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^^^ LOL. Triffid does this a LOT. Swiffer update! She is 100% back! She's spending the afternoon in the small run where she can get some sun, dust bathe and safely meet our flock. She'll spend the night back inside, then tomorrow go out in the small run all day, and after that be out with the flock. But today she had a bath because MAN, had she ever soiled her feathers, poor thing. Here she is the day we got her. Her entire underside was dirty and got worse that night, also she had a BIG buildup of dirt/poop on one toe (for some reason bantam Cochin tend to get these, we call them 'poo castanets' because of the click they make when the hen walks). I blame our horrid winter but man, her previous owner should have cleaned her up. You can see it under her in one of the pics, it was about the size of a large grape.  Biggest ones I've caught on our hens were the size of a BB/pea. Also Day 1, I seriously wasn't sure she'd make it.  And today, three days later after a bath, poo castanet removal (underneath it we found a length of heavy cotton string wrapped around her claw), LOTS of goodies/mealworms, electrolytes/probiotics and rest. She's still slightly damp from her bath here, but MUCH healthier and perkier!  Also, she fought her reflection in the bathroom mirror as I was using the hair dryer on her.  Chicken butt!   One thing I still have to do is trim her toes, they're overlong. The bald head and worn back feathers translates to: popular with the boys. No eggs from her yet,I doubt there will be. Pretty sure she's an old lady, I'd say at least 6-7 years old...she has the same look as my frizzle hens when they got older. She's a feisty hen, but very calm, talkative and friendly.
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Apr 25, 2023 21:11
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spookygonk posted:Oh she's so adorable. #TeamSwiffer The same poultry swap where we got the hatching eggs, but a different seller. A man selling bantam Cochins at $20 a pop, some lady got there first and bought 5 birds from him, Swiffer and two roos were left. The guy took her out of the cage he'd brought her in and let me hold her and inspect her (that's what you do when buying, checking overall health). She was in such poor condition there was no way I was gonna let her go back home with him. 
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Apr 26, 2023 01:09
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lifetime supply of Pocky posted:15 years in, but i’m a Chickam noobie Rooboys are rehomed, after CAREFUL vetting. Oh, don't worry, Swiffer WILL BE SPOILED. Horribly.
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Apr 26, 2023 08:47
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SUPERMAN'S GAL PAL posted:Your rescuing Swiffer reminds me years ago when the chick I named, Guardian, had a tough time of it with a funky leg but became a beloved house chicken. Guardian grew into his name, he was the sweetest, courtly big gentleman, always looking out for the hens (we got him outside as often as we could, always supervised just in case). Here he is in superhero mode:  And yeah, all three of us are suckers for animals from the Scratch & Dent bin. It's not a good combination to have no one in the family who can vote a sensible 'No', LOL. And Swiffer is doing great today, out with the flock. She's dustbathing and blends well enough with the other black bantam Cochins that the boys don't have her picked out as fresh meat.
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Apr 26, 2023 20:49
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Thank you for providing love and care to these animals and sharing it with the world!
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kaom posted:I’m curious about last year’s chicks. Mjolnir is a roo, and at least partly responsible for all the blondies this year. All the rest are hens, and still with us. So far all 5 roos we have are being okay with one another... Also Triffid started crowing just now.  And no, we cannot keep another roo.
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Apr 27, 2023 01:18
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^^^^ Awww... I'm glad! If you see red beaks, it's because I gave them grapes and strawberries this morning. Also, Eggroll is actually beginning to look indistiguishable from an eggroll, both in size and color. Such a chonk.
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Apr 29, 2023 14:18
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It's warm enough that I've turned the heat lamps off, now you can watch the chicks in true daylight and see their true colors! The light will be back on again at night, but as long as it's warm enough (and little Eggroll doesn't suffer) we'll leave the heat lamps off during the day.
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Apr 30, 2023 02:08
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I moved the cam over to the corner for now, hopefully the little stinkpot will lay off jumping on it. Tonight he jumped up on the edge of the box and aimed for my dinner plate as I walked by with it. I'm going to raise the cam in a day or so--the chicks are getting so big, it's time. We've got a great shot at having a broody mom for the next round of chicks, BTW--we've got like 8 broody hens out there right now (the coop is a screamfest as they defend their nests). Luna (age 5) is the front runner, she's the biggest. Brick (age 4) is also in the running--it'll depend on how many chicks we end up with. Both are first-time broods and we'll watch to make sure they stick with it. Chickam with a momma hen is a whole different experience.  I'm candling the eggs that are in the ReptiPro in 4 days, we'll see then how many embryos we have!
