NY chicken lover!!!!

[Chicken girl 15]

Been having a rough couple days here and know you guys would understand. Made the decision to put down one of my horses. The grey Arab mare in the profile pic. She was kicked in the knee, so we bought her to save her from the auction house and certain slaughter truck fate. Had her for 13 years. The calcification has spread from her shifting weight off of the bad leg. All 4 knee/hock joints are calcified. And up her shoulder of the bad leg from the angle of her knee. She hides any pain well, which makes me constantly question my decision. But we don't want her to suffer in the cold weather and worry that she will go down this winter, then rendering truck would be the only option. Going to have her euthanized and buried here in the next couple weeks. Working on lining up the vet and a backhoe.
It sucks. Let my 5 year old daughter know last night. Lots of tears around here.

Oh my heart goes out to you. We have yet to own horses but have come very attached to the ones next door. I can't imagine how you must feel. However, it is the fair decision for her. I have arthritis and HATE cold weather so I feel the pain for her. Luckily I can hide in a heated house, most barns are not warm enough to sooth sore bones. You are doing what is right and fair.

 

[boskelli1571]

Oh how funny you compare chickens to Rottweilers. I did that same to the insurance company. I have a rottweiler and a Sheppard mix as well as the flock. They came out 2 weeks ago to do an assessment of the property since we had some safety issues when we purchased. They saw a huge fenced off area with a building that was not there when we started the policy. The fence was garden and the building is the coop. So now we have to go into town and sign paperwork that states we won't sell chickens or eggs or we have to get a farm policy. Broome Co only allows so much livestock per family before it's considered a farm. I understand, they need to be covered incase the eggs or meat cause illness , just irritated me when they told me. Oh and to top the no chickens rule, my dang barn needs fixed in 30 days or its dropped from insurance. Stupid policy covers this but not that, the snow but not the wind, the moon but not the sun.. ARG Owning a home is stressful. Oh well at least I'm not paying someone else's mortgage, and my kids will always have a home to come back too.

Although we all 'need' insurance for 'just in case' it always irritates me the with the wild 'exceptions' they come up with! For the first couple of years here we had to pay flood insurance, even though the State maps do not show our home & buildings in the flood plain. Finally our neighbor challenged it and they dropped the provision!
Not only that, once you fix up your barn, the State will probably increase your tax b/c u are fixing the place up! It really doesn't pay to keep your property looking good. If it looks like a dump you pay less tax - go figure!

 

[boskelli1571]

Been having a rough couple days here and know you guys would understand. Made the decision to put down one of my horses. The grey Arab mare in the profile pic. She was kicked in the knee, so we bought her to save her from the auction house and certain slaughter truck fate. Had her for 13 years. The calcification has spread from her shifting weight off of the bad leg. All 4 knee/hock joints are calcified. And up her shoulder of the bad leg from the angle of her knee. She hides any pain well, which makes me constantly question my decision. But we don't want her to suffer in the cold weather and worry that she will go down this winter, then rendering truck would be the only option. Going to have her euthanized and buried here in the next couple weeks. Working on lining up the vet and a backhoe.
It sucks. Let my 5 year old daughter know last night. Lots of tears around here.

So sorry to hear of your very hard decision. Just remember you gave her 13 years of a great life and now you must do the hardest part of love.....

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Although we all 'need' insurance for 'just in case' it always irritates me the with the wild 'exceptions' they come up with!  For the first couple of years here we had to pay flood insurance, even though the State maps do not show our home & buildings in the flood plain. Finally our neighbor challenged it and they dropped the provision!
   Not only that, once you fix up your barn, the State will probably increase your tax b/c u are fixing the place up! It really doesn't pay to keep your property looking good. If it looks like a dump you pay less tax - go figure!

Our home is a 1980 single wide that from the outside looks like it should be torn down. Our barn is nothing fancy at all , in fact "dump" almost perfectly describes it, lol. They just want us to reinforce the leinto on the back so it doesn't fall on anyone. As long as it looks like a work in progress the taxes won't go up. However being our flock is for us only to force us to insure them is unfair. Hubby is handling that today while I fix things around the barn and tend the house chores, yay.

