WELCOME TO CHICK-N-CAM!

Hello to all the chicken fans out there and thanks for stopping by - A very special welcome to all our friends from the BYC forum! We broadcast 24X7. If you happen to see the 'offline' video image above, that means our limit of 15 viewers or our bandwidth limit has been exceeded - please try back another time.

2008.05.07...On Hatch watch - Final numbers

Started with 28 beautiful green eggs... tossed 5 clears at day 10....tossed one more quitter on day 19...22 eggs into the hatcher...1 pipped too low on the egg and suffocated...16 live babies in the brooder...5 never pipped. 70% - not bad for shipped eggs!

Since we have cuties in the bator now, I'll be broadcasting the peacock palace during daylight hours and switch over to the brooder for evening/night.

2008.05.05...On Hatch watch (again)..update!

10:30pm eastern...5 babies moved over to the brooder and one hanging out deciding whether or not to come out of the egg or not. There are at least 6 more eggs pipped and one right there in front zipping like mad. Going to be a looonnnngggg night...

2008.05.05...On Hatch watch (again)!

There are 22 ameraucana chicken eggs ready to hatch starting today. I've moved the webcam over. As of 10am on the 5th we have 2 pips...! Hatch watch has officially begun!

2008.04.29...They are FERTILE!

I set 6 peahen eggs on the 19th and began the long wait until I could candle to see if there was any developement...and finally on the 27th.....veining in all 6! So the ladies DO find the peacock appealing after all!

I've got development in 23 Ameruacauna eggs too, so we should have lots of fun hatching viewing startig next week sometime.

2008.04.16...It's SPRING and hatching time again!

Hope you have been enjoying watching our peacock strut his stuff. If you've tried to view and missed us lately, it's because we've had internet problems off and on over the plast week, but HOPEFULLY the cable company has finally come through to stabilize my high speed connection so the feed should be up most of the time.

In other news... the bator is full again with lovely GREEN chicken eggs. I'm hoping for a good hatch and will put the hatch-cam up when we start getting pips. They are due to hatch out around May 5th. We also have 3! peahen eggs so far. They have finally started to lay and hopefully we will have fertile eggs. I'll be putting them in the bator to test fertility as soon as I can get a couple more collected.

Nothing like warm weather and spring time babies!

2008.04.07...Huh?? Those are some MIGHTY big chickens..??!!??

Nope...those are our peafowl! I've moved the camera over to the peafowl pen as it is breeding season and our peacock is determined to make a good impression on his ladies. We have two peahens and one peacock, and our gentleman is doing all he can to entice the girls. He is displaying now all throughout the day, but especially during the late afternoon and early evening.

Our chicken girls will be back once breeding season is done and our peacock goes back to being quiet and boring again!

2008.03.25...Where did all the chickens go?...Part 2

With SPRING in the air around here and the grass growing beautifully, we are letting the chickens free range out into the larger fenced-in backyard sometimes. I'm hoping they will not only enjoy the abundant grass and goodies in the back yard, but also give their yard some time to recover from a winter of scratching and foraging chickens. So...if you miss the big girls, they may just be out and about in the back yard.

2008.03.12...Where did all the chickens go?

You may notice a sharp reduction in the number of chickens wandering around the pens. Two of the boys went to a fellow BYCr who lives in the next little town over, and the other 8 were delivered to another BYCr who lives in Eastern TN. We had a great time this past weekend taking a mini-trip with the kids to Ashville and over to TN to meet up to get the baby roos to their new mamma. Hope they are behaving! At least their neighbors won't mind the crowing. We did keep one roo - Dusky - one of the silkies. He is doing all the crowing we need - at least it's only for a little while in the morning, and ONLY when the sun is up.

2008.02.26...Integrating the Flock & A CROW!

We moved the baby Buff Orps into the larger area with the big girls this week. While they have had a few squabbles working out the pecking order, it's gone reasonably smoothly and it's MUCH more room for everyone! You can see the Buff Orps easily on the cam - they are the ones that are completely golden in color. There are 7 among the big girls. Four are baby roos that will be going to another home, and the other three will be staying as permanent residents.

I heard the first crow today - from Blackie the silkie cockerel. While it's been fun to watch these guys grow up, unfortunately we won't be able to keep all these roosters in our flock long term. We've got WAY too many roosters for the number of girls and there would be constant fighting. 4 of the 7 Buff Orps are boys, 2 of the 7 Barred Rocks, and 5 of the 9 Silkies. The usual ratio of roosters to hens is about 1 rooster for every 8-10 hens. More than that and there is usually a lot of fighting and too much attention for the ladies. I'm hopeful we've got them a new home and will be meeting up to deliver them in the next couple weeks. I'm sure the neighbors AND the girls will be glad! 11 roosters in a flock of 22 would not go over very well with either the neighbors OR the chicken girls!!

2008.02.19...Growing, growing!...

Wow, didn't realize it'd been so long since an update! We are averaging about 3.5 dozen eggs a week now from the 8 big girls! It's great to be able to share eggs with friends and family, not to mention our weekly 'egg' dinner courtesy of our chickens!

The baby chickens are all doing well. A couple weeks ago 4 of the Barred Rock babies went to a new home with a fellow BYC'er from the Raleigh area, so we're down to 7 BOs, 7BRs and 9 silkies in the small pen. The babies are growing really fast now, and we'll be moving the ones that will be staying with us long-term into the coop with the big girls in a couple weeks. I did take some time this past week to raise up the small pen's ChickNBarn on stilts. When the barn was on the ground, it was very hard to clean, but now it is much easier with the wire floor and it being elevated. It's taken a week of literally putting the chickens to bed to get them used to going up the ramp, but I think they are FINALLY starting to get the hang of it on their own.

