Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[math ace]

Debbi - - so sorry to hear about the clusters. I have seasonal allergies. End up in the Doctor's office every year between Dec and Jan due to respiratory problems from the seasonal allergies. I am perfectly healthy the rest of the year - - go figure.

Hope you get a break from the pain.

 

[Debbi]

Thanks Lisa! Good luck with your allergies. Luckily, I'm not allergic to anything that I know of. If anyone suffers from Cluster Headaches or knows someone that does, there are support groups out there to help. Tell them to try Red Bull when the first tinge comes on, it WORKS!!! I had two last night, but with 2 big gulps at the first signs (twinge/burn in the nose), the darn thing stopped almost immediately! Oxygen is also another proven method, but with wood heat, I sure don't want a tank of O2 sitting in my house!!!!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
How much did you get? This is outside my back door ..... first snow we have had, other than a very slight dusting.

 

[flgardengirl]

That is beautiful.

 

[1 Bad Rotti]

We got 6 inches of snow last night and today. Can't say the chickens are thrilled, neither am I.

 

[Debbi]

Kathy ~ Snow just pretty much started here, it spit on and off some all day, but it's just now starting to stick. Not even measureable at this point. Chooks were trying to catch it in the air today, so that was fun to watch!

 

[kathyinmo]

My chickens are big babies .... they wouldn't even come out, except for my Barred Rocks and Delawares! I should have went down further to get a picture of the Canadian geese on the pond. You can't really see them in the picture. They come back every year.

 

[Debbi]

Yes, starting to snow now, wet snow. Maybe the chooks will have a different opinion in the morning. They weren't too pleased with the last snow!

About 18 years ago when I lived to the north of here by a bit, we had a HUGE flock of Snow geese land in my neighbor's lake. His pond/lake was about an acre, and there had to be at least 1,000 geese that landed at around 9pm! We kept hearing some strange noises and couldn't figure out what it was, so we headed towards the sound. The neighbor had never had that happen before, and we stood there with flashlights just AMAZED! A solid lake of white! It was soooo neat!! They all flew off at around 9:00 the next morning. What a noise! What a sight!!

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
I hear you on the headaches, I seem to get headaches when the pressure fronts come in especially this time of the year

and also migraines which are no fun either. Hope yours go away quick!

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
I live out in the corn and bean fields, and we get the snow geese almost every year. It is amazing. The numbers are incomprehensible. It looks like a snow drift slowly moving across the field as a flock of them land and then gradually work their way across the field eating dropped beans and corn. So cool. When they fly up, the sky almost turns black as they are so thick you cannot see through the flock. Our usually come in Feb. and March.

I've had more orders for chicken eggs than I can fill. SOOOOOO... that means I NEED MORE CHICKENS! I'm now looking at some buckeyes that are from show stock. NPIP flock. I'm ordering chicks, so it's going to be a while before they can help fill my egg orders. I should be getting black, lavender and silver ameraucanas, buckeyes, my black rosecombs back from my sister, and hatching my own BCM's, BO's and BJG's. These are all scheduled to arrive around the 3rd week of March. That will keep me busy and out of trouble for a while. I have stock tanks that I made secure covers for that none of the barn cats can get into. I've got 3 tanks ready, but I may need to get another one ready. They make pretty nice brooders. No corners for them to crowd into.

Now if I can just get my little breeder pens and houses finished. I sit and think and think about how I want to build the houses. I'm just not sure how I want to build them so they will be warm in cold weather, cool in hot weather, dry in wet weather with enough ventilation for all weather.