Surviving Minnesota!

[holm25]

Had another Pullet lay her first egg today! A BuckeyeOE cross. She is the only chick I hatched from the OE Pullet before she was eaten by a raccoon. And it was a big egg for a first timer!

And my whole egg haul. A BO, Silkie and two EE eggs. One from the first timer and the other from my blue bearded Pullet.

 

[holm25]

Ralphie is of English heritage I suspect. That could be the only logical explanation for going in the coop in a suit. I am 1/8 English and 1/8 Irish and would never think it acceptable to collect eggs in a suit.
I vaguely recall some of the ladies of this group making a comment about checking for eggs in their Birthday Suit? Have you ever done that Ralphie?

Holms, I am not a big fan of the exotic breeds. In this day and age of genetic indicators being identified I believe a studious cattleman can find growth and calving ease in many breeds. I am also not a big fan of Black Angus. They have problems with temperament in many cases. If I felt a need to use exotics it would be either Charolais or Limousin cows bred to Red Angus or Shorthorn bulls.

I agree. I am not a fan of Black Angus either. I prefer Fleckvieh which are REAL Simmentals. Here in the states it is hard to find a good Red Limo and even harder to find a good Black one! People have destroyed many breeds by crossing angus in for the black hide trend. They even have a Black Charolais now. But word is the winds are changing and red is coming back which would really help in feed lots. Our red cows don’t have flu issues in the summer but the black cattle are coated with the darn things!

My biggest issues with the Shorties is they have such bad udder attachments. I have seen very few Shorthorns with good udders. Other than that they are great cattle.

I find the red angus are a lot deeper and IMHO better than black angus. I’m not a sucker for Red cattle though...

This is our bull Ole tonight when I went out to see them tonight. He (IMHO) is put together really nice. He can get out and MOVE! He’s got good feed and we have never had an open cow. We had 19 calves in 21 days last year which is really good for bull bred cows. He looks a little sickle hocked in this picture but he isn’t. He’s a big nutted, big gutted and big butted and has some really nice calves. I will have to go out and get some pictures of our retainment heifers tomorrow... They are really looking good.

 

[BantyChooks]

Preferably. gas and unlit.......View attachment 1265259

Age before beauty; you try it out first

 

[Bogtown Chick]

About 4 hens had blood spots on their wings. I checked Junior and I saw one bloody toe. I brought him up. He sloughed a toenail. He is going to loose a middle toe and ‘thumb ‘ on one foot and there are 4 other stubbed toenails with possible 1st knuckle breaks! He is so hard on these feet. I remember him warming his feet on the coop floor and not being on the roost a couple nights. I’d put him up. That must have been when he did it. Ugh. Chicken problems. He’s such a nice boy though. He layed in my lap for quite some time. Content. I got his spurs trimmed down to save hen backs.

50.

Degrees.

Today in Gods country. I couldn’t get over it. I saw the car temp flicker to 51 but then back to 50. I’ll take 50.

 

[Tfred1399]

Got the coop cleaned out with the thawed poop today. Forgot to get my nice coarse shavings from TS when I was in Little Falls last week. Used some finer stiff from Fleet Farm. Oh well.
Hoping to get any minor stressors out of the way and get some production kicked up.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Did any of you watch fixer upper yesterday? They did a coop, garden and potting shed on their farm and a chicken tunnel around the garden. Looked amazing. The coop was darling.

 

[BantyChooks]

I am moving to Minnesota! Time to catch a little sunshine in my old age.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

OH! I never shared pictures of combs last night! I am pretty darn happy with how these single combs held up considering I quit the Vaseline and coconut oil in early December if not the end of November. I just tried to keep the moisture down. I don’t do heated waterers and certainly don’t heat the coop and most night during the first cold snap it was 0 degrees or colder in there. All in all I only lost four birds over the winter!

View attachment 1264747 View attachment 1264748
Don’t you love the deep face on this Cochin male?

That birds stink eye just sent a shiver up my spine
Why you got such psycho looking birds Holm? Is them hillbilly birds? Do they all look at you like they want you dead like that?
Don't fall down in your coop! Especially if you happen to be in your birthday suit

 

[Cebarmlds]

Good morning

 

[ejb3810]

erlibird is back to being early.

Holms, your writings related to cattle are an interesting read and the bull looks good. I at one time owned and raised registered Black Angus and thus have first hand experience with them. I would not choose them again.