Surviving Minnesota!

[KlopKlop]

So should she not be laying?

If she is laying, there isnt really anything you can do about it

i would think that if she is laying she is just fine, she may just take some time to normalize

 

[NathanZee]

If she is laying, there isnt really anything you can do about it

i would think that if she is laying she is just fine, she may just take some time to normalize

Reducing the amount of light would stop her right? I'll leave her be as long as she remains healthy then, thank you!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Ivie your buildings look amazing. What a nice place you have there. I had a RIR rosey as well. And she was the roosters favorite. I think those girls are so fertile with their eggs and so calm temperament end the boys just loved her. She would often hide a lot of the day just to avoid the extra attention. I felt bad for her. She just isolated herself. Being the excellent layer she was from a hatchery she developed the dreadful internal laying ( egg yolk peritonitis) I loved that sweet bird. She was the friendliest chick and hen. Our hearts broke losing her.

Today I raked up Sadie's pig sty back yard. I have two piles of shredded cord wood and plastic. I also have a big mound of straw raked into a pile on the septic mound. The chickens have been rifling through that for stray oat seeds stuck on the stalks and such. It's fun to watch them go through it.

I have a photo of the birds in the straw but BYC has decided I will not be able to upload on their mobile site once again. Very fickle the mobile version...

Tonight I stopped to visit Elvis. Elvis is a chick my silkie hatched two years ago and I rehomed him. He is black copper marans and Ameraucana from Minnie. an olive egger roo. He is all black with copper highlights on his cape. I went in the coop to visit him as it was roost time and walked right to him and picked him up. He must weigh 15 lbs! He is flipping huge!!! His owner was talking to DH and I heard him say, " she picked him up?!" Lol. He used to be my baby. Elvis raised by a broody momma is admittedly not super keen on human attention but he was a pretty good boy for me. And he's in beautiful condition. Just an impressive bird. Wow. I really wish I would have got a picture of him now. He's got 2 inch spurs. He's a force to be reckoned with. His flock free ranges all day. Lucky beautiful birds. I'm so glad we rehomed with these folks.

 

[duluthralphie]

BC the pictures do not do Ivie's place justice. The setting is amazing, If they sleep walk out their backdoor they will fall into the Elk River! She will see a lot of me their this spring as I am going to try and fish it there. I have fished closer to Elk River (the city) but have wanted to fish it where the St Francis and Elk River join. (Now I bet that bored a lot of you.)

I have moved yesterdays hatch into the MHP nursery. I was worried how turkeys would do...I have pictures and the whole story here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/966414/a-century-of-turkey-talk-2000-2100/7050#post_16860029

BEWARE THE CUTENESS OF THE PICTURES WILL EVEN MELT ELB'S HEART.

They may even turn Nathan and Holm away from ducks!


Speaking of ducks, I might have taken a little poetic license when discussing the prostate exam for ducks. The state does require a rectal exam of them for NPIP. But it is with a swab. We have to use the swab to enter and circle the whole inside the butt a couple times then there is a little "hump" or bend in the canal we have to go just over that and pull the swab out and send the "stuff" into the state for a lab test.

Because Ducks are nothing more than a festering floating petri dish of disease they require all ducks be checked for AI. Waterfowl are the only ones that need this test....


Because I knew Holm needed the Exhibition Certificate and I was going to do it for him, I asked to be certified for waterfowl......and let me tell you,,, telling the lady vet that JJ was hitting on, I wanted to be certified for ducks was a hard thing to do! She taught me the ducks stuff, Using some poor innocent chickens for the exam.. I have 6 chickens that refuse to even look me in the eye now... I picked up a screw driver yesterday and Muffin ran from the shed shrieking!

Do not forget to look at the pictures,,,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/966414/a-century-of-turkey-talk-2000-2100/7050#post_16860029

time to go to work...Cya

 

[duluthralphie]

@duluthralphie you must still be recovering today.

I didnt realize how much it helps to have 2 people running around taking care of things on the farm. Dogs need food and exercise, chicks need feed and water in both brooders, gotta check back on a chick that looks weak, go pick eggs, go fill waters in the runs and around the farm ( starting to leave free range waters out now that it is warm) get the dogs out of the compost, go back and check chick to see if it is eating or drinking, take the dogs on a walk, take scratch to the flock, water the fodder, water the tomatoes, check on sick chick, holler at dog to stop herding chickens, feed the cats, close up the coops at dusk, track down the dogs that chase off after some critter in the darkness... wowza! now to catch up on laundry and dishes so that she doesnt come home to a sty! if i dont keep up i will surely lose control

I like to think i appreciate my wife for her hard work ethic but boy does it really remind me how much i should appreciate her when she is gone!