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May 1, 2023 06:36
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Tiny Myers posted:What do you do with the eggs that don't have embryos? Do you eat them or throw them away? Any duds are thrown away--the incubator runs at 99.5 to 101.0 degrees F and the eggs would have been in there for at least 10 days, so...yuck. Beacuse any country kid can tell you that if you *really* want to egg someone's house right, you leave your ammo out in the sun for a week or two first so they can...ripen. YES, we eat our girls eggs! We also provide loads of eggs to our local food closet, since we get about a dozen a day from our hens. Home-raised eggs taste AMAZING, supermarket eggs are tasteless in comparison--and free-range birds lay eggs naturally lower in cholestorol. The camera has been relocated to the top edge of the brooder box, and two cinder blocks with cool pass-thrus were added! Big chicken fun! Let the ambushing begin...
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May 2, 2023 08:25
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Egg have been candled, we have embryos! https://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2023/05/egg-candling-update-for-chickam-round-2.html Also: Dubious made it up to the edge of the brooder box today and got a VERY dirty look from Triffid, who thinks that's HIS spot. Everyone was distracted with goodies. Eggroll is growing feathers now and not just great big ol' gobs of chicken meat. Wings and tail are coming in nicely. Wingding getting fluffy as all get out, but has a giant spiky triangle on top of her head because those feathers still have the sheath on. When this next batch hatches, our current chicks will be just a couple of days shy of 6 weeks old. At that point, weather permitting they'll be spending quite a few daylight hours out in the small run (they go out with the flock for good at 8 weeks of age) but will come into the brooder box at night. What we'll do is securely partition off part of the brooder box for the new chicks/mama for the first 2 weeks. Then when the older chicks go out in the yard for good, the new chicks will get the run of the brooder box. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 09:47 on May 5, 2023 |
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May 5, 2023 09:35
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5 days to go 'til the next hatch!  It's *planned* for Monday, May 15th (1 day short of 21 days, the usual) but may happen on 5/14 (Mother's Day in the US!). The eggs go into lockdown in 2 days, that's when I'll candle for the last time to remove late quitters and move the eggs to the bottom shelf. I'll keep the cam on the chicks until someone pips and starts to unzip--so if you look at our channel and see EGGS, the hatch is on! We've got 90 bazillion broody hens out there, so one way or another, there WILL be a mom for this batch. We'll be sectioning off the brooder box to make a space for the new family, and the older chicks and the new ones will share the box for about 2 weeks--but during the day, the older chicks will be out in the small run to get them used to being outside--exceptions will be WingDing and Eggroll, who aren't feathered out/old enough yet.
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May 10, 2023 08:36
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Last day of egg turning! The cam will be down for a bit this afternoon while he clean and rework the brooder box, halfing it to keep the incoming new chicks apart from the older ones--the older chicks are too rough. Today is the last day of turning eggs, tonight they go into lockdown. When I candle tonight to remove any late quitters, I'll know how many chicks we can expect, and we'll plan our broody mom accordingly. I plan on halfing the box diagonally, so the view we have now will show both sets of chicks (the cam will be on the ReptiPro during the hatch, tho). After this weekend, the older chicks will be in their 6th week and will spend the warm daylight hours out in the small run to get them used to the outdoors & other chickens. When the hatch happens, that night we'll install a broody hen in the dark--it helps her accept the chicks as hers. The older chicks may be distressed at full dark at first, but they'll be ok.
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May 12, 2023 19:42
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Leng posted:So this just happened: Yeah, it does, unfortunately. Triffid can be kind of a jackass sometimes. We don't normally like to mix older chicks with younger, just for this reason. No serious damage done. Time will give Eggroll her revenge when she grows up to be a GREAT big fat hen and SITS on her flockmates. Meanwhile, the eggs go into lockdown tonight! I'll turn them and move them down to the bottom of the incubator around 11PM PST (in the US), that's when I'll candle them and see how many viable eggs we have. We've partitioned off the box, it cuts down on the room for the older chicks, but they're 6 weeks old next week and are going to start spending the daylight hours out in the small run to get them used to being outside and around the adult flock. They'll come in at night.  We've got three or four options for a broody mom right now, and which one we use will depend on how many chicks we get: 1. Bobo, a tiny black bantam Cochin (she could handle 2-4 chicks). 2. Marble, a large tortoiseshell bantam Cochin (she could handle 4-6 chicks and is my first choice). 3. Dart, a standard-sized mixed breed hen who could handle ALL THE CHICKS ON EARTH. No, really, just ask her. Dart is uber-fierce and roars a LOT, she'd be highly entertaining for mom, but she's a last resort because she's so big--being confined in that small of a space might be too stressfull on her, and I don't want her turning on the babies if she feels overcrowded. 4. The last option is Uptown Bus (medium sized buff bantam Cochin), who was a Chickam mom in 2020 when she hid a nest on us--she just went broody today. Luna and Brick, who are the perfect size and would have been perfect no matter the number of chicks, dropped their brood today. Basil is also semi-broody but is kinda 'meh' about it, so not a great choice. Anyway, here are some pics of Wingding, who is fluffing out nicely and has a triangle atop her head.   
