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Oh gawd Waffle is such a drama queen! Also yay baby quails!
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Sep 30, 2012 03:05
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Inveigle posted:Haha! Wow. Flashlight for an incubator light source? And I thought Nettle Soup's incubator (using a light bulb) was low tech. We found that lighting the eggs obliquely works best, that way the cam will focus on the eggs rather than the viewing pane of the 'bator. 
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Sep 30, 2012 04:49
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Pardalis, you appear to have hatched a wet, stripey bean. 
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Sep 30, 2012 08:04
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I picked up some coturnix quail today. They are very, very tame, big, and hate not being able to see out of their enclosure so keep popcorning up to look over the barrier.  Most of them will be dinner in a few weeks. I also didn't know that they smelled so strongly/weird so there is that. They are very active and it is leaving Spice Very Concerned.
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Oct 1, 2012 20:29
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Pardalis posted:I picked up some coturnix quail today. They are very, very tame, big, and hate not being able to see out of their enclosure so keep popcorning up to look over the barrier. If they smell weird, wouldn't they taste weird too?
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Oct 1, 2012 21:12
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Inveigle posted:If they smell weird, wouldn't they taste weird too? The smell of a living creature really doesn't have much to do with how its flesh tastes.
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Oct 1, 2012 21:22
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Humans apparently taste like pork so I have no idea~ All I know is that I like eating birds. Preferably cute ones. No amount of gross bird smell will sway me once I have a taste of blood.
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Oct 2, 2012 03:46
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Pardalis posted:Humans apparently taste like pork so I have no idea~ How did the rest of the hatch go?
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Oct 2, 2012 04:14
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We got another heat wave yesterday and it's going to be really hot today again, so I took the nuggets downstairs. They've been doing ok, but I can hear them peeping right now because the girls left for school and I'm in my room getting ready for school too. Poor nuggets, they are all alone in their crate with mommy away  .
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Oct 2, 2012 15:35
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Chido posted:We got another heat wave yesterday and it's going to be really hot today again, so I took the nuggets downstairs. They've been doing ok, but I can hear them peeping right now because the girls left for school and I'm in my room getting ready for school too. Poor nuggets, they are all alone in their crate with mommy away Can you turn on a radio/tv in the room with the chicks? That trick often keeps animals from getting so lonely. A friend would let her African gray parrot watch PBS in the daytime while she was at work. Heehee. The "nuggets." 
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Oct 2, 2012 16:11
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So is there any reason that raising 2-3 would not be do-able or practical? I don't have a giant back yard.
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Oct 2, 2012 18:12
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Saint Darwin posted:So is there any reason that raising 2-3 would not be do-able or practical? I don't have a giant back yard. Three should be entirely practical. Even 2 would be doable, but if one dies the one remaining would be really lonely. Three would be barely more room than two. How much space do you have?
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Oct 2, 2012 18:31
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Three should be entirely practical. Even 2 would be doable, but if one dies the one remaining would be really lonely. Three would be barely more room than two. How much space do you have? Very little. The coups posted here would take up most of the open space which is why I'm really not sure if it's even worth considering. Plus the zoning might just not be there.
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Oct 2, 2012 20:38
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If you are allowed to have chickens, you can just make a coop without a run if your backyard/space you have is fenced so the chickens would be safe from predators. I bought that book Chicken Coops for Dummies and it has a blueprint for a 4x4 feet coop that can easily house 4-5 chickens depending on their size. If, as I said, the space you have is fenced and you only want 3 chickens, you can build a 3x3 coop, or even get a dog house and modify it so you can lock the chickens inside when they go to sleep. You could also go for bantam chickens, which I assume wouldn't proportionally need as much space as a regular size hen.
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Oct 2, 2012 21:24
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Saint Darwin posted:Very little. The coups posted here would take up most of the open space which is why I'm really not sure if it's even worth considering. Plus the zoning might just not be there. The usual guideline is 10 sq foot per bird for the run and 4 sq feet per bird for the coop. More is better, but somewhat less isn't going to matter too much. That said, chickens at best have an odor and at worst smell pretty bad. Also they poop A LOT so it helps if you have a garden or some place to use it. You can post pics, but if space it that tight, it might not work too well. If it is marginal but you still want to try, you can get bantams.
