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Errant Gin Monks posted:So my girls were outside the other day and I went inside and suddenly heard a distressed sounding noise from them. I ran back otuside and saw a hawk circling low around our trees. As soon as I got outside all 4 of those dumb hens ran up to me and leaned against my legs and started bawking up a storm as if saying "There you are you stupid rooster, DO YOUR JOB and get rid of that thing." BEWARE of those hawks! I think it was Chido who had one that just was walking in WITH the hens as they went in for the night. Trying to pretend like it was one of the flock! Cunning little birds, those hawks are! THE RAT: Your babies are so ADORABLE! Look forward to more pictures and/or video! piscesbobbie fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Aug 30, 2013 |
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Aug 30, 2013 20:39
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Just went out to check on them and saw a broken egg shell. Looked closer, it was an empty broken egg shell. No residue on the towel beneath. Kept patiently looking and then BOOM  THREE THREE LITTLE CHICKS AH HA HAAAA
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Aug 30, 2013 21:02
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The Rat posted:Just went out to check on them and saw a broken egg shell. Looked closer, it was an empty broken egg shell. No residue on the towel beneath. OMG SQUEEEE (I think that is what the kids say?) So freakin' ADORABLE. Thank you for sharing! 
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Aug 30, 2013 21:21
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Go Clubfoot! I always give my hens or incubators two extra days beyond hatch day to catch any stragglers. Don't count the others out yet!
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Aug 30, 2013 21:41
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Man, now I'm thinking I should've gotten bobbie a chick for an avatar instead.  I'm going tomorrow for Kilz so I can prime the new henhouse and get it painted. I'm thinking oil-based Kilz (it's made of OSB) for 2 coats, then something latex over that in a color I actually like. My dad is insisting that this shellac-based stuff he has (battleship gray) is better, but uh, I don't really want a gray henhouse.
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Aug 30, 2013 23:48
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Lynza posted:Man, now I'm thinking I should've gotten bobbie a chick for an avatar instead. So YOU are the mystery! Thank you Lynza, I love my avatar!
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Aug 31, 2013 00:31
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Lynza posted:Man, now I'm thinking I should've gotten bobbie a chick for an avatar instead. Find some shellac-based yellow or bright blue! Your dad should enjoy that.  I was wondering why someone got Piscesbobbie a piglet icon. We've only had a jillion photos of adorable baby chicks (although the little pig is very cute).
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Aug 31, 2013 02:09
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Lynza posted:Man, now I'm thinking I should've gotten bobbie a chick for an avatar instead. Since shellac is a pretty good sealant, you could use the grey as your base and then you can paint it a color you like on top. Grey is a neutral enough color that you should be able to paint over it fairly well. Also, thank you all for sharing so many wonderful pictures. The babies are adorable and the adults are fabulous. All of the chickens, ducks, and quail just seem so happy and healthy. I don't have chickens, but I made this for the Chickam thread. Consider it my meager contribution. 
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Aug 31, 2013 02:18
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luloo123 posted:Since shellac is a pretty good sealant, you could use the grey as your base and then you can paint it a color you like on top. Grey is a neutral enough color that you should be able to paint over it fairly well. It's Yoya and the babies!  I see Skillet--!
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Aug 31, 2013 04:07
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Velvet Sparrow posted:It's Yoya and the babies! Yup! And that is Skillet. She's my sister's favorite so I had to include her.
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Aug 31, 2013 04:10
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One of my hens caught a small snake today. Watching them all run around like loons while she tried to eat it was entertaining as hell. She ended up scarfing the whole thing down after beating up two out of three of the other hens.
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Sep 1, 2013 05:27
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That sure is a thing that happened. Oh chickens.
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Sep 1, 2013 05:29
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Sep 1, 2013 05:47
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 The hen looks angry, the rooster just has this blank expression like "Stay calm, stay calm, it'll be like that first night in prison, just let it happen and it'll be over soon, oh god. . ."
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Sep 1, 2013 05:52
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Tabasco has a total 'You know, this is a good look for me.' expression. Pancake looks dangerously annoyed. Also, not enough princess in that picture. C'mon, you know you want to.
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Sep 1, 2013 05:55
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Pancake always looks mad. Gotta love the brahma 'brow 
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Sep 1, 2013 05:59
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I think that Pancake hates that Hello Kitty dress. Tabasco looks muy fabuloso! Tabasco needs to try some hot pink next! Or the karate outfit. 
