Minnesota!

[SleepyOwl]

I also got a new 8 wk old 2 1/2 lb male Pom...
took my parents to get a new puppy.. i tried to make it out of there without getting one..BUT them dang puppy kisses got me..
he looks shaggy here i just gave him a bath...

He looks like he would be good to cuddle with!

 

[Mistahbue]

Quote:
How weird that your birds won't eat the worms? Maybe you could dry them first?
Would you be willing to sell me a starter pack of meal worms? My grandma lives in Mora, and folks are in Sandstone, so I am up that way often.

Sure thing - check your messages

 

[Minniechickmama]

My two coops are 1:33 and 1:24 ratios. I am not currently worried about fertility but I can definitely say that isn't enough roosters to 'monitor' the girls during free ranging. Each too probably takes a crew of 10 hens or so out foraging and the rest all break into small groups or singles to lay around or range on their own.
Part of me wonders of that is how that eagle/hawk got free lunch, if the hen was out on her own.

I hope to keep back some of my F1 generation roosters from the meat breeding next year (is that the correct term? I'm trying to absorb genetics info) so I am kind of reserving rooster space for that plus adding a roo or two right before winter seems like a bad idea in my mind. Asking for cockfights

You all know I have lots of males out here. In fact, right now I have about 50, and I have had lots more on pasture together. They normally get along fine. The only time I see fighting is when I turn them out together from the breeding pens, then they all want to go at it to decide who is going to be the top cock on the wall. That lasts a couple of days and that is about it. My biggest problem this year is that each pen decided that there were one or two weaklings they were going to harass and beat up. I had to let one retarded Buckeye cockerel out with the old birds because he was getting that in every pen I tried putting him in. I mean that bird is retarded too, and I am not using that in a flippant way. I get at least one each year that they are just brain damaged or something and they act very weird. This one also looks weird, was supposed to go with the last batch for someone's freezer, but they didn't want any more than 15 and this one was the last one to catch, so he got a stay.
My Cornish males, I will not put together after they have had a breeding pen of their own. It doesn't take much to give one of them a heart attack. What always cracks me up is the ones who are the most mellow with people can sometimes be the biggest scrappers in the flock. My Cochins and Buckeyes can get going when they join a flock, and they get bloody too, but I haven't lost one from fighting except a Cornish, and I already mentioned what happens with those Bulldog looking things.

Pitocin is a synthetic version of the oxytocin hormone that is found naturally in the body. It works by attaching to oxytocin receptors on the wall of the uterus, causing the uterus to contract by increasing the calcium concentration in the muscle cells.


I found this on a google search.

Oxytocin is released during nursing and is the culprit for finding Mother's passed out in nursing chairs. LOL. It's a relaxing chemical in our bodies for the most part in it's natural state. I never minded getting up in the middle of the night to feed the twins. Kind of a nice quiet time with just us 3. And plus I got a rush of feel good hormones. LOL.

I don't know if it was the oxy or the lack of sleep, but I would zonk out all the time while nursing the kids. Hubby has a picture of me with black eyes from lack of sleep with the first one. I was sitting against the headboard of our bed, baby on a pillow by me and I was head-flopped over sound asleep with big old bags under my eyes.
I went 60-hours with no sleep between the labor and being in a hospital where they were in poking needles or doing blood pressure or something like that every couple of hours, so I couldn't sleep. One nurse who was older than the others finally took pity on me and let me sleep when I finally got to and didn't do her usual vitals on me. She was a saint. It wasn't that bad with the other two though. In fact, number 2 was born at 6:30am, and I went home at 4:30. I had no interest in staying in a hospital overnight that time.

If my roosters are stressed... Too bad. Do they have rooster oxytocin?

OH! And another funny thing that happened tonight... my pullets are chasing my dogs! Everybody's been talking about how to teach dogs how to behave around chickens, but what about naughty chickens going after dogs?? That little trouble-making EE pullet pecked one of my dogs in the eyeball tonight! Her eye is all red now. Poor thing. I saw the Buckeye chasing her down the driveway a couple days ago...

You know, the birds will peck and bother one that is weak or weird to them. "You ARE the missing link. Goodbye."

Thank you for that information about soaking her -- I will do that tomorrow for sure. how long does she need to soak?

