Michigan

[RBahmer]

heehee... I love the partridge silkies, but we're doing blue/white/splash pens for the silkies and showgirls....and they don't really fit in on the color plan.

How's those chicks looking you got from me? Those were nice nice babies...I almost kept them LOL Pictures?!

Ooopps must have been writing when you were. All are doing good except one little partridge. It is healthy, eats good, drinks, runs around, just hasn't grown. The others are growing good. Just one little one isn't. But it is thriving so I won't do anything to it. When you have some blue's for sale let me know. I could use a few. I have white, partridge, and buff. Will get some pics of the little ones for ya.

 

[Sara Jayne]

ok thank you for the advice chicken grandma Ill do just that cause Im building my first coop over the weekend and Ill build on for my soon to have silkies lol thanks again

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Mom 2, every time i see your little avitar (uggo?) it does kinda look like he's in his long-johns. and i think for some reason of a little lumberjack hat i tried to make for my roo (for a joke) .....Was this one of the boys?

Shoes.... I've always had this odd wish for a homemade pair of moccasins.... I grew up wearing those cheap "deck shoes" and i get sore if i try to wear support, even if i work standing all day. Last couple years i wore some cheap foam $$$ store shoes, those things were like walking on air!!! Alas, this year they only have the backless kind, those will fall right off with all the hiking i do... blast.

Getting close to having my first "homemade" babies!

Down to 5 eggs, all blue from my basketball hen. Really hard to candle well, but i saw definite veining. Sadly none of my deceased banty's eggs even developed, which was sad but to be expected. I have a little over a week to wait, i will be camping out near her when it is time, i still don't know how she will take to them since it is her first time.

Rooster theives in my area.........Ravenna/Coopersville/Muskegon . My roo is still with me, but i am worried......i still don't think i'm safe yet.... I need to figure out what to put over my camper windows that can't be easily cut. Figured i'd better get the word out.

 

[teeville5]

Are you certain that is was hawk? This time of year it would be unusual to see three hawks flying together. All so you mention that the wing span was HUGE. The Coopers hawk is probably responsible for most of the raptor predation on poultry. It hunts by ambush not by circling and swooping down. It has a wing span of 3'. A red tail hawk 4'. Turkey vultures however, normally fly with several other birds and while they pose no threat to poultry chicken usually react as if they were. They will circle an area until there highly developed sense of smell or the incredible eyesight detects something . They they come down in an ever tightening circle. They have a wingspan of 6' and are quite commonly mistaken for hawks.

Opa- since I didn't know the difference in how they all looked, I googled images. From the image of a turkey vulture, it doesn't look like the bird I saw swoop, but it was a fast visual. I saw a large dark brown bird that appeared fully feathered even on its head. I thought the wingspan looked to be @ 4 feet. DH says it was more like 6 feet. So, honestly, I guess I can't really say it was a hawk since we 'saw' differently on the birds in question, but I am still going to keep my guard up because I can't honestly say it wasn't.

It has been a long day. We have gotten some very good answers in regards to my DD. I really have to say the neurology team at Helen DeVos deserve a props for being able to quickly pinpoint and focus on what is causing her ailment. They are switching her medication to one more suitable for her and she is being scheduled for an MRI and MRA due to some concerns they have over the effect the medication she was on had, but they do not believe her headaches are from a tumor. Oh, man, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!

 

[Opa]

P.S. I started a couple threads earlier today in the coop section, and no one seems to want to bite. If anyone feels like stopping by, they are here:

Moving Nest Boxes Higher

and

Roosts with Elevated Poop Boards

Thanks in advance to anyone who might have some ideas.

Grandfathers are the first sources of information one should check with when needing advice. I've responded to both of your threads.

 

[Opa]

I've got my coffee, I've got a crossword puzzle waiting, I've got my friends on BYC to visit with. Could life possibly get any better than this?....................................Yeah, I'm sure it could but being grateful for the small things in life always starts the day off on a positive note.

I've got to change the blades on my lawn tractor this morning. Some how one became bent resulting in it's cutting about half as high as the other. It brings a whole new meaning to the word scalped. I've always hated changing blades since it required lying on the ground trying to get a wrench on the blade bolt with barely enough room for my hand.

Recently when replacing the tractor's front axle I was grumbling about the problem with clearance prevented me from putting a breaker bar extention on the socket wrench to free the axle bolt. I mention to Hope that it would be a lot easier if I could stand the tractor on end. She responded with "Can't you use the electric winch that you use for butchering deer?" Talk about a "doh" moment.

So changing blades today should be much easier, but ..............

 

[Mom 2em All]

Good Morning everyone!

My husband was in my computer chair this morning- *gasp* I couldn't read and post and catch up and now its time to leave for work. I hope all is well.
Fuzzybutt love-
I will check my avatar after I post so I can see who is there, and then edit an answer in..lol.

Everyone have a great day!

ETA:

Nope,, that's one of the babies I have outside right now. I dont think its from SillyChickens' group- I think its one of the nine I have running around.

OH! Forgot to tell everyone..I put nine porcelain d'uccle eggs in the incubator this morning. They are to go under my broody. However, I am keeping them in the incubator until close to hatch, then I will switch eggs with her.
Perhaps today the eggs I ordered for my Frizzle broody will be here. I will add hers to my incubator- and same thing, I will swap them out close to hatch. I couldnt find uggo eggs, lol. SO, she is getting frizzled bantam Polish eggs.
My husband was NOT impressed with me at all- getting more eggs. Good thing I am his partner and not his child, or else he may have grounded me or something.

 

[Olive Hill]

Teeville - Juvenile Bald Eagles are dark brown (no white head -- they're actually very ugly birds until about 5 years old) and would match the larger wing span your DH saw.

 

[M.sue]

Good Morning All,
Sun is shining again and hope everyone is doing well.

When I was a kid my mom ran over my foot with her SUV. She then yelled at me to "stop making a scene" when I fell to the ground and cried out in agony, but we'll leave the discussion of her maternal instincts to another day.

That said, sometimes you just gotta have protective footwear and they do make some good boots that do the job quite well. Love my bogs and my Ariats.

This is not actually funny, you could of really been injured but it did make me laugh where I almost spit out my coffee! My DS recently told me to stop telling her to "pull it together" when she's on the verge of having a hissy or melt down!

As for footwear.....I wear them when needed for safety like at the barn.....I love my Ariats too!! Wish they made a light stylish type of version for the summer.....You know, something that would look great with shorts! lol

Should I have the nesting boxes in the coop from day one or should I wait until they can lay?

I had mine in the coop from day one but had them blocked off until they were nearing to lay. If they aren't blocked off they like to hang out in them and poop!

ok, DON'T laugh.........my first attempt at making an apron for a chicken............sad, sad chicken apron....

yes, those are sad little sewn pocket lines too......... lol. I'll adjust to fit since I have no idea if it'll work yet. Good use for some old blue jeans though.

Looks good. I ordered mine on line for I can not sew worth a hoot! I did find a good pattern and my mom is going to make a couple more. My hen has adjusted to wearing hers.

Well, I think some one, maybe fuzzybutt??? don't know, had something in here that I was apparently going to reply to but it came up blank....weird, computer glitches!

 

[M.sue]

It was you fuzzy....lol So Rooster thieves in your area? Actual human thieves or the predator type?