Maine

[lazy gardener]

Kids start back to school tomorrow!


Now I thoroughly understand what they mean when they say that someone is like a chicken: not having enough sense to come in out of the rain!... I had to go out and rescue my "babies" twice today. They were standing in the rain, looking totally bewildered and miserable. It was coming down in sheets, and they were soaked to the skin. I should have taken advantage of the situation and taken a bottle of shampoo out to them! I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

Yankee: My girls have been 100% for well over a week now. Congrats on your son's bear. I once had a chance to try shake and bake bear, and thought it was pretty good. Would I be too forward if I asked what you do for per-diem work? There are quite a few people who work in the medical field on this site!
Widget: nice looking rooster. Is a tetra tint a white egg layer? Leghorn cross? With what?
Quailtrail: So sorry about Miss Tubby. She hopefully suffered a syndrome called "GORK" that won't be contagious. (God only really knows.) Have you tried doing an autopsy? Had she been demonstrating any pre-laying behavior? (squatting, checking out the nest box, singing the egg song?)
IZZY: What's that ?dog in you avatar picture??? Fishers are quite the animal. One of the few that will kill and eat a porcupine. I know that we have them in our neighborhood. If you want some scary stuff for nightmare material, do some research on them!

LG: The dog in my photo is a greyhound... a retired racer we adopted. She is just the sweetest girl. I will have to put an orange vest on her in hunting season, though, because she looks just like Bambi! I read that about porcupines and fishers. Fishers sound just vicious! Funny thing is my neighbor came over the same day I saw the fisher/mink to warn me that he saw a porcupine run into the woods behind our house. Made me wonder if the two sightings were in any way related... and whether or not the porcupine made the night!

Quailtrail: Sorry to hear about Miss Tubby. I hope the other two stay healthy for you.

 

[quailtrail]

Thanks lazy gardener and IZZYBELLA...so far so good. They do seem out of sorts as they followed her around everywhere

 

[CoopChick719]

Haven't been on in a few days...just dropped the youngest off at UMPI this weekend! Both children are now in college!!

Here's my question(s) of the day: How many of you Mainer's... and Maine thread readers... If you're using whole grains, are you fermenting, and how are you figuring out your mix to give the flock the right protein %? Now for question #2: How is the price of using whole grains and mixing your own feed compared to buying prepared feed? Now for question #3: What are you paying for a 50# bag of layer crumble??? If anyone is using whole grain, I'd love to hear how you're mixing it, if you're cracking any of the grains, and how well it's working for you. Thanks.

I'm fermenting Flock Raiser Crumble ($17 50# bag) with scratch & some rolled oats then top dressing it with BOSS & some layer pellets. Mine will not eat the layer pelletts from the feeder or fully fermented but will eat them like this. They also get any leftovers. Once a week, they get leftover produce & fruit from a local market.
:

Chick photo! We've got 2 now- this might be it- one chantecler x welsummer and the other is a marans x welsummer. Not sure if any of the pure wellies will hatch...

Yaaay for chicks!! Congrats!!

Hopefully kitty is just out for the day walking around and does come back.

We were up until midnight last night...a rare thing for our house. We're hunters, and my 11 year old son shot his first bear....384 pounds! It is huge! What a blessing this food will be in the cold winter months.

Are you all finding that your hens are laying better? Mine are. Gone from barely 3 eggs a day up to 6 yesterday!

I hope kitty returned! Congrats to your son!!! Yes, my girls are laying better.

Soooo sad. Went to let the girls out and one was dead

our EE Miss Tubby. No trauma nothing on her just gone. The other 2 are running about the yard and appear fine. They are about 15-16weeks old. Any idea what happened? Are my other girls at risk???

Sorry for your loss. So tough to lose one and not know why.

According to Mt Healthy Hatchery,where TSC gets them, the Tetra Tint is a cross between a Rhode Island Red rooster and a White Leghorn hen. They lay a cream colored hence the Tint in the name.

Thanks Widget! I didn't know that's where TSC got chicks. BTW..He's a good lookin roo!!

 

[MEMama3]

I spent the baby's naptime getting together the "Chicken Folder" that I have wanted to do for awhile. Check out some of the stuff I did:

Little bios for each bird including hatch date, who I got it from, production rate, as well as a picture of the bird and it's egg.


An overall production/cost/distribution chart for each month.​

Can you tell that I tend to be a little OCD????

 

[IZZYBELLA]

I spent the baby's naptime getting together the "Chicken Folder" that I have wanted to do for awhile. Check out some of the stuff I did:

Little bios for each bird including hatch date, who I got it from, production rate, as well as a picture of the bird and it's egg.


An overall production/cost/distribution chart for each month.​

Can you tell that I tend to be a little OCD????

MEMama - I love this! Totally something I would do! Nothing wrong with productive OCD.

 

[ashandvine]

Bucka- are all your oe from the same crossing? I am betting not. This is interesting.

I picked up the most devilish, fiendish, tricky little critter in the poultry world today... four of them to be precise and now I am scared to leave the house for fear I will see or hear them: call ducks. [run screaming] They are not for me but the kids are going to come home and see them and it will be like christmas only without snow. Can't wait. They are so cute! Its trully a crime against judgement and nature to own them.

 

[Widget]

Bucka- are all your oe from the same crossing? I am betting not. This is interesting.

I picked up the most devilish, fiendish, tricky little critter in the poultry world today... four of them to be precise and now I am scared to leave the house for fear I will see or hear them: call ducks. [run screaming] They are not for me but the kids are going to come home and see them and it will be like christmas only without snow. Can't wait. They are so cute! Its trully a crime against judgement and nature to own them.

I love call ducks yet I have none right now.

They are just so cute and a nice manageable size.

 

[Widget]

I have another Tetra Tint rooster if anyone is interested. He is a bit smaller than the one in my picture from a few posts ago. Actually he is the bird in the background of that picture.He is friendly and overall a good boy.

I am also looking to rehome my Nigerian Dwarf goat Trinket. Her companion, a 13 year old Nubian, is going down hill health wise and I will be most likely be euthanizing her within the next couple weeks. I know Trinket will not like living alone and, while I like having goats, I really would rather not get another one. So if anyone needs a companion goat about 7-8 years old and cute as a button send me a message.

 

[Widget]

Lookie at what I found tonight.

I have a pair of ring-necked doves who have been sitting on an egg or two all summer. Problem was that they decided that the main food dish was the perfect nest so the eggs would quickly crack or get kicked out. A few weeks ago I put in an extra dish so the doves could sit all day on an egg without being bothered. I was not expecting anything and did not pay much attention. And the dove sitting on the egg hardly ever got off so I really did not know if there was even an egg in the dish. Well tonight when I fed the birds both of the doves came over to the food dish. This is what was in the nest bowl. A little baby ring neck who from the looks of it hatched a few days ago. One thing about it the babies are quiet. I have yet to hear a peep out of it.