Michigan

[lighthawk]

We plan to tan the hide and clean the skull to put them up for sale.
Yaklady
You may find it very difficult and expensive to tan a Yak hide. Most tanning operations have been run out of the country by the EPA. Requires extremely caustic chemicals and Hazzardous waste disposal costs basically shut them down. A few years back my hunting partner and I were tanning our own deer hides and we attempted a couple of cowhides hair on but we wound up with two 6'x6' frisbees. Whoever is butchering the bull may know of somewhere you can send it to have it tanned but make those preparations well in advance because the hide will have to be thouroghly fleshed and salted prior to shipment to prevent rotting. That in itself is no easy task. Extra caution has to be taken during the skinning as well. You might want to do some serious homework now if processing is only a week away. We got the supplies from VanDykes a taxidermy supplier that also has the solution to clean and mount the skull. Good luck.

 

[Ooopsy_daisy]

Mom3em: glad to see you're back

Yaklady: sent you a pm about Rob Trott's show and their tanner. Also Ive kept your friend in my prayers, might be a bit easier if I knew his name

Laura: Im so sorry to hear about your silkies and ducks. Id be setting a trap for that little bugger. I had one here for years that would den by my pond. A few pair of Mallards would come in the spring to nest. It would let them hatch the babies then I would see him eat a couple every day. I finally got sick of it and blew up his den, but also blew up half my pond in the process LOL what a sight that was. Looked like a liquid mushroom going up in the air. Neighbors thought a plane crashed on my property. Had the fire dept, police all show up. Thank gosh I had a dyno permit. Anyway, havent seen him or any other fox in 2 yrs. I think it taught "them" a valueable lesson...DO NOT mess with the oldest Mama!! LOL

Had a bunch of events here yesterday. Seems a very large jack rabbit jumped on my well house top and fell through the old wood. So it left the pipes for my 3 barns exposed to the elements. I hadnt had to use it for 2 days, as I fill the horse water troughs up every few days and bucket warm water from those, to the chickens. Needless to say the pipers in the well house were frozen. I had to make shift another door and put a couple heat lamps down in the hole. Finally this morning I have water again. I was outside for 2 plus hours yesterday trying to get it working, Im telling you that cold wind will surely make you want to go to sleep. I came in the house and sat on the couch and that was that. I was out until midnight.

Then yesterday morning, I drove to a couple farmers that I know leave their dogs out without proper shelter. One had 2 of his dogs on regular chains tied to trees. I knocked on the door, no answer...so I went to check on them, they were so cold, no food or water. grrrrrrrrr I went back up to the door and knocked again, nothing...blew the horn, nothing.....now what? Well he had a little shed next to the house I opened it up and it was empty, so I put the dogs in there with food, straw and left a note on his door where the dogs were and my number. SURPRISE surprise. no phone call. So this morning on my way back from town, I drove by his place and here the shed door is open and the dogs were on chains but could get into the shed. WOO WOO I was so happy. At least they now have some shelter. I know it probably wasnt my place to open his shed, but sheeeesh whats better, frozen dogs or a mess or 2 in his shed? Hopefully now he's embarassed enough to keep them in something when its 3 degrees outside and wind chill of -11??

Needless to say, Life is good. And Im very blessed to have you all as a extended chicken family to share some of the crazy stuff I do and have done. LOL

Enjoy your day, as we're having a heat wave. Its 19 degrees here and snowing.

 

[wyliefarms]

Good Afternoon!

Lots happening with you guys! Sorry about the losses of chickens and ducks. It is never easy. Oh and Laura- when I am out past dark, I have to call and remind my hubby. then when I get home I take the dog out and double check. Most of the time he forgets something

1st day of school 1/2 way done. the kids are doing a dance DVD right now. Then off to finish up the rest of school.

Opa- I keep thinking about spring, I hope we have an early one!

Sarah

 

[YakLady]

Oopsy, thanks for praying for my friend. His name is Terry. Poor guy had knee surgery last year and an open heart surgery the year before. He's an ex-Marine, though, and incredibly fit. It's heart breaking to see him struggle like this. He's kept his sense of humor, though. He kept teasing us about the 'threesome' that he had on his birthday, which was last week. Two nurses came in and took a shower with him to get him all cleaned up-LOL! He wouldn't stop talking about it.

