I Built A Bridge!

[tommysgirl]

Good morning Bridge Club

16 paws thank you, yep Jenny sure is pretty!

Liz phew, good to know I am not alone in the naming-car department! Joel picked the name 'Jenny' and for no particular reason, it just came to him.

So pleased for you that things have settled down a little. I love reading about Frankie and how she is doing; she is going to be a very special Bridge Club member.

Ouch! at egg-hording; not good news.

Yep, I also remember when Lucy and Desi were bubbies and how identical they were. We were all waiting and wondering if they were boys or girls.

Once again, beautiful pictures! Besides the obvious best picks being those of Frankie; those two pictures of Frida and Grace’s bubby are adorable .. the second one where they are looking at each other is so sweet, you sure can see the love!

It is also so nice to read that you are now able to enjoy your bubbies and just spend time with them … they are so sweet; enjoy!


My news …..

Less than a week to go now on Tina’s hatch; Sunday being the possible first day but not likely due to giving her the eggs at 4pm; Monday is more likely. She is doing very well, still doing her peacock impersonations. The eggs look and smell OK. I have noticed that she is looking at them more while she is on the nest and hope that it is because she can feel movement or hear noises and not because an explosion is imminent!

In other news, Blondie is broody! Actually, let me rephrase that, Blondie has gone Broodzilla!!

The story; with pictures ……

Due to work being busy yesterday I was not able to collect the eggs until the afternoon. I had to move Blondie off one of her's and one of Cilla’s and while she was not happy, she went out with the rest of the excavation team for play time. They sure had fun making a mess! The picture does not show it that well but Dusty had dug herself a huge hole. As per normal, I swept the mini-wall and pavers when they went to bed and put all the dirt back in their spot ….



I was pottering around out there with them and could not find Blondie so checked the nest box and was greeted by this puffed up cranky …..





She was screeching at me so loudly Joel came out of the house to see what was going on! Anyways, complete with garden gloves which she tried to rip to shreds, I lifted her out of the nest box and put her on the ground …..




After I took the above pic she charged at my feet and attached my toes! I think I removed her from the nest box about 15 times before bed time.

This is her on one of her many trips back to the nest box ....





She is puffing up to twice her size and flaring every feather she possibly can! Shrieking like a banshee the whole time.


Take care, stay safe and happy chickens!

you ought to enter that boufant pic in a BYC contest. It is amazing. I love your descriptions Teila. It helps us to know your girls a bit better. I wish in some ways I had fewer birds. It was nice when I had just the 6 and they all loved me.

In my broody news:

the cracked egg is still in the bator. I think it and its sibling are not going to hatch They are both EE eggs and EEs tpically hatch vigorous and a little early. I don't know how far along these were because I didn't set them but I thaought they would hatch over the weekend if they were going to.

Gracie Belle's eggs were either a) infertile b) broken in the nest. I am bummed about that but she is un-phased and is sharing duties with Julie whose eggs are due to hatch tomorrow!!!

So 3 broodies and at the most 6 chicks but I am thinking more likely Willa will be disappointed. I will give her a few random eggs this weekend if the one she is on doesn't hatch.

Oh my goodness, I love this picture! It looks like Blondie is doing her best B-52 bouffant impersonation! Wrong 80's band, Blondie!!

Yup! Those are ground cherries. Some use them in jelly. I just like to eat them! Definitely a different taste. I really recommend trying pawpaws! They are supposed to be super good for you! I just halved mine and scooped out bites with a spoon. The flesh is that tender, really just like custard. You work around big seeds, but that is no big deal. The taste is fruity but very mild and I was left dreading the last bite. You can make bread, muffins and ice-cream among other things with them. I am hooked!

I have never had a paw paw. But I remember a part of a song that gores "Way down yonder in the paw paw patch." You make them sound fantastic! Fingers crossed that you will get more eggs soon. I got 3 day before yesterday from 11 non-broody layers but 9 yesterday so I assume the strongly worded letter I wrote to them made an impact

 

[lizgarf]

Hi Team,
Sorry to hear of your hatching woes, @tommysgirl . I hope Julie's eggs hatch well for you! Looking forward to news!

