mY cHICKENS

Well. Groundhog day has come and gone and it was finally a chance to open the door for our chickens to get outside....they were not happy after being in all snug as a bug for the winter, but it was high time to see natural daylight!

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

I have only had two eggs in the last three weeks from 16 hens.. so maybe they might be starting to lay again. Those eggs were green and by our Easter Egger hens.

This is my Easter Egger Roo, Pretty Boy. He is a black and gold ameracuana cross of some description.

yes i am glad that groundhog day has come and gone..that rodent should be shot!! my chickens have been out for quite awhile enjoying whatever kind of daylight they can get..snow is melting so they are playing in the mud, and loving it!!

LOL!! Boy you got that right on that derned groundsquirrel. Tell the truth, lately the weathermen aint no better....

I have been thinking on getting our incubator up and running.. kinda silly with no eggs yet, but its a homemade job that anyone can make!

We took an ordinary styrofoam cooler and converted it!

where are you? your zone says 5a like mine..i just raise chickens to sell the eggs, dont have any desire at this time to go the incubator route..

Regretably south of Chicago! Im just doing them for the eggs too now, but occassionally we do meat birds.

Here is the inside of what we call the Matilda-bator.... as I recall someplace on the internet is where we got the instructions...

That is a nice looking roo!! Spring is coming...no matter what the ground hog said!!! :P what does he know? My weather man said he is only right 37% of the time. hehehe

well no matter what the goofy groundhog says, spring isnt till march 20, so its still 6 weeks..
Punxsutawney sure has figured out how to make a fortune once a year..i only live 10 miles from there, and its amazing how nutty people get..

LOL! Its funny!!! I suppose people just love tradition. hehehe

Dont get me going on the weather....its too extreme were we live and I never beleive what THEY say until I see it.

Pretty Boy looks better now. Actually that pic was last fall after the hens plucked his long tail feathers...now they are getting long again and i wil have to take a new pic of him!

Heres more of my home made bator. As you can see above it has a regular light bulb in it mounted on a wood floor with a fan installed. Below is the fan. It came from an old store bought bator. Oh, forgot to mention, yuou can really make this homemade bator for less than ten bucks with stuff you may already have!

Next we took a peice of wood and made the egg shelf. Underneath we mounted a coffee can to house the lightbulb that this will cover.

This message was edited Feb 10, 2009 7:54 AM

Nice little bator for a VERY nice price!

My dd and I had this 6 more weeks of winter debate just yesterday, someone help me here, I believe the groundrat means 6 additional weeks after the first day of spring...?

I wouldn't trade the beautiful day that was squeezed into the middle of winter yesterday for anything in the world.. what a symbol of hope and reminder that spring will come! BUT, one look at the pinoak tree and the crispy leafs still on it and you know, until every last leaf has been blown off by Mother Nature herself (DH tried to help one year.. he_l was paid via the winds) winter is NOT over!
Take that phil.. beaten by a tree.

Cute and cuddly as they make Phil out to be, he is as worthless....a-hem.. not going there!! LOL

Yup, this bator works better than the store boughts....the fan keeps the air circulating and on top of the egg shelf we put a place to pour water into a bowl for keeping the humidity in it.

You do have to turn the eggs by hand 2-3 times a day, but no big deal

On the lid we cut a hole and glued a sheet of glass so we could see into the bator so as not to pop the lid constantly to lose valuable heat and moisture!

Here is the egg tray inserted and loaded. We put a thermometer on it too!

Well, no eggs today in the real bator, but here it is loaded ready to go. Just fill the water bowl, pop the lid on, mark the calender for 30 days and your ready to go!

Awwww! I thought you were gonna tell me the count down has began. Bummer. I guess I will just have to wait then. hehehe
I do like the bator and you cant beat the price. So the hatch rate is BETTER than the store bought? Good for you! That is excellent. Let me know when the eggs are set. ;)

Will do....now if I could get the girls to start laying!!!
I have some buff orp hens, soe leghorns, a blue giant orp, a few blue EE's.

I need to find some mating roos for my pure girls!

Well, check back....who knows when we will be ready!

I think the reason the hatch rate was even better was becasue the humidity was better. You go to open like one of those hooverbators and whoosh there goes all the moisture and hot air and teh re-up time is greater cuz the space inside is more to heat..

Blossom, why 30 days? all mine hatch in 21.. is there something different in your part of the world??

No, just that when I am not getting eggs all at once a few might be a couple days later, then I toss them. And even if I set them at room temps for a few days before the bator is full to the max, some hatch a tad later! Hate to toss a baby doncha know!

oh.. ok, I was wondering if you lived in a time warped 5a zone.. lol

Some daze I wunner that myself!! R-R-R! Wish someone would turn on the lights at this hour already....these bumping around in the dark in the AM is for the birds.

Right now I am getting one egg every couple days from 16 chickens! I would get more if the daylight was longer and the water would quite freezing!

I am up early because I put out 12 youngsters yesterday for the first time, they are 13 weeks, but the weather has been so darn cold, as low as -30. Anyway, I forgot them and went out around 8, 11 of them were asleep on the fence and I couldn't find 1.. so I am up at the crack of dawn in the rain waiting for the princess to reappear. Hopefully she is ok.