Regarding the dynomite... next time you decide to blow something up, invite me over. LOL! I bet that was hilarious!

Laura, so sorry about your girls and ducks.

Lighthawk, thanks for the info. There are still plenty of places where we could send it, but I would like to keep my dollars local. I've found a couple of places that will let us send it frozen and they will do the fleshing for us. If I can find a place here in Michigan, though, I'd prefer to give them my business.

 

[briana1975]

Oopsy I would of love to see you blowing up that den and your pond. What a picture that would of been. My husband is on our local VFD. I can't even burn a pile of leaves without him checking and double checking. We have the hugest brush pile because he is overly careful on when we can burn. Which is alomst never. At this point we will need to have the Fire Dept out to burn it. Really it is that big.

Planning for spring is what gets me through the cold. Don't get me wrong I love the snow. Planning new flower beds, deciding on veggies for the garden, deciding what kind of chicks to get, and drawing plans for the bantam coop and hoop houses. By the way any opinions on breeds are welcome. We will thin our Orpingtons down some, and add in some standard sizes, but mostly I would like to get a few bantams too. We have 3 silkies that will get moved and will add to their flock with something. We aren't to worried about eggs from the bantams, more like pretty or nice easy to handle chickens. My 2 boys love to help with them whenever they can.

 

[Ooopsy_daisy]

Well to tell you the truth, I dont play with dyno anymore. As when the cops and fire department came out, they were not to happy about what I did. I promised next time I had to use it, I would call them. That was over 2 yrs ago and I havent lit any again. Even though its addicting. I love a big "BOOM" But we've always had to all our fire dept for a large party or large burn permit in the warmer months. Now the chief when I call, says Carol....you're not going to blow anything up this time are you? LOL gotta love'em.

Ask Crazy Chicken Fever about me lighting a huge brush pile that was dug into the ground ....husband had pour'd all kinds of stuff in it. Knocked her on her rear as she was running up the hill after I lit the gas wick. Delayed blast. And another reason I always say "Ooopsy Daisy!" lol

Briana: I would be lost if I couldnt light a fire at least 3 times a week. I love a good bonfire with my horses, dogs and chickens all around it with me. Gives me great solitude. One of the finer things in my life.

 

[briana1975]

Ooopsy I know what you mean about sitting around a bonfire. I actually talked my husband into building a campfire pit in the back yard. We surrounded it with peagravel so no chance of lighting the grass on fire. And we built a couple benches around the sides. You can find me and the kids and dogs around it at least a couple nights each week when the weather is good and the bugs don't carry us away. Cooking dinner over the campfire it great. So relaxing sitting there listening to the frogs. Wow now I can't wait for spring.

 

[Ooopsy_daisy]

Briana: try it now in the cold weather with the kids. Get bundled up, get some cider and a pot you dont mind getting black from the fire. Make hot cider with whip cream on top and roast some dogs or get a camp fire sandwich maker for grilled ham n cheese then apple/cherry pies for desert. You'd be surprise how the kids will stay at the fire and talk and talk about the stars you can see and how quiet it is and NO darn bugs. I have PVC thin card board pieces that make great ground cover so everyone can sit without getting wet/cold.

I had a bonfire 3 nights ago. I let the horses in the side yard, opened the Isa hen house and all the dogs were out there with me. It was the most perfect night Ive had since the snow started flying. So peaceful. Give it a try, Im sure you'd be shocked how much the kids like it

If you try it, let me know how the kids react to it.

 

[Opa]

Good Morning Michigan. Two of my sons live in southwest Missouri and have been trying to get me to move to their area. One item they continually use in their argument is that winter is much easier there. Currently that argument isn't true. They have more snow on the ground and the temperature there is 7 degrees while ours is 23. Those kind of temperatures are tough on anyone but for them it must be brutal. Their houses don't have the amount of insulation that mine has so they must be freezing.

 

[chickflick]

Good Morning all! You keep that snowblower in sight, Sam, cuz it sure has been working wonders with our snow measures! Remember last year....oh my! Think we got a foot of snow every day. Sure did seem like it when I had to shovel out the run every day! Now, it's just a bit of scrapping and a bit of shoveling. Still too cold for the chickens to come out, tho. Opened the pop door yesterday, and at first a few came out but after a few minutes the run was empty except for the two bunnies running around and in and out of the chicken coop!
Hope everyone has a good day!