Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

Phew, I just banded and dewormed all my sebbies. Someone had tapeworm segments in their stool, yuck! They were just flat thrilled about the round up!!! Lots of honking and screaming, you would think I was trying to kill them!!

You know it's funny because I have been so good in the heat up until now and I always drink tons of water and gatorade and wear a hat and cool clothes etc so I don't know why it even happened. DH thinks its because everyone else comes home after playing all day and takes a nap in the AC while I go out and tend to the birds (in the heat still). So I think I just spent too much time outdoors and I was sick as a dog. Yuck.

Danz- I know, I was so upset about the chick. It was so weird, they were both ok and then just bam, out of nowhere. It didn't look good right after vaccination and I gave it some electrolytes and fluids and that perked it right back up. I am starting to worry about the nutrena chick starter, I have never used it before and am beginning to think maybe I should throw it out. But wouldn't other chicks get sick too? Not just a couple?

We deworm our horses every 2 months, there are lots of schedules out there for deworming horses. We have the two minis so I split the tube between them because they only weigh about 250 pounds each and still have some leftover. They need their feet trimmed every 6-8 weeks. A good farrier who shows up can be hard to find. A lot of the folks up here are charging $35-40 plus gas charges. I was paying $110 for two horses and wasn't that happy with the trim they were getting which is why I started doing it myself. Miniature horses have to be restricted on feed because they can get obese very easily and are very prone to foundering. Founder is when a horses toe or coffin bone rotates and can actually puncture through the hoof sole (bottom of the foot). Minis are very prone to this because they are easy keepers, people don't work them like they do big horses and they are often overfed and fat. They also tend to get poor hoof care and so the toe gets very long and the coffin bone rotates forward and sometimes down through the bottom of the foot. It can also happen due to overeating very rich grass or overeating in the spring when grass is green and high in sugars. This is very bad and can be a death sentence for some horses if not caught in time. They are a lot of fun but are just like any animal and need to be worked with a lot so they pick their feet up and behave on a halter and lead.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Well I finally broke down and cried. This weather finally took it's toll and I feel so awful about it. I caused a disaster without thinking. I put the pet ducklings my grand daughter tamed outside this morning thinking as long as they were in the shade and had water they would be fine. I was so sick of having them in the house. I didn't notice their water had disappeared and found both of them dead. They were too used to house temps I guess, and it didn't take long for the heat to get to them. I just cannot tell my granddaughter I killed her ducks.
I am tearing up now as I write about it because I feel like my own selfishness is what killed them. I just feel awful about it. Even if had they not been special to her I still inadvertently caused their death.
I may deal with dead birds on pretty much a daily basis but I can do so as long as I know I did my best to take care of them. In this case I FAILED.
Josie so sorry. I guess you won't need to come get them. Again I am sorry. If you want some ducks anyway I'd be glad to give you a couple more to make up for what I have done.
Right now I have that Life sucks opinion!

So, so sorry, Danz.

I'm going to have to deal with bumblefoot again. I have several girls and my wonderful roo with foot spots. Tomorrow morning I'm going to examine all the birds' feet and decide who gets surgery and who gets tricide-neo soak. I think that 4 or 5 will need at least soaking for several days.

I don't know where they are getting injured, but I suspect the driveway gravel as the guilty party. Since I can't keep them out of the gravel, I'll just have to deal with it. I've been in denial about it for a couple of weeks.

My EE Lily has never been freed of the nasty stuff since last fall. She had surgery twice and soaked a week or so last fall. It has returned and her feet are swollen again. Butch has a spot on one foot that I didn't see until tonight on the roost. His foot looked a little puffy, and I insisted that he let me look at the bottom of it. Dang.

My DH has agreed to help with the surgery when I decide who has to be cut on. Catching everyone for treatment will be a deal, I suspect, at least the first time.

I'll keep you all posted.

I know one day I'll be faced with bumblefoot and I'm feeling for you. We just do what we have to do. Your DH sounds like a good egg!

