Surviving Minnesota!

[I Love Layers]

Hi everybody... Havent been on much... Been up at 5:30 every other morning to haul calves to the sales barn... Did pretty good this year... Also kept back a few heifers this fall... 3 blacks and a white. My grandpa told me "Go outside and pick out the heifers you think we should keep" so I did and I think I did a good job. I'm goons have to get some pics of them...

Also some sad news... We lost our orphan calf this AM... He couldn't get up this AM and by the time we were back from the sales barn he was dead... boo...

Also collected my first Buckeye eggs! Well first... I have high hopes for this egg

20 more and I'll set them lol

The roads here r terrible so haven't done anything except haul cattle and that was scary...

18 below this AM and it felt like 30 below... ick

Sorry about the calf...
We've got a bull that's lost a lot of weight recently, hope he makes it through..

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Morning folks! It was -16 (without the windchill) this morning when I went out to feed everyone! I have been reading the posts about cracked/whole corn.....I have been feeding the cracked because I was told this raises their body heat when they are roosting..is this correct, am I doing it right then? I have also been giving them more walnuts, cranberries, greens and freeze dried meal worms. Their combs are looking kinda ragged right now and I can see a few will lose some points but they freak out when I try and put Vaseline on them???? Any tricks to getting it on them without causing so much trauma?

I have also been feeding the horses up in their stalls to try and keep them out of the wind at night but I have one brat who keeps chasing the other horse away from the barn! I am about to send him off to a glue factory!!!!

@ralphie you will have to let me know if your Appel...whatzits start laying in the spring, they are pretty and I want some but not if they aren't worth the price to feed them!

I loved that pic of Jack Nicholson frozen, how appropriate for this cold snap LOL!

I haven't heard that about cracked corn, so I can't say. Sounds good to me though! I'm sure they love all of the treats you're giving them.

I use Bag Balm on the hens with bigger combs. Mine will let me catch them, but your best bet might be to corner them and apply. They don't love it, but it does the trick.

Kick your trouble horse out and get the others tucked in. Maybe that'll teach him.

Hi everybody... Havent been on much... Been up at 5:30 every other morning to haul calves to the sales barn... Did pretty good this year... Also kept back a few heifers this fall... 3 blacks and a white. My grandpa told me "Go outside and pick out the heifers you think we should keep" so I did and I think I did a good job. I'm goons have to get some pics of them...

Also some sad news... We lost our orphan calf this AM... He couldn't get up this AM and by the time we were back from the sales barn he was dead... boo...

Also collected my first Buckeye eggs! Well first... I have high hopes for this egg

20 more and I'll set them lol

The roads here r terrible so haven't done anything except haul cattle and that was scary...

18 below this AM and it felt like 30 below... ick

Sorry to hear about the orphan calf. If you ever have an orphan anything just bring it to my place. I'm such a sucker.....

Awesome on the eggs! I'm glad if I can get to them before they freeze. It's like woman vs. wild around here lately.

 

[duluthralphie]

Sorry about the calf Holm.

I feed more cracked corn and less protein in this cold. I know some people say I do it wrong. It works for me. I figure a high Carb/starch diet is better than protein that has to be converted to make fat/sugars.

To me it is like giving pasta to marathon runners before the race, it is fast available fuel to burn.

I might be wrong, I have no basis other than that is what we did growing up on the farm, Corn was always fed instead of the higher protein in the cold weather.


Yep. I know Corn can shorten their lives and make them fatter. It is like offering a guy a cigarette when he stand before the firing squad. It is not really going shorten is life a lot.

 

[Momof3plustwins]

Raynaud's is an auto immune disorder. Mild by comparison to other Auto Immune Disorders but still a pain in the butt. I cannot be out in the cold long. I am at a high risk for frostbite. My older sister also has it. The capillaries to my extremities will close off in response to cold and stress. So my toes will do this even in the summer when I go for a run. It is a PITA but, it is survivable and should not shorten my lifespan. I just get out of winter chores some I guess. Good thing I have all these kids to do it for me. I use my snowmobiling gloves or the sweater mittens my aunt made me that are also lined with fleece and made out of wool. Not good for chores though so my fingers are often cold those moments of the day.

 

[KlopKlop]

It is 10 below and i have a hen trying to go broody. go figure!?!

 

[I Love Layers]

It is 10 below and i have a hen trying to go broody.  go figure!?!

I've got a PC and a silkie right now! Good thing I they keep the eggs warm when I'm at school

 

[GoldenFlight]

This was Nathan... again!

 

[NathanZee]

Cracked is easier for them to digest I think. I really have no idea but I crack my corn for them.

I feed whole, it takes longer to digest. I just make sure the chicks can't get into it.



It just took me 1 hour to do 10 problems in Geometry. I've never been the best at math, but I'm really having issues with the most recent stuff we learned.

Now off to do the questions for Act 5, the final act of Romeo and Juliet. Thank gosh.
And then to study for our English semester on the whole story, 63 questions and 20 sayings from the different characters, not multiple choice for the test.
Its 1/10 if our grade

I think cracked is simply a bit more user friendly for all sizes of feathered things. I heard that corn loses nutrients and all that other good stuff once cracked so some folks prefer whole. I buy cracked for no reason other than that's just what I buy.

Okay, thank you guys! I'll probably just stick with whole corn for now.

 

[franksgreengirl]

This is what happens when you have Raynaud's Syndrome. I hate winter and cold!

I know your frustration... Every day someone in my home is asking " why are your (insert extremity) so cold?" It gets tiring explaining Raynaud's to them. They are sweeties though and know that it can really be painful for me. especially with this arctic blast. (even with gloves/mittens on)

 

[duluthralphie]

Hi franksgreengirl. Welcome to the thread, If I welcomed you before or talked before and have forgotten put it down to old age. I am nearly as old as some of the "old people" on this thread.



I can't sleep so I was trying to set the latest newest incubator I picked up to 99.5.

I found a problem, it has a second/safety wafer but it was not connected to anything. It has a receptacle on it with a short pigtail. That goes nowhere. The main thermostat is an electronic one. Did they just expect you to run on the electronic and plug in the second one if the main one fails?


It is just weird but looks factory made. I might rewire it in next day or to, I had hoped to set eggs on Saturday, but maybe not now. I could fire up one of the others and see if they are still set after the summer.