The Front Porch Swing

[MistyMountain]

Tam and I on Formal Night.

You both look great! Super glad to hear that you are having a good time!!

 

[lazy gardener]

If any one wants any further info re: the book i referenced, or any NON CHICKEN topics, or has any NON CHICKEN info to share with me, please PM me.

 

[tntchix]

What a day. We put mini zip ties on all 24 chicks, and yes, the list is now all screwed up. I'll fix it after she goes to bed. We have 5 different breeds and I am having an awful time telling them apart, so we gave one of each breed a different color. Well, that was the plan anyway.

At least they all have their names and tags now. Can't wait to do this again when they get too big for these in a few weeks.

Trena insisted on naming all of them so I told her I needed to be able to id them when she wasn't around. So with her and her two girlfriends we rounded them up and ran an assembly line, grab, flip, tag, clip, document, and release.
It was a good plan.......really.

 

[zinia8]

Tam and I on Formal Night.

Looking good girls.

 

[LBejaran]

San Diego has a great discussion group and does a get together about once a month starting around February ish. We meet at a chicken friendly park or fairground or someones home that have good parking access. So far the smallest meetup weve had has been about twenty people. We do a pot luck and some sort of silly contest... chicken hats, hardboiled egg contest, Some donate "stuff" for a raffle and raffle tickets are sold to help pay for the next meetup.

There are quite a few crafters, Soap makers, cheese makers, Jam makers.... Those that want to bring tables and set up to sell stuff. And then of course there are chickens.... OMG... I once saw a roo that I swear to God was at least two feet tall. and chicks and hatching eggs .... you name it. Couple of us inventors get our heads together as well.... One fellow is an electronics wizard and has made at least ten incubators... some of which are in the Philippines right now. He is a force of nature.

Last meetup I went to I bought some Goat cheese Feta and a Goat cheese spread sort of like cream cheese... and a teeny jar of lemon curd. I had never had lemon curd before... YUMMMY.

Several of the members also do their own Processing and when they do they offer to do a hands on training session. I believe its BYOB... Bring your own bird. One gal does incubating for a dollar an egg. she has one of those huge cabinet hatchers.

So meetups are an aweful lot of fun

Here is a picture of the very first duck I met at a meetup....


Yup thats a duck diaper with a little skirt on it.... Part of the diaper has a place to fasten a leash. She was a been there done that duck raised by a seven year old.... I believe she was a runner duck.

deb

Where we are, I think people just like to be private. You should have seen Mom this morning when my brother came home and told her there was a cop outside the house. She freaked out, thinking someone complained about the chickens. She actually took a dozen eggs and put them in a basket, prepared to bribe him with eggs to appeal to him in some way. Turns out the neighbor's alarm went off and they didn't know how to shut it off.

This kind of meetup would be just my style! I'm an introvert most of the time, but these chickens have me so relaxed that I love to talk about them. I talked with my Tia Angie for half an hour today at Kohl's just about the birds and how I wanted to finally get to work on the garden. She was really impressed and I had to remind myself that just because this all seems normal to me, not many people know all these things about poultry and how to raise them. It gave me a bit of inspiration and now I'm really feeling like I can tackle that garden plot that just keeps becoming overwhelmed with weeds. I have had lots of excuses not to touch it (a tree fell down in there, it keeps raining, the Devil keeps dropping bomb-proof weed seeds whenever I pull up the roots, etc.) but I need to start and finish something this summer.

Now a live processing tutorial is just what I need! I've found that I can cull chicks when someone is relying on me to do it and I imagine it would be the same for processing a chicken. Having someone there to guide me so I can do it alone would be great. Last time, my Tia Dolores did most of the work while I helped pluck, but I didn't get to experience to hard part killing the bird or removing the innards. That would have been something to experience and learn.

That duck is so adorable! I imagine the time and energy that went into training that duck to be lead around like that. It's so sweet!

I've never planned or attended a gathering like this, but it sounds amazing! Most of the time, I end up going to baby showers or bridal showers and they are always so silly. At baby showers, the other women there get mad at me because I can always guess how many candies/nipples/buttons are inside the baby bottle. I don't know why, but I just know the amount! And at bridal showers, the bridesmaids and the maid of honor are all incredibly high strung, moreso than the bride herself. It throws me for a loop and then the Maid of Honor gets mad when we got the bride something that wasn't on the registry. It's not like it was even a cheaper item than on the registry, it's just not on it. I don't get what the big deal is! If I buy a lovely antique brooch or bracelet for the bride, it's because I thought she would appreciate it. If she doesn't, she doesn't have to keep it! It won't affect her negatively just to have it or to have to give it away. I won't care either way! Someone is going to get it and they will like it, one way or another.

