Colorado

[PirateGirl]

Now I'm fairly certain at least two of the new female ducks are molting, so I'm pretty much never going to get duck eggs.

 

[Percheron chick]

My older goose started laying. Found 3 eggs this morning frozen solid. Real problem is her gander is not interested in her. Both ganders pine over each other now that they are separated. They barely notice the girls. Anyone have an extra Sebastopol gander?

 

[MuffMom]

My older goose started laying. Found 3 eggs this morning frozen solid. Real problem is her gander is not interested in her. Both ganders pine over each other now that they are separated. They barely notice the girls. Anyone have an extra Sebastopol gander?

https://www.nationalsebastopol.com/
I see some of these guys at the Denver shows...next one coming up is April 14 th. you could ping the club and see who's going?

 

[Percheron chick]

I found one locally.

 

[lomine]

My Ameraucanas seen to have stopped laying; haven't gotten a blue egg in a week or more. Others seem to be laying for a bit and stopping, too. I think they are all probably stressed over the weird weather. One day it's 65 and sunny, the next day it's 15, overcast, and windy. I can't really blame them. No duck eggs.

So I had a skunk decide to take up residence under my barn. Most of the barn is dirt floor but the previous owners had two stalls with wood plank floors to keep their dogs from digging out. Prime territory for a skunk. For those that don't know, skunks spray to mark their territory. I trapped it but I now have that lovely smell permeating the whole barn. I'm going to keep the traps out for a bit to make sure I don't end up with another skunk, especially a pregnant one.

 

[PirateGirl]

better the barn than the house I suppose... so what do you do once you've trapped a skunk, I wouldn't want to get close dead or alive...

@lomine I think my girls usually lay the least on the windiest days, they get stressed, the stay inside, they don't eat much

I felt so bad when I got home last night, the wind was coming from the south (not normal at my house) all the birds were inside, but the ducks and duck house had 2 inches of snow on everything because the wind was blowing right in their door. I chased them out, dug out the snow, got rid of the wet bedding, got them dry straw and locked them up. They were trying to seek shelter in their house and still getting snowed on and blowed on, poor things. Much better this morning even though the temp had dropped, the wind and snow has stopped.

 

[lomine]

It’s hard when you have everything set to block the wind one way and the wind blows opposite of normal. My chickens are pretty big babies and don’t like cold, wind, or snow.

I used acetone to dispatch the skunk. First time using it. I used a needle on a long pole so I didn’t need to get too close. I don’t like killing them but I don’t want to relocate them and make them someone else’s problem.

 

[PirateGirl]

I don't know if they make a pole long enough for me!

 

[lomine]

Haha yeah! I made my own pole. I found a curtain rod that was left behind in the shed, it goes about 12 ft. I used duct tape to attach the needle. I had plenty of distance.

 

[lomine]

So one of my EEs seems to be escaping from the coop into the barn every day to lay an egg by the straw bale. The funny part is that many mornings she gets herself back into the coop too. She's pretty smart.