Chicken Math........huh.......

I am collecting hatching eggs from my colorful Ameraucanas.   My Brinsea bator was incubating 20 eggs..  Eggs were piling up so I ordered a 2nd Brinsea Oce 20.......they hold 20-24 eggs. Delivery 2-3 weeks!  So I borrowed the neighbor's Little Giant styrofoam incubator......loaded it with 32 eggs.
1st bator hatched out 12 healthy big chicks....now the styrofaom should give me 16-20........Lightenung hits, I am gone over night, electricity goes out in part of my house  where the styrofoam bator is plugged in...for only 4 hours...eggs should still hatch......No eggs hatch! So I won't use it again So I have 12 chicks.
I reset my 1st Brinsea bator with 20 eggs  due to hatch July 31st. I set my 2nd Brinsea with 24 eggs due to htach Aug 10th.

I browse the Back Yard Chickem Forum.  Hmm  12+ Black Blue Splash Ameraucana chicks...hmm
This morning I bid and win.....so by mid week I will have 12-14 more chicks......and Let's not forget the 44 eggs in the bator......half will be roosters, so striving for 20-25 pullets to choose my next generation flock.

Ewes are in heaven. It has been said that our grass with all this rain is mostly water, so I give my 7 ewes and 4 lambs one slab off a small square bale....so they have dry matter in their tummies and its spose to buffer their stomachs as well. They are grazing more oftem  They love it when I take them out to pasture and get down some leaves.....yes they are all 'sticky sheep'  I like them tame and to be surrounded by my flock
Augst 6th  I pick up Snap! who carries spots, spotted Abbie and 2 HST marked Finn/Shet ewe lambs  from Gail OOH Boy!
Till Later
Jerry

Lightening!

My computer/telephone line for my computer got hit by lightening early Frday mornign I was gone to my mom's overnight. Came home to elctricity out in half the house, yes one incubator was off......reset the circuit breakers...... It burned out the phone jack, the internet provider box, my tower..I could have had a fire! Later I would learn my monitor and my keyboard destroyed as well........five days without my computer.......I had serious withdrawl symptoms!

Back on line I purchased a used rebuilt computer......with New windows.....got to learn somethign new.....recovered my pictures and documents. lost my email address book and my user friendly Microsoft picture editing program.........its too old to reinstall....ah crap!  So its been quite a week. Saturday I brought home two new shetland ewes.....5 yr old black black renamed "Cinders" and her 2 yr old dau black Ag gray renamed 'Ashes'  Both are drying down well and love my overgrown pasture.....4 acres pasture, lots of rain so lots of grass and only 7 ewes and 4 lambs to eat it down....grazing them till late fall.

I should be hearing chicks peeping by now..its all quiet   Hmmmm.......I hope some hatch out of the 32 eggs!

Stay in the shade if you can!
Jerry

Meet My New Ameraucana Chicks and my Clan!

They hatched of Thursday. Granddaughter Nessie was here to watch them. We got a dozen healthy big wildly marked chicks.........Feathering out will be exciting.......watching for blue feathers.....I got the type and sky blue eggs down pat now for ones with blue feathers


To help it along........a bought a young pair of Blue Wheaton Ameraucanas to cross into my flock
Meet  Boy Blue

Fancy Feathers (yes Nessie named her)  She has a lot of blue feathers on back more than she should but  for my breeding goals She is ideal

The chicken math gone wild.......32 Ameraucana eggs to hatch July 19th.........Sunday I am setting 20 more eggs,  in 10 days the last batch.......of 30 or so eggs that will give me enough to pick out my blues. My Silkie trio has 18 chicks,,,,,and one hen is laying a nest full again.......""here a chick there a chick every where a chick chick Old MacDonald had a farm.......""

To show you its not all sheep and chickens, On Sunday the 3rd we had a Freedom Party at my mom's
Meet is the Fletchers  [my dau Jess and husband Dave were at his dad's]

left to right Me, nephew Mike in shades, my grandson Ryder, dau-in-law Anna, son Ryan holding Tucker, my grand niece Leslie, granddaughter Nessie, Mom and grand niece Savannah

My sister Jeanne

My daughter Jess

 My niece Heidi and finance' Mike

 Having way too much fun and wouldn't have it any other way!
Jerry

Silkies

Silkies everywhere!  a Splash trio. The two hens hatched out 18 chicks  sired by the Splash roo and a Partridge roo. So there should be a few Blue partridge chix. Going for a Kaleidoscope of color
yesterday they were a big hit with the grand kids!   Oh and shucks I like them too
Jerry

Get in or get out!

I decided if I was going to keep chickens I needed adequate space or not keep them. ...hey who said that?!  Of course I am going to keep chickens.......So I built a 8ft wide x16 ft long and 7 foot high pen--varmint and cat proof. As you walk into the barn you see the north side.

 

The south end is a big door.......now a window for plenty of sunshine. Long side is the side of the sheep pen.

 

 

A picture of the Silkies.....i

 

A roo, 2 hens and their 18 chicks. Yes one hen had 7 and the other 11 chix! The 2nd pen is for the Ameraucana chicks. Eggs from Flash2 and his hens.  24 eggs due July 8,   32 eggs July 18-19  and the 3rd incubator (of course there's 3 bators) will be set with 24 eggs to hatch August 1st

This year is 50 years of chickens....just think of all the pens I have built and all the different varieties of chickens/banties/ducks/geese Oh and rabbits  too 3 times>>>>

 

Have a great 4th

Jerry