My oldest dd lost her 3rd daughter and 30 weeks (stillborn) in January it just took me some time to heal and by then all the chicks were gone from the farm stores. I am still looking for certain breeds and was hoping to get some older chicks, Which are Marans (want those dark eggs), Ameracuana's and Easter eggers (I want green eggs) I just want some more color in my eggs basket.

Sometimes life just gets really tough. So sorry to hear about you and your family's loss.

I am praying, praying for my mare. She is in so much pain right now, she is not wanting to eat. I hope today is a better day for her. My farrier cancelled and I *hope* I have another one on the way today. If not, I have another one I can call. Unfortunately mine has cancelled on me twice-- so she's missed two appts. The first time, I could let it slide, she wasn't that long in the foot. But she grows really fast. She lamed up a few days ago and I've been counting down the days till yesterday. It's not like a kid, where you can just take them to the Dr. Vets don't really do feet. Or at least, I wouldn't want any vet touching her feet. They could do something really stupid. Farriers are really the best bet. Anyway, when he cancelled last night, I about lost it. I had everyone in the barn ready to go, I had been soaking her feet and she was tied up to do so. So now I have another day of soaking her feet and waiting on another farrier. Mine has been sick, and he said last night he thought he had kidney stones and was on his way to the ER. Sheesh. I have all the luck. Usually he's pretty reliable. Sigh.

I was so relieved to read that everything is back under control. I think it's absolutely amazing you have a mare that old who looks so great. While I'm no horse expert, I can certainly appreciate how much it must take to keep a horse going in this heat and especially at her age. So glad you got a farrier out there to take care of your girl.

Chickendanz is all danced out!

You make me laugh!

We got .5" of rain last night! Woohoo! The girls are in heaven today, no panting.

Last night my little buddy (DS) and I went to Orschlen's in Lawrence for feed. While there I grabbed a bag of scratch grains. DS and I had fun feeding the girls their "treat" last night. Karen, the SSX girls (Sumac and Saffron) were the only two to eat out of our hands. I had a heck of a time telling DS that chickens don't have teeth. I still don't think he believes me. He kept saying they are trying to eat my hand! Funny boy.

Ok, back to the grind.

Ahhh. That's so nice to hear, Rob. They are a pair of sweeties. So glad they're doing well and DS is learning all about them. Kids are so funny with animals.

My grandbaby was born on the 24th! She was 7lbs 11oz and 21 inches long. We are in love!

What a beauty! Congrats!

OKay, so I'm sure ya'll are tired of hearing about me and my eggs.. LOL, but I GOT A DUCK EGG TODAY!!

I went out after work to do my normal feeding, watering, cleaning routine - noticed two eggs in the nest box, but left them there until i was finished (i'm in the process of making an apron to wear so I can collect eggs and veges without using my shorts pockets - today I didn't have any pockets). And as I was dumping and refilling the duck pool, DH told me to check out Ducky (my Pekin). She was coming out of the chicken coop. I laughed and mentioned to him that I'd seen her in there before and I was surprised she was using the ramp. We chatted about it and I finished up what I was doing. Went to collect the eggs and there were THREE in the nest box! (actually only two, because she'd kicked on of the others out, but I know it had been in there before and looked nothing like this new one!)




(compared to the other two that were in the box!)

Tweety, I'm not tired of hearing about your new eggs! Love that duck egg and congrats. Love te pics, too!

Congrats on your first duck egg. My anconas quit laying a few weeks ago. My Cayugas are laying pretty well and my pekins are just about to the age to begin. Duck eggs are delicious by the way. Very rich.
Yesterday I stepped out the back door and took a shot of the dogs and chickens laying in the shade. I guess this shows why I love these GPs. This is Cloud, the baby and Fluff, daddy dog. Marshmallow was in the house cooling down. As you can see these chickens love the dogs and visa versa. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see it better.

That is the cutest pic! I love your big puppies!

