AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[AL]

Feeling like I am just spinning my wheels, making lists and accomplishing nothing.
- supposed to go get more firewood today but the landowner wants to wait until Friday / Saturday because of the danger with the tree still being cut (this is truly a huge tree)

- 14yr old dog has a bad tooth or something, so we made him some chicken and rice. May take him back to the vet tomorrow to get MY vet to check him (rather than a partner that saw him monday)

- one of my EEs has backed off laying from every other day , everyone else seems to be steaming right along
Have to clean the chickenhouse and put a load of oak leaves in the roosting section on the floor.

- plant some rye or such in the future meatie run so they have tender shoots by the time they are out of the brooder; also need to hang the tarps for the "walls" and find an extension cord and my light

- pull old dried pea vines and put peas in storage for trying to plant in spring; vines to chickens

- reading / studying / printing from the processing pages... beginning to get sufficiently terrified of jacking up meat chickens! (and losing $$$ I don't have)

 

[TanksHill]

How could you possibly jack up the meat chickens?? Everything will be fine.

don't worry.

g

 

[AL]

LOL I'm sure I'll find a way... too cold, too hot, too much feed, too little... water.... grody leg deformities... etc

 

[Farmfresh]

Nah. You only have to keep things straight for around 40 days. Most of us can handle that!

 

[AL]

FF - I hope you're right lol
I bought some whole oats to put in the meatie run, hopefully it'll be coming up good by the time they are here and going outside.

Everything has been in "stand-by" mode for the last several days - my almost 14 1/2 year old yellow Lab stopped eating this past Sunday. He'd had bloodwork the friday before and kidney values came back a little high, so we put him on Cipro antibiotics. I am beginning to think the Cipro is what made him stop eating because I didn't give him any yesterday (last day) and he ate last night and this morning (chicken and rice). He ended up not having an infection after the vet had the lab do a culture, so that is why I stopped it.

Anyway -
- bought oats for the runs
- " layer pellets
- " scratch since it seems to be staying cooler

Turned the dirt in the meatie run so it will be ready for me to put the oats out tomorrow.

Still have to buy a longer extension cord, shavings for the brooder and a bigger feeder
Hang the tarps for the "walls" - got 2 of them out of the shed
Make sure brooder light has a good bulb / works


I absolutely HAVE to make time for Buddy. This is why I didn't want / don't need such a young horse here. I can't believe people don't want a young, gelded looker of a horse for free, I guess it is the economy....

working overnight tonight so I'll offer Buford more chkn / rice and then try to get a nap, then T12s baseball game and work.


ETA
There have been a lot of hawks around this year. A month or so ago a juvenile hawk sat on the front fence watching me and the dogs... I pointed him out to Rags and Rio and they chased him off. Yesterday there was a hawk on my dad's birdhouse watching my chickens next door, but evidently he opted for an easier meal because my neighbor on the other side is missing a banty rooster.

 

[Farmfresh]

We had a hawk sighting the other day.

I was relaxing in the broiler's pasture run, trying to get some chicken psychotherapy , and I heard the Red Tailed Hawk before I saw him. The fat little broilers saw him too and ran (I mean waddled ) as fast as they could to the coop and under the coop.

We didn't have to worry, however. The sky was suddenly FILLED with crows!! I guess crows don't take too kindly to hawks either! They were attacking the hawk and actually hitting him hard enough to make him drop several feet down while in flight! I wish I had a video!

 

[AL]

I have mixed feelings about crows... they steal baby birds from my bird houses, but they are great hawk deterrents. I hear the hawks most every day but they fly so high I don't always see them.


I worked overnight last night, so every little thing was a huge effort today


Buford (my old dog) seems to be doing tons better! He ate all day yesterday (chicken and rice) and today he ate some of his dry food in the morning and this afternoon he actually ate the dry special kidney diet!

I soaked the ground in the run for the future meaties, then spread whole oats pretty thickly and wet it again to wash a light cover of dirt over most of the oats.


Started clearing some space for new hay for Buddy. I don't know how we used to get 70 bales in that room? I need to call and get hay so I have to get this done in the next few days.
Had to buy a Jolly ball for him, hope he learns to play with it... this morning I caught him shredding a tarp and I had to pull a handful of strings out of his mouth! Keeping a close eye on him... dang horse.

Started picking dried peas to shell and put away, but didn't make much progress there. The garden is so dry, when I sprayed water on it dust puffed up. It rained a couple of weeks ago, none in the 10 day forecast. The squash still looks good - was joking with my mom that it should make about the time we get a good frost


Calling it a day and giving up trying to accomplish anything. Gonna watch football and go to bed early.

 

[AL]

seem to have caught some sort of "crud", feeling really weak and blah.

tended the chickens and gathered the eggs, fed the horses. That's about it.

Buford ate the N/F dry (kidney diet) again today. He seems to feel a lot better.

I simply HAVE to get my photos done for the Fair - they have to be set up this coming weekend!

Need to get serious about securing the "brooder" pool for the meaties, they will ship on the 20th. I plan to feed them medicated starter the first week, maybe 2?


too much effort to even think and type... I'll try again tomorrow

 

[Farmfresh]

I got the crud too. I hope you feel better soon. Get plenty of rest.

May I ask WHY are you planning on feeding the medicated feed? I never do.

New babies fresh out of the shell should not be contaminated with any diseases or bacteria, so why feed them medicine? All they need is plenty of un-medicated feed, fresh water and warmth.

I have been raising meat birds for about 20 years and have a very good success rate. It is fairly normal to lose a chick or two, sometimes even the healthy looking ones just aren't right inside and either don't eat or just don't digest correctly. But medicated feed won't stop those losses.

If you have any questions about raising your new babies I would be happy to help anyway that I can. My broilers are ready to start butchering this week sometime. I weighed them today and most of them are at 4 1/2 pounds. They are at 45 days old today.

 

[AL]

Since they will be in a run previously used by my (healthy) chickens and visited by wildbirds, I guess I was just under the impression they should get medicated feed.
I most assuredly will take you up on your offer
This was total impulse and I feel unprepared. (not that I am OCD about preparation or anything.... I have already been googling about the butchering process and the chicks aren't even hatched yet!).

Temps are running in the mid 50's to 60's at night - my plan is to keep them in a totebin in the bathroom for the first week, then move them outside in a "pool brooder" under shelter of tin roof and tarp walls. I figure to put hardware cloth over the top of the pool and then put my brooder light over one side with food and water on the other side. Then after a week there, just putting down some litter of some sort (shavings, hay?) and hanging the brooder light in a corner.

ETA - will I even be able to tolerate them in my house for a week? I have been reading tons about the amount of poo and general stink