NY chicken lover!!!!

[featherz]

Featherz,
I will keep the 4 first hatchery birds as pets for their entire live. Everyone else is fair game. I figure paying a few extra dollars a week is ok, because if I did not have this small consolation, I don't think I could do it.(guilt!! guilt!!) Everybody else has freezer camp? written over their heads.

About your electric fence. When the weather changes my fence will act differently. For example, when it rains more things will snap. I think that the grounding becomes better and the fencer more powerful. Also, sometimes a bug or slug will touch the wire and pole and fry. Even though there won't be much of the bug left, the fence will continue to arc. Congratulations on fixing your fence. Electric fencing can be challenging!

I may do the same - I posted them up because I can use the room and they are going stir crazy being locked up - but if I don't find the right home they can stay here. The rest of my chickens I don't have as much guilt about.

My fence charger, although a low end one, is nice because the voltage is displayed on the front. So if it's reading 13 something to 14 something I am good. The day I was getting the snap crackle pop it would go from 13 to 0.7, then back up. Went out at night and found the sparker. I think when we had the wimpy 2K charger on there the problem did not show itself but now that we have POWER it's a bit of a difference.

Bugs don't seem to fry on my fence although I've seen an uptick in dead mice lately. maybe they are tall enough to ground out when on the wire.

Is it safe to use electrical tape on the wire where it comes out of the charger? I think that's one area I ended up with a dead mouse and I think some of the higher flying chicks could get up there. Hubby put insulators on the wire where it passes through the coop wall into the outside, but there's still a small bit of exposed wire. The charger is mounted very high up so the risk is minimal, but I thought maybe I could make it even safer. We do have the insulated wire and I made him use it on the other coop, but it's a lot thicker and harder to work with.

 

[Framac]

will you process your birds to get the numbers down for winter?(home grown taste so much better)!

I will process the boys, not myself as there is a processing facility a few miles from my house that charges a reasonable rate. I will sell some pullets, and probably some year old hens. I am hoping to get down to 30 total, with 4-6 roosters.

Framac

 

[My Henny Hens]

Good Morning! I haven't been able to keep up recently with this thread - life.

Anyhow, I have a broody hen (second time this season for this hen) and I'm hoping someone out there will have pure bred, fertile hatching eggs for sale I can put under her. My flock is all running together right now so I can't guarantee pure chicks. I'm in Oneida and can come pick them up. PM me if you have some! THANK YOU!

 

[Henicillin]

Featherz, I highly recommend Louise's Country Closet for the saddles. They're beautifully constructed and really cute. I have a whole bagful from the Three Rooster Era. Some of the ladies are growing feathers back now that we're down to one roo, but the really popular/willing girls are still saddled up.

Sadly, I had to help my little henny-penny cross the road this morning. When I checked on her this morning, it was immediately obvious that she was suffering. So, I chose to end her pain and let her go. Mercifully, it went very well and was over quickly. She's in cold storage wrapped in a towel now so that Alan can bury her this afternoon, since she was a pet. What a lousy way to start off the day. She has had problems on and off since she was a chick, as she was never a very strong little bird, so I'm not surprised that she didn't live very long - just sad. It's so odd how different the emotions are surrounding a euthanasia compared to processing a bird for food.

There's no sign that a predator was involved in her injury, as there were no open wounds, just missing feathers on her neck. We're going to get a game cam to see if anything is lurking around at night other than me, and good gravy, those photos would be hilarious, as I wear some of the worst getups imaginable out there.

I'm trying to decide if I should let Mrs. B and the New Edition Peeps out of their broody pen today. They're a week old now, and she's very protective, so they'd be OK. However, the run is nasty again, and I don't think I would cope very well were something to happen to a peeper today. They may end up waiting in the clink until I can be around to supervise on Saturday. She doesn't seem to care - as long as I keep the feed coming, she's happy!

 

[Just reebok]

Welcome from SC!

 

[Henicillin]

We do have good Other Animal news - we have new bees (newbies?)! Alan checked the hives over the weekend and saw plenty of shiny young bees among the old, tattered ladies who are reaching the ends of their lifespans, so both queens are good. Go, bees!

 

[vmdanielsen]

I will process the boys, not myself as there is a processing facility a few miles from my house that charges a reasonable rate. I will sell some pullets, and probably some year old hens. I am hoping to get down to 30 total, with 4-6 roosters.