Howdy everyone else, can't remember what all I read before this! Got to get outside and get some chores done here while it isn't terribly hot. Thought it was supposed to be cooler today but it was so darn muggy it didn't feel it at all! At least it poured rain last night finally, we needed it! My mom and her guy left early this am, we had a really nice visit but I overdid it and got heat exhaustion which was awesome!

I gave myself heat exhaustion a few days ago --- hope you're all recovered!


That's as far as I got in reading and replying but I know there were two or three others I was just going to respond to without quoting. Alas, didn't happen. Ten interruptions by DF and my mind has been wiped clean!

Tomorrow is another busy day for us. I'll have to catch up with everyone later.

 

[HEChicken]

So horse people, if I buy a mini horse this fall how will I know when her feet need trimmed. I know nothing about horses. On average how often do you need to trim their feet and how much does it cost? Also how often do you worm a horse. If you have a mini would you use a whole syringe thing to worm them or would you have to dispose of some of it? I just keep thinking how awesome it would be to have a short little girl around here. I would rather have a Highlander heifer but they aren't cheap.

I know others have replied but I wanted to throw in my two cents, even if it isn't that different from the others. The rate of hoof growth varies a little throughout the year, so during the summer/fall, we trim about every six weeks, but over the winter, we only have to trim about every 8 weeks. My farrier apparently is cheap - I hadn't heard other prices until tonight. He charges $30 for a trim and $60 for a trim and shoe fitting. He doesn't even charge for his gas.

On the worming, our barn was on a twice a year schedule but last time the vet came out, she suggested doing a test to see if they needed worming, instead of just giving the wormer. I guess she had just attended some clinic that suggested its actually not good to worm a horse that doesn't need it. The test cost about the same as it would cost to worm so if it came up positive it would actually cost us twice as much but all of the horses at our barn tested negative so didn't need to be wormed. However if they do need to be wormed, it comes in a tube that has a ring that screws down until you reach the dosage you wish to administer. Then you stick the tube up in the corner of the mouth and squeeze. The paste winds up on their tongue and is "sticky" enough they can't spit it out so they swallow it. Most of the manufactors try to make the paste taste pretty good to a horse so they typically don't mind too much.

You will also need to do some vaccinations. Josie may be able to better recommend what shots you would definitely need for a mini. At the least I'd recommend rabies and tetanus. Some of the other things we vaccinate for might not be needed for a mini that doesn't have exposure to other horses. Since we go on trail rides and regularly interact with horses from all over as a result, we do some additional shots that yours might not need.

HEChicken, it was so nice to meet you today & visit & also to see your place. You really have a nice view there out your back windows. You did a great job on that coop, especially with no plan, wow! Good luck on getting your pen together, I'll bet you'll do better than I did if you can get some help with getting the fencing on. That was my main problem, that I didn't have anyone here when I needed to do it to help me.

Well I just got home a few minutes ago & I need to go feed & water & check on everyone, I hope they all survived the day without me here. I normally would have been here running out to wet them down, but we'll see how they did with the cooler day & the panels I put up on some of the pens to help with shade. I stopped on my way home at TSC hoping to get chick starter & game bird starter & they said the game bird starter had to be sent back due to a recall, so I couldn't get any, bummer. That means I will have to drive to Ark City in the next few days to get some there & they only have 40 pound bags vs 50 pound ones at TSC, that's why I like to get feed there whenever I'm up that way, it's a better deal for the price. I about choked when I looked at prices at Atwood's the last time I was there, they are so much higher priced on feed I think than Orschelyn's or TSC.

It was so nice to meet you too and thank you for your kind words regarding my coop! Trish and I had a chat today about how our brains process information differently. I am like her husband in that I can't visualize stuff the way she can, except unlike her husband, I don't even process diagrams well so.....when building my coop I really had no vision of what it would look like. All I knew was I wanted a storage area, a door to access each end, a door in the internal wall, and it had to fit on the concrete slab that was already on the property, and then I just started building. I'm kind of amazed it worked out, truth be told.

