Dixie Chicks

[Bogtown Chick]

@Bogtown Chick whats your prefered chicken breed?

Amber: This year?..LOL....I've been impressed with my Wyandottes. Good looking Body shape. Laying Longevity. My SLW is a bit persnickety though (drawback). They also have the right comb type for our region.

The EE's are perfect for my climate too and I love the blue in my egg carton. But the laying longevity on those birds is unimpressive.

I got a Buckeye this past spring. I like her...but she's not thrifty on the feed. She eats like a horse. (Dual purpose bird) Verdict is still out on her as she's just come into POL. I'll see how she does on egg production before I put in my verdict on her.

Black Australorp--although a single comb. Super kind on the roost. Docile yet flighty enough for free ranging. Loves her greens and very thrifty on feed. Good layer.

Wyandottes, so far.

 

[JulesChicks]

Thanks @Amberjem . Weekend went great. Kids had a sleep over at friends. DH was gone to the cities to get taxes done. I had the house to myself Friday night. Cleaned the house. Cooked a gourmet dinner for myself. Run a whirlpool bath. Popped on a New TV series. Got a Rose from DH when he came home Saturday. Made dinner for all of us when kids were back. Sunday took My Mom to "50"

~ Oh My....

How was every body else's weekend? I havent read the last 159 posts. I know...my own fault. I'll get crackin'.

Seriously? I can't even bring myself to read the book let alone take my mom to see the movie. lol - you're brave... I'm a Jamie Fraser fan myself (Outlander book series). I would take him any day over Christian Gray...

JulesChicks: Very well said and at some point you'll maybe get there. Thank you for these well written words. This is where the "head" needs to be for raising chickens. If a Backyard chicken keeper can't "get there" then they shouldn't probably get chickens.

It really bothered me, like you, where and how my eggs & meat was being raised. So I've changed that for myself with some steps. Baby steps maybe. Trying to live consciously and making steps to change the things that bother me. I've learned alot & about myself. It's not always easy. Sort of makes you stronger though, you know?

To be honest, my DH, I think, has more feelings for the birds than he lets on. It is up to me as he refused my request to help me dispatch an extra roo. In fact, he even sort of was against the culling of one bird.

Not helpful when I knew what had to be done. I had extra roos though this last fall again and was planning to cull. He told me to ask around first...and we ended up rehoming them to very nice coops and set ups. I couldn't get over it. So those boys are doing well and are loved and that's good.

Thank you! And I'm sorry you're not getting the moral support from DH. Mine has said he will be the "chicken killer" - though I suspect he will grow fond of them too and have a harder time with it than he lets on.

Someone posted on Craigslist "Free Snow! Bring your shovels and take all you want!" LOL!

Lol. But on a serious note, I am really concerned for my nearly 70 yr old father in law who shovels their driveway - no snowblower. He is very active and healthy, but we still worry with so much snow. DH was back there (Massachusetts south shore) for the Super Bowl and he said the drift was about 5' high then outside on their patio -and they've been hit much harder since. Hopefully all of you with the cold winters and awful storms get a break soon...

@Amberjem Well, we're making progress! DH usually works on holidays (we own a business) but he decided to keep the brush hog for another day on account of the nice weather. We cleared and burned one swath yesterday (I pruned and burned the trees nearby), but there is a fence line and a slope making it tricky. He is working the other side of the fence line today. Progress!!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Hahaha Jules:

Well I was mortified and fidgety the whole movie with her. Caught myself holding my breath, wrinkling up my face a couple times. I don't know what I was thinking.

I love the Outlander books. I'm on the second to last book. Jamie Fraser IS the best. I've got my sister and Mom reading those too, now. Those books are just decadent.

 

[hennible]

Lol... Dirty....

 

[Alaskan]

no bugs and no snakes...just lotsa awesome birds and wonderful fruit and a few wild pigs and deer.....

sounds good... except lets nix the wild pig.. destructive little buggers...... ah never mind, I will just hunt them into extinction.

*Magically transports Alaskan to a not so tropical Iceland* Oops, Al, something went wrong...

not so bad.... just 25 there. At least you didn't send me to Greenland.

@Alaskan , put your ruby red slippers on and click your heals 3 times!

oooh! but where to go, where to go?

Awesome on the sprout pics! I can't wait to see them!
I have one thermometer that I put the sensor at mid level and can read the temp from the house, but I need a hygrometer too. And I would like to be able to track the temp in the run. Yesterday the sun was shining and the run felt fairly comfortable. In the summer I want to know the temp of the run as well because of the metal roof. Last summer wasn't bad but if we get some really hot sunny days I expect I'll have to cool the roof off once or twice in the day with water.

you could sun dry tomatoes on the roof! yum!

