Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

This whole conversation is making me question tv limits. We obviously don't watch tv with Amelia around now but I wonder if completely doing away with it makes kids obsessed with it when they have the opportunity??

I wonder if some of it is just individual personality? We didn't have TV by choice when DD was little, thinking it would encourage her to use her imagination more than just plonk in front of a screen all the time. But we did have a VCR player and all she ever wanted to do anyway, was watch her movies (remember Barney the dinoaur? Bleh). Eventually we had to take away the VCR and the TV as well, since that is all she wanted to do.

Danz, here's what 3 degrees looks like to a two-week-old chick:






FWIW, I have never seen this chick under its mama. The high for the day it was hatched was 24. In the two weeks since it hatched, it has rarely been above freezing. For the past few days we haven't seen anything better than teens. Since there is no heat in this pen, the water freezes quickly, so 4 times each day I carry a fresh waterer down to make sure Mama and chick have water to drink. The chick now knows me as "The Bearer of the Water" so gets excited when it sees me coming and runs over to get a drink. It has never looked cold, or shivered or acted as though it is anything but a balmy summer day.

 

[chicken danz]

You know I am thinking maybe we do more harm than good to our chicks by keeping them as warm as we do. If you watch a mama hen usually the first couple of days the chick stays under her. But they acclimate really fast and when night comes the Mama draws the chicks under neath. I think those chicks I have in the garage have acclimated really well on their own. They sleep under the light but the rest of the time they are out running around in the little pen.
One of my problems is that I end up with multiple ages in chicks and then when they get chilled the little ones go under the larger ones....result suffocated chicks. The way I have the brooder house set up now the chicks are picking their areas to stay based on how warm it is. I've noticed the smallest ones tend to crowd around the oil heater as opposed to the light or the sweeter heaters. I can't wait to get all those chicks out of there and get them acclimated to the outside. I need to totally fumigate and clean that place so I can get some other chicks put out there.
I haven't been outside much yet. It's like snow mist coming down out there. It must be the moisture because it feels much colder today.
I went to the basement and cleaned up some more glass. I am trying to get all those tiny pieces that went every where. What a mess.
Yep Josie it was quite a trip going backwards down the stairs with a huge table going with me. I fall so much however I have learned to roll when I land. My biggest concern was the table hitting me. Now the glass was something else. Had I been below it rather than above it I probably would be getting stitches. I guess there's a hidden blessing there.
I think I'm going to make a dog bed of sorts for Fluff. He likes sleeping on the front porch. I gave him a blanket yesterday that he is using but I have some old foam. I may just make him a padded bed to lie on. Another project!!! Yep I keep adding more.
The predators must be hungry. The dogs have been barking and running a lot today. Normally it's quiet in the day time. Of course they love this weather. They are all wanting to play and chase each other around.

 

[Trish44]

Ugh, I have had to really make myself get dressed up in all of my gear & go out there the last two days, it takes some convincing to make me go out there in that cold. I had a couple of water bowls that I couldn't get the ice out of yesterday & I had to literally hold them high up in the air & throw them to the ground a couple of times to get that stuff to come out so I could put more water in. I will be glad for a break for a few days above freezing, this is the pits. On a brighter note, my GPs are having a heyday out there running & wrestling in the yard, they just love this weather.

My granddaughter just left to go home, we had a pretty good day here & she really liked her birthday gift. Her face really lit up when she opened it today. It's unusual for us to be able to have her here two days in a row, so we enjoyed it while we could. Now grandma is tired & ready for a nap.

 

[ashncarson]

Looks like everyone is staying cold.....I mean WARM! Warm thoughts!!!

The chicken I have inside looks MUCH better, no more swelling or anything! Still a bit of moisture on her nose, but she has been on Tylan for 5 days now.

Can she go back outside now or should I wait until it warms up a bit more? It is supposed to be 33 on Tuesday...would she be OK?

 

[chicken danz]

Ash I would take her back out during the warmest part of the day on the warmest day you can. Since she has been warm you don't want to shock her system too much by putting her out in the cold. I have my white orp in here in the same situation. I want to put her out but I won't in this cold. It has taken too much effort to get her to this point. If it weren't for the mess I would just leave her here. I can tell she is getting a little depressed though. She needs a chicken friend. I'm not sure how I'm going to introduce her back. I don't want her getting picked on.
I was near tears yesterday. I was out feeding and watering and found my purple peahen dead. She was big and healthy and not at all skinny. The only thing I can figure is that she got too cold. I need to do a necropsy on her but I was just too worn out battling the stupid hoses yesterday. Even blowing them out with air I had a frozen hoses. It was the long one I've been dragging every where. Probably close to 200 feet long. I tell you this weather is making me a grouch!
I really enjoy watching that Alaska show on discovery. And yesterday I couldn't help but wonder how on earth they care for their livestock and their chickens. How do they ever keep water going to them?? They show all kinds of prep work for winter but of course there are no shows when it is dark and winter really sets in. They have never mentioned how they keep the water from freezing. I would really love to ask them how they manage it? Most of them don't even have running water in their houses. I don't know how they function.
Trish, I'm glad you had a good weekend with your granddaughter. That's awesome. Sorry your son couldn't make it.
HEChicken my kids had tv when they were young. But there is such a difference in kids. One of the boys spent and still does all their time watching tv and playing video games. One was very active and involved in sports, and one was more interested in fishing and learning everything. The girls liked to read and chase boys. One of them liked hand crafts and the other liked horses. They were all different for sure.
I can't say TV shaped much of their world. I think computers had a bigger influence in what they ultimately took an interest in. We didn't have a computer until the older son was in high school but they had plenty of exposure at school before that. It had a tremendous effect on me too. If it weren't for computers and the internet I would probably just have a handful of hatchery chickens to lay eggs! And none of the other birds. AW! Now I can blame my chicken hoarding on the internet!

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, I'm so sorry about your peahen - what a terrible blow.

From what you are saying then, whether or not kids are exposed to TV doesn't have a huge impact on how they turn out. I grew up without TV and I used to love to go to stay with my grandparents because I could watch fun shows there, but ultimately, I wound up being a bookworm more than a TV watcher. Even now I don't watch a lot and don't miss having broadcast TV in the slightest.

Ash, I agree with Danz about transitioning your bird outside slowly. I'm glad she's doing better. I really feel fortunate to have our 3-season room to bring birds to, rather than all the way inside. It is still cold in the 3-season room - cold enough I have to have a heated water bowl plugged in for the cat to have drinkable water - but because it is an enclosed room, its is about 20 degrees warmer than being all the way outside.

Today is supposed to be a duplicate of yesterday - overcast and cold and bleh - but then the next few days is a slow warming trend and I think I even saw 48 in the forecast for one day. Won't it be nice not to have to constantly worry about water for a few days?

Stay warm everyone!

 

[chicken danz]

I honestly never watched tv except the weather channel until I retired. I'd watch it at night to see if I needed to set the alarm earlier or what to wear the next day. It just wasn't something I did. I have always been a very busy person and worked until bed time each evening. But now, due to my health, I just don't have any energy left in the evening so I go prop myself up on the heat pad and that's when I watch TV. It bores me actually and I end up switching channels looking for something besides commercials. My DH makes comments about commercials and I never know what he is talking about even if they are still on. I honestly just block them out. I end up taking cat naps with the tv on. I do like watching informative shows rather than the normal tv stuff....with a few exceptions. There is a couple dramas I love and a couple comedies I tolerate. But I would rather learn something. I definitely have seen my energy slowing down a lot the last few years. That is how I finally started watching tv.
I spend a lot more time on the computer than I ever have on TV. I like being able to stop in for a minute while I drink coffee or while I am taking a break. It doesn't require my constant attention.

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, that is so funny - I never met anyone else who blocks out the commercials like I do. We'll be watching something and DH will make a comment and I'll say "Huh?" and he is constantly amazed that I can be sitting there, apparently engaged, yet have totally blocked out the commercial altogether. I don't hear them or see them. As soon as the show breaks to a commercial, my mind zones out. That's why I really prefer the streaming of Netflix, because I can watch a 1-hour show in 42 minutes without the commercials I was never going to see anyway

I do the same with any form of advertising. I don't notice billboards or online ads either. We'll be driving along and DH will make what seems like a random comment but it turns out he is commenting on a billboard we just passed but that I never even saw.

 

[chicken danz]

Aw! So I am not totally unique! It's nothing I do consciously. I just zone them out. I'm not one of those people that runs out and buys something because it was advertized. I never see the advertisements!!! I'm the same way on line. When I want to buy something I look for it. I do check out adds when I get emails that interest me but most of those go in the junk file and never get looked at.
It's been a busy day on the phone so far today so I've got nothing done. It looks so gloomy out. It's not warming up either.
Come on Spring!!!

 

[Trish44]

It's snowing like crazy here, the weather says we're only supposed to get an inch but at the rate it's coming down we may get more. At least it's snow & not ice like they got south of us a few days ago. I would rather see snow any day than an ice storm. My son got sent to Texas with his job because of an ice storm down there. He had to miss his daughter's birthday party because of it, he was really upset. He's still down there as far as I know & working really long hours.

Bleah, I hate winter! It wouldn't be bad if I didn't have to go out there & take care of birds & animals & could just look out the window & say oh isn't that pretty, but no such luck. My hands are still hurting from when I went out earlier to let birds out & give water to some of the pens & the goats. Now I really see why some people get rid of all of their birds in the fall & start over in the spring. It just takes so long waiting to get eggs from them when you do that. They only would have a short time to get any eggs before they got rid of the birds. It doesn't seem like it would be worth feeding & taking care of them for those months only to get rid of them after they finally start producing.

Danz, I'm with you, having a big old building to house them all in I think would be heaven, we can dream can't we?