NY chicken lover!!!!

[pharmchickrnmom]

What a great idea for a contest. Creating a designer chicken strictly fictitious of course.Name it and give an explanation its traits. My son is a horror writer so man could that breed be creepy.

Hey--if Stephen King can write a book about a pet semetary, then your son can write one about chickens and do just as well!!! They have raptor traits anyways so I think it would be a cool story. You could put together a mix of some strange breeds and come up with a cool new "designer" chicken that goes horribly wrong!!! lol If you cant tell, I love horrer stories.

Lapeerian--sorry to hear about your pony. I hope the meds help and he gets better. At least he has you to look after him and I am sure he appreciates it.

Java--let me know how your chicks feather out. I would be interested in hearing if you get any oddballs. I know there has been talk on the java site about some anomolies now showing up as far as coloring. I like the blacks the best.

 

[queenchick16]

My son Adam has a great book out right know "Tribesmen" It's an E-book and just became available in soft cover. It's a novella. In Jan 2013 His first full length novel comes out: "Video Night". If you like horror then you'll like them.Yes I'm a proud mom both of him and my chicks.

Hey--if Stephen King can write a book about a pet semetary, then your son can write one about chickens and do just as well!!! They have raptor traits anyways so I think it would be a cool story. You could put together a mix of some strange breeds and come up with a cool new "designer" chicken that goes horribly wrong!!! lol If you cant tell, I love horrer stories.

Lapeerian--sorry to hear about your pony. I hope the meds help and he gets better. At least he has you to look after him and I am sure he appreciates it.

Java--let me know how your chicks feather out. I would be interested in hearing if you get any oddballs. I know there has been talk on the java site about some anomolies now showing up as far as coloring. I like the blacks the best.

 

[vmdanielsen]

I knew you guys would be so helpful.

Hubby has been trying to tell me to take the day off and rest so this doesn't turn into full blow illness. Likely will anyways if I spend all day Saturday at the auction, then coop building on Sunday. But getting some extra sleep in the morning is sounding pretty good.
On another note, my old man pony isn't feeling his best. Rapid breathing, reduced water intake (he is normally a camel). Still eating grain and grass, but taking breaks to just breath. Got some Azipen from the vet tonight, hope that kicks whatever he has. Vet is booked for the next week, so this was the best option for now. Feel so bad giving him shots, at 33 there isn't much muscle left to aim the needle at. Then he moved away and had to stab him again. Hoping it is just something from the crazy weather, not something serious. I know he is old and currently looks like a neglect case (long shaggy hair shedding in handfuls), but still not ready to give up on him. Just need this weather to straighten out; once he gets on grass, he regains weight and looks good for his age.

My older horses have done well on rice bran. Kept weight on the nicely throughout the winter. Sometimes I would put a cup of corn oil in her food, just for calories. That along with a senior feed. When my pony got that old her teeth were so worn that grass didn't help much because her teeth were so worn she had a difficult time chewing it. If your Vet won't come when you have a horse in distress,maybe you should consider getting a different Vet. Anyway, good luck with your little guy.

 

[Lapeerian]

My older horses have done well on rice bran. Kept weight on the nicely throughout the winter. Sometimes I would put a cup of corn oil in her food, just for calories. That along with a senior feed. When my pony got that old her teeth were so worn that grass didn't help much because her teeth were so worn she had a difficult time chewing it. If your Vet won't come when you have a horse in distress,maybe you should consider getting a different Vet. Anyway, good luck with your little guy.

