Minnesota!

[Minniechickmama]

Here is a funny one,
my husband and I went down to a place southeast of Rochester to pick up some baby chestnut trees on Sunday. They had cats running around and a couple of dogs. One cat was a year old but looked like a 4-month old one because she was a runt from last year. They said they had to give her a mighty name so that she could grow up to be a more fearsome hunter, so they call her Buffy the Gopher Slayer.

My two felines have been sleeping in the hoop where some of the birds had mites. I haven't had a chance to clean and spray in there, so I treated Jerome with the topical stuff last night to keep off creepy crawlies. He immediately started licking it.

He then turns and looks at me then runs. I never told him to lick it!!! I need to get some on Mila tomorrow and then I need to pick up the dewormer from the vet for both. I love that that mouse, but hate that they get worms from doing so.

 

[lalaland]

chestnut trees! how cool. How many years before you get chestnuts?

 

[cottonlouie]

the sebastols are the only ones that have ever tempted me, I agree, they are beautiful!

Guess what?  that little chick, with just wing feathers and a teeny tail, all down everywhere else, not only survived low 30's, it found its way back to the run too!  THe mama hens kept their babies in til it warmed up, so the little lone chick was screeching and running all over for a few hours. The other hens ignored it, but one hen did follow it everywhere but didn't get close.

Mama seemed happy to see her chick, so they re-united just fine.

And  she made sure all her babies made it back into the coop even though it took 5 tries before that silly chick followed her in.  THe other broody hen tried again to convince her chicks to fly up to the roost that is about 6 feet off the ground - they refused.  I finally pulled her off the roost and put her in with her babies, who beelined under her to get warm.

So, Amelia, the first time broody that hatched the one dead chick, decided to get off the nest today (day 22).  She was pacing so I let her out, and her eggs were still warm so I popped them under another broody who was sitting on nothing.  Amelia spent the day outside, but at roost time she flew back into the cupboard broody pen.  Back sitting on the empty nest.  I think I will see if I can break her of her broodiness - the two eggs I gave to the other broody were kicked out of the nest, one broken and nothing had developed.

So y'all were right, better days were ahead.

Yay on the chick! I was very happy to hear this!

 

[cottonlouie]

This is the second summer of chicken owning. I have a large chicken pen, 800 square feet, that previously was an overgrown no-man's-land between the yard and pasture, with pine trees/poplar/hay/raspberries/etc...the hens hang out in there a lot and usually head out to free range a couple times a day. Well, this spring has been like an archeological dig. The hens have cleared out much of the grass and the goats (who I had for a few months) took care of a lot of the brush. I am finding bits of plastic, broken glass, metal junks, deeply buried water hoses, blocks of cement, the foundation of an old building, pieces of tarp, bungees, bricks.....some of it is so deep I can only see a tip of it and would have to do some serious digging to get the rest out. There were numerous raspberry plants growing through the tarp. None of it concerns me much except the glass. I search daily for glass and since the snow melted have found a piece every week or so. I think I got it all now. I'm quite worried about the glass but the pen is so perfect otherwise- I hate to move it. The gate is left open and the hens still choose to be in the pen most of the day. Anyway, I don't remember tossing out junk (been here for 25 or so years). I blame dh or previous owner.

 

[bantiesrule]

At the old home place we would always find chunks of glass, Mom said when they first moved there she picked 5 or more 5-gallon pails of broken glass up from around the buildings and years later we were always finding more around. She thinks the family living there before them would line up every glass jar and bottle they could find and shoot them, (this was back in the fifties, so lots of glass bottles). Anyway when we were little and butchered chickens we would always check their gizzards for "polished" glass. I don't know what ever happened to all that we saved, I'm sure Mom threw them away but I do remember all different colors and different stages of smoothness. I wonder how many chickens were lost due to puntures from the glass or other injuries from it.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

**coughcough** Poultry enablers**coughcough**! Dont tempt me!! LOL You all make saving money so hard!


I must pass on this kind deal. I am sure Scandia needs some more birds

!


Well I got a little done this afternoon. I cleaned the poop board, cleaned the broody cage, watered the transplanted Bleeding Hearts and fed the cats a sparrow... That I may have shot out of boredom with the air gun... Momma cat needs all the protein she can get! Shes a small cat nursing six big kittens. Theres my excuse...

I think what you meant to say was you need 20! I told Minnie I'm only bringing one box to her house to moderate my chicken purchases. I can see it now....I'm cruising down the highway with 30 chickens popping their heads out the passenger window....wind blowing through their feathers......

 

[MinnesotaNice]

the sebastols are the only ones that have ever tempted me, I agree, they are beautiful!

Guess what? that little chick, with just wing feathers and a teeny tail, all down everywhere else, not only survived low 30's, it found its way back to the run too! THe mama hens kept their babies in til it warmed up, so the little lone chick was screeching and running all over for a few hours. The other hens ignored it, but one hen did follow it everywhere but didn't get close.

Mama seemed happy to see her chick, so they re-united just fine.

And she made sure all her babies made it back into the coop even though it took 5 tries before that silly chick followed her in. THe other broody hen tried again to convince her chicks to fly up to the roost that is about 6 feet off the ground - they refused. I finally pulled her off the roost and put her in with her babies, who beelined under her to get warm.

So, Amelia, the first time broody that hatched the one dead chick, decided to get off the nest today (day 22). She was pacing so I let her out, and her eggs were still warm so I popped them under another broody who was sitting on nothing. Amelia spent the day outside, but at roost time she flew back into the cupboard broody pen. Back sitting on the empty nest. I think I will see if I can break her of her broodiness - the two eggs I gave to the other broody were kicked out of the nest, one broken and nothing had developed.

So y'all were right, better days were ahead.

Great to hear - resilient little thing!

My roosts are pretty high, too. Do your girls have issues at all? I do have a little ramp going up to the roosts, but I keep debating if I should move them down.

 

[holm25]

I think what you meant to say was you need 20! I told Minnie I'm only bringing one box to her house to moderate my chicken purchases. I can see it now....I'm cruising down the highway with 30 chickens popping their heads out the passenger window....wind blowing through their feathers......

Lol! What are u getting from Minnie? Lol Minnie! What a clever name for a cat!!

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Lol!

What are u getting from Minnie?

It started with a pair of blue cochins.....

Now it's like 35 pullets, 65 chicks, a puppy, 3 barn cats, some eggplant, antique wagon wheels, and one of her children...

No brindle calf or Turkey though.

 

[holm25]

It started with a pair of blue cochins.....

Now it's like 35 pullets, 65 chicks, a puppy, 3 barn cats, some eggplant, antique wagon wheels, and one of her children...

No brindle calf or Turkey though.

And I thought I had a problem with chicken math! Her Cochins are beautiful! And they make the best mothers. I just grafted a chick to my Broody Cochin Bluebell. She was broody when you were here and I managed to break her. One week later she was broody again so I decided to give her some babies! And she is a beast! Not to me but to my Gander! He walked over to her and the baby and she beat the heck out of his face!