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Sep 1, 2013 06:57
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Errant Gin Monks posted:One of my hens caught a small snake today. Watching them all run around like loons while she tried to eat it was entertaining as hell.
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Sep 1, 2013 16:38
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Clubfoot stopped sitting on the remaining eggs. Since it's been about 3 days since the first chicks hatched, I figured that the three remaining weren't gonna hatch. So I went and dropped them in garbage can. Turns out all three had chicks in them, just not very developed. One was even peeping at me. I broke him out of his shell, but he was still too unformed to make it outside of the egg. Eyes were still closed and all. What a  way to start the day.
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Sep 1, 2013 17:57
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The Rat posted:Clubfoot stopped sitting on the remaining eggs. Since it's been about 3 days since the first chicks hatched, I figured that the three remaining weren't gonna hatch. So I went and dropped them in garbage can. Turns out all three had chicks in them, just not very developed. One was even peeping at me. I broke him out of his shell, but he was still too unformed to make it outside of the egg. Eyes were still closed and all. Breakout is never easy. You did what you could, and if they aren't developed, then it's Mother Nature making the call. Breakout does give you good feedback for future hatches, but yeah, Lord it's tough to do. Don't feel bad, you tried. Focus on the chicks you did get, I prescribe some chick cuddling. 
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Sep 1, 2013 18:32
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The Rat: How many chicks did you end up with? If you only got two, I suggest buying a third chick from the feed store, just to have more of a chick gang. Chicken enabler? Me?  VVVV Oh! You're right, RazorBunny! There are three chicks! All so adorable!
Inveigle fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Sep 1, 2013 |
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Sep 1, 2013 19:12
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I see three little cheepies in that last picture
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Sep 1, 2013 19:15
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Yup, three. Here's Clubfoot this morning going all battleship when Pilot came over to have a look. On the plus side, all three of the embryos had black fuzz, so out of the seven eggs that she started brooding on, 6/7 were fertilized by Dumpling. And people said he was too small! He showed them!
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Sep 1, 2013 19:43
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The Rat posted:Yup, three. Here's Clubfoot this morning going all battleship when Pilot came over to have a look. Ahahahahaha!!! Look at that angry ball of hen! Broodies are so wonderful!
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Sep 1, 2013 19:44
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I think the feed store is getting more chicks in for the fall. Oh gently caress. If they have polish pullets I'm dead. My stupid hens aren't laying yet. Fat, spoiled freeloaders! 
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Sep 2, 2013 02:05
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Chicken drama! I finally have a new coop for the girls set up, and they of course thank me by huddling on the side of it, refusing to sleep in the coop. Of course, they're all awake when I come outside in the dark to kidnap them and put them in the coop so they wake up all  huh I don't remember waking up here well I guess this is home. Chickens. Their look as I came to kidnap them was sad enough that I felt bad doing it because they looked so upset about the whole ordeal. "I'm tired and sleepy please don't kill me" From earlier today:  Bub's got a lot more iridescence in her feathers than what my cellphone camera picked up. Same with Lincoln.  Top to bottom: Audrey, Lincoln, Bubbles. Audrey's comb looks more normal than it really is in this. From farther away it's not too noticeable, but I still think her straight comb looks stupid. Lincoln is still the fat and sassy head hen, while Bubbles is kind of dumb but so pretty and soft that I don't care. Lincoln's coloring is turning out so pretty as she gets older with all the red lacing on her feathers and breast. For being a mutt, she's a pretty girl.
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Sep 3, 2013 05:50
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Well, the constant rain has taken a heavy toll. So far, I've lost two pied guinea keets, one seven month old turkey, one white d'uccle rooster and the lavender keet I handfed for weeks to get her over sourcrop.  Plus I just had to bring one of the adult guineas in and stick her under a heatlamp in the brooder. Turns out adults can't take two months of rain either! Tonight will be fun, she's a real screamer when she's not actively dying.
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Sep 4, 2013 01:44
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Pogonodon posted:Well, the constant rain has taken a heavy toll. That sucks. So sorry for your losses. JEEZ, it can only get better from this point, right? I'll be thinking good thoughts for you and your critters. 
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Sep 4, 2013 01:49
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Pogonodon posted:Well, the constant rain has taken a heavy toll. Where on Earth are you to have two months of nonstop rain, and how are you not living on an Ark? Or are you...?
