baby chicks have arrived!

glenn kangiser · May 24, 2009, 11:40:23 AM

I have on of the square foam box incubators appx 6 inches high x 18"x18". It has an egg turner attachment available and works fine. I'm sure it was under $200

Looks like it was the Little Giant - I found good info on it.

http://reviews.ebay.com/THE-LOW-DOWN-ON-LITTLE-GIANT-9200-INCUBATOR_W0QQugidZ10000000001818156

akemt · May 24, 2009, 09:44:56 PM

About the "what to do with eggs" post...I've read info somewhere about rubbing mineral oil on the egg shells and that they can then be stored unrefrigerated for up to ?3? months. I'd definately research THAT more before trying it out, but it was just a random tidbit from my memory. I do know that my fishing grandparents would go out on the boat for a week at a time or more and didn't have refrigeration and they survived eating eggs.

Also, I read a post somewhere about a woman mixing up her eggs well and then freezing them into icecubes and bagging them up for use when baking in the winter months. I don't know how well it'd do, but better than wasting.

Thanks for the link, Glenn.

May 25, 2009, 12:18:54 AM

No problem, Catherine.

I successfully hatched chicks in the one I have.

Homegrown Tomatoes · May 26, 2009, 10:50:38 PM

Eggs freeze just fine, but if you thaw them, you need to eat them right away. When DH was in grad school and we were living off of what we could raise ourselves, we found that eggs are incredibly edible and learned to make all sorts of interesting things just to use them up. I even made souffles. Egg custard and flan are some of the best desserts to be had, cheap to make if you have your own eggs, and actually at least have some protein where most desserts fall short. One of our favorites was a really simple supper casserole (or could be any meal, I guess, but we usually had it for supper0 that just included eggs, a little cheese, tiny bit of milk, and mustard. We added bell peppers or various greens if we had them, or mushrooms. I didn't get tired of them. DH took boiled eggs with his lunch a lot, because a sandwich isn't always enough to keep him full until supper.

We moved our chicks to the new chicken house yesterday. They seem to like having more room. We still need to finish cutting windows and so forth, but it is nearly done. I'm really proud of it. The majority of it we built in three days with just the two of us. The finishing flourishes are taking time because we've not been concentrating only on it. After all, we're still not really unpacked completely from the move, and there are so many things that need to be done to home and garden.

glenn kangiser · May 28, 2009, 01:09:44 AM

That is great. Our chickens cannot leave the house or they become some animals dinner - maybe some day I'll have time to bury wire and cover the top well.

May 28, 2009, 01:58:14 AM

I'm looking forward to pictures!

Homegrown Tomatoes · May 29, 2009, 12:13:56 PM

Did I mention that the chicken house is not "just" a chicken house? It is a 10' by 12' colossus with cathedral ceilings? It started out in the design phase considerably smaller, but it is built well enough that if the chickens all get eaten by varmits, we could move one of the kids out there when they reach the teen years. It is actually a 2-room chicken house, even.

It's a long story, but suffice it to say that my husband is an engineer.

StinkerBell · May 29, 2009, 01:08:41 PM

I understand, I am married to one of those engineers too.

Whitlock · May 29, 2009, 10:42:58 PM

Pictures please

Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on May 29, 2009, 12:13:56 PM
Did I mention that the chicken house is not "just" a chicken house? It is a 10' by 12' colossus with cathedral ceilings? It started out in the design phase considerably smaller, but it is built well enough that if the chickens all get eaten by varmits, we could move one of the kids out there when they reach the teen years. It is actually a 2-room chicken house, even. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that my husband is an engineer.

May 29, 2009, 11:37:46 PM

We're almost done with it, so I'll snap a few more pics and download them and try to remember my photobucket password again.

Homegrown Tomatoes · May 30, 2009, 12:32:15 AM

This is working on the base of the chicken house.... I may have stretched it a bit... looking at it I think maybe it is only 8' by 10', but it is a 2 room chicken house.

