Sounds like you are doing a good job.
Need more pictures!
Bernie
How worried should I be about hawks?
Isn't it amazing?
My husband and I were watching the chicks tonight and over the course of our conversation, literally, Ishtar grew tail feathers. AMAZING!
I'm heading to Lowe's in a bit to pick up stuff to make them a larger home. I believe they are over the rough spot and ready to be permanent residents. I want to construct it in a way, it can be home for awhile and be used for their run or part of their run outside. I like the tractor idea since it can be moved and helps the soil too. We are gray clay here. Grrr.
Happy to report NO losses on morning 3!
Michelle,
Make sure the wire is small enough to keep out snakes and rats.. I have a huge problem with them here when chicks are small, up there you may not..Also a very secure top..Good luck..It will be a great learning experience for you and the girls..
Larkie
Hi Larkie,
Thanks much for your advice.
Hubby is at the store now. I was going but had a bit of a surprise this morning. We did not think our rabbit was prego and apparently she was. She had her babies and shoved them out the sides of the cage (which will also be getting smaller wire!). I went out with the intention of putting her in with the male for a few hours and found the babies-7 alive and 1 dead. We put them in the nesting box and she dug them all out. I'm about to have a nervous breakdown (I'll save it for later!). Shoot! Now a second one is dead. I feel just awful....
Your are a rabbit farmer to ? You might have a hard time getting her to take them. Rabbits are very nervous. They are not very far from wild. They like to hide their young. I never touched the babies until they at least their eyes were open.
Yeah, I didn't have a choice. They were on the ground under the cage. We are down to three. ;(
Sorry, badseed. That's all you need right now.
Thank you. Nature was perfect and I screwed up. Had a heart to heart with Horseshoe, fed the three survivors, fixed up the next box with straw and her fur, gave mom more straw, gave her some time to get it how she wants it and put the three nice pink babies back in. She did not get in there and attack the bedding and box this time and I am waiting for the babies to cry and see if she will take care of them.
Keeping myself busy making the chicks a new bigger box.
BadSeed, I didnt wont to mention it but the same thing happened while I was at my Mom's! One of my Rabbits pulled fur again and made a nest but we couldnt find babies! this will be the second time that has happened! I guess she pulled them out and they fell through. I didnt get home until 2 days after they were supposed to arrive and DH is no Rabbit Farmer!!!! So I think I will just give up on my Rabbits, soooo sad!
I'm sorry Eufala. It's hard to lose animals too. :(
She looked heavier but no real signs that she was pregnant. Her nipples were the same and you could not feel lumps in her belly. She was due yesterday. I guess she decided middle of the night or early morning was better. I still have hopes for the remaining three if she'll get in the nest box and care for them. I'm hoping when they cry, she'll go to them. I tried and tried to put one on to eat but there was not a very big target and there is an awful lot of fur! I will let them try again.
She must not have pulled fur until she was having them or just before. We went out to close up about 9 last night. I think they'd have been fine if they had not gotten knocked out. I weighed them and they were almost all 1.7 oz with one being 1.4 and one being 1.9. I have no idea what is normal and will have to look it up.
Part of the reason we did not have very big hopes for her being pregnant, is that it was their first time together and the male spent a good deal of the time sitting on her head. LOL Apparently he did a better job than we thought...
On a good note, all of the chicks are doing great, growing and getting feathers! I just came in from working on a larger pen for them. I still need to put chicken wire on the sides.
Wow.. catch up all the posts.. Oh, You got some chicks... Isn't it fun to have them around? huh? LOL Still having my two hens.. missing have manys.. gotta to order some next year?? see see..
Glad to hear things goes well for you!
Right now I am not so thrilled with them. They keep swimming in the water bowl which trashes the bedding. So here we go to clean it up AGAIN! I think they sent me ducks on accident!
Get a couple of those water things that go on a fruit jar. They can't get into them.
We'll get you there yet!
Goodnight,
Bernie
TSC has the baby waterers Chele, I think they hold 1/2 gallon of water.. we used ours for several weeks before we had to get the bigger waterer.
LOL.... be patience with chicks. They are just babies.... :oP
Get water jar so they won't go into it.
Hubby will be thrilled to go back to TSC. ROTFLOL I swear they sent me ducks.....They all jump in the water and run around then yell because they are wet. So we put them in laundry baskets, clean up the mess put them all back and start over. These are worse than babies!
And we are down to one baby bunny. I think the momma is really trying but her instincts are a little messed up. She shoved the babies to both ends of the nesting box, made herself a nice hole in the middle and filled the box with hair. I took out the 2 dead bunnies this morning and brought the live one in to eat and get warm. It was ice cold. I read that you can see a white lump in their bellies if they've eaten and none had one. The one I brought in is sucking and nibbling anything it can get hold of. I fed it with a bottle again and put it back in a heating pad. It's nice and pink again. We'll see.
Since they are all scratched up, I don't think I'll put it back with the momma. :(
Oh, I had one more question...all the wood shavings we are going through, can those be composted or used in the garden? I know I read straight fresh chicken poo can burn up plants so I thought I'd ask.
