YO GEORGIANS! :)

[Dominique Fan]

Good Morning All from Ellijay!

New here just saw the Yo Georgians thread. Just wanted to weigh in on Flowerbh post about the black snake. Thank you! thank you! thank you! even though black snakes aka. king snake, rat snake, corn snake, black racer. Are beneficial to the 'enth degree all to many chicken keepers consider them a danger to the coop or farm.
Sorry the ol' guy lost his lunch, an interesting defense mechanism on their part. But it did point out one very important thing. Flowerbh you have a hole somewhere. And if a king snake made it in its a prime target for any rat or small possum to exploit and they won't just lift an egg. Of course the snake around the house would take care of any other vermin.....
And that folks is my two cents worth.

 

[Flowerbh]

Good Morning All from Ellijay!

New here just saw the Yo Georgians thread. Just wanted to weigh in on Flowerbh post about the black snake. Thank you! thank you! thank you! even though black snakes aka. king snake, rat snake, corn snake, black racer. Are beneficial to the 'enth degree all to many chicken keepers consider them a danger to the coop or farm.
Sorry the ol' guy lost his lunch, an interesting defense mechanism on their part. But it did point out one very important thing. Flowerbh you have a hole somewhere. And if a king snake made it in its a prime target for any rat or small possum to exploit and they won't just lift an egg. Of course the snake around the house would take care of any other vermin.....
And that folks is my two cents worth.

Yes, we had made a hole in the hardware clothe to put a hose in for the auto waterer and had just removed it. So, these is a hole in the hardware clothe the size of a half dollar. (you guys remember those? LOL) I will be patching it up soon!

 

[Flowerbh]

Thanks. I would like to check out your quail setup sometime. I don't live far from you at all, and I know someone who lives in Draketown. What kind of quail do you raise, and which kind would be the best for gathering eggs? I'm a total neophyte when it comes to quail.


Becky, had I known you were at the WCC yesterday, I could have handed off your Speckled Sussex chicks to you. There is one cockerel and two pullets, so I'm glad Lisa picked up all three instead of just two. Anyway, we were near Marietta yesterday afternoon. BTW, they're gorgeous birds. I'll keep them if you don't want them...lol! However, that cockerel is the wildest chick I have ever had. He's fine once you hold him, but he does not like to be captured for anything. He is super attractive though. VERY handsome!

Also, Lisa and I both take Synthroid, and you have to be real careful if your pharmacy switches between generics. One doctor I know will only Rx actual Synthroid and not allow generics because she has had such an issue with her patients being sensitive to dosage fluctuations between the various manufactures. Personally, I'm thinking of switching to desiccated thyroid (Armour) because supposedly it doesn't zap your energy like Synthroid generics are prone to do.

I tried Synthroid. I was allergic to it and it made my throat close up, So I was taking Levothyroxin, which is suppose to be the generic of Synthroid. No real problem with it. I did ask my doctor to switch me to the Armour which is the one I am on now...it's only been 2 weeks, so don't know. I may have to switch back to the Levothyroxin.

You know I only want pullets. One would be ok if you want to keep a pair. I thank you so much for getting them. If I got the male, I would either have to sell it on Craigslist or sell it to the Mexican to eat. So, if you want him, it's ok with me!

 

[missy1971]

Got a friend who has about 8 leghorns he wants to get rid of...any takers??

 

[brucifer]

You know I only want pullets. One would be ok if you want to keep a pair. I thank you so much for getting them. If I got the male, I would either have to sell it on Craigslist or sell it to the Mexican to eat. So, if you want him, it's ok with me!

Hmmmm....that's tempting. lol However, I see why you like the Speckled Sussex. They are striking chickens. The little cockerel is especially impressive...just wish he weren't so skittish.

The cuckoo orp cockerel we got from you is growing like crazy. I'm surprised how fast he is growing compared to his BBS Orp broodermates. He was the smaller of the lot when we added him to the brooder, and now he is the largest by far. We have plans for him. I have two chocolate orp pullets that I want to match him with when they all come of breeding age.