Thanks. He is on a diet of Nutrena NatureWise Hay Stretcher pellets, LifeDesign Senior Feed and some high fiber complete feed Trotter pellets, twice a day. Has maintained pretty well the past 3-4 years on this. Still give him hay, mostly for chewing on because his teeth are so worn, but some hay does make it in. The softer texture of the grass makes it easy for him to chew combined with all day access to pasture, he will put weight back on but will never be 'fat'. Once he gets through whatever this is, might add a little rice bran to his diet too. Until then, will wet his grain a little to help with the water intake and add a small lunch time feeding of hay pellets in this weekend. I used corn oil back in his showing days, put a nice coat on him. The vet I have is wonderful, and he knows that I am competent enough to take care of my animals without him visiting, so if it gets real serious, I will put in an emergency call. I also know if it gets that serious, I will need to make the decision that is best for him, as hard as it may be for me. Just hoping it doesn't come to that. It would be hard to let go after 20 years together.
I'm staying home sick today, throat isn't as sore but I am exhausted. If I get the energy, I'll clean his stall later and coat it with the PDZ I got for the chicks to help get rid of any ammonia smell. And haul out the giant piles of hair from me grooming him, that should be fun in this wind. So much hair from a 13.2 hand pony. Bingo is the bay in my avatar (if it loaded correctly), pic is from last spring.

 

[happycountryhens]

Thanks. He is on a diet of Nutrena NatureWise Hay Stretcher pellets, LifeDesign Senior Feed and some high fiber complete feed Trotter pellets, twice a day. Has maintained pretty well the past 3-4 years on this. Still give him hay, mostly for chewing on because his teeth are so worn, but some hay does make it in. The softer texture of the grass makes it easy for him to chew combined with all day access to pasture, he will put weight back on but will never be 'fat'. Once he gets through whatever this is, might add a little rice bran to his diet too. Until then, will wet his grain a little to help with the water intake and add a small lunch time feeding of hay pellets in this weekend. I used corn oil back in his showing days, put a nice coat on him. The vet I have is wonderful, and he knows that I am competent enough to take care of my animals without him visiting, so if it gets real serious, I will put in an emergency call. I also know if it gets that serious, I will need to make the decision that is best for him, as hard as it may be for me. Just hoping it doesn't come to that. It would be hard to let go after 20 years together.
I'm staying home sick today, throat isn't as sore but I am exhausted. If I get the energy, I'll clean his stall later and coat it with the PDZ I got for the chicks to help get rid of any ammonia smell. And haul out the giant piles of hair from me grooming him, that should be fun in this wind. So much hair from a 13.2 hand pony. Bingo is the bay in my avatar (if it loaded correctly), pic is from last spring.

Good luck with your horse. When my horse was in his thirties, he also had no teeth. Now I know that feeding alfalfa hay to horses is usually a no no, but in my horses case, he was just making hayballs in his mouth and sucking the juice out, so I gave him a leaf of alfalfa hay a day so he would get more nutriants. He was also on a senior weight builder grain and had free choice complete pellets and an occasional bran mash. We finally did have to put him down due to intestinal cancer - thankfully before he had colic. It was a dignified end for a really special stallion - we then buried him in the mare pasture. He always wanted to live there.

Loving all those older horses.

 

[rancher hicks]

I am switching things around. Last year, for some strange reason.....I wanted new breeds, so I got, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Lavendar Orpingtons, Coronation Sussex, and of all things SILKIES!!!!

I swore I would NEVER have those funny looking, good for nothing, Silkies! Well, it must be old age, cause I now just LOVE my silkies.....

I also love my Lavendar Orpingtons and Coronation Sussex. Not so much inlove with the Silver laced Wyandottes...having a harder time with them, and might just let them go.

My main flock were Marans and Blue laced red Wyandottes until last year.

So, I will be keeping my Silkies, Lav Orps, but paring down my Marans, and already am down in numbers in the blrws.

Who would have guessed?

Allow me to interject please? I have had Dels from the beginning and they are a good line. Lay well in the winter and hardy.

I have had Lav orps since last year and they are good layers but not as heavy as I would like. I do have two black roos that look nice but dont' lay worth a darn. They feel heavy when I pick them up though.

I have BR's that just began laying this year and seem decent and appear heavy except that the roo is big and protective of the girls to a fault. If you want a heavy BR these are the ones. Got them from Kathinmo.

I do have two SLW's in the mix with the BR and they keep to themselves and lay decent too. Poofy birds need to have their butt feathers trimmed btw. Even the roosters. I've heard fertility is an issue.

I have new B. marans and they matured quickly but the egg color so far is just brick red. No where near chocolate. It could just be the line. I took a bath from the seller big time. I don't recommend them.

