Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[cheeka]

you can search the thread for "Roger"... and find that she is mentioned on several hundred posts... dozens upon dozens of pages! I have fun re-reading this thread, finding the old poems and Roger Rants...

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

JC, I don't eat salt except for the sodium that's already in food... but since I don't eat preprocessed food (except for tater tots once in a while) I tend to run on the low side of the blood pressure spectrum. even when I was a kid, I wouldn't eat food if my mom salted it during cooking. she would get so mad, but my pediatrician told her to stop because table salt wasn't the kind of salt anyone needs... in fact, I'm the only one in my family who is not taking any medication for high blood pressure or high cholesterol...

it's -15 right now. I am feeling so sorry for those roosters with tall combs.

My last dr visit, she took me off the BP meds, and said "you beat it!" It felt really good hearing that!
But I feel its from all the walking and driving everywhere I do. I am with you, I hate processed food.
We are down to 7, wind chill is -14.. supposed to keep dropping. White out from all the blowing snow, UGH!
I have been feeding high protein feed just to be sure everyone handles it well. Bruce BA and my LO boys all got greased up tonight too.
Harry has a spot I was concerned about, and was not pleased when he got his comb covered too.

Quote:
With the temps so low (the negative ten crap without the Windchill factor) Should I make the chickens stay inside? I keep the door open because they do come out first thing, but I need to know they can eat snow for water. I give up on getting them to stop dumping water. I give them maybe half a gallon a few times a day, but even that gets spilled most of the time.
The water, I had to bungee it to a cinder block, but that did the trick!
This zero temp crap is the only time I will ever water inside the coop.
What direction is the exit door pointing? If its south, or you have a windbreak, let them choose.
We hit below zero ours wont come out so i do close it up, especially at night.

Oh, JC. I know I want one BBW for this year. As for the Heritage I am getting (next year and breeding for the future) there is talk of the Sweetgrass, but that is probably next year. That alone is confusing. All I know is that I said I was flexible, and just hope to get a few Heritage turkeys before March. Getting birds with someone else is a bit confusing to me.

BBW is an easy starter. Take your time with it, the first one will tell you if you want more.
I do like heritage a lot better for temperament, but they take a lot longer to grow out.
If you go in with someone, its cheaper. But try the first time with just one or 2. Sweetgrass are beautiful!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

2 pekin eggs, 1 new pullet egg! and 2 quail today. I have egg pics too!! will post in a few.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hay is cheaper this year. Bales are $3 and the big rolls $35. But that's local!
I feel their pain, thats a huge expense with fuel prices too.
My baby goes thru a bale in a day or 2 and he is just a couple hundred pounds.. (with my 2 doe's help)
ugh I can imagine full grown cow costs.

I really hope you are blessed with rain soon. Spring is coming, maybe that will be some relief!

MC did you ever decide on turkeys? I really love my Bourbon Reds

Oh man... $3?!!! We would be in heaven to get hay that cheap. Last bale of Timothy grass hay cost us $22. Good alfalfa is a bit more and oat hay goes for just under $10. Of course that's individual bales from the feed store. Buying by the truckload is cheaper. Some of the 4H families were talking about splitting a load for their project cows.

You never see the huge round bales out here. My hubs just asked how they move them!

We suffer terribly from sprawl. Most of the good valley floor around here either has vineyards or subdivisions on it, and all of the old timers who used to grow hay are gone. (Not that they could have raised a crop this year with the drought.) I remember going with my dad and strategically loading up the back of the pickup with alfalfa for the horses (we could fit 26 or so). That field is about 20 minutes from here and has a bunch of houses on it now. I really miss the old days. Everything seemed so much simpler, but then again I was just a kid without the responsibility.

Thanks for the rainy wishes. We have high hopes for Feb!

Glad to hear your parents are home and hopefully their immediate troubles have been resolved. Hope you make use of your new camera and show us all your babies!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

@Wishing4Wings
I am told that Rumples is from the Ameraucauna(sp?) pen, but does not meet breed standard, therefore is EE. She is my favorite. Don't tell the others.

I love that she is rumpless and has now decided to bless us with these beautiful blue eggs. :-D

Your secret's safe with me! She deseves to be a favorite with such a pretty egg. Love your avatar pic. Looks like she's going somewhere with a purpose.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

After reading about all your frigid temps and frozen water bowls, I had to go get another blankie!

Don't envy that kind of weather... makes it hard to wear flip-flops to do the chicken chores. I would gladly send you all some of our warmth if you could blow some precipitation out our way. Stay warm my friends!


Oh, only 2 eggs today. Spot (BR) and Monkey (EE) decided it would be a good time to drop all their feathers. Spot looks half her normal size, poor bedraggled girl. Most of the others have obviously decided they don't need to lay either. Not a single blue or green egg since Christmas, and I have 3 EEs.

Getting only one egg a day from 5 Serama pullets.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Quote:
Confession time. Roger has been secretly laying eggs and sending them out to California. She said something about spreading the joy.

So I hatched a bunch of them.

The results are not all that surprising.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Look OK! Baby Rogers...

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Look OK! Baby Rogers...

No doubt those are Roger's offspring. Looks just like her when I show up with scratch.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Quote: Round bales are moved with a tractor and a "Round Bale Hay Spear".(search those words for picture) The hay spear mounts to the back of a tractor and is just that...a spear. Back the tractor up to the round bale until the spear goes completely thru the round bale. Then use the hydraulic of the tractor to pick it up till it is off the ground and drive to the destination. Usually another pasture where the animals to be fed are kept. Hardly ever see farmers around here use anything but round bales for cattle. They also make a special trailer for transporting round bales longer distances