Michigan

[sarah92480]

I guess everyone is sleeping in this morning?? My coffee is not working at all today. I feel like I have not slept in days. I guess it probably doesn't help that I wasn't home until 930, then had to leave my house by 630 this morning. Not much room to sleep in that time frame!! Oh well. At least it's looking like the weather will be somewhat decent today.

I think this weekend I'm gonna till up my garden area again and get some seeds planted maybe. I'll have to stir up my compost bin to get the good stuff at the bottom. It's probably too early for all this business, but I get so antsy to plant things that I can't wait anymore! I want to plan the layout of the garden too, and plus figure out the shape of it due to there now being chickens in part of it...don't mind me, I'm just babbling.

I hope everyone is having a great day so far!

 

[Scifisarah]

.....well crappy crappiness.

My shipped eggs are really disappointing me. So far one hatched but had to be put down because it's right side was all wonky and his leg/wing stuck straight out. I tried the bandaid thing (have done it before) and it was obvious it wasn't going to work. One that was rocking bigtime last night isn't rocking anymore, so I can assume dead. One has pipped through and two more are rocking. So out of 30 eggs I'm going to be lucky to get 3 good chicks. ((sigh)) I think I'll stick to hatching out my own eggs from now on. What a waste of time/money.

Phooey, sounds like your hatch was even worse than mine so I'll stop bugging you for chicks.

I ended up only getting 4 chicks from 12 bantam cochin eggs and will have to keep combing craigslist for silkie chicks the same age. Two more hatched, but I found them dead before they fluffed out. Not sure what is up with that. Bad chicks, or bad mamas? Each broody had one like this. Here are the four chickies and their "mamas". I find it funny that they don't really care who they are under, they keep switching around.

OMG I just went to the kitchen to grab some pretzels and I hear a mousetrap go off under the dishwasher (not sure if any of you guys remember my mouse story a few hundred posts back...well the recurring cold weather keeps bringing them in). I was like oh, we caught one!! I can hear something moving so I think maybe it just tripped it....no, it actually didn't die. Ive never seen a mouse caught in one of the old fashioned traps survive! It was clamped across it's abdomen and still eating the peanut butter. It was crazy. BF had to go finish it off and wasn't happy about it, said he didn't feel like murdering anything tonight. I said he could just put the trap outside & something would eat it...he said he'd rather put it out of it's misery. I'm glad he thinks that way. And I dont want to know how he did it! Crazy mice....that's 5 in our house just this winter. Jerks.

That must be some good peanut butter!

To the new folks!

Thanks! I need to round up some photos and introduce myself properly sometime soon.

 

[sarah92480]

Reading all the posts is insanity (but I did it anyway).

No pictures yet. So busy yesterday showing all kinds of critters to the resisdents at an Assisted Living, and they also had some day break people come in ( people with disabilities that still live at home). Many of the residents were farmers, or farm kids. You figure the age group is 70 to 102 (a few there are over 100 and two are 102). Anyway, they all had advise for me on how to do this and do that with regards to raising farm critters. One 102 y/o lady picked thru a litter of rabbits and started sexing them! Anyway, a good day. Now, for work - and I'll try and squeeze in a photo shoot for you Mom

How cool!! I love when elderly people have great advice and knowledge about stuff like that, it's so great to learn the way things used to be done. Too many people these days don't know how to do things for themselves, and if it ever becomes necessary again to live that way, they won't know what to do! I wish my grandma was closer, I'd love to sit & hear about the "good old days". She will be 94 this year.

 

[sarah92480]

Scifisarah cute little fluff balls!! I love when they are so young like that and dont even have any wing feathers yet...so adorable!

 

[Bianca67]

Good morning all. Love the pic of the piglets, thanks for sharing! Welcome to Karen.

Love reading the silliness on this thread. Whether I need some chicken info or a good laugh this is the place to come.

 

[RBahmer]

to all the newcomers. This is the place to be.

 

[Opa]

Daisy is sitting patiently at my feet begrudging me every bite I eat of my breakfast. She seems better today but given her age anything is possible. Joe, my oldest son has suggested that I get another puppy so that when I lose Daisy it might not feel so bad. His job requires traveling all over the US visiting various dog breeders so he has offered to help me locate what ever breed I decide on.


I think I wouldn't mind having one that can help out around here.

 

[Brethren49619]

I finally had a chance to catch up on everyone's post. Just reading them all takes so long. Tho I don't post much, I do like to follow what everyone is sharing.

Welcome KNS Manistee. You are the closest member to me that I have noticed. Us up north people are few and far between it seems.

I have started incubating a new batch of eggs, thanks to a couple of generous members on this site and am hoping that I will have better luck this time. Something, ANYTHING... just want them chickies to hatch. Have been working on the coop. Like someone else posted, hubby comes out to look at what I have done and says, "You know, if we take down this (whatever the work is I have just spent so much time on) and do it this way ( the proper building standards) it will be much better. Well, yes, it probably would be the proper way to build, but I like to use what I have and re-purpose as much as I can. It is also cheaper, without compromising quality, and I would rather put the cost of the proper materials into other things. The outside will look nice, the inside will be both solid and functional. It is all I want or need. I am so frugal/cheap, and have a problem spending what catalog prices list. Some things I just can't figure out how to do cheaper, but others I eventually get an idea for. For instance, I have a mini donkey that is white, and keeping this little guy clean - who likes to roll every chance he gets - has been so frustrating. I was looking in catalogs for a sheet to help keep him clean and keep the flies off him, but I was not going to spend the $50 - $95 for a sheet for him. I sew, so must be able to make one much cheaper I'm thinking, so will need to check the fabric store for material when we head to town next time. Then the idea hits me, we have all the feed bags from the grainery, & seems to be about the right weight, pattern is easy, so whip one out. Will need a few minor alterations that would have been eliminated if I had measured first, but this will work. No matter how long it lasts, I have a constant supply of feed bags, and sewing it is so easy. Like I told my son who asked why I didn't just buy one, "I can spend $100 on the donkey or $100 on you - which would you rather?" He has just started drivers training so wants a car. He got the point.

 

[RBahmer]

RIRJen- So sorry your eggs didn't turn out good. That really sucks.

 

[EeyoreD]

Oh, yes, that stuff gets everywhere! The first time I used it, the chicken did a wet dog body shake and I was covered in it. I learned very quickly to dab it off really well first.
I'm sorry your girl still got picked on. The blu-cote is supposed to make it so the wound isn't noticeable to the others. Is the wound still bleeding any?

Oh, thanks for the warning on the blu-cote!

It was more bloody than bleeding, it looked like a skinned knee or something (probably from where they pulled all of the neck feathers out).

I have a red light and I tried the blue-cote, I left her out last night because they didn't want any part of her (I think it's a her) but tried again this morning and I think they just hate her for some reason. I mean I don't know what she could have done to them but the second I put her in this morning a couple of them went all long-necked on her and then they all just descended like pirhanas pecking everywhere, not just her neck.

Maybe it's time to make the brooder bigger. I'll have to figure out how to do that and once I do maybe I'll try again.