Washingtonians

[FlyRobinFly]

I'm so happy tonight! Our cat Sasuke went missing when we did our major backyard renovations...he was the only one I couldn't track down and put inside while we were working, and I hoped that it was just a matter of all the noise and change freaking him out and he'd come home after the dust settled. He's fixed and usually isn't gone more than a couple of hours at a time, just long enough to bring me dead vermin presents.. After a couple days, I asked the neighbors (the whole block knows our cats, they're the best ratters around), posters went up, craigslist ads posted, talked to the Humane Society (he's microchipped, so they assured me everyone gets scanned when they come in and we'd get a call if he turned up there), but no leads, no bodies in the road, nothing. It's been two weeks to the day since he took off, and now he's home! I was sitting here browsing and heard a little meow at the window, and he jumped in like it was no big deal. He's definitely lost some weight, but no signs of injury or illness...just a hungry kitty glad to be getting some love. Life is so good right now.

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: I'd say it depends on your setup but this past winter I did have to go break up the skating rink that was my girls' nipple bucket several times, and de-ice the nipples themselves so they would work.
Hmmmm....I hadn't thought of the nipples themselves not working. Darn! Gotta watch that this winter.

 

[JennS]

No problem!

You can take them out, be quick about it, I think it's better to take them out after 12 - 24, as it has been stated earlier, the pipping and peeping and movement of eggs all facilitates the rest to hatch, it's kind of like having a cheering section!

The other thing is don't put any of the eggs close to the turner's motor, the one thing about those incubators is the temp can vary in different parts of the incubator, what type of thermometers do you have? Digital suck!! I have had so many problems with it giving variable temps. And the LG are so temperamental ! just a small turn can make them go way up!! Or down!

Try to think like a hen, they get up and down and move the eggs etc, it's just the last three days you don't want to open the incubator. I have learned so much in the short time I've been doing this. And lot's of the info I got right on this thread. There is a thread on here specifically talking about the LG. Also, if you get the meat thermometer's that you can adjust, all you have to do is calibrate it at 32 degrees, using a plastic drinking cup and ice water.

Oh yea, and you may already know this but chicks can get a long for about 2-3 days without food, because they got their nourishment from the yolk, so it's OK if they stay in the incubator for that long. but, I always worry about the heating element so I take them out after they dry off.
I know this is late info so I hope all went ok?

I had my husband help me open the incubator tonight, and it took like 2 seconds. I know that probably all the air was exchanged and it'll take a bit to get back up (dropped down to around 40%). But I think we did the best we could, all things considered. One of the new pippers is talking up a storm, so hopefully that'll help. We've also been leaving on the closet light.

I was worried about the motor adding heat, so I didn't put any eggs near it! I have one digital in there (which is over sensitive) and two regular bulb thermometers. Put them in 3 parts of the LG and you get 3 different numbers. And I hate the control! Turn it a tiny bit and the bulb goes out. Turn it a little more to get it to turn on, and the temp shoots up.

Hmm, I like the meat thermometer idea. If I'm ever crazy enough to try this again, I'll use a couple of those. If I don't just buy something that'll do everything for me!

Still waiting for the final results. Looks like we have another 1-2 days to go, maybe more.

Jennifer

 

[FlyRobinFly]

On another HAPPY NOTE!!! Willow laid her first egg for us here!!! I almost laughed at her over it though, she's been laying for many many months, takes a break when she moved homes, and her first egg was a brilliant blue fart egg! The most gorgeous egg I've ever seen, the shell is extremely rough like sandpaper (how'd that feel comin' out?! eek!), and it doesn't even move my egg scale into the peewee range!

I'm sure the next one will be better, I"m just so thrilled she finally started laying 2.5 weeks after arriving here.

And you get to add another pretty color to your egg basket!

 

[RainyDayChicken]

I didn't respond to the person in a rude manner. I just said they needed to switch to a layer feed that covered enough protein and calcium, and told her that the "crown" was called a comb. That's it. But I'm baffled that someone would only feed their chickens scratch, which she said she did do for a long time. I wasn't rude, only helpful to him/her. But yeah...I hope she changes what she's doing for her birds' sake.
That's amazing! I wonder if people just pass on "whatever worked" to their family members? I've never been around chickens before I got them myself, so of course I read every chicken book under the sun and got the correct info on their nutrition, housing, etc.

I am not stupid or do i not know the correct way to raise a chicken. I was just trying to say that not everyone does things like you or your books. I know that books know everything so i guess i am just wrong.

 

[FlyRobinFly]

There was a Hawk inside my run and it had one of my babies. When it saw me it dropped the baby and flew up into a tree. It was pretty small. lot smaller then my hens. Where was my rooster????? UNDER the barn. He's out of here next week!!!! the baby was dead. so I have lost two babies in a week. I can't cover my run it is something like 70 ft. X 100 ft

Oh no! That stinks, I'm sorry.

 

[TerrorBird]

Quote:
Assuming that your chickens are healthy and happy, you're not doing it wrong.

 

[mikeyb]

Quote: I am always happy to help!

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Thanks ! I will look it up, Einstein is seriously addicted to

Tillamook Mudslide YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
There is NO BETTER ice cream !!!!

Unless of course, he finds a nasty surprise in the carton!

Did he ever get a reply from Tillamook about that?

 

[TerrorBird]

Quote:
I'm probably going to regret asking, but what did he find?