Surviving Minnesota!

[Coffee 1st]

Things have quieted down now a bit. Now that I am settled in for the night of course.... Vikings whipping on the packers and BYC

yea im forced to watch it now that i have a BF... maybe i should trade him in already,,,LOL

 

[duluthralphie]

Ralphie i like the looks of these 2... which 1 do you think is the nicest 1...the bottom would be my 1st choice...

That is the same bird with a flash and without and a tad of lightening of the picture so his colors show. He has the blue egg gene, He is very young.

 

[Cluckies]

Whew finally caught up! you guys have been chattering away!

We have had a busy day today and ive only had a moment to pop in here and there. We deep cleaned the house which is nice. We decide that we are tired of it being so messy all the time so we have resolved to keep our house clean enough that we would be willing to have a guest come to our house on short notice and not be embarrassed at all times. We invited an old friend over to test our job and we are happy with the results thus far. He is an older farmer from church who was a big mentor to both my wife and I in our youth years. I really enjoy chatting with old farmers as they love telling me about the past and how things used to be. He loves keeping up with us and what we are doing on the farm and is happy to see younger people interested in getting back to simple life and such. He has all kinds of contacts in the local community, farming and otherwise and has been a great help in getting us info about all kinds of stuff.

I've got wheat bread kneading in the mixer and need to go pull it out. when I get it set to rise i will come back and share some other fun stuff with you guys

That is so cool! Sounds like you found a fountain of knowledge!

I have confirmed by looking at pictures that my RIR has begun a molt. I thought molting did not begin until they were over a year but obviously I thought wrong. So now I am worried about her molting at this time of year. How in the world will she survive the cold weather coming? Do I bring her into the basement and confine her. I would have to bring in both RIR because, as someone on here told me - birds of a feather flock together. Concerns

I would not bring her in unless she losses alot of feathers, sometimes they have a heavy molt, sometimes a light molt. If you bring her in you won't be able to put her out until it warms up as they get acclimated to the inside temperature. Hopefully she'll squish between the other hens for warmth. Do you have heat in the coop at all? I had one molt last year when she was 9 months old, she did fine, but I did have heat in the henhouse she went into at night.

So today was the first day of feeding out my oat sprouts and it was a smashing hit!





I split the mat in 2 and put them in hog pans for the girls. I tried to break them up some to help make sure everyone got some. They went bonkers for them and when i went out for lock up there was not a single oat left!

They are lovely and are really digging in!

well Ralphie you can tell Judy I did it again she practically laid it in my hand.. i held this one while it was still wet.. so i went to coop and i was sitting in the run ,she jumped in my lap, so i was petting her and she started screaming at me again, so i picked her up and took her inside to nest box and she jumped out, then started snuggling down on floor and making a nest so i picked her up and put her back in box and messed up her nest, she jumped out again and did the same thing,,so i again picked her up and put her in nest box. I put some plywood over the spot she wanted and OHHH MYYY she was mad.. so i sat down on the plywood and she jumped in my lap and laid an egg on my leg as i was petting her,, it came out so fast i had to grab it with my hand or it would have rolled down my leg and fell on the floor..LOL it was super cool... the egg was still wet and very warm,, i actually watched the egg dry... so i placed the egg in the box and set her in there she looked at it and jump out,, I told her Thank you gave her another pet and left with the egg.. I LOVE HER,, and i finally gave her a name today It is Strawberry,,,,

Hahaha! that is so cute and funny, she looks so much like my Fi!

Quote: The good with the bad, lol

 

[duluthralphie]

Coffee, Judy wanted me to share this.

She found a long lost movie of you as a baby, before you became the chicken whisperer..

 

[KlopKlop]

Here is to a good day today! I don't know what all of you guys do for a paycheck but at my job the first week of the new year can be nuts! We have to close out and tabulate all last years financials. It can go smooth but usually there is something that needs at least a little help. It can also really hit the fan. Hoping for the best!!

 

[duluthralphie]

Good Luck on a good week Kloppers.


Was the trap empty again?

I really want to process turkeys this week. I need to get rid of some Toms. Judy and I looked at them yesterday, they are just not filled out enough. We have never eaten a heritage turkey. So maybe we are expecting more breast than we will ever get.

JJ is a smaller turkey but seems to have a breast. Sidekick is a larger bird and even at 20 months seems to have a breast but it is not huge. I suppose I will just have to clean one to see what they are like. It is not going to be good for Penguin, he is largest. Even if he is not the oldest. ( I am not counting Porter in this as he is actually Coffee's and he is larger).


I am leaving for the north country in about 15 minutes. I am as excited as Coffee with her new egg! I am getting 2 Partridge Chanticler hens from EJB! Ed is going to be making chicks with pure blood lines instead of the mutts he had last year.

I am seriously thinking of getting rid of all the single comb birds the frost bite just stinks!

 

[KlopKlop]

Good Luck on a good week Kloppers.


Was the trap empty again?

I really want to process turkeys this week. I need to get rid of some Toms. Judy and I looked at them yesterday, they are just not filled out enough. We have never eaten a heritage turkey. So maybe we are expecting more breast than we will ever get.

JJ is a smaller turkey but seems to have a breast. Sidekick is a larger bird and even at 20 months seems to have a breast but it is not huge. I suppose I will just have to clean one to see what they are like. It is not going to be good for Penguin, he is largest.  Even if he is not the oldest.  ( I am not counting Porter in this as he is actually Coffee's and he is larger).


I am leaving for the north country in about 15 minutes. I am as excited as Coffee with her new egg! I am getting 2 Partridge Chanticler hens from EJB!  Ed is going to be making chicks with pure blood lines instead of the mutts he had last year.

I am seriously thinking of getting rid of all the single comb birds the frost bite just stinks!

A trip north AND new birds?!? How lucky. Once you get your Chanticler line going, I will knocking. I really want some too!

Empty trap today too. Must have been a wandering vermin. Or too smart! I forgot to put my camera out. I will keep setting the trap though.

 

[Coffee 1st]

Coffee, Judy wanted me to share this. She found a long lost movie of you as a baby, before you became the chicken whisperer..

Ohh I want one.. The chicken NOT the baby...

 

[Coffee 1st]

Finger

Here is to a good day today! I don't know what all of you guys do for a paycheck but at my job the first week of the new year can be nuts! We have to close out and tabulate all last years financials. It can go smooth but usually there is something that needs at least a little help. It can also really hit the fan. Hoping for the best!!

. Fingers xx'ed for u...

 

[Coffee 1st]

Ralphie u better leave my Porter Alone.. Put a big Red bow on him so he doesn't accidentally gets in the mix.. Good luck on the new birds...