***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[muesky]

Hope everyone had a great day today and are safe...

So went out to finish up some of my holiday shopping and get another gift for Doc since today was his birthday... It never stops amazing me how stupid people act during the holidays. I saw at least 6 accidents nearly happen right in front of me, by people not watching where they were going...

Right now I am pressure cooking some dear meat to make a stew.. Trying to make my body process meat again and thanks to Carl I have been able to experiment with dear and lamb with mix success.. Whole meat is still an issue but the ground lamb in chili did not bother me.. One way or another I am going to get to the point I can eat some meat again..

 

[Kassaundra]

I think it depends on the dachshund.. Stella was raised to understand the chickens are hers to protect and that is her job here.. Stanley has been an issue but we are working on him... It is a bit easier with little dogs then big ones since most my birds are much bigger then they are..

I think it depends on how you have conditioned your birds. Long ago I stopped putting heaters in the coops. My birds can go into the coop, or they have covered areas to go that has wind blocks and many of them, especially the LF cochins prefer that to going into the coop... If your birds have had heat lamps, etc. it is important to keep it going as that is what they are accustomed to..

Silkies should be fine as long as they are out of the wind and have shelter.. Seramas do not handle the cold weather at all from what I have found unless you have conditioned them from very young..

I love this!!!

I love the chicken picture, saved it to my files...
The extractor looks wicked and I am not sure I would want to try using that to get an egg out of a chicken... I think my chickens would freak if I came at them with that thing... hehehe!

It is a Sonic Screwdriver, a toy replica of the one The Doctor carries (Dr. Who)

 

[miohippus]

It is a Sonic Screwdriver, a toy replica of the one The Doctor carries (Dr. Who)

my daughter is getting one for Christmas except it is from the 10th doctor i think.

 

[muesky]

It is a Sonic Screwdriver, a toy replica of the one The Doctor carries (Dr. Who)

I thought it looked familiar... That is cool!

 

[Poco Pollo]

I think Coral is in Texas right now.

Howdie!

I got back from Texas last night around 10:30. The round-trip drive from Haskell to El Paso usually takes two days, but with rain, ice, and fog, I was not able to drive the speed limit, so the journey took three days. My grandson enjoyed our stay at a Best Western Plus. He had a king-sized bed and the control of a huge flat-screen TV. "This is luxury," he told me. It made me happy to see him enjoy himself on the long drive.

DH took care of my flock while I was gone. All the birds are doing great. He's a little congested : (

I need to catch up on posts and then go back out to finish filling water buckets.

 

[bardies]

Welcome back!

 

[Poco Pollo]

Thanks! I just downloaded some photos I took at 10:30 last night. Beautiful ice. Most of it is melting right now.

 

[bardies]

Ksane, so sorry to read of your losses, as well as others'. My experience with raccoons doesn't include taking the heads off and eating just the innards. They WILL kill as many as they can and will sometimes eat them on the spot sometimes drag them away. They'll eat the entire bird--no beaks or feet lef, but maybe the wings with large feathers attached--if they have time. At any rate it is horrid that you had to find that problem.

Nearly all my silkies have always been outside, with small coops they can go into if they wish and covered runs. I rarely put any heat on them at all, and they fare well. One year many of them had a lot of snow on them from the wind blowing in from a different direction, but had no problems. I do put Visqueen on the front of my largest pen because that's the direction rain and snow will usually come from. I also have a tarp and an 85 watt red bulb on a small group that live in more or less a rabbit hutch, which is open underneath. When there are more in there, I don't give them any heat. If they are used to being out and are out as the season changes and the temps gradually cool down, they are fine.

Our yard looks a lot like the pics posted here, with more shrubs and smallish trees bowed clear down to the ground. We have to bend clear over at the waist in several areas to get to the pens to feed and water the poultry. If we brush against it, the branches break.

Porcelain is still a "project" bird in silkies and will probably never have the spotting a true porcelain should have because of the structure of their feathers. An alternate name that has been proposed and is also widely used is "self blue cream". A porcelain (self blue cream) bred to a lavender (self blue) is likely to produce some lavenders, but mostly porcelain because the self blue gene is recessive. A porcelain bred to a porcelain is most likely to produce porcelains, but could also produce some lavenders.

Betsy, thanks for the input...one of my fears with this silly weather is that it has not been stable enough for them to acclimate fully. It wouldnt be as bad if I had tons like them or if another bird could just lay the eggs to make up for their loss (like in my laying flock) - but it would be devestating on so many more levels to loose one of these (your) birds when I couldhave done something different. If the ice clears enough today and the pens dont reflood with the meltoff, everyone should come out of the kennels this afternoon.
I need to try to remember self blue cream, because it is totally descriptive. We love that SBC rooster, he is a total sweetie! Do you know the genetics behind the sbc and sb? I undertand that the lavender gene is recessive so you need two copies - would the 'cream' part be an additional gene then - that is 'added' to the double lavender - or does it partner with a single lavender (like a split) but not cover it?

 

[Kassaundra]

my daughter is getting one for Christmas except it is from the 10th doctor i think.

Awesome, she will be a happy girl.

 

[bardies]

@Ksane I found some cool sizzle pics for you. I hope that your chicks end up looking half as good as these do. They are on pg 92 of the Silkies of a Different Color thread. Fluffy pinecones...very Christmasy!

Speaking of which...


Merry Christmas Eve everyone!