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Oct 2, 2012 21:27
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Saint Darwin posted:So is there any reason that raising 2-3 would not be do-able or practical? I don't have a giant back yard. Yeah, 3 is best. Chickens are flock animals and don't do well singly, so if you get only 2 and one dies, you'll have one VERY unhappy and lonely chicken. Bantams are great, and Belgian d'Uccles and Silkies are both very quiet, docile, sweet and friendly breeds. All chickens lay eggs, with or without a roo, and banties just lay smaller eggs is all.Check your zoning, both for how far a coop must be from any housing (yours and the neighbors) and also check noise ordinances (usually apply to roosters, but some really uptight cities may count hens as well). I'd just contact your city zoning office and ask about chicken keeping in your area. The most important thing for chickens is a secure, safe place to live, especially at night when they are most vulnerable--so if you build a coop/run, don't stint on it please!
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Oct 3, 2012 08:05
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I would suggest a flock of 3-6 coturnix quail hens if you want something easy in a small space. They will produce plenty of tasty eggs when given an adequate light cycle and can be fed scraps the same way chickens can. They are quiet, charming, docile birds and very easy to set up with minimal equipment. Coturnix are also delicious if you want to try processing backyard poultry. 
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Oct 3, 2012 18:51
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Thanks for the info, but I talked it over with my girlfriend and she hates chickens. Like, really really hates them for some reason. She got mad at chickens from me just bringing it up.
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Oct 4, 2012 07:04
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Saint Darwin posted:Thanks for the info, but I talked it over with my girlfriend and she hates chickens. Like, really really hates them for some reason. She got mad at chickens from me just bringing it up.  What. I get that not everyone wants them as pets, but after learning about them I can't see why anyone would rage HATE them.
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Oct 4, 2012 07:24
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Saint Darwin posted:Thanks for the info, but I talked it over with my girlfriend and she hates chickens. Like, really really hates them for some reason. She got mad at chickens from me just bringing it up. Possibly she was chased by a rooster as a child, or got pecked. Lots of people who grow up to be afraid of chickens had a bad experience as a child from some shithead roo.  Maybe have her meet some sweet, gentle chickens to provide a more positive experience and broaden her mind a bit...?
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Oct 4, 2012 10:38
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Saint Darwin posted:Thanks for the info, but I talked it over with my girlfriend and she hates chickens. Like, really really hates them for some reason. She got mad at chickens from me just bringing it up. We had a young electrician over last year and he caught sight of our last hen, Sandy (last of our first three ex-batts), standing on the back doorstep, giving him severe stinkeye through the glass door. His reaction was actual fear, that she could get through the door and attack him. Even closing the kitchen door didn't calm him fully as she started howling (who knew the different noises chickens could make?). To be fair he did a good and was very quick with it. Practically all other tradesmen we've used know someone who keeps hens.
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Oct 4, 2012 19:37
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I have my male coturnix separated into a big pen in my backyard. I am waiting on a sharp pair of shears before I process the first half of the group. They are hilariously docile and sweet. Every time I approach the cage, they come up to see what I have for them and I have to toss them back in  time for a dust bath in the grit! 
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Oct 5, 2012 00:03
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Today I noticed that Waffle my EE is fatter than Pancake, he brahma chick. Wafflei s 2 days younger but boy is she a piglet. Is it normal that a brahma chick may be smaller than another breed when they are babies?
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Oct 5, 2012 23:05
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Chido posted:Today I noticed that Waffle my EE is fatter than Pancake, he brahma chick. Wafflei s 2 days younger but boy is she a piglet. Is it normal that a brahma chick may be smaller than another breed when they are babies? Chido! Let's see a new photo of the two cute fatties!
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Oct 5, 2012 23:29
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Chido posted:Today I noticed that Waffle my EE is fatter than Pancake, he brahma chick. Wafflei s 2 days younger but boy is she a piglet. Is it normal that a brahma chick may be smaller than another breed when they are babies? Depends on the individual bird...my Giant Cochin ladies are all pretty darned small for 'giants', especially Sonic, my Golden Laced. She was a tiny girl from the get-go. Dinner, our light Brahma roo we hatched last year, just went to his new home.  Another guy is coming shortly to look at Georgia, the Light Brahma/Americaunas mix roo boy, likely he'll go today too.We HATE to have to rehome them, but we just had way too many fellas, the girls were suffering and they were after each other constantly. The people who took Dinner seemed like very nice people, they needed a roo for their 20 hens...so he'll have plenty of ladies.
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Oct 6, 2012 00:03
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Depends on the individual bird...my Giant Cochin ladies are all pretty darned small for 'giants', especially Sonic, my Golden Laced. She was a tiny girl from the get-go. Awright! Plenty of ladies for Dinner!  Say, could you take a few photos of Georgia before he leaves? That kindergarten class (who will be first graders) might be interested in seeing how Georgia B. looked like when he grew up.So, the only roos you have left now are your banty Head Roo, Bloop and Weedcat? Inveigle fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Oct 6, 2012 |
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Oct 6, 2012 00:29
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Inveigle posted:Awright! Plenty of ladies for Dinner! Yeah--Scott, our elderly banty roo, Bloop the youngster banty roo and Weedcat the Giant Cochin, hatched last year. They all seem to get along OK. I have pics of Georgia...he'd been playing in the mud, tho. He also wasn't too keen on posing for pictures.    You can see his Barred Rock cape feathers coming in, courtesy of his great-grandfather, Jack.
