Cindy, thanks so much for the laugh, but I will have a question for you guys at the end of this post...

I’m not surprised. They are as smart as, if not smarter than, dogs and have more weight to throw around to break through bad barriers.

And their nose is a plow/front end loaded run by a 50 hp PTO. They've pushed my fence up 18" in places. Rea, If memory serves you don't have any trees or branches over hanging your pig yard, if not don't worry. If you do and one falls, remove it immediately. The way my downhill spiral began was the falling of a dead tree limb. Ham dug out a spot and shoved the small end in under the fence. He worked it daily until the fence was high enough that he could get his snoot all the way under. Took him just days after that to execute the great escape.

Apryl, What Pigs?:oops: I don't know what you're talking about.:oops:

Ok, On a more serious note, this is my first year selectively breeding my Hollands. Right now I have the biggest, darkest hens in the breed pen with Dad, who is gorgeous. Two potential Moms and 8 Daughters. I'm working toward a larger/meatier frame Darker color in the girls, maintaining lay rates & disposition and lighter, yet prettier boys. Should I keep Dad for this year or should I select the biggest and lightest boy on pasture and bring him in? I'm horrible at genetics. Some of the stuff I've read would suggest moving dad to a safe place and bring in the best fitting cockerel and then breed back the off spring with grandpa the next year, others say stick with dad. I'm so confused.
 
GAH! Sometimes, I hate being crunchy.

I really don't want to give Thing 1 normal plastic sippy cups because of the potential of the cups to leach chemicals that mimic estrogen in the human body into his water. That leaves stainless steel, glass, and silicone. All the stainless cups I've bought for him have silicone spouts and he has DESTROYED every one, chewed them to bits, and figured out how to dump water all over the floor. So, I've been letting him drink out of my water bottle with an inch or less in it. When he is done drinking, he still spills what he has on the floor and makes a mess. The last 2 nights, right before bed, he has purposefully upended the bottle into my lap with no warning.
:barnie:he:barnie:he

After an hour of internet searching I think I found a solution that should work. A hard plastic cap (made of a plastic that hasn't been shown to leach) with a silicone valve on the inside that will fit on the RIDICULOUSLY expensive glass bottles I got before he was born and never used because he refused to drink from anything other than the source.

Sorry, needed to vent. I love the stinker, but sometimes........
 
And their nose is a plow/front end loaded run by a 50 hp PTO. They've pushed my fence up 18" in places. Rea, If memory serves you don't have any trees or branches over hanging your pig yard, if not don't worry. If you do and one falls, remove it immediately. The way my downhill spiral began was the falling of a dead tree limb. Ham dug out a spot and shoved the small end in under the fence. He worked it daily until the fence was high enough that he could get his snoot all the way under. Took him just days after that to execute the great escape.
Nope, they are in a cattle panel fence that are wired to t-post driven a foot into the ground and hog tied in the corners in a field. We didn't add a gate either we have a wooden style we use to step over the panels. They are still pretty small and haven't shown any signs of digging more than a surface level.


Ok, On a more serious note, this is my first year selectively breeding my Hollands. Right now I have the biggest, darkest hens in the breed pen with Dad, who is gorgeous. Two potential Moms and 8 Daughters. I'm working toward a larger/meatier frame Darker color in the girls, maintaining lay rates & disposition and lighter, yet prettier boys. Should I keep Dad for this year or should I select the biggest and lightest boy on pasture and bring him in? I'm horrible at genetics. Some of the stuff I've read would suggest moving dad to a safe place and bring in the best fitting cockerel and then breed back the off spring with grandpa the next year, others say stick with dad. I'm so confused.
I don't really know. I'm getting started on breeding birds and I'm going to start my own LF White Cornish project. I have one pullet white pullet out of 17 eggs I got shipped. I'll add her to my two Dark hens from my trio in a pen with one of my cockerels from this year. I'll be working the offspring from the white back to the mother and trying to get to a pure white line of my own. 4-5 Dark pullets from this year are going in a pen with my original Dark cock bird.

I would think if the Tom sired the two nice dark girls, he has those genetics somewhere in him and that trait would become more common in chicks from pairings with the daughters.
 
My son never tried to drink from a cup. So I tried to wean him off on a playtex baby bottle thingy (with the sleeve for milk inside). He wouldn't drink from it unless I kept squeezing the rubber(?) "thingy". I had to do it from first drop to last. Then one day it "clicked" and he figured it out. I know I was stupid but afraid he would starve.

He was very slow to crawl and didn't talk till age of 2. Missed some milestones in a baby's life. He got tested at some big deal place and they told me he was so far behind he would need to enroll in their very expensive (fraudulent) accademy.

Mother's know best.

I knew he wasn't any of the things they said. He went to regular pre-school no problem, reg. kindergarten, no problem, ended up in the gifted classes,. By 4 he was adept at Apple & IBM computers. They suggested I put him in advanced classes on Saturdays. He went through them fast. They weren't teaching reading in kindergarten so I taught him, he won the school's reading contests several years in a row. He also had 3 years of winning the kid's writing stories, awards.

Math he had to do on his own - I hated it. First year college - a head hunter had him flown to the "Mothership," for an interview. He interned two summers in a row, finished college and was immediately hired as a programmer. Didn't even have him home a week before they moved him, all his belongings and car, out there. He's been there ever since.

Did have a wonderful 2.5 weeks of him during winter break. He just flew back this early morning. Miss him badly.
 
Didn't intend that as a brag piece, I had raged against these "special schools," that try to scare parents into sending their kids there. I know others who had the same experience and stuck to their guns instead. I was a first time(only) mother and of course their words really frightened me. But I watched the things he could do at home & knew he was okay.
 
Well, my year is starting with calcium deposits in the tendon of my rotator cuff, which has caused some tendonitis, additional tendonitis in the same muscle, and a tear in said muscle. How did this happen, you ask....








Sleeping on a mattress that is a skeleton of what it once was. Why do we still have it? Cuz tattering DH would rather ignore the fact that we need a new mattress and spend the money on stuff her wants, like more guns.

Anyhow, ER gave me an Rx for tramadol, it was a waste of $ 0.85, doesn't do a thing for me. The sling does more, but basically it's like someone is digging a knife in to my shoulder, and then I get the dull pain and numbness down my arm, etc. So now I'm stuck sleeping in DD#1's room because it hurts to much to sleep anywhere else, and even then, it's not a full night's sleep. It's still better than getting maybe 20 mins at a time in my room. And I do have an appt next week Friday for my regular Dr, the soonest they had available.

How's everyone else's New year starting out?
 

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