Just dropped in to say hi
It's H2B's birthday this weekend and we are having a big party so it's all about preparation this weekend. I plan to BBQ a couple brisket and some chicken (the boys from the first hatch of the year) plus I have a fair bit of baking to do. He wants chocolate suicide cake, sounds good to me. He joked and said I should add a chocolate chip cookie layer, silly man, I found a chocolate chip cake recipe, won't HE be surprised
In Icelandic news... I hatched a batch from Mary on 3/15, I hatched a batch from Kathy about 4/15 they are all beautiful and out in general population with my egg layers and pets, there's about 50 birds out there. Each batch of Icelandics went into the bator along with turkey eggs. We can see the coop and yard from the house and spend more time than we probably should watching the antics of some ridiculously silly chickens and turkeys.
Both groups seem to have adopted their turkeys. The turkeys that hang with the Icelandics seem WAAAAY smarter than the other batch of turkeys that hatched all by themselves. The Icelandic turkeys follow the Icelandic chickens everywhere. They are part of the flock and inseparable. They forage with them and roost with them. The two groups of Icelandics do NOT hang out together. The coop opens and one group goes to the pasture the other group stays in the run or goes into the backyard. They do all stay in their groups, with little fraternization with the other chickens. My yard is divided up with chain link fencing. The people we bought the house from bred boxers, so the yards are designed to keep dogs in but I use the fencing to keep stray dogs out. The chickens find low spots where the ground dips away from the fence just enough for them to squeeze under, or they crawl through the gap at the bottom of the gate. Either way, none of the fencing contains chickens. The turkeys can't squeeze under so they fly over. At night, Mary's babies have taken over the top rung of the rack that holds my nest boxes. Kathy's babies (and their turkeys) have recently taken over the top rung of the roost which is a pallet frame that has had all the slats removed so it is just a 3 tiered rack that props against the wall.
Lately, the boys from Mary's group have started hitting on the girls from Kathy's group. The younger girls are not at all in the mood so they fight back and run! Man are they fast. At least they help me determine the sex on a few that I was unsure of, I hope they are as reliable as Kelly
I hope you all are having a great day.
It's H2B's birthday this weekend and we are having a big party so it's all about preparation this weekend. I plan to BBQ a couple brisket and some chicken (the boys from the first hatch of the year) plus I have a fair bit of baking to do. He wants chocolate suicide cake, sounds good to me. He joked and said I should add a chocolate chip cookie layer, silly man, I found a chocolate chip cake recipe, won't HE be surprised
In Icelandic news... I hatched a batch from Mary on 3/15, I hatched a batch from Kathy about 4/15 they are all beautiful and out in general population with my egg layers and pets, there's about 50 birds out there. Each batch of Icelandics went into the bator along with turkey eggs. We can see the coop and yard from the house and spend more time than we probably should watching the antics of some ridiculously silly chickens and turkeys.
Both groups seem to have adopted their turkeys. The turkeys that hang with the Icelandics seem WAAAAY smarter than the other batch of turkeys that hatched all by themselves. The Icelandic turkeys follow the Icelandic chickens everywhere. They are part of the flock and inseparable. They forage with them and roost with them. The two groups of Icelandics do NOT hang out together. The coop opens and one group goes to the pasture the other group stays in the run or goes into the backyard. They do all stay in their groups, with little fraternization with the other chickens. My yard is divided up with chain link fencing. The people we bought the house from bred boxers, so the yards are designed to keep dogs in but I use the fencing to keep stray dogs out. The chickens find low spots where the ground dips away from the fence just enough for them to squeeze under, or they crawl through the gap at the bottom of the gate. Either way, none of the fencing contains chickens. The turkeys can't squeeze under so they fly over. At night, Mary's babies have taken over the top rung of the rack that holds my nest boxes. Kathy's babies (and their turkeys) have recently taken over the top rung of the roost which is a pallet frame that has had all the slats removed so it is just a 3 tiered rack that props against the wall.
Lately, the boys from Mary's group have started hitting on the girls from Kathy's group. The younger girls are not at all in the mood so they fight back and run! Man are they fast. At least they help me determine the sex on a few that I was unsure of, I hope they are as reliable as Kelly
I hope you all are having a great day.
