Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Lovely chicks Ron and Lacy. I have some newly hatched chicks as well.

 

[RIR-YELLOWLEGS]

Just thought I would share... There is at least a half dozen more underneath the heating pad.

beatiful

 

[neopolitancrazy]

I would want to mark those that are slow to feather, and grow them out to see what I had. I would cull any that had were coupled with other concerning deficiencies early.

I am no fan of birds slow to feather, but I would not condemn my best pair for it in the first year. I would want to see what I had to work with, and then go from there. Saying this without knowing what you have as a start, or what you have access to. By saying some, I assume that you are saying that some are not.

See what you have to work with, and go from there. You would have made no commitments, and you would have the opportunity to decide based on evaluating the whole. It does not sound like you are at the "end of the road'.

I would note the parents etc. I would want to know if I was dealing with a sex linked recessive etc.

All but the 2 youngest chicks are wingbanded, so it will be easy to keep track of the slow-feathering birds. So far, I don't see a pattern; neither gender, parentage, color phase or age seems to be a determining factor. The half-naked ones are scattered all through the various chick pens. (The fully feathered ones are also scattered evenly through the pens, lol.)
Best wishes,
Angela

 

[gjensen]

All but the 2 youngest chicks are wingbanded, so it will be easy to keep track of the slow-feathering birds. So far, I don't see a pattern; neither gender, parentage, color phase or age seems to be a determining factor. The half-naked ones are scattered all through the various chick pens. (The fully feathered ones are also scattered evenly through the pens, lol.)
Best wishes,
Angela

I hope that all of your best birds are among those that have feathered out early.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

I hope that all of your best birds are among those that have feathered out early.

That makes 2 of us!!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Ok, I have a pic of mouseZILLA.

I'm fairly certain there are no bleeding hearts on this thread but if there are... it's part of farm life and I don't need a hard time. I kill rodents because they eat my birds' food and my birds' feathers right off their backs.

After looking at the pic, I realized it did not have soft gray fur... but it did have exceptionally soft mouse-colored fur... AND it might just have been bigger than three mice combined.

So, without further adieu...

Let me present for your viewing pleasure... MOUSE-ZILLA!



He, along with many of his little cousins, are currently frozen... awaiting processing. I know these mice are healthy because I've been feeding them for the past 5 years! It's time they earned their keep!

 

[Beekissed]

Brown rat....




Had a few nests of these at the last old farmhouse I rented, one set in the cellar and one pair in the outhouse, located next to the coop. JustOneBite took both nests out in a day or two. Pretty common around poultry houses and farms.

I'll tell you a funny story about that. When I found the rats the next day where they had crawled out of their homes to die, I picked one up to toss it over the fence and gave it a big swing while holding its tail. Well, the rat just fell at my feet and its tail had been skinned off by the process but I could not find the skin of the tail anywhere. Picked it up by what was left of its tail, the bone and other tissues, and was successful in tossing it that time. Went about all my messy chores for the day and didn't give it another thought.

That night as I took my shower and was washing my hair, I spied what I thought was an earthworm in the tub floor and wondered "how in the world???".

You guessed it.... I had been wearing that dead rat's tail in my hair all day. Somehow, when I had given that first attempt at tossing the rat, that tail sleeve had flown out of my hand and up in my hair. Gives a whole new meaning to when someone refers to their hair as a real rat's nest.

 

[Lacy Blues]

That's pretty funny Bee.

My son is reading over my shoulder and he said that was a "BAD HAIR DAY" for you!

 

[RIR-YELLOWLEGS]

Brown rat.... Had a few nests of these at the last old farmhouse I rented, one set in the cellar and one pair in the outhouse, located next to the coop. JustOneBite took both nests out in a day or two. Pretty common around poultry houses and farms. I'll tell you a funny story about that. When I found the rats the next day where they had crawled out of their homes to die, I picked one up to toss it over the fence and gave it a big swing while holding its tail. Well, the rat just fell at my feet and its tail had been skinned off by the process but I could not find the skin of the tail anywhere. Picked it up by what was left of its tail, the bone and other tissues, and was successful in tossing it that time. Went about all my messy chores for the day and didn't give it another thought. That night as I took my shower and was washing my hair, I spied what I thought was an earthworm in the tub floor and wondered "how in the world???". You guessed it.... I had been wearing that dead rat's tail in my hair all day. Somehow, when I had given that first attempt at tossing the rat, that tail sleeve had flown out of my hand and up in my hair. Gives a whole new meaning to when someone refers to their hair as a real rat's nest.

 

[gjensen]

It is a rat, but not a brown rat.