The Old Folks Home

[ronott1]

Mine have never had any, I'm too cheap to buy them and haven't gotten interested in raising them.

I have had them as gifts--All chickens have liked dried worms!

 

[ronott1]

I realized something this evening. I've been doing quite a bit of cooking that involves large pots, and I baked a cake, so that means I put it in a large Tupperware cake holder. I looked at the stack of large items, and this sense of dread came over me thinking about trying to fit them into the dishwasher. Then it dawned on me that so far, the new dishwasher has been able to accommodate everything I've thrown at it. That sense of dread left.

I never realized I was dealing with that kind of dread before, but I was. It wasn't overwhelming, but there nonetheless. There was relief, and joy when everything fit in the new one so nicely, without having to keep rearranging things to make them fit, yet not waste electric, and water by not filling it to capacity. One more reason to love my new dishwasher.

Same here! Very big things can go into the dishwasher because it does not have a central cone. The top spray heat connects from the back

 

[ronott1]

Micro, I know you're a chicken (poultry?) hoarder and all that goes along with it, but why in the heck are you keeping all those little velociraptor bantam roos? They can't give you eggs, but still require to be fed... and occupy space, and cause you to waste precious time repairing them from their fights... Am I missing something here?

To those who received good medical news, CONGRATS!

To those who are fighting demons (snow/ice/cold/wet weather, sickness) I hope it all goes away soon and you can experience the opposite.

I've spent every day this week either working on fencing or mowing pasture. I'm tired, sore, old, out of shape, tired... Oh, already said that... Fencing on a piece of paper looks so simple and easy. Trying to make the diagram real and solid on the land is a whole nuther story!

I have several goats who are about to start popping out babies. The first could go any time and is due in about 2 days.

Baby Goats!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Not always....

I had a mammogram once, ultrasound also once also. I have lumps, non-cancerous. Ultrasound DW had to go with me, worried, I have a 'girls name' I guess... named after my great-grandfather, they wanted to fit her for a gown. 'No actually my husband is having the ultrasound, he's the pregnant one LOL!!'
Not funny...
The mammogram a couple yrs latter, technician said , 'Ohh god I hope you ain't hairy, last guy I had in here was like a baboon'
what? men actually have this done?
'Yup, get quite a few of them'
(didn't make me feel any better about the situation)

So have a laugh on me

No laughing means your smart to take care of yourself

 

[pennyJo1960]

That is an option. We know one Amish family a short distance away that I got my bantam cross eggs from who's son butchers rabbits. I plan to talk to him the next time I stop by to buy scratch grains to see if he would be interested in butchering birds for me and I could ask him if he would come here to do it.

Like I said, I have no qualms about eating the boys or feeding them to our dogs. I just do not want to butcher them myself. No, I'm not that much of a softy. I've culled dying birds and recognize that due to the Marek's I'll have to put a bird down from time to time.

The problem is that I can still remember helping my mom butcher when I was a 9 year old girl. I can still remember the smell .

@CapricornFarm thank you. I know you are dealing with the same problem and understand the dilemma

We do not butcher here either BF feels he did enough of it younger I might take a hand off instead of the head I am very fortunate to have a auction not that far away and a disease free flock thank my lucky stars

 

[ronott1]

We do not butcher here either BF feels he did enough of it younger I might take a hand off instead of the head I am very fortunate to have a auction not that far away and a disease free flock thank my lucky stars

If it is the kill part, you can use the broom method

 

[microchick]

Ditto. Being a guy and having a mammogram hurts! I had a tech tell me once that she would much rather work with well endowed women then members of the itty bitty club, and that included men. She said they had to, back then, use much more pressure than she liked with small cha-loobies (slang we used to use when I worked OB). Saying that the lady in 803 had sore cha-llobies sounded better than saying the lady in 803 has sore breasts. Plus, Cha-loobie is just just fun to say) in order to get a good image and the end result was painful.

I had never considered breast cancer to be something that affected men until talking to her.

You guys get the same double whammy we women suffer from when it comes to reproductive cancers only you have to worry about BPH on top of it all.

 

[Kusanar]

Micro,
You could ask and see if someone could come to your property to butcher them. You could burn the feathers and entrails.

That is an option. We know one Amish family a short distance away that I got my bantam cross eggs from who's son butchers rabbits. I plan to talk to him the next time I stop by to buy scratch grains to see if he would be interested in butchering birds for me and I could ask him if he would come here to do it.

Ok, I have a question. How exactly is Merricks spread? Could it ride home on someone's clothes? Boots? Could it still be in the flesh of the dead bird?

If it's in the flesh, then I would consider the dead birds to be dog food or eaten on premises. If it could ride home on clothes or boots, you might want to provide the guy a pair of pants, shirt, and rubber boots that he can change into when he comes onto your property and then change back out before he leaves. Maybe even offer a shower, but I don't know if he would be open to showering in someone else's house.

 

[ronott1]

Ok, I have a question. How exactly is Merricks spread? Could it ride home on someone's clothes? Boots? Could it still be in the flesh of the dead bird?

If it's in the flesh, then I would consider the dead birds to be dog food or eaten on premises. If it could ride home on clothes or boots, you might want to provide the guy a pair of pants, shirt, and rubber boots that he can change into when he comes onto your property and then change back out before he leaves. Maybe even offer a shower, but I don't know if he would be open to showering in someone else's house.

Mareks is environmental and everywhere! Not all places have the same strains though. Some are worse than others.

Chicks are exposed soon after hatch which is why hatcheries immunize the eggs.

We at home cannot get the good vaccine.

 

[microchick]

See, @Kusanar that is another point to consider and it has crossed my mind. Marek's is airborne/dander transmitted. I have no idea how it came into my flock other than being airborne from another farm or transmitted by wild or migrating birds. I had only introduced birds into the original flock from the NPIP breeder that I had bought them from and only during the first year of owning the flock.

My Amish bred stock seems to be more resistant to the disease which makes me think that it is existing in the general area. Weird when you consider that the virus can spread 5 miles or farther on the wind in general.

Now you see why I have so many roosters running around. If the neighbor's son comes here to butcher he has a chance of carrying the virus home to his flock. I don't want to do that. I'm careful not to have contact with any other birds in anyone else's flock but if it is airborne you begin to see the problem I am dealing with.

Marek's disease has in blunt terms, S*****d me over royally.

We have a sales barn in nearby Macon Mo that sells all sorts of livestock and fowl, even exotics but once again, I cannot let my birds off my property. Not and be a responsible flock owner. I always had Lolli Bro's as a back up plan for my extra roosters but that plan is off the list also.

They don't eat much, thankfully and I do plan to free range the excess cockerels once the weather settles which should cut back on the squabbling. In the mean time I patch up the combatants, give them a cuddle and a warm place to sleep and hope for the best but expect the worse.

If you don't have Marek's in your flock that God. It is a real heart breaker and game changer.