California - Northern

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Wow, that must be "egg"citing! A rattlesnake and some eggs hatching!

Look what our granddaughter spotted this morning near our front door

We get a Rattle snake up at the house at least once a year. If they aren't aggressive we relocate them across our creek in a location on our 44 acres that people don't frequent. They are beautiful and I love seeing them but not at my front door!

This one was sluggish from the temps cooling down today so was easily coaxed into a bucket and released.



I have eggs hatching tonight and look at this blue egg up front. This is its FIRST pip! It practically broke right out of the shell

 

[ronott1]

Quote: We're also in the foothills and out of town. We have the same type of predators. I have lost my whole flock of 20 (except the Roo) but not while free ranging. They were locked in a coop & run that we'd used for about 20+ years w/o a problem. We're not sure what killed them because they didn't eat any of them and they were left in a pile in the run. Our area is large acreage parcels so it's hard to even see the coop from any road but we felt it wasn't of the four legged variety. Scary! Over the years we have periodically lost to more skunks then anything but after building a hardware cloth encased run attached to the coop we haven't lost any. Knocking on wood!

We have a fox and bobcat that we see routinely in the olive orchard and have had coyotes that came right up to the house mid morning and the roo attacked but I can't bare to keep them locked up all day and for me, the benefits outweighs the risk.

I think it's a choice every chicken owner has to make for themselves. Doesn't mean anyone cares more or less for their chickens, just a lifestyle choice.

Did you hear that wolf they're tracking is here in Butte County? I'd hate to have him wander onto our property while the chickens are out free ranging!!!!!!!
Yes!

Sorry if it sounded like I was against free ranging. It is a choice to leave them out and a choice to leave them in. Each place is different and each person keeping chickens gets to decide how to raise their own chickens. The chickens will be better either way then the poor factory chickens.

I am worried about human predators in my neighborhood. Also the Dog breaking through the fence. Urban Predators?

(Sorry I couldn't resist this emoticon--it is so weird...)

Paradise is in the upper foothills of the Sierra Nevadas--not a volcanic range. Bella Vista is in the lower foothills of the Cascade mountain range. There actually is a break between the two ranges. A couple of thousand years ago there used to be a big volcano called Mt. Tehama. The sucker blew up and threw millions of tons of rocks into the area and left a big hole between Mt. Lassen and Broke Off. You can see where the mountain used to be when you drive up that way. Paradise may even have some of those Rocks. There is a lot of it near Redding. Soil is different, water is different. Plants are even a bit different between the two places.

Predators are probably similar but they could be different and in different numbers. I did not know that the Wolf was in Butte county. The last I had heard it was just over the Oregon Border Closer to I-5. There is also talk abut bringing Grizzly Bears back to CA. Along with Differences in where we live for predators, there is also the fact that there are more of then now. I am pretty sure I read that Yolo county eliminated their trapper.

It is great we are all thinking so much about taking care of our chickens!

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

Chilly outside! All the chickens are doing well. We all took turns hanging out with them yesterday and we plied them melon, salad, little shreds of pork, oats, apricots and strawberries allll day. I don't think the big pullets had ever had treats or dirt to scratch on before (breeder says she keeps them on wire I think). They didn't know what to do with the treats at first. They watched my 6/7 week olds and their behavior a lot. By the end of the day they were pecking the ground, scratching like it was the most awesome thing ever and looking forward to the new person coming down because they had already figured out we're the treat source. Haha! Sweet pullets though! So soft and pretty!

We set a mister up on the coop. Spoiled chickens. Hehe. Won't have to use it today though.


Excuse my typos. Sent from my iPhone.

 

[ronott1]

I wanted to share some pictures of the bantam chicks I rehomed. They were picked up this morning so I snapped some shots of their last night here

Thanks everyone. Have a good day!

Mike,

It's great to see pictures from You! Are you using Tap Tap on your Android Phone or did you get a camera?

Those are nice pictures of the faces. The first ones are Bantam RIR's?

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

Quote:

Mike,

It's great to see pictures from You! Are you using Tap Tap on your Android Phone or did you get a camera?

Those are nice pictures of the faces. The first ones are Bantam RIR's?

Ron

I'm curious what the second are too. The comb is cool looking! Excuse my typos. Sent from my iPhone.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Chilly outside! All the chickens are doing well. We all took turns hanging out with them yesterday and we plied them melon, salad, little shreds of pork, oats, apricots and strawberries allll day. I don't think the big pullets had ever had treats or dirt to scratch on before (breeder says she keeps them on wire I think). They didn't know what to do with the treats at first. They watched my 6/7 week olds and their behavior a lot. By the end of the day they were pecking the ground, scratching like it was the most awesome thing ever and looking forward to the new person coming down because they had already figured out we're the treat source. Haha! Sweet pullets though! So soft and pretty!
We set a mister up on the coop. Spoiled chickens. Hehe. Won't have to use it today though.
Excuse my typos. Sent from my iPhone.

Its been foggy here for the past week! UGH.

Our town is going to have a little farmers market for the first time at the end of the month, and I'm going to sell goat milk soap, eggs, plants and flower arrangements.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote: Ha, ha, ha. Watch out Meg. I can already see the chickens multiplying over the next few months. An incubator is a dangerous thing. I had planned 3-4 hatches this year... well, I think that I am on my 9-10th hatch. I can't actually remember turning the incubator off since Feb!

Hatched out 96 chicks in the last 3-4 days. Have about 175 in the incubator right now. I swear, i swear, i swear I am going to turn off the incubator for at least a few weeks after this upcoming hatch at the beginning of August.

Wow! That's a lot of fuzzy butts! What are you doing with them? I always wonder what people do with all the roos they hatch. I've hatched once with an incubator (sold it within an hour of cleanup from the last hatch, too stressful for me, I couldn't leave it alone) and the broodies have hatched about 5 clutches in the last year and have been able to sell all the EE roo's (they seem really popular). I sold one roo that I bought from the feed store, that I think went to food but he wasn't anything to "crow about"

! But right now I have 3 breeding stock Polish roos that I can't seem to get any interest in. I thought they'd be easy to sell since there's not a lot of breeders and because they have such a nice personality. If I just needed a flock protector, I'd pick a Polish (with his bangs cut!) because you don't have the attitude you can get from a lot of other roos.

Anyway, just wondered what the heck you're going to do with all those roos....or do you process? I can't remember if you said you did.

 

[zooweemama]

Its been foggy here for the past week! UGH.

Our town is going to have a little farmers market for the first time at the end of the month, and I'm going to sell goat milk soap, eggs, plants and flower arrangements.

Goats milk soap you say? What types of ingredients do you use in your soap? I love soaps that have goats milk (and even lotion). Makes my skin happy.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote:
Me too...the last rattlesnake I left to go on his way, thinking he was heading towards the less populated land, ended up at my sisters house. She almost stepped on him! He was huge! 9 rattles! We dispose of them but with our chickens out and about we rarely see one close to the house.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Goats milk soap you say? What types of ingredients do you use in your soap? I love soaps that have goats milk (and even lotion). Makes my skin happy.

We ran out of lye some we used Drain-O, brown sugar w/ oatmeal mixed in, and goat milk of course.

I made it with some friends so I don't have the whole ingredient/recipe list, but there are websites that give good recipes:

http://fiascofarm.com/recipes/soap.htm

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