~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~
- Thread starter gryeyes
- Start date
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- #654
Y'all are making me laugh again. Ow. (Recovering from all day, severe migraine yesterday. There went Thanksgiving Day, just like that, poof! Gone.)
The Brass let us non-uniformed folks off early on Wednesday "to beat the holiday traffic." I still got home just at dusk, after picking up a couple of different kinds of pie crust for HHandbasket, which she said she could pick up from me later that night or early Thursday. Cool. Filled all the feeders and waterers and gathered eggs. Still full from the office pot-luck left-overs - everybody at work noshed all day long - I just opened a diet Pepsi and settled into the recliner with the dogs and cat. Drifted off to sleep... some time..... and after 1 a.m. decided I should go sleep in my bed. The dogs, cat and I relocated.
Thursday I awakened with a severe migraine. What the heck? I haven't had a migraine headache like that in years; it was the full blown, light hurts, sound hurts, movement nauseates me, somebody please pull off the top of my head and let the demons out kind of migraine. I never really got up, except to drink liquids and divest myself of the processed liquids. Didn't show the dogs how to use their new pet door, didn't check on the chickens, didn't even step out onto the porch once. I did move out to the recliner about 8 p.m. to watch the recorded Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
So, I didn't update my last post with pictures. Gonna have to put those photos in this one, not all nicely tucked in amongst the descriptions like I had planned. I mean, it would be more cool that way, but there have been posts since and .... oh, fooey. If you want to see the photos, scroll back to post #648. I saw a bunch of typographical errors I need to fix, anyway.
Then I'll come back and add to THIS post. Yah, that's the ticket!
************************************
Got the pictures up and typos eradicated to my satisfaction.
Life is good. Still a bit of a headache which I believe is caffeine withdrawal - but I'm out of coffee! So I drove the entire quarter-mile round trip to get a BIG cup of coffee at the little market, some Excedrin Migraine, and a quart of milk. Gonna try to have a bowl of cereal.
One of my constant (seasonal) gripes is the lack of Chicken TV time I have during the week. I leave for work and get home from work in the dark. Turn on the light in the coop, wake up the chickens, take a look around, fill feeders, waterers, gather eggs. That's it. Bummer. Then I totally flaked out on Thanksgiving, so I expected starving chickens. Well, yes, they range freely during the day, but.... I have several feeders in the coop at different heights for LF and bantams and chicks. Buffy had not yet taken her 3 chicks out of the coop, and I have some tween-agers who aren't brave enough to leave the coop to go foraging. On the weekends they will stand in the open people doorway and look out.
Anyway, only ONE of the feeders was empty and the largest waterer was dry. I took care of the waterer and filled all the feeders all the way up. There's one back in the corner where Buffy and Sister 1 had nested, brooded and hatched the three chicks Buffy is now raising. Sister 1 sort of meanders around the group, but lets Buffy be the mom. When I went to fill that feeder, I was flabbergasted to see Angel, my bantam EE, sitting right there. She puffed up and I saw 3 chicks gathered 'round her. I had NO clue she had been brooding! But I bet I know where she had her nest.... Then, when I got a special handful of feed and feed dust to give to her, she stood up and five more chicks ran out from underneath her. EIGHT CHICKS! They had to have hatched Thanksgiving Day!
To add to my enjoyment of the day, as I emptied and filled the duck's kiddie pools, I could hear the special clucking of a momma hen with chicks. Near the house. It was Buffy, who not only had her chicks out of the coop, but had brought them up onto the veranda to the front door! It is NOT easy for little chicks to make that first step on the coop end of the veranda, but there they were. I admired them, and Buffy shepherded them back off the veranda around all the other chickens who have chosen to spend time there instead of out in the yard.
The other day, John said, "Look at them - they have that whole yard to roam and they hang out on the porch. Nothing to eat up here, what is the attraction?"
"Me." I dimpled. "Actually, I think they like the view of the whole yard from here. They don't stay here all the time, there are kind of shifts.... The most I've seen at one time is thirty." That got a look.
It's so hard for me to believe I actually missed Angel on the weekends - BUT she has ALWAYS been in the coop; she has never gone outside for any length of time. She hangs out with the youngsters not brave enough to go outside yet, and I have worried about her not enjoying the outside world. Her nest was most likely under a sort of platform against the back of the coop, below the industrial nest boxes secured to the wall. A couple of months ago, HHandbasket reached under to remove quite a few eggs I could not reach myself. As I have added more pine shavings, there's been a pile of bedding material building up to make the opening under that platform much smaller. Angel must have belly-crawled back there and made a very hidden nest.
