Surviving Minnesota!

[Dandelioness]

So here is another way to sex birds .

Hahaha!

I do love the little yellow puff balls I first left the post office with 2 boxes of chicks they said were mine. I was confused and opened the packing slips in the truck to find that one box is for the local farm and feed store. Somebody (USPS or hoovers) marked the boxes '1 of 2' and '2 of 2' so the post lady thought they were together. I almost kept them

I'm glad you got your chicks. I may have considered bringing both boxes home, too.

OH THE JOYS OF FARMING! So Sunday morning Pumpkin a giant RWF went into labor so she was put in a calving pen. Well she thought the nice fluffy straw wasnt a good enough spot to give birth so she of course jumped right over the wood fence back into the corral. While jumping the fence she collapsed the top row of boards so we had to fix that so once she calved she could go back in. So we fixed the fence and got mom back in. After she was back in we patiently waited for the calf to nurse so we could band and tag the calf... And we waited... And waited... And waited some more! The calf tried to nurse many times but was trying to nurse on her flank... By now we realized this calf was pretty stupid... So we waited to see if he could figure it out... Then last night we realized he wasnt going to figure it out. So drove to town got a small bag of colostrum and he ran over and nursed off the bottle with no issue but wouldnt nurse off mom. There was no way we were going to lasso his mom and tie her up because its not her fault the calf is stupid... So he got 1 quart of colostrum. He didnt get to fill his belly in hopes he would get a taste for it and would try to nurse on mom again. Well this morning when they were checked on mom was laying down and the calf was nursing! So got mom up and he ran to the other side and nursed another quarter! Finally the calf that we thought was never going to learn finally learnt how to nurse at 2 days old!

The mama cow reminds me a lot of myself in labor! I'm dying of laughter! I'm glad that calf figured it out

Kloppers: Any further griping may just fall on deaf ears. Save yourself the frustration of getting more wrapped up in it. They think they did a fabulous job of getting you chicks faster than you expected. Their own perception is that they gave highly fast and competent service. Even though missing a few communication pieces which you have now brought to their attention. I say just let it go and chalk it up to dealing with shipment of live critters. I'm glad you were able to work out the time to go get them. Sweet things. I love seeing those White Popcorn balls in a brooder. sleep is a good thing also. I've been not sleeping the best. Went to bed early too. Woke up to Chewed up shredded tennis balls in the living room. Dishes stacked high. Dishwasher not emptied of it's clean dishes. Requests to iron 3 shirts for the rest of the week. No buckets left to take down water and feed to my coop because they're shredded into a million pieces in the yard. Pseudo-potty trained dog messes on the cement floor in the basement. Blah blah blah. I'm going to take a Mom vacation I think. The hunters can take care of the hunting dog from now on...I informed DH of this new deal. He did not look pleased to hear it this morning. Welcome to my world.

Bogtown. I feel you. ((Hugs)) Sometimes, I think I could just drive off and come back in a couple days to see how things are going. But all the livestock would be dead, right? LOL

Ahh I thought maybe Clear Lake... Thanks. Do they get the chicks from Hoovers? BTW my hatch is progressing well... Here I the picture of the new waterers, I am loving them so far. They are so much less hassle and dryer in the cage!

So these are "quail waterers". I might try them for the rabbits. Is that red zip tie holding anything together? Or is it more of a caution flag? I like the springy thing. I'm thinking you take the dish out each time & pop it on a fresh water bottle & flip over & reinstall? Or is it wet outside the cage from spillage? Looks neat! Thanks for sharing the link. Nice chicks! I love the stripey ones the best, in the fuzzy stage.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

You could 'dangle' the chicks to sex them.

Dangling doesn't work with chicks, I've tried it, it said my roo was a girl...

I used feather sexing, it worked for my bantams but it doesn't work after 3 days old and it supposedly doesn't work on bantams and the roo has to have a slow feathering gene and the hen has to have a fast feathering gene. But hey, it worked for me!

I will post pics on how to feather sex.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

Okay, I found these on Google,

This is a female, see how the feathers go short, long, short, long? That means it's a female

See how this chicks feathers are all the same length? That means it's a cockerel.

 

[I Love Layers]

Is it windy at your guys places. In SE North Dakota it's windy as ••••• again.

 

[Coffee 1st]

Hi All. Lots of reading to catch up on Always... been busy even in this cold weather, trying to reroof the top of a barn not an easy job but atleast im not doing this project by myself.. I had a chicken die yesterday. I went to coop to open door and poor Lucy was laying on bottom of roost i didnt know if she was just laying there so i walked up to pet her and realized she was dead.. Poor thing she was just fine the day before not sure what happened.. So now im down to 5 layers and only 2 EE.. Ive been on a Turkey hunt last couple days Porter the turkey and his 3 girls i got from Ralphie finally got some freedom. I finally let them out of their pen to free range and they decided to go roaming. i finally found them (minus 1 girl) yesterday about a mile away. they found themselves a swamp area. Loads of fun that was trying to get them home. I was hopping streams going through thorn bushes, Lost my boot when it sank in the mud i had to put my bare foot in the mud so i could get enough leverage to pull the boot out,,, that was loads of fun yes my vocabulary by this point wasnt the best.. I was swearing at Ralphie to come get his Da*n turkeys or let the coyotes eat them...i was hoping he heard me from 15 miles away... LOL...So they are finally home and in their coop and on lockdown for about 2 more wks...

 

[Violetsfeathers]

Fun! (not)

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Okay, I found these on Google,


This is a female, see how the feathers go short, long, short, long? That means it's a female


See how this chicks feathers are all the same length? That means it's a cockerel.

The BR's were already a couple days old when I got them. I wish I had brushed up on their sex traits before I went to the feed store. Then again, I didn't plan on going home with any chicks! When my marans hatched, I did try my hand at feather sexing. It was pretty accurate.....not 100%....but impressive still. I didn't rehome any until their sex was visually obvious, but it was still kind of cool.

 

[duluthralphie]

OK Ralphie super cute,, which ones do i get??? LOl....

Sorry that pen is all for me, they are my SS's, EE/PC and EE replacements. All are breeding experiments..

 

[KlopKlop]

My CXs are 50/50 this morning! It is soooo much easier keeping the temps even when brooding in the basement

 

[ejb3810]

The pop bottle water cups which Ralphie is using are available from many sources. The pigeon supply companies usually sell them for $12,95 a doz. I think, and that normally includes the spring or wire to secure the bottle.

It sounds as if Coffee had quite an adventure with the turkeys. Hopefully their next free range event is closer to home, perhaps they were on the way back to Ralphie's this first time?