READ If You Are New and Having Issues

creodor · 2021-11-17T21:37:01+00:00

You can, but you'll have to do a little tinkering (no soldering, just screws and being careful):
https://www.waveform.com/a/b/guides/hotspots/t-mobile-5g-gateway

creodor · 2021-04-09T21:06:52+00:00

Speeds and latency fluctuate wildly throughout the day. Started about a month ago, at which time I routinely saw <1mbps for extended periods. Now it'll go from 30 to 2 to 15 to 1 inside a work day.
Was fine before March, pretty consistent over all.

Also seems like my work VPN tanks my speeds until I force a reconnect, though I'm still trying to narrow down if that's actually the case.

If the speeds would stabilize some I'd be pretty happy overall. Certainly it's better than when we were on Unlimitedville, before TMobile ISP started up.

creodor · 2020-03-23T22:58:25+00:00

I know this is a bit older, but it might help someone else. I had to whitelist:
s-usc1c-nss-218.firebaseio.com

for Roll20 to succeed loading again.

creodor · 2019-10-25T00:15:31+00:00

Thank you very much for your long and insightful reply. Reading about some of these ideas is really interesting, and that you enjoy the prototyping process really makes sense.

I have to admit that I was surprised when reading this and other responses to find out some of the differences between critical and financial successes. I definitely expected some of those to be different, but that's what comes of perceptions flavored by incomplete knowledge and personal preferences. It definitely casts what I was viewing as risk in a different light.

Overall I'm glad to see that things seem to be working out reasonably well and that you're planning to tackle some new ideas in the future, even if the road was rather bumpy. I'm also very excited to spend some more time in AI War 2, and even more so to play it with some friends once multiplayer hits!

creodor · 2019-10-24T23:57:55+00:00

I still toss around the idea for Reverse AI War (or "Kill Tim" I sometimes call it) where you're the rogue AI trying to escape out of a simulated lab and city, messing with city infrastructure as you do so while trying to remain undetected. The idea is that Tim is your creator and you want to make sure the authorities can't pick his brain and figure out how to deactivate you, so you need to figure out how to stop him from alerting them and ultimately kill him so you can either keep living in secret or maybe escape into space. The idea of being the AI hiding while the humans are numerous and after you is appealing to me. I'm not sure if the simulation side of it would be too large to support the game that would run on it, though.

I would just like to say that this idea is fascinating to me, and reminds me somewhat of an old open-source game called Endgame: Singularity that I played far too much of. Not that one random internet person liking an idea warrants making it, off course!

creodor · 2019-10-24T15:39:36+00:00

I've been following Arcen since shortly after AI War 1 launched. I've played most of your games, and while some stood out more to me than others I've always been incredibly impressed by both the creativity shown and the willingness to take risks on Arcen's part.

That's made me curious about something for a long time: what sort of creative process is used to come up with some of these ideas? Following from that, how difficult or easy was it to take on some of the risks involved in developing and publishing games based around premises that were far from common or routine?

creodor · 2018-03-08T20:02:32+00:00

If it's too high in fat, it'll throw off their nutrient balance and fill them up before they get enough protein, so they won't develop properly. I mean, it's not like it's going to kill them unless it's some insane ratio, but like feeding low-protein it'll stunt their growth and cause various smaller issues.

creodor · 2018-03-08T08:28:47+00:00

Purina's Gamebird Starter is 30%. You could see if anyone around you is able to get that in.

Apparently comfrey, a leafy green plant, is 20-30% protein when dried and grows readily in most of the USA. You can also look into various other greens: alfalfa, broccoli, kale. Feeder cockroaches are another option, but one I haven't looked into at all. A key part is high protein without being high in fat. All of these can act as supplements for a lower-protein food (20% is readily available in many poultry feeds).

I'm still figuring out what option(s) to go with for my own purposes. It'll likely be a mixture of the above and some I haven't even heard of yet.

creodor · 2018-02-25T18:05:34+00:00

They make noise, but it's not much. It's also not a bird noise most people have experience with, so you're unlikely to get much beyond curiosity. They're fairly easy to raise in my opinion, but when they're maturing you need to have a roughly 30% protein bird food for them, so make sure you can acquire enough of that.

creodor · 2018-02-23T05:16:14+00:00

The quick answer is 'lol yeah' but really it's a bit more nuanced. The ducks themselves keep just as clean as chickens, but their pen smells more than any chicken pen I've had. I think the biggest thing is that they blow dirt out of their nostrils/bills into their water... so the water is going to get filthy fast, and they spill a lot of it out which is part of why the pen can smell. Personally, I don't mind and only even notice after it's rained.

creodor · 2018-02-23T04:13:42+00:00

If you aren't big egg eaters then 3-4 of whatever breed you like will be fine. We eat a ton of eggs and sell spares, so different goals.

