Minnesota!

[holm25]

R the cornish considered DP?

 

[KlopKlop]

Hey guys! look! My garlic is up! i pulled back to the mulch today so i don't get rot. will it be safe from any frosts we get still? should I be covering it with something?

 

[Minniechickmama]

The way I see it is if a bird is to big to breed u have gone to far in size. I think they should be able to naturally breed to be considered dual purpose which the Rainbows are considered. Right? The only reason I would AI is if someone wanted to borrow something I had and I was willing to AI. Which I have learnt how to do!

I know how to AI, but prefer not to. EW!
The Rainbows I think are still considered more of a meat hybrid, unless the hens are excellent layers, which hybridizing will bring out in some.
I am crossing one Minorca hen with the New Hampshire males to see what I get. I might just want to keep a good laying cross around, maybe to sell from, I don't know yet. She is so snazzy, she might not even let the boys breed her. My Dark Cornish hens have been running from he rooster they have been with for a year and a half. None of them are laying right now, so maybe they have a headache, but I hope the start letting him and get laying soon or I won't be able to show any of them in the Fall.

I guess is time to turn the bachelors out into a pasture. They managed to get out of the hoop today. I think I actually forgot to hook the door shut. The only bad thing is that they went after breeding the White Laced Red Cornish, so they got closed in after being free to roam all winter. I will have to wait for 3 weeks to make sure those are clean eggs if they lay any in that time.

I do agree though, if they can't breed naturally, then I will toss in the towel. Unfortunately, there are judges who keep placing grossly oversized, overweight birds on top, so they will keep moving in that un-natural direction if that continues to happen.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Hey guys! look! My garlic is up! i pulled back to the mulch today so i don't get rot. will it be safe from any frosts we get still? should I be covering it with something?

I forgot, ours is up too!!! LOL
don't worry about it. Even if it gets nipped a little bit, it won't hurt it. I think we are in the clear from any hard enough freezes for it to cause much damage anyway.
I saw our Peonies I moved last fall have buds coming up too. DH went out and did a little more tree trimming this weekend, plus he mowed off some grass and weeds he didn't get to before it got too cold in the fall, put compost around the new row of asparagus and a bunch of other stuff out and about the property. It was a great weekend for all of that.

 

[Minniechickmama]

R the cornish considered DP?

Cornish are a meat breed, no where near DP since they don't lay for crap... maybe 100 eggs per year per hen.

 

[KlopKlop]

I forgot, ours is up too!!! LOL
don't worry about it. Even if it gets nipped a little bit, it won't hurt it. I think we are in the clear from any hard enough freezes for it to cause much damage anyway.
I saw our Peonies I moved last fall have buds coming up too. DH went out and did a little more tree trimming this weekend, plus he mowed off some grass and weeds he didn't get to before it got too cold in the fall, put compost around the new row of asparagus and a bunch of other stuff out and about the property. It was a great weekend for all of that.

glad to hear that. i cold always go cover them back up if we are going to get a harder frost in the coming weeks. or even make a makeshift low tunnel. This is my first garlic and I am very excited for it.

 

[KlopKlop]

I added a light over the cornish gals tonight. I wonder if being inside the corn crib is too dark for them? they were under timed lights in their coop before the move. I would move the whole pen outside if it wasnt for the forecasted wet week coming up. thunderstorms tomorrow!


my incubator has leveled out where i want it but i dont have any eggs to put in it! i may start saving rainbow eggs tomorrow and set whatever I have this weekend. I was hoping to set cornish and rainbow at the same time

 

[athalia17]

Agree with Minniechickmama on the garlic. If it gets really cold, it probably won't matter because the important part is below ground.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I ordered more varieties of garlic for this coming fall. I know my DH is going to think I am nuts....wait, he already does, so no problem there.
We put in Music, German Extra Hardy, Georgian Fire and Killarney Red last fall. I ordered Georgian Crystal, German Red and Pskem River for this year to add to them.
Here is a tidbit some of you might not know...
Before the fall of the USSR and the break-up of the states within, we had very little garlic in the Western Hemisphere. When that happened hundreds of varieties of garlic were then introduced to the rest of the world and interest in growing it in American gardens boomed. I am do glad it did too. I LOVE GARLIC!! My husband is on the road a lot and sometimes be brings home from the deli at certain grocery stores, garlic cloves in olive oil with hot peppers and carrot slices that have been pickled somehow and then packed in oil. My favorite thing to eat is toasted flatbread smothered with garlicky hummus and those veggies. I can eat that every day!!! I am hoping I can do some of that myself this fall and have it any time I want. I was going to try growing garbanzo beans this year, but I kind of decided against it.

 

[scandiafowl]

Agree with Minniechickmama on the garlic. If it gets really cold, it probably won't matter because the important part is below ground.

Ours is up as well!