Page 6 of 21 FirstFirst 123456789101112131416 ... LastLast
Results 126 to 150 of 519
  1. #126
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    Quote Originally Posted by Steady View Post
    The guy is more full of shit than that bucket up there
    I may be full of shit but I called this!


    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    A little '6' was written on each egg (for the 6th June) and the eggs should start hatching on the 24th, in 18 days time.
    On return from the school run this morning I checked our broody chickens.

    This looked promising...



    Oh... it's the 24th June today!



    Back in Biblical times I would probably have been regarded as some kind of prophet.

    I'm also predicting a 2-1 win for England on the 29th!

  2. #127
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Last Online
    08-01-2024 @ 02:29 PM
    Posts
    391
    Its written in the shells.
    The most splendid cock Austin Powers England to rule the roost.

  3. #128
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,534
    ^ On the piss again?

  4. #129
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Last Online
    08-01-2024 @ 02:29 PM
    Posts
    391
    Hell no


  5. #130
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    ^ On the piss again?
    Again implies he stopped.

  6. #131
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    ^^ A glass of Andrews is better than that ridiculous, girly lemon cider you were drinking. You'd get laughed out the pub drinking that stuff down my way!


    After the hatch finished the two hens on the left side of the hutch have five chicks between them. Yesterday they came up off the remaining eggs so I put them underneath other the hens that were still sitting... just in case. When the hens come off the remaining eggs it usually means they know they are bad, but the big eggs from the red hens usually take a couple of days longer to hatch, so you have to be careful.

    I opened up the left side of the hutch today to allow them to take their chicks out into the big, wide world.



    The two hens on the right side of the hutch have two chicks each. This is perfect as so long as they all get a chick or two they will get a chance of motherhood and be happy. If one hen gets no chicks she will stay broody, which means another three weeks sitting on a new clutch of eggs. Can you imagine a female Thai being able to do nothing but lie down for that long?



    And the mighty Fray Bentos saves the day again.



    I checked on Blackie alone in her penthouse suite and she still had no chicks this morning, and no signs of any eggs hatching. I went back to the other hens and found that two big eggs were starting to hatch. You shouldn't really play God but I stuck these under Blackie... besides, the other hens already had chicks.



    An hour later after the dog walks and breakfast I went back to check up on things...

    These two had brought their five chicks outside.



    And Blackie has her first... success!


  7. #132
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Wonderful, I presume you have your daughter helping (and learning) with all this?

  8. #133
    Thailand Expat havnfun's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Happy Land
    Posts
    1,695
    Quote Originally Posted by Looper View Post
    Respect Mendip but it looks like a lot of work for some eggs.

    This was KGBGF's coup in the background. I had the job of dragging it a few metres once a week so that the shitty area was relocated regularly and no cleanup was required as 1 week of shit is just grass fertiliser.

    Attachment 65654

    She used to get several eggs a day from 6 chickens. The silkies eggs were small but the other 4 hens used to lay good sized eggs.

    3 month old kitten learning to hunt.

    Attachment 65655

    The silkies were scared of her but the top pecking order hen took no shit and used to chase the cat away from the other hens.

    Attachment 65656

    Attachment 65657
    Cocks, Snakes and P???y. Was all that was missing to make it the most viewed thread on TD. but you beat me to it with them pics.

  9. #134
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Wonderful, I presume you have your daughter helping (and learning) with all this?
    Yeah of course... she's supposed to be learning for her last science exams on Monday but the real thing beats the books hands down.


    I put two hatching eggs under Blackie early this morning, and whereas one chick hatched within an hour there was little progress for the second. There are two schools of thought... help them out or leave them be. I've found too many chicks that have died at the last hurdle in the past so decided to give this one a helping hand.

    The egg shell was cracked but the chick seemed to be having trouble breaking the membrane inside the shell and it looked exactly the same status as a few hours previously. I think the tough membranes can be caused by humidity problems so I gently ripped open the membrane with a tooth pick. The chick started cheaping and seemed to get some new energy.



    And then I just chipped away a bit of shell to help out. You can see the chick's egg tooth on the end of it's beak. These are purely for breaking the shell and disappear a few days after hatching.



    I checked again an hour later and Blackie now has her two chicks! The second one was still bedraggled and only a few minutes old.


