My silkies don't have a heat source any more but I do like M2H kinda and they have a reg light in daytime and then nothing but the stove light in the kitchen for at night, and they both sing and carry on when it is bed time for about 15 - 20 min, then they are quite until I turn the light back on for them in the morning... Silkies don't sound like my other chicks, they have softer voices. Don't know why I put that in there. lol
if the property owner says no.. Immediately talk to you sheriff AND DNR, worried about you!
I love turkeys, I wish I would have started them a long time ago. They are very sweet birds, and loaded with personality too.
Awesome report on orschlens, which store? I have been to greenfields so far. I do like the staff there, they seemed more educated about the departments they worked in.
Mixed are a hardier bird usually and get to a good size!
X2.. this is odd.
Well got a knock at the door at 2:45 am, liked to scare the jemmies right off me, it was the farmers boys and the sheriff. The man was arrested for 4 different things and I gave a statement as to when I first notice him and all. I have to put my pic's on a flash drive and give it too them, cause they are date and time stamped. don't know what was taking so long but they were out in the woods and at my back pasture at 4 am still when I had enough and went back to bed. I got up at 6:30 and they are gone. Beat ya I wont have any more lights in the woods now....
Thanks, Flock Master - I just learned about the Jearhon within the past six months. I spent the last year and a half learning as much as I could about raising poultry - I was totally new to it. I raised a lot of different breeds to find out what I like the best. I found that I preferred working with the smaller breeds of birds - the banty breeds. But, as everyone knows, they don't lay well during the cold winter months. I like the smaller breeds for a number of reasons: 1) smaller bird = smaller poop to clean up; 2) mean roos are easier to handle; 3) not as much work when it comes butchering time; 4) the smaller breeds I've worked with seemed to have more pleasant dispositions than many of the larger breeds. However, the practical side of me really wanted the main breed that I chose to concentrate on to be a good cold weather layer. I didn't want to give up on that possibility and so I continued my research. I stumbled across some information regarding the Norwegian Jaerjon - and BINGO! - I found my preferred breed of chicken! They are a small breed that lays a large egg for their size. They are a cold hardy breed that continues to lay during the short days of winter. I also like the fact that they are a sex link breed, so you know what you've got right out of the shell.They are not good setters, however, so I'm also raising some partridge silkies and some seramas (who are so broody that they will even pilfer eggs from other birds' nests) to help me with hatching when I don't feel like messing with my incubator. Jaerhons have only been in the U.S. since about 1998, so not too many folks are very familiar with them yet. There are only two hatcheries that I've found that carry the chicks. Folks in our more northern states seem to have discovered them before lots of other areas, so you will find some in backyard flocks in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, etc. I am very excited to be establishing a line of Jaerhon in Indiana!
I hate that kind of excitement. Hope you can get rid of whatever it is fast! Congrats on all the work you accomplished. I'm sure it feels great after the long winter. By the way, where's your snow???? Not fair -- our ground is still covered!! It is supposed to get up to 51 degrees today -- can't believe it! Hopefully by tonight most of ours will be goneWarning in advance! Long post coming! I have had a busy last few days. First, I got my new (2nd) raised garden built. I am going to put cardboard down and then layer top soil, compost and peat before planting. It is 21 ft x 4 ft. I can't wait to get stuff in the ground!
Then I finished cleaning out my shed and made a bunch of progress on my two breeding pens! My current coop is the front left quadrant of my shed. The new breeding pens will be the back two quadrants, and will be roughly 6 ft x 6 ft. I got it all framed in, doors built and hung, the pop door made and one set of roosts up. I won't have the wall separating it into two sections until next Spring in all likelihood. My bielies and isbars won't be ready to lay until fall (they ship this week!!!!). The pic below is before I hung the second door, they are next to each other. I'm hoping to get the second roost and some of the hardware cloth up tonight. I am going to be putting my 9 week old Marans out there so they can be next to my current flock for a couple of weeks before I dump them in with the others. They will share a run with a divider.
And now on to my excitement of the morning! I blame daylight savings time. I went out to feed the horses this morning and heard a commotion up in the loft but didn't think anything of it. I carried the first two of four piles of hay out and when I came back in i glanced up and there was a shiny brown animal perched on top of the stall wall looking at me!!!!!! My groggy brain took a minute to react. It looked at me, much calmer than I was, and then walked across the stall wall, down the hay pile and went into the hay!!!!!!! By this time I am freaking out. It looked like a wild ferret with a bushy tail, it was dark brown and shiny. I think it was a mink but it might have been a weasel. Either way I don't want it living in the hay that I reach into twice a day with bare hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! Now, I'm sure it is eating the mice, starlings and sparrows that are living in my barn and I have ZERO problem with that. Unfortunately I can't have it living in my hay and I'm worried it will develop an interest in the chickens at some point (the coop is about 8 feet from my horse barn). Do they hunt during the day? Has anyone had to catch one? I'm going to call my neighbor since I know he had to trap a mink last year, I'm sure he will set up his trap for me. But how do I know there aren't more of them?!?!?!?!? This think could have been living in my barn all winter, he clearly was not worried about me. But now that I know he is there he has to go!!!!
I hate that kind of excitement. Hope you can get rid of whatever it is fast! Congrats on all the work you accomplished. I'm sure it feels great after the long winter. By the way, where's your snow???? Not fair -- our ground is still covered!! It is supposed to get up to 51 degrees today -- can't believe it! Hopefully by tonight most of ours will be gone
From left to right they are GLW, Salmon faverolle, and speckled sussex,Good Ideal. and yes that is the hen that just showed up, she is still here, guess she likes me. or maybe she likes having the house all to herself... ???? going to have her tested to see if she is carrying anything before the babies go out. Love my vet!!! O BTW check out my little gril, she is using her leg AND HER FOOT!!!!!!! I'm so happy.ok I don't know my breeds by chick..... what are they? They are cute no matter what they are.
we aren't supposed to get much. thank goodyNot a great way to start off the morning, that is for sure! I am super sore from laboring all weekend but it felt good to start making progress on my projects. I have way too many in mind and word on the street is another snow storm Wednesday/Thursday!!! I have a few stubborn snow piles left, but the bulk of the snow has been gone for about a week. The mud persists, however. I can't believe it hasn't started drying up at all. It is beyond annoying and more precipitation will not help. I was really hoping Spring was here, not happy to hear about another winter storm.
Salmon Faverolle are on my wish list.