 

[rancher hicks]

Can u breed to another color marans? Birchen is just a color, right? Probably silver S/S in there vs gold s+/s+ of the black copper marans? Or if u went w blue marans, depending on their base color, u should be able to get back to straight silver Birchen. That might create some depth of the gene pool while ur at it. I'd stay away from cuckoo tho bc the barred gene is dominant. Chicken color genetics r fun

If I were to breed another color in there it would means years and hundreds of chicks and I'd never be able to the new color out. As it is I'm dealing with breeding copper out. So far I'm doing okay with that but the hatching is the problem. With an incubator they're hard to hatch. This past hatch I got one chick and that one had to have help getting out.

Keep in mind when you buy from "breeders" who are selling eggs here and elsewhere that they are not really "breeders" but "hatchers". Of course too when someone says "show quality" the term is pointless since no one can guarantee you will get "show quality" chickens. This is also true even in dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc. etc.

 

[rancher hicks]

Oh how funny you compare chickens to Rottweilers. I did that same to the insurance company. I have a rottweiler and a Sheppard mix as well as the flock. They came out 2 weeks ago to do an assessment of the property since we had some safety issues when we purchased. They saw a huge fenced off area with a building that was not there when we started the policy. The fence was garden and the building is the coop. So now we have to go into town and sign paperwork that states we won't sell chickens or eggs or we have to get a farm policy. Broome Co only allows so much livestock per family before it's considered a farm. I understand, they need to be covered incase the eggs or meat cause illness , just irritated me when they told me. Oh and to top the no chickens rule, my dang barn needs fixed in 30 days or its dropped from insurance. Stupid policy covers this but not that, the snow but not the wind, the moon but not the sun.. ARG Owning a home is stressful. Oh well at least I'm not paying someone else's mortgage, and my kids will always have a home to come back too.

Just some thoughts?

So you can't sell chickens or eggs? Can you barter?

How much is a farm policy?

As for the barn is it a proper barn? Got pics? If so you might find some help as there are organizations geared toward Barn preservation. You also might look for someone local who would donate their expertise on how to repair/restore the barn. You also might advertise for donated or reduced cost restoration help. I have no doubt you could find folks who would donate help in painting it. Check CL for free lumber. I have a friend who had a bunch of usable lumber on CL a while ago.

Look at it this way. You can ask for help with the barn OR go it alone. If you don't ask for help, as my daughter says, the answer is always no.

Every year more and more barns are torn down in the name of progress.

As for renting? Having rented and all that, I'd choose owning of course, but it too comes at a price. Anything breaks you pay to fix it. While property taxes are deductible, it only means you don't pay taxes on those taxes at the federal level. The money is still gone. I've had good landlords and bad. I've learned never to rent if you want a dog. What a pain that was. Even cats can be hard if you need to find a new place. Some places charge extra. Point? There are drawbacks to both situations.

All that said I hope you get your barn fixed. Maybe pay to get it fixed and donated painting or vice versa.

I wish you well,

Rancher

 

[2Fast2Curious]

Hey hey. Newer chickener here (started in... July?), on Lake Ontario. Getting a rooster soon to help warn about, ahem, two legged predators. Probably going to end up with the unintentional side effect of chicks in the not so far future.

How goes?

 

[Beer can]

@2Fast2Curious Welcome to the NY thread!
Need a rooster? Feel like taking a ride down to the Catskill's I have a beautiful Langshan cockerel I need to get rid of, Lol.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Hey hey. Newer chickener here (started in... July?), on Lake Ontario. Getting a rooster soon to help warn about, ahem, two legged predators. Probably going to end up with the unintentional side effect of chicks in the not so far future.

How goes?

Welcome ....you have problems with people Stealing chickens ?
or other stuff ? Not sure a Rooster will help with that ...a dog might ?

 

[akaruby]

Well my lavender Orpington officially crowed this morning. I was not ready for that lol! Luckily a lady at work is going to add a rooster to her flock, he will be a good pet for her. I think the crowing scared my dogs!