Messages

571

Exhibiting & Promoting / spring 2015 shows for North and south Carolina

« on: January 12, 2015, 09:29:29 PM »

The next newsletter is due to go out March 1 which will be in time for a few shows in our area.  I can plan to make the Forsyth Show and the Greensboro show.  Given that we hope to have at least three members showing, and I expect we can muster members for these two shows for sure.  Beth, would you please set meets for these shows before the newsletter deadline?  Which shows do the other members think are good matches for your show schedule?

I copied the following list from the Poultry Central website.  I know that the Forsyth show date is correct but we will need to confirm the other dates.  There was a show in Morganton the second week in Jan, who knew?   And the Unifour show is March 1 at the Rowan Co Fairgrounds, but it will be too late to be called as an ABC meet.           
 
Cape Fear Poultry Association Smithfield NC   March 14, 2015
   Wilbur Hanley   langshanman@gmail.com
   http://www.capefearpoultryassociation.embarqspace.com/#/forms/4536250598


Forsyth Fowl Fanciers Spring Show, Winston-Salem, NC     March 28, 2015
 Mark East   PO Box 17151, Winston-Salem, NC 27116
 (336) 341-9281     statefan10@yahoo.com

Carolina Feather Fanciers Assoc. "Southern Hospitality" Greensboro NC   April 11, 2015
  Karl Urshel  Before 9 p.m. EST M-F   336-791-0141
  cffa@academicplanet.com

   

572

Website Changes / Re: Website Gallery

« on: January 12, 2015, 03:56:54 PM »

They've all worked fine for me Susan.  The previous approach was a little tricky getting to the middle pictures like several have mentioned, but were easy to access without clicking.  The current bantam gallery is great too.   One thing, the enlarged picture comes up compressed in width compared to height.  Might be a problem with my computer settings?   
               (much better Susan, thanks!)

BTW, are you doing the newsletter too, if so is the deadline for the next one March 1 or prior to this date?  Also how long do the spring show dates need to be announced before the actual show date?

Thanks for all the hard work!

573

Housing, Health & Hatching / Re: Please help with incubation

« on: January 07, 2015, 11:19:27 PM »

The sportsman type unit was designed to continuously incubate and hatch eggs every week or two and lots of folks use them that way.  You will have to bump the humidity hard for the last 4 days or so to have the humidity for the hatching tray. Getting the 75% target this time of year is tough unless you have it in a damp basement.  Some folks use a small hovabator for hatching. 

Its great if you can buy another incubator of some sort for hatching to avoid the mess and cross contamination from the hatching eggs and drying chicks.  Its amazing how much down they shed the first few days and the fan will pick this up and distribute throughout the whole incubator.  The down will cover the water tray and clog any moisture pads as well as coat the other eggs.  Humidity will drop until you clean it all again.  If you decide to go this route, you might want to clean the unit pretty thoroughly when you pull the last chicks of each hatch.     Good Luck with your hatch!

574

Ameraucana Marketplace / Re: Breeding pairs available

« on: January 04, 2015, 08:13:54 AM »

Diane,  we are near Charlotte and I am remiss in getting the photos.  I hope to get out there with the camera once we get a good day of sun again to dry everything and get some better light. 

Drop me an email with your contact numbers and we can figure out the best way to get pictures and info back your way.   Thanks!   drc

575

Ameraucana Marketplace / Re: Breeding pairs available

« on: December 28, 2014, 12:51:20 PM »

I'm not a great IT or photographer but I will try to take a couple basic pictures of a few of the BW once we have a little sun here and I'll drop you an email.  These are mostly young birds in grow out pens and not in conditioning settings.  I hope to set up some conditioning pens again this spring. 

576

Ameraucana Marketplace / Breeding pairs available

« on: December 26, 2014, 07:04:28 PM »

We are sorting thru our stock for spring breeding and have birds available.  We are located in NC and would love to help new folks get started in our area.  We have not shipped and would prefer to meet you at shows or have you come pick up birds.

Large Fowl:

         remaining pair of Buff LF has been promised    Hope to have more this fall.    $50/pr 

Bantam; silver and Lavender  $30/pr
We have a few AOV "Birchen color" out of Curtis Becks silver line if anyone wants a start.   $30/pr

We will have a limited amount of hatching eggs available later in the season.  We don't try to push the birds early in the season, so we start hatching much later than most, usually April and May.

Feel free to email with questions.  drccash@yahoo.com  Thanks! 

577

Housing, Health & Hatching / Re: Lice and Mites

« on: December 06, 2014, 08:34:47 AM »

Ashes are typically very alkaline, and can be used in the garden to raise the ph of the soil.  (The Charcoal from the ashes is used in some gardening methods, thought to extend soil nutrients)  The ashes also should have some effect on odors like the post on lime mentioned sometime back.  I have seen wild birds dusting in the ashes of our fire pit.  My guess is they could make the coop very dusty if you use lots. I'm not sure if the high ph could hurt the skin on the birds.  Why not try a test dust box in one of the pens mixing the ashes and dry sand.  It's worth a try.  See if it makes a difference on the birds in that pen first.   

The pigeon folks have been using tobacco stems in their lofts/nests for many years to repel insects too.  I expect there are other plants that might help in this same way. 

Good luck, and let us know how it works.