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Oct 6, 2012 00:42
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Chido posted:Today I noticed that Waffle my EE is fatter than Pancake, he brahma chick. Wafflei s 2 days younger but boy is she a piglet. Is it normal that a brahma chick may be smaller than another breed when they are babies? I recall reading that Brahma take longer to get to their final/mature weight. Did Roostroyer keep adding weight/height on after your gals appeared to have stop? Are you planning a show this weekend Chido?
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Oct 6, 2012 01:40
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...and Georgia is off to his new home in Carson City, Nevada where he will have a flock of ten hens! The family that came for him loved him, especially the dad, which is great since Georgia gravitates towards men. Before he went, Georgia and 12_String spent some quality time together while 12_String played Halo:  I miss the boys, and will worry about them no matter what, even though we did what was best for them... So we're down to 3 roos, and Weedcat went back into the main run tonight with the rest of the flock. He couldn't be happier, Scott is complaining, Bloop is indignant and the hens...are on the fence. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 08:51 on Oct 6, 2012 |
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Oct 6, 2012 02:11
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Velvet Sparrow posted:...and Georgia is off to his new home in Carson City, Nevada where he will have a flock of ten hens! The family that came for him loved him, especially the dad, which is great since Georgia gravitates towards men. awwww sounds like it has all worked out VS. Do you plan on a live broadcast of all the chickens running together? Dying to see how Wiggles and Fries are doing, in fact, see how all the chickens are doing. Weedcat is so beautiful. I think the Splash pattern is becoming a favorite of mine. Whether Cochin, Marans, Orpington the Splash coloration is beautiful. Oh, any dog news?
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Oct 6, 2012 02:16
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Velvet Sparrow posted:...and Georgia is off to his new home in Carson City, Nevada where he will have a flock of ten hens! The family that came for him loved him, especially the dad, which is great since Georgia gravitates towards men. How's the pecking order going now, VS? I remember Bloop being the little upstart challenging the adults even as a little chick.
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Oct 6, 2012 03:09
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After dropping off the face of the earth forever due to an emergency trip out of town, I've finally gotten my flock somewhat integrated! My three eldest ladies are now laying, and the two younger girls have finally decided that the coop (rather than the front porch) is Home. The bigger girls like to beat up on the babies just because it is A Thing To Do, but the boyfriend has been hypervigilant about telling them to cut that poo poo out, and they're mellowing pretty well. It's cute how he's gone from "Ugh, stop impulse-buying birds!" (Even though a lot of planning went into it!) to "Holy poo poo, backyard dinosaurs are the coolest." Anyway. I'm running into issues with my roo, as he's decided, in the past couple days, that it's cool to challenge our authority. He staaaaares and then hops onto our feet, and gets into the quintessential cockfighting stance. So far what we've been doing is to push/kick/whatever him firmly whenever he pulls these stunts, and following him around the pen giving him stinkeye until he loses interest, but is there a more effective way to nip this in the bud? It looks like his spurs are about to start coming in, and if we can't get him to behave, we'll be having some nice bird soup as I can't afford to get gouged by him. He's also fond of clapping his wings behind himself and then crowing anytime we're around but not actively interacting with the girls, which I assume is his assertions of dominance? Is there something vocal or visual we can do to counteract that? Finally, he's quite fond of doing what we've dubbed the Retard Dance at the younger girls. He'll stretch one wing towards the ground, fluff up his hackles, and then stomp around like he's having a seizure while growling. It sort of reminds me of an awful awful Flamenco dance. What on earth is he doing? Sorry for all the questions, but my literature is really scant on roo behaviour. 
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Oct 6, 2012 06:40
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From Vs' site, this is really goo info about dealing with roosters http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickRoosters.htm
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Oct 6, 2012 07:23
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Muffy sounds like your rooster is trying to do the Dance of Seduction. Look up Rooster Dance on youtube and you will see hilarious examples of the "dance."
