Surviving Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

Bogtown, that dog likes her eggs just like I do!  Oh, what a bummer about the physical exertion - are you thinking it's a hernia or just a busted suture?  Maybe it's something your vet can just tell  you how to handle at home.  And all this right before your trip - hope things work out.

Well I think some deep sutures ( holding the muscle abdominal wall) eviscerated. Were lucky the skin on the outside is still intact holding everything but the bulge is apparent and tender when we poke at it. She'll need it repaired so it does not become larger and or starts to constrict the intestine. I'm not real keen on giving my mom this extra duty but I'm afraid being gone for a week without doing something maybe asking for more trouble.

 

[lilbear412]

So I went into my coop today and found little 4-5wk old rabbit kits had gotten strong enough to jump above the barrier I have along the bottom of the colony pen I made for them in there. They stayed pretty close to mom and the chickens didn't mess with them (they will eat young kits when they're little like mice). But I enlisted the Boy in repairing a cage we already have with much smaller holes all around. The cage is pretty roomy, as rabbit cages go. They'll just have to stay in there until they're too big to escape or I get a separate rabbit colony built for them. Here are some pictures of the delinquent family. That one little kit just sat there in the sunbeam and watched me cleaning the coop out.



Also found a secret nest today...


I also spent the evening filling blown out egg shells with mustard, to be set out tonight as a booby trap. I still have an egg eater, and I'm getting a little miffed. I've added shell grit to the feed (in case the culprit didn't notice the hopper), been adding red pepper to the feed, even chaining the dogs and dumping a Costco sized can of tuna over the feed once a week. STILL EATING EGGS. I solved this problem a couple summers ago, but this hen or hens is seeing through my tricks. I may need to retrofit my nest boxes to be the rollaway type. I know the mustard won't stop the behavior, just mark the one doing the eating.

Those are cute rabbits. Do you grow them to eat? I have thought of that but i am not sure i can go down that road. Yet. Hope you find your egg thief.

 

[lilbear412]

I have to say i am a bit nervous as my gold wyandottes (all my chicks) are feathering out nicely but the wyandottes are dark and i have noticed that they have white flakes on them. Its not bugs or lice or mites as they dont' move but more like dry skin. I have always put ACV in their water and i mix around and add new pine shavings about once a week. I stir their dirty poop into the shavings everyday. Anyways, tonight i decided to drag their dirt bath in and boy howdy 2 of those little girls went straight for the dirt bath. One was the wyandotte. They rolled around and kicked and huffed and puffed and rolled and stretched and even sang and squeaked. Even tho they look like they are dying, its funny and scary to watch. But they instinctively knew just what to do. Tomorrow. they are going outside..With some heat at night if needed. We finished most of their coop tonight and painted it. I am through with the dust in my house..lol oh and i was reading some past posts about when chicks start roosting. mine had not but on Thursday they turned 5 weeks. On Thursday night they went to bed and roosted and have been every night since?!! lol silly birds.

 

[Dandelioness]

You've been busy!
I will let you know that chickens cannot taste spicy like cayenne or hot sauce what have you. They're immune to the effects of capsaicin or the chemical that makes a pepper spicy.
I just reread but maybe I missing the point of why your using cayenne... Maybe you suspect worms?

I'm going about it from the idea that an egg eating hen often, but not always, is looking for something she needs when she eats the eggs. So adding the tuna and shell grit would be for nutrition. The cayenne is not for that, it has a stimulating effect so I was hoping that they'd assimilate the extra nutrition more efficiently. I just used crushed red pepper over the feed in their trough and they all go bananas & eat those flakes first. The mustard is to mark the offender(s).
When I know who it is I'll put them in another pen until the behavior stops or I get hungry. I'm losing like six eggs a day & I check three times each morning. >Insert smiley banging its head on the floor here<
I am trying to be more conscious of regular worm preventatives, like garlic, cayenne, pumpkin. I had a couple birds with runny stool, but that has cleared up, thank goodness.

 

[Dandelioness]

Since they are both olive eggers it should not matter which one . Blue and brown = green . Brown is hard to get rid of ( multiple genes responsible ) so varying shades of green . Depending on what they inherit .

Thank you!
I wasn't sure if it was like barring where mom gives to son or something like that. Between rabbit and chicken genetics I'm always confusing myself!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Ok I've heard that before-- as a stimulant.

