Michigan

[EeyoreD]

The best way to get a kid like that to stop vomiting at the table is to make them clean it up

X2!!

 

[RaZ]

Oh hey this reminds me, it seems like you all give all the stuff I would normally compost to the animals - is this just an extra step? (give it to the animals compost the poop) Or do you also put kitchen stuff in the pile/not give it to the chickens.

About 2 weeks ago, I piled up yard sweepings for compost. The pile was about 5 feet on a side and a good 3 1/2 to 4 foot high. It was mostly hay and coop sweepings along with spring raking. The chickens have been at it since then and the pile is now about 8 feet on a side and a mere 2 foot high.

The hens spend most of the daylight hours turning the pile for me. All I have to do is neaten up the pile and they are happy. They like the hay seeds that sprout and the other treats that they have to dig for.

One thing I read about was not giving chickens potatoes peels, but that's not a problem here. I always eat the peels so they don't get any.

 

[Juise]

Turn the compost? Mine bulldoze it!

So... I feel a little silly now, but I was outside and noticed this largish bird on the wire toward the back of my property, near to where my big girls were hanging out. But I couldn't tell what it was, so I herded them all into the run and tried to make up for it with treats, though they all still complained. So I got my camera hoping I could get a shot of the bird and blow it up. I ended up with this:

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Not terrifically helpful, eh? Not even when blown up. So I dug out my big old ancient telephoto lens that I inherited from my Grandfather, the thing is freakin huge, it is longer than my arm, and tried to take a picture of it that way. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with my camera, which is why I don't often use it, you have to try to hold the gargantuan thing in place, keep it steady, and prevent light from getting through the seam.

Eventually I had to also haul out my tripod, and even then it was no easy task!

Okay, all that was an elaborate excuse as to why this picture sucks. It was really far away, too, okay!? Geez. The first photo is zoomed all the way in on my EF-S 18-55mm lens. What I actually want to know is, what kind of bird is this, anyway? It almost sounds like an owl. (I am totally not suggesting it is an owl, but it does sound similar.)

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Raz, are you just trying to pick a fight with me? I'll take you down any day of the week, punk!

Edited because I can't type.

 

[RaZ]

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Raz, are you just trying to pick a fight with me? I'll take you down any day of the week, punk!

That's a dove, my dear.

 

[Stacykins]

well, i guess i'm going to see what there is to cook up, since DH has been taking the demon children to practices, and won't be home until after 8, probably starved. They have been regular visitors to our place, since the people who make these schedules don't seem to put in a "go home to eat" slot, and we are close to the schools. Next week may be fun, i am working on trying to get this family to eat something besides romane noodles, macaroni and cheese, and pb and J.... These kids really don't eat, i've never seen anything like it. It's no wonder they are ADD, their blood sugars have to be all over the place with the lack of nutrition. Rotten kids.

(One don't eat anything "green". one don't eat "red". One don't eat chicken. Mom don't eat fruit. What, corn isn't a nutritious veggie? (only one they eat). One won't eat and will go into hysterics anything that "touches" on his plate.........on and on. We made the one eat "red" at our house on an overnight stay, because that's what we had for dinner, took 4 hours and he worked himself up and promptly puked it up on my table, yet he eats pizza) The madness!

I remember when I was a kid, my parents wouldn't make us eat the entire portion, but we had to have two bites of everything, especially if it was something new. And if we didn't like it, we weren't made anything special. So our options were: eat food provided OR go hungry! Funny, hunger wins most of the time, hah. Though their two bite policy was also for if sometimes, we just weren't hungry, at least we got something in us during family dinners.

Hopefully the young ones get out of the anti food phases! Not only for your sanity, but so they can eat more nutritious food!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

That's the super mean "morning dove"

those birds are the chicken nuggets of the animal world, super cute but prey to everything since they are plump and not so agile. I'd take it as a sign that the coast was clear.

 

[Olive Hill]

Is the second picture the same bird? If so it appears to be a mourning dove.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

well thus far, their parents have been making each kid special plates, and giving substitutions, mostly all starch foods. I probably don't want to know their grocery bill, i told her this was madness. I think the kid's counselor probably also suggested better food, because this is the first time she's been receptive to learning about nutrition. I used to have low blood sugar all the time, so i know what to eat. It's why i don't eat fast food often, and not to replace a meal. When my sugar was low, i could eat one of those meals and feel worse than before! Blood sugar problems do bring on crabbiness, and spacy-ness, which these kids have a lot of.

But i totally gotta go cook before Himself comes home and finds me chatting away on the computer

 

[Juise]

Hey, I said I was feeling silly! Lol. I realized when I could see it that it wasn't anything threatening, but I wasn't sure what it was and I like to be able to identify things. So it is totally a mourning dove, teehee... Uh... I had never seen a brown one before, just grey.

 

[EeyoreD]

I remember when I was a kid, my parents wouldn't make us eat the entire portion, but we had to have two bites of everything, especially if it was something new. And if we didn't like it, we weren't made anything special. So our options were: eat food provided OR go hungry! Funny, hunger wins most of the time, hah. Though their two bite policy was also for if sometimes, we just weren't hungry, at least we got something in us during family dinners.

Yep, my parents did the same thing. Though we did have the option of making ourselves a PB&J sandwich (they wouldn't make it for anyone and we had better not leave a mess). I'm sure it also helped that there were 4 of us and if you didn't jump in and grab some food, some days, you weren't getting any anyway. Or much.

They did come to regret their "how do you know you don't like it if you don't try it" policy with me. Turns out that I loved all the expensive, gourmet stuff (like snails, raw oysters, etc). Their fault!