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Oct 6, 2012 08:27
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^^^^ We call it the 'Hey, baby!' dance.  As for the dog, we now have a 5 year old female Schnauzer/Cocker mix (a 'Schnocker'), rehomed from a nice couple who were moving and couldn't keep her. She's awesome, and the girls (both named 'Jennifer') had trained her to be well-behaved. My kid loves her and she loves her right back, they are inseperable. Bloop and Weedcat had a bit of a tussle tonight when we reintroduced Weedcat to the flock, Bloop ran up and challenged Weeds, they jumped at each other and finally one time Weedcat accidentally sat on Bloop, who wisely decided to retire from the batttlefield after that. I was right there to ensure that no one got hurt, they were fine. Scott stood in the coop and complained. Loudly. Since everyone has been right next to each other but seperated by wire, it shouldn't be too dramatic of a change...We'll see what the morning brings! We're thinking of running the cam tomorrow or Sunday...my new washer is being delivered tomorrow morning so it would be later on. Y'all can see the 'Hen As Pincushion' look that a bunch of the girls are sporting...they hadn't started to regrow feathers on their backs since it's been so damned hot, but we've suddenly had some quite chilly nights in the last week, so they're growing them now, by God!  Poof, our 9 year old White Crested Black Polish hen, became an indoor chicken for good tonight. She's nearly 100% blind but can still ID moving shapes, and is moving pretty slow, bumps into things and sits a lot. Other than that she's healthy. We want her final months to be as pleasant as possible so over the winter she'll get to lounge on the carpet, sit by the fire and get lots of pets and goodies. Muffy_the_Diver posted:Rooster weirdness Yeah, read the page Chido posted, it's got all kinds of roo behavior tidbits and psychology--and absolutely read the link to Shilala's page on 'Keeping Your Rooster Sane', it's terrific advice. And scoop him up when you go outside. Don't be timid or too gentle about it either (but never hurt him), just grab him up without asking permission or hesitating. Then carry him around for a minute in full view of the rest of the flock, petting him thoroughly (especially his head, which when you are covering it and pressing down slightly sends a clear dominance signal) and crooning to him about what a goooood boy he is and how much you luuuuv him. Roos secretly love this kind of attention, watch his pupils--if they rapidly expand and dilate it's a sign of pleasure and excitement. Parrot also do this. When you do go to set him down, do so slowly and lingerly, allowing him to slowly walk out of your hands as they trail down his body. And only set him down when he's calm and docile, NOT while he is struggling. This will help teach him that only when he is a good boy does he get put back down. Croon at him some more as he walks away, telling him what a good boy he is. He will be embarassed, confused and make 'aw shucks' noises as he slinks away. You've just taught him (nicely) who's boss. Do this as often as you can to keep your 'Head Roo' position strong in his mind and him off-balance. It will also help tame him, and when the hens see this they see who's boss, and the roo KNOWS they are seeing it. Another great roo tamer is food. Offer him goodies from your hand (he must come up and take it from you) for him to then give to his girls. By deferring to him this way you send a signal to the flock that while YOU are boss and in control of the food, you love your flock and acknowledge him as the fella all the girls love. Chickens, roos especially, have a rigid sense of dignity and stature within the pecking order and all this is simply you working within parameters that they can understand. Chicken detente. VVVV Or, that. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Oct 6, 2012 |
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Oct 6, 2012 08:36
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Or, you know, you could put a pretty princess dress on him and crush his manly self steem
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Oct 6, 2012 09:24
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I decided it was time to quit using my 5 year old flip phone and got a smart phone so now I can take videos. This is the first one I took yesterday trying to figure out how it works. The video on the phone was crystal clear and nice but when I uploaded to youtube on HD it looks all fuzzy. Vito cochin shuffling around. http://youtu.be/qIqKh3LtRoo
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Oct 6, 2012 13:19
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God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
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Tim the Enchanter posted:I decided it was time to quit using my 5 year old flip phone and got a smart phone so now I can take videos. This is the first one I took yesterday trying to figure out how it works. The video on the phone was crystal clear and nice but when I uploaded to youtube on HD it looks all fuzzy. Tim WONDERFUL! Thank you, VitoCochin is adorable! His back end is so perfectly round, like a basketball or something! WOW! Are those feathers making that shape or the body? piscesbobbie fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Oct 6, 2012 |
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Oct 6, 2012 14:08
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Vito is gorgeous, and so cute! Nice of him to give us an example of the Hey Baby/Dance of Seduction/Retard Shuffle thing.
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Oct 6, 2012 17:26
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So I'm watching Jurassic Park, for the first time, and I see the reason why they call chickens little Velociraptors! Looking at the close up of Georgia B, above, I see the resemblance! I just read the Wikipedia article on Velociraptor and now I have been educated. So interesting! I was too old when the dinosaur craze was popular. The reading was so interesting! I want some chicken dinosaurs for myself! piscesbobbie fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Oct 6, 2012 |
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Oct 6, 2012 20:15
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