Illinois...

[Molpet]

Ever have one of THOSE days? Today was most certainly mine.

Good news about my day:
@chickendreams24 I have plenty of laced, black, & white feathers for your wedding and the girls' dance recital

I have a lot of organic Orp meat for several meals, and it was given to me for free.

We made it to DS's relig ed (but handed in a bunch of chewed papers b/c our puppy got out of his crate 2 weeks ago & ate much of the homework).


...and the challenges:
I agreed to take a couple cockerels off someone's hands. They were beautiful, healthy, well-fed, etc, The man didn't need them, so he offered them to me. They were 11 mo old, so very large. I made arrangements with a friend for a processing morning. Due to traffic, the roosters arrived here late. I finally got to my friend's and we started about 12pm. Everything went OK, but I had some major issues storing the meat when I got home.

I took out my Food Sealer and discovered it was shot. It was going flaky for a while, so I found & bought a spare one at Goodwill. I made a bag & THEN found out these roos were way too big for my largest bags. I had to cut up the whole roasting birds into pieces in order to fit them into bags. The plan was to add the meat & brine to the bags for a day or two, then rinse everything & reseal for the freezer. Well, AFTER the bags were sealed I noticed some dripping. (meat juices all over multiple kitchen counters, dripping all over the floor, and of course DH made and ate lunch while I was out, leaving me with only one 1/2 of the sink.) Obviously my back-up sealer was also not working. I tried transferring to multiple gallon Ziplocs.... but the bones were puncturing the bags. I quickly borrowed some freezer Ziplocs from next door and double bagged them into 6 pkgs ( 12 bags)

What I should also mention is that DH was working from home part of the day. He needed me home & the use of the car for a meeting at 2pm. The puppy was crying/barking and bothering him, so he opened the door and let the dog out. What was he thinking!!!! The puppy LOVES mud. He let the dog back inside & there are muddy paw prints all over the basement, the stairs, kitchen, dining, & family rooms. DH had work to do, so he locked the muddy dog in the crate & went back to his basement office. Meanwhile, the dog got out & DH didn't hear the naughty pup. Remember, this dog knows how to open his crate as well as most doors in our house! Again, what was DH thinking!? The dog got into the upstairs bathroom garbage can & basically TP-ed the entire upstairs. (BTW-It was NOT clean paper products) He also brought some souvenirs downstairs to the family room for some additional chewing pleasure. There were blankets pulled off beds, hampers dumped, Teddy's cage rolled - to get at the chicken poop - (Teddy was outside), DD's birthday candy eaten, and a stuffed penguin toy that will be no more. All of this happened in the short time it took me to drive a couple blocks away, process 2 birds, and return home. DH needed to get to a meeting, so he took the car & left. I put the naughty pup into his crate, and began my work storing the meat which I detailed above.

I never got around to washing the dog or the floors - other than a quick spray & wipe for the meat juices. The kids came home to walk the dog (and get him out of my sight) while I could begin damage control upstairs. We ended up ordering a pizza and arriving late to religious ed..... where DS handed in some of the few papers that survived a previous puppy break out. (pic below of that event)
View attachment 1698838

DD & DH stayed home to clean up dinner, lock up the chickens, and watch the little monster.... and of course, the dog got into my art cabinet. I always keep it closed, so I'm wondering if the dog learned how to open it or if "someone" was taking mom's art supplies & left it open. He ate an expensive natural sponge & broke open a large bottle of metallic blue acrylic paint. At least those are the obvious things I noticed.

I'm sure I'll laugh about all of this in the future.... but not today. I'm wiped out!
@cavemanrich I may need another box of band aids.

Not funny today that is for sure...


BTW I have given up on the mud in the house from the dog

 

[cavemanrich]

I see NOTHING OUT OF ORDER HERE,,

If you go to the library,,,, make sure to check out this DVD.

 

[Tortoise]

Ever have one of THOSE days? Today was most certainly mine.

Good news about my day:
@chickendreams24 I have plenty of laced, black, & white feathers for your wedding and the girls' dance recital

I have a lot of organic Orp meat for several meals, and it was given to me for free.

