Sdwd

[kathyinmo]

114 here today. That is the actual temp, not heat index. Tomorrow only calling for 104, and on and on and on. Current temp at 9PM is 98. All the birds are locked up. I am still trapping coons and now possums. I don't dare leave a coop open.

Sorry about your losses, all of you. Today I lost my best Delaware girl. My biggest girl. I am sick over it.

I hope I don't lose any more. So far my losses from heat are:
2 Jersey Giants (1 male, 1 female)
1 Delaware cockerel about 15 wks old
1 blue English Orp hen
1 Delaware hen

ALL of my coops and pens are shaded, besides the fact that they all have access to the timber. That in itself has saved many of them, I believe. I change dish pans of water at least 3 - 4 times a day and spray down the dirt to cool it. They all come running toward the hose now. I had to work today and yesterday. 630AM to 7PM, and my helpers are nearly as good at taking care of my birds. Don't get me wrong, I DO appreciate all that they do. Mike is home today and he watered and watered and watered, and we still lost our Del girl.

Laura, I like both those boys! Can hardly wait to see the end results! I have a couple that look very much like they do, and I LOVE watching them grow!

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Oh no Kathy!

I am so sorry to hear that. I feel so badly for all y'all suffering from the heat.

Good luck with your hatch

 

[Serrin]

My thoughts and prayers are for y'all in the hot parts of the country.

I sure hope your weather breaks soon and gives you some kind of relief from the heat and humidity. We're forecasted to hit 90, maybe even higher, on Thursday. If it does get that hot, it will be only the third time this summer that we have done so. Typically, we should have had 14 such days by this point. The weather has turned on its ear, I tell ya, and I don't think it's going to return to anything we would consider "normal" for a long time to come!

Cyn, Nugget and Ike will be in my prayers. I'd hate to see you lose either of them.

Laura, those Del's are looking awesome! Don't you just love how sweet and cuddly they are?!?

Kathy, I hope those predators back off a bit, take the hint, and leave you and your flocks alone! How many have you disposed of now? I've lost track!

LH, I so love the way your DH understands and is willing to do whatever it takes to assure the safety and health of your babies. What a guy!!

When this heat wave is over, please send him up here to me to give Denny a few lessons in sensitivity training!!

OK y'all. I've got to get back to the old grind. Still plugging away on the east and west porches of the house. I suppose I should be grateful that we're NOT sharing in the heat this year. If we were, we couldn't work as many hours each day on the outside of the house that we have been. I guess that just goes to show that every cloud can have a silver lining, eh?

 

[Cetawin]

Kathy I am sorry...I am so sick of this heat.


Amy, he is understanding but I think the bulk of it right now is that I am so sick...he can give me flack on ocassion too. Right now however....royal pain in my arse. Drivin me nuts! You will hear this around here 100 times per day

Honey, you okay I heard you breathe funny? Yes dear I am fine, I sighed.

Baby, you okay...I hear a noise upstairs? Yes dear I am fine I just walked across the room

Babe did you take your medication have you eaten you know you have to eat when you take it what did you eat? YES dam it I can remember when to eat and take a pill I have taken every day for 14 years.

Hon are you okay you are supposed to be lying down are you? Yes dear that is why you do not hear anything I AM FINE I SWEAR

I need this appointment here, done and over with. But in truth Amy he is much better than most spouses with my obsession. He took me out yesterday to look at a riding mower and a weed eater. He wants to build me a couple small A frame coops with runs attached for the grow outs and off course the riding lawn mower is for me to move it around.

soooooo I got a $250.00 husgvarna weed eater but luckily he did not find the riding mower he wanted.

His friend from the Cadet Corp is on his last week at the Cadet Corp so next week, after my doc appointment, they will start working on the coop and runs for me. I am trying to decide which of the babies to sell as I am going to try to hold the monthly poultry swap this weekend that Sarah and I usually did together...I am not sure how long I will be able to hold out there by myself but we will see. I have a pet quality pair of white silkies for sure going, maybe my Partridge Silkie roo Leo also pet quality and I need to pick some of these d'Uccle babies to take, but after losing my girls, it is really hard to say goodbye to the babies ya know?

 

[Inkheart]

Wow i am sorry everyone this stinks - no one is having a good time of it right now! Our temps are levelling off finally and look at upper 80's the rest of the week but that dreaded word "steamy" keeps showing up in the forecast! I will hold you all in my thoughts. I unchicken related of course am having weird car issues. My car refuses to release the key! 2008 - had a 36K 3 warranty. When was this up? June 22 and i hit 36,500 on th eway to the mechanic. The whole shifter assembly - igntion tumbler have to be fixed oh and the electric computer thingy. To the tune of 900 dollars! Grrrrr. STUPID STUPID STUPID. so right now it has the key in it ....please some one take it! LOL
Course my issues are less than all yours - sorry for whining for a minute.
I have to get pics this weekend as i have been holding off - but my private project has been Deaware marked cochins and i have one! She is getting great markings really neat looking - well to me LOL
Take care and hang in there all!

 

[Inkheart]

Ok on a side note as i know you folks wont make fun of meLOL what exactly is a pinched tail?

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Quote:
Ok...2 things

First, get ahold of the dept of consumer affairs (or similar) for the manufacturer of your car!! Call, write a letter, etc. $900 repair after just going over the mileage limit is BS. I had to do the same on my truck for a faulty fuel sensor thing and they sent me a refund check!

Second, on MOST birds, tails should be fully spread and look like an inverted/upside-down "U". If the tail comes together to a point or like an inverted "V" it is said to be pinched and very hard to correct from a breeding standpoint

 

[Inkheart]

Thanks Scott - as a matter of fact i have been looking at my bantam rocks and tryign to figure what i have and what is good and bad - and honeslt y i saw your post on the good shepard thread so i was like ok i need to know what this pinched tail business is!

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Look at the tails on my BRs in that thread and you should be able to see a few shots of what I'm describing. If there aren't any, lemme know and I'll put a few up here. I have 2 girls left here with pinched tails, a blue rock x delaware and one columbian rock. All the others are gone.

If you have one with a pinched tail, it is easy to see the difference when you compare the two

 

[kathyinmo]

Regarding pinched tail, does this help?

Quote:
Like this?

That is a great example of how it should look top to bottom. You should be able to see all those tail feathers from the side, not just two or three.

Walt