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Sep 4, 2013 03:17
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I'm exaggerating a bit out of frustration on the two months part. Can't find the July weather chart, but 21 of 31 days in August had rain, plus the last week of July. So not actually constant, just feels very very close to it. The bird yards are solid mud! 
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Sep 4, 2013 03:50
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Perhaps you need to get ducks rather than other types of poultry. 
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Sep 4, 2013 04:11
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Pogonodon posted:I'm exaggerating a bit out of frustration on the two months part. Can't find the July weather chart, but 21 of 31 days in August had rain, plus the last week of July. So not actually constant, just feels very very close to it. The bird yards are solid mud! Same here in Florida. All my plants not in a raised bed have yellowed and drowned. Now next year, I will have super-dooper drainage set up, and we will have a drought. Simply how it goes.
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Sep 4, 2013 06:00
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Suspect Bucket posted:Same here in Florida. All my plants not in a raised bed have yellowed and drowned. Now next year, I will have super-dooper drainage set up, and we will have a drought. Simply how it goes. Drought until the plants are almost dead, then rains will come and drown everything you ever cared about. Or a hurricane will knock a tree down exactly right to smash everything in the gardens. drat you, nature Inveigle posted:Perhaps you need to get ducks rather than other types of poultry. Geese, maybe. I'm not sure I like ducks enough to keep papers on hand at every moment proving they aren't derived from mallards. It may be interesting to have two different flocks of birds that scream every time a car passes by. Or a stick falls. Or a cloud floats by.
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Sep 4, 2013 06:27
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damnit. I left the tarp off the run because I figured they were too fat to fly out/wings were still partially clipped and they could do with better lighting. Well, the smarter two figured out that maaaybe flying the coop was a bad idea. Not Audrey. Lincoln and Bubbles were freaking out and must have seen it. And now I have a confused why I was screaming at it dog and another dead chicken. Sigh. I guess it's time for more wing clipping. I'm really not a dog person. So, convenient timing that my farm store has chickens, but hahaha there's no way I'm being allowed to brood another set of babies in the garage. Am I crazy to ask someone on Craigslist to brood my chicks for me? Why do I love this hobby when it is clear that it does not? I started with five, and now I have two.
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Sep 5, 2013 01:09
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Grape Soda -- Sorry to hear about Audrey.  You can buy clear vinyl tarps: http://www.tarpaflex.com/acatalog/clear-poly-tarps.html.
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Sep 5, 2013 02:21
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Did anyone else get annoyed at that one episode of the Netflix show Orange is the New Black? Nobody seems to have told chickens they can't fly. They can do it surprisingly well.
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Sep 5, 2013 02:23
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Alterian posted:Did anyone else get annoyed at that one episode of the Netflix show Orange is the New Black? Nobody seems to have told chickens they can't fly. They can do it surprisingly well. Which episode was this? I watched the first five episodes and then bailed. The true story of the main character was a lot more compelling than the fictional side stories they added to spice the series up.
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Sep 5, 2013 02:39
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On the Duct Tape Island Special of Mythbusters, nobody told Adam Savage that chickens can fly either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op-lPcNRWZc
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Sep 5, 2013 03:35
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Episode 5: The Chickening.
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Sep 5, 2013 03:37
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^^ Please tell me I wasn't the only one super relieved that she got away!Grape Soda posted:damnit. Poor girl. My girls are never going to free range due to the hawks constantly circling and the 5 neighbor dogs barking at them through the fence, and lately a big orange tomcat has been stalking the little ones even when I'm out with them. Everything wants to eat you when your only natural defenses are being dumb and delicious. Their run is basically an aviary, bounded by 4x4 posts and 2x4 supports, 6' tall, and covered completely with 1/2" hardware cloth buried a foot in the ground. It was expensive for materials but at least I know they are safe from anything smaller than a bear. Unless I accidentally leave the egg access door open like a dumbass like I did last week. I came home to a big fat hen sitting in the yard all cranky because she couldn't figure out how to get back in. Also I would totally brood your chicks if you were nearby! I love having chicks in the house but we can't have any more adult hens. I've thought of brooding chicks just to have them around and then sell as pullets after a few months. It's so sweet to watch them grow and learn how to be chickens. That or get some fertile eggs to stick under my perpetually (seriously cochin, it's been three months, please stop) broody hen. It just seems too risky that no one would buy them or it wouldn't be a good home for them or I would just want to keep them all. Every time I see the brooding lamp in the storage room I think of its wasted potential though.
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Sep 5, 2013 04:53
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