We made it to DS's relig ed (but handed in a bunch of chewed papers b/c our puppy got out of his crate 2 weeks ago & ate much of the homework).


...and the challenges:
I agreed to take a couple cockerels off someone's hands. They were beautiful, healthy, well-fed, etc, The man didn't need them, so he offered them to me. They were 11 mo old, so very large. I made arrangements with a friend for a processing morning. Due to traffic, the roosters arrived here late. I finally got to my friend's and we started about 12pm. Everything went OK, but I had some major issues storing the meat when I got home.

I took out my Food Sealer and discovered it was shot. It was going flaky for a while, so I found & bought a spare one at Goodwill. I made a bag & THEN found out these roos were way too big for my largest bags. I had to cut up the whole roasting birds into pieces in order to fit them into bags. The plan was to add the meat & brine to the bags for a day or two, then rinse everything & reseal for the freezer. Well, AFTER the bags were sealed I noticed some dripping. (meat juices all over multiple kitchen counters, dripping all over the floor, and of course DH made and ate lunch while I was out, leaving me with only one 1/2 of the sink.) Obviously my back-up sealer was also not working. I tried transferring to multiple gallon Ziplocs.... but the bones were puncturing the bags. I quickly borrowed some freezer Ziplocs from next door and double bagged them into 6 pkgs ( 12 bags)

What I should also mention is that DH was working from home part of the day. He needed me home & the use of the car for a meeting at 2pm. The puppy was crying/barking and bothering him, so he opened the door and let the dog out. What was he thinking!!!! The puppy LOVES mud. He let the dog back inside & there are muddy paw prints all over the basement, the stairs, kitchen, dining, & family rooms. DH had work to do, so he locked the muddy dog in the crate & went back to his basement office. Meanwhile, the dog got out & DH didn't hear the naughty pup. Remember, this dog knows how to open his crate as well as most doors in our house! Again, what was DH thinking!? The dog got into the upstairs bathroom garbage can & basically TP-ed the entire upstairs. (BTW-It was NOT clean paper products) He also brought some souvenirs downstairs to the family room for some additional chewing pleasure. There were blankets pulled off beds, hampers dumped, Teddy's cage rolled - to get at the chicken poop - (Teddy was outside), DD's birthday candy eaten, and a stuffed penguin toy that will be no more. All of this happened in the short time it took me to drive a couple blocks away, process 2 birds, and return home. DH needed to get to a meeting, so he took the car & left. I put the naughty pup into his crate, and began my work storing the meat which I detailed above.

I never got around to washing the dog or the floors - other than a quick spray & wipe for the meat juices. The kids came home to walk the dog (and get him out of my sight) while I could begin damage control upstairs. We ended up ordering a pizza and arriving late to religious ed..... where DS handed in some of the few papers that survived a previous puppy break out. (pic below of that event)
View attachment 1698838

DD & DH stayed home to clean up dinner, lock up the chickens, and watch the little monster.... and of course, the dog got into my art cabinet. I always keep it closed, so I'm wondering if the dog learned how to open it or if "someone" was taking mom's art supplies & left it open. He ate an expensive natural sponge & broke open a large bottle of metallic blue acrylic paint. At least those are the obvious things I noticed.

I'm sure I'll laugh about all of this in the future.... but not today. I'm wiped out!
@cavemanrich I may need another box of band aids.

Oh WOW, that's a day I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Sure hope your next day goes perfectly smooth and maybe even get a few hours or so off where you can just relax.

 

[chickendreams24]

Ever have one of THOSE days? Today was most certainly mine.

Good news about my day:
@chickendreams24 I have plenty of laced, black, & white feathers for your wedding and the girls' dance recital

I have a lot of organic Orp meat for several meals, and it was given to me for free.

We made it to DS's relig ed (but handed in a bunch of chewed papers b/c our puppy got out of his crate 2 weeks ago & ate much of the homework).