I haven't priced GBS at Orshelns or TSC but I guess I'll have to. Up until now I always just bought it at Atwoods. Eeek. I had no idea it was more expensive there. Although I do like its high protein content so perhaps that is why it is more expensive.

....I am starting to worry about the nutrena chick starter, I have never used it before and am beginning to think maybe I should throw it out. But wouldn't other chicks get sick too? Not just a couple?

I can't remember if I've used the Nutrena chick starter but I regularly use the Nutrena All Flock and haven't had any issues. I agree with you that if it was the feed they would all have issues, not just one or two.

Last night I was woken at 1:30am by Tory barking like crazy. I decided to get up and investigate and was glad I did because I was able to see her "in action". She had an opossum cornered against our barn. Between Tory trying to bark it to death, and the other two dogs crowding around to see what was so interesting, the cat showing up to see what the dogs were looking at and then me peering down at it, the poor thing was terrified. It was only a juvenile but instead of playing dead, it was looking around at all of us with its mouth gaping, kind of hissing at us. I finally told Tory, "well, it looks like you have the situation under control" and went back to bed. This morning when I asked whatever happened with that 'possum situation she just kind of looked at me and didn't let on. I don't necessarily wish it dead - I just wish it away from our place and hopefully the reception it got on this visit was enough to persuade it to seek food in other places.

Tory has been giving us some issues though, with running out to bark at joggers, bicyclists and other people walking dogs. There are a surprising number of all three considering we are off the black top. I guess I kind of figured "who would want to jog or ride a bike where every passing car spews dust in your face?" but this proves it takes all kinds. DH is getting pretty agro over it because she doesn't listen when we try to call her back. More than once we've had to run out and grab her collar and apologize profusely. So far people have been very understanding and nice but who could blame them for getting upset?

Also, two doors up is a dog that is kept on her property by an invisible fence but Tory has figured out what time of day she is likely to be there, and makes a beeline to go play. They've been super nice so far and in fact this morning when I went to retrieve her they sent me home with a bag of freshly picked tomatoes. But, we are concerned their good humor will only go so far and it has caused some tension around here with DH worrying about the situation so....tonight I have her on the tether for the night. She is tethered to a tree that is right by the chicken yard. I also had the brilliant idea of putting the two pet dogs IN the chicken yard for the night. One of them stays right around but the other, who was getting pretty good at staying, is now following in Tory's lead and roaming a lot at night/early morning. So I figure if I put her in the chicken yard, I know where she is, and perhaps having her kept on the property will keep Tory from roaming as much.

I trust these two dogs around the chickens, unlike Tory, and if it works tonight, it will probably become a regular thing since in a way I am covering all my bases, by having the LGD outside the chicken yard to scare of would-be intruders, and the other two dogs inside the chicken yard to scare off anything that makes it past Tory. LOL.

 

[cherwill]

Sorry, I just skimmed. I'm too tired to do much else! I'm on my way to bed, but I just wanted to say how adorable both of these pictures are. Congratulations tntblake!

My grandbaby was born on the 24th! She was 7lbs 11oz and 21 inches long. We are in love!

Congrats on your first duck egg. My anconas quit laying a few weeks ago. My Cayugas are laying pretty well and my pekins are just about to the age to begin. Duck eggs are delicious by the way. Very rich.
Yesterday I stepped out the back door and took a shot of the dogs and chickens laying in the shade. I guess this shows why I love these GPs. This is Cloud, the baby and Fluff, daddy dog. Marshmallow was in the house cooling down. As you can see these chickens love the dogs and visa versa. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see it better.