This is after we sort of threw sheets on the wall and a roof on (kinda) because we had to go out of town for a couple of days and had to have some place secure to leave the guinea keets... we didn't have the door framed in at that point, so we just screwed a panel in over the wall so that nothing could get in and eat them... it looked really terrible at this point, but the walls are done right now, and there is a storm door on the end for people access... one room is a feed room and for storing garden tools, and from that room, you can access the chickens' room and get the eggs without actually having to go in, if you want. I took interior pics the other day, and we're getting close to finishing up the exterior, too. Anyway, DH is talking solar panels and all sorts of crazy stuff now, so we'll see... I think it is a lot of work for a darn chicken house.

glenn kangiser · May 30, 2009, 01:13:53 AM

Danger, Will Robinson....

an engineer with a drill....

Homegrown Tomatoes · May 30, 2009, 10:11:39 AM

That's the truth, Glenn! I have some more pics but haven't downloaded them yet. It is funny because the woods are so thick and green now it looks like a different place. I'll take some more today as we continue working on it, too, and if I have time will download them tonight. The work goes a bit slower because we have to work around the baby chickens... I'm wondering if we got all little roosters. They're so funny sparring with each other. We might be eating a lot of chicken instead of a lot of eggs.

I plan to take some more pics around the place today. I'm so glad that we bought it in the winter because now I am continually surprised by how pretty it is. It was pretty ugly during the winter, but is so pleasant and peaceful now.

glenn kangiser · May 31, 2009, 12:37:32 AM

I think ya done real good, Homey.

I thought we had roosters too but - nope - just hens with big combs.
Barred Rock

May 31, 2009, 07:05:24 AM

I thought I was the only one with what looks to be half roosters

We learned a new one yesterday, one got pasty butt, he went off feed, is the runt and looked like he was going to go down. Got him cleaned up and unplugged and he seems to be doing better this morning. Our big dog seems to be guarding them, but its kinda the same way he guards his food bowl from the other dogs. I think we might be having a tete a tete soon

glenn kangiser · May 31, 2009, 09:13:20 AM

I don't even want to think about pasty butt or the remedy....

Homegrown Tomatoes · May 31, 2009, 11:03:39 AM

We got the windows installed in the chicken house yesterday, and the rest of the roof on. The roof is literally just tacked on, as it has been for more than a month now, but it is good and dry, anyway. DH is hoping to get it finished up this afternoon and the girls want to start painting it. It could look pretty interesting, as they painted the picnic table last weekend, ha ha. The chicks seem like every morning when I go out to check on them they are visibly bigger. When I opened the door to feed them this morning, I knocked a moth down and one of the Buff Orps grabbed it and took off running with all the others chasing. A Dominique stole it from the other one and gulped it down before anyone else had a chance at it. They're so comical to watch. I didn't get to download pics last night because DDs talked me into setting up the tent and sleeping under the stars with them, and the baby was so excited about sleeping in the tent, she was making laps inside it.... down to one end, stand up and gawk out the window, crawl back to the other end, running over her sisters and stand up to look out that end, all the while saying, "Look! Cat!" and "Look! Dog!" and "Look, that!" She was hilarious, and I thought we'd never get her settled down to sleep. She did settle eventually, but woke me up at 5 o'clock this morning throwing up. So, I am home from church with her. I think it is probably teething combined with a lousy night's sleep, but just to be on the safe side, we stayed home.

Don_P · May 31, 2009, 08:21:25 PM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on May 31, 2009, 09:13:20 AM
I don't even want to think about pasty butt or the remedy....

The prophet say: This too shall pass

Windpower · June 01, 2009, 01:31:55 PM

One of my favorite egg recipes -- everyone seems to love this

Oeufs Ramone

form a single layer of peeled uncooked medium sized shrimp on the bottom of a 9 X 9 (MOL) 2" deep casserole dish

pour in enough whipping cream to just cover the shrimp

crack enough eggs (about 10 to 12 depending on size) to cover the shrimp and cream (leave the yolks unbroken)

salt and pepper to taste

Sprinkle enough shredded cheese to form a 1/4" (MOL) layer floating on the eggs (I like cheddar and a bit of parmesan)

no mixing, just slide it into a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes or until the cheese just starts to brown

let it sit for about 5 or 10 minutes on the top of the stove (at least that is what the recipe says -- I usually just dig in )

makes a wonderful special breakfast or dinner main course and the leftovers (if there are any) are great too

enjoy

Squirl · June 02, 2009, 07:44:43 AM

All of mine got pasty in the first week. Cleaned them up and they are fine now. Another week or two and I can put them outside.