Speaking of human treats, MM, I just made ricotta ice cream! Soooo good!! I used to eat ricotta gelato when I lived in Bologna, and it was my favorite flavor at this one gelateria, and I never had it anywhere else, but i found a recipe and made it, and I'm so happy! I ate with a peach/quince/plum pie! And a couple weeks ago, I made passion fruit ice cream with some of the fruit from my vine! As long as I have enough eggs to make my favorite treats, we'll survive here on the farm!

So, in other non-chick news, Desi has been staggering off and on lately, which I suspected was related to his collar. It was definitely getting worse yesterday and this morning, which seemed strange since his collar hadn't been especially tight - he was still able to crow, albeit more quietly than without the collar. I did some searches on staggering and got very frightened about Merek's disease. After some research on the disease, it sounded like it was unlikely - the kind of staggering was different, he's a little old, he's a boy, etc. But, the only way to know was to remove the collar, which I didn't want to do outside in case the wrong person walked by. So, I brought Desi into my downstairs room, which has a separate entrance so we didn't have to pass the dog, and I took off the collar and . . . he walked perfectly fine! Not surprisingly, the collar was filthy. And Desi had a number of broken feathers and nits and dandruff and stuff on his neck. So, I removed the broken feathers and cleaned the collar. In the mean time, I put the purchased collar on him and, after he quickly figured out how to start taking it off, I got it on better so that it works well enough for now. I think perhaps some of the broken feathers were poking his neck badly, or the collar was misaligned, or something. I'm not sure, but now he seems ok.
Anyway, this all has had me thinking about whether maybe I should try to find a new home for Desi. Socially, he's as good a rooster as I could hope for. He's not at all aggressive with me - he doesn't like to be picked up, but once I have him in my arms, he's quite cuddly. He actually had his head leaned against my chest as I was carrying him back to the coop - I regretted not being able to take a felfie. But, he's a serious crower and I have to collar him if I have any hopes of not having anyone complain, and the collar is not a perfect solution. I think there's a chance it could kill him, and it's definitely not always comfortable for him. Plus, there is a limit to how many birds I can keep. If I'm going to keep letting my laying (and non-laying) flock age, and still try to add some younger hens once in awhile, I won't have room for everyone. Plus, it's really hard for me to go away, even just for a night, because I worry about him crowing too loud if he's not in the man cave. And, I'm not sure I want to do many more hatches due to space issues, or even any more with this particular parenting combo, or risk some issues down the line. So, it's a tough situation and something I'm trying to think through. I guess I'm not ruling out the possibility of finding him a new home, if the right thing comes around, but not actively looking. I'm pretty sure Jan will miss him - not sure if anyone else will! Maybe they can go somewhere together . . . you know, that magical farm that wants a gorgeous Black Copper Marans Roo, who's just missing some neck feathers, and a very sweet non-laying Ameraucana . . . .

But, to end on a happier note, thanks for suggesting the highlights, MM - I never think to mess with a pic, but it's so easy to do:

 

[tommysgirl]

Hi Team,
Sorry to hear of your hatching woes, @tommysgirl . I hope Julie's eggs hatch well for you! Looking forward to news!

Speaking of human treats, MM, I just made ricotta ice cream! Soooo good!! I used to eat ricotta gelato when I lived in Bologna, and it was my favorite flavor at this one gelateria, and I never had it anywhere else, but i found a recipe and made it, and I'm so happy! I ate with a peach/quince/plum pie! And a couple weeks ago, I made passion fruit ice cream with some of the fruit from my vine! As long as I have enough eggs to make my favorite treats, we'll survive here on the farm!

