Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[FortCluck]

Ohh. Good to know!! Thank you. Ive never done one before.

I learned that this year when we had a burst of aphids. It came from last years compost...

We started a new pile this year. Actually 3 piles.

2 are with the chickens and 1 at the edge of the woods.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Dear goodness!
In an attempt to comfort, though: The deaths above seem to be very sudden, but the coronavirus seems to come on gradually. It doesn't kill quickly or spontaneously, I don't think.

While none of us know when we will be taking our last breath, the people in this video looks like they’ve either had seizures or passed out for other reasons. Especially the people that had the eyes roll back in the head, very classic for a seizure. Coronavirus doesn’t kill people this way, so please don’t worry. Hopefully you will have enough warning signs and seek medical attention before it comes to this. Hope this offers some reassurance.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I'm really, really late, but congratulations to her and your nephew!
Oop -- give me a second to find a hazmat suit, and then I'll give out that hug.

Wait I missed this one before! Congratulations!

 

[Ab1010]

I learned that this year when we had a burst of aphids. It came from last years compost...

We started a new pile this year. Actually 3 piles.

2 are with the chickens and 1 at the edge of the woods.

I will just leave my compost in my run as chicken manure! What about food scraps though? I feed them to my chickens and I usually put them near the compost. Just veggies.

 

[ShrekDawg]

You're so right! When I was a kid I was expected to take responsibility for my own education, my parents were not bribing me to do homework or checking it over. They did go over my report cards, and any time they were not up to snuff my other activities were put on hold until my grades improved.
I do think it's a lot more difficult for kids and parents today, because in most cases parents have to be at work when the kids get home from school, plus there is so much more effortless entertainment competing for the kids' attention.
I also believe there's more "anti-education" sentiment in this country than in others, too much attitude of "educated people are all elitists who talk down to us hard-working folks" as well as, "I went to 'the school of hard knocks' and that taught me more than any fancy college could do" type of attitudes.
It will take a lot to change these attitudes, but we need to learn to value education for itself, to value knowing things and understanding things, instead of just expecting a good education to be some sort of stepping-stone on the path to monetary riches.
Sports and other activities definitely have their place in schools - just not according to the hyper-competitive way they are done today. Kids who aren't into competition get pushed to the sidelines, then they miss out on getting any kind education for their bodies and muscles - this lack, I believe, adds to the prevalence of depression among young people.
I wish every school in our country required solid basics in reading, writing, critical research, history, math, biology, chemistry, physics, economics. As well as requiring every kid to take a foreign language, do some kind of sport (whether it's being a starter on the team, doing yoga or dance, hiking, geocaching around their city) do some form of art or craft (drawing, acting, a musical instrument, knitting, sewing, photography, making tik-tok videos) and some project related to agriculture (training their dog, participating in a community garden, composting kitchen scraps to raise a tomato plant in their window).
Of course our schools are massively underfunded and unbalanced in their priorities. With different priorities, and partnerships with community groups (also massively underfunded) our kids could have educations that prepare them as well as inspire them.
Lots of wishing, I guess.

I guess I was lucky in that I did most of these things. Not necessarily all through school but we took all those courses you listed (except maybe economics) and more and they also required language, music, and gym for a certain number of years. A lot of people did those well past it. And I did venture scouts with my friends so we did lots of hiking and geocache and that sort of thing plus we had a dog at the time haha I also got my chickens in 2015 which was a few years after I graduated but still. Now though I’m in a bit of a funk again and barely move or go outside or even visit them much

 

[ShrekDawg]

An ox can be any breed of "cow" ... I've seen Holstein oxen (absolutely MASSIVE!) and Jersey - small and solid, even a Hereford (white-faced red beef steer) trained as an ox - He was HUGE - and the biggest puppy dog I've ever met! That's the only beef I've ever seen as an ox, the rest have all been dairy animals. I don't know why, unless it has to do with size and manageability. I'd be curious to know.

EDIT to add - Thanks Mary - I figured it was probably because they would just be get heavy and out-of-proportion to work well. That makes sense, since they're pre-programmed to put on meat/muscle weight. If nothing else, their legs and feet wouldn't hold up to the strain.
Still, I sure would love to train a Guernsey - He'd be impressive, I'm sure!

Oh wow that’s amazing!!!

When we pass cattle in a field, we all yell "Look, MOOS!" But if DD happens to be in the car, especially if she has someone with her, we simply Moo. She's WAY too easy to embarass. And it's WAY too much fun to do ...

