Devonviolet Acres

[babsbag]

Are those cardinals? No Cardinals in California, they look even prettier in the snow.

The egg story brought back a memory. I put an egg in the cup holder in my truck and forgot it...until I put a cup of coffee in the holder the next morning. We should start a thread on how many ways can you break an egg.

 

[BrownSheep]

I have one pair of jeans with exceptionally large back pockets....I'm not certain how I forgot about it .

 

[MsDeb]

Can't believe TX and OK keep getting so much snow and we keep missing it. I'm totally OK with that..just saying, I grew up in southern OK and have been getting pics of grands playing in snow there while the grands here are disgruntled that their cousins have snow and they don't. The cardinals are beautiful! My all time favorite bird! The snow was lovely too but yes, UGH for the puddles.

 

[Devonviolet]

Are those cardinals? No Cardinals in California, they look even prettier in the snow.

The egg story brought back a memory. I put an egg in the cup holder in my truck and forgot it...until I put a cup of coffee in the holder the next morning. We should start a thread on how many ways can you break an egg.

OMG That is hilarious! That might be fun to have a thread on ways to break an egg.

Yes, those are Cardinals. I grew up in CA and was always jealous of colder climates that had Cardinals. We had Cardinals in PA, but only had an occasional sighting. Then, when we moved to East Texas were amazed at how many Cardinals we see. It is common to see 50 or so of them (males & females) sitting on rural roads. They all fly off en-masse, when our truck gets near. It is a treat for the eyes. the two in the pic must live nearby. They show up at that same puddle several Times a day.

 

[Devonviolet]

Can't believe TX and OK keep getting so much snow and we keep missing it. I'm totally OK with that..just saying, I grew up in southern OK and have been getting pics of grands playing in snow there while the grands here are disgruntled that their cousins have snow and they don't. The cardinals are beautiful! My all time favorite bird! The snow was lovely too but yes, UGH for the puddles.

Yes, we do get snow here. The previous owners told us we usually get more snow than Dallas. the snow missed y'all this time. But not when I was up your way getting the puppies. I can't complain though. After all, it IS Winter!

I love snow, until it gets slushy and messy. Right now the livestock pen is a muddy mess from the pups chasing each other and play fighting. I'm amazed at how quickly their fur cleans up from the mud. Last night they were a muddy mess. They slept in the kennel over night and this morning they were all clean.

 

[babsbag]

I love birds that stay with their mates.

 

[Devonviolet]

I love birds that stay with their mates.

Our Buff Orpington hens stayed super close to the roo when we brought them home - even hiding behind him in the coop. They roost close together in the chicken coop, and if you watch them in the pen, the three of them are always in the same area. Its really sweet!

 

[babsbag]

My Buff stayed with a rooster a lot too. Until a hawk got him. I have roo that free ranges and sleeps in the trees, he watches out for his 2 hens too. They do stick together and no other roo dare court them.

 

[Devonviolet]

Well, we did it! We bought chicks and French Guineas at the farm store.

I know it is better to buy from Ideal Poultry, but this batch had just arrived, less than an hour before. None left from previous week. After talking to the "Chicken Lady", I determined she was careful about cleanliness (minimizing contamination). I also heard Ideal Poultry doesn't have chicks available for sale online right now - most likely because all their chicks are going to farm stores. This store (Atwood's) sold out last week, and got 400 birds in yesterday an hour before we got there! That included turkeys, ducks, chicks, bantums and geese.

They had French Guineas (which is what I would have bought from Ideal Poultry), AND Buff Orpingtons, which is what I wanted for chicks. She had watched Ideal's video showing how the "sex" the chicks by wing feather length (males - all the same length and females - alternating short and long), so we set about trying to find ten females among the 25 Buff Orps they got in. We aren't positive we got it right. But, hopefully we got more females than males. If we had taken the 1st 10 we found, I think they would have all been males, based on wing feather length.

For the French Guineas, I don't care as much about sex. I am mostly interested in Guineas for bug control. She didn't know how to sex them, so that was fine.

We turned the truck heater up and covered the transport boxes with my coat, except for access to one of the heater vents, to keep them warm on the drive home. The peeled a lot on the trip home - I read that is because they we're cold.

Once home, we set up a spot in the spare bedroom. We set up cardboard ring over a tarp with wood shavings, electrolyte water and natural chick starter feed. We started with the heat lamp 18" over one end of the oval and an indoor outdoor thermometer. In an hour the temp was up to 110*, so I raised the light 4" and an hour later it was 97*. A couple hours later it was 95* at 22" - I noticed the weren't peeping as much. So, we left it there over night. The chicks were sleeping scattered around the light half of the oval, but not under the light. So, I'm thinking it was a good temp for them.

As soon as we let the chicks out of the transport box, I could tell 2 chicks were smaller and weaker than the rest. One got very listless within an hour. We couldn't bring ourselves to snap it's neck, so we put it out on the front porch, figuring It would get numb and go to sleep - not suffering. That may not be true, but at least we flat better.

The other smaller one is still weak, (laying down with it's head on the litter and wings out. But, seems to be hanging in there. Although, if I pick it up It stands up, looks around, and peeps. If I put it near the water it drinks.

The thing that worries me is that if it poops on my hand, it is total liquid. I also I don't see any poop in the wood ships on the floor. Is there something I can do to firm up their poop? Or is this something I shouldn't worry about? All the rest of the birds seem to be fine, wandering around, drinking and eating.

 

[BrownSheep]

So this might seem a little, ah, callous but are you certain it's not just sleepy?
My chicks tended to plop down under a heat light with their wings stretched out and fall asleep. I don't know how long it has been doing this so I just thought I would ask.

If you arnt certain they are eating ( turkey chicks are notorious for being to stupid to do so). You can put bits of cottage cheese with black pepper sprinkled on it in their food. or just "peck" it with your finger.

I haven't raised chicks in a few years but do poults every year.