Washingtonians

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
What you can pump does not mean that is all she gets. I could fill bottles my first time, but with DS, I never got more than an ounce. (hmmmm .......... maybe that is why she was always hungry and cranky and took so long to grow)

Yup. Pumping is a whole different thing than nursing, especially when you're first doing it.

I nursed mine for longer than average, but was at home the whole time- more at home than usual, even after the second one, because they "improved" the road by widening it without actually buying more right of way, and there was no shoulder at all, so it wasn't safe to push a stroller to the bus stop. The only time I pumped was when I was getting the elder started on solids and we mixed the food with breast milk- of course we started with carrots and it turns out he's terribly allergic to all Apicae, so he puked anyway...

The problem is she's got latching issues and she's a "comfort-nurser," according to the lactation specialist I saw. So I battled with bloody, rawness before I got the shield and after that, she started latching and it didn't hurt as bad but she would take 2-3 hours PER side to get full and then it starts all over again on the other side....or she gets frustrated because I keep her awake and she just wants to attach and pass out.

One day, I fed her from 1:30pm until almost 5pm. I'm way too A.D.D. for that! Pumping still takes me about 1/2 hour to get 1oz though....

 

[Ogress]

A few days ago I noticed that it had been a few days since we got an egg from an EE of mine who is a very reliable layer. I suspected a nest somewhere in the woods. I told the kids that I would pay whoever found the nest $1 per egg. They have been searching the woods after school since Tuesday, and DD just found the nest in the thickes part of the woods on the steepest incline in a moss-lined nest well hidden undera dense thicket of sallal. There were 12 eggs in the nest of various sizes and shades of blue/green plus one small pink egg. I think the eggs not only belong to my hen, but several of my EE pullets and BR which I got as Day olds on April 15 must be using the nest!

Do I toss all these eggs, or should I float test them? I would not sell them, but if they are still good, maybe I'll use them for baking.

 

[Ogress]

Happy Birthday to YOU, Happy Birthday to YOU, happy Birthday Dear CR; Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AriLovesChickens]

RFF: I think a lot of babies nurse for comfort! They also get more efficient at drawing out milk, so don't give up on it.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
Yup. Pumping is a whole different thing than nursing, especially when you're first doing it.

I nursed mine for longer than average, but was at home the whole time- more at home than usual, even after the second one, because they "improved" the road by widening it without actually buying more right of way, and there was no shoulder at all, so it wasn't safe to push a stroller to the bus stop. The only time I pumped was when I was getting the elder started on solids and we mixed the food with breast milk- of course we started with carrots and it turns out he's terribly allergic to all Apicae, so he puked anyway...

The problem is she's got latching issues and she's a "comfort-nurser," according to the lactation specialist I saw. So I battled with bloody, rawness before I got the shield and after that, she started latching and it didn't hurt as bad but she would take 2-3 hours PER side to get full and then it starts all over again on the other side....or she gets frustrated because I keep her awake and she just wants to attach and pass out.

One day, I fed her from 1:30pm until almost 5pm. I'm way too A.D.D. for that! Pumping still takes me about 1/2 hour to get 1oz though....

The younger offspring was like that for about the first month of her life- I just stuck it out, and her brother (who celebrated his second birthday at the end of that interminable month) and I read a whole lot of books. The house fell into utter chaos- my husband was working his regular job and teaching a class, and was gone from 7am until midnight three days a week, but luckily I didn't have any outside animals to care for. She got less famished at the end of the first month and fell into an every 2 to three hours schedule, with longer intervals mid-day.

Do what works for your baby and your needs, because trying to follow somebody else's rules just leads to anxiety. Only, pumping also leads to anxiety, in my experience, so you might want to review about how it's really working for you in a few weeks.

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
float them, then when you use them, open them one by one in a separate bowl, just to check

hens generally try to nest in the most secluded, most secure, place that they can find, and I'd swear they communicate, because they all want to lay their eggs in the same place

someone was mentioning that if you wanted to hatch eggs, ten days is about the limit of good fertility ... but i know people have kept them "out on the counter" for considerably longer than that ... and it HAS been getting chilly at nights, prolonging freshness for those sitting out

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
float them, then when you use them, open them one by one in a separate bowl, just to check

hens generally try to nest in the most secluded, most secure, place that they can find, and I'd swear they communicate, because they all want to lay their eggs in the same place

someone was mentioning that if you wanted to hatch eggs, ten days is about the limit of good fertility ... but i know people have kept them "out on the counter" for considerably longer than that ... and it HAS been getting chilly at nights, prolonging freshness for those sitting out

I just tested them and all the blue green ones stayed on their sides at the bottom. The pink fart egg was also at the bottom, but the fat end rose up so it was pointy-end down at the bottom of the bowl. The kids were hoping to get some to throw at a tree, so I gave them that one.

 

[chickens4gramma]

Quote:

LOL

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I have eleven eggs from four chickens gathered since Tuesday morning: one of them is from Sylvia.

I love the Hamburgs, I really do.

 

[blueducklings]

Quote:
I would love to go. Eat the lovely island fruits and soak up the warm sun.
Do your chickens "bite"?

the Maui chickens free range through the quarter acre back yard (full of fruit and nut trees)
and tuck themselves into the coop down at the cottage, at night

actually, long-term tenant Mary takes care of them .... I bought them and raised them for six weeks, then we had to leave so I routed them down to her

about the only things they bite, are roaches and centipedes ... the rest of the time they are stirring up leaves and minding their own business ... I think all the little roos went to another friend who likes to cook huli-huli chicken (rotisserie style)

I am not afread of bugs. And the roaches are the same ones form Singapore.