...and the challenges:
I agreed to take a couple cockerels off someone's hands. They were beautiful, healthy, well-fed, etc, The man didn't need them, so he offered them to me. They were 11 mo old, so very large. I made arrangements with a friend for a processing morning. Due to traffic, the roosters arrived here late. I finally got to my friend's and we started about 12pm. Everything went OK, but I had some major issues storing the meat when I got home.

I took out my Food Sealer and discovered it was shot. It was going flaky for a while, so I found & bought a spare one at Goodwill. I made a bag & THEN found out these roos were way too big for my largest bags. I had to cut up the whole roasting birds into pieces in order to fit them into bags. The plan was to add the meat & brine to the bags for a day or two, then rinse everything & reseal for the freezer. Well, AFTER the bags were sealed I noticed some dripping. (meat juices all over multiple kitchen counters, dripping all over the floor, and of course DH made and ate lunch while I was out, leaving me with only one 1/2 of the sink.) Obviously my back-up sealer was also not working. I tried transferring to multiple gallon Ziplocs.... but the bones were puncturing the bags. I quickly borrowed some freezer Ziplocs from next door and double bagged them into 6 pkgs ( 12 bags)

What I should also mention is that DH was working from home part of the day. He needed me home & the use of the car for a meeting at 2pm. The puppy was crying/barking and bothering him, so he opened the door and let the dog out. What was he thinking!!!! The puppy LOVES mud. He let the dog back inside & there are muddy paw prints all over the basement, the stairs, kitchen, dining, & family rooms. DH had work to do, so he locked the muddy dog in the crate & went back to his basement office. Meanwhile, the dog got out & DH didn't hear the naughty pup. Remember, this dog knows how to open his crate as well as most doors in our house! Again, what was DH thinking!? The dog got into the upstairs bathroom garbage can & basically TP-ed the entire upstairs. (BTW-It was NOT clean paper products) He also brought some souvenirs downstairs to the family room for some additional chewing pleasure. There were blankets pulled off beds, hampers dumped, Teddy's cage rolled - to get at the chicken poop - (Teddy was outside), DD's birthday candy eaten, and a stuffed penguin toy that will be no more. All of this happened in the short time it took me to drive a couple blocks away, process 2 birds, and return home. DH needed to get to a meeting, so he took the car & left. I put the naughty pup into his crate, and began my work storing the meat which I detailed above.

I never got around to washing the dog or the floors - other than a quick spray & wipe for the meat juices. The kids came home to walk the dog (and get him out of my sight) while I could begin damage control upstairs. We ended up ordering a pizza and arriving late to religious ed..... where DS handed in some of the few papers that survived a previous puppy break out. (pic below of that event)
View attachment 1698838

DD & DH stayed home to clean up dinner, lock up the chickens, and watch the little monster.... and of course, the dog got into my art cabinet. I always keep it closed, so I'm wondering if the dog learned how to open it or if "someone" was taking mom's art supplies & left it open. He ate an expensive natural sponge & broke open a large bottle of metallic blue acrylic paint. At least those are the obvious things I noticed.

I'm sure I'll laugh about all of this in the future.... but not today. I'm wiped out!
@cavemanrich I may need another box of band aids.

*Hugs* sorry you had one of those days. I get it. We've been working on the house so much in preparation for the water heater and today I too gave up on the mud. After the fourth time I had Bella out this morning inside of maybe 1-2 hours trying to keep her from pooping in the house(she also got into something outside and projectile vomited across the kitchen)I got tired of wiping up the muddy footprints and just pet her paint the kitchen linoleum.

@Faraday40 the whole projectile vomitting in the kitchen thing would totally have you telling me I'm definitely ready for kids. LoL standing in the kitchen talking to my friend each having a cup of coffee and Bella starts puking. We hear the noise I identify it and take another sip of coffee my reply to my friend's inquiry "oh Bella's just puking". There's no sense trying to move Bella over two rugs when she's puking on easily cleanable linoleum. She doesn't move well in those instances. I even surprised myself with that one.
LoL Molly on the other hand runs for the door and trys to make it outside - she usually does.

I had a friend over to talk wedding stuff and just life. Bella was in true high form today. Everything was met with defiance and a fight. If I didn't know better I'd have thought we had a teenage puppy instead of a Dane getting to the word old that still drives her Mom crazy.