So, in other non-chick news, Desi has been staggering off and on lately, which I suspected was related to his collar. It was definitely getting worse yesterday and this morning, which seemed strange since his collar hadn't been especially tight - he was still able to crow, albeit more quietly than without the collar. I did some searches on staggering and got very frightened about Merek's disease. After some research on the disease, it sounded like it was unlikely - the kind of staggering was different, he's a little old, he's a boy, etc. But, the only way to know was to remove the collar, which I didn't want to do outside in case the wrong person walked by. So, I brought Desi into my downstairs room, which has a separate entrance so we didn't have to pass the dog, and I took off the collar and . . . he walked perfectly fine! Not surprisingly, the collar was filthy. And Desi had a number of broken feathers and nits and dandruff and stuff on his neck. So, I removed the broken feathers and cleaned the collar. In the mean time, I put the purchased collar on him and, after he quickly figured out how to start taking it off, I got it on better so that it works well enough for now. I think perhaps some of the broken feathers were poking his neck badly, or the collar was misaligned, or something. I'm not sure, but now he seems ok.
Anyway, this all has had me thinking about whether maybe I should try to find a new home for Desi. Socially, he's as good a rooster as I could hope for. He's not at all aggressive with me - he doesn't like to be picked up, but once I have him in my arms, he's quite cuddly. He actually had his head leaned against my chest as I was carrying him back to the coop - I regretted not being able to take a felfie. But, he's a serious crower and I have to collar him if I have any hopes of not having anyone complain, and the collar is not a perfect solution. I think there's a chance it could kill him, and it's definitely not always comfortable for him. Plus, there is a limit to how many birds I can keep. If I'm going to keep letting my laying (and non-laying) flock age, and still try to add some younger hens once in awhile, I won't have room for everyone. Plus, it's really hard for me to go away, even just for a night, because I worry about him crowing too loud if he's not in the man cave. And, I'm not sure I want to do many more hatches due to space issues, or even any more with this particular parenting combo, or risk some issues down the line. So, it's a tough situation and something I'm trying to think through. I guess I'm not ruling out the possibility of finding him a new home, if the right thing comes around, but not actively looking. I'm pretty sure Jan will miss him - not sure if anyone else will! Maybe they can go somewhere together . . . you know, that magical farm that wants a gorgeous Black Copper Marans Roo, who's just missing some neck feathers, and a very sweet non-laying Ameraucana . . . .

But, to end on a happier note, thanks for suggesting the highlights, MM - I never think to mess with a pic, but it's so easy to do:

Oh Liz, I am sorry. I know your heart must be heavy. I will do what I can if you decide to rehome him. The people who took some of my girls were not really interested in laying hens since they had several and were just two people, they really just like the idea of giving chickens a home so maybe they will be interested. I know they had hens don't think they had a rooster but maybe they would be open to it. I know you have done your absolute best for him an whatever decision you come to will be supported. Just want to let you know you are in my thoughts!

In my news as of bed time tonight there were two chicks...one RSL cockerel baby and one BSL pullet baby. This little girl brings my chick chick total I think to 15. Most of those found new homes but this little girl will take her place in my flock. I am pleased Willa has a baby and Gracie Belle has a baby. I feel like there should be at least one more for Julie but even if there isn't I think she may get up and mother this little one with GB...The EE eggs were further along I think than Julies but still no stink from the one in the bator so I am leaving both alone for now. I may have to get her a couple of chicks but I don't think so. There was one other pip and there is still a Petunia egg that looked good the last time I checked them

Good Night! Happy hatching!

 

[lizgarf]

Thanks, TG, and congrats on the bubbies!!! Looking forward to pics!

 

[MistyMountain]

Liz, as I lay in bed with one sick little boy trying to go to sleep after tucking another sick little boy back in his bed... I am offically hungry! Not bad kind of hungry, though... More of a taste guessing kind of hungry! I have only recently been introduced to the world of gelato. My favorite "fancy" restaurant is a Brazillian place in the city. We go there for special occasions. Funny because while most of the menu is quite expensive, I always get a pasta dish with hearts of palm that is close to what you would spend buying a meal not on the dollar menu at a fast food place. Anyhow, there is a gelato place down the road that I always wanted to try but I either fell for the key lime pie at Carlos or we were in a hurry to get home. I finally tried it and have been in love ever since. I went for the pistachio flavor. I also buy the mini hagen daas (sp?) cups of salted caramel gelato from thw grocery store on occasion. Those are amazing! I think I will add some to my list for tomorrow!

Playing with pics is fun. I have all the software to do so, but I am seriously out of practice in photoshop. I spend my days using Illustrator for work. I would love to take some refresher classes!

So sorry to hear about your troubles with Desi and the collar. I know keeping him has been a job for you. I wish there was an easy solution. Sending good vibes your way!

TG, yay for more babies! Fingers crossed for those in the bator! I'm with Liz, looking forward to pics!