EIGHT chicks! Maybe nine - they do move quickly!
The Brass let us non-uniformed folks off early on Wednesday "to beat the holiday traffic." I still got home just at dusk, after picking up a couple of different kinds of pie crust for HHandbasket, which she said she could pick up from me later that night or early Thursday. Cool. Filled all the feeders and waterers and gathered eggs. Still full from the office pot-luck left-overs - everybody at work noshed all day long - I just opened a diet Pepsi and settled into the recliner with the dogs and cat. Drifted off to sleep... some time..... and after 1 a.m. decided I should go sleep in my bed. The dogs, cat and I relocated.
Thursday I awakened with a severe migraine. What the heck? I haven't had a migraine headache like that in years; it was the full blown, light hurts, sound hurts, movement nauseates me, somebody please pull off the top of my head and let the demons out kind of migraine. I never really got up, except to drink liquids and divest myself of the processed liquids. Didn't show the dogs how to use their new pet door, didn't check on the chickens, didn't even step out onto the porch once. I did move out to the recliner about 8 p.m. to watch the recorded Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
So, I didn't update my last post with pictures. Gonna have to put those photos in this one, not all nicely tucked in amongst the descriptions like I had planned. I mean, it would be more cool that way, but there have been posts since and .... oh, fooey. If you want to see the photos, scroll back to post #648. I saw a bunch of typographical errors I need to fix, anyway.
Then I'll come back and add to THIS post. Yah, that's the ticket!
************************************
Got the pictures up and typos eradicated to my satisfaction.
One of my constant (seasonal) gripes is the lack of Chicken TV time I have during the week. I leave for work and get home from work in the dark. Turn on the light in the coop, wake up the chickens, take a look around, fill feeders, waterers, gather eggs. That's it. Bummer. Then I totally flaked out on Thanksgiving, so I expected starving chickens. Well, yes, they range freely during the day, but.... I have several feeders in the coop at different heights for LF and bantams and chicks. Buffy had not yet taken her 3 chicks out of the coop, and I have some tween-agers who aren't brave enough to leave the coop to go foraging. On the weekends they will stand in the open people doorway and look out.
Anyway, only ONE of the feeders was empty and the largest waterer was dry. I took care of the waterer and filled all the feeders all the way up. There's one back in the corner where Buffy and Sister 1 had nested, brooded and hatched the three chicks Buffy is now raising. Sister 1 sort of meanders around the group, but lets Buffy be the mom. When I went to fill that feeder, I was flabbergasted to see Angel, my bantam EE, sitting right there. She puffed up and I saw 3 chicks gathered 'round her. I had NO clue she had been brooding! But I bet I know where she had her nest.... Then, when I got a special handful of feed and feed dust to give to her, she stood up and five more chicks ran out from underneath her. EIGHT CHICKS! They had to have hatched Thanksgiving Day!
To add to my enjoyment of the day, as I emptied and filled the duck's kiddie pools, I could hear the special clucking of a momma hen with chicks. Near the house. It was Buffy, who not only had her chicks out of the coop, but had brought them up onto the veranda to the front door! It is NOT easy for little chicks to make that first step on the coop end of the veranda, but there they were. I admired them, and Buffy shepherded them back off the veranda around all the other chickens who have chosen to spend time there instead of out in the yard.
The other day, John said, "Look at them - they have that whole yard to roam and they hang out on the porch. Nothing to eat up here, what is the attraction?"
"Me." I dimpled. "Actually, I think they like the view of the whole yard from here. They don't stay here all the time, there are kind of shifts.... The most I've seen at one time is thirty." That got a look.
It's so hard for me to believe I actually missed Angel on the weekends - BUT she has ALWAYS been in the coop; she has never gone outside for any length of time. She hangs out with the youngsters not brave enough to go outside yet, and I have worried about her not enjoying the outside world. Her nest was most likely under a sort of platform against the back of the coop, below the industrial nest boxes secured to the wall. A couple of months ago, HHandbasket reached under to remove quite a few eggs I could not reach myself. As I have added more pine shavings, there's been a pile of bedding material building up to make the opening under that platform much smaller. Angel must have belly-crawled back there and made a very hidden nest.