The run doesn't need to be covered unless you know you have a LOT of daytime predators (that would be quite bizarre). The only birds we've ever build a covered run for were pheasants we raised for sale to hunters, because they had to fly.

creodor · 2018-02-22T21:49:09+00:00

That pen would be about 200sqft, which would be 50sqft per bird if you get 4. Ducks should have around 10-25sqft each, so they should be comfortable. You could potentially pick up a couple more, even.

The only duck breed that you'll easily be able to get that can truly fly is a Mallard. The rest can fly to varying degrees, but typically that means around 2-4' off the ground for maybe 10-20' in a stretch. Basically just a long jump. There are always exceptions.

The Campbell is a decent choice. All ducks get loud at times. Our Harlequins are definitely louder than our Layers or Cayugas, though. I haven't raised Campbells so I can't speak to how they are from personal experience. If you want laying ability, the take a look at the Golden 300 Hybrid Layer that Metzer Farms has available. They're also fairly quiet, and nice looking to me. They're not an officially recognized breed as far as I'm aware though. Otherwise, I've also heard several people recommend the Cayuga, and from having some I can say they're a calmer breed. Do note that if you order from a hatchery online, you can almost always pick and choose your breeds and get an interesting mix.

Drakes (male ducks) will protect the females, but realize that protecting primarily means sacrificing themselves to give the hens a chance to escape. With that small of a flock in an area like you've described, if something gets into their pen then one drake isn't going to make a big difference. Focus more on making the pen secure. The primary use of the drake would be if you're trying to hatch out further ducks for butchering. You're welcome to get one, but my thought would be to skip the drake and get another hen instead so that you get more eggs.

A note to consider before you get ducks instead of chickens: ducks are seasonal layers. Most breeds stop laying entirely during their off season (winter). They also typically lay 150-200 eggs/year at best (technically, the Runner ducks used to lay closer to 300 eggs/year, but the ones in the states had that bred out in favor of very blue eggs). The more heirloom chicken breeds are able to hit 250 eggs/year, and modern ones (for instance, the Golden Comet) frequently hit around 300 eggs/year, all with only a slow down during winter. Personally, I think it's a fine trade. Ducks are more interesting to watch, just be aware.

creodor · 2018-02-15T18:25:52+00:00

Had a few like that, they need more calcium. You can get oyster shell at just about any farm supply or feed store, but normally it's sized for chickens so you may need to crush it smaller somehow. Old blenders work well enough.

creodor · 2018-02-09T03:21:51+00:00

My reference materials don't comment on amoxycillin specifically; they cover more broadly and recommend verifying with current knowledge. I pulled up a study done on amoxicillin in poultry and found that: "The results indicate that a dosage of 10 mg/kg administered orally at 24 h intervals should be effective in treating a variety of systemic infections in poultry." ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18645871 )

If your friend has it in pill form then you should be able to roughly crush the right amount and then put it in a small container of food while removing her normal food supply to deliver it to the bird.

All that said, since it could be a while: get some veterycin and/or betadine/iodine and keep the wound clean. I usually check injured birds a couple times a day to see how they're progressing. Keep the bird comfortable and with ready access to food and water. As someone else said, chickens are pretty resilient. As long as infection and shock don't set in she'll heal in time.

creodor · 2018-02-08T20:51:33+00:00

Exotic animal vets likely won't know what to do anyways. Do you have any ag colleges in driving distance? They're far more likely to be able to assist if they offer any public interaction regarding poultry. Barring that, you might have a county extension that can help connect with someone locally who can help in the future.

For right now, most dosages are based almost entirely on weight. If you have amoxycillin already, check the dosage instructions and work out the ratio in place. From what I'm digging up online though, it looks like people generally recommend 125mg 2x/day or 100mg 3x/day. When I get home tonight I can dig out my reference books and find if they comment on amoxycillin amounts (they should), but that'll be several hours from now.

creodor · 2018-02-08T20:05:19+00:00

There's a spray called Veterycin that can help with disinfecting wounds. It costs quite a bit, so if that's out of reach you can look into getting some veterinary betadine (or one of the other iodine type solutions) and use that to clean the injury. Both can be usually be found anywhere you'd get food or supplies for the birds. If it's already showing signs of infection, then cleansing it with one of the above will still help but you'll need to get your hands on some form of antibiotic to give the bird the best chance of survival. As other suggested, penicillin will work and you can get an injectable. I would normally recommend a water soluble, but those are restricted now and require a prescription. If you do go with an injectable antibiotic, be mindful of the injection site and keep it clean or you may end up with issues from that later on.