I had two eggs today in a higher up nest box in the coop. So Lucy didn't make her trek to the free range nest box. And the other egg is odd. I think it's Sylvia but looks different for her. Her comb is red s a fire engine though and I think the buckeye dropped her yolk in the pine shavings again. What a shame.

 

[Dandelioness]

[COLOR=333333]I have to say i am a bit nervous as my gold wyandottes  (all my chicks) are feathering out nicely but the wyandottes are dark and i have noticed that they have white flakes on them.  Its not bugs or lice or mites as they dont' move but more like dry skin.  I have always put ACV in their water and i mix around and add new pine shavings about once a week.  I stir their dirty poop into the shavings everyday.  Anyways, tonight i decided to drag their dirt bath in and boy howdy 2 of those little girls went straight for the dirt bath.  One was the wyandotte.  They rolled around and kicked and huffed and puffed and rolled and stretched and even sang and squeaked.  Even tho they look like they are dying, its funny and scary to watch.  But they instinctively knew just what to do.  Tomorrow.  they are going outside..With some heat at night if needed.  We finished most of their coop tonight and painted it.  I am through with the dust in my house..lol oh and i was reading some past posts about when chicks start roosting.  mine had not but on Thursday they turned 5 weeks.  On Thursday night they went to bed and roosted and have been every night since?!!  lol silly birds.[/COLOR]

The first time I saw a chick dust bathing, I thought it was having a seizure! LOL And one day I found my favorite hen all flat and sprawled out in a dirt patch. I thought she was dead. When she saw me, she hopped up and came begging for grain.
Those little girls must know it was their 5-week birthday Ha!

 

[Cluckies]

Hey all! been busy this weekend, enjoying the weather! We burned our brush pile. Dry christmas trees were used for effect. Ignition source included a container of gasoline and a 'scary black attack rifle' from 50 yards. turns out it made less of a spectacle than we hope. It still got the fire going [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Unfortunately the fire scared one of our cats who promptly climbed a tree and got stuck... this required several people to spot while a small friend of mine climbed that twig and saved him. Opposite this was 2 other cats that ran into the wood pile that was on fire... riddle me that? the eventually came out but i dont quite know what they were thinking.

Wow, how scary about your kittys, I'm glad they are all safe now. Wow! Scary!

All in all a good day. Gorgeous 58 degrees. Maybe we will be able to grow some coconut trees one day. Did a Brainerd run today. One last before the trip. DD needed a carry on that met Delta's requirements. My favorite airline. Sadie Mae ate the laced cayenne egg. I think she came in the house shortly after. Licking her chops. There are no remains of that egg any where. She likes bedeviled eggs too it seems. So we're a week out from the spay job. DS broke out the four wheeler and did some donuts in the yard and up and down our dirt road. Sadie Mae I'm sure running 30-40 mph with the boy. Came home from Brainerd to see a bulge in her skin at the surgical site. I'm sure she blew the muscle sutures. I just want to cry. Idiot dog. Idiot kids. My wallet has massive vaccuum noise coming from my purse. F-f-f! Will hold her food in am and call vet. DH was informed that he will be taking her down.

oh no, poor little girl. And poor you, with vacation right around the corner terrible! Dandelioness, i hope you can take care of the egg eating problem quickly. That would may be terrible. My Fi will lay a rubber egg every couple of months, she will eat that if I'm not there to grab it, but she leaves the regular eggs with shells alone, thank goodness. Good luck! Cute cute cute bunnies!

 

[duluthralphie]

Jerry, I reread that guys explaining the lines and rees. I just do not know anymore. I am more confused than I was. By what he said we have Rees.

But looking at the pictures, I don't know..

Does this look Rees to you..












They look like earlier lines to me. BTW that is a fine looking rooster I have LOL LOL

 

[duluthralphie]

Good morning!!
Coffee time..


I sold some Creamettes yesterday to a guy that raises Wellsummers. He will be hatching some this spring. I think I am going to get a few. He claims their eggs are as dark as a Maran.

He got his from Whitmore Farms. I am not crazy about the comb, but I am going to try and cross them into a pea or cushion comb and keep the dark egg. It will most likely fail. but I have lots of time to waste. (I hope)..

As I recall someone on here wanted to get some Welsummer. If you let me know I can pick them up or have him get ahold of you. At least they are not hatchery birds....I so like sounding like a chicken snob!