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May 13, 2023 04:35
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LOCKDOWN! The eggs got their final turn just now, and I candled to remove duds. Final count: 5 eggs with chicks, 2 more I'm not sure of so they stayed in, 7 quitters. So with any luck, we'll have 5-7 chicks in a couple of days! Also--NAMES! If you didn't submit a name the first time around, please do so now! If you picked one for the first hatch but want to change your choice, let me know! I forgot to get pics of Eggroll's colors coming in...they're just...wow! BTW, Swiffer is doing great, she loves to be picked and petted and wants ALL the attention. Quite the talker, too.
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 09:35 on May 13, 2023 |
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May 13, 2023 09:24
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Indecisive Squirrel posted:I’d like to suggest the name Pickle for one of the new chicks. We already have a Pickle, a fiesty little black bantam Cochin mix hen. Pick again!
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May 13, 2023 16:22
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We have our first pip! #17 has popped a bit of eggshell loose.  Not moving the camera yet, since no unzipping has started. I'll check the eggs every 30 minutes and move the cam when it's time. EDIT: Also, #16 has pipped! #16 is actually progressing, so I'm getting ready to move the camera. EDIT, AGAIN: #10 has also pipped--that makes three eggs! However #10 has pipped at the small end of the egg--the WRONG end, and will likely be an assisted hatch when the time comes. I've updated the OP with the new round of eggs. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 03:54 on May 14, 2023 |
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May 14, 2023 01:11
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Okay, I'm going to bed, so I'm setting the cam on the eggs just in case anyone pops out overnight. Pipped eggs: #17, front and center. #16, just behind it, has pipped and unzipped a bit on the underside of the egg and is sticking her beak out. #10, the light-colored egg to the left of 17, has pipped in the front at the small end and has expanded her pip a bit. VVV The X and O marks are so we can tell when we've turned the eggs throughout incubtion. We don't play some kind of weird C-Seed Tic-Tac-Toe with them, LOL. Not all *that* often, anyway. EDIT: Hey lookee, as of today I've officially been a Goon* for 17 years! *A long-term insanity shared by many here.
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 22:51 on May 18, 2023 |
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May 14, 2023 09:01
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#10 unzipping! ...and she's out! Another blondie but going very white as she dries out, with some dark stripes on her undersides, and she has feathred legs and feet. We'll choose a name for her later on. We're due for thunderstorms this afternoon--I just want to say, if we lose power, DON'T WORRY. We have scads of broody hens that can finish out the hatch.One of the hens will be installed in the brooder box as mom this time around--probably Marble, a bantam Cochin mix hen. I haven't been able to tell if #10 has feather legs/feet or not yet. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 21:22 on May 14, 2023 |
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May 14, 2023 18:55
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Goatse and Gallant posted:I just can't believe we are having two chickam super events with all the baby birbs in one year, we don't deserve this, you're spoiling us Had to do it, it's our 15th year of Chickam! VVV She's been back and forth back there a couple of times, she can get out okay. But thanks for watching over them for us, that's one thing we REALLY appreciate. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 21:27 on May 14, 2023 |
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May 14, 2023 20:00
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Goatse and Gallant posted:You know goons will want three batches at some point!! We can't get enough of the babbies, we will never!! With EACH hatch comes 2 months of chickens in my house. The first hatch was April 6th. With today's hatch, I'll have chicks in the house until mid-July (I can only overlap the oldest/newest chicks by 2 weeks). So...yeah, sorry, NO. Also...Chickam ain't cheap. One hatch, with feed, vaccines, mealworms, etc. runs us around $100 to $140. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 23:33 on May 14, 2023 |
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May 14, 2023 21:26
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#16 is unzipping and will be out soon!
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May 14, 2023 23:34
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Names! #10 (the white bantam chick) is named 'Cao Cao' by Chaosfeather. #16 (the dark chick) is named 'Deliciousaurus' by Leperflesh (on behalf of Tickled Pink). #17 is unzipping! No new pips as yet on the other eggs.
