Michigan

[Mom 2em All]

Opa, just re-frost the cake yellow and add an eye so it looks like PacMan. No one will notice a piece or three missing, it'll just look like the cake was designed that way.

I for one am thankful for the service you provide. To be able to end pain and bring peace for our beloved companions. I'm all teary now, because my dog Noah's passing is so fresh. But I definitely thanked the vet tech and veterinarian who helped ease Noah's pain.

Im sorry for your loss of Noah..they are definitely special, and own a big piece of our lives and heart.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

i OFTEN read about breaking broodies. Probably cause I myself have asked how to do that. Now, I have the opposite question. Is there or are there ways to stimulate broodiness or is it broodiism in
chickens? I want to have one of our ladies hatch and raise a few chicks. I'll have to arrange to buy some fertile eggs. BUT do i need the broody hen FIRST ..... THIS IS NOT a restatement of the age old question ? I really want to know. Thanks, bob

Last year I waited all summer for a broody hen. I finally decided to buy an incubator. Then I had a hen go broody. I had three go broody in the fall.


Mom2, I loved all the pics. We picked up some materials for the brooder box yesterday.

John, those rabbits are getting big fast.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Mom,

Well, all, i had to give up on my rescued favorolle roo. I had been keeping him in the goat pen, or with the nasty wet or cold weather, in the rooster shack, and he is not improved. I even gave him a hen, and penned her in the rooster shack with him, so that was not an issue. won't quit attacking.
Final straw was me letting him into the yard yesterday, since i had put the others up early, to see if he was any better. I left him alone, and went out to plant some flowers on my little hen's grave. He sneaked up behind me and attacked my head! Cut up my hand because i threw that up to defend myself. I tried all the usual techniques the last month or so, but he's not responding, and he's not a tame one, so......

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Also, mom, that hen looks just like my "mean red hen" ! Mine is from my neighbor, and is not really mean, but can't be confined cause she has free ranged her whole life. Beats up my other girls cause she don't like sharing. Now she lives with the goats, and jumps in and out when she wants to. Lays super huge jumbo eggs, sometimes 2 in a day! Don't know how old she is, but definitely past her prime! Here she is trying to steal the spotlight from my little round hen, cocoa:
eta. that for those who think the saddles are silly or mean, mine cherish theirs to the point of jealousy if one gets a new one and they don't, as seen here, lol My girl was really strutting and working it, you just can't see it from the photo!

 

[Mom 2em All]

Hillbilly Hen-

Which banties can I sign you up for? Take your pick...dont worry about being greedy..I will save them for you.

Fuzzybutt love,

Carmen laid super big eggs every day too..well past her prime, and was my boss hen..she really had no idea that she was a chicken, though...thought she was a treat-getting lap dog. I miss her much.

The injured hen hasnt laid yet..cant really blame her. Im hoping she makes it. her wing is stapled and sewn. My daughter hasnt named her, yet.
I want one of your basketball hens babies...I hope you can grow some!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Nope, my ilittle hen that died was the only one i had who wanted to go broody, I see the others are starting to be thinking about it, but i fear it won't be soon enough to save my bitty's eggs and hatch them too. My plan was to keep some of bitty rose's eggs and my basketball hen's eggs to hatch. I'm gonna keep crossing ornamental little chickens to get a ball of cuteness! that is between a tiny and regular sized chicken , lays med eggs, and will be less to feed. After the mean roo is eliminated by uncle next door, i plan on trying to put my roo in the rooster shack to see if that helps encourage the broody wanna-be's. Though basketball hen loves her roo near to death, and bawls when he's gone. But she is favoring the nests i built on the ground level, and he's patrolling that and doing overtime on his duties.......

Probably going to take at least 10 years to do what all i want to!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Mabe if one of these mystery de'uccle chicks is a hen, she'll brood next spring? I have read that they are a broody breed too. When i am able to look at one without being sad, i may get another banty cochin too. I kinda liked her quiet little personality.

 

[chicken grandma]

I just checked out Tropic Cove's facebook page and it appears that they do take in some birds that can no longer be cared for by their owners. The scarlet macaws, it seems, they hatched on their own, they even posted a few pictures of the babies.
I hope they can find good homes for all the birds they have.

I wish people would not keep breeding birds. I have rehomed so many. I also wish each person who sold or adopted a bird out to someone would help deliver the bird and set up the cage properly. So many newbies injure birds without meaning to. For example, don't set up the cage near the kitchen (teflon fumes are fatal to birds). And I transport birds in a large grocery bag stapled shut. That way they don't injure themselves in the move. Most people don't realize how sensitive birds are to draft and temperature changes. So when I have rehomed a bird, I help the new owners set the bird up in a large cage in a sun/draft free place that has a consistant temperature.

 

[RaZ]

My yard...


And if anyone knows how to kill THIS- it will soon take over my whole yard, like it always does:

There is only one way to kill that weed but most people don't like to use it.

It's Grease.

Good old fashioned Elbow Grease.

It is pretty easy too pull out, the roots are pretty shallow.

 

[chicken grandma]

Quote:


I would like to point out, too, that here in the good old U.S. of A., we are destroying a whole lot of crops to increase demand and value. A lot of food. Yes, while people starve.
Juise - did you mean to say that farmers are paid to not plant crops and plant other crops? My dad was a farmer in Mid Michigan and I know that sometimes he was encouraged with government subsidies to plant corn or soy or vice versa. I never did see anyone destroy a crop however.

We grew corn for the first time last year, it was soooooo good. If you do plant some, we had a great experience trying out the "Three Sisters" garden. You plant your corn with crawling squashes in between, and a little later, (I think 2 weeks or so? I would have to check to be sure...) you plant climbing beans around your corn. The beans fix nitrogen in their roots for next years nitrogen hungry corn, and the vines also help to support the corn stalks. The squash help shade the roots, hold moisture in, and block weeds.
Thank you for this idea - I will try that this year. I am going to have to put a rabbit fence around the bottom of the whole thing because last year I had bunnies eat my green beans and mice eat my tomatos. This year I will hang my tomatoes and fence the Three Sister's garden!