilution modifier and all the stuff that needs to happen to get the egg color genes matched up right. Get hatching, girl! You know you want to! If memory serves me right, Rolo is using blue over black and not splash over blue/black so you should be in good shape......but.......start hatching. LOL

You people are terrible enablers, lol!!! We'll see...The other thing is they're not all laying yet, so I kind of have to wait anyway, haha I'd rather put several eggs in the bator at once rather than one or two at a time

My Leghorn EE is laying!!!!!!!!!! I thought it was a different hen but caught her in the nest box this morning when I went out, then right after she laid, so I know it's her egg... A medium-sized blue/green egg!!

 

[RedIII]

Whew, just had a scare. I was napping in my room, and I kind of woke up and heard something out back, but couldn't tell what it was. Then I hear a guy yelling, "No! No!" and coming a lot closer. Well, I bolted out of bed in my underclothes and ran out back to see what was going on. I could see that the chickens were upset, and I could only see one white turkey. There were white feathers on this side of the fence.

I grabbed my robe and went out front to find two of our neighbors from across the street talking in one of their yards. I went over and found out that the one, who I don't know very well, has a dog that was trained as a bird dog, I think before I got her. She saw the other turkey on our front lawn and took off after it. He seemed pretty upset. I apologized and told him that that turkey has been hopping the fence, so I've been tethering her, but she broke her tether (she did this last night)

We walked around back and found the turkey hiding in one of our big rosebushes. She was missing some feathers and was scared, but she was okay. She came out when she saw me. I hope she stops hopping that fence so much. My mom and I have been discussing putting up a second fence to enclose our whole back yard, and not just the garden.

 

[RedIII]

My Leghorn EE is laying!!!!!!!!!! I thought it was a different hen but caught her in the nest box this morning when I went out, then right after she laid, so I know it's her egg... A medium-sized blue/green egg!!

No WAY!! They actually do lay blue eggs?! And all this time, I figured they would just lay a white or brown egg, or something. That's so cool!!

 

[the-bird-man]

Whew, just had a scare. I was napping in my room, and I kind of woke up and heard something out back, but couldn't tell what it was. Then I hear a guy yelling, "No! No!" and coming a lot closer. Well, I bolted out of bed in my underclothes and ran out back to see what was going on. I could see that the chickens were upset, and I could only see one white turkey. There were white feathers on this side of the fence.

I grabbed my robe and went out front to find two of our neighbors from across the street talking in one of their yards. I went over and found out that the one, who I don't know very well, has a dog that was trained as a bird dog, I think before I got her. She saw the other turkey on our front lawn and took off after it. He seemed pretty upset. I apologized and told him that that turkey has been hopping the fence, so I've been tethering her, but she broke her tether (she did this last night)

We walked around back and found the turkey hiding in one of our big rosebushes. She was missing some feathers and was scared, but she was okay. She came out when she saw me. I hope she stops hopping that fence so much. My mom and I have been discussing putting up a second fence to enclose our whole back yard, and not just the garden.

wow that would be scary. so he was upset with you because his dog went after your turkey? is this the neighbor you are having issues with?

 

[RedIII]

Birdman, no, this is actually a neighbor next to those guys. We never really have any contact with him, but he's a nice guy. I guess he used to live in southern Utah, and he had chickens when he was there. He was upset that his dog had gone after the turkey, not upset with me. I think he was worried I'd be mad about it.

 

[the-bird-man]

Birdman, no, this is actually a neighbor next to those guys. We never really have any contact with him, but he's a nice guy. I guess he used to live in southern Utah, and he had chickens when he was there. He was upset that his dog had gone after the turkey, not upset with me. I think he was worried I'd be mad about it.

ah i see. sounds like a nice guy. its nice you were understanding about it, i am sure it made him happy. sounds like a great neighbor