Yesterday/last night we had to run to town for cat food and chicken feed. Bella was destructive while we were gone. Up on the couch tearing open a bag with a large blanket in it and chewing the blanket (I think it mostly avoided damage but definitely not drool). Into a couple other things too. I think she might be going insane in her old age.

I admit I do love her and I will miss her someday when she's gone and we're not ready for that but some days especially the last couple weeks when she's been worse than she's been for probably a couple years. I admit I have been about at my wit's end and just have to say to myself "she can't live forever and in 10 years I won't still be dealing with her destructive behavior and pooping out of spite-trust me Dane spite poop is big spite poop" of course thinking this I've shot myself in the foot and every dog we get from now on will probably be destructive and awful. LoL

I might complain a lot but she can be sweet and is a big dumb idjit and brings a lot of comic relief from time to time. Just some days I wish I could send her to Grandma's so I can have a break. I can't imagine how bad she'll be when I find a full time job. *Gulps*

Not funny today that is for sure...


BTW I have given up on the mud in the house from the dog

Same here there's just no keeping up with it today. Same with the chicken coop in spite of us trying to keep the coop clean and fluffy they're just tracking it in on their legs and feet. Don't get me started to what they've done to the ground outside the coop and our back porch. It would make some great new garden beds though (that is until they dry out and harden into cement like texture)

Many of the roads around us are flooding as water rushes from one field to another trying to get to the lowest places unfortunately the top soil suffers and the washes put ruts in the fields. It's beautiful and amazing the power of nature but also sad because well much as I love farmers we are farmers so many of them just clear as much as they can for fields and don't think about the impact they have. A couple of the places that we drove by that are washing right now were cleared last year but by the county rather than the farmers but it's the same story. Now there are no roots and brush holding that top soil there.

Oh WOW, that's a day I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Sure hope your next day goes perfectly smooth and maybe even get a few hours or so off where you can just relax.

Yeah some time to relax like a visit with me.

In other news we have been seeing bald eagles on our road about 1/2-3/4 mile up the road there was a raccoon that got hit and there has been a couple (mostly one) on it. I love eagles oh so much but that's a little close to my flock for comfort. Thankfully our turkeys are great at alerting.

 

[cavemanrich]

That is absolutely amazing!!! It's also now on my bucket list. I wonder if they do weddings up there?

You can hold a Wedding Vows ceremony just about anywhere. This place is much closer to you. About 100 miles.
I actually met a climber that held his vows on top of this formation.

The Preacher actually stayed where this pix is taken from.
I climbed that pinnacle many times.
Here is my pix from up there. Beautiful view.

Yes,,,,, I was playing a flute up there.

 

[Faraday40]

Guess this is one way to keep the wedding casual & the guest list small.

 

[Molpet]

You can hold a Wedding Vows ceremony just about anywhere. This place is much closer to you. About 100 miles.
I actually met a climber that held his vows on top of this formation.
View attachment 1700028
The Preacher actually stayed where this pix is taken from.
I climbed that pinnacle many times.
Here is my pix from up there. Beautiful view.
View attachment 1700029
Yes,,,,, I was playing a flute up there.
View attachment 1700032

we will have to start calling you "Pan"... from the greek mythology

 

[Molpet]

QUOTE]

Poor Dinner has decided to be a fighter... and he is not very good at it.
The jake has been after him and he has been standing his ground instead of running off like the other roos. Yesterday I went out there and Dinner looked like he had been drug through the mud. Brought him in and dried him off. Locked up the jake and an hour later found him fighting with a part CX cockerel from August 30th. The cockerel would jump on him and knock Dinner in the mud. I stepped in between and the cockerel turned to leave and of course Dinner went after him again.... and was knocked down again. Dinners frostbit comb was removed in the fighting... he looks pretty silly without it. It was almost ready to fall off anyway. Poor Dinner.

