Surviving Minnesota!

[duluthralphie]

Put some eggs into hatching tray .Quite a few this week . Did some more pear grafting on wild flowering pear in the woods . We have wild Hawthorn here that I found could be grafted to pear . I need to try that . Quick fruiting when you have a large tree to work over to better stuff . Wildlife food . I like venison . You can plant for them but no bait . So I work within the law . No rain here but maybe tomorrow . Going to be nice today . I need to get started . I will check in during breaks .

I have about 60 turkey eggs hatching this week, I am going to use the second 1202 as a hatcher for the first time. I can get all the eggs under incubation into the one I got from EJB and hatch in the other. I have a plan to try and get the humidity up to 75%. Fingers crossed.

I like corn fed deer. I am not crazy about the ones at the cabin that live on cedar and pine. The ones around here do not taste as good as they use too either, but there are no farms left here, so they eat things other than corn.


I need to go buy some fruit trees soon. I need a new apple tree too, I noticed the other day a huge trunk was cut off the tree. I asked my mother about it as she has been telling me how poor that tree looks. The tree is the other side of her house so I do not go their often.


The conversation went like this:

Me: Mom, What happened to the trunk of that apple tree?
Mom: What apple tree?

Me: the one with a whole half the trunk missing.
Mom: Oh I cut that off.

Me: Mom you have to stop cutting and trimming that tree, you're going to kill it.
Mom: I didn't do that now.

Me: What? I saw you hauling away a bunch of branches in your trailer. ( she has a little trailer she pulls behind her lawn tractor).
Mom: Oh those, I didn't just cut them.

Me: huh?
Mom: I cut that off when you flew me home for Christmas.

Me: How could you tell it was dead and not just dormant at Christmas time?
Mom: Oh, I could tell it looked dead and there were no leaves or anything.

Me; Mom, Please stop trimming trees, let me do that from now on...
Mom: I need to have something to do, I get bored otherwise...




As you can see, I lost again.. I need new trees, again.


Oh and Judy just told me a conversation she had yesterday with her over her eyes... I will get judy to tell me it again so I get it right... Just know she has decided her glasses do not help her when she is driving so she is going to stop driving with glasses on...


BTW she has tri-focals so I am guessing she needs glasses....

 

[jerryse]

I grafted this last year . Tallest one about 6 foot of growth . Boards support the new growth .

Graft union . I cut the top off the tree 2 years ago . Then grafted on some sprouts .

 

[Violetsfeathers]

I have a thread called violetsfeathers flock if ya'll want ta join.

 

[lvie]

Good Morning..

Lightning, thunder and rain seem to be on tap for most of the day.

I have chicks to move and to get ready for this weeks hatch. I think I made the right decision to stop hatching Black Australorps. I have way more than anyone person should have. I still need more Minnesota Australorps so I can pick the right ones for next years breeding.

The PC chicks are extremely curious and friendly even more than the Royal kids are (Sussex). Last night I would out my finger on the cage and they would run over to stare at it and peck it, as I slid it along the cage they followed it. They are so cute when they run.


Chibisan. I have my layer coop on cement. I like it for ease of cleaning. I just drive the bobcat in and scrape the cement. What does not go into the bucket just piles up in front of it and I push it in. I have another coop without cement. I like the cement better. I am not sure about the pebbly surface you described it could catch and hold stuff. Have you considered putting an 1-2 over lay on it and smoothing it?

Violet, it is terrible how mean they can be to each other. I hope the chick is ok. It does not surprise me your Cochin is Broody, from what those that own them say, they go broody at the drop of a hat.

Both my PC hens are laying eggs again, I am hoping after they got their Brazilian wax they are going to have more fertile eggs than before. Also Ed's manscaping should help. I am thinking of making Bert Jr a bachelor, Or moving him to the layer pen. I would let Bertha join Ed's harem. I wonder what Toad, Partridge Chanticler crosses would look like and how fast they would grow.

The Brits have went on strike now, they are not laying, They beg to get out of the run, and I enjoy having them out as I know the Gals stay faithful to King George. Well, that and Sven is afraid to get too close to the girls.

