California - Northern

[Grandmas Basket]

My house in Camino was "visited" by raccoons. I originally thought it was the cat had an accident in the downstairs bathroom, every where!. I came home late one evening and found the huge mess. As I was scrubbing all the "spots" I looked through the window out onto the deck. There were three young raccoons patting on the window glass with their cute little feet. Then I made the connection. One of my dogs must have literally scared the cr@p out of them. As I continued to clean my way around the room, I found their foot prints on the wall. Even when I repainted, I left that footprint to last because I thought it was cute!

There's no point in having a pet door now. One of my dogs is a great dane, might just as well leave a door open.

Amen to that. Years ago, I was a single mom with a small house and a single attached garage. Had a doggie door from the garage to the side yard for our golden retriever. Heard a noise in the garage one evening after the kids and dog were tucked in beds. Opened the door to find the house painter I'd recently had paint the exterior rummaging around the garage. On look and I knew he was high. He startled and mumbled something about didn't want to bother me so late, that he'd left a paintbrush in my garage. He DOVE thru the doggie door and disappeared in a flash. I had the presence of mind to slip the metal plate to block the doggie door from further access. No more doggie nor cat doors for me. Too many unwanted visitors possible.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Then you would be finding a bear in your house Deb!

 

[Grandmas Basket]

. Today was the day!!! First egg ever! All my neighbors are even more excited than I am... Gotta love the city...

Congrats on the lovely egg. Are your chicks housed on a city lot?

My neighbors are (almost) driving me nuts as they can't wait for the eggs to begin. With only 3 pullets, and 1 of those a bantam, I've tried with little success to get them to understand that we won't be supplying the neighborhood. I will be sure to share with the backyard neighbors as they are closest to the coop.

 

[debs_flock]

Then you would be finding a bear in your house Deb!

When I lived in the house in Camino, a bear came and ate ALL of my next door neighbor's chickens. It would also flip over every single garbage can on the street on trash night each week. I got sick of cleaning up the garbage until I came up with a solution. I never shared the solution with the neighbor's, I wanted the bear to still be able to eat at their houses. Otherwise it might be desperate enough for garbage that my solution would stop working. But my garbage never got flipped again.

I'll share with you guys though.

I kept a gallon of bleach sitting next to my can. Anytime I added garbage, I'd pour about a half cup of bleach over the top. The bear found my garbage distasteful (I'm assuming the strong chlorine smell).

I hope I didn't ruin too many uniforms for the garbage man. I lived on a small street, they had to dump the cans by hand.

 

[liz9910]

Quote:
That is so scary! I'm a single mom too, that would have freaked me out!

 

[tommysgirl]

. Today was the day!!! First egg ever! All my neighbors are even more excited than I am... Gotta love the city...

Cool! Do you know who laid it? If I am remembering right your girls are a March hatch. Is that right? Anyway

it is so super exciting when that happens I can't wait to see what my new girls do but I think I have at least a month to wait

 

[ronott1]

Cool! Do you know who laid it? If I am remembering right your girls are a March hatch. Is that right? Anyway

it is so super exciting when that happens I can't wait to see what my new girls do but I think I have at least a month to wait

Yes, this is the date for Hatchery Hens to start laying that hatched in February and March.

I have one Blue egg layer that is starting to lay an egg a day. Now the other three need to get going!

 

[OR4-hmom]

I got a first egg today also, it is from the first eggs I hatched 1-18-13. It's a darker brown than her mom/aunts eggs. 6 months seems to be the average for my BLRWs.

 

[ronott1]

I got a first egg today also, it is from the first eggs I hatched 1-18-13. It's a darker brown than her mom/aunts eggs. 6 months seems to be the average for my BLRWs.

Picture please!

 

[Ali707]

Congrats on the lovely egg. Are your chicks housed on a city lot? My neighbors are (almost) driving me nuts as they can't wait for the eggs to begin. With only 3 pullets, and 1 of those a bantam, I've tried with little success to get them to understand that we won't be supplying the neighborhood. I will be sure to share with the backyard neighbors as they are closest to the coop.

I was looking for anyone to be interested in my first egg! If it wasn't for this forum I might have believe I was as nuts as my family said.

oh, sorry! i don't follow an exact recipe, but i use about 2 quarts of stock (roughly), and i use orzo instead of rice as it cooks faster and i like the texture better. so, 2 quarts stock, 1 cup of orzo, a clove or two of garlic, cook for 10 min -- while that's cooking, mix 3 egg yolks (or four if they're small) with roughly a 1/4 cup (i usually use a little more) of lemon juice, i've also just recently started adding some lemon zest too (not sure why it took me so long to think of that) -- when the orzo is al dente, turn off the heat, then add a small bit of the stock to the egg/lemon mixture to gradually warm it up (i usually add about 3/4 cup in 3 increments), then pour the lemon/egg/stock mixture into the pot and stir. it should look nice and creamy. add leftover chicken, S&P to taste, and then anything else you might want in your soup (vegetables or whatever, i like to keep it simple with just orzo & chicken) crazily delicious -- and after i've saved the egg whites from making 4 pots of soup, i make angel food cake!

Thanks for this!!!!!!!! Your instructions are much easier than any recipe. Gotta try it this weekend.

Rufas is still so sad...

He is using his special skunk xray vision. To avoid them now ..

Poor doggie. Love the laser eyes.

I used to work with a woman that surprised a skunk that came onto her enclosed porch through a kitty door. She got sprayed onto her bare legs. She smelled in the office for months, no matter how many times she showered and doused herself in cologne. She said the spray was thick, green and gel-like.

That's just gross. The smell doesn't even have to hit the item. A few months back a skink sprayed something under the house or the front door. My purse that was sitting in the room that was room where the smell was strongest stunk for days. It just absorbed the smell from the room.

. Today was the day!!! First egg ever! All my neighbors are even more excited than I am... Gotta love the city...

Yay! First eggs are awesome. I remember mine and the chicken that laid it. She happened to be my favorite.

gotta love the first eggs!! I am FINALLY, FINALLY turning the incubators off!! Turning off 1 until September and turning off the other until Aug 19th. I cant even imaginge.... nearly 6 weeks with NO chicks and by then my barn will be empty for the first time in over a year! Yippeee! And this year, there will be some self control somewhere. gonna find it. gonna grab it. and gonna hatch LESS! What do you guys think? Can i do it? ha ha we will see.

Mine was off for almost two weeks. Good Luck!

Tell me how to do that!

I am thinking there may need to be some sort of 12 step program for hatch addicts. H.A. Hatchers Anonymous. HA for short.