So the dividing gate was thawed enough I could close it and Dinner and his 14 ladies are safe in an area 50+ x 50+. He picked up a few new ladies over the winter from the main coop.
Today I am going to try and process 2 of 3 boys in the bachelor pad, and play musical chickens. Put the last cockerel in Dinners coop and Dinner in the bachelor pad. It is easier to keep Dinner away from the others in there.... Take some out of the 8x8 that has 19 hens (and a roo) to relieve crowding and I don't want to hatch their eggs.... put them and some of Dinner's hens , that I don't want to hatch, in the bachelor pad with Dinner for now. May try to sell the hens, they are from last year and good layers, just not husky enough for my meat project. I figure Dinner can keep the new cockerels in line, they tend to lack manners without a father figure. He can have some ladies until then.
First I have process those that should have been the end of January.

 

[Faraday40]

After my crazy Monday, I took it easy on Tues. I cooked home made chicken soup in the slow cooker with egg noodles from scratch. I also baked a loaf of herb bread. Everything was delicious, and I had plenty to share with the neighbors.

Today I'm going to use up some of my froz blueberries for a dessert. I decided to make a puff pastry crust and used a food processor as an easy shortcut. @chickendreams24 I thought of you this morning when I made one tiny mistake.... I forgot to put my hand over the food tube, so POOF went the flour when I pulsed it. It was a pretty good sized dust cloud and completely my own fault.
I learned not to begin baking before I've had a cup of morning coffee.

 

[Faraday40]

Poor Dinner has decided to be a fighter... and he is not very good at it.
The jake has been after him and he has been standing his ground instead of running off like the other roos. Yesterday I went out there and Dinner looked like he had been drug through the mud. Brought him in and dried him off. Locked up the jake and an hour later found him fighting with a part CX cockerel from August 30th. The cockerel would jump on him and knock Dinner in the mud. I stepped in between and the cockerel turned to leave and of course Dinner went after him again.... and was knocked down again. Dinners frostbit comb was removed in the fighting... he looks pretty silly without it. It was almost ready to fall off anyway. Poor Dinner.

So the dividing gate was thawed enough I could close it and Dinner and his 14 ladies are safe in an area 50+ x 50+. He picked up a few new ladies over the winter from the main coop.
Today I am going to try and process 2 of 3 boys in the bachelor pad, and play musical chickens. Put the last cockerel in Dinners coop and Dinner in the bachelor pad. It is easier to keep Dinner away from the others in there.... Take some out of the 8x8 that has 19 hens (and a roo) to relieve crowding and I don't want to hatch their eggs.... put them and some of Dinner's hens , that I don't want to hatch, in the bachelor pad with Dinner for now. May try to sell the hens, they are from last year and good layers, just not husky enough for my meat project. I figure Dinner can keep the new cockerels in line, they tend to lack manners without a father figure. He can have some ladies until then.
First I have process those that should have been the end of January.

Poor Dinner. Hope he heals up well. He never had a tall comb to start, but I guess he'll look like a wyandotte now.

I've got some rooster woes too. Mr Wonderful was always in charge because he's the oldest.... but he's not the best leader. The lav decided to fight him & won. Then Puppy decided to take advantage & also bullied poor Mr Wonderful. I brought Mr Wonderful inside for a couple days for his comb to heal. When he went back out to the coop, the 2 younger roos ganged up on him. I then took the bullies out to spend the day in the garage while Mr Wonderful stayed with all the hens.

I decided to avoid the fighting by separating them into breeding groups. Each day the lav goes into a tractor with his hens, & Wonderful stays in the coop with the rest. Poor Puppy must stay in the garage because I don't want him fighting Wonderful or breeding the hens. (The hens actually prefer Puppy's charm, but Wonderful has the better physical traits.) I thought about processing Puppy on Monday but decided to wait. He really is a sweet, gentle rooster. At night, all 3 sleep in the same cage peacefully. It's just around the hens when they fight.

There's a hawk that's been hanging around. It would love some chicken but must settle for the chipmunks & wild birds at our neighbors' house. (The woman there feeds all the wildlife, so the hawks are constantly hanging around.) Once the leaves return to provide some cover, I can think about letting out the chickens.