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May 15, 2023 00:23
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eating only apples posted:Did I submit a name? If I did I want to change it to Käärijä, in honour of the Eurovision winner of our hearts You'd submitted 'York'. Do you want to switch? Also, Tsao Tsao fitting *right* in here in WeirdoLand (she scared the Hell outta 12_String)... Jacks Henhouse Chickam DEAD Stream   And equal time basting the other side... 
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 01:07 on May 15, 2023 |
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May 15, 2023 01:04
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WAR CRIME GIGOLO posted:How do I buy a chicken name All by chance, the kid picks a name out of a hat. Our power is flickering, if it goes out, we have broody hens to take over the eggs/chicks, and the older chicks are feathered enough to keep each other warm, so no worries. It's thunderstorming here today. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 01:11 on May 15, 2023 |
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May 15, 2023 01:06
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eating only apples posted:Yes please! Nope! Still just as it was!
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May 15, 2023 01:34
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Mama hen incoming in about an hour! We'll try Marble first, if she doesn't work out we have others we can try. The two hatched chicks will be placed under her, the cam will stay on the pipped egg. EDIT--Welp, we tried Marble (first-timer) and Bus (who has experience), both did the same thing--walked away from the little chicks and tried to get to the older chicks. So for now, no mama hen. We'll try again tomorrow during the day--if the big chicks are out in the small run, we should get a broody to accept the little ones, and by the time the older chicks come back in, she'll be settled. The thunderstorms should be done with, so...fingers crossed for tomorrow. The chicks can be a few days old and will still accept a hen for mom, so we've got time. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 05:32 on May 15, 2023 |
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May 15, 2023 04:05
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Both Tsao and Delicious have been removed to the brooder box, where they and the older chicks are staring at each other. I checked #17 again, she's still in draw-down and is alert, active and peeping, so we'll just...wait. No pips on any other eggs right now.
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May 15, 2023 06:37
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#17 has hatched! And...it was weird. What is it with the leg thing with this batch?! 
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May 15, 2023 08:30
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#17 is ALL attitude. I'm thinking her daddy is Bacon, our Belgian Danvers roo--his 'Brat' gene is a strong one, his daughter Rapunzel has it. We'll pick a name for 17 in just a bit. She REALLY wants out of there and seems good and strong. So when we remove her to the brooder, I'll move the camera with her--there are no pips on the rest of the eggs. I'll leave them in the incubator to catch any latecomers, though. EDIT: #17 has a name! It's 'Spam'. Spam is REALLY friendly and comes over to see what you're doing, and very vocal...calling 'rooster' on this one... EDIT 2: All three chicks and the camera are now in the chick box. #17, Spam, has a blue leg band to tell her apart from Delicious. The older babies will go out to the small run in a bit, at that time we'll try again to introduce a mama hen. No new pips on the remaining eggs yet... EDIT 3: New update pics of the older chicks, the new kids and the brooder box on my Twitter @Chickam2008 account... Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 20:17 on May 15, 2023 |
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May 15, 2023 16:48
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Well, we gave it our best shot and tried 6 or 7 different broody hens, but they all had the universal reaction of seeing chicks, knowing THEY didn't hatch them, and then afraid mama was gonna show up and whup 'em. That's the problem with trying to do this during the day. In the dark of night, the hen sits down, you slip the chicks under her, they all sleep--and by morning, they are hers. MUCH easier. Trying to do this during the day is an uphill battle all the way.
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May 15, 2023 22:05
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Love the pics and vids, LOL The chicks have discovered that they all fit inside the brick that the cam is clamped to. I think this batch hands-down wins the contest of 'Who Can Be Out Of Frame The Most?' Hey, new chick pics! https://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2023/05/chickam-round-two-chicks.html
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May 17, 2023 01:03
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Captain Hygiene posted:The oreo pics are great, lol. Our best hatch was when we still lived in southern California and something like 42 out of 44 eggs that we set in our two el cheapo Little Giant styrofoam incubators hatched, LOL. But I'd say in So Cal we'd get a 75-80% hatch rate. Then we moved to northern Nevada, just shy of 5000 feet in altitude and hatching got REALLY tough and required some deep dives into egg hatching science (pore size is a thing in eggshells and you really need eggs from high altitude chickens!). And a cabinet (ReptiPro) incubator, the styrofoam ones are a joke up here in the land of single-digit humidity. Even then, if I got a 50% hatch rate I was thrilled. THEN... If you look at my blog & GPS threads for previous Chickam hatches...the last three years (starting in 2020) have been a chickdeath horror show, with various suspected causes (one was chemicals poisoning the chicks when people had treated the cardboard because of Covid) that was making me crazed. I upgraded/replaced some of my equipment, built a plastic brooder box and changed some methods, and it seems to have helped! Which is great, because I'd already decided that if the rampant chick death happened again this year, I'd end Chickam.
