Michigan

[LoveMyChicklets]

I couldn't agree more. I hate being cooped up here in the office and not home. The kids are home, the chicks are home, home is home... Grateful to have a job, of course, just wish I could spend more time with the family and extended (furry and feathered) family.

 

[keyt1969]

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YAY!! Glad you found her! I've lost a few cats over the years to escapes so I know how heart wrenching it is! One was a Persian (expensive show cat too) who I found underneath the neighbor's deck. Both of his legs were broken and part of his spine. Fortunately at the time two good friends and neighbor's were vet instructors at MSU. The man, Curtis asked if he could use Pasco as a teaching tool and the very expensive surgeries would be free! Pasco ended up getting internal splints on his legs and spine and lived for another 7 yrs. It would have been $2000.00 for the surgeries and after care and we didn't have to pay a thing. Whew!

I love cats. Aric doesn't want any in the house. I'd love to have a barn cat to scare off the mice in the barn but I don't know how to make a cat a barn cat LOL

Congrats Kim, I'm really happy for you and your family!!

 

[keyt1969]

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OOOO I want one sooo bad. Aric thinks they're ugly with naked necks but I love them!!! Maybe next year I'll find one!

 

[LoveMyChicklets]

They are SO ugly they are cute! Kind of like what my dad used to say about Cabbage Patch Kids. These guys are hilarious to watch. I have a silkie NN that we named Frankie (aka Frankenstein) who is now the one-eyed bandit but I love him so much I had to have more

 

[keyt1969]

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I think that's why I love them so much...so ugly that they're cute! I just like anything different. At chickenstock I just HAD to have a Polish for that very reason. I showed Aric the pics of your babies and he just rolled his eyes lol. I'll have one (or two or three lol) some day!!

 

[Chickmate]

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Kim - I'm SO glad you found your cat! I am sick when I know an animal is lost, even if it's not mine. I keep thinking of them out there, terrified, alone and hungry. I'll sleep better knowing she is back home again. Thank God you care enough about your critters to go the extra mile, so many people don't.

 

[hickchick55]

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I think that maybe you are just an ole softy

 

[Chickmate]

Well, no more eggs since the one on Sunday and I et that one! The yolk was such a rich mustardy color compared to the yellow store eggs. When I fried them the fresh egg white was thick and stood up around the yolk whereas the store egg whites were just flat and runny. Can't wait for more and I have so many people asking when the eggs are coming. I have customers already!

I really need to find a home for Worf, he's stalking the girls something terrible. I have to go out in the morning and lock him in a corner of the run so the girls will come down off the roosts! The BCM roos are becoming a pain for the hens too. Four roosters and fourteen hens are not good odds in such a small run. ANYONE WANT A NICE EE ROO??? He's not aggressive at all to me, the dogs or cats. I feel sorry for him, he's just doing what comes naturally and gets locked up for it.

babigyrl22 - I'm so sorry about your little Brahma. It really hurts when we lose the ones that are special to us.
tsparrow - I hope your guineas come home soon. Last summer when I was mowing I saw what looked like a big bird standing in the middle of the road. It was a guinea hen! I don't know anyone around here who has them so I was very surprised to see her. I took my net and tried to catch her but she ran off into the gravel pit and woods. Made me wonder if they are wanderers like pea fowl.

Hot and very muggy today, but we didn't get any of the storms from yesterday. We need the rain but got nothing!

Question for the smart nature people here. I'm thinking either RaZ, A2SciTeach or Keyt might know the answer. Why would I find big black leeches 30 ft. from my pond in front of my chicken coop? The first time I found one I thought it was a dog turd it was so big, then I saw it move and thought it was a huge caterpillar or worm, then I took a stick and looked at it closer and found it was a bloodsucker/leech. It has been out of the water for a while, but was still alive so I threw it to the chickens who played keep away until one ate it. I kind of worried about whether I should have given them a bloodsucker but by the time they were done with it and one of them ate it it was dead. A few days later I found another one in about the same place but it was dried up and dead already. They don't crawl out of the water, do they? If so I'm keeping my windows closed at night!! I considered that they might have been attached to a turtle that left the pond, but I have never seen a turtle by the chicken coop before. I'm at a loss as to how and why I am finding them by the coop. Picture shows where I find them in front of the coop on the cracked cement in the foreground and how far it is from my pond in the backgound. Any ideas? I might try posting on the pred and pest thread as well.

 

[sj3364]

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I didn't lose power at all. People to the north and south of me did. I guess I'm in a sweet spot.

 

[keyt1969]

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Ahhh leeches, I know them too well, but if I told you why you might be grossed out lol

Believe it or not, leeches are a good thing. But if you wanna get rid of them, can you put in a few fish that would eat them like blue gill or sunfish? If not, get a coffee can, poke some holes along the bottom rim and put some raw meat in it and place it (or them) near the pond. That's how we got rid of them at our cabin and my sister's pond until we got some blue gill.

Not sure about chickens eating them, but we feed them our leftover worms after fishing so I'm assuming leeches won't hurt.