 

[brucifer]

Just want to pass on some info for those of you who may be building/repairing coops and such: I found an ad in Craigslist from a guy selling plywood. The prices were super cheap, so I gave him a call and met him today at his mini warehouse. I picked up a couple of nice sheets of 1" CDX plywood for $10 per sheet. If you know something what plywood costs, you know that's a great price. Most of the plywood sheets he sells are stamped "rejected," but they still are very usable, especially if you're building a chicken coop. His prices were as follow:

3/8" - $4 per sheet
1/2" - $7 per sheet
5/8" - $8 per sheet
3/4" - $9 per sheet
1" - $10 per sheet

I plan to pick up a bunch of 3/8" sheets when he gets more in next week. He also had a small mountain of plywood scrap inside the building that was free, so I plan to rummage through that as well. Anyway, you can either look him up on Craigslist, or PM me, and I'll give you his number and address. His building is in the Carrollton area less that 10 minutes from where I live.

Also, I don't know if this was just at the Carrollton TSC or also at other TSC stores, but today they were giving away 12 packs of Little Giant 6 x 5 pulp egg crates. So, if you need any of those, check with your local TSC.

 

[Tabasco Jack]

Thanks. I would like to check out your quail setup sometime. I don't live far from you at all, and I know someone who lives in Draketown. What kind of quail do you raise, and which kind would be the best for gathering eggs? I'm a total neophyte when it comes to quail.

I raise Jumbo Cortunix. They are a meat type quail. And good layers. I've been selectively breeding for larger birds and eggs. So most of the eggs weigh in at 14-16 grams. And they lay almost daily during season. I add lights until Thanksgiving and then let them rest until early March. 17 days to incubate. I've had good hatches with low 30-35% humidity during incubation and then bump it to 55-60% during lockdown. At 6 weeks they start laying and I butcher the meat birds at about 8 weeks. After that, they don't put on much more weight. Processing is easy. Sit in a lawn chair with a bucket between your feet. Snip, snip, pull. Takes 6-7 minutes per bird.

I keep the breeders in outdoor cages at 1 roo to 5-6 hens. Growouts are all together until 4-5 weeks then I separate the males and females and select my next set of breeders.

 

[brucifer]

I raise Jumbo Cortunix. They are a meat type quail. And good layers. I've been selectively breeding for larger birds and eggs. So most of the eggs weigh in at 14-16 grams. And they lay almost daily during season. I add lights until Thanksgiving and then let them rest until early March. 17 days to incubate. I've had good hatches with low 30-35% humidity during incubation and then bump it to 55-60% during lockdown. At 6 weeks they start laying and I butcher the meat birds at about 8 weeks. After that, they don't put on much more weight. Processing is easy. Sit in a lawn chair with a bucket between your feet. Snip, snip, pull. Takes 6-7 minutes per bird.

I keep the breeders in outdoor cages at 1 roo to 5-6 hens. Growouts are all together until 4-5 weeks then I separate the males and females and select my next set of breeders.

Thanks for getting back to me. Seems like your quail operation is a well-oiled machine. How many quail do you raise at a time? I wouldn't mind helping you dress some of your quail the next time you do it just so that I can learn. When it comes to cleaning a turkey, a chicken, or about any kind of fish, I can hold my own, but I haven't worked with something as small as a quail.

Also, what are your thoughts about Georgia Bobwhites? People who raise quail seem to either love them or not at all. I've read that they can be tough to raise if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[Flowerbh]

Hey, what ever happened to the idea of getting BYC t-shirts made for our group?

 

[livhatcher]

Hey, what ever happened to the idea of getting BYC t-shirts made for our group?

I think the idea got kicked around and I'm not sure what decision was ever made. If I can get through the next day or so of breakneck contract writing, I may be able to get something together with design and the machine.

I'm feeling a little blue this morning with two sick kids and going to sell two of my birds for the first time. I know it sounds irrational, but after hatching them I'm a little bit attached even though I know I can't keep a whole mess of roosters!