EIGHT chicks! Maybe nine - they do move quickly!
Last edited:
Ouch! Migraines are awful. Been there, done that. Get better!
- Thread starter
- #656
Quote:
Yah, they are. I haven't had one that bad in years. I used to have an Imetrix prescription but never renewed it when I "stopped" having them. My physician - in the past - told me to drink coffee at the first sign of a migraine, but I was all out on Thursday! (Problem fixed on Friday.)
This morning I got a closer look at Angel's brood: she has nine little bitty chicks and they all look alike. NINE, not eight.
She is covering all of them in this rather lousy shot.
This is her first brood and she's doing SO well with them. I'm still amazed she was so sneaky about it, but with BIG chickens, and ducks and geese also spending the night locked up in the coop, I guess she just didn't want anybody to know. Kate & Angus are very curious and often peek into the covered nest boxes when there are hens in them. The ducks don't sleep all night and have parties in the coop until the auto-door opens in the morning, then they all troop outside in a quacking mass of black webbed feet.
This is Buffy and her older three chicks.
.
She's showing them the dust bathing area along the West side of the house.
.
Speaking of auto doors, I have yet to get the dogs to use their new pet door. The guillotine door whirring upwards makes Dooley bark at it. Zorro will go up the steps and look outside, but it's colder out there and a blast of that air hits him. Nope, not gonna go out there! Smudge, who does not have a collar, likes me to press the "Open" button to let him out. He really needs his own electronic access collar.
I've been shoving the dogs through the door from the inside and they've learned to turn around and come back through it when their collar activates the door. So that's some progress.
Here are some interested parties wondering about the pet door ramp.
.
This is Elizabeth and Jack, having a nap on the veranda railing.
I smashed open a whole honeydew melon for a treat yesterday, but didn't take any pictures of the excitement.
Yah, they are. I haven't had one that bad in years. I used to have an Imetrix prescription but never renewed it when I "stopped" having them. My physician - in the past - told me to drink coffee at the first sign of a migraine, but I was all out on Thursday! (Problem fixed on Friday.)
This morning I got a closer look at Angel's brood: she has nine little bitty chicks and they all look alike. NINE, not eight.
She is covering all of them in this rather lousy shot.
This is her first brood and she's doing SO well with them. I'm still amazed she was so sneaky about it, but with BIG chickens, and ducks and geese also spending the night locked up in the coop, I guess she just didn't want anybody to know. Kate & Angus are very curious and often peek into the covered nest boxes when there are hens in them. The ducks don't sleep all night and have parties in the coop until the auto-door opens in the morning, then they all troop outside in a quacking mass of black webbed feet.
This is Buffy and her older three chicks.
She's showing them the dust bathing area along the West side of the house.
Speaking of auto doors, I have yet to get the dogs to use their new pet door. The guillotine door whirring upwards makes Dooley bark at it. Zorro will go up the steps and look outside, but it's colder out there and a blast of that air hits him. Nope, not gonna go out there! Smudge, who does not have a collar, likes me to press the "Open" button to let him out. He really needs his own electronic access collar.
I've been shoving the dogs through the door from the inside and they've learned to turn around and come back through it when their collar activates the door. So that's some progress.
Here are some interested parties wondering about the pet door ramp.
This is Elizabeth and Jack, having a nap on the veranda railing.
I smashed open a whole honeydew melon for a treat yesterday, but didn't take any pictures of the excitement.
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Very cool Linda!! Congrats on the little ones! Everyone looks so in-sync with each other. Very calming on the mind when everyone gets along. We are like that too, dogs, cats, pigs and all the birds. Now if the hawks and coyotes would start feeling the love we'd be fantastic
Looks to me like youre going to need a few (30 or so) collars for the dog door
WAIT!! I just saw your current flock count! so add about 40 more collars to the 30
Looks to me like youre going to need a few (30 or so) collars for the dog door
WAIT!! I just saw your current flock count! so add about 40 more collars to the 30
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Awesome. That's a load of chicks for a hen!
Hi Linda. Congrats on the new family additions
. I was wondering if you could post the information for your baby monitor/coop cam. It looks great and I am getting ready to be a first time lamb grandma. It looks like it would come in very handy for seeing when the ewes go into labor. Will it pick up through a metal wall, do you think? Any info you can provide would be very much appreciated. And I am so enjoying keeping up with you and your flock!