Framac

I can not process either. I have done it in the past, but really don't like to do it. I have not decided how many I will over winter this year. Depends on how many pullets are breeder quality. 30 pullets with 4-6 roosters sounds good!

 

[marquisella]

I may do the same - I posted them up because I can use the room and they are going stir crazy being locked up - but if I don't find the right home they can stay here. The rest of my chickens I don't have as much guilt about.

My fence charger, although a low end one, is nice because the voltage is displayed on the front. So if it's reading 13 something to 14 something I am good. The day I was getting the snap crackle pop it would go from 13 to 0.7, then back up. Went out at night and found the sparker. I think when we had the wimpy 2K charger on there the problem did not show itself but now that we have POWER it's a bit of a difference.

Bugs don't seem to fry on my fence although I've seen an uptick in dead mice lately. maybe they are tall enough to ground out when on the wire.

Is it safe to use electrical tape on the wire where it comes out of the charger? I think that's one area I ended up with a dead mouse and I think some of the higher flying chicks could get up there. Hubby put insulators on the wire where it passes through the coop wall into the outside, but there's still a small bit of exposed wire. The charger is mounted very high up so the risk is minimal, but I thought maybe I could make it even safer. We do have the insulated wire and I made him use it on the other coop, but it's a lot thicker and harder to work with.

 

[vmdanielsen]

I may do the same - I posted them up because I can use the room and they are going stir crazy being locked up - but if I don't find the right home they can stay here. The rest of my chickens I don't have as much guilt about.

My fence charger, although a low end one, is nice because the voltage is displayed on the front. So if it's reading 13 something to 14 something I am good. The day I was getting the snap crackle pop it would go from 13 to 0.7, then back up. Went out at night and found the sparker. I think when we had the wimpy 2K charger on there the problem did not show itself but now that we have POWER it's a bit of a difference.

Bugs don't seem to fry on my fence although I've seen an uptick in dead mice lately. maybe they are tall enough to ground out when on the wire.

Is it safe to use electrical tape on the wire where it comes out of the charger? I think that's one area I ended up with a dead mouse and I think some of the higher flying chicks could get up there. Hubby put insulators on the wire where it passes through the coop wall into the outside, but there's still a small bit of exposed wire. The charger is mounted very high up so the risk is minimal, but I thought maybe I could make it even safer. We do have the insulated wire and I made him use it on the other coop, but it's a lot thicker and harder to work with.

I would always use insulated wire where it passes though a coop(or barn). If it touches something it can be very hard to find and doing right, will save time at another point. I do not like working with insulated wire either, but find it is worth it in the long run. Besides, if you get cob webs or that chicken dander, it does create a very serious fire hazard. Cob webs are very flamable. If you get an arcing wire, you could burn the place down.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Featherz, I highly recommend Louise's Country Closet for the saddles. They're beautifully constructed and really cute. I have a whole bagful from the Three Rooster Era. Some of the ladies are growing feathers back now that we're down to one roo, but the really popular/willing girls are still saddled up.

Sadly, I had to help my little henny-penny cross the road this morning. When I checked on her this morning, it was immediately obvious that she was suffering. So, I chose to end her pain and let her go. Mercifully, it went very well and was over quickly. She's in cold storage wrapped in a towel now so that Alan can bury her this afternoon, since she was a pet. What a lousy way to start off the day. She has had problems on and off since she was a chick, as she was never a very strong little bird, so I'm not surprised that she didn't live very long - just sad. It's so odd how different the emotions are surrounding a euthanasia compared to processing a bird for food.

There's no sign that a predator was involved in her injury, as there were no open wounds, just missing feathers on her neck. We're going to get a game cam to see if anything is lurking around at night other than me, and good gravy, those photos would be hilarious, as I wear some of the worst getups imaginable out there.

I'm trying to decide if I should let Mrs. B and the New Edition Peeps out of their broody pen today. They're a week old now, and she's very protective, so they'd be OK. However, the run is nasty again, and I don't think I would cope very well were something to happen to a peeper today. They may end up waiting in the clink until I can be around to supervise on Saturday. She doesn't seem to care - as long as I keep the feed coming, she's happy!

Amy, so sorry to hear of your loss. It is true-the difference in emotions between putting a pet down and sending culls to freezer camp. Neither is fun, but putting a pet down is...so sad.