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  1. zzGypsy

    Do your cats bother the chicks/chickens?

    y'see I have a theory on cats... you always need a kitten, because they're entertaining and if you have a 1 yr old cat, that kitten will have someone to play with and if you have a yr old and a kitten, those two will keep the rest more active (by playing with or annoying them) and that helps...
  2. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    yeah, around here it's the 2-wire 50-60 lb bales and they're going for $11 (ouch!) I kept bees in the high desert of So. Cal, and that's pretty arid... How to know if there's enough forage for bees? bees will readily travel 3 miles for forage, and sometimes as much as 5 miles. so look on...
  3. zzGypsy

    Do your cats bother the chicks/chickens?

    Thank you Thank You Thank You... I no longer feel like the crazy cat and poultry lady... 11 cats, and maybe 60 or so turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, and guineas. oh, and dogs, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits...
  4. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    you can always put your name out there to pick up swarms - those bees are free. or do a cutout where bees have gotten into a building. not guaranteed to get the queen on a cutout, but you might. or joing the local beekeepers group, trade some labor for a nuc. there are frugal ways to get...
  5. zzGypsy

    Do your cats bother the chicks/chickens?

    here's the best trick ever for teaching cats to respect chickens... part one: train your chickens to run for treats. rolled up bits of white bread are excellent, but you can use any treat they like that you can throw with a bit of control and accuracy. start by tossing these to the chickens...
  6. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    ha! if I did that and got stung my face would be the size and shape (and probably color) of a basketball... for a beekeeper, I'm a little sensitive to stings... have to take a lot of benatryl if I get stung more than a half dozen times, and sometimes I get cortizone... at least if I get stung...
  7. zzGypsy

    Guinea Fowl Let Out?

    I'd think maybe keep them penned until at least 8 wks, then allow them in-and-out in an enclosed area, put up for the night. we're going to keep our current batch penned until week 10, but we don't have an enclosed area to keep them in, it's open range, no lid. on flying: our adults don't seem...
  8. zzGypsy

    Power Cut

    UPS is Uninteruptible Power Supply basically a really big battery you plug your computers into.
  9. zzGypsy

    Geese + Ducks together?

    we have a large mixed flock, ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens, guineas. we have a single run that we put them up in at night, and they freerange during the day. we have birds that were brooded together (ducks+geese, chickens+turkeys+gineas) and some that were brooded separately, added as young...
  10. zzGypsy

    Mealworm rabbit manure experiment

    following with interest!
  11. zzGypsy

    Guinea Fowl Let Out?

    we're relatively new to guineas, this is our second year, and our first hatching our own. we put up at night and free range during the day. we feed a small amount morning and evening, but they range for the rest of their feed. we feed a gamebird starter until we start freeranging, and then a...
  12. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    Quote: Quote: I do spin the wool, and I weave. we sell a bit, mostly the colored wool, to hand spinners, but we generally have more than we need. however you can compost it, and it makes good garden and flower bed mulch. I do understand why lots of folks are interested in hair sheep...
  13. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    I do know what you mean on the dangerous part... we had a milk cow once... well we bought her for a milk cow. she thought she should be a fighting bull. a full on dirt-tossing, pawing, bellowing, head swinging, drool-flinging fighter. we spent 3 months trying to convince her that milking, along...
  14. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    300 lbs would be a little bitty cow... my wool/meat breed ram sheep weighs in at 325... Jersey is a nice smaller cow though... but she'll still weigh in near 1000 lbs. still, y'all might consider dairy goats if you don't need 3+gallons of milk a day. the laManchas are maybe 125 average for...
  15. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    Ha! yep. we do not feed on a time schedule for that very reason... we vary the feed time from day to day on purpose so our sheep have learned to listen for the gate squeek. because sheep are remarkabley good at telling time if you feed on a clock. Quote: Originally Posted by ScottnLydia...
  16. zzGypsy

    Just curious who else is living super frugal

    I've had sheep for a long time, they will indeed learn to come to your call - if there's food involved they can be trained to do all sorts of things :) they will learn the sound of your car, the feed room door, your back screen door, your alarm clock... if it's loud enough :) ours come to...
  17. zzGypsy

    Life is changing for us, and it is not for a positive reason

    it's been going around our house too. feel better!
  18. zzGypsy

    Life is changing for us, and it is not for a positive reason

    absolutely true, challenging to do because for a lot of us it's new behavior learned under stress, but it's the way to survive the situation stronger as a couple, rather than be torn apart by it. thank you. some of these lessons were hard and expensive, and I figure if I share what I've...
  19. zzGypsy

    Life is changing for us, and it is not for a positive reason

    picking a good time is key, one where he's feeling good enough, and things between you are calm. you know him best, so you know what does and doesn't work, here are some ideas, see if anything fits, or try some of it and see if it works... ask him to just listen for a couple of minutes while...
  20. zzGypsy

    Life is changing for us, and it is not for a positive reason

    or... ... it's a training period where you two learn how to manage this particular type of stress together, before you have to do it every day. you might, at a calm time on a better day, talk about how it seems you two aren't wearing well on the bad days and come up with a strategy. something...
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