In other poultry news...we have added a trio of peafowl to our menagerie. Unfortunatly their run is out of camera range, but if the tax man is nice to me, maybe I can get another camera for their area soon!

2008.01.24...Update...

First,the sad news...Hoppy the one legged chicken did not survive the recent cold snap. For details you can check out my blog link above. In other news, the chicks from the brooder have moved out in the silkie pen. The camera will be on the outside view now 24x7, although there won't be much to see during night hours, eastern US time...

2008.01.13...FIRST EGG

Whoo-ooo! The girls cam through for us today! egg!!

2008.01.07...Happy New Year!...

Happy New year to everyone! The weather here has gone from 17 degrees two days ago, to 70 this afternoon - crazy! The silkie babies handled the cold just fine with the heat lamp in their coop. They are growing really fast now. You can seem them in the smaller pen during the day when the broadcast is of the outdoor chicken pen.

The Barred rock and Buff Orp babies are now almost three weeks old. I've had to split them into two separate brooders as 19 chicks in one brooder left little room for anything else! The inside cam is on after around 6pm eastern and is pointed to the 'hen pen' for now.

Finally, we are STILL waiting for eggs from the big girls. They are now 22 weeks and counting....it can't be TOO much longer...can it??

2007.12.27...Moving Day...

The Silkie babies moved out to the ChickNBarn today. It's a beautiful warmish sunny day and the weather man is not calling for any freezing temps for the next week or so. Hopefully this will be a permanent move unless we have any bitterly cold weather in the next couple of weeks. They are having a blast scratching and stretching their wings!

2007.12.25...A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!...

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Santa brought my present early and the new outdoor cam is installed and running. If you tune in during the daytime hours (East Coast, USA) you may see the big girls outside OR the brooder.

The chicks are growing fast now. They have their baby feathers coming in and are beginning to believe they can fly. It won't be long until they will have to go on lockdown with a cover for their brooder to keep them from flying all over the house.

2007.12.21...Final Tally...

Hope you all enjoyed the hatch watch! Final count is 19 happy chicks. I've moved the cam over to the brooder so you can watch them do their cute chick things. There's one guy with a touch of splayed leg and you might see her hop by with her bandaid brace on. The yellow chicks are Buff Orpingtons and the Black chicks are Barred Rocks. They have a LOT of growing to do!

2007.12.19...On Hatch Watch...day 3...

Day 22....10am - we have 8 Barred Rock babies and 2 Buff Orps on the ground. Most of the other eggs have at least pipped - stay tuned thoughout the day to see more hatches!

2007.12.18...On Hatch Watch...day 2...

Day 21....noon - I hear cheeping!!
11:30am....two pips - the eggs just behind the pink water wiggler!
8am eastern....nothing yet....

2007.12.17...On Hatch Watch...

The webcam is focused on the incubator at the moment. It's day 20 and we're expecting pips and zips any time now. Keep checking back and see the babies coming out as it happens! If the view is very bright looking, it's because the light bulb in the incubator is on - once the light cycles off, the view will improve...

2007.12.15...Silkie update and an change in view coming next week!

All the silkie babies are doing great - even Hoppy seems to finally be growing with her extra times at the food dish. Since the weather here has been so unseasonably warm, the babies did get several afternoons this week out in the big pen to enjoy the warm sun. It's back to December weather now, so their outdoor time will be limited for another few weeks while they finish feathering out and are ready to handle the colder temps. They will be 5 weeks on Dec 18th and are really starting to work out the pecking order. You might even catch them neck wrestling from time to time.

Starting early next week I'll be moving the webcam into one of my incubators for hatching fun. I've got 26 eggs due to hatch out sometime starting Monday - Wednesday of next week. Check back early next week and see if you catch the eggs hatching!

2007.12.08...Did you miss us?

If you tuned in earlier today, you may have wondered where the silkies were. They had their first outing today! It was too nice outside to keep them cooped up in the brooder. It got up to over 70 degrees here today, so off to the ChickNRun we went with our silkies in hand. They had such a good time scratching around in the grass and pecking at EVERYTHING. It's an awfully big world when you are only 5" high! They are all sacked out in the brooder now - everyone is totally tired out after their exciting day.

2007.12.04...Hoppy news

Lots of people are following the progress of Hoppy, the famous one legged chick. I've been worried about his/her progress, and decided that the suggestion to separate Hoppy for part of the day to get some one-on-one time with the feed would help boost growth and energy. I'm very glad to report that today Hoppy got his/her crop filled SEVERAL times and I'v discovered the trick - moist feed! I'm hopeful that we'll continue to see improvement. So, if you miss Hoppy, it is probably just feedin' time!

2007.12.01...Crookneck update

Looks like our crookneck problem was due to a bump or peck on the head. She is doing much better today - basically back 100%. The brooder got a complete litter change and cleaning this morning and now the babies are having fun sorting through the new pine shavings. You might even catch one taking a pseudo dust bath in the shavings - too cute!

2007.11.28...2 Weeks Old!

The chicks are two weeks old now, as of yesterday! Their wing feathers are coming in and they are starting to work out the 'pecking' order. You may just see them doing their strut and flying at each other. It's sort of funny to watch these babies trying to do the big-chicken things!

We have another chick not doing as well...maybe we should set up another brooder for our 'misfits'. One of the partridge chicks has a crookneck problem, probably due to an injury from one of the other chicks' beaks. And of course, Hoppy is still hopping around - not gaining weight as quickly as I would like to see, but still eating and drinking well.

I've made a few adjustments to the stream settings so the image is a bit clearer - hopefully you'll get a clearer view of the brooder!