California - Northern

[gryeyes]

stupid iPad..... Sorry

 

[gryeyes]

On the pub, is the brewery Rubicon or the IPA? We have 6 beers on tap in our pub (and lots more in bottles) and one brewery I think is starting to hop (no pun intended) is Knee Deep from Lincoln. Their Hoptomologist tastes very similar to Pliny the Elder (which we've been known to snag a keg of).

Ummm... The beverage is named Rubicon. It is pretty similar to Racer 5, which I love, but The Pub only carries the latter in bottles.

This area has needed a pub. Not just for a chance to drink an adult beverage other than wine in wine country, but for the "hang out and chat some, grab a bite of pub fare at the same time" ambiance.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Looks like I'll have 8.26 acres in 30 days, as escrow opened today.

Given that the other purchase was a day-and-a-half into escrow when it got cancelled, I am not quite yet at the giddy stage.

There has been some drama with this "counter-offer and afterthought" process, as well. I can't quite decide if the seller is a jerk or an idiot. (My broker referred to him as the former appellation.)

The concrete bench he wants, by the waterfall, is, well, made of cast concrete. Have fun getting it up the hillside. It has two faint cracks on the bench portion; I would be surprised if the thing could be retrieved in one piece. The stone fish he wants is quite nice; the price tag is still adhering to it:: $39.95.

The kicker? They want the key-pad operated, electric, decorative wrought iron driveway gate. It's obviously custom made, 16 feet wide and probably weighs 350 pounds. I happened to be standing at the gate with a friend when I got that phone call. The friend does metal-work; he suggested I offer a grand for the gate. Nope, the wife wants it.

My friend rolled his eyes as he stage-whispered, "We can build you a better one, Linda - let it go."

After the telephone conversation was concluded, he added, "You'll be able to put any decoration, not just grapes, on a gate - we'll go to [a business in Sacramento] and you can see the catalog of all this stuff. Horses, dolphins, quail, ivy, Rottweilers, anything - you can have chickens."

Oh. Well. Cool. I wonder how the seller is gonna manage to remove and transport his gate.

I have requested I be notified the day the gate is removed, so I can get a danged chain to put across the driveway.

So, as long as the well flow report comes back with at least 5 gpm potable water, all the dickering is done.

Congratulations! Funny what people are so attached to! They should have removed it prior to listing the property....anything that needs a tool to remove....and I'm guessing this gate may take just a few tools....belongs to the property. I'm imagining that the gate made the property more impressive on entrance and was left for impact. Oh well, sounds like a beautiful EIGHT acres! Good for you! I've so enjoyed following your life! Thank you for sharing it.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

The horse for showmanship is always a handful.  They have been in stalls for over a week and then for the competition they set up a ring on the grass.  It was worse 2 years ago, that horse would not raise it's head!

Don't I know! I showed two colts at one show and one of them, when I turned to walk him back, tried to turn the other way, flipped his head, hitting me in the side of the face! I saw stars and could barely walk back to our spot.

and mixed news after a visit to the coop -- the marans eggs have started hatching (hooray!), but Maggie the basque has died.  poor girl.

Yeah on the chicks but I'm so sorry you lost Maggie. She tried hard to recover.

thats great news

well, they're quite responsive, but so far their only suggestions have been a) resetting the machine, which i'd already done (but tried again), b) raising the interior temp of my house to their "expected" 70-75°F range (i'm telling you, i felt right silly turning on the furnace in august, but what the heck, i'll try...), and c) waiting a bit longer -- it's now been three hours since they suggested waiting, and the temp HAS gone up, but only to 89.2°F, still a good 10 degrees below where it should be.  setting the target temp even higher (up to 102°F) has no noticeable effect.

i'm beginning to worry the isbar eggs (already 5 or 6 days old due to shipping) will be hopelessly screwed up by the warm-but-not-warm-enough temps?

It certainly should not take that long to adjust temp. I have the Brinsea but I think these units are insulated enough to not have to heat your house in mid August to get the incubator to work!

I'd move the eggs to the broody until the new unit comes. Good luck!

It is not too smokey in Woodland but you can see and smell it. Luckily for us the Delta Breeze is back and moving the smoke away from us.

Have a great trip!

We are fully socked in by the smoke. The wind is driving the rim fire right over our ridge. Ash shared yesterday. It's pretty hot but we are keeping the windows closed. My baby just popped a 102 fever and I'm praying its not a respitory infection. I worry since his pneumonia episodes... Rain dance anyone?

Poor baby. So hard when they're sick. And in such a stressful time with the Rim Fire. I sure hope everyone is safe. We went through 2 months of varying degrees of evacuation in 2008. Very scary times, please be safe.

 

[lawatt]

If it were me, and because you have broodies working on incubating other eggs, you can stick those eggs under one of them (if they fit) and allow them to keep them at the correct temperature and rotation for the first 7 days which is critical - and then you can put it in the incubator when you get it stabilized. That is what I would do...

unfortunately the broodies i had in mind both hatched eggs yesterday (one each, as of yesterday evening), and were already looking like they might get up off their nests & leave the remaining eggs behind (i'm hoping more started pipping overnight, to keep them glued to their seats a little longer!) -- so they're no longer an option.

and i cranked the Rcom up to it's highest possible temp setting (107.6°F) before going to sleep -- this morning the internal temp is at 92.3°. so i'm afraid these eggs are probably shot. they have promised to send a replacement unit asap, but i have to say i'm disappointed.

 

[Happy Chooks]

How long does it take chickens to molt and start laying again?

