More chicks and Eggs!!

14 May 2010. Late
I have 2 turkey hens, a Bourbon red and a Blue slate that have been laying for a while now. I noticed that they had both been getting out and couldn’t find their eggs. I clipped the wings on them both, and the red started laying in the coop with the chickens. The slate some how managed to keep getting out. Several days ago, she didn’t come home at night. Saw her the next morning, and then she was gone again. Went for almost 3 days with out seeing her and was worried that some thing would get her in the night. We’ve been having a lot of thunder storms and rain, and she still didn’t come home.
Well, this morning we found her, not far out at the edge of the yard under a wild rose bush. Tried to move her nest and she wasn’t having any part of it. There were 11 turkey eggs and 10 chicken eggs. I moved her into a small run I had built out of PVC piping, and put 9 turkey eggs in it. The rest I brought in the house and put in an incubator. Well, 30 minutes later, she hadn’t gotten on the eggs, so I opened the gate and she went back to her nest. Realizing she would stay there, took 7 eggs and put them under her and brought the other two in the house and placed in the incubator. Going to check on her in a while and try to move the cage over to cover her nest. If I can’t move her to the cage, move the cage to her, right? The eggs I have hatched from her this year (she is only a year old) have produced wonder poults that are active and grow well, so far. So I’m excited about having more, and allowing her to raise them will be special, too.

15 May 2010.
Went to the animal auction on Saturday in Bolivar, and they were selling peafowl eggs again. About 18 of them, some one else bought them and then he sold me 3 for $10. So now I have 3 of them. Plan to put them in with the turkey and goose eggs.



Actually, early morning Sunday, 16 May. Put 2 goose, 2 red turkey and the three peafowl eggs in the incubator. Estimate hatch date is 14 June. Figure the nest should hatch a day or so before that.
Cleaned out the incubator that had the big hatch in it. It was really starting to stink. Moved the eggs to another incubator and then cleaned it, and put the eggs back in it. Plus the above eggs. Think I cleaned it well enough, with a 10% vinegar solution. Been mixing vinegar in the drinking water jars at the rate of about 1 teaspoon to a quart. Just enough, really makes a difference in the smell of the water after a few hours and it shouldn’t hurt them. Figure it is better for them than bleach.
Slate hen is still on her nest, going to be such a good mom, stayed on the eggs through all those storms. And to think I was considering getting rid of her. Think I am going to limit my breeding flock by the toms. And if there are some I want to separate, I’ll do that early in the fall or winter and give them separate living spaces. Actually, I’d like to have a few runs I could alternate the birds in, whether it was just to rotate spaces or to separate flocks. And the turkeys are pretty much all I am concerned with right now. Chickens and geese don’t really matter and not sure if I’ll even get a breeding pair of peafowl. What I need to do is get others to diversify the genetic pool and then design a breeding program for them. Need to think about how to identify individual birds and associate eggs to birds so I can keep track of lineage.

17 May 2010
Found the first baby goose dead about noon. Cause unknown. Collected 23 chicken eggs and one turkey egg tonight from the coop, so I put the turkey egg in with the ones I put in last night. I have started writing hatch dates on the end of the eggs, with a number on one side and an “X” on the other. That helps when I turn them and the dates help me keep track of which ones are supposed to hatch when. Next year need to have a better system figured out. I have 4 incubators, so I should be able to get some kind of a system going.
I put a bunch of turkey and goose eggs in the incubator last Tuesday, so I have some blue chicken eggs I got today that I will put in tomorrow, that should hatch the same time as the others.
In looking at my brooding system, right now I am using large cardboard boxes laid on their sides and fastened together. Worked good last year and seems to be doing of this year. Not sure what the problem was with the goose and why it died. It grew so much faster and made such a mess, I really should separate them from everything else. Works better when you have more than one gosling at a time, too. Not sure what to do about that. It is looking like at least 2 goose eggs failed to hatch. Today is the 16th and they are dated the 13th. Guess that about tells the story.

Finally making the trip to Texas to get things out of storage. They were put there on 12 December, you ready for this? 12-12-96!! And we have been paying on them ever since. Making the trip down Thursday, pick it up Friday morning and plan to be back Saturday about noon. That is the plan. And the inventory list is really helpful in reminding me what is in it. Connie packed it, so I have little idea. The hall hat tree is in it, and the wind up clock should be in a box. There are some garden tools and a skill saw. 2 desks and 1 desk chair. And box after box of boxes. 1.5 cf box, 4.5 cf box, large flat box. You get the idea. Just boxes that are PBO. That stands for “Packed By Owner”. Taking both seats out of the van, and getting a small U-Haul trailer. That should do it!And speaking of trailers. Drew has been looking for a way to build hi own place here. Found a 12-42 trailer on Craig’s list for $500. He went and looked at it yesterday and paid for it. So when I get back from Texas, we are going out to jack the thing up and see if my truck can haul it. This is a 70’s vintage trailer, with 2 axles, and I think we can do it. We’ll see, at least. My truck is a 1985 F-250 with a 7.5 liter engine and 4-speed, 4WD. Geared pretty low, so I’m thinking it shouldn’t be an issue. It has to go about 10 miles is all, and it isn’t too bad, no major hills or difficult places. We’ll park it out front until we can get some trees cut down and moved over to be the starting point of the garage addition.