I find it amazing how Sven and King George have a "treaty" of sorts. Sven has his area he never leaves. King George has his area he does not allow Sven into, then they have a third area they both go but neither does any breeding there as they are too busy skirmishing and watching each other. (the British gals never go to that area. They seem to like the rhubarb patch better than the front yard.

I think I have a broody turkey hen, She has 8 eggs. I have marked them and keep removing the extra eggs. The others seem to lay right next to or on top of her. the eggs somehow get under her. She is a tad skittish yet, so when I come towards her she gets off the nest and makes that weird clucking sound but does not stop me from looking at her eggs. She is a yearling so the chances of a hatch are slim to none. That and she decided to brood in the corner on the floor of the coop. As soon as I leave the coop she is back on her eggs.

I have a dozen Creamettes going to Grand Rapids this afternoon. That will help my over crowding some. The rest are headed to the sheds.

My Wild bird feeders are empty, It is raining pretty hard, Ivie could you run on over her and fill them? I hate to get wet and melt.

Good Morning..

Lightning, thunder and rain seem to be on tap for most of the day.

I have chicks to move and to get ready for this weeks hatch. I think I made the right decision to stop hatching Black Australorps. I have way more than anyone person should have. I still need more Minnesota Australorps so I can pick the right ones for next years breeding.

The PC chicks are extremely curious and friendly even more than the Royal kids are (Sussex). Last night I would out my finger on the cage and they would run over to stare at it and peck it, as I slid it along the cage they followed it. They are so cute when they run.


Chibisan. I have my layer coop on cement. I like it for ease of cleaning. I just drive the bobcat in and scrape the cement. What does not go into the bucket just piles up in front of it and I push it in. I have another coop without cement. I like the cement better. I am not sure about the pebbly surface you described it could catch and hold stuff. Have you considered putting an 1-2 over lay on it and smoothing it?

Violet, it is terrible how mean they can be to each other. I hope the chick is ok. It does not surprise me your Cochin is Broody, from what those that own them say, they go broody at the drop of a hat.

Both my PC hens are laying eggs again, I am hoping after they got their Brazilian wax they are going to have more fertile eggs than before. Also Ed's manscaping should help. I am thinking of making Bert Jr a bachelor, Or moving him to the layer pen. I would let Bertha join Ed's harem. I wonder what Toad, Partridge Chanticler crosses would look like and how fast they would grow.

The Brits have went on strike now, they are not laying, They beg to get out of the run, and I enjoy having them out as I know the Gals stay faithful to King George. Well, that and Sven is afraid to get too close to the girls.

I find it amazing how Sven and King George have a "treaty" of sorts. Sven has his area he never leaves. King George has his area he does not allow Sven into, then they have a third area they both go but neither does any breeding there as they are too busy skirmishing and watching each other. (the British gals never go to that area. They seem to like the rhubarb patch better than the front yard.

I think I have a broody turkey hen, She has 8 eggs. I have marked them and keep removing the extra eggs. The others seem to lay right next to or on top of her. the eggs somehow get under her. She is a tad skittish yet, so when I come towards her she gets off the nest and makes that weird clucking sound but does not stop me from looking at her eggs. She is a yearling so the chances of a hatch are slim to none. That and she decided to brood in the corner on the floor of the coop. As soon as I leave the coop she is back on her eggs.

I have a dozen Creamettes going to Grand Rapids this afternoon. That will help my over crowding some. The rest are headed to the sheds.

My Wild bird feeders are empty, It is raining pretty hard, Ivie could you run on over her and fill them? I hate to get wet and melt.

You are tooooo funny Ralphie!

 

[lvie]

Well, its not raining at this time. But when it does it is really cool with thunder and lightning. I like it. The chickens are out and about in it. I am sure they hide somewhere. I took a couple of bags out and one of my little dogs shadows me everywhere. Tom Hanks did not like that and went after the dog. Poor little guy. I carried him around with me for a while.