578

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: Winston Salem

« on: November 30, 2014, 12:38:09 PM »

On a side note, I wished that they didn't normally save the AOSB for last minute. (IMO It might be a nice change for the secretaries to switch up the judging order once in a while.). Late in the day everyone is tired, ready to go, And some exhibitors, not to mention names (OE crowd), throw the whole show hall into chaos grabbing and running as soon as their classes are finished.  We had a minor disaster where a bird was stolen in an aisle where the judge was still working.  Luckily it was a mistake and all settled down after the disruption.  I know one day shows are stressful for many, but I'm not sure what we can do to reinstate some decorum, common respect in the show halls.

579

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: Winston Salem

« on: November 30, 2014, 12:31:07 PM »

It was good to have such a good turn out with numbers of exhibitors and entries.  And it was great to meet Maggie and Renee as well as a few other AM breeders that are not current members.  I was so busy visiting that I did not get pictures and counts.  But there were a lot of good blacks there, a few blues and just a scattering of the other colors.  I know that John had best Wheaten and Jim Wheeler had best and reserve white.  Maggie showed one bird and she was reserve Blue.  Renee had best and reserve Lav and I'm not sure how her blacks did.  We need to entice a few exhibitors to join the club.   We also need to have more bantams shown as well.  There were only two exhibitors in these classes.  Jeff and Cheryl did not leave many scraps for the rest of us.  But I'm really glad to see the AMs getting more than a sideways Glance.  Tim Bowles did a good job.  I did enjoy the day talking with all the folks that attended and showed.  It was a great day all around and it's good to see many folks interested in the breed in the area.  I hope that more will be able to come for smithfeild Next month and for the upcoming spring shows.  Btw, I don't think we've called for meets in the winter/spring.  What is the time line for spring meets John?

580

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: Winston Salem

« on: November 28, 2014, 03:52:15 PM »

Jeff and Cheryl,  I wish I could offer you a better weekend.  We are going thru the same cold front that is passing thru your neck of the woods.  It is supposed to be partially sunny but will start off below freezing in the early hours.  Then we are supposed to have a slow climb to low 50s but it's going to take most of the day.  I think there will be very little wind so that might help somewhat. 

You might take some time early in the morning and tour Old Salem.  It's a rebuilt community of historical buildings with the brothers house, silver smith, bakery, that sort of thing. It's very interesting with tour guides in costume and very nice old half timbered structures, cobbled streets as well as an active Salem college.  It should be dressed for the holidays already as well. The whole city turns to the Moravian traditions for,the holidays.  At least you can be inside most of the tour and have some old fashioned moravian love feast rolls and something hot to drink.  You could check the website if you're interested to check costs and times.  Otherwise, wear some extra layers and hang out around the farmers market that usually sets up in the building next to the poultry barn. 

I look forward to seeing you there tomorrow.  I should get there about an hour before the judging starts if all goes as planned.

581

Housing, Health & Hatching / Re: Heating for the winter

« on: November 22, 2014, 11:15:00 PM »

We've never heated our coops in NC even when the unusual cold days/nights happen.  These colder nights usually only happen a few at the time for us.  We don't have the extreme lows that the Canadian border states experience.  I wouldn't be surprised if some folks use heat tape or water heater bases to keep water open for the birds to drink.  I'm curious if the breeders in these states provide supplemental heat in their coops as a rule for the winter months.

Our best pens have wire on some portions of at least three sides.  This provides ventilation for our longer summer heat.  So we close up the north, east and western sides of the pens to stop drafts.  We might even close the upper wire sections on the southern exposure with plastic to capture a bit of the bird's heat from the roosts and any sun during the day.  We've always been told that condensation from closing the coops too tight would cause more illness.  We do offer them a bit of corn when we know the weather is turning to extremes for us.  This gives them a bit more calories for body heat and makes them a bit more active if offered in the form of scratch feed tossed on top of the litter. 

582

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: WFF Results

« on: November 17, 2014, 06:13:04 AM »

Nice lacing on the blue wheaten and the muff color is really strong.  They appear young still, how old?   The wheaten cage looks like it has feathers.  Is he molting by chance?

583

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: North Carolina fall shows

« on: November 10, 2014, 07:39:07 AM »

Maggie,  Mark is usually pretty quick to respond.  You may have been slotted into spam. I will send you an email that Mark sent me this week with an attachment. In-state Birds can be Tested by the state folks as you enter the show or with testing papers within 90 days.  I think outofstate birds have to have tests within 21days if I remember correctly. I can send health regs to anyone interested or just search for nc ag poultry show rules.  Please let me know if you have additional questions.   Looking forward to meeting you there.

584

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: Great News for 2015 Ameraucana National Meet

« on: November 09, 2014, 02:56:29 PM »

Sounds good Paul.  Please keep us posted on info as you work out the details.  I was able to get one of the show bulletins to open, but I'm sure things will change especially since it's a two day show. 

http://www.hotopa.com/uploads/2/9/5/4/2954678/123.pdf

Where did you stay and do you recommend the same hotel for next year? 
Do they have camping on the fairgrounds and if so what are the prices, services available?

585

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: Masters Cup Poultry Show

« on: October 31, 2014, 06:57:01 AM »

Ronnie Lopes is scheduled to be the emcee for the event.  If you've never met the crazy folks from Bermuda then you're in for a real treat.  A mix of Brits, Portuguese and a few more cultures really makes for an unusual melting pot.  The island is a tiny Mecca for the wealthy, tax corporations, and cruise ships.  So the islanders hop over to our big island for education, shopping and to just get away.    Ronnie is 90 miles an hour in improv mode, everything from song to impersonations to sound effects.  You'll probably forget you are at poultry show once he gets warmed up.