California - Northern

[chiqita]

The 2 week old muscovys are out for their first day in the sun.

Mario is worried they are too big to fit under mamma well already.

 

[gryeyes]

Last night I attended the regular Friday Night Pizza bash at Charles Mitchell's winery, treated myself to a lobster tail and half-carafe of wine with my pizza and salad. Met some great folks, had a good time, and came home as it was getting dark (about 9 PM).

Saw a skunk scuttling along the side of the road too far from my house to be "my" predator, but I yelled out the window at it anyway.

Once home, I carried several of the Easter Hatch birds from their roosts on the porch steps into the coop. Some of the others had decided to roost on the hitching post, so I felt they were safe from the skunk, if not the owl. (They were under cover of the shrubbery growing at one end of it.)

No flock losses overnight. Yay!

Going to another concert at Helwig Winery tonight, but won't be back before it's dark. Still gonna gather up step sleepers and tuck 'em onto a roost in the coop, though.

I am also going to move some of my NightGuard/NiteEyes around to different spots, hoping to dissuade the skunk from meandering onto and around my property.

 

[ronott1]

The 2 week old muscovys are out for their first day in the sun.

Mario is worried they are too big to fit under mamma well already.

Nice!

You have a photo bombing FBCM in there too?

 

[chicken tows]

Quote:
Um... since Jason lost his WHITE rooster to hawk, and hawks will eat WHITE rabbits in a heartbeat - I sort of doubt this statement. White is actually easier to see...

However, my mother swears that her BLACK chickens are safe from hawks (she looses the other colors easily - especially the white) because they look like crows, and hawks think twice about attacking crows...

Interesting how stories are started, huh?
ChickNmamma, please excuse me...I certainly was not trying to start stories. The local wildlife rescue told me that local predators do not go after white prey because it was an unnatural color for prey. This has also been my experience. I would hope to never give false witness. Again, please excuse me.

 

[debs_flock]

Quote:
We have a resort that we go to that gives you a dozen free eggs. I bring eggs from home. Their eggs come home with me and go into my chickens. It's the circle of life, LOL

Oh my goodness! Just woke up at 6:30 to hear my 4 month old girls singing the egg song! I got so excited I jumped out of bed and ran to the coop, but no egg. They all switched from egg song to the "let us out of here, lady" song as I got to the coop. What gives? Are they just practicing? It was kind of adorable either way.

Practicing the egg song for awhile is pretty common. Should be soon.

 

[debs_flock]

I was just down at State Fair, I was one of the judges in the Champion Challenge competition. I manned table 3 in the poultry section. My five questions to proctor.

1. Here are six eggs, which should you not set (they needed to pick them up to look). Egg 5 was filthy and egg 1 was cracked.
2. Big plate of around 20 feathers - which one came from a rooster (there was a pointy saddle feather in there).
3. An opened egg on a plate - point out the germinal disc, chalaza, the thick albumen & the thin albumen
4. How many days to incubate a turkey egg & how are commercial turkeys bred
5. Figure out the percent of RC when breeding RC (Rr) to SC (rr).

But OMG, there is a display of exotic birds there. The owner of the display wanted to know if I would take home and incubate some MACAW eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ummm, duhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

[ronott1]

ChickNmamma, please excuse me...I certainly was not trying to start stories. The local wildlife rescue told me that local predators do not go after white prey because it was an unnatural color for prey. This has also been my experience. I would hope to never give false witness. Again, please excuse me.

Hi Chicken Tows!

Your post was fine! It may very well be true too. It is great to discuss the things we learn to see what others have experienced.

Thank you for the discussion starter!

 

[debs_flock]

Oh, and so far about a dozen of my eggs have hatched down there. I'm bringing down a batch of quail for the display tomorrow.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I was just down at State Fair, I was one of the judges in the Champion Challenge competition. I manned table 3 in the poultry section. My five questions to proctor.

1. Here are six eggs, which should you not set (they needed to pick them up to look). Egg 5 was filthy and egg 1 was cracked.
2. Big plate of around 20 feathers - which one came from a rooster (there was a pointy saddle feather in there).
3. An opened egg on a plate - point out the germinal disc, chalaza, the thick albumen & the thin albumen
4. How many days to incubate a turkey egg & how are commercial turkeys bred
5. Figure out the percent of RC when breeding RC (Rr) to SC (rr).

But OMG, there is a display of exotic birds there. The owner of the display wanted to know if I would take home and incubate some MACAW eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ummm, duhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

umm I will

 

[debs_flock]

Quote: You'd have to knock me down and pry them from my fingers!

I told him I could take up to 500, LOL

Maybe I should confirm he knows their fertile!