Did I mention I was down in Chaska yesterday morning by 8:00 for my six year old granddaughters soccer game. I hung out with the grandkids and my son most of the day as the nine year old had a 12:45 soccer game. Then, with all the highway closings (Hwy 100 is closed; 494 from 94 to 394 both ways is closed) and all the backups, a one hour drive turned into a two-hour drive and that is only because I got off the main routes north and took the side county roads. Ugh! I wanted to get home after being gone since 6:30 a.m.! Plus my son gave me a new bike he had bought for the 13-year old that was too big for him. Its is perfect for me. I rode around the lake in Big Lake. Delightful. Needs a more comfortable saddle. Plus it is a single speed and has the sealed bearings and hub. I like it and plan to doctor it up alittle and adopt it as my bike. I can ride it out to see you Ralphie.

I leave for Arizona next Saturday. I fly down and then spend a week driving back with a friend that lives down in Tuscon during the winter. We laugh alot in the vehicle. Two old ladies in a road trip having fun.

Besides the normal stuff I am entering a really busy time til mid June. At this time I know of no weddings, graduations happening after that. There will be though.

Going to get back to 'it.' I will check back later.

 

[Cluckies]

Well, haven't been on in awhile and have about 537, 967 posts to go through

But while i'm trying to get through them, Sorry to hear about your girl Erlibird, it is hard. if any others have lost any, I haven't gotten to it yet.

So, i'm hoping my girl, Morticia, my SLW has turned the corner... She has been feeling poorly for about 8 weeks or so. She lost tons of weight, wasn't eating hardly anything but would eat, no full crop at night, empty or almost empty, It felt somewhat balloony at night so I treated her for sour crop, but really didn't feel that was the issue (no liquid would come out when I put her upside down for a couple of seconds) but, she couldn't breath it seemed when I held her. Her comb was dark maroon to purple and she wasn't laying, laying around alot. a couple of weeks ago I noticed her belly, in between her legs seemed really dark red, almost purple. I thought maybe she had an infection. I've been feeding her a boat load of live meal worms everyday, not getting better, not getting worse. Gave her a bath with some epsome salts (this has seemed to help other girls who weren't feeling well). But I was at a loss. So a week ago (last Saturday) I was checking them over and noticed 2 other girls seemed to have their leg scales standing off a bit, thought I might have an issue with scaly leg mites. They seemed to be acting fine though. I can't see anything, just the scales seem wider. Sooo.... I dipped each of their legs (the whole flock of 5) into babyoil/neem oil mixture about 5% neem, about 10 seconds each leg. Then every night I've been rubbing coconut oil on their legs. So Morticia seems to be getting better I think. a couple of nights ago, her crop was half full, last night it was full. Her comb has been getting brighter and brighter. She started laying about a week and a half ago as well. I don't want to get my hopes up, but she seems to be recovering?!? I'm so excited! I don't know if it is related or not, but i'm happy just the same. I made an appointment at the vet for her yesterday, but since she seems to be getting better so I cancelled it. So here is hoping for the best!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I guess the other thing to consider is drainage, obviously rain wouldn't drain out very easily if it got on there. However it'd definitely be secure against digging.
Just thinking. Perhaps another spot would be better. Obviously it'd be easier to not get the neighbor's okay too This is why it'd be easier to live in the country I suppose!

Another consideration for locating your coop would be utilizing shade. Summer sun can heat up a coop like a cooker. So a nice shade tree to place it under would be primo.

Ralphie I can be contradictory. Quite unconsciously. Ask DH. Sorry about that.

DH blew out his knee Friday. Lots of pain. I'm sure it requires surgery. Dr visits coming up this week. We have crappy health insurance too. $3,000 deductible for individual and $6,000 for family. 3 grand... Jerryse can you graft me a money tree onto a popple I have in the backyard.


Poop.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

My favorite chick just died in my hands. She was weak and gasping for air. I've never had a chick die before.

 

[Cluckies]

My favorite chick just died in my hands. She was weak and gasping for air. I've never had a chick die before.

Oh no

so sorry to hear that.

 

[Cluckies]

Quote: Sorry to hear about your DH knee. I must have the same insurance policy you have

hopefully it is nothing major.