Minnesota!

[NathanZee]

minniechickmama, I cant imagine testing 120 birds!

I can tell it is nearly spring since the skunks are out. I keep a bedroom window cracked open year round - and when the skunks waddle by the stink wakes me up. Nothing like waking up gagging. So 3:30 last night.....yup! gagging. So on the way to the coop in the dark, I get to try not to fall on my keister on the smooth ice path, and try not to trip on any skunks!

anyone interested in 8 bobwhites? almost a year old? healthy? free?

If you were closer I would!

Anyone want two BO roosters? Born in September 15.

Now that it is give your birds away time, I have two khaki campbell drakes and one indian runner drake I need to get rid of. They are all free, healthy, and hatched in June. The KC's are good fliers, but clip their wings and they would be no problem.

 

[Minniechickmama]

minniechickmama, I cant imagine testing 120 birds!

I can tell it is nearly spring since the skunks are out. I keep a bedroom window cracked open year round - and when the skunks waddle by the stink wakes me up. Nothing like waking up gagging. So 3:30 last night.....yup! gagging. So on the way to the coop in the dark, I get to try not to fall on my keister on the smooth ice path, and try not to trip on any skunks!

anyone interested in 8 bobwhites? almost a year old? healthy? free?

You temptress!!! I have been thinking/planning to get some this year, but I don't have a coop set up for them and I know they have to be away from my chickens. If I were ready I would just on it, but I have to say no unless you still have them in a couple of months. I can't set up a new place until the ground thaws and drains.

 

[KlopKlop]

You temptress!!!  I have been thinking/planning to get some this year, but I don't have a coop set up for them and I know they have to be away from my chickens.  If I were ready I would just on it, but I have to say no unless you still have them in a couple of months.  I can't set up a new place until the ground thaws and drains.

You would start with 8 and hatch hundreds and hundreds....

 

[holm25]

I managed to break my broody Cochin overnight!! I put her on the roosts after dark and she hasnt been back in the nest boxes since! She was broody for about a week so I figured it was time to try something and it worked.

 

[NathanZee]

A pair of Canada Geese almost landed by my flock today! A half hour ago I took the ducks and geese to a big puddle on the edge of the property, and suddenly I looked up and a pair had cupped their wings and had decided to land! They were about 20 feet from landing until my gander realized the geese weren't familiar, started honking crazily and flew back to the barn. The whole flock followed him in a panic, which in turn scared the Canadas, so they flew off.

Why can't my gander get along with Canada geese? This is the second time now, first he scared off a lone goose, and now a pair. And what are Canada's doing around here anyway?

 

[holm25]

I saw four canadian geese flying the other day. Idk why they r coming back in February... Spring is coming early I guess... Maybe its good your gander scares them away. Then u have a less likely chance at diseases.

 

[lalaland]

You temptress!!! I have been thinking/planning to get some this year, but I don't have a coop set up for them and I know they have to be away from my chickens. If I were ready I would just on it, but I have to say no unless you still have them in a couple of months. I can't set up a new place until the ground thaws and drains.

I probably will still have them in a couple of months unless someone on byc gets a hankering for them!

Bobwhites aren't sexually mature until the first spring after hatch. So if they were hatched in spring, it is next spring. A fall hatch might be mature the first spring....or not. So these will be mating this spring.

The thing about keeping them away from chickens is just like the thing about not having turkeys and chickens together, near as I can tell. Quail folk who keep them in rabbit cages stacked up, want to keep them away from everything, including ground and chickens. So they say you can't keep them together because they can get sick from chickens.

But others keep them together with no problem. Obviously, there are somethings that one group that is sick can give to the others, whether it is quail to chicken, chicken to quail, or chicken to chicken!

You would start with 8 and hatch hundreds and hundreds....

uh huh!!!

 

[lalaland]

I saw trumpeter swans in the cornfields last night, and a couple more on the river this morning.

 

[Minniechickmama]

You would start with 8 and hatch hundreds and hundreds....

I want to get some to hatch and release. There is a flock of 10 in the field just next to our farmstead. I see them a couple of day a week and love it. I wish we had better habitat for them right here on the property, but the trees we planted are still growing.

 

[Minniechickmama]

A pair of Canada Geese almost landed by my flock today! A half hour ago I took the ducks and geese to a big puddle on the edge of the property, and suddenly I looked up and a pair had cupped their wings and had decided to land! They were about 20 feet from landing until my gander realized the geese weren't familiar, started honking crazily and flew back to the barn. The whole flock followed him in a panic, which in turn scared the Canadas, so they flew off.

Why can't my gander get along with Canada geese? This is the second time now, first he scared off a lone goose, and now a pair. And what are Canada's doing around here anyway?

Spring is coming early, for one thing. I would consider it a good thing if you boy is chasing them off. If you start inviting wild waterfowl to your flock, you may end up regretting it since they may be carrying something that can wipe out your domestic flock. Especially with AI being around again this year, and the fact that wild waterfowl will carry NewCastle's to a flock, I would not be open to that invitation if I had waterfowl on my property. Just my 2 cents worth on that.