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Post by Cluck N Waddle on Jan 5, 2009 20:46:14 GMT 8
He has handled it all so well, I'm so proud of him. We had hoped to bring him home today but couldnt. He had his ultrasound this morning (dont know the results yet) but the docs also wanted him to have another blood test and pee test. The poor lil fella has been a human pin cushion in the last couple of days lol. They took blood from his elbow yesterday, then they tried today but couldnt find a vein because he's so chubby. So then they tried his hand but no luck there either. Finally ended up finding a good vein in his foot so that they could get enough blood to do a clot test. So hopefully all his test results will be good and maybe we can bring him home tomorrow. I was supposed to stay down there with him tonight but my OH was really tired and I didnt want him driving so I said I'd come home. I took a quick piccie of the chicks for you guys, the colours dont look quite the same in the photo. The splash chicks are silver not white like they look in the pic.
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Post by fluffychook on Jan 6, 2009 7:10:46 GMT 8
Poor baby, but it is amazing how well they cope, better than us I reckon. As for your chickies, I could be looking at my own hatch by the colours. I was really disappointed I lost my silver one, but the others are doing well. With my first hatch I finished up with a couple of whites and the rest dark blues. I lost the splash one from that batch as well. But the good thing is I have both male and female in the blues.
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Post by Cluck N Waddle on Jan 6, 2009 16:58:43 GMT 8
We were finally able to bring the bub home today He'll be on medications for quite a while and has to have another kidney ultrasound in early Feb to see whether he might have reflux but he's feeling much better. The chicks are doing well, I lost another chick from my own eggs today which was a shame. Disappointing that you lost both splash chicks fluffy. How's the yellow legged one coming along? Are the legs still getting darker? I had a quick look at my pinkish legged one this arvo and its legs are now pretty much the correct colour, just a little dull and have a yellow tinge to the undersides. I look forward to seeing what colouring/patterning it is when it feathers up. Could we see a pic of your older blues fluffy? Now that you've got a blue pair you can breed them and get some splash chickies I'm going to have a blue/black/splash pen, roos and hens of each colour all running together so that I get all 3 colours from each batch I incubate. So I think my aim for next season will be to get some good blacks, hopefully incubate some more D Gregory eggs and find some clean buffs. Hurry up next season! lol
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Post by fluffychook on Jan 6, 2009 19:31:06 GMT 8
Great that Tane has come home. Gee I hope he does not have reflux, it is a terrible thing. My OH has chronic reflux and is on medication for the rest of his life. If he misses a tablet by mid morning he is starting to hurt. As for the chicks, the yellow legs have totally gone and they appear about the same colour as the rest. I am thinking along the same lines as you with putting all my blues/splash together. I have yet to find a pure black and I have already told D Gregory I will probably be back for more eggs....lol. I really want a silver chick to see what it turns out like. As for my older blues, I was looking at them tonight before I put them away and thought you could easily mistake them for black. Then one of my older hens went near one and she has a black pom pom and you could easily see the difference. So I will try and get pictures of the blues near a black pom pom and hope that my not so great camera will pick it up. I too am looking forward to when my D Gregory chicks are mature to see what colour they turn out. So impatient.....lol
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Post by mikemurphy on Jan 6, 2009 20:28:56 GMT 8
I found your description of the hatching fascinating as I don't have an incubator and rely on my mums to do it all themselves. I don't hear pipping and I don't candle, just wait for their little heads to peek out from mum's feathers. Sometimes I hear them cheeping before I see them and q
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Post by mikemurphy on Jan 6, 2009 20:36:50 GMT 8
oops, that went without me meaning it to. As I was saying, quite often I see the mother's feathers moving when there are chicks under her. I have a gold laced wyandotte at present with at least five guinea fowl keats that hatched today. Expect to see more in the morning. Hope your bub is okay Steph. We had a baby in the house over the weekend and I had forgotten how delightful, and demanding they can be. I took its mum and dad out in the boat to do some fishing while my wife baby sat, and we had to be back at the jetty in time to meet her there for the baby's next feed. Fortunately its dad had caught a nice silver bream, so he was happy, and I think its mum enjoyed the short break.
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Post by Cluck N Waddle on Jan 7, 2009 6:04:27 GMT 8
Demanding yes but oh so delightful, Tane' pulled himself up to a standing position against his rocker last night. We were surprised because he's only been kneeling up against things for a week now. I think he's gunna be walking before I know it Fluffy, I have also expressed my interest in more eggs from D Gregory next season lol. Look forward to seeing the piccies of the blues next to blacks because as you say, the dark blues could be mistaken for blacks couldnt they. Mike, I have always used broodies to hatch my chickies and like you I never candled or interfered with the hatching. I just waited to seeing movement or hear cheeping under mum. I still dont tend to bother my hens when they are sitting, they know what they're doing. But this season I bought an incubator so it has been an interesting learning curve hatching artificially. I'm going to buy a hygrometer for my bator before next season so that I can better control the humidity and I think its probably a good idea if I invest in an auto turner at some point
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Post by fluffychook on Jan 7, 2009 7:15:46 GMT 8
And before you know it they are runnging, then they are off to school, then getting married and then having babies of their own. I really miss my little girls, but they have to grow up. I am so fortunate that I have a huge imput into the lives of my grandchildren, we have a very close relationship.
I have yet to use a broody to hatch eggs as my hens tend to be nest hoppers as they have been still young. I am watching Juliette this time to see if she stays put in one nest, if so I will give her some eggs if any of the ones in the incubator are fertile. (My rooster is on holidays at my sisters). I really miss him and can't wait to get him home, the place looks all wrong without him. As for auto turner, I don't know how you do it without one, especially with a young child. With my grandson around all the time and needing to be watched 24/7 I would not be able to incubate.
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Post by Cluck N Waddle on Jan 7, 2009 9:12:03 GMT 8
Its muchhhh less stressful letting a broody sit on the eggs. No worrying about overheating, even in the middle of summer, she knows how to keep the temp just right. In my case, not needing to remember to turn the eggs twice a day . And then not having to raise the chicks when they're born. How do I manage without an auto turner, well not too badly really, although I do look forward to day 18 when I dont have to turn them anymore lol. I write up a chart that I keep on the fridge door with each day written down the page and columns for morning and night. I then make sure that I tick the appropriate box each time after turning. That way I seem to manage to remember to turn the eggs
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