 

[JosieChick]

Quote: Yup, its a problem. They go where they want and do what they want and have HIGHLY selective hearing, right? It drove me nuts for the longest time when Molly would chase cars, bicycles, four wheelers. You name it, she chased it. They just think its their job to keep everything away from the property. Its funny because I kept brushing off her car chasing and DH was getting really steamed about it so he was the one that insisted we put the invisible fence in and boy am I glad we did! I am amazed at how much better they are now and she will run our front property line but never goes near the invisible line. It has been a god send for us and for the amount of money it cost has been well worth it. Otherwise they would still be terrorizing the mail lady when she pulls up at the mailbox and chasing farm equipment. I felt badly at first for restricting their area so much but now I am glad I know they can't leave and can't run in the road. I feel so much better about driving away knowing they are safe on our property. People drive really fast down our road and there is a lot of big farm equipment too. Never mind the poor crazy people who ride their bikes out here! I can't imagine with all that dust blowing in your face but to each their own.

 

[Trish44]

I know that my GP pups do leave our property, but I think they mostly go next door to the trash dump because they bring me presents from there almost daily. I think they must do it early in the morning because I know at night they're here doing their job because I hear them & during the hottest part of the day I see them sleeping either under the rabbit hutches or in the wooded area where it's really shady. I'm very glad we have this hill to separate us from the road or I definitely would be worried about our dogs getting in the road because people drive like maniacs out there. We have this huge hill just east of us & the neighbors that live to the east of us say that people just fly over that thing & it's like a huge roller coaster type hill, very steep, it's crazy. We don't see all of the things that go on out there since our house is up over the hill, but we hear about them from the neighbors. I'm on the rural water district board with my neighbors on both sides, so when we have a meeting I hear all of the neighborhood gossip. I have asked my neighbors down the hill to the south of us past that road if they have ever seen our dogs down that way & they have told me no that they have never seen them there, so that made me happy that they're not wandering all over the place at least. My neighbor to the east of us has chickens too, so they were kind of glad to hear we got GPs after they found out because they figured they would help protect their chickens too. Of course it helps that they now shut them up at night instead of just feeding them to the coyotes & foxes & whatever else was hungry. I know where my dogs spend most of their time at night & that is right in front of the chicken coop & by the rabbit pens & now the turkey & chick grow-out pens. All of the pens are pretty much all in a row out there so they can patrol pretty easily right now. When the breeder coop is done they will have a little more to watch over, but it's still very close to the rest. These dogs don't miss anything though, they hear things that I can't even hear. Oh & tonight I was a little later feeding & all & it wasn't even dark yet & the coyotes were already out howling across the road, they really are getting more bold now.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Oh & tonight I was a little later feeding & all & it wasn't even dark yet & the coyotes were already out howling across the road, they really are getting more bold now.

----------
I was walking to the rabbit hutch to refill the guinea water and food about 8:45 last night and heard a lot of howling east of me. Me, being the big chicken (ha, no pun intended lol) decided to run back to the house and drive over to the hutch! I am not wanting to meet up with coyotes at dusk! My chickens are getting so much better at going into the coop at night. I go out about half an hour before I want them to go into the coop and close their chick door - so when I go out and open it up, they think something wonderful is going on and they all run inside I KNEW I was a little smarter than chickens!! Go me!

 

[Hawkeye95]

I about choked when I looked at prices at Atwood's the last time I was there, they are so much higher priced on feed I think than Orschelyn's or TSC.

How much are your prices? I'd love to know what I might be over paying on? I buy the Atwoods brand of layer and chick feeds. It's much cheaper than the name brands. They also have a high protein percentage.

They need their feet trimmed every 6-8 weeks. A good farrier who shows up can be hard to find. A lot of the folks up here are charging $35-40 plus gas charges. I was paying $110 for two horses and wasn't that happy with the trim they were getting which is why I started doing it myself. Miniature horses have to be restricted on feed because they can get obese very easily and are very prone to foundering. Founder is when a horses toe or coffin bone rotates and can actually puncture through the hoof sole (bottom of the foot). Minis are very prone to this because they are easy keepers, people don't work them like they do big horses and they are often overfed and fat. They also tend to get poor hoof care and so the toe gets very long and the coffin bone rotates forward and sometimes down through the bottom of the foot. It can also happen due to overeating very rich grass or overeating in the spring when grass is green and high in sugars. This is very bad and can be a death sentence for some horses if not caught in time. They are a lot of fun but are just like any animal and need to be worked with a lot so they pick their feet up and behave on a halter and lead.