  10. #135
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Last Online
    08-01-2024 @ 02:29 PM
    Posts
    391

  11. #136
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,534
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    Blackie
    King Willy needs to take a look at this.

  12. #137
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    King Willy needs to take a look at this.
    Thanks for highlighting this egregious breach of PC standards. I shall be writing a PM to Mendip outlining my rage and cc the mod team.

  13. #138
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    ^ No need. Blackie is cool with everything.

    Thank God it wasn't her sister 'Darkie' who had the chicks.

  14. #139
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204

  15. #140
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    I checked on Blackie this morning and had a big surprise... she now has five chicks!

    I needn't have given her the two hatching eggs from another hen after all, for some reason her eggs hatched a day later than the others.

    She's still sitting on two eggs which I think are probably bad but I'll leave for another day just in case.



    And there's something that hadn't really registered with me earlier... one of the broody hens and now a young mother is a red, egg laying Warren hen. In all the years I've kept chickens I've never before known one of these Warren hens to go broody... that instinct has been bred out of them as broody hens stop laying eggs. And you can't have that.

    She's being a great mum... I think that this is quite wonderful.



    One chick died in the night, probably smothered by it's mother but that still leaves us with 13 new additions to the flock.

    Over 60% of the eggs hatched which means that while Austin could do better, he's not doing a bad job with around 40 girls to service.

  16. #141
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post

    Over 60% of the eggs hatched which means that while Austin could do better, he's not doing a bad job with around 40 girls to service.

  17. #142
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    After five week all 13 chicks have survived. We only lost the one chick on the first night after hatching.

    All of the chicks roost up in the rafters with their mothers and all the other hens. They have been doing this since the first couple of weeks. I guess this is the safest place to sleep with so many snakes around.


  18. #143
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I guess this is the safest place to sleep with so many snakes around.
    Snakes can climb.

  19. #144
    Thailand Expat
    spliff's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Last Online
    23-01-2024 @ 08:31 AM
    Location
    Upper N.East
    Posts
    2,081
    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Snakes can climb.
    They sure can. I've seen them climb over 10 ft cement walls.

    Oh, incidentally, not exactly work safe that title.

  20. #145
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by spliff View Post
    Oh, incidentally, not exactly work safe that title.


    This thread was posted 2019 and you've just noticed?

  21. #146
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    Blackie
    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    King Willy needs to take a look at this.
    Not just me. We are all responsible for shaping a safe and inclusive environment free of prejudice or microaggressions.

  22. #147
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    Before I left home I had time to say good bye to my chickens... I haven't had much spare time to spend with them lately.

    These chicks are now around 2 months old... by the time I get back home the cockerels will have to go to new 'homes'. We'll keep the hens.



    I'm not sure what to call her now... but here's Non-whitie with her brood. All five of her chicks have survived.


  23. #148
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    When I left for work in August we had thirteen juvenile chicks so on my return four months later there was some work to do.

    The flock was ill at ease due to the adolescent cockerels competing with one another so they needed removing. We take them to join the flock at the local temple.

    Here is our resident cock, Austin, on the right with two adolescents on the left. Austin's a genuine jungle fowl but this makes him smaller than a lot of his offspring, many of which are 50% red egg layers.



    We had five definite cockerels from the new batch of chicks. Here are two of them at the back of the pic.



    And there's this guy/girl who seems to be a bit haa sip / haa sip, but I guess with this being Thailand that is hardly surprising. He/she has stayed with the flock for now to see how things develop.



    These four went off to their new home.



    I also decided to keep this splendid looking boy to see how things go. I hope that Austin doesn't feel any insecurity having a big black cock around but if they do start fighting he will also go and join his brothers at the temple.


  24. #149
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    11,382
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    These four went off to their new home.
    Do they make good eating?

    Just asking.

  25. #150
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    ^ I'm sure they would make great eating... organically reared on natural food with plenty of space.

    Unfortunately I seem to have lost the ability to kill anything more sentient than a fish... so these guys all go to the temple. The monks keep all the cockerels in a large enclosure and they seem to do OK... I'd assumed that they would just eat them as soon as my back was turned. They don't seem to fight so long as there are no girls around. The cockerels, that is.

Page 6 of 21 FirstFirst 123456789101112131416 ... LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •