Good Morning! <=2017

SandyM · Post by **SandyM** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:00 am

WLLady wrote:QR_BBPOST
i gotta order the fencing for the turkey pens....need to do that very very soon! it would be really nice to let them out, but the wild turkeys are hanging around way too close to the barn-i swear the girls inside are pulling them in (maybe will make hunting season easier? one can hope!)...i don't want to lose any birds to the great outdoors! i see TSC has 10x10x6 dog kennels on sale again today...hm....

Order fencing from where?? I want to get ducklings (just a few!) but I need to create a pen area to contain them for a little while. This sounds like an easier way out. :)

Post by **WLLady** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:33 am

i was just thinking of ordering dog kennels...from TSC. they sometimes have them on sale 50% off. 10x10x6.. but my issue is the ground out the south of the barn is sloped, so a dog kennel will not meet the barn flush....i would have to build the ground up to level out there, or skew the kennel side panels. which is a possibility.

okay, what do people out there know about ground source (geothermal) heat pumps? like em? hate em? we are at the point where we need to do major HVAC work, so nows the time to decide once and for all. from what i understand one of these systems if undersized WILL fail to heat/cool properly. i have ONLY heard from people dissatified-but those are the people that are vocal about it...people that are happy with it generally don't say much online about it. just looking for first hand experience....we have the right kind of land, and high ground water etc for the pipe runs....i have one friend that used an open loop system into a pond who's pump actually froze one winter....but i think we figured out that was an undersized system (grossly) installed incorrectly-pipes 200 feet into the pond, open loop, and into a pond that is fed by ground run off water and may potentially freeze solid in winter.....so....

beautiful morning.
I might have a new "breed" of turkey. the headless, neckless type...lol. This is my red palm girl...she's FINALLY gone broody. has 2 eggs under her. I'm going to find a nesting box for her today and get her all snug and comfy in the corner out of the way. I've been waiting for her to brood!

Took all the unhatched eggs from the lavender palm girl last night. she has 2 hatched, and 1 pipped peeping egg that i left with her. candled the rest and they all look perfect, so i threw them (gently) into the incubator to finish. one of the poults got lost when i lifted mom off the nest and she called it back in all mom-like

yay! and then tucked it in under her all snug. so i think she'll be a good mom. if the others hatch i'll introduce them to her in the middle of the night. and see how that goes-on the weekend when i can watch her closely.

Wow can these guys ever make a huge mess in short order! i just cleaned that brooder a few minutes before those photos! time to get them onto shavings soon!
it's a busy brooder right now

lots of turkey poults and some dark cornish-there's one high stress chick in there that the flash scares right into the air! it jumps when the flash goes off....and a couple of ameraucanas and easter eggers. yay! I'm headed to the wyoming BST this year, so lots of these guys will be with me there.

hope everyone has a great day!

SandyM · Post by **SandyM** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:37 am

Omg!! Turkeys are soooo cute as babies. Who knew?

ross · Post by **ross** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:42 am

Kathy try making a wood frame 2bys whatever on ground like a garden bx frame to level things out then set kennel on top .You can bury part in ground or cut to angle . Luck

Post by **WLLady** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:49 am

That's a great idea Ross, i would go pressure treated 4x4 probably, since it's a high run off area (eavestroughing from the barn comes out just east and west of the pens). problem is it involves digging...LOL. i really am not keen on digging...i can move lots of dirt with a tractor and build it up...hm. then maybe a low retaining wall down the south side. we will be tearing down the old falling down shed that's there, i could probably leave the one wall in to a foot up, cut off the rest and use that as the retaining wall LOL.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:51 am

Congrats on the babies. Poults are the cutest things ever.

Post by **Home Grown Poultry** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:58 am

I buried them in the ground where need be at the old place when I magically turned 3 10×10s into 3 10×30s. those pens are nice but holy crap expensive. im way to cheap to buy them new hahaha

congrats on the new ones Kathy! hows those reds coming along? of the eggs I got of you I have 9 reds and 1 maran in lock down. 2 maran eggs had tiny little cracks. I put band aids on them but then filled up the rest of the tray with my green band rirs and took them out.

ross · Post by **ross** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:01 am

Kathy , you sure that's a turkey hen & not Donald Trumps hair piece ? Lol

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:09 am

Good morning,
Who knew turkey babies are cute?
Bright and sunny here, DH is borrowing my laptop to do taxes at the library (high speed internet) which is lovely, he is way too polite to be cursing loudly at the library

Taking drop bins out of couple of pens today, partial Spring cleaning, wrist still swollen, so I will be supervising.
My Columbian Wyandotte pen has been together for a week, getting one egg every other day from 5 hens, so I assume a protest of some kind?
Was going to do fertility test next week, I guess thats going to go really fast :)
Have a sunny one!

Colleen Kinzie · Post by **Colleen Kinzie** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:17 am

thegawd wrote:QR_BBPOST

congrats on the new ones Kathy! hows those reds coming along? of the eggs I got of you I have 9 reds and 1 maran in lock down. 2 maran eggs had tiny little cracks. I put band aids on them but then filled up the rest of the tray with my green band rirs and took them out.

Al. I'm not sure if you are serious or pulling our leg here. Bandaids!?
Kathy. Congrats on all the babies!
My 11 make a mess. Have to change paper towel every day
Hopefully it will get warm quick so they can get out of house and into garage