phoebejo Posted May 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Please welcome Mimi Maguire, Maud & Meredith who arrived yesterday. Many thanks to Little Hen Rescue for going in yesterday to save these girls and so many others. I tried and failed to get a good group shot! Maud Mimi Maguire surveying her new kingdom Maud again and again Meredith, the quietest and shy one I didn't know what to expect. They're very frightened but physically they don't seem too bad. They're all going to have a pedicure later and I think that will help them getting up and down the ramp. They're preferring to stay inside the coop but Mimi is the most confident and she spends a lot of time just staring out into the garden in amazement. Bless their socks, they've all laid today too. Not intentionally but I've ended up with three very different combs so it's easy to tell them apart. Mimi has hers upright, Maud to the left and Meredith like a big floppy sunhat to the right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 They really do need a pedicure, don't they !............poor little buggers, must be so over whelming for them, at least the weather's not to bad for their wee baldy bums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lea Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Well doe for taking them on, they all look lovely and it will be great to see them in a few weeks time when their combs are bright and red Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 (edited) Oh Cheryl well done on taking 3 ex-batts I look froward to seeing them blossom Or even FORWARD - sorry been on the wine! Edited May 24, 2009 by Yantan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesB Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Lovely girls, I can't wait to see them once they are all fat and feathery My three have been helping me to garden this afternoon. Then I cleaned the run and the coop out and they helped me with that. Then I cleaned the garage out and they helped me with that too - I just don't know what I did without them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted May 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I just don't know what I did without them Get it done twice as fast? Mine too also assisted in the cleaning of their coop. This involves poking around in the bin bag of dirty bedding and chucking it on the ground Good news regarding the poorly chicks. They're not 100%, far from it, but I decided to put them in the brooder with the others and just see how they go They're enjoying the company and I hope it encorages them to fight. They don't appear to be in any pain but I do think maybe every day is a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Poorly Orp has progressed in leaps and bounds and is now doing very well. But I've just had to cull Fiver the Dorking He could barely stand up, his eyes kept closing, he wasn't interested in food or anything so I took the decision to let him go It was horrible, he worshipped me, when he heard me talking he'd wriggle along as best he could to get near to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greys mum Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 (edited) for you. Sometimes our pets are meant for a different world and only stay with us for a short time. Edited May 25, 2009 by greys mum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 aw, I am sorry Cheryl, that must have been hard ....................any ideas why some of this lot are so wonky ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickentikka Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Be chirpy at the bridge little Fiver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trallwm farm Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 I'm not starting again, I'd already decided to sell the incubator anyway because I need the money for a shed for the Orps & Brahmas. I've spent a small fortune on eggs this year and I probably would've spent less if I bought the chicks as day olds. It's hard work, it's stressful and although I've enjoyed seeing the healthy ones hatch I really don't want to have to do this again. It looks as if I'll have to cull the poorly two today and I really don't want to but I can't allow them to suffer. I've already arranged to buy some Silkie chicks from my breeder friend this week. The girls from those, along with Emilys Silkie Tiger Lily, can be our broodies and I'll let them hatch some chicks next year. They can't do a worse job than me. A broody hen is the best bet always. She will turn the eggs 24/7 and keep them exactly at the right temperature. There is nothing you could have done with the incubator because you dont know untill it hatches them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 ....................any ideas why some of this lot are so wonky ? Yes, I blamed the manky Wyandotte eggs but this afternoon I've been and had a long chat with a really lovely man who is the incubation expert at Beale Park. He really knows his stuff, has been incubating allsorts for years, chooks, geese, ducks, turkeys, quail, parrots etc etc. He is the husband of Jacqueline at Motherhens Poultry where I buy hybrids & eggs. He's heard my tales of woe via Jacqueline before and is of the opinion the temperature on the incubator is wrong. It says it's the right temperature, my digital thermometer had a different reading and he says just a quarter of a degree makes a huge difference to the chicks. He thinks it cooked them too high, made the chicks so big that they couldn't turn around in their eggs to break free. This actually makes a huge amount of sense after what I've seen this weekend. He advises I try again but this time with a mercury thermometer and take the reading from that and adjust the temperature of the incubator accordingly, regardless of what the thermometer that's already fitted inside it says. I don't want to. I don't want to go through this again I came away with a lot of useful information. And a blue Orp chick and two black Silkie chicks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trallwm farm Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 The " swimmer " is the result of something wrong in the hatcher. It can be temperature ,humidity. Its easily solved but you do need to find the problem before you start again. we have all been there and is a learning curve. the quality of the live ones is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 The new additions! Two black Silkies and another Orp, might be blue, might be splash. And the first photos of the not-so-poorly black Orp. I never thought it'd get this far Little and Large: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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