Surviving Minnesota!

[Momof3plustwins]

I think one of my "pullets" is a cockerel. So Reba is probably Rueben. I am assuming he was the lesser cockerel and developed slower because he also has a limp so by no means dominate. Then when I butchered the roosters last Saturday he finally felt he had a chance to grow and grow he did. New saddle and hackle feathers comb turned bright red also. I have not heard a crow yet but I am pretty sure she turned to a he.

Had a shootout this afternoon with the church youth group. No one got shot so that is good. Haha

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Ok @Cluckies you need to order one too. Ralphie and Jerry feel strongly that teal is the way to go.

 

[KlopKlop]

Love the teal, It is now also on my wish list!

So sorry sleepy

I'm not sure what happened, I do know that their crop should be empty in the morning. I check mine every night and morning. Should be full at night and empty in the morning. If they are not empty in the morning I massage them a little to get things moving. I wonder if she had an impacted crop, may have had it a while if you don't check daily.

Woot woot! Hahaha!

DH and I did ours out the the coop from the box in the garage (that my DH also did) from the box in the basement. I agree, save your money whenever possible when you can do it yourself. If you don't want to do the wiring part, ask him how much off if you dig the trench.

If i do end up going with a dedicated line i will probably rent a trencher and do it myself but i may find an electrician to do the hookup on the power pole. working with line power from the meter is scary!!

Ok @Cluckies you need to order one too. Ralphie and Jerry feel strongly that teal is the way to go.

I finally hit that link now that im on my laptop (links dont seem to work from my iphone app) and the teal looks nice! very fashionable for a chicken lady!

 

[duluthralphie]

the teal looks nice!

 

[SleepyOwl]

So sorry sleepy

I'm not sure what happened, I do know that their crop should be empty in the morning. I check mine every night and morning. Should be full at night and empty in the morning. If they are not empty in the morning I massage them a little to get things moving. I wonder if she had an impacted crop, may have had it a while if you don't check daily.

Thank you. That could have been the problem. I don't check every day. I do random night checks, but never check in the morning. I rarely do early morning chores. I don't get out there until 9-10am so they have plenty of time to eat before I get out there anyway. I highly doubt she had eaten though, so that could have been the problem. I would say her crop was about half full. Maybe by feeling it, it did something? Really though, she went so quickly, even if she couldn't breathe I would think it would take longer. ??? I am more perplexed than I am sad. Yes, it is always sad to lose a chicken, but it wasn't a named chicken. Those are always harder. I'm just really confused. Other than a couple chicks, I haven't lost a chicken since last winter. I have around 50 chickens, and I do expect some losses, but this was just so weird.

 

[KlopKlop]

 

[Cluckies]

Photos from Monday morning when I took off of work, Sun just peeked out for a few minutes, took these photos in less than 10 minutes, then sun was gone...

I have geese! JK Ralphie! The neighbor has honkers. lol


We are all free ranging!


Not my farm, across the street from me, wish it was my buildings though!


My beautiful row of amure maples, I planted them 14 years ago.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Coop question: So I have this small coop that the birds go into for the nesting boxes. I plan to rip it apart, vac it, spray it with a solution of Sevin and then paint it after it dries. Okay that is what I plan to do. Any other comments about that?

The covered run has had plastic attached to it. It has a bunch of studs with hardware wire attached to the studs. It is my intention to vac those studs (except for the base because that would involve tons of dust being sucked into the shop vac and what would that achieve?) And then spray the upright and roof with that Sevin Spray. The base I am thinking I will dust with the powder and then use a scrub brush and scrub the dust into the crevices. After doing that I will (have already raked out the covered coop) apply the dust to the dirt in the coop, making sure it gets into the crevices and then rake the floor again.

Apply Neem oil to all the roosts.

Is this good enough?

Got some mites, Ivie? I hope you get rid of those buggers. I religiously use DE everywhere, but who really knows if that helps. I'm replacing my roosts and poop boards before winter - I'm going to paint and then try Neem Oil on them as a precautionary step. I hear it does the trick. Fingers crossed for you.

Morning all. Recovering from a full afternoon of work yesterday and then overindulging in captain Morgan while suffering the presidential debate. Temps weren't too bad down here today. Looks to be a nice fall wrrkend

I watched the debate for about 5 minutes. I'll never get that 5 minutes of my life back.

Ahhhh. I put on DH's carhartt this morning. It's like your favorite quilt being wrapped around you the. sleeves are soft and frayed. It's flexible and worn perfectly. I will buy a new stiff one I guess. I should get the bibs too. Those are nice on the -20 or so days. Thanks all for input. Carhartt it is. I see a style I like.

Dark Teal or Classic Carhartt brown? Ladies? ( Ed and Jerry are probably losing their minds right now....LOL.)


http://dungarees.net/product_Carhartt_101405_Newhope_Sandstone_Jacket_Fleece_Lined-7584-1.html My gut is telling me to go with the classic Carhart color...but I love that...

I saw you got the teal, but the brown would definitely blend the chicken crap in better! I just wear my husband's Carhartt, he complains about it, and then I repeat the jacket stealing cycle the very next day. It's his fault he makes it so accessible.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I am thinking my poor birds are going to have a chilly trip to Hutch tomorrow...



Minnie, After your comment about the PC being darker than Roger Jr, I am thinking I picked the wrong 2 PC cockerels. I picked the ones with the best bay color in the hackles and front and good bay triangles on the wings. The darker ones took a trip in the gunny sack to St Paul. I doubt they are in any condition to be shown now.


See I can over worry everything.


I might try to get rid of the extra FuFu cockerels, but I think it could just be giving them a ride to Hutch and back. If anyone wants some Cuckoo Maran, Silver Laced Polish, Spritzes, Yokohamas or CLB white sports feel free to PM me. I know some of you (EJB & Jerry) hate to mention in the open your desire to have a real Fufu to hug, And you all know me I would never tell anyone you have a therapy Fufu to hug. Also know Fufu roosters are excellent bedpost chickens.


I Was thinking after a couple nice days and above freezing temps I might try for a mushroom walk today. I guess this little artic blast put an end to that.

It is easy to over analyze the birds. I have to be careful to not expect to find perfect birds in my flock or I will cull them all. Color is sometimes subjective too, and it is not the most important aspect of a bird. Remember too, you are showing against what is there, not really what is perfect. I suspect you will learn a lot this weekend. You will definitely see a lot too. I will have to take you over to soak in the loveliness that is waterfowl in the 'other' barn too.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

It is easy to over analyze the birds. I have to be careful to not expect to find perfect birds in my flock or I will cull them all. Color is sometimes subjective too, and it is not the most important aspect of a bird. Remember too, you are showing against what is there, not really what is perfect. I suspect you will learn a lot this weekend. You will definitely see a lot too. I will have to take you over to soak in the loveliness that is waterfowl in the 'other' barn too.

Careful.....perhaps Ralphie will be converted to the Waterfowl trade. A few quacks and he'll be hooked. Good luck in Hutch tomorrow =)