Surviving Minnesota!

[Cluckies]

Crap, I had alot of stuff multi-quoted, but it got lost. I love layers and LadyVictorian, nice history you guys have there!

Ralphie, it was not my trailer, someone on FB.

Sorry for your loss LadyV.

So rainy today, and windy this is not good for my girls, or your guys' i'm sure. I had to make a mote in the run a couple of inches in to hopefully stop the water. I'll have to check and repair tomorrow. I pulled back all the wood shavings that were dry. have to try and keep it dry in there!

Very slippery this morning, I'm with you Ralphie, had to work very had at not falling and busting my _ _ _ .

Well long day, off to bed with me!

Stay dry everyone!

 

[ejb3810]

Good morning to all. It is icy and snowy here in the North East by the big Lake. Good thing an old man like me can stay in for the most part, but my poor young son has to go to work.
Power outages from down lines but so far I have power.
Hope all weather the storm in good order. Better days are ahead for the chickens, but those times are a ways off yet.
I hope the folks in the Minnesota Banana Belt have not encountered too much difficulty.
I think it is one of your Sasquatch renters that tipped off Judy, Ralphie. He said something about a substandard supply of firewood at the cabin in Togo. Seemed quite upset ?!

 

[Cluckies]

Morning all, holy wind Batman, and boy did that temp drop. Nothung but glare ice to th e coop, all that rain froze, I maY be wearing skates to get put to the girls...

 

[bantiesrule]

Could be one NPIP to another is simple as pie.

Did you see they are changing the requirements on Turkey testing now?


My turkeys are not going to be happy with this change.

I should check up on all that before spring..(just in case I need to add some new chickens to my flock

). I don't have turkeys so that's one thing I don't need to worry about.

Merry Christmas all. Today, we abandoned all Christmas travel when we found out they closed 94 for a brief period by St. Joe. My parents were very understanding. We enjoyed christmas movies, presents, a nap and searching for the drone my son thought he should fly outside today.

I have been contemplating becoming npip certified or at least certified to do the state required testing for our 4h. Can someone give me an idea how much of my already minimal time I will be investing? I know they are 2 separate credentials but if it is just as much time I might just as well become npip. Presently,we are not hatching eggs but eventually, we may try.

As Ralphie said, it is a one day class to become a tester and then after testing all your birds, they come out and inspect your operation. They do an inspection every year (and you have to test every year). It really isn't too time consuming unless you have alot of birds (or turkeys). The only problem I had was with the incubator in the house (they don't like that). The last few years though I have just hatched out with broody hens so no issues. If you are interested in taking a class, call Minnesota Board of Animal Health (320-231-5170) and get on the list. They usually wait until they have a certain number of people who are interested and then set up the class. I believe they try to have the class in a central location to those interested, our class was located in Alexandria.

 

[I Love Layers]

Power was out for about 12 hours just came back on. Very windy here about 60 mph.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas! The wind has been blowing pretty hard around here. