Maine

[quailtrail]

Oh...driving home talking to my 11yo DD and she is frantically talking away and I all i hear is feathers, blood, and fox...our call is all broken up. So I am yelling "what...what..." My baby chick (18wks) that I mentioned above was attacked by a fox!!!! The chickens have free ranged for a yr without issue and then that changed Luckily DH had gone outside and saw Goldie come running with the fox behind!!! He scared off the fox and found a trail of feathers thru woods. He said Goldie coughed up blood and had a small cut on one leg. I came home almost 2 hrs later. Goldie and the silkies, since aren't "allowed" in coop have a large kennel for sleep in our garage. The silkies were roosting and Goldie was sitting on floor She stood up but hopping one one leg. No active bleeding but wouldn't let me check leg. Waiting for them to be asleep to check further

 

[suzMEchicks]

Hope he's ok. My experience lately with dog attack is they are very resilient.

 

[VardoChicken]

Is anyone going to the Acton Fair this weekend? I believe poultry showing was earlier in the week but I'm still hoping to see some chickens

 

[lazy gardener]

QT, so sorry about the fox attack. Such stinkers they are.

2 of my girls have decided that they will nest in the back corner of the loft, behind one of the perches. They even went so far as to roll the blue plastic egg out of the box I had provided and put it in their "corner" supposedly to make it more homey???

I now have at least 5 of the pullets laying. First Dom egg this morning. It's a buff pink color. The Pioneer egg is almost as big as the hen eggs now. I'm thinking it was a good decision to keep her home from freezer camp.

 

[Tnic]

Good on ya LG and grats.

Looks like The Boss has decided we'll be raising Doms when we get settled. I recall you mentioned a Buckeye breeder, are there any Dom breeders in central Maine?

Hope I can get things set up to start the brood come Spring.

 

[lazy gardener]

IMO, the boss has made a wonderful decision about the Doms. I bet the boss didn't have any help with that decision, huh???

I don't remember who in the state is breeding Buckeyes. Any one out there got a better memory than me? Also, it'd be great to hear from others who are considering, planning on, or also have Doms. I know QT has been trying to get a flock going. I'd be happy to hatch some eggs for any one this spring who wants to take the risk on eggs. Check out WSmith. He's a bit away, but has a great mentor attitude, and looks like his stock is good. I'm at least 1 year away from wanting to bring a Dom roo into my flock to fit my breeding plan. Really excited about what I'm seeing for eggs from this year's mixes. And next year promises to be even more exciting.

 

[Tnic]

Actually I lean more toward the Buckeye, being a native Buckeye meself. I wanna train a cock to crow whenever my Football Buckeyes scored a TD. I think he'd look awesome in his little OSU game jersey.

But, DW wants Doms, cuz she thinks their kinda purdy, and I can't argue with that logic. They'll fit in with my overall plan as well so we can start out with Doms then start a separate flock of Buckeyes when we're ready to expand.

Isn't Will Smith in Sillywood? That IS a bit away.

On another Buckeye note, I found the old family farm (in Newcomerstown, Ohio) on google maps a couple weeks ago and did the memories ever come flooding back from those days. The old place is largely unchanged as far as the out-buildings-n-such. Some sweet memories. Collecting eggs with Grandma, milking with Grandpa, swinging in the old Hickory tree (still there, btw), hand cranking ice cream and being told (constantly) to "slow down, slow down"... Ok gotta stop now, sniff, sniff.

I look at the google earth views of it and keep thinking, MAN could I ever go "Polyface" with THAT. 140 acres of mostly open, rolling hill country with about 50 of it in prime bottom land for row crops... or grazing beeves and egg-mobiles...

My parents have the aerial portrait that Grandpa had done years ago and that's going on our wall, when we have a wall to hang it on.

 

[Tnic]

I stopped in at The Livestock Conservancy site livestockconservancy.org/ and found one,
Maine breeder of Doms

The nearest registered Buckeye breeders are in VT and Mass. THAT could be a cool excursion as I'd HAVE to stop in at Vermont Composting Co in Montpelier for a look see at Carl Hammer's operation. Sustainable, grain free chickens & eggs just appeals to me.

 

[lazy gardener]

BE roo over Dom hen = sex linked chicks with walnut comb. W Smith is Wendell, I believe. There is someone in Maine who is breeding BE's, but i don't know if she's registered.

9 eggs today, with one Dom in the corner, tossing bits of hay over her back for the past couple of hours. Hawks circling overhead, flock hanging out in the flower beds, visiting the neighbor, for the most part, avoiding open spaces.

 

[Tnic]

Thanks LG, I found Wendell when "the light came on" and I C&Ped his user name into the forum search and found his profile. THEN I realized HIS is the first review for Doms or Bucks, (I fergits wich) here in the Breeds directory.

We'll eventually have flocks of each of the two breeds and I want to avoid crossing them. Being as Bucks are still on the Threatened list and Doms on the Watched, I like the thought of contributing to the strengthening of both breeds.

Very cool you're getting more eggs than you can eat, can't wait to start giving some away.