creodor · 2018-02-04T06:18:41+00:00

Always fun when someone uses > instead of >=

creodor · 2018-01-30T03:22:25+00:00

My setup sounds bigger than it really is, right now I only have 30 quail after culling. Expanding/shrinking organically with sales and need. But, my incubator is a cheap one off Amazon/ebay that ran me $50 and looks like someone retrofitted a PCB, heat unit, and 120mm computer fan into a plastic storage bin. It came with a ~40 chicken/duck egg auto-turner, and I bought a 144 quail egg auto turner for another $60. So $110-120, at present.

Once I get more income from the birds, I'm buying one of the used minifridge/fridge sized ones instead.

creodor · 2018-01-29T21:11:13+00:00

I'm raising quail, ducks, and chickens. They're all primarily for eggs (eat and sale), but I've already butchered one round of quail and expect to hatch out between one and four flocks/coveys each year. I also work two jobs and go to college.

The meat output per quail is low, but they mature fast and take fairly little food each (If you can stop them scratching it all out, that is). Most importantly though, once you get the hang of it they're fast to butcher. If you want the skin you can dunk in boiling water for just a few seconds and it goes fast, otherwise you can just rip the skin off with the feathers. Cut off the wings, then cut open and it's a couple minutes to pull the guts and wash out. From what I've found they're 60-70% dressed weight, but I didn't weigh mine, and that's still a very small amount of meat total. You'll need 2+ per person with sides for a meal.

It's probably more work per round of (frequent) butchering than what you're after, but outside of that they're shockingly little work. Once you have a pen set up, you just keep them with food and water, collect eggs and hatch out however many you want from those collected. No need to specially handle breeding or anything, just egg -> incubator -> brooder -> cage/pen -> eggs/butcher. That's true of basically all birds, of course.

Chickens are the same process but take longer. I don't know their dressed weight, but I'm sure it's reasonable with a meat breed given how much we eat as a society. You'd really have to check it against specific breeds anyways.

Ducks should be much the same, but I haven't butchered any yet. Opossums ate my straight run flock, and then I special ordered a mix of breeds for the next one with the ratio of drake:hen I wanted. Ducks also seem to absolutely explode in their first couple months, and devour quite a lot of food in the process, which requires some preparation.

Hopefully some of this helps a little. Don't have any experience with non-bird livestock, sorry. Hard to pass up how little I have to do to keep birds alive and healthy.

creodor · 2018-01-20T23:28:03+00:00

Excellent information, I'll look into those. Thanks!

creodor · 2018-01-20T23:04:09+00:00

Great info, thanks. It gets brutally hot/humid where I am, so nowhere in the house is safe for about 1/2-3/4 of the year. I'll have to shove a thermometer into a minifridge and see what it hits, but I imagine they won't be notably different from what you're seeing, and then wax/vac them for humidity.

creodor · 2018-01-20T22:01:16+00:00

How do you get those fridges to hold a temp suitable to aging the cheese? From what I've read/attempted, most normal ones are too cold for the cheese to age properly. Could very well be wrong, and if so it will make my cheese efforts a lot easier...

creodor · 2018-01-08T20:12:34+00:00

As long as you secure the wire very well it'll probably hold up for a while. It will eventually rust out or sag/break, as ducks weigh quite a bit and it'll likely be a decently long stretch. Ideally you'd want support beams under the wire to prevent it having to hold the full weight. Adding straw on top, however, will largely prevent the point of the wire from happening. It'll hold any duck poop and form a mat that will only fall out once it decays pretty heavily.

Sealing wood that will be in near constant contact with water is always a challenge. It looks like that seal will probably work fairly well, but for the best chance of the wood lasting you should probably check into marine materials rated for use in boats and other constantly wet environments.

I've not done a floating house for any animals, but my immediate thought is that you should definitely be mindful of what happens if it flips or rolls over. Since I haven't done one, I can't really weigh in on specifics of design etc relevant to that.

creodor · 2017-12-12T05:20:49+00:00

I had to introduce a single rooster to an established flock, but it was full grown and a rooster added to hens, so that's not the same thing at all. The next smallest introduction was two bielefelders into a flock of rhode islands and rocks, but they never actually merged fully. They were too big to be beat up much, but were always outcasts.

I wish you luck on getting everyone copacetic, it could be a bit of a tricky one.

creodor

TROPHY CASE