Well, I learned something about minis! That would make sense they would be more prone to laminitis. With the amount of grain I pour down my old mare, it's a wonder she's alright....except for the fact she can't eat hay or graze well. It's her only survival. Don't think I'd want a mini after hearing about that! LOL I've been pondering buying a pony for the kids, though! I think a pony would be a lot of fun.

I was so relieved to read that everything is back under control. I think it's absolutely amazing you have a mare that old who looks so great. While I'm no horse expert, I can certainly appreciate how much it must take to keep a horse going in this heat and especially at her age. So glad you got a farrier out there to take care of your girl.


I gave myself heat exhaustion a few days ago --- hope you're all recovered!


That's as far as I got in reading and replying but I know there were two or three others I was just going to respond to without quoting. Alas, didn't happen. Ten interruptions by DF and my mind has been wiped clean!

Tomorrow is another busy day for us. I'll have to catch up with everyone later.

Thanks! My girl has been walking around!! She got to the water by herself yesterday. Whew. I've been tying her up to the post next to the water to MAKE her drink. Take better care of yourself, though! Heat exhaustion is very serious, as I'm sure you discovered. I've had it years ago and not since. Between throwing up, being delirious, and then so sick for a good couple of days.... NO FUN.

Last night I was woken at 1:30am by Tory barking like crazy. I decided to get up and investigate and was glad I did because I was able to see her "in action". She had an opossum cornered against our barn. Between Tory trying to bark it to death, and the other two dogs crowding around to see what was so interesting, the cat showing up to see what the dogs were looking at and then me peering down at it, the poor thing was terrified. It was only a juvenile but instead of playing dead, it was looking around at all of us with its mouth gaping, kind of hissing at us. I finally told Tory, "well, it looks like you have the situation under control" and went back to bed. This morning when I asked whatever happened with that 'possum situation she just kind of looked at me and didn't let on. I don't necessarily wish it dead - I just wish it away from our place and hopefully the reception it got on this visit was enough to persuade it to seek food in other places.

Tory has been giving us some issues though, with running out to bark at joggers, bicyclists and other people walking dogs. There are a surprising number of all three considering we are off the black top. I guess I kind of figured "who would want to jog or ride a bike where every passing car spews dust in your face?" but this proves it takes all kinds. DH is getting pretty agro over it because she doesn't listen when we try to call her back. More than once we've had to run out and grab her collar and apologize profusely. So far people have been very understanding and nice but who could blame them for getting upset?

Also, two doors up is a dog that is kept on her property by an invisible fence but Tory has figured out what time of day she is likely to be there, and makes a beeline to go play. They've been super nice so far and in fact this morning when I went to retrieve her they sent me home with a bag of freshly picked tomatoes. But, we are concerned their good humor will only go so far and it has caused some tension around here with DH worrying about the situation so....tonight I have her on the tether for the night. She is tethered to a tree that is right by the chicken yard. I also had the brilliant idea of putting the two pet dogs IN the chicken yard for the night. One of them stays right around but the other, who was getting pretty good at staying, is now following in Tory's lead and roaming a lot at night/early morning. So I figure if I put her in the chicken yard, I know where she is, and perhaps having her kept on the property will keep Tory from roaming as much.

I trust these two dogs around the chickens, unlike Tory, and if it works tonight, it will probably become a regular thing since in a way I am covering all my bases, by having the LGD outside the chicken yard to scare of would-be intruders, and the other two dogs inside the chicken yard to scare off anything that makes it past Tory. LOL.

Go Tory-- fending off invaders! Well, my crazy DH is one of those runners who runs down dirt roads. I don't know where you live, but he could be one those idiots running past your house. He runs 17+ miles away from the house on the back roads.
Glad your chickens are getting the hang of going to bed at night. That's a great feeling, isn't it?