It WAS a great idea to put them in a fenced area.. just didn't think they had the smarts to fly to the top..lol never had the room to spread their wings in the garage I guess..

LOL! I got a couple adults like that.. I end up clipping the feathers on one wing. It does not stop them hopping the fence, but does make them slower and go in circles LOL! For a lame woman such as myself, anything to slow them down is a bonus short of clubbing them!!

The roo, he is pretty good staying on the ground but my white orps used to be a pain until I got rid of them! I had one hen that insisted to hop the fence, and lay in the hay in the horseshelter. Would find her OLD eggs in the corner behind the roundbales at the end of the season.

Today we got rain. which, well, I will take it over the snow.. but its slogging time... mud to the ankles that will pull the shoes right off of ya!
Speck, I will need a bath after feeding this morning if I fall face first! Been known to happen!! LOL! Aaaah the trade of from winter to spring, aint it grand!! LOL! I vote we club the groundchuck and donate him to some poor redneck for supper.

LOL i agree!! we definately do something with that rodent..we have rain here too, but it sure is ALOT better than the blasted snow..but we are supposed to get more of that tomorrow with high winds..geez i couldnt pick a better day..just when ill be coming home from the hospital after surgery..oh well ill stay warm..
myself and the "girls" are sure glad to see a little grass..i even picked them some grass from the yard, they were happy!!

LOL!! Well here is to "slogging"!

cyndydavis,

check this out.... Oklahoma where the winds come rushing down the plain.....raining toads out there. (Yup, 'nado alley, just another day in a-hem, paradise...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather

And here is a picture of my weather on that Oklahoma weather on its shirtstring...ugh! Yup, spring, with a vengence.

So neither wind nor rain nor sleet nor snow will stop us from coming home from the coop...er is that going.. Heck, I don't know anymore, I keep slamming my tail in the door both ways!! LOL!

Stay safe! And get well.

Well, the girls have started laying.. just not all of them...

thanks Blossom..on the mend now..just hope my appetite comes back soon..my girls are laying really good..i cant keep eggs, everyone is buying them like crazy..i'm gonna have to send for more..weather has been chilly, but now tomorow its supposed to rain then snow..grrr..my daffodils are up an inch and they want to grow!! and i want to get outside and play in the dirt!!

Glad to hear your better there girl!

Not much new today other than had 4 eggs.. weather was a scoosh warmer, but not by much....

My daffs are no where to be found except for the three clumps that got too brave about a month ago to start poking up and now the cold whacked them. Now daffs, one flwoer I cannot get enough of!! LOVE THEM!

hi all
my been laying 4 or 5 a day
but today i got 2
boo boo
elle

weather. gotta be.

Aaaack, todays weather did suck.. just checked the pain scale on the weather map and no wonder I was feeling like chicken due! Sure, it was sunny, and warmer than it was, but was still ccccold...my arthritis is acting up for sure. Its the dampness no doubt.

I had one egg too, elle, that had a peck hole in it, but I think 5 of the 16 hens are on a roll, just not consistant. Usually when the leghorns start, they are good for an egg just about daily for 95% of the year. The buff orps will go almost daily taking a break maybe every 3-4 days skipping a day and then going regular. The EE gals.. well they are the most irregular. Will lay a day, take a couple off, just slouch around and lay off an on.

Wish the weather woudl warm up so they can get their much needed water and daylight. Then make they will quite pecking on the eggs.

Well, finally got enough eggs to tally a dozen....is it time to hang the shingle yet? Well, I doubt it, but I am getting ready to sell fresh eggs again.

Today was snow..about 1/4 inch.. will winter ever leave?

Got Chicken feed in today too.

thank god my girls are doing good..i cant keep enough in tho to supply the customers..but most are great and i take orders for them..i have to order more peeps in the spring..all my old customers are back and the campers will start soon, and i know ill need lots and lots of eggs..
yes i am wondering myself if spring will ever get here..we have high winds and snow squalls today.,.,I AM TIRED OF IT!!!

My girls are finally back up to a dozen a day.. out of 19.. hopefully my winter babies will begin laying as soon as the warm weather comes through.

My SIL met a woman at her excercise class last week.. they were all conversing about heathly eating and this woman was talking about buying fresh eggs from this great county woman and was soon going to switch 100% to her goats milk also.. when pumped for more info about the nice farm lady she bout from.. and learning how great this farm lady was with her animals.. It ended up being ME.. LOL.. what a small world it is, and how wonderful to finally hear someone is out there speaking good about you.. and my SIL did learn about my new herd of goats from this stranger too.. oops, had to explain that one fast.. hehe

hi all
my hd took a dz to make baby
my chickern slow down to 2 egg a day
elle

3 new eggs yesterday!

Still cold today. a skiff of snow on ground.. yuk!

I had one of my girls start laying again and two new ones. Just got a foot of snow last night! aghhhhh!!!!!!

Better you than me on the snow,,but I am sure we wil get more too.

They were talking 6 inches. Need that like a hole in the roof doncha know. And its snowing as I speak....

Well, got ONE green egg today...

This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 2:09 PM

I do envy the green eggs as well as the blue. I will try to keep the snow to my yard. hehehe You are zone 5a so you cant be far. LOL ^_^