[TheForge] OT: chickens

Thu Mar 17 13:43:54 EDT 2011

Yeah, I've been thinking about it. But, part of the difficulty is not
getting caught by my roommate, who is saying No More Chickens (she
bought the batch that died, and didn't ask for a refund, so she's very
annoyed at the money she lost).

Consequently, I need to help them "accidently" brood a batch.

The thing is, though, up until the weathewr change, everyone was
laying quite cheerfully in the nest boxes I have for them.

On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 1:24 PM, Bruce Freeman <freemab222 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Would it make any sense to "construct" (assemble, throw together, or
> what have you) brooding "boxes" for the hens.  I'm envisioning
> something that you could observe without being seen, so the hens would
> feel like they're hiding.
>
> This works with gravid cats.  They won't nest where you install them,
> but if you set up a box full of towels in a dark closet for them to
> find, they're likely to use it.
>
> On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:
>> Ah, chickens. They're a bit of a mystery.
>>
>> I managed toi keep all 16 guineas through the winter, them lost 3 to
>> traffic once the weather broke, but as near as I could tell, not a one
>> laid an egg. OTOH, my 4 hens were providing me with an average of 3
>> eggs per day, but now that the weather has broken, I'm lucky to get
>> one egg per day.
>>
>> No new peeps this year, at least not from the store, but I'm hoping
>> the vanishing eggs means at least one of them is brooding somewhere.
>>
>> Although I could wish I could catch her/them , and put her/them in a
>> nice safe cage. The 4 I have currently I refer to as my legacy
>> chickens arrived rather mysteriously.
>>
>> I had a black hen that vanished. I did catch sight of her
>> occasionally, so I figured she was brooding, but she had never been
>> very friendly, so there wasn't much I could do about it. One day, as I
>> was heading across the yard, I heard an almighty ruckus. It seems
>> there was a peep standing on the back step and demanding his
>> breakfast. So, I picked him up, and set up a comfortable place for him
>> to eat and nest. An hour later, there was another one in the back
>> yard. I grabbed that one, too, and put it with the first one. Then two
>> more.
>>
>> At that point, I decided that if my back yard was going to sprout
>> chickens, maybe I'd better stick around, in case any more appeared. I
>> put them all up, in a new cage I had set up, and waited, but no joy.
>> Nor, for that matter, have I ever seen that hen since, so all I can
>> figure is that something got her, wherever she was nesting, and the
>> babies got hungry and decided to go find something to eat.
>>
>> Now, this was a very good thing, as far as I was concerned. These
>> babies were the last of the blood line of my beloved Cogburn, the
>> Rooster with an Attitude. I had thought the line was dead when his
>> last surviving daughter had been gotten by the local raccoons, but the
>> black hen was his grand daughter. And, we had ordered and received 25
>> babies from Murray McMurray, all, of which had died within a week.
>> However, the day after all this, the 25 guineas we had ordered
>> arrived, We lost a few of them too, but once everybody was stable, I
>> put everybody in the same cage, and they have thrived.
>>
>> However, I really do wish I could figure out where everybody is laying
>> and put them someplace safe.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 10:41 AM,  <Grover.Richardson at gtri.gatech.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> Now back to chickens:  Tractor Supply Company had chick day and the wife got 6.  Now only 4, but doing well.  Almost time to move them out of the brooder in the living room, to the condo on the deck.  Omelets.
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Saint Phlip
>>
>> So, you think your data is safe?
>> http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/index.html?hpt=T2
>>
>> Heat it up
>> Hit it hard
>> Repent as necessary.
>>
>> Priorities:
>>
>> It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.
>>
>> .I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
>> notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> TheForge mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>>
>> TheForge mail list group photo site is
>> http://www.photoworks.com
>> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
>> Password: anvil
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Bruce
> NJ
> ______________________________________________________________
> TheForge mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>
> TheForge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoworks.com
> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> Password: anvil
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

-- 
Saint Phlip

So, you think your data is safe?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/index.html?hpt=T2

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Priorities:

It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.

.I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow