***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[miohippus]

That shows how tiny the kids are right now. Too sweet!
Our barn cat comes out to check all the activity by the pens and sits on the shade cloth over the big pen. The birds are used to his shadow up there and don't even alert when he gets uo there.

we have several "barn cats" they go practically everywhere. Even if our chickens free ranged they would not bother them because we use to have free range guineas and they taught the cats at a young age not to mess with the big birds, lol. but unforchantly the coyotes,owls and dogs got all our guineas so we don't have any anymore.


What do you think is it safe to plant my newly purchased flower seeds outside yet?

 

[Critterwoman]

Quote:
Food coloring sounds like a good idea, but I don't know if I could handle that lol. Also, I sell my eggs and don't know what folks would think about "striped" eggs. They were already amazed by the blue and green ones.

Colored markers on the beak was also suggested, but that won't work on my black beaked girls. I may just try to dab a bit on their comb or a feather. One didn't like me coming at her with the brush,

, even though she was in her nesting box. Another let me dab a bit on a neck feather. May try a different color every day for 4 or 5 days and see what happens. Nothing to do but try something and if it doesn't work try something else. I think I have identified all but 4 of my black Austrolorps just by observation. So far I have only ruled out one hen that I know I have never seen on the nest.

 

[Critterwoman]

Quote:
Also try nicking the seed with a fingernail clipper after soaking overnight. This helps it to emerge from the shell quicker

 

[Critterwoman]

Ever just have one of those days?
We are currently watching a first time heifer that dropped her calf today in a big muddy area during a heavy rain.
Of course, she chose today and the boys had not put her in the lot yesterday when it was nice.
So, hubby and I went out to the pasture, pulled the calf out of the mud up to a clean grassy area and watched from a distance to make sure she would keep cleaning it. No, the inexperienced mom decided to try following the other cows up the hill to the tree line. She would come back to the calf, trying to encourage it to get up and follow her. But the calf was newborn and cold. When it finally did stand and try to nuzzle her, Mom would back off.
There is a reason for putting a first time heifer in the lot...you can watch her and if necessary, put mom in a tight area and the eager calf can begin nursing. We ended up going back to the house, fixing a covered area in the lot, retrieving the calf from the rain, and rinsing off the mud in the bathroom tub with warm water...making sure not to wash off the amniotic fluids from her back...so mom would recognize her smell.
Then we brought the herd into the lot with the feed truck, sorted out Mom and another soon to pop heifer and kicked all the others out of the lot. Finally, we carried the calf to the shelter and sprinkled cubes near it to draw mom to her calf. Mom has sniffed and licked the calf, but hasn't really claimed it.
We will keep vigil this evening and if the calf doesn't suckle, will tube it again with colostrum formula. Then in the morning, we will go thru the process of putting the cow in the squeeze chute and work with the calf. Once the calf has mother's milk going thru her system, the cow's smell will help the cow accept it.

The chickens are not happy with this rain, but the geese are loving it. I think they have splashed in every puddle in the driveway.

Boy I have empathy for you on that endeaver. Hope the calf made it and momma accepted that. We experienced the same type of thing until we switched breeds. We raised registered Gelbvieh cattle. Early to mature and super strong mothering instincts ..... even first time heifers. Although not a good thing, but we had one heifer calve at 12 months old! (like I said EARLY maturing). It didn't hurt her any or stunt her growth, and she went on to be a winning show animal. The bulls mature early too, so have to watch that. They are normally a very docile breed, even the bulls. I hand raised mine and never had any problem with them. Buyers liked that. We only had one cow we bought bred, that acted like a donkey (*****) and she only stayed on the farm long enough to wean the calf and she was GONE.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Nana I would be more than happy to take your birds, if you were this way. Hate that you can't make the sale, but I understand. I let Bambi control my every move the past 2 wks, I wanted to make sure I was close by for her first kidding.

Who else is making the Newcastle sale?? Weather is suppose to be amazing, should be a packed sale!

I am going to the Newcastle sale and would love to meet anyone in this group for a chat. This will be my second auction ( Went to the last one in Blanchard ). It is in the ag building off of 62 right?