? You guys starting your greenhouses already ? or just growing greens ?

I should start the peppers now too..... not feeling like it at the moment.

@Amberjem

hehehe... In answer to the question "Got anything incubating?" Of course! Two white marans eggs going into lockdown today. Moving the 4 BLRW chicks into the big brooder where the TJ's were. Need to figure out the next thing for Solo and Oops as they're getting large for the cage they're in. Still a little small to turn out into the big coop and I'd like to have the run completed before doing so. May have to build a nifty grow out tractor like you've got.

The one I built last summer was from all free scrap... with a coat of free paint it actually looks good, I highly recommend a tractor. And tractors are short.... very unlikely to fall on your head and try to kill you while you build them.

 

[JulesChicks]

Hahaha Jules:

Well I was mortified and fidgety the whole movie with her. Caught myself holding my breath, wrinkling up my face a couple times. I don't know what I was thinking.

I love the Outlander books. I'm on the second to last book. Jamie Fraser IS the best. I've got my sister and Mom reading those too, now. Those books are just decadent.

I've got my mom just barely started on Outlander - she said she can't seem to get past the first 50 pages so I just asked her if Claire had gone through the stones yet -nope, still with Frank. I said, no wonder you're not hooked, keep reading! I did watch a few episodes of the new series with mom and although we are very close, it was a little awkward watching it with her...
I'm on Echo in the Bone, which I think is book 7 out of 8? So maybe we're on the same one. My sister in law has read the entire series several times - she's an avid reader and owns a bookstore.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Ha I'm on Echo too. Claire just ran into Tom Christie.

Mom is on Dragonfly-- Lallybroch before Culloden. And sister just finished Voyageur (awesome book of the series) so she's diving into Drums now.

The first outlander was a slow start for me too--getting used to Herself's writing and of course the Gaelic--because I had to look up everything... Ha.

Ahhh they're good reads and an excellent escape. She's a smart writer. Her detail blows me away.

 

[Amberjem]

Amber: This year?..LOL....I've been impressed with my Wyandottes. Good looking Body shape. Laying Longevity. My SLW is a bit persnickety though (drawback). They also have the right comb type for our region.

The EE's are perfect for my climate too and I love the blue in my egg carton. But the laying longevity on those birds is unimpressive.

I got a Buckeye this past spring. I like her...but she's not thrifty on the feed. She eats like a horse. (Dual purpose bird) Verdict is still out on her as she's just come into POL. I'll see how she does on egg production before I put in my verdict on her.

Black Australorp--although a single comb. Super kind on the roost. Docile yet flighty enough for free ranging. Loves her greens and very thrifty on feed. Good layer.

Wyandottes, so far.

ya I been leaning more n more torwards wyandottes so far.......

 

[Amberjem]

Seriously? I can't even bring myself to read the book let alone take my mom to see the movie. lol - you're brave... I'm a Jamie Fraser fan myself (Outlander book series). I would take him any day over Christian Gray...

Thank you! And I'm sorry you're not getting the moral support from DH. Mine has said he will be the "chicken killer" - though I suspect he will grow fond of them too and have a harder time with it than he lets on.

Lol. But on a serious note, I am really concerned for my nearly 70 yr old father in law who shovels their driveway - no snowblower. He is very active and healthy, but we still worry with so much snow. DH was back there (Massachusetts south shore) for the Super Bowl and he said the drift was about 5' high then outside on their patio -and they've been hit much harder since. Hopefully all of you with the cold winters and awful storms get a break soon...

@Amberjem Well, we're making progress! DH usually works on holidays (we own a business) but he decided to keep the brush hog for another day on account of the nice weather. We cleared and burned one swath yesterday (I pruned and burned the trees nearby), but there is a fence line and a slope making it tricky. He is working the other side of the fence line today. Progress!!

what kinda business does he do?

 

[Amberjem]

sounds good... except lets nix the wild pig.. destructive little buggers...... ah never mind, I will just hunt them into extinction.

not so bad.... just 25 there. At least you didn't send me to Greenland.

oooh! but where to go, where to go?

you could sun dry tomatoes on the roof! yum!

I should start the peppers now too..... not feeling like it at the moment.

The one I built last summer was from all free scrap... with a coat of free paint it actually looks good, I highly recommend a tractor. And tractors are short.... very unlikely to fall on your head and try to kill you while you build them.

lol that was the idea the deer and pig were for meat