Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BlindLemonChicken]

I only ever (occasionally) wash woollen base layers. Anything else - ganseys and the like - gets chucked in the freezer overnight, or draped out over a few washing lines on a cold & dry winter night, no more than a few times a year.

Recalling the recent language chat, there’s a legendary Doric exchange between a shopkeeper and customer:
Customer (enquiring of the material): Oo? (Wool?)
Shopkeeper: Ay oo (Yes, it's made of wool)
Customer: A' oo? (All wool?)
Shopkeeper: Ay, a' oo (Yes, all wool)
Customer: A' ae oo? (All the same wool)
Shopkeeper: Ay a' ae oo (Yes all the same wool)

I've been collecting hair from the Highlands to make into little needlefelted cows. They'll be coo oo coos.

 

[Shadrach]

View attachment 4232616

They're woolen fishermen's jumpers.

 

[kattabelly]

They're woolen fishermen's jumpers.

Oh, ganseys? Here all jumpers are ganseys.

 

[Skyeknight]

I wonder if the purebred Penedesencas eggs I got all had an inherited defect on the Z chromosome, and the cockerels, lacking a W chromosome, couldn't compensate for it, unlike the pullets. Then the survival of male as well as female hybrids would suggest that they have enough admixture of (an)other breed(s) to compensate for the defect too. What do you think? Reasonable possibility, or have I misunderstood something in the genetics (with which I do struggle)?

In this case can't you kinda treat it like a sex-linked recessive gene? recessive genes are generally very hard to breed out of a flock, it being possibly sex-linked makes it easier. Basically only keep female offspring from your female Penedesencas. But I do not think that that's what you want, so how much would you mind the Penedesencas Z chromosome getting into your flock and possibly causing defects down the line?

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours. Chilly and grey.
A while ago a rat chewed through one of the vent holes in the coop. I blocked it off with some mesh and if the rat was getting into the coop after the food, it was doing it after the auto door opened in the morning. Annoying but not a major issue. This afternoon I discovered a hole on the other side which I patched this afternoon.

So, regarding claims that recycled plastic coops are rat proof... If the is a hole that allows the rat to get bottom and top teeth around the material apparently they'll chew it.
A further irritation is it looks as if the rat wore itself out eating the chicken feed I pay for and decided to make a bit of nest in one of the nest boxes.
I had to strip out both and clean up.

Having trouble getting sardines in water or olive oil currently so they got some cooked turkey for treat food today. Gone off to roost with very full crops.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Two hours. Chilly and grey.
A while ago a rat chewed through one of the vent holes in the coop. I blocked it off with some mesh and if the rat was getting into the coop after the food, it was doing it after the auto door opened in the morning. Annoying but not a major issue. This afternoon I discovered a hole on the other side which I patched this afternoon.

So, regarding claims that recycled plastic coops are rat proof... If the is a hole that allows the rat to get bottom and top teeth around the material apparently they'll chew it.
A further irritation is it looks as if the rat wore itself out eating the chicken feed I pay for and decided to make a bit of nest in one of the nest boxes.
I had to strip out both and clean up.
View attachment 4232720View attachment 4232724

Oh, that must be maddening.

I’m still amazed that we don’t have rats, or mice either as far as I can tell. It’s certainly not because of my amazing animal husbandry skills.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I only ever (occasionally) wash woollen base layers. Anything else - ganseys and the like - gets chucked in the freezer overnight, or draped out over a few washing lines on a cold & dry winter night, no more than a few times a year.

Recalling the recent language chat, there’s a legendary Doric exchange between a shopkeeper and customer:
Customer (enquiring of the material): Oo? (Wool?)
Shopkeeper: Ay oo (Yes, it's made of wool)
Customer: A' oo? (All wool?)
Shopkeeper: Ay, a' oo (Yes, all wool)
Customer: A' ae oo? (All the same wool)
Shopkeeper: Ay a' ae oo (Yes all the same wool)

I've been collecting hair from the Highlands to make into little needlefelted cows. They'll be coo oo coos.

Well, now I know where people in the US South, especially in Southern Appalachia which was largely colonized by Scots Highlanders and others from the Highland Clearances., got our casual disregard for ending consonants!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Oh, ganseys? Here all jumpers are ganseys.

For fellow confused US’ers, jumpers are pullover sweaters. Not a sleeveless dress worn over a shirt or blouse, not a despondent individual departing from a high office window or bridge.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

53 minutes after sunset and I currently have four pretty much fully grown pullets asleep in one nest box and a teenager making forlorn goose noises from on top of my head.

How's everyone else's evening going?

Skipped Symphony Chorus rehearsal b/c I’m exhausted getting my mother transferred to a nursing home. We have about an hour fifteen before dusk, so I’m just enjoying the chickens and a glass or three of Pinot Grigio.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I’m exhausted getting my mother transferred to a nursing home.

Ugh. Been there. Don’t envy you.