Hi my BYC friends!
I'm back after a LOOOONNNNGGGG hiatus. I know there are a lot of new BYC'rs out there but hope some of my old friends are still hanging around.
I've not been on in a very long time. There's been a lot going on with us... so here's an update for anyone interested.
One of the major distractions over the last few months has been work. I work for a 'major' bank that has been in the news a lot lately - let me tell you it's not as bad as the media has made it out to be for our company, but there still have been a lot of layoffs due to the big merger with another financial institution that has caused a lot of 'BULL' around work. After several months of 'will I have a job, won't I have a job..' stress we found out that our group will lead the combined team. Good news is that my job security went from about 10% to more lik 80% and I still get to work from home. Bad news is that now I've gotten a 'promotion' so now I have a team to manage and lots more stress and time, but of course no raise or bonus or any other additional compensation. Hey, well as I'm reminded daily (wish I had $1 for everytime I've heard this...) "well, at least you still have a job." And for that I AM grateful when I find 2 min to ponder it between all this extra work.
On the home front, the kids are all doing well. My 'special' kid that was on the BYC prayer list about a year ago due to some mental health issues has turned 11 and we are now fighting with the school system to get him 'labeled' so we can get extra help for him. His teacher has been the pits this year, but except for his academics he's really doing pretty well overall, thank God. The other 3 are straight-As and doing great and all four kids are a true blessing.
And what you all really care about... the backyard flock!
I've 'laid' off (pun intended) the hatching. For some reason my incubators must be set on 'rooster' setting since I can't seem to hatch out eggs and get anywhere near the normal ratio of hens. (literally 14 of 15 hatches were roosters in one batch).
I've got the flock of about 20 girls, plus one silky rooster in with them. In the grow out pen I have 3 silky roosters that need to be decrowed, plus our accidental australorp rooster we got from the pullet bin at TSC last year. He's gotten mean so can't leave him in with the girls or the kids won't go get eggs for me. He's so pretty I can't bear to dispatch him though.
Also in the growout pen are two yearling peacocks. They crack me up because they put up their little tails and act all big.
In the peapen, I still have my peacock and two hens. I'm letting the hens make nests this year rather than trying to hatch out their eggs - I didn't have too much luck last year and maybe mommas will do a better job. They have one huge nest and are sitting on 12 eggs between the two of them.
A weak moment ("Momma can we PLEASE??...??..." at TSC Chick Days resulted in the addition of 6 ducks. 3 are pekins and 3 are rouens I think. They are cute but as I should have known from being on here, stinky and messy. They are all feathered out now and are occupying the meat bird pen, the former residents all either in my freezer or in our tummies...YUM!
Finally the brooder is full of TSC pullets from a few weeks back. I think I only got one rooster out of about 20 chicks so not too bad, but he's going to have to go.
One cool update is the webcam. It's still going strong and I've added additional cameras so there is a rotation between the Chickens, Parakeets and peafowl. I had to send one camera back so we are down to two, but when the replacement gets here we'll be back up to speed with the full rotation. Check it out here:
www.arlee453.camstreams.com
You can check up on what's been going on with the blog I keep on my cam page.
That's all for now.... stop by and say 'hey' if you remember me!
Susan
I'm back after a LOOOONNNNGGGG hiatus. I know there are a lot of new BYC'rs out there but hope some of my old friends are still hanging around.
I've not been on in a very long time. There's been a lot going on with us... so here's an update for anyone interested.
One of the major distractions over the last few months has been work. I work for a 'major' bank that has been in the news a lot lately - let me tell you it's not as bad as the media has made it out to be for our company, but there still have been a lot of layoffs due to the big merger with another financial institution that has caused a lot of 'BULL' around work. After several months of 'will I have a job, won't I have a job..' stress we found out that our group will lead the combined team. Good news is that my job security went from about 10% to more lik 80% and I still get to work from home. Bad news is that now I've gotten a 'promotion' so now I have a team to manage and lots more stress and time, but of course no raise or bonus or any other additional compensation. Hey, well as I'm reminded daily (wish I had $1 for everytime I've heard this...) "well, at least you still have a job." And for that I AM grateful when I find 2 min to ponder it between all this extra work.
On the home front, the kids are all doing well. My 'special' kid that was on the BYC prayer list about a year ago due to some mental health issues has turned 11 and we are now fighting with the school system to get him 'labeled' so we can get extra help for him. His teacher has been the pits this year, but except for his academics he's really doing pretty well overall, thank God. The other 3 are straight-As and doing great and all four kids are a true blessing.
And what you all really care about... the backyard flock!
I've 'laid' off (pun intended) the hatching. For some reason my incubators must be set on 'rooster' setting since I can't seem to hatch out eggs and get anywhere near the normal ratio of hens. (literally 14 of 15 hatches were roosters in one batch).
I've got the flock of about 20 girls, plus one silky rooster in with them. In the grow out pen I have 3 silky roosters that need to be decrowed, plus our accidental australorp rooster we got from the pullet bin at TSC last year. He's gotten mean so can't leave him in with the girls or the kids won't go get eggs for me. He's so pretty I can't bear to dispatch him though.
Also in the growout pen are two yearling peacocks. They crack me up because they put up their little tails and act all big.
In the peapen, I still have my peacock and two hens. I'm letting the hens make nests this year rather than trying to hatch out their eggs - I didn't have too much luck last year and maybe mommas will do a better job. They have one huge nest and are sitting on 12 eggs between the two of them.
A weak moment ("Momma can we PLEASE??...??..." at TSC Chick Days resulted in the addition of 6 ducks. 3 are pekins and 3 are rouens I think. They are cute but as I should have known from being on here, stinky and messy. They are all feathered out now and are occupying the meat bird pen, the former residents all either in my freezer or in our tummies...YUM!
Finally the brooder is full of TSC pullets from a few weeks back. I think I only got one rooster out of about 20 chicks so not too bad, but he's going to have to go.
One cool update is the webcam. It's still going strong and I've added additional cameras so there is a rotation between the Chickens, Parakeets and peafowl. I had to send one camera back so we are down to two, but when the replacement gets here we'll be back up to speed with the full rotation. Check it out here:
www.arlee453.camstreams.com
You can check up on what's been going on with the blog I keep on my cam page.
That's all for now.... stop by and say 'hey' if you remember me!
Susan
