Oh no problem. He is standing normal now...when I took them out to take that pic they all ran off...so this was after putting them back together...and before he 'took off' again. They are doing good. We are just waiting for the last one to get out of his shell...tomorrow I should be able to get a picture of all 5 chicks together. I have 12 eggs ready to go into the bator tomorrow. I am adding some eggs from my (what I think she is) old english game hen.
My homeade bator!
I cooked a young (6 mo) rooster today. Since we skinned them, I just roasted him in the roaster at 350 for 2 hrs. He turned out tender and tasty. We tried to shake and bake one, but it turned out dry. We usually cull the older ones at 2 1/2 to 3 yrs and stew them for dumplings. I put them in water, add salt and pepper, celery, carrots, and onions and boil them for about 2 - 3 hrs until they are tender. Then make my dumplings. A friend told me they take them and put them in the slow cooker overnight and that makes them very tender.
Thanks all,
I will try the crock-pot next time. I've been on a slow cooker kick lately. I've been doing my pork ribs this way since it's too cold to fire up the grill.
JB
Okay, Mel....time to get up again!!!
New pictures please!!!
I showed my husband the video when I got home from work last night, and my dog got all excited too. She came up to me and looked in my lap, then under my chair. It was really cute.
Hurray, mcamden. Sounds like all has gone very well
for this hatch. I hope you get a nice assortment of
colors, and did the BSL chick have a white spot on it's
head or no?
When processing poultry, please tell me if you lop
off their heads first, and doesn't this stop the heart
and not completely remove all the blood, or do you
cut the jugular? I am under the impression that you
should remove all the blood for a healthier meal.
Oh Great! I just watched the video for the first time.
It's wonderful. Both of my dogs and both cats
came into the office to look and listen. I have my
brooder set up in one corner of the office, and have never
had chicks in it yet, but every animal looked in it- as
if they knew what it was for, and trying to find the chicks!
That was a great way to announce to the world you're
finally here! I loved it.
truest, their is more than one way to do it. check out:
www.themodernhomestead.us for good detailed desccriptions, instructions, and photos...
we hang them live for a little while so they are dizzy and don't fight, then use the ax, then hang them to drain the blood. we skinned one once, but i prefer to pluck...
OK, Mel, get up and show us some more of your babies! and a pic of your OEG!
;-)
tf
Ok...sad news. #5 the BSL did not make it. He was in the shell for over 24 hours with no progress, and at some point in the middle of the night I got up to check him and he was not breathing. I waited for a while...tried a little tap on the shell and nothing. This morning I opended the rest of the shell and found that something looked like it went wrong in the developement process. The area that should normally turn inside the body, and where the umbilical cord connects was still all outside of the body. He just didnt look like he was ready to come out yet.
Anyway...the other four are doing great, and we have one egg that is still set to hatch tomorrow. The BSL looked exactly like the other four chicks...not dark like I had expected.
tha is sad ;-(
but 5 out of 6 is a great hatching rate! you should be proud!
I am proud I suppose...but hard when one starts to make it and then doesnt. I was sad. #6 is actually due tomorrow...he was put in later then the others. That is the only egg left in the bator now. I have a dozen eggs ready to go in after I sanitize. Ths time I have 3 of the Old english game hen...she is solid black, so maybe those chicks will come out with more color. SHe is also the oldest hen we have (5 or 6 years old) so we will see if she has good eggs. I know that she still lays every day and her eggs taste fabulous!
hey, what matters is what the rooster thinks of her, right? we are thrilled for you! we may candle a few eggs tonight, it is day seven... this is great education for our homeschooled children. i appreciate your sadness over the lost one. hoping for a healthy numero seis!