Hahahaha OMG

Made me think of this picture that I found on the Random Funny Posting Thread:
View attachment 2324544
Kills me every time. Poor thing looks absolutely horrified.

DEAD

 

[FortCluck]

I will just leave my compost in my run as chicken manure! What about food scraps though? I feed them to my chickens and I usually put them near the compost. Just veggies.

I made a fenced in area that the chickens can go in and kick around. I’ll get pics later. I add everything into mine and the chickens love digging through it.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I guess I was lucky in that I did most of these things. Not necessarily all through school but we took all those courses you listed (except maybe economics) and more and they also required language, music, and gym for a certain number of years. A lot of people did those well past it. And I did venture scouts with my friends so we did lots of hiking and geocache and that sort of thing plus we had a dog at the time haha I also got my chickens in 2015 which was a few years after I graduated but still. Now though I’m in a bit of a funk again and barely move or go outside or even visit them much

Go outside and hang with your chickens! Chicken therapy is awesome, just go out and sit with them and just be. You will feel better!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Agreed, wholeheartedly. I know some gents who would get very defensive if you asked them how many "men" or "guys" they've slept with, despite peoples claims that those are gender neutral! XD
But.... Hence the idea of cow being gender neutral to the majority of the population. Language has just evolved like that. I'm not sure WHY but every time you see a picture in a kids book and it's just gonna be "cow" under the cow picture, not "Cattle" or "Bovine". Therefore all cows are cows.

My guess is there's just not a lot of overlap between people who know the difference between cattle, cow, steer, bull, bovine and people who write books for toddlers and get published and there hasn't been for a long time.

Hence the problem with 'colt', spoken by folks who should know better. It's a colt or filly, or if already gelded, a gelding.
Like calling all chickens 'roosters'?!
Mary

I find I usually tailor my language to whom (type of people) I'm speaking and if they are open to hearing and/or learning what the proper terms may be. I've done a lot of large events where I spent a majority of my time educating the general public. I tried to always use the proper terms but when half the time you just keep repeating what a term means over and over again, it eats into the actual education you are able to impart. Though it didn't take long to work in little phrases to explain terms while not derailing things too much.

When I'm in a group who knows the terms it's much easier than a group who knows nothing. With the know nothing group I try to work in 2 or 3, tops, important key things... otherwise they don't keep anything because it's too much at once.

Oh ... Be still my poor, wounded heart! I feel a "Fred Sanford" coming on ..."This is The Big One ... I'm comin' to join you Elizabeth ..."
Methinks Mr. Webster hath underthunk and oversimplified his definitions! At the best, his research is incomplete. At worst, he is completely misguided and uninformed! Oh ... my faith in our printed word and an entire lifetime of relying on Mr. Webster was so shaken that I had to look it up ... and got some partial relief for my poor, pounding heart.

Looking further into the Webster website, we find a bit more clarification:


View attachment 2324433


Then we have the Macmillan Dictionary definition:
View attachment 2324444





And on the US Department of Agricultire's site we find this, which is still incomplete as it doesn't include the proper identity of poor John & Walker, the trusty oxen.:

View attachment 2324427


I feel a little better, now. My faith in the validity of modern definitions is partially restored. Mary? ( @Folly's place ) We have a big job ahead of us. Do you happen to have Mr. Webster's phone number, so we can get this mess straightened out?

Responding to the AgLinkEd snippet...
I have never, ever, in all my years... heard of an intact male referred to as "Entire". Across multiple livestock species we always say "intact male" or use the proper term like stud, bull, buck...especially when most have terms of their own for the castrated males like wether, steer, gelding, etc....

Ohh. Good to know!! Thank you. Ive never done one before.

Much of this depends on where you live and how you compost.
If you live somewhere with heavy winter freezes this takes care of a lot of pests and sometimes fungus and disease issues. Somewhere warmer...not so much.

If you hot compost (where the pile heats up) this kills most pests and diseases as well as weed seeds. If you cold compost then many of these things can stick around depending on what is in the pile/heaps.

 

[FortCluck]

I will just leave my compost in my run as chicken manure! What about food scraps though? I feed them to my chickens and I usually put them near the compost. Just veggies.

And I just added 10,000 sq ft to my run!!! I am so happy for my chickens. It’s so nice to go out there with them and just hang out. I want to make myself a simple bench for outside