Utah!

[themadchicken]

Amanda...I hatch chicks all year. If i have a broody then i give her eggs. During the winter you have to make sure the chicks are in an area that stays at least 55 or above during the day and not below 40 at night. Heat lamps and 100 watt bulbs are mama hens with baby's best friend during bitter cold. You can buy thermal cubes that turn on and off at different temps. Home depot sales one that turns on at 32 and back off at 45. The first week is the hardest, after that they know to run to mama for warmth. But of course I'm talking about January temps, not these nice fall temps. I say give her some eggs and let her be a mom.

 

[bitsyhorse]

blech!

I was turning the pine shavings in my coop, and I found maggots!!! omg! it was so gross!!!! I guess I ended up spilling some water in there, or maybe my roof has a leak. I ended up just cleaning it out fully, and spraying the coop down with vinegar and dawn (I think that will work....at least I hope so hah! that's all I had on hand at that moment). Let it air out for a couple of hours, and then put new bedding in.

I didn't know it was maggots, until I started looking up different things you could find in the bedding.


Oh, I'll also spare you the 'gross factor' and not post a pic hahaha

 

[themadchicken]

Wow im surprised your chickens didnt find them, you should have tried to gather them all up as a high protein treat. My flock loves maggotes. Since i feed them grains instead off chicken feed i seem to get my share.

 

[acemario]

Can't wait to see, how fun!!

We hatched more sizzles here this weekend, I need to get pics up. Man these things sure are fun. They are selling well too, for this time of year.... I am trying to tell myself I should not do more but it is so hard!

I am shipping off some eggs tomorrow morning, but have started collecting the next batch if anybody wants hatching eggs.

Here are some Marans I collected for Liz...they came from the hens I kept From Wendy, and the chicks will be from my Blue Marans roo. They are pretty new layers, so just starting to darken up. Love them Now I need to stop myself from hatching these

I might take you up on two marans eggs... Depending if the one my hen is sitting on is fertile... They are soooo dark!!!

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Come get em Ace, 2 eggs are no prob I have 8 laying right now I would definitely give you some extras because not 100 percent are fertile yet, but a good chunk of them are, I am getting about 9/12 fertility when checking for bullseyes. I am getting a better idea of whose are which, but they still trick me a little

There are two hens that lay the darkest those would be the best ones The ones that look lighter on the bottom left have a pretty heavy bloom ovr them that makes them look foggy.

 

[bitsyhorse]

Wow im surprised your chickens didnt find them, you should have tried to gather them all up as a high protein treat. My flock loves maggotes. Since i feed them grains instead off chicken feed i seem to get my share.

one of them started eating them.... but I was actually a bit worried because I wasn't sure what they were, so I cleaned it up quickly....

 

[themadchicken]

There is actually some threads on here for growing them. It sounds really easy if you can get over the fact that you are growing the gross little things in your yard.

 

[RJSorensen]

Speaking of flies, I have been seeing a lot of flies over the past few days or so. More so than I have seen all year. Is it…well, flie season or is it just me? Anyone else seeing the ugly little black things round the yard in abundance? Perhaps the grizzled sages

here can share their wisdom on the matter?

Best to all and your birds,

RJ

 

[Cynthia12]

Gary, does your sister still plan on coming tomorrow morning? I will probably have the chicken caught and ready, and Scott will help her. I have the start of a very bad sore throat. :/ I haven't had a cold in over a yr. so, I guess I can't complain. Ummm...yes I can!

 

[themadchicken]

Here they are. Not the best picture. I do have one that has to many toes and is trying to figure out how to walk right. The black one is the EE. All have feathered feet but one so I'm thinking this one is probable the mystery egg and its from my B-EE.