Isa's Homestead Happenings and Hangout

[KayisforKale]

Tonight is my chickens' first test with negative teen temperatures, with the real feel forecasted to be about -40. I have done and am doing everything I can think of to get them through it. If they prove to be hardy enough to scamper out of their coop tomorrow with nothing wrong, I will go to work as usual. If anything is wrong, I am calling out to do my real job (being a chicken momma).


Usually, if I say such things, everything goes well and I look foolish for worrying. Hence why I am saying this.

 

[Isadora]

You can relax.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ck-mayoreo-sauce-not-real-product/7783572002/

 

[azurbanclucker]

We understand. Especially Duckie. Duckie seems to have a thing about... What was it? Ponies?

Peonies.

 

[bill3607]

Ponies

ponies

 

[Isadora]

Peonies.

 

[Isadora]

How is everyone today? We were up super late last night so I haven't been up long and both our fires went out last night. Right now it's 53ﾟ in the kitchen.

 

[Brooks_]

Tonight is my chickens' first test with negative teen temperatures, with the real feel forecasted to be about -40. I have done and am doing everything I can think of to get them through it. If they prove to be hardy enough to scamper out of their coop tomorrow with nothing wrong, I will go to work as usual. If anything is wrong, I am calling out to do my real job (being a chicken momma).

I've seen people miss work to deal with pet issues. I see nothing wrong with taking time off for livestock. Or pets, in your case.

 

[Brooks_]

How is everyone today?

Sore. I don't know why. I didn't do anything out of the norm yesterday.

 

[Isadora]

Sore. I don't know why. I didn't do anything out of the norm yesterday.

Funny sleeping postition?

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Peonies are my favorite!

Ugh, so I still don't know if we should take a rooster. It would mean keeping a rooster in my basement for a month or more. It would mean not getting Marans chicks until that time had passed. It would mean potentially having a mature rooster that much sooner! It would mean the possibility of breeding little meat mutts, however I don't have a great place to grow them out at the moment. It would mean one less fairly limited rooster space available for either an Australorp rooster, or any Marans rooster we might want to keep, (which could be easily remedied once it came down to it), or else getting a man-house set up out there and starting a little rooster collection, which I'm sure the right would love! Haha.

I am really just torn though between keeping everything as lovely as it is, and what I feel like could be inviting various moving parts into the situation. I think we'd need to invest in a first set of netting to put around the enclosure and start introducing him on the perimeter by having him inside the net, but outside the enclosure, so that means selling DH in spending for the net, too. Or else if he's just ranging at first, while the girls are in the pen, is he going to stay close by? Will I be able to grab him ever again??? Lol not being hand raised has its disadvantages I feel like, too.

I guess I was also hoping to hear @ColtHandorf weigh in on just what these hypothetical fascinating little meat-mutts might even look like? The rooster would be a Sasso, which I believe is already like a red barred sex link, and then my existing hens. I made a thread for that elsewhere though.