Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[WVDan44]

High winds can be scary for sure. I'm happy that you and your family did not have any emergencies and that your flock came through it unharmed.

 

[Hurley]

Yeah, they came through it well. Though, today one of the hens tried to commit suicide. Note to clucks, do not go in the dog yard. Not smart. Luckily the hen went in the yard with Riley, my 12 year old Aussie. She was pretty sure she wanted to eat her, but wasn't sure how to go from alive clucking chicken to meal. Apparently the whole Iowa Blue contingent sent up a ruckus even my hubby heard, prompting him to actually go check out the situation, rescuing dunderhead cluck from the dog yard, none the worse for wear. She nearly earned herself a Darwin award.

 

[Candy442]

I feel like I need to ask if we have any IB people who are in the Illinois/Michigan area that may have been impacted by the tornado activity over the weekend. This has been on my mind all day.

It has been mighty quiet on this thread for several days now; I guess we all get busy, not that I am a prolific contributor to the thread by any means, but in light of the upcoming elections, talk of the standard committee revisiting the standard, and so much to be positive about in the club, I hope to see some lively and stimulating posts in the near future.

If nothing more, I am really looking forward to my "teenager" IBs growing into young adults. My Jeannie has really taken to the chicks and has them tamed down amazingly well. They run to her when they hear her voice and sit on her hands, cuddle in her arms, and "talk" to her (so she says LOL). I raised the first group without her involvement and they are as wild as March hares!

Cheers,
Dan

Thanks for asking Dan, nice to meet you. My DH Brett and I are real new to the IB thread and breed. It has been sort of quiet in this thread and as you said maybe nothing has been posted to "stimulate" any information or exchange of ideas lately.
We actually were on the lower end of the worst wind path that blew through here. It was so bad around 5pm that for the first time I made all of us get in the basement (our house has been missed twice by actual tornadoes in the last six years by only 1/2 mile and a mile with no going to the basement those times!). I was worried about the two coops thinking they both were going to visit Oz, but the larger one is directly behind the house and was shielded from the 60-70 mph winds that hit us from the west. Our power flickered about eight times, then no damages. Around 8pm was the second wave, although the winds were only 50 mph that line of storms and again, power flickered and stayed on, several branches hit our roof and house, but no damage. The last line hit at 4am, very docile and only around 30 -50 mph. Everything stayed in its place, and at 5am the roosters crowing like nothing happened

. We were very fortunate this time because we have lots of very old trees around our property.

 

[WVDan44]

Nice to meet you Candy442

You gave a good descriptive accounting of your weather woes. I'm glad you were able to see the sunrise with no casualties. We actually had high winds as well that same evening, but from a different system coming up from the south. The wind howled and whistled through the windows - if you've ever watched an episode of Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, you no doubt will recall that sound in the background of the film LOL. Anyway, we had little cause for concern but I am cautious of tornadic activity in any storm system these days as we have had some close calls and minor twisters in the past.

 

[WVDan44]

Yeah, they came through it well. Though, today one of the hens tried to commit suicide. Note to clucks, do not go in the dog yard. Not smart. Luckily the hen went in the yard with Riley, my 12 year old Aussie. She was pretty sure she wanted to eat her, but wasn't sure how to go from alive clucking chicken to meal. Apparently the whole Iowa Blue contingent sent up a ruckus even my hubby heard, prompting him to actually go check out the situation, rescuing dunderhead cluck from the dog yard, none the worse for wear. She nearly earned herself a Darwin award.

Ha! Funny story and good ending for all except Riley; I guess it's kibble again tonight!

My cat likes to lie down and roll on her back up against the pen that holds one of my IB roosters. I am starting to believe the two of them actually enjoy each other's company. It was funny though, the first time Kee Cat ventured near enough, Sparky picked her on the nose through the wire. I thought that would be the end of any "relationship" other than a culinary one, but they seem to have patched it up.

 

[WVDan44]

Weather is turning colder after today.
Six days till TG.
Time to go out and chop down a Christmas tree.
Bought a wagon load of pumpkins yesterday for the chickens - only cost $10.00 so check out your local produce vendors for similar deals.
When will the moult be finished!
When will the egg production pick up.
Oh no, I forgot to plant my garlic - wonder if I can find time today.

 

[Candy442]

Weather is turning colder after today.
Six days till TG.
Time to go out and chop down a Christmas tree.
Bought a wagon load of pumpkins yesterday for the chickens - only cost $10.00 so check out your local produce vendors for similar deals.
When will the moult be finished!
When will the egg production pick up.
Oh no, I forgot to plant my garlic - wonder if I can find time today.

Our birchen girls just started to lay. The SP pullet has been laying since the beginning of October. Her eggs are a light tan and on the medium side. We are still averaging 5 eggs a day between 12 girls, all born April and May this year. not too bad But, we have not had a moult yet, can't wait to see that!

Some parts of Michigan will be single digits in the wee hours, we are going to be in the low 20s.

 

[mrandmrschicken]

It was 6f here this am, with a much colder w/c. the birds opted to stay inside. I even closed the window covers last night it was so cold! All were happy and hungry this am. When it's cold, I feed them later in the afternoon and bump up the corn so they eat 1/2 and then eat the rest in the morning. Seems to keep them happy. Oh and they all got grapes this am for breakfast too! The SD, k from Kari is now a roost buddy with my Delaware bantam pullet. they sit tight together.

 

[Hurley]

Brr, can't get the damp chill out of my bones. Mucked out the chicken coop and grow out shed, deep bedded down with pellets and chips, fresh food, waters cleaned out and on heat, winter prep...complete.

The girls were sassing me when I was still working on their coop as the sun was setting at noon today (ok, 3:30, but sheesh, goes down so early!) They did cackle their opinion of the fresh digs and seemed quite content with the results.

The grow out shed now looks full. It looked so silly when the chicks were younger, but they're good sized now. Growing well. Hope I get some keepers out of this batch!

 

[WVDan44]

Temperatures dropped drastically over the weekend with high winds and wind chill in low teens and lower. Gradual warming yesterday, then awoke this morning to heavy cloud cover and light freezing rain/sleet which may become heavier by tonight. I'm glad I was able to add roofs to all my runs over the summer. It makes for happier chickens and a much happier Dan!

The three adult IB hens and roo are in a slow moult but not as ragged as some of the Australorps were. I'm glad their enclosure is insulated and draft-free with heavy bedding over concrete floor, keeping them snug on cold days. Even so, those rascals will spend most of their day outdoors in any weather.

During the moult, I feed a higher protein food in combination with layer pellets supplemented by pumpkin, green scraps, and corn in the form of scratch feed; being careful not to overdo the extras - although I do offer them pumpkin nearly every day. Now and then they enjoy a few handfuls of dried meal worms as treats.

Noticed a hawk hanging around on Sunday, sitting high in a tree and rubbernecking at the pens. I had to send him on his way. I'll keep an eye out for that one all this week.

Deer season opened yesterday - of course I saw a huge buck in my backyard two days previous as my luck would have it.

Going to pick up a thanksgiving turkey from my local butcher and buy some fresh oysters which is a holiday tradition being that we are near the Chesapeake Bay and all. I'm so lucky to have this guy in my neighborhood. Not only does he have a very successful meat shop, but he processes my meat birds, bags them and the giblets for $2,00 a bird. I figure my time is worth a great deal more than that!

Happy Thanksgiving To All!

WVDan