 

[perchie.girl]

Where we are, I think people just like to be private. You should have seen Mom this morning when my brother came home and told her there was a cop outside the house. She freaked out, thinking someone complained about the chickens. She actually took a dozen eggs and put them in a basket, prepared to bribe him with eggs to appeal to him in some way. Turns out the neighbor's alarm went off and they didn't know how to shut it off.

This kind of meetup would be just my style! I'm an introvert most of the time, but these chickens have me so relaxed that I love to talk about them. I talked with my Tia Angie for half an hour today at Kohl's just about the birds and how I wanted to finally get to work on the garden. She was really impressed and I had to remind myself that just because this all seems normal to me, not many people know all these things about poultry and how to raise them. It gave me a bit of inspiration and now I'm really feeling like I can tackle that garden plot that just keeps becoming overwhelmed with weeds. I have had lots of excuses not to touch it (a tree fell down in there, it keeps raining, the Devil keeps dropping bomb-proof weed seeds whenever I pull up the roots, etc.) but I need to start and finish something this summer.

Now a live processing tutorial is just what I need! I've found that I can cull chicks when someone is relying on me to do it and I imagine it would be the same for processing a chicken. Having someone there to guide me so I can do it alone would be great. Last time, my Tia Dolores did most of the work while I helped pluck, but I didn't get to experience to hard part killing the bird or removing the innards. That would have been something to experience and learn.

That duck is so adorable! I imagine the time and energy that went into training that duck to be lead around like that. It's so sweet!

I've never planned or attended a gathering like this, but it sounds amazing! Most of the time, I end up going to baby showers or bridal showers and they are always so silly. At baby showers, the other women there get mad at me because I can always guess how many candies/nipples/buttons are inside the baby bottle. I don't know why, but I just know the amount! And at bridal showers, the bridesmaids and the maid of honor are all incredibly high strung, moreso than the bride herself. It throws me for a loop and then the Maid of Honor gets mad when we got the bride something that wasn't on the registry. It's not like it was even a cheaper item than on the registry, it's just not on it. I don't get what the big deal is! If I buy a lovely antique brooch or bracelet for the bride, it's because I thought she would appreciate it. If she doesn't, she doesn't have to keep it! It won't affect her negatively just to have it or to have to give it away. I won't care either way! Someone is going to get it and they will like it, one way or another.

Meetups are wayy different than a baby shower... They are kind of like a potluck where everyone comes and goes to their own schedule So there may be xx amount of people attending but only x will be there at one time. Because they are pot lucks I only bring the kind of soda I like and nothing else. I usually don't eat there. except maybe to taste a recipe. Its hard being this heavy.... catching the innocuous stare while I spoon something into my mouth. So I opt not to eat.

You might start a discussion yourself to attract people from your general area for chatting and eventually meeting up. Networking like that is also an excellent way to find job leads too. Find a local park where you can bring birds. Some parks are ok some are not. There is one here that is part of our reservoir system They have a huge assorted flock of water fowl.... some migrants some have been abandoned left to survive... So sad.... Domestic ducks dont do well in the wild because they dont know how to forage...

That duck with the little dress is really wearing a duck diaper. you start out with them when they still only have fuzz. There is a little pocket in the back where you put in a feminine napkin... Invented by a husband and wife that keep house GEESE. Wether or not I approve of this practice is beside the point. LOL.

deb

 

[LBejaran]

Meetups are wayy different than a baby shower... They are kind of like a potluck where everyone comes and goes to their own schedule So there may be xx amount of people attending but only x will be there at one time. Because they are pot lucks I only bring the kind of soda I like and nothing else. I usually don't eat there. except maybe to taste a recipe. Its hard being this heavy.... catching the innocuous stare while I spoon something into my mouth. So I opt not to eat.

You might start a discussion yourself to attract people from your general area for chatting and eventually meeting up. Networking like that is also an excellent way to find job leads too. Find a local park where you can bring birds. Some parks are ok some are not. There is one here that is part of our reservoir system They have a huge assorted flock of water fowl.... some migrants some have been abandoned left to survive... So sad.... Domestic ducks dont do well in the wild because they dont know how to forage...