Well I learned a thing - I did not know that there is no real thing as a LO!! Thank you for explaining that. I have so much to learn still! So when I got chicks from McMurray they threw in a freebie - a little roo, of course, he's a blue with a darker blue head -- but entirely different color that this girl? So they are a different genetic color line then or just a variance in gene color saturation? Now I have something else to look into but critter coloring fascinates me!

I need to seriously learn chicken color genetics. Use to know cat color genetics and have forgotten it - except that blue eyes = absence of color. And I'm probably backwards on that. LOL

Thanks again about the pointers on my gal. I will soak her tomorrow for sure.

Get me a picture of the other blue one and I will tell you what you have. I have a suspicion, but I don't want to guess now.

 

[gofeedthegirls]

Good morning everyone!

 

[scandiafowl]

Arrived at work ten minutes ago. I like my commute this early. Most folks are still making coffee


Last night the obnoxious roosters who are destined for the freezer were segregated. I'll butcher them tonight.
Am feeling a bit sentimental about Jen, the first chick I helped hatch. Darn it all - why couldn't he have been a hen!

 

[duluthralphie]

Good Morning all..


Scandia, I am glad you had a great commute today...

I had a terrible one back from my job at Grandpa Daycare last night. There was an accident on 494 just north of Minnetonka blvd. I was thinking I should have set up camp there.

Minnie, I have to wonder how retarded the rooster was if he managed to be number 16 getting caught..

Did any more eggs hatch?

I have to admit I have used the term lavender, I know it is wrong, but some people just do not seem to understand self blue, I guess I kind of look at self blue as being the technical term for the process or genetics of the bird and lavender as the color, even though they do not look lavender to me. However, I sometimes play it a little loose with terms and names.

I think it would be funny to have a chicken that chases dogs, but I worry about what happens if the dog decides to not be chased. Most dogs have way sharper and larger teeth than most chickens.

Coffee:
that is a lot of worms. Maybe your new dog will eat them. If not open a bait store and sell them, you might meet a rich single farmer, with a chicken coop that owns a boat and likes to fish. I know if Judy every leaves me, I will be looking for a rich single woman that owns a farm, nice boat, twin engine plane and likes to fish......BTW, It could be any day now she yelled at me this morning for no reason at all! It appears I turned to wrong light on before she was ready to get out of bed.

Two more days to get ready for winter, then more daycare services.

On a really terrible note, even though the people buying our home in Florida were "pre-qualified" for more than the price of our house. The bank has decided they are credit worthy. So back to square one. it torques me a tad, it was the same bank that pre-qualified them that now turned them down. What really gets me is why did it take 6 weeks for them to decide that, We are a little over a week from closing now, could they not have figured that out 5 weeks ago?

 

[duluthralphie]

Scandia, I understand the reluctance.
It is too bad they are not like reptiles or bees where we can either change the temp or food we drop on them to make all females, except when we want a male.

 

[Cluckies]

Good morning all!

I was out tending the chickens this morning at 4:30, I coughed and heard an answering howl. Twice. That yote did not sound very far away I'll tell ya.

On a really terrible note, even though the people buying our home in Florida were "pre-qualified" for more than the price of our house. The bank has decided they are credit worthy. So back to square one. it torques me a tad, it was the same bank that pre-qualified them that now turned them down. What really gets me is why did it take 6 weeks for them to decide that, We are a little over a week from closing now, could they not have figured that out 5 weeks ago?

oh man, that bites. Hope it sells soon.

On the chicken chasing dog note, so a couple days ago my dog Brox was sitting there minding his own business looking over at the neighbors. My Fi starts walking up to him very slowly, like stalking, very intently looking at him. I just watched to see what would happen... right at the last second she rushes forward and

 

[The BlanchRanch]

Well my light came on this morning. Now i will have a binch of eggs!! Wish it worked like that.

Good morning!!! Another great day. Accidently came to a jobsite early so now i have time to burn....

 

[scandiafowl]

Scandia, I understand the reluctance.
It is too bad they are not like reptiles or bees where we can either change the temp or food we drop on them to make all females, except when we want a male.

Am thinking about a 4:31 ratio. Our banty Cochin just chased the girls around and rarely gets one. One of my JG roosters had brown tips on his feathers so I won't breed him.