Maine

[Widget]

I once had a nest like that hanging off my electric meter. I called the electric company and asked what to do about it. They said spray it, and run like h***! I was concerned about a liquid spray around electrical wiring and gadgetry, so suggested that since it was on their equipment, that they could come spray it and then run like h***. After several more verbal exchanges, they did come and remove THEIR nest!

The unknown reason why they installed all those smart meters.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

Izzybella~ Some chickens are just more laid back than others. I wouldn't worry too much just yet. Maybe she just didn't get a chance to clean her leg or didn't notice it yet.

Thanks, anyasmifya. I'll see how she does.

 

[buckabucka]

We split wood today.  When we took a break for lunch, I put one of my big butter cup squash on the splitter, and brought in the pieces to cook down.  My big stew pot would hold only half of that one squash.  That half fed 7 of us tonight, and there were 2 quarts left for the freezer.  I need to get out and weigh the bounty produced in that one hill.  (it was about 4' x 3' and grew all of my squash:  butter cup and red kuri.)

What a great idea, splitting those large squash on the wood splitter! I am always struggling to get through them with a knife. The small ones are fine, but the banana squash that I don't cut open until January is a real pain!

All our hornets nests have been way up high this year, but snowy winter or not, I'm really enjoying this milder-than-usual October. Yesterday I climbed Ragged Mountain in the Camden area with a friend. We always get lost when we hike together, but the views were beautiful.

Tomorrow, Revision Energy is coming to begin installing solar panels on our roof!

 

[hoppy]

beautiful.

Tomorrow, Revision Energy is coming to begin installing solar panels on our roof!

 

[lazy gardener]

What a great idea, splitting those large squash on the wood splitter!

I am always struggling to get through them with a knife. The small ones are fine, but the banana squash that I don't cut open until January is a real pain!

All our hornets nests have been way up high this year, but snowy winter or not, I'm really enjoying this milder-than-usual October. Yesterday I climbed Ragged Mountain in the Camden area with a friend. We always get lost when we hike together, but the views were beautiful.

Tomorrow, Revision Energy is coming to begin installing solar panels on our roof!

How sweet is that! I have dreams of going solar, at least for hot water needs. Electric needs would also be fantastic. On my bucket list is a solar food dehydrator. I don't know why it couldn't also double as a solar space heater to feed heat into the basement windows.

Re: cutting those monster tough squash. When I don't have a wood splitter available, which is almost always, I like to put them in a plastic bag, and throw them onto a rock, cement floor, frozen ground. They break into enough pieces that they are then easy to handle. I've found that if you cut through the flesh from the inside, you can then snap them over a counter top or sink edge. You don't have to actually cut through the skin. It's also much easier to cook them in the skin, and spoon the flesh out of the skins after they are cooked.

 

[anyasmifya]

Hey, has anyone grown their own boss? & if so, did u use the seeds from the regular bird seed bags ? Did they germinate & flower before serious frost ? I grew a lot of sunflowers this summer & the birdies are going crazy trying to hop and eat the seeds out of the flower heads but the seeds are white. Boss is pricey it would be great to save the money growing my own supply.

 

[MEMama3]

My ameruacana nearly parished today, but I am happy to report she's fine now (granted, she's still going in the stew pot before the week is up). She got egg bound today and I figured tonight was as good a time as any to do the deed. I put her in quarantine so no one would hurt her until I could cull her. When I got home I got my supplies together and headed out. When I uncovered the crate she was sitting there happy as can be. Next to her was a HUGE egg. When say huge, I mean like ostrich size. I put her back in with the flock and brought the egg inside to investigate.

Monster egg next to a jumbo RSL egg.

A large egg inside the monster egg.
Inside the large egg was two yokes.
No wonder she was distressed. With inner strength like what she displayed today, I almost feel bad culling her. Unfortunately she is not showing progress with feather regrowth after almost 6 months and she's only laid maybe 20 eggs in the last three months, most rubber eggs or deformed sandpaper eggs.

 

[CoopChick719]

All our hornets nests have been way up high this year, but snowy winter or not, I'm really enjoying this milder-than-usual October. Yesterday I climbed Ragged Mountain in the Camden area with a friend. We always get lost when we hike together, but the views were beautiful.

Tomorrow, Revision Energy is coming to begin installing solar panels on our roof!

I guess the hornets are just as reliable as the weathermen...not very! Would love to have solar still trying to convince DH.

My ameruacana nearly parished today, but I am happy to report she's fine now (granted, she's still going in the stew pot before the week is up). She got egg bound today and I figured tonight was as good a time as any to do the deed. I put her in quarantine so no one would hurt her until I could cull her. When I got home I got my supplies together and headed out. When I uncovered the crate she was sitting there happy as can be. Next to her was a HUGE egg. When say huge, I mean like ostrich size. I put her back in with the flock and brought the egg inside to investigate.

Monster egg next to a jumbo RSL egg.

A large egg inside the monster egg.
Inside the large egg was two yokes.
No wonder she was distressed. With inner strength like what she displayed today, I almost feel bad culling her. Unfortunately she is not showing progress with feather regrowth after almost 6 months and she's only laid maybe 20 eggs in the last three months, most rubber eggs or deformed sandpaper eggs.

OUCH!

 

[dowgirl71]

Not quite as big as yours, MEmama, but there must have been something in the air today. This one came from one of my Buffs. Only one of my BOs laid, today. The other one must have figured that she laid for both of them-slacker!

 

[IZZYBELLA]

We got our first egg yesterday! I recounted and the girls are 18 weeks today (not 16 as I had thought). So, that means someone laid at 17 weeks, 6 days... WAY earlier than I ever anticipated and I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it. I am fairly certain it was a barred rock. She went into the coop yesterday while they were all out free-ranging, which was odd for her. Next thing I know she let out this horrendous screaming noise. I went running not knowing what was going on. She was just standing in the coop. It wasn't until I was closing up at night that I noticed there was a perfect little egg sitting there! I honestly thought someone had planted it as a joke.



Bucka - so awesome on the solar panels! That is a dream of mine.