NY chicken lover!!!!

[Sweetpea3829]

Glass - I must have missed your first post about the chick under the broody. I was actually wondering how those broodies were doing and then some congratulated you on your chick. I totally missed that somehow. Anyway, so excited for you and your new little one!

DH got his first offer letter today but it's for the job in RI. It's a good offer but RI is expensive!!!

RI is ridiculously expensive. And the taxes...oh my word, the taxes. And its a dying state.

I grew up there and DH and I moved away in 2011 in search of cheaper properties. We more than halved our mortgage, quintupled our living space (literally...but to be fair, our living space in RI was the 1st floor of the 3 family we owned). We also went from .20 acre to 3 acres and dropped our overall taxes from over $5k/year (including fire tax, vehicle tax, sewer tax, water authority tax) to $2700/yr.

Hubby took a small hourly cut, but more than made up for it with more overtime.

The one big oof we've got here is that he is commuting an hour and fifteen minutes (one way) to work every day...and with fuel prices being as high as they are...we are really getting hit hard. Plus the wear and tear on our vehicles. Otherwise, we are doing just grand here!

My advice...unless your DH is going to make LOTS of moolah in RI, and/or you don't mind living in suburban, compacted areas...stay far away from RI. Far away.

 

[boskelli1571]

well i went out last nite to the coop about 930 and all my birds were on the perches..which never happens and they were very quite for some reason ..at one end i kept hearing movement in the straw and i figured one had desided to bed down at the food end of the coop..i looked but no bird ..i heard it again and caught site of something moving..it turns out my birds truely are chickens all afraid of a big old bullfrog ..i have no idea how it got in the coop..but it was lucky it went in the new birds pen because my old birds would have had froglegs for bedtime snack..lol

i had one of the new birds slip threw the temp fence i put up to split the run inhalf for my old flock and new flock to share the run..everyone keeps asking me when i will put them all together ..well from what i seen in the short time she was in with the old birds ,its not going to be for awhile ..she was trying to stay away from the old birds but they were not happy she slipped threw and i think she learned her lesson about those older birds too ..i rescued her as fast as i seen it happen ..she was bit up pretty good ..no blood but maybe some emoitionel scar's..and maybe some nite terrors .but she was ok..anyways i figured i wouldnt attemped to put the 2 flocks together till they are all on layer feed..



oh yeah one more thing ..a buddy of mine just lost a bunch of birds to an animal called a fisher cat ..i never heard of one and in all my yrs spent in the woods never seen or heard of one ..if you dont no what they are look them up ..they are killers and are all over ny it looks like ..i seen a vid of one attacking a fox ..it wasnt letting the fox go ..anyways he lost a bunch of birds and its just anotrher preditor to watch out for....

If you can imagine a weasel on steroids - you have a Fisher cat. They are big, smart and about the only animal that can kill a porcupine. I have seen them locally, but not on our property so far, although I'm sure it's ideal for them. They tend to stay away from humans, although I have read stories about them going in through a cat flap,killing the cat & dragging it outside. They are not pleasant animals to be sure - they really are ultimate predators

 

[ke5hde]

Hi guys. It's been a while since I've posted. You've all been busy.

I just wanted to share a little story and a pic or 2.
Last Saturday Danielle and I went to see Jamie Matts. We were going to pick up my birthday present and visit for a while. Jamie showed me my pair of birds and then we wandered around. I'm like a kid in a toy store when we go there Well we were getting ready to leave and Jamie says to wait and then takes off running. I had no idea where he was going or why I had to wait. Well he comes back and hands me another pullet and says happy birthday! I couldn't believe it. Talk about a surprise.
So here they are, my new trio of blue mottled cochins.

The cockeral has a little bit of sunburn but that'll molt out.

 

[Metella]

Lynzi777 - well - it is at least good that offers are going to start !

Keep us posted & wishing the best and an even better job comes along.

 

[Cass]

The last duck egg hatched. OMG 19 ducklings? Why do momma ducks decide on such a large number of offspring?

I sold off the ones I wanted gone....now I have TWO more. I don't want 5 MORE ducks. Sigh. But they sure are cute. So very cute. Maybe I can sell the extra after I determine gender and keep only 2 of the hens. Sell the rest to someone for food? Eat them myself? (Ewww...how can I eat something I remember being so cute?)

 

[Lynzi777]

I'm hoping if we move to RI that we can find something on the outskirts of the city and still be in some kind of "country" like setting. I know they're out there, it's where we got our dachshund. Finding them is another story.

Cass - I feel the same way about this one duckling that hatched. I love it, it's so cute and I didn't think it was going to make it, but it did and I really don't want another duck right now. As a matter of fact, I've actually pondered downsizing to 3 when this whole thing happened with my husbands job. Still don't know where I wanna head with them. But I definitely don't need another duckling. Anyone want a little duckling???

 

[Sweetpea3829]

I'm hoping if we move to RI that we can find something on the outskirts of the city and still be in some kind of "country" like setting. I know they're out there, it's where we got our dachshund. Finding them is another story.

Cass - I feel the same way about this one duckling that hatched. I love it, it's so cute and I didn't think it was going to make it, but it did and I really don't want another duck right now. As a matter of fact, I've actually pondered downsizing to 3 when this whole thing happened with my husbands job. Still don't know where I wanna head with them. But I definitely don't need another duckling. Anyone want a little duckling???

Oh, those locations definitely exist...particularly in the southern part of the state. But be prepared to fork over even MORE moolah for those kinds of locales. $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

ke5hde - Happy Birthday. They are very pretty!!!

Lynzi - Glad that DH got an offer. Hopefully one closer will come through!


Everything here is soaked. I haven't ever seen anything as pitiful as a soaking wet muddy white silkie! OH Lordy she is dirty. Looks like I may be giving my first chicken bath as soon as it dries out a bit. Still working on trying to get the bator stabilized. Turned up the AC so I can work on it so that this week when it is going to get so hot I can keep it good. I really want to set the eggs soon. I have almost enough. Want to purt in 6 or 7 so with any luck I can get 1 or 2 chicks.

 

[Glasshen]

The egg hatched and the chick is drying under Mom. So each hen has one chick in that coop. The hen with the first chick has 2 eggs that haven't hatched yet? Sunday the first one hatched, so, should I give the two eggs to the hen whose chick just hatched so they have a little longer? I don't know if they are viable. Then there is the broody in the cat carrier who refuses to get off her eggs at all. . .guess tomorrow I better move things around to make an area for moms and chicks. Should I switch those eggs?

 

[rancher hicks]

The last duck egg hatched. OMG 19 ducklings? Why do momma ducks decide on such a large number of offspring?

I sold off the ones I wanted gone....now I have TWO more. I don't want 5 MORE ducks. Sigh. But they sure are cute. So very cute. Maybe I can sell the extra after I determine gender and keep only 2 of the hens. Sell the rest to someone for food? Eat them myself? (Ewww...how can I eat something I remember being so cute?)

Do you have pics?