Edited for spelling
Edited for spelling
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- Thread starter
- #660
The baby monitor system I am using for a coop cam system is by Lorex, and the system is called "LIVE snap."
Here's a link to the size system I am using. http://lorexstore.lorextechnology.com/product.aspx?id=2213
I have no clue if it will go through metal walls, sorry. I love the system; the cameras need power but they send the video and audio wirelessly to the hand-held monitor. It's handy if your coop is not too far from the house where you'd keep the monitor in its charging station (when not carrying it around). I leave mine in the charging station unless I'm showing it off to someone.
I used to keep it by my bed so I could check it when I hear the night-time crowing, but I found I spend a lot of time at my computer desk so I've moved the monitor into that room on the desk. That way I don't have to walk all the way into the bedroom to the night-stand to check it, now that I have learned what is "normal" night-time noise and what needs to be checked.
Let's see, what else happened this weekend? Oh, yes, I actually sauteed some mushrooms for a snack, ON THE STOVE. That was so successful I later cooked some thickly sliced bacon in the same pan. I will pause for the applause now.
The dogs still will not voluntarily utilize the pet door. Yet. Smudge would very much like his own collar, thank you very much. He goes up the steps and meows, I come see what's up, he actually puts a paw up above the door panel, I press the "open" button and he goes outside. It may take a couple of "opens" as he likes to look outside and take his time, but by the third "open" cycle he goes through the doorway. I have actually seen a pawprint on the other side of the door panel!!
Got some photos of Angel and her chicks today. Amazing that she can cover all nine chicks!
.
She wasn't happy that I made her move so I could get pictures of the goobers themselves.
.
I finished unwrapping all the hens-on-nests dishes and got 'em in the hutch. The living room is still too crowded with broken down boxes, more filled boxes of books and things, so I'm not willing to take photos of the interior of my house yet. BUT I will tell ya, every time I walk into the living room I get such a warm fuzzy feeling - it's getting closer to being all done! And oh my goodness, my bedroom looks SO good with the headboard behind the bed now, and most of the stuff in place. Just a little bit more work there, putting away more cleaned clothing, treating the wood furniture, shining up the mirrors, stuff like that.. and the bedroom will be worth showing off.
Kitchen is still a mess. I am, however, getting a handle on my "stack everything on the kitchen table" habit.
I'll probably have Christmas decorations up before I take photos of the interior of my house to share.
Here's a link to the size system I am using. http://lorexstore.lorextechnology.com/product.aspx?id=2213
I have no clue if it will go through metal walls, sorry. I love the system; the cameras need power but they send the video and audio wirelessly to the hand-held monitor. It's handy if your coop is not too far from the house where you'd keep the monitor in its charging station (when not carrying it around). I leave mine in the charging station unless I'm showing it off to someone.
Let's see, what else happened this weekend? Oh, yes, I actually sauteed some mushrooms for a snack, ON THE STOVE. That was so successful I later cooked some thickly sliced bacon in the same pan. I will pause for the applause now.
The dogs still will not voluntarily utilize the pet door. Yet. Smudge would very much like his own collar, thank you very much. He goes up the steps and meows, I come see what's up, he actually puts a paw up above the door panel, I press the "open" button and he goes outside. It may take a couple of "opens" as he likes to look outside and take his time, but by the third "open" cycle he goes through the doorway. I have actually seen a pawprint on the other side of the door panel!!
Got some photos of Angel and her chicks today. Amazing that she can cover all nine chicks!
She wasn't happy that I made her move so I could get pictures of the goobers themselves.
I finished unwrapping all the hens-on-nests dishes and got 'em in the hutch. The living room is still too crowded with broken down boxes, more filled boxes of books and things, so I'm not willing to take photos of the interior of my house yet. BUT I will tell ya, every time I walk into the living room I get such a warm fuzzy feeling - it's getting closer to being all done! And oh my goodness, my bedroom looks SO good with the headboard behind the bed now, and most of the stuff in place. Just a little bit more work there, putting away more cleaned clothing, treating the wood furniture, shining up the mirrors, stuff like that.. and the bedroom will be worth showing off.
Kitchen is still a mess. I am, however, getting a handle on my "stack everything on the kitchen table" habit.
I'll probably have Christmas decorations up before I take photos of the interior of my house to share.
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