That duck with the little dress is really wearing a duck diaper. you start out with them when they still only have fuzz. There is a little pocket in the back where you put in a feminine napkin... Invented by a husband and wife that keep house GEESE. Wether or not I approve of this practice is beside the point. LOL.

deb

I imagine it would be a lot like the farmer's market except it is very focused on poultry, haha! I'd probably make an effort to go with some friends who also have backyard poultry so that we don't feel left out and to push each other to try new things.

I used to get super self conscious when Mom would order a big 44 oz drink from the gas station and would ask me to hold it. It always felt like anyone who saw me holding it would judge me and think that I was the one who ordered it because obviously the fat girl would need a huge drink or a bag of popcorn. There was a long, hard fight to pull myself out of that mindset and it came from realizing that despite my weight, I'm actually pretty cute!


Me on a sunny day after I found the first ducklings hatching out of their eggs

I mean, I'm not gonna brag about it or anything, but I'm not a monster, haha! I still have issues eating in front of people, but I make an effort to get over the anxiety and just push through so I can enjoy myself.

That sounds like a good idea!! I was added to that Facebook group yesterday and they all seem to be very happy to talk about their birds and share info. Eventually, maybe once I get more involved in it, we'll see about maybe meeting up. That would be fun!

I saw that it was a duck diaper. I still think it's adorable, even though I don't think I'd ever have a need for one or the desire to have an indoor duck, haha! I think the only reason I'd ever use one would be if I had an injured duck/chicken that I would want to keep an eye on. Maybe then I would bring them inside and put them in a diaper, just to make sure the house doesn't begin to smell or something. Other than that, I think I'd probably never even give poultry diapers a second thought, haha!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I imagine it would be a lot like the farmer's market except it is very focused on poultry, haha! I'd probably make an effort to go with some friends who also have backyard poultry so that we don't feel left out and to push each other to try new things. I used to get super self conscious when Mom would order a big 44 oz drink from the gas station and would ask me to hold it. It always felt like anyone who saw me holding it would judge me and think that I was the one who ordered it because obviously the fat girl would need a huge drink or a bag of popcorn. There was a long, hard fight to pull myself out of that mindset and it came from realizing that despite my weight, I'm actually pretty cute! Me on a sunny day after I found the first ducklings hatching out of their eggs I mean, I'm not gonna brag about it or anything, but I'm not a monster, haha! I still have issues eating in front of people, but I make an effort to get over the anxiety and just push through so I can enjoy myself. That sounds like a good idea!! I was added to that Facebook group yesterday and they all seem to be very happy to talk about their birds and share info. Eventually, maybe once I get more involved in it, we'll see about maybe meeting up. That would be fun! I saw that it was a duck diaper. I still think it's adorable, even though I don't think I'd ever have a need for one or the desire to have an indoor duck, haha! I think the only reason I'd ever use one would be if I had an injured duck/chicken that I would want to keep an eye on. Maybe then I would bring them inside and put them in a diaper, just to make sure the house doesn't begin to smell or something. Other than that, I think I'd probably never even give poultry diapers a second thought, haha!

That purple is a beautiful colour on you!

 

[Oldmomma]

Well I had another heartbreaker late yesterday. My youngest got the room my boys were in being as my other daughter needed the balcony on the other room for her cats. Yesterday my youngest wasnt feeling well because of her sugar levels and needed to rest and the two remaining birds we had were being noisy. So I grabbed the cage and told her its warm enough now they can be outside birds. Well I didnt notice and the door was up and sometime later my daughter's love bird flew out....she was heartbroken. We had 12 birds in the states for over 15 yrs and had to give them away so I got the kids birds here as we could but not had much luck with birds here. So while we were out today I got her a new female parakeet to go with the one remaining bird we have.
She kept ask7ng for a hamster but I told her no. Too much trouble. I told her we had enough and I was wanting to breed our rabbits and would hopefully have babies soon enough. So we let Meer and Nymeria meet. Well poor guy was so excited he got the wrong end lol. But a bit later he got the right position and well he was jack rabbit quick and fell over sideways! Personally I had never seen rabbits mate. Birds yes and often! So if we are lucky I will be grandma to a bunch of kits. Still waiting on eggs.

 

[ducksanddoxies]

Here's our Banty, who we call Crazy Black Hen who hatched a regular egg and our regular hen who we call Pretty Mama hatched a little Banty. Way to go Team Hens.