Oh good Q! I have no idea that chicken poo can burn the plants.. New to me! LOL. Let's see what others gonna to say.
I believe it is only the fresh poo Mini. The aged poo is fine. Don't know why I have a stupid idea in my head like that does not apply to baby chickens. LOL Maybe I am curious because it's mixed with all the bedding? 50something chickens make a lot of yuck. Of course wood in the compost or soil supposedly depletes nitrogen and urine is full of nitrogen. Maybe they cancel each other out? You see, a blond armed with just enough knowledge to be dangerous, can be a bad thing....
I just hate to waste all the bedding if it can be used for compost, etc.
yes. compost it! I wouldn't put it in the garden right away, but throw it on a compost pile and it will be great.
What the heck kinda waterer you got there???
try this .......
My chicks never go swimming
but for the polish (adults) to keep their crests out of the water I take one of those plastic paper plate holders,center the waterer on it,cut a hole out so you can still screw on the base(i use wire cutters) and then knock out spaces for them to drink,but make sure they are not wide enough for wading or swimming
Thank you BH.
CC I have the 1 gallon waterer you asked about..white top, red bottom, I swear! LOL
I think I do have some of those plate holders. Let me see if I can do what you said.
CC, I just put hubby to work on the plastic paper plate holder. I have no idea if they come in more than one size. If we cut out the space for the bottle (that is the whole flat bottom), that only leaves the outside lip. Is that correct? Then I cut out holes for drinking?
I put marbles in my water tray (the gal jug with the red bottom). Supposedly it helps to attract the chicks and it keeps them from drowning if they dive in...lol.
~Julie =0)
Hey Julie! Thanks! I think all I have is those flat stones you put in floral arrangements.
Here is the plat holder with the bottom out.
Is the gap large enough or do I need to cut some parts out?
For anyone keeping up with the bunny saga, here is the one survivor. When it gets cold it goes to the heating pad and when it gets warm it gets on the towel. I sure hope it lives...
I answered my own question while waiting. They won't drink out of the crack. LOL
that is soooo not what I had in mind
first
what waterer is that?
I think its opening is too big
mine are 1 gallon and are smaller
infact when you put that plate holder on it stick over the edge of the base,easy
but if you are going to use it,yes,cut some notches out,dremel maybe
dip the beaks in so they know where it is
I am sure if CC could reach me, she would have smacked me around really much! Y'all don't know how much I've pestered her behind the scenes. (((CC)))
Hubby took the plate out to the grinder and made cut outs all the way around. He is headed "to town" shortly and I'll have him go back to TSC or Walmart and see if they have something smaller.
It is the one gallon waterer from TSC. It says Harris Farms one gallon poultry drinker. Maybe they had one for chicks? Honestly, he picked up the stuff a month or so ago in preparation. I don't get out much, well, just to run kids...
They've got one for Chicks at TSC, probably right below the 1 gallons on the shelf. Did you get a chick feeder too?
If you can't find one, I've got one you can use. I won't need it until June.
You need the one made for a quart jar. It is only maybe 5 or 6 inches across the base.
I do have the feeder, the long red one with holes. I had to take the top off because the silkies were living in it and could not reach the food from the outside. Now that they are bigger, I should be able to put it back on.
Hubby is headed to TSC. I did tell him to look at the one quart waterer and also for one with a smaller lip.
I have their box all done for out in the garage. I'm running through one more time to check for sharp edges or loose staples.
Thanks so much for helping me. I really want to be good at this.
With your ambition I have no doubt you will succeed!
Bernie
'Chelle
stop stressing
if he comes home with a 1 quart send him back for 3 more cause 50 chicks will drink that petty quick
LOL I'm okay, I think. :)
All they had was one gallon and two gallon so he didn't buy any.
I moved them out to the garage, into their new larger home. They squawked a bit at first but now seem happy. They've been out there about an hour and I am headed to check on them again.
The baby bunny is still alive and seems well.
Can I ask one more dumb question? They are outside in the garage now. It's just metal sided except for the carpet padding insulation someone before me added. Is it okay to use a milkhouse heater? The garage is not as warm as the house obviously. If I put the thermostat on the side with the heater, it goes up to 100. If I put it on the far side, it stays about 60. I know that is too warm. Some of the chicks are standing by the heater while others are farther away exploring and not huddled.
Is that kind of heat okay? It's heat with a fan. We used it over the winter for the rabbits and I know the heater itself is okay.
Can I trust the chicks to know if they need to be warmer or not?
The good news is, with the larger pen, they have much more room to run around and are not getting wet! I think they were cramped.
Yeah, i think they can probably figure that out.
and I'm pulling for that little baby bunny!
Whoops! I meant to say earlier, I know 60 is not warm enough. Geesh!
Thanks for the bunny hopes! It's starting to get some fur. It looked sort of bluish but it is the hair coming in. It's feet are still nice and red. I can't decide if it looks more like a pig or Eeyore. ;)