BYC Café

[DobieLover]

She stole my bacon and eggs this morning, but passed on the coffee - thankfully.

That's a price I'd think you'd be willing to pay to get rid of the gnats. I'll cook you some fresh bacon and eggs. Or you can have a piece of the frittata. It's good.

 

[Shadrach]

I know! I was the first person to hatch them in the US. A fellow BYC member brought them over as carry on from Spain

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The two in from are Pita Pinta chicks. The one in the back is a Basque hen

This is them grown up

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They are very popular in the Basque region.

 

[Shadrach]

It's just as well. I can tell you they are not easy! I'm trying to get 2 cockerels through the crazy hormonal stage. They are separated from the girls right now and that's upsetting them, but I had to do it for the safety of the girls! I hope I'll be able to keep both. I've had a lot of trouble with cockerels and roosters in the past, so I'm spending a lot of time in their pen making sure they know I'm not the enemy and that I will definitely peck back. Right now they are getting close to 5 mos. I've heard this will last for two or three months and I've also heard I'll have to wait until they are a year. That will be a long time!

At least a year.

 

[Shadrach]

My hens took their chicks out today and I had to hurry up and build a ramp. When it was time to go back in, 2 chicks followed the hen back in. The rest were yelling, so I caught all of them and put them in, then shut the pop door.

It takes a couple of days for them all to get the hang of it. A lot seems to depend on the mum.
Some mums just head into the coop and if one or two go in she stays there unless the chicks make distressed calls.
It's surprising how differently each mum raises her chicks.

 

[Building Bridges]

It's nice to stay in touch with old friends like that. Bet you all have a good time

Yes we do. The cloud of my leaving to move to CT (10 hours away) is there, though. It's so hard to leave old, dear friends. These are the kind of friends that don't come along often...and I am so grateful for them.

 

[Shadrach]

Oranges anyone!
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Despite years of trying none of us here have managed to get the orange trees to fruit.

 

[N F C]

Yes we do. The cloud of my leaving to move to CT (10 hours away) is there, though. It's so hard to leave old, dear friends. These are the kind off friends that don't come along often...and I am so grateful for them.

When do you move BB?

 

[Shadrach]

Actually, I'm feeling just a bit shell-shocky just now. I had to pull a pit bull off of my goat a little bit ago.

It's grim isn't it.

 

[Shadrach]

Hand turning eggs is a lot of work I can't use my turned though when chicks are about to pop

You're not supposed to turn the eggs during the last three days.

 

[Shadrach]

In my county we have a bee association that will come out and set up bees on our property. It doesn't cost anything at all, but I'm sure they would like to receive a donation to their association. I'm thinking of doing this in the spring. My neighbor had a friend drop off a few bee hives, so I may wait to see if those bees also pollinate our trees.

We have bee hives here; about 9 active atm.