 

[chickmama1662]

Josie, thanks for the lesson on horse care. I've always been fascinated with horses, but didn't know that much about their actual medical care. I knew that foundering was caused by food but always thought it was in their stomach, never would have dreamed it had something to do with their hoofs. That is amazing. Are horses the only ones that founder, the other hoofed animals, goats, donkeys cows, etc don't?

 

[chicken danz]

Okay back to horse issues. I really wanted to buy a little mare last spring. Trish knows the one, as she was there. Her feet were grown out some and needed trimmed. How would I know if I were looking at a horse if it were foundered before I bought it? I was reading and it was mentioning ex-ray but obviously you won't have an ex-ray at an auction. I really wanted that mare. She was exactly what I wanted. At least that will keep me from jumping in and buying something else since I found the perfect horse and passed up getting her. At least all the horses there are coggins tested and most are registered. Here I am worried about buying bird feed and I want to take on another animal to feed! I'm nuts. But I have hay available so that helps.
Josie what did you worm your Sebbies with? Just curious what you recommend. I need to worm my Sebbies and my peafowl. The chickens are in good shape. Also at what age should I start worming my turkeys. I can't remember when I started worming the others but I sure don't want to do it too early on these expensive ones.
Mentioning feed being a problem; I think that is why there is a shortage of chick starter now. I have read at least three companies had their starter recalled. Cargill produces Nutrena, Purina and several other brands and had a recall. I am thinking whomever produces orshlen's must have had a recall as well. There is always a chance that some of it doesn't get pulled. All the stuff I have read was due to some bad labeling that could potentially kill chicks. I'm not sure what a label has to do with killing chicks unless they got the wrong ingredients in the mix.
I just got some Purina so I certainly hope it is safe. I had given the babies some all-stock and it made their poo stink and gave my turkeys the runs. I want to keep the turkeys and peachick on medicated feed because they are so much more susceptible to getting sick.
Speaking of peafowl I may have a miracle going on. My peahen has been sitting in her nest for 2 days now. There were no eggs in there but maybe she has finally decided to lay and sit. Wouldn't that be wonderful is she could hatch some babies for me this late? I started putting a bottle of ice in their big water pan they just stand in and started giving them cucumber pieces so they had more green in their diet. Maybe that worked. I keep checking her to make sure she is alright and she appears perfectly healthy.
Hawkeye the apple tree the Sebbies can get under has some kind of disease that makes the apples shrivel up like shrunken heads and fall off the tree. It's probably a 40 year old tree and the only reason it is still here is because it isn't a dwarf and it gives some shade. I've been a little nervous about planting other fruit trees because of it. I should have the extension service see if they can figure out what is wrong with it. There is a second tree there that the main tree fell over and a new tree sprouted from the trunk. It had the same disease but appears fairly healthy this year. Also a huge old pear tree had the same disease. And it looks fairly healthy this year. I think maybe the fungus or what ever it is may be spread by insects. Since we have no grass we have very few if any bugs this year. So maybe that is why the other trees look healthier.
The deer used to come in and eat the shrunken apples but of course the dogs don't let them near. They birds aren't interested in them at all.
My duck buyer is coming tomorrow to take the rest of my ducklings! Yahoo! I was supposed to take 5 roosters and 2 pekin drakes to town today but I again couldn't catch those wild roosters. I hate disappointing people and I hate missing money but until I figure out how to nab them I'm out of luck.
I was going to go to town yesterday and look at the poultry at the fair cause they were supposed to judge them. I never left home.
This Chinese guy showed up with another engineer from Wolf Creek in the middle of the day yesterday. He loves my place. I can see him buying a mini farm for his family. He keeps saying "I love this." He is an avid gardener and loves the birds. He has asked me a million questions about them. Even though it is very hard to understand him. I do hope he doesn't become a pest. I think it was comical that he and his friend left work for an hour in the middle of the day just to come out so he could show him my birds.