Each chicken molts differently and some are quicker than others. Most of mine average around 3 months. Increasing their protein will help them through the molt.

 

[tommysgirl]

Hey guys! I haven't been on here in a while, I've been so busy.
So I'm having a weird problem...Let me give just a little back story.
The first time my dog ever saw chickens was at the local feed store, they were in a large metal livestock watering tub. She was absolutely obsessed and didn't do anything except stand there and stare at them. Of course, this isn't surprising, she does this with a lot of things. She's a working line Border Collie which causes her to be verryy obsessive about some things. Anyways, I eventually stopped letting her stare at the chicks in the tub because she kept drooling on them(she drools when focusing really hard on something)

Since the day that I got chicks she has been nothing but kind and gentle to them. In fact, I can only remember one time when there was a live chicken in her mouth - and this was when a baby jumped off a platform I was photographing it on, and landed right into my dogs open mouth(she had been sitting there at the edge of the platform, looking up at the chick while panting). My dog just spat her out and the chick walked away completely unharmed.

Whenever I need to catch a hen, for whatever reason, I usually have Nelly help me. If I try and fail to catch the one I want, they all go hide under the coop or run away, so I bring in the stockdog and she rounds up the one I want. It has saved me a lot of time, really. And, like she is with all livestock, she's never been anything but respectful towards the hens. The hens are not scared of her, not at all. They move when she tells them to move, but if she's just laying down minding her own business, the hens have no issue with being around her. In fact, when she comes up to the outside of their run, they all go to greet her!

But lately my Black Andalusian hen has been very aggressive, not only to my dog but to other hens. Today I picked up my Light Brahma(the only hen that doesn't run for the hills when I try to catch her) and the Black Andalusian jumped up and attacked her using both her feet and beak, missed the light Brahma and got my arm. I've got a couple scratches on my wrist now.
And any time I use Nel to help me round up the hens, the Black Andalusian puffs up her neck feathers and chases after/attacks her. This hen is very quickly turning into a huge bully.

What should I do??


Oh, a little side question - why are there so many small feathers all over my run?! It started as just a little pile of them in the corner but now they're everywhere! The hens are something like 4 months old now.

I am behind and someone probably already pointed this out but being aggressively "bossy" is an Andalusian breed trait not that there aren't any exceptions to that but from my research that has been a common issue/reported characteristic.

Your Littles are molting.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

It certainly should not take that long to adjust temp. I have the Brinsea but I think these units are insulated enough to not have to heat your house in mid August to get the incubator to work!

yeah correct the R-Coms heat pretty quick to do the same.
Mine has been pretty rock solid as far as holding temps.
We have had it super hot in our house when our cooler was broke. Yesterday morning and today morning it has been quite chilly outside and inside. still feels the same in the bator

 

[debs_flock]

so, here's a question for the incubating experts -- i clearly have a defective Rcom. the company folks have been very responsive on email, but they don't seem to have any idea what might be wrong, and their few suggestions haven't worked at all. they say they will send out a replacement unit monday, which means i might get it wednesday.

the isbar eggs were collected last sunday, sent monday but arrived a day late, thursday. i let them rest for 24 hours at room temp, then put them in the incubator last night -- since then, the temp for them has varied between 85-90°.

should i:
a) leave them in the incubator at ~90° while waiting for the replacement to arrive, & hope for the best?
b) take them out and let them rest at room temp again, & hope for the best?
c) give up on them, they're going to be too old by the time the replacement arrives?

thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have!

Laura,

Without a broody available, I'd pull them out and leave them at room temp. Just make sure you continue to turn them 3-5 times per day. You live near the coast, so your humidity should be fine, otherwise make sure they are in a humid space so they don't dry out too much before you start them.

If they can have the new incubator to you by Friday, the eggs would still be less than two weeks old and should be okay, as much as any shipped egg is okay. I think it would be worse to keep them at such a low temp for so long. It would be like storing hatching eggs in a hot room. Not a good idea.

Your second option would be to go buy a cheap still incubator (like a Little Giant) at a feedstore. They are less than $50. You could start your eggs there and just hand turn them until the new R-com arrives. Then you will have the option of hatching a hatcher to use in the future for a staggered hatch. Still air works well for hatching.

No matter what you buy, incubating is addictive and you will wish you had more space and the ability to do a staggered hatch.

Good luck!

 

[lawatt]

Laura,

Without a broody available, I'd pull them out and leave them at room temp. Just make sure you continue to turn them 3-5 times per day. You live near the coast, so your humidity should be fine, otherwise make sure they are in a humid space so they don't dry out too much before you start them.

If they can have the new incubator to you by Friday, the eggs would still be less than two weeks old and should be okay, as much as any shipped egg is okay. I think it would be worse to keep them at such a low temp for so long. It would be like storing hatching eggs in a hot room. Not a good idea.

Your second option would be to go buy a cheap still incubator (like a Little Giant) at a feedstore. They are less than $50. You could start your eggs there and just hand turn them until the new R-com arrives. Then you will have the option of hatching a hatcher to use in the future for a staggered hatch. Still air works well for hatching.

No matter what you buy, incubating is addictive and you will wish you had more space and the ability to do a staggered hatch.

Good luck!

thanks thanks thanks for this -- i'll pull the eggs out, since it's clearly not going to work right (highest temp i can get it to go is 92.8°), and perhaps i'll drive to the feedstore today to see if they have a cheap incubator to use in the meantime. (and yes, we're very foggy here this morning, lots of humidity!)

huge appreciation!!!!