Thank you! Hopefully 6 will come out with no problems. I was hoping for 5 out of our original batch. You homeschool? That is fabulous! We have talked about it we have kids someday that I want to stay home with them. The schools in our area are not very good, and I think I would make a better teacher. How do you like it? I know off subject...but now I am curious!
it has it's days, LOL. but the best part is my kids getting to learn so many extra things that school teachers don't have time for these days with all the tests and paperwork. and i get to know my kids better. i am pretty sure they will know what they want to accomplish in their lives before most other kids do, since they get exposed to so many possiblities, and i can encourage them in their interests. of course, my six year old is still changing his mind. yesterday he said when he has a farm, he will hav chickens goats and pigs [we dont' have pigs]. i said well, what kind you have will depend on where you live, where do you think you will live [he has the whold world to choose from], and he says, oh somewhere near Amarillo...
boys learn differently than girls, of course all kids learn different skills at different rates, and there are enormous resources out there without spending a lot of money or time. plus, we do more together as a family, and they are learning a good work ethic, esp team work as a family. they can't wait to be old enough to have jobs. as a matter of fact, had it not been for bad weather right after all the leaves in the neighborhood fell [and that's not many LOL], they wanted to go rake everybody's yard to earn money. that fell through, but i found extra work fo rthem around here so they would have a little money to spend on each other for Christmas...
i digress. i bet there are some good threads abou tit in the parenting forum, i haven't had time to go there in a while.
as most of you know, having the incubator bug, or the seeds starting bug, is pretty time consuming, and i have both LOL
tf
New pic of the four muskateers!
Or where there only 3? Either way...chicks are cute! They seem to match our kitty Daisy.
Well Tamara...you sound like you are certainly raising them right! I definately have 'the bugs'! I ordered those 200 trees...after planting 200 tulip and dafodil bulbs to use at my wedding in May...and then started on these eggs! I am addicted! I grew up in town but always knew I wanted to live on a farm when I had the chance. I even tried running away when i was little to go live on a farm. I do, however, loose all my motivation when it is cold like this!
My other half just called and said he has a wonderful surprise for me! I am really pumped since this week I havent done much about finding a new job and he rarely thinks anything is good enough to justify something as a 'wonderful surprise'! I wonder what it is!
ooooohhhhh I'm curious....won't that be fun? Whatever it is!!!
The babies are adorable. Cheep, cheep!!
Sorry about the one that didn't make it. You know what they say, only the strong survive.
(((Mel)))
I am excited too! Maybe he will say that he is taking over his company, and for a new job I dont need to worry about how much I will make..but that I can just find something fun! I want to go work at the zoo! That has been a dream. Omaha does have I think one of the top three zoos in the country.
I somehow doubt that is it though.
maybe he is going to hire you? & you can work at home while working on your farm?
did the kitty have a snack? LOL
funny, at first i thought you meant raising my chicks right, i was going to ask what that had to do with trees, oh, just got so much on my mind today i can't read stright ;-) or type worth a flip.
gotta go run errnads before the town shuts down for the evening...
tf
That was another though. He works for his uncles company, and we are very close. I actually interviewed with them before for an entry level position..but I was waay over qualified. It is a good company, and I would like to work there...but could be awkward at the same time. Him brother, cousin, best friend, and aunt all work there.
I guess we will see. He said he wont tell me until after dinner. It is a big joke because we are going to the all you can eat crab leg buffet...and he is the only person who will go with me because of how many legs I can eat! that was how I found out he was the one for me! So we normally stay for about 2 hours...so it will depend on what I want more..crab legs...or to hear/see my surprise!
I ended up with 11 eggs in the bator. One of them was cracked. I will keep praying for all girls!
Praying now....girls, please....
Oooohhhh crab legs...all you can eat...
Yeah...I wont even eat the crab legs at Red Lobster after finding this place! They are so much better.
mc, you sure know how to hurt somebody...crab legs.....all you can eat? Oh, my goodness, how lucky you are. The only way we get crab legs here is to cook our own.
waiting to hear the good news... sounds like it could be a long wait LOL
Get up. I want to see baby pictures... Hope all are doing well, including you Mel!
Im up Im up! The surprise was that we went and got those crab legs...they werent as good as normal. Then we came home and started playing a game. A few minutes later someone knocked on the door, and when I got to the living room it was my best friend in the whole world! I had a hard time leaving Des Moines to move out here because I didnt want to leave the greatest person I had ever known (other then Ryan), and he made arrangements for her and her boyfriend to come out and see me. I was SOOO excited! We just had breakfast, and they have to go soon...so I will be back later!