 

[jcatblum]

I am going to the Newcastle sale and would love to meet anyone in this group for a chat. This will be my second auction ( Went to the last one in Blanchard ). It is in the ag building off of 62 right?

Directions are not my strong point. I am more of a land mark kinda girl. It is the Newcastle exit that does NOT have the Wal-Mart & Brahms. Coming from Lawton take the 1st Newcastle exit. Stay right, think it is about 2.5 miles on the left side. When you see Sonic the sale barn is 2 blocks away. There is a kids playground on the corner across from the barn.
Bunch of us on the Okie thread attend the sale, we usually sit at the table in the back. Many of us will wear POOPS shirts. Hope to see you there.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Directions are not my strong point. I am more of a land mark kinda girl. It is the Newcastle exit that does NOT have the Wal-Mart & Brahms. Coming from Lawton take the 1st Newcastle exit. Stay right, think it is about 2.5 miles on the left side. When you see Sonic the sale barn is 2 blocks away. There is a kids playground on the corner across from the barn.
Bunch of us on the Okie thread attend the sale, we usually sit at the table in the back. Many of us will wear POOPS shirts. Hope to see you there.

Great. Thanks! I'm pretty sure I can find it. I'll look for the shirts I don't really need to buy anything but I said that before the Blanchard auction and came home with four blue ameracauna chicks and a dog. ( The dog was free ).

 

[Critterwoman]

I knew you were suppose to soak peas in buttermilk, but didn't know about the other seeds.

last time I looked we had 1.5 inches, but it has rained more since then.

We ended up with 3.75" at my house from the several days of rain. It was so nice and came down "just right". Not much runoff, the ground around my house soaked it all in! The pasture across the road where my horses are has a big pond and I can see where it has gone up!!!! Dreaded going into summer still in such a terrible drought. This wasn't near enough, but a good start. Calling for more chances Sunday through Wednesday. That would be great and maybe some more runoff for the ponds!!!

 

[Critterwoman]

Another long morning,but we had reinforcements with BIL. The calf did try to suckle when the cow was in the squeeze chute. Mom is really protective of the calf now. We had to finish the feeding by tubing. got enough milk to save some back for the last feeding at 10 pm and use milk replacer. We are trying to keep the calf on the hungry side so it will be more aggressively nuzzling mom. Now that milk is flowing good, her bag is not so tender so we are hoping for good things. Would really like the pair to get the nursing thing down...three feedings a day takes a lot of time. AND the sun is out off and on already....named the baby Sunshine cause she bucked for the first time today when the sun peeked out.

planning on planting a mixture of Hyacinth Bean, birdhouse gourds and Morning glory on the fences...should bring In the bees to pollinate the gourds. I need some to replace gourds on the purple Martin poles this year. Also have seed for the old fashioned Love in a Puff vine...may mix some in also.

We ended up with 2.5 inches of rain. Add to that the 1/2 inch from last week, the ground was soaked enough to allow lots of runoff. The redux ponds are holding much more water and the spillway channel between the two front ponds was flowing this morning. So grateful for the rain!!

The leg bands I ordered last week still have not arrived...need to mark the keepers in the juvenile pen....sure hope they get here soon.

Nanakat ...... where did you order the leg bands from?

 

[Critterwoman]

I have two laying hens that I need to re-home because of my increasing physical limitations. They are one and a half year old Barred Rocks that have been laying for a full year now. They have slowed down to eight to ten eggs a week now but layed daily until mid November. I keep expecting them to go into molt but they haven't yet.
With them goes a small, ugly but adequate coop, fencing materials for a small run, watering devices and feed bowls, remaining feedstuffs and bedding material. Also included are some one by boards, 2x2s, plywood remnants and two frames to what was going to be a new coop, as well as some paint to match the painted parts.
I would like for them to go to a urban BYCer with a fenced yard so they can forage a few hours most days. PM me if you think you might be interested. No charge. Will need a couple strong backs to load the coop. Thanks

Sent you a PM. Sounds like just what I need.