Not much going on here other than two sick little boys... Again. Oldest has a fever. Tricky guy was happy and healthy today after running a fever last night and then when bedtime came around it spiked again. No school for him tomorrow. Youngest started wheezing and had labored breathing at about 5am. I took him in to the Dr and he is now on breathing treatments. His brother was about the same age when he started with the same thing. He only needs it during cold season when he gets a sick. We will have to see how this turns out for little man. Hopefully it is a one time deal. I'm sleeping in his room tonight because his breathing makes me nervous. So far I have only been kicked about ten times LoL!

The flock has been locked up all day because I was too busy caring for the boys to supervise. Hopefully they will get out tomorrow afternoon while DH works outside. That sneaky white rooster from MJ's hatch is smart! None of my catching or trapping tricks work on that guy! He may become a permanent resident of the pine tree! A few pics I took this afternoon of Blackbeard's beard and newly named Chloe's poofy head!

 

[MistyMountain]

Long winded reply and my phone was acting up before I could post pics!
Tricky rooster

Poofy head Chloe

Blackbeard and chloe and a few others...

 

[tommysgirl]

Liz, as I lay in bed with one sick little boy trying to go to sleep after tucking another sick little boy back in his bed... I am offically hungry! Not bad kind of hungry, though... More of a taste guessing kind of hungry! I have only recently been introduced to the world of gelato. My favorite "fancy" restaurant is a Brazillian place in the city. We go there for special occasions. Funny because while most of the menu is quite expensive, I always get a pasta dish with hearts of palm that is close to what you would spend buying a meal not on the dollar menu at a fast food place. Anyhow, there is a gelato place down the road that I always wanted to try but I either fell for the key lime pie at Carlos or we were in a hurry to get home. I finally tried it and have been in love ever since. I went for the pistachio flavor. I also buy the mini hagen daas (sp?) cups of salted caramel gelato from thw grocery store on occasion. Those are amazing! I think I will add some to my list for tomorrow!

Playing with pics is fun. I have all the software to do so, but I am seriously out of practice in photoshop. I spend my days using Illustrator for work. I would love to take some refresher classes!

So sorry to hear about your troubles with Desi and the collar. I know keeping him has been a job for you. I wish there was an easy solution. Sending good vibes your way!

TG, yay for more babies! Fingers crossed for those in the bator! I'm with Liz, looking forward to pics!

Not much going on here other than two sick little boys... Again. Oldest has a fever. Tricky guy was happy and healthy today after running a fever last night and then when bedtime came around it spiked again. No school for him tomorrow. Youngest started wheezing and had labored breathing at about 5am. I took him in to the Dr and he is now on breathing treatments. His brother was about the same age when he started with the same thing. He only needs it during cold season when he gets a sick. We will have to see how this turns out for little man. Hopefully it is a one time deal. I'm sleeping in his room tonight because his breathing makes me nervous. So far I have only been kicked about ten times LoL!

The flock has been locked up all day because I was too busy caring for the boys to supervise. Hopefully they will get out tomorrow afternoon while DH works outside. That sneaky white rooster from MJ's hatch is smart! None of my catching or trapping tricks work on that guy! He may become a permanent resident of the pine tree! A few pics I took this afternoon of Blackbeard's beard and newly named Chloe's poofy head!

Sorry bout your sick kids. You take really great shots...The tricky rooster against the green backdrop is really pretty. My Delawares are disgustingly grubby. Was going to bathe them over the weekend but didn't make time for it I want a photo shop type program but don't know where to start and with what. Suggestions for Mac?

Thanks, TG, and congrats on the bubbies!!! Looking forward to pics!

You are welcome! I hope it all comes to a happy conclusion.

And as instructed here are two pics from this morning when I discovered GB had hatched another. The first pic is BAD because they wouldn't hold still but it shows my little girl BSL. She is that red headed black blur in the center. The next is a redstar...and yes, another cockerel. I have hatched 8 of Harriet's eggs only 1 has been a pullet :-/ Did not get a pic of chick #1 as I was already dressed for work and taking a pic of him would have meant getting down on the ground in the run. But, he is a cute little yellow guy too.




Hoping for Petunia's egg to hatch today while I am at work and as for the EEs who the heck knows?

Take care today...hope to have more subject to photograph badly soon.

 

[16 paws]

Tommysgirl.
Congratulations on the chicks, hope the other ones hatch as well.