CHicks are doing great, and the last one is coming tonight hopefully!
yippee! nothing better than a best friend you've been away from to come for a surprise visit! have a blast!
Oh awesome surprise, Mel! A best friend's visit. And,
with your seed and chick bug and catching up, I am
sure you had plenty to talk about. I know when I get
on the phone with my best friend (almost 40 years)
we are a couple chatty lunatics. Chitter chitter chitter!
It doesn't stop.
Ya know, for your first homemade incubator and so
few eggs, you and the chicks did really well. It's sad
when we lose a little one, but we learn so much, and know
you did your best and that was a Great Job! You also did
a great job of sharing it with all of us. Here's hoping for
the 'odd egg out' to do his thing well!
now- 200 trees! teeheeteehee 200 holes
you are so mean! let's hope dh has a backhoe...
THe last chick is on his way! My friend couldn't stay long but I loved every minute I had with her! We also managed to cut, load, and stack 2 full truck loads of wood. I feel pretty good about our first run with the bator. We will have 11 with the next round.
woohoo! so glad you had a great time!
Oh yes...Ok...the last chick is a little farther along now. He is in there chirping. I am moving the bator into the bedroom so I can keep a better eye one him.
sweet dreams, mamahen!
Awesome, Mel. May all your hatches be good ones. I
hope this last of the first does well! go chick go chick..
Ok...got a problem. The last chick hatched around 4 am, and I put him in a seperate bin in with the other chicks. I was too tired to pay too much attention, but we just noticed that his underside...where the umbilical cord was attached looks awful. I turned him over and a huge amount of what looks like puss came out! It is very thick like honey, and about the color of honey too. We had just put them in together when I noticed. What should we do? He is sepeated again...but it looks awful.
This looks awful. With every chirp he makes he is pushing more of this stuff out. What is it...and how do I stop it??
Oh, that's sad. Sounds like mushy chick disease.
From Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens:
"Omphalitis or mushy chick disease or yolk sac infection
developes when bacteria invade a chick's unhealed navel.
This illness occurs when high incubation humidity or low
brooding temperature prevents the chick's navel from
healing properly, leading to invasion by e. coli and other
bacteria. The bacteria quickly multiply in the moist, nutrient
rich yolk sac area, causing chicks to die within a few days
of hatching. Since there's no effective treatment, prevent
this devastating disease by hatching only clean eggs,
properly regulating your incubator and brooder, and
practicing good incubator and brooder sanitation."
There are some disinfectants available commercially
that you can spray on the incubator and eggs before
incubating. Use only clean eggs in the inc., meaning if they
are dirty in the nest, don't use. If hens are given an
astroturf type material to lay on, this is easier to keep
clean. Never use cold water to clean eggs, as this forces
bacteria into the shell. Use a fine grit sandpaper to clean
lightly soiled eggs. Try getting a 'wet-bulb' temperature
of your incubator while it's running by adding a second
thermometer at egg height, with a wet shoestring wrapped
around the bulb. You can also wrap it in gauze or cheesecloth.
This will give you a reading of humidity in the incubator, usually read at somewhere in the mid 80's on the thermometer. Follow appropriate guidelines for proper humidity for your eggs. It is usually raised a bit for hatching. Try shielding your tray of water with foil, or reduce it's size if humidity is too high. For a forced air incubator like your's, wet bulb should read 86%-88%,
then increased to 88%-91% for hatching. I hope this helps. Remember,
each little chick is a learning experience.
Forgot to add, use warm water to wet your
shoestring or gauze before putting it in.
I will try that with this next batch. Any clue if there is anything I can do for this chick?
i would just spray it with sterile water or colloidal silver once a day. our last chick looked somewhat similar,a nd it healed. just don't mess with it i would suggest. also, put minced garlic into Apple Cider Vinegar [organic with the mother] for overnight, then add small amounts to their water. they will develop a taste for it. it will prmote healing and give all the chicks an immune boost. garlic is antifungal and a natural antibiotic.
remember survival of the fittest is hard on us mama's. give him your best, and let nature do the rest.
hugs to you,
tf
[i didn't have time to read truest suggestion, so i am not disregtarding it, just saying what i would do. i will have to readit later, since i know Storey's has good stuff!]