I know it sure goes a lot faster when Judy is off to help me, too. Of course, then I have to pretend to listen to whatever it is she is saying. Which gets me in trouble because she will claim she told me something and I agreed to it. When all I said was "Uh Huh"..


Ivie, I know it is L and not an I, But I like the I...... We waved when we went by yesterday. We went to Running's I bought Judy a side delivery rake for the yard, she is ecstatic about it. We went to get a grill, but they were out of the one we wanted. We have a fancy huge stainless one, but it is old and seems to need new burners or grates or something every year and I end up putting 200 bucks into it thinking it will last for 10 years and it never does. It is also to large to go up on our little deck, so we have decided to get a smaller cheap one and just throw it away every couple years. It actually makes more sense as we are not big entertainers ( actually we just do not know anyone around here) and for the one time a year the kids are here in the summer we will get by.

 

[duluthralphie]

Reducing the amount of light would stop her right? I'll leave her be as long as she remains healthy then, thank you!

I think you are right, but it would have to be total darkness. We were told at the NPIP school it only takes about a 20 watt light or more for 14 hours a day for them to lay. Also it would take about 2 weeks for the lack of light to accomplish anything, I think.

 

[lvie]

That is a cool looking building.

That is a cool looking building.

Erlibird - it is mainly residential construction. New, Kitchens, Bathrooms, Basements, Additions, Decks, Roofs, Siding, Windows, Gazebos - gives you a pretty good idea. He helped sub the elevator at church and as is his usual foray I am sure he observed the whole process. This one he did himself and it has these cement blocks he made hanging down between the studs that do something with the process. He worked on it for months. It was built in lieu of building permits and variances. He and my DS came up with the idea.

 

[KlopKlop]

So I was excited to finally watch a movie last night (interstellar) that I wanted to see but DW wouldn't watch. I finally got sat down around 930 to watch it thinking I would be to bed by a 11:30 or so, failed to realize the movie was 3 hours long! I couldn't turn it off either! So I didn't get to be until almost 1 then had to get up extra early to get all the chores done..... Sigh it is a coffee IV kind of a day me thinks

 

[duluthralphie]

Erlibird - it is mainly residential construction. New, Kitchens, Bathrooms, Basements, Additions, Decks, Roofs, Siding, Windows, Gazebos - gives you a pretty good idea. He helped sub the elevator at church and as is his usual foray I am sure he observed the whole process. This one he did himself and it has these cement blocks he made hanging down between the studs that do something with the process. He worked on it for months. It was built in lieu of building permits and variances. He and my DS came up with the idea.

And if any of you want to know what happens when you run afoul of the Zoning Ordinances here where Ivie and I live. Send me a PM and a credit card number to help the defray the cost of my "tuition" from the non-building permit class I took.....

 

[lvie]

Good morning chickeners. It is nice out. The chickens are taken care of and our bed made. I am caught up on SM, drinking my morning apple cider/honey medication. That, for me, is alot already. Stimulated by the warm weather.

Ralphie, you are very kind with you comments. I NEVER thought of this property as all that nice. YOU are changing that mind. It happened bit-by-bit. and I like IVIE. It is a little more interesting than LVIE.

I have been told that it is good fishing in the bend. Northerns and of course, carp. Its not really deep below us but the bend becomes four to six feet. I have never fished it. You are welcome to stop for coffee anytime. We will sit outside and watch the river pass by. Sometimes, when I am working outside, I do a campfire (the pit is on a patio behind the garage) just because I take my breaks so I can relax while watching it. Love the smell. Whatever you are comfortable with because I know when you (or anyone) are 'on task' taking a break can be annoying.

Its spose to be 15 - 25 mph wind from the south. Better get the dogs out for their walk. Also, I put plastic milk cartons with the neck into the ground yesterday with the bottoms almost cut off. This year I decided to plant the tomatoes in them before they get too large, using the milk carton as a solar dealy. Then I am going to finish removing the bottoms and leave the rest for protection from cut worms and watering will be easier. I will get the starts into the ground way earlier than usual.

Today is book work day. Pay the subs day. They do like to get paid.