Liz, I kind of know what you are going thru with Desi, I really need to re-home one of my roos as well but cant decide which one has to go. It is really a hard decision and can only be decided by you. We can only support you in what you feel is the right thing to do. Have your neighbors actually complained or are you just worried they will? I got rid of my first roo because I was afraid my neighbor would complain and now I wished I would of kept him. I dont know if you read the post about her but she actually did complain about my next one and threatened me about it. So far nothing has come of it but we shall see what happens. Are you allowed to have a roo there?
there are a lot of people fighting to keep roos and I am in total support over that.

Not at this home but before we moved here and got chickens we had someone turn us in for having a pot bellied pig in the city. We lived in a brand new community in the suburbs. We actually called the local news and got them to come out and pick up the story. The publicity went wild. Elvis the pig was on the front page of all the newspapers and it was on tv as far away as Hawaii! My next door neighbor happened to be on a business trip in Hawaii and he called us to say the story was on the news there. We fought the city on the matter and got them to change the ordinance. You are now allowed to have 1 pot bellied pig in the city of Vista. I think we got lucky because the press made a big deal of this cute little pig named Elvis. So just something to think about....

MistyMountain,

Hope your kiddies are feeling better soon. I remember sitting beside my sons bed many times when he was small, my hubby and I took turns. He had asthma real bad when he got sick and had a real hard time breathing as well. They had him on 9 different meds at one time to control it. The good news is that he outgrew it. I bet yours will too.

All this talk about gelato is making me want to make it too. Maybe liz can post her recipe for ricotta ice cream? Sounds scruptious... How do you spell that and is it a real word? haha
It has been so darn hot here, two fans going in the coop for this heat wave.

How many more days and minutes Teila? Cant wait to start counting down.....Do the eggs look like girls?

Have a great day all

Marie melting in San diego......

 

[16 paws]

Couple pictures...

Remember little Antie Emm? The chick that had all the ants in the shell? Here she is little miss Brabanter. I love her black mohawk!

And here are my 2 Russian Orloffs. Gotta love those muffs!


Marie

 

[16 paws]

Hey Liz,
I thought you might want to read this, I found it very interesting.

• Serenity Sav
• 
• 

• Location: Bonny Doon, California
• Joined: 1/2014
• Posts: 145
• offline

​

Ah!! I have much (recent) experience with regards to rooster collars.

There's another thread about them, here:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/820771/sound-of-silence-6am-no-more-crowing

About 3 weeks ago, I wanted to look into the rooster collar thing. I have 2 roos, a golden sebright and a mille fleur d'uccle; both bantams. They were crowing quite regularly for extended amounts of time, and between the two of them it became a crowing war, whoever crowed last wins.
After seeing the above mentioned forum, I contacted the "rooster collar" maker on facebook, as well as via email; no response at all. I made a trip to the local fabric store and bought some velcro, and sewed + glued it together to make my own rooster collars; total price was less than $4.
I waited until thew crowed before putting on my collars, so if nothing else it could be viewed as a punishment of sorts.
The louder of the two, the sebright, would crow A LOT, he got the collar first. After securing it, and making sure he could breathe well, etc., I let him go, and he spent the good part of an hour trying to "back out" of it. Eventually he was content, he ate, drank, talked, as normal. But when he eventually tried to crow, he just made gargly sounds. He hasn't tried again since, when the collar is on.

My second roo, my mille fleur, eventually got the collar when he started crowing too. He didn't try backing up, instead he kept scratching at it with his foot. Eventually he tried crowing while wearing it, too. He was much more successful; his sounded as an audible crow, but less projective and powerful than normal, and the end of the crow was gargly. He has crowed 1-2 times at a times while wearing the collar before quitting.

Now, three weeks later, I still use my collars, but mostly as a punishment tool. The crowing overall has gone down at least 75%; on the worst days they will crow twice each. If they crow once, collar goes on. Collar goes off after a few hours of silence. I've gone many days with no crowing at all, without using collars, since then. But they still will crow once in a while and I still use the collar to keep consistent with my "punishment", lest is get worse. I have family that visits a few times a week, and since using my collars, they exclaim at how there's no crowing like before, and how peaceful and quiet it is.

Hope my experience is helpful to some.