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May 17, 2023 03:02
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Captain Hygiene posted:Oh wow, that is a big change, I guess I missed the details from the last few years too. I lived in the Midwest back when I raised chickens while growing up, so it wasn't all that far above sea level. I hadn't realized there was such a difference with altitude, that's good to know in case I ever do accomplish my goal of raising chickens again now that I'm a ways up in the mountains. I don't know what your altitude is, but LOL--if you need high altitude hatching advice, I'm your girl. We're gonna try tonight after it gets full dark to install a broody hen. The cam will stay on so there will be sound. But we will turn off ALL the lights. The older chicks should be tuckered out like yesterday, and sleep so they don't distract mama. By morning, she'll have accepted the chicks, the older chicks will go outside and not be a distraction tomorrow. We'll try either Bobo or Marble. Fingers crossed this all goes to plan!
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May 17, 2023 04:24
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Okay, Marble is in as mama and it's going well so far...fingers crossed! The trilling is the older chicks. When we hear a distressed chirping, it means one of the three new chicks has crept out from under Marble--they need her for warmth. THAT'S the sound we'll keep an ear out for. I'll be up for another hour or so, I'll hear it if it starts. Marble was well asleep when we went out and got her, so she settled right down.The cam will remain dark the rest of the night but will have sound--it's 11:30PM here now. By morning they should be a happy family...I'll be up at dawn just in case she rejects them. It's rare but can happen, especially with first-time moms. Marble is 4 years old, so at least she's got that going for her. The older babies no longer need their light for warmth--they've got each other and it's warm enough here now. Even Eggroll will be fine. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 07:56 on May 17, 2023 |
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May 17, 2023 07:45
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Well, at dawn (5:30AM) everything was okay, but now at 7AM the chicks won't stay under Marble because she keeps pecking them away. So out she goes... The babies weren't hurt, BTW. Argh....chickens--! EDIT: Tiny Myers, thank you for your kind offer of a donation! I meant to ask the mods if it was okay to post a link. I'll do so now, and if they give the go-ahead, will post a link. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 15:23 on May 17, 2023 |
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May 17, 2023 15:10
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Hey, many thanks to the Chickam patroness who made a generous donation today, we love you, E.W.!
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May 18, 2023 22:56
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Subjunctive posted:Where’s the Chickam-support link?!? I got the go-ahead from mod Seth Pecksniff to post a link! I'll also put it in the OP to make it easier to find. Go to my Jack's Henhouse chicken info site, scroll down to the bottom, and you can click on a big blue Paypal button if you want to make a donation: http://jackshenhouse.com/ A giant thank you to anyone who supports the chikins! Especially since the unusually heavy winter snows absolutely squashed our small run and now we have to rebuild it...if you want to see it, read these two blog entries: https://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-little-time-lapse-of-how-things-went.html https://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2023/01/snowpacolypse.html Then see the aftermath, here :https://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2023/02/yup.html For now we've made the run safe for the older chicks to use. Pretty sure once we're done with Chickam we're gonna have a bit of a fund drive to rebuild it properly, though some of the materials can be salvaged. VVV Poor puzzled Delicious looking around like, "What? What?!" For chicks, actually eating the goodie isn't the best part at this age--the chase is. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 23:17 on May 20, 2023 |
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May 19, 2023 23:16
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Lightning strikes around here, the 7-11 a miles or so away got hit. Older babies are back inside. If cam goes down again we may have lost power from the thunderstorm. Arsenic Lupin, Yes, this year's hatch were all from our own eggs. I bought 6 calico bantam Cochin eggs & incubated them, too--but only 2 developed embryos, one of those was an early quitter, and but none hatched. Triffid, Eggroll and Wingding were purchased chicks. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 23:15 on May 20, 2023 |
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May 20, 2023 22:46
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The three little chicks just got their Marek's vaccination, as did the three older chicks we got at the poultry swap--Triffid, Eggroll and Wingding, since we don't know if they had been medicated. Everybody got mealworms just prior, so they got a little protein boost.
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May 21, 2023 03:13
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Hey! A HUGE thanks to the Chickam patrons who so kindly made donations yesterday, you're amazing! DP, MS and AN, we LOVE you folks! Also, this is how the older babies sleep now: 
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 07:50 on May 23, 2023 |
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May 21, 2023 20:49
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