Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[cheeka]

the mouse catching Foster has been named Fianna, which can be pronounced as Fee-Anna, or more properly as Fee-Ah-Knee-Ah. which means Warrior Huntress in Gaelic. suits her.

so I have Fiona (the White Rock), Fannie (Bakery) and Fianna... 7 more needs names still...

 

[mortie]

My 6 year old was most impressed with the mouse eating chicken. He didn't know that chickens ate mice lol.

 

[cheeka]

that's very cool mortie! I love it when someone learns something new! last Summer, when Mylee was here, we had a huge burst of frog activity, babies everywhere! I never noticed that before - crickets by the bajillions, yes, but never frogs... those chickens cleaned up the literal hundreds upon hundreds of tiny to medium frogs in about 3 days.

so I had taken one of the many very silly quizzes on Facebook... this one was about "what to give up for Lent?" a lot of my friends were told to give up coffee... so I was surprised when the result was "Nothing" give up nothing, but give more of yourself. so, I went to my elderly friend's yesterday, and I will pick her up on Sunday, take her to visit her Parrot, Bird, at the Wildlife Sanctuary, and bring her up here for the day, have a nice brunch, play with the dogs and if it's nice out, enjoy some free range with the flock. I will also donate 6 dozen or more eggs to the local food pantry. I'll have to come up with a few more ideas...I did stop and help release a draft horse from some barbed wire fencing that he broke through... and told the owner the fence was broken... I'll make an effort to do at least one helpful deed everyday for someone else.

Have a wonderful day everyone! we're going to enjoy some mild weather today, hopefully to hit the 40's! I'm not breaking out the t-shirts yet, we're going to see more snow starting on Monday with a big storm Wednesday... could see a good 6 inches of fresh snow.

 

[gilcamp4]

MC - I am going to guess that there will still be bulbs available for this sort of purpose. There will still be countries where they are made and we will still be able to get our hands on them. They will be more of a specialty item as opposed to available in every corner store, but I don't think we have to worry about not being able to get them in our lifetime. I have also read (not sure if it's true) that specialty bulbs like that are exempt. They are mostly going after the everyday bulb people are using in their home light fixtures. As for party bulbs, there are colored CF bulbs and at christmas time I bought a very cool color changing LED bulb (available always but that's when I bought it), so your party bulb needs will be fullfilled. In our house we use mostly LED bulbs in everything from desk lamps to my tank. Coral needs a huge amount of light to grow and my LEDs work great and cost almost nothing to run compared to what I used to have. Only problem with LED's is that they'll never really work for warming a brooder!

Cheeka - nice pics!

Everyone else, Hi! I hope you all had a nice warm day. We got up to 12 after the windchill was accounted for, nnnnnnot baaaad lol.

i got so many of them here, every time i went to store right after they said we would no longer be able to find them that the gov said they are not energy savers, i think i have a whole self of them in the hall closet. haha see my kids clean out my house when we die oh boy, moms light blubs and dad wih toilet paper, he gets down to 3 rolls and says he is out so i keep 20 pack at all times,
have a sick chick, put coat back on her and keeping her warm in dh workshop, she did not look good last night, we may have to make a move we don't want to, went to state farm got med for her but don't seem to be doing anything.

 

[Scrambles55]

First, I checked the flower garden. The Daffodils are peeking up out of the ground.
I went out to begin washing the brooder. It had doubled as a nest box in the garden last fall when I was letting the chickens help me out in there. You know? Aerate, fertilize and tear up the last of the vegetables. Anyway, I was washing the lid, and when I went to rinse it, I realized that the lid was broken. Big 'ol crack running from the center to almost the edge. The bottom isn't in great shape either.

All this time thinking about cleaning the brooder, and ten minutes in, the whole thing is called off. Oh well. I will find the chick feeders and waterers in the next few days. Make 100% sure that both heat lamps are working, and that the one bulb is still good. Being in the house, a normal (I said normal, not new fangled!) bulb will work.
What are we supposed to do when we run out of old style bulbs? Go to reptile lights? Will some company fill the void left for those of us that use the light bulbs for our heat lamps? And what about color bulbs? Like the red, blue. yellow and black (and I saw purple a time or two) bulbs for parties? And who can forget the bug light bulb? The yellowish bulb that looks like it has a film over it?

I want my light bulbs back!

I bought a few extra bulbs for the chickens.... I might go get a few more.

 

[mortie]

Woo hoo, feels like 18. Time to go to the ReStore to see if I can find some materials for my coop.

 

[mortie]

I found a double glazed window that was really nice and the right size for $2. I found a working window that is larger than what I wanted and might not be usable for $5. Bought them both and a louvered vent for some of the ventilation. I really like that one window...perfect size and shape. I wish it was a working one. Our summers are really hot and our winters are really REALLY REALLY cold.

 

[cheeka]

it did hit 40° this afternoon, but was dropping by the time I got home, and was feeling distinctly wintry during a very brief free range. windy, chilly, and very wet and dirty from puddles and mud. the girls still had a blast pecking around and kicking the mud at me. I outsmarted them by wearing my camo snow pants. I opted to keep it short and sweet so I could get to the indoor chores. I want the house all tidy for tomorrow as I've planned a really nice day for Ruth and invited a few folks she knows to join us. big brunch with omelets, french toast, sausage or pork chops (I haven't decided yet) and potatoes. I'm going to find a way to fit mushrooms in there, whether it's mushroom omelet or sauteed mushrooms for the meat and taters... and Bloody Mary's. should be fun.

I'm pretty sure they're done for the day, and I have 15 Eggs, but I'll go check at 5ish.

 

[Scrambles55]

Something or things attacked my chickens. Feathers everywhere.

Chickens were in hiding and would not come out.

Two hiding under the toy hauler, Penny was hidden under the pine trees and Rumples was hiding in the coop. I managed to get the girls into the pen. When they calm down, tonight, I will handle them and look for injuries. Rumples beard is missing and Si's neck and back feathers are gone. I do not have a rooster, but the wild turkeys are in high mating mode and there is a murder of crows a few trees away, and I saw a hawk fly over the house and land in a nearby tree, so.... who knows.

All I do know is that my girls are going to be in the pen and the game camera is going up in the back. Grrrrrr hurt my girls and pay the price!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Oh no!! I hope everyone's alright, Scrambles. Attack during the day with lots of feathers missing but no death or dismemberment sounds like a dog. Is it even possible? Fox might be around, but being pros, they tend not to miss. With a hawk, you would find some puncture marks, but usually what you find is a dead chicken. The crows are good at keeping the hawks away here, and I have never had the crows bother the chickens. Never have heard of wild turkeys (or domestic) causing trouble. A mystery for sure. Cool that you have a game cam. Did you know there's a separate thread just for game cams? Some cool pics there.

Let us know how they are after you check them out.