Ribh's D'Coopage

[BY Bob]

Ummm... you might be mistaken for a cannibal?

Come to think of it... what IS in that lasagne you were feeding your hens???

Beef mam. A little ground beef.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[MaryJanet]

 

[Ribh]

We have had a couple of stinkers in a row: 30C+ with no sea breeze. I thought the girls were coping remarkably well. Apart from Lottie, who has a rose comb, all my girls sport large singles & their run & coop have plenty of shade to catch any breeze going.

Dinner has been going down a little later. I ran out of lettuce scraps so treated the girls to a little watermelon this afternoon & so far as I could tell everyone was doing just fine in the heat.

So imagine my horror when I go to feed them & find Lottie all hunched over, wings drooping in the dust & not rushing to hop in my lap to stuff her face.

She is such a sweet bird & holds her own amongst my standards. After my initial panic I sat & observed. Lottie's face & comb were bright, bright red & her bottom was spasming...ok, she doesn't lay that often & we've been having shell~less eggs from her for a while, usually dropped when roosting, but I figured she wasn't keen on going into the coop in all the heat so I let her be. I checked a couple of times & she was still @ it. Visions of egg binding & a tiny, tiny bird...

When I went out to check roosting was taking place peacefully, Lottie was in the food tub in the coop chowing down like there was no tomorrow. I got her some water & she went to roost with a full crop.

Her egg was in a nesting box ~ completely shell~less & with this strange little piggy~tail. You can see where the calcium has sort of started to form the shell.

We have grit & Lottie knows where to find it. She used to be quite the little piggy about her grit so not sure what's going on there.

 

[Ribh]

And a couple of snaps of tonight's sunset.
Yes, it is hot.
Yes the breeze is now picking up. ​

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Holidays have gotten way out of hand. Sometimes it's really a blood bath shopping for popular items. I think the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have whipped shoppers into a frenzy.
When I was very young didn't have any money for presents. I used to look for things around the house and wrap them up as gifts. Can't say that anyone thanked me. Just gave me the usual "pained" look. Then I learned to make potholders and everyone hated those even more. But I put effort into it.

Now everyone wants gift cards and there is nothing to wrap or get excited shopping for. .

The only ones that appreciated holiday presents where the dogs (I used to raise Cocker Spaniels). I'd put dog toys & Nylabones & tennis balls in the middle of the kennel floor and one by one let them out to pick their own presents. I think I enjoyed it as much as they did. They would grab something and take it back to their stall and enjoy it.

I would check on them later and all you could hear where toys getting squeaked or chewing noises . So much more rewarding than passing out presents for humans.

My mother would return everything my older sister bought for her. She couldn't return my presents because I was living at home with her and would know about it. My brother just gave her money.

My father would just take whatever he got - and if clothes put it on and fall sleep watching tv. He never complained.

BTW my brother hated everything I bought for him. And I mean HATED. He would give me back his present and I'd would ask, do you need a different size or color. He would just say 'NO, I HATE IT!" Like that wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings. I'd get a refund and give him the $$.
Now that HE is OLD too, I have him shop with me and pick out what he wants. Mission completed and no hurt feelings. Except once he finds what he wants, it's back in the car and drive away. Didn't care if I needed presents for someone else. Thank goodness for on line shopping.

The dogs were way more fun.

Wow ... way to ruin the joy of giving.... Sorry you had such a rotten experience with your birth family Diva. I hope you have more appreciative recipients now.

Yeah, dogs are the best, always happy to see you and excited for food and toys. I must remember to get mine some marrow bones for Xmas

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Folks seem to like rushing for no particular reason. Are people addicted to adrenalin in general? Or are they simply emulating each other? It's like being busy all the time is the same as winning a trophy or something.

I used to rush around too, but once I realised what I was doing I made a choice to go slower whenever I could. I wrapped up a big project on Wednesday and went immediately on Summer holidays until February (!!!) - the point is, I found it really easy to go from frantic, long work days to slooooow and delightful.

I like slower and more personal. It's so nice to connect with people and just be civil.

Yes, frenzy does seem to be catching. On the up side though, friendliness is usually catching too .

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

We have had a couple of stinkers in a row: 30C+ with no sea breeze. I thought the girls were coping remarkably well. Apart from Lottie, who has a rose comb, all my girls sport large singles & their run & coop have plenty of shade to catch any breeze going.

Dinner has been going down a little later. I ran out of lettuce scraps so treated the girls to a little watermelon this afternoon & so far as I could tell everyone was doing just fine in the heat.

So imagine my horror when I go to feed them & find Lottie all hunched over, wings drooping in the dust & not rushing to hop in my lap to stuff her face.

She is such a sweet bird & holds her own amongst my standards. After my initial panic I sat & observed. Lottie's face & comb were bright, bright red & her bottom was spasming...ok, she doesn't lay that often & we've been having shell~less eggs from her for a while, usually dropped when roosting, but I figured she wasn't keen on going into the coop in all the heat so I let her be. I checked a couple of times & she was still @ it. Visions of egg binding & a tiny, tiny bird...

When I went out to check roosting was taking place peacefully, Lottie was in the food tub in the coop chowing down like there was no tomorrow. I got her some water & she went to roost with a full crop.

Her egg was in a nesting box ~ completely shell~less & with this strange little piggy~tail. You can see where the calcium has sort of started to form the shell.

We have grit & Lottie knows where to find it. She used to be quite the little piggy about her grit so not sure what's going on there.

View attachment 1981693​

Wow, that is some weird egg.

Is there a thread for weird eggs? Maybe we should start one, it could be educational.
I've never seen one like Lottie's though. I hope she's ok Ribh. Deana is still laying thin shelled and occasionally shell-less too. Why won't these girls eat their grit?

 

[rjohns39]

Good evening folks

Beautiful sunset Jeannie, and wow that egg... How old is Lottie again? Another dumb question... do you folks refer to oyster shell as grit? Grit here is generally granite.

 

[Ribh]

Good evening folks

Beautiful sunset Jeannie, and wow that egg... How old is Lottie again? Another dumb question... do you folks refer to oyster shell as grit? Grit here is generally granite.

Hi, Bob. Grit here is a mix of oyster shell, crushed sea shells & tiny rocks or @ least that's what I see in mine. There may be other stuff... Lottie isn't 1 yet. This is her first laying season.