Minnesota!

[The BlanchRanch]

Quote: How is she doing? You have so many chickens. You might as well be a chicken vet. I don't know if I will even figure it put,if something like this happens to me.

 

[The BlanchRanch]

Darn... My fridging goose starting laying and is acting like she is going to go broody....

What is a Fridging?

 

[The BlanchRanch]

There is definitely something to be said about having chickens enclosed. I don't ever have to go searching for hidden nests! LOL

Quote:
Herbs is exactly what I was thinking when I saw that. Make the difference between good food and great food.

 

[Cluckies]

Quote:
I started with a 10 gallon aquarium, 1000 meal worms, wheat bran, and sliced apples. I followed this article: How to raise Mealworms

This winter i've added in a seedling mat under the aquarium, I think it was to cold in my house last winter as I didn't get much meal worm production, (summer was good) so we'll see if having it a bit warmer gets me more meal worms through the winter.

This is also a good thread: meal worms

 

[KlopKlop]

Missing a barred rock hen at lockup tonight I am hoping that she just got confused and is hiding out because i didnt open their pop door today just the inner door that leads into the corn crib so it was a little different than usual today. hopefully she shows up tomorrow! i didnt see anything fishy outside like feathers or anything.

 

[Minniechickmama]

How is she doing? You have so many chickens. You might as well be a chicken vet. I don't know if I will even figure it put,if something like this happens to me.

I put her down tonight. She had lost a lot of weight in the couple of days I know she was struggling. She quit eating and drinking. I could tell as I was trying to work the eggshell out, that she had too much scar tissue to deal with, which was probably why the egg wasn't passing. I just felt she had suffered more than she needed to and trying to work through that just wasn't going to result in good results.

I don't think I would ever want to be a vet, but the fact that so few vets know about chickens, I have had to study a lot for myself to find answers. The thing is, that with any problem with a sick or injured animal, it is like solving a puzzle. If you can find the pieces of that puzzle, you can usually find a solution. It may not be the solution we want to get, but it is still a solution.
As far as numbers, this year I am down to half of the flock I have had the last 3 years, just over 100. I have 1-3 extra males for each breed, just in case I lose one or two through winter. I think I have 25 total roosters, maybe 30. The rest are pullets and hens, of course, and about 10 are in the 'Easter Egger' pen for a steady supply of eggs when i am putting the others in the incubator. I know I don't need that many any more, but half of them are getting to their last good year of laying, so I keep them around.

When a hen is egg bound, you can actually feel the egg. In this one's case, you could see the bulge of it when she would push.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Herbs is exactly what I was thinking when I saw that. Make the difference between good food and great food.

The biggest pot on the left was cilantro, it quickly went to flower on me this fall. My hubby thought it would be fun to stick a clove of garlic in there too. It is still growing, but I can tell it will never be very big. I am dying for some good, homegrown garlic right now too!

Most of those plants right now are succulents I kept from this summer, and some from last year. I plan to propagate and sell a few. I have a friend who's daughter is getting married this coming May and wants to give them away as party favors. I don't think I can come up with that many though, probably over 100 easy.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Missing a barred rock hen at lockup tonight I am hoping that she just got confused and is hiding out because i didnt open their pop door today just the inner door that leads into the corn crib so it was a little different than usual today. hopefully she shows up tomorrow! i didnt see anything fishy outside like feathers or anything.

Maybe she found a dark spot and is stockpiling eggs? I hope she is there tomorrow.

 

[scandiafowl]

Missing a barred rock hen at lockup tonight I am hoping that she just got confused and is hiding out because i didnt open their pop door today just the inner door that leads into the corn crib so it was a little different than usual today.  hopefully she shows up tomorrow! i didnt see anything fishy outside like feathers or anything.

No more of this. She'll be fine.
Survivalist chickens are exhausting.

 

[scandiafowl]

What is a Fridging?

Am thinking it's an alternate for a word that would look like this *******.