I have SFH's that are up for sale and I hope sell before they begin to lay.

I have CR's that aren't old enough yet but feel very bulky at this age so they are staying. They feel heavy and round in the breast. I am hopeful.

EE's of course. The ones I have lay nice large eggs. I hope I can keep them in that range no matter what color egg they lay. They are with a Lav Amer roo from Chickstalker.

The RIR's I hatched from AL were not hardy at all and only one of two remain. She will stay til I can replace her with another hen.

So my point is, the CR's and the BR's I have are nice heavy birds if your looking for a line of "dual purpose" birds.

 

[Lapeerian]

Good luck with your horse. When my horse was in his thirties, he also had no teeth. Now I know that feeding alfalfa hay to horses is usually a no no, but in my horses case, he was just making hayballs in his mouth and sucking the juice out, so I gave him a leaf of alfalfa hay a day so he would get more nutriants. He was also on a senior weight builder grain and had free choice complete pellets and an occasional bran mash. We finally did have to put him down due to intestinal cancer - thankfully before he had colic. It was a dignified end for a really special stallion - we then buried him in the mare pasture. He always wanted to live there.

Loving all those older horses.

Love that you buried the stallion in the mare pasture, he is a very happy boy now!
I ventured out to give him his morning shot (hubby isn't comfortable giving shots), and he was very insistent that he needed out of his stall. So I let him out in the aisle while I scraped his stall into one corner. Mind you he is 13.2 hands and has a 12x12 stall, so only uses half of it. So while I was scraping, sprinkling PDZ and added fresh sawdust, he was happily jogging up and down the 48' aisle. Then he decided he needed outside. Thinking he was going to quietly amble out and graze, I opened the gate. Nope, he takes off trotting all around the paddock, then into his pasture, then onto the back lawn (that we let him graze). He stops a moment, takes a couple nibbles of grass, then off trotting around again. Whinnies a couple times for the others to come join him. I went out to get him and called him, he went trotting up to the barn and around the paddock again. Closed the gate, grabbed some mane and dragged the idiot back into his stall. Then he stands there panting heavily because he can't breath and shaking from the exertion.

Great, he is going to give himself a heart attack. Watched him for awhile, the shaking and breathing calmed down. Did notice this morning that he is starting to get thin, white nasal discharge, so definitly a respritory infection of some sort and the Azipen should fix him. So when it is nice this weekend, he is getting tied out on the lawn to graze.

 

[featherz]

Just posted this over on the broody hatchalong, but thought I would mention it here too since I am hatching Java's eggs =). Also got some cool chicken pics today. =)


Well, my broodies are due tomorrow and I *MAY* have saved a chick. Or maybe not. But the chick was a goner if I did nothing, so what the heck, right?

I opted to leave my broodies in place, as I did last year, although one thankfully went broody in a moveable box so I moved her out of the preferred nesting area. She still gets an extra egg in there now and then, but not 5 or 6 like before. Anyways, was in the coop today when my broody NN was out doing her 'constitutional' and another hen was sitting on the nest.. She runs in and starts up with the frantic broody cluck. I had headphones in so just figured she wanted her spot back until I heard cheeping. Peeked under the non broody on the nest and there's a half squashed egg in there with a chick in it. Argh! Momma was frantic and non broody just looked hungry (eep). Pulled squashed egg, put it in my sweatshirt, ran back to the house and stuck it in my incubator, which has just a few eggs in it as 'backup' in case my girls squash all their eggs. (grr).

Chick is weak but still peeping and moving. I left the shell on just in case the yolk was not absorbed but good news is almost no blood so I am hopeful that this very small egg was actually close to really hatching. I tried to move momma and eggs to a cat carrier but she wasn't having it so she's back on her regular nest. Wish my little squashy luck!

 

[featherz]

Pics from walking around today.. =)





Relaxing after a big meal =)



My gigantic langshans.. =)


Leo is a happy boy. =)



My poor broody, looking like she went though a blender. =(

 

[marquisella]

Anyone have Silver Appleyard ducks? I'm looking to buy a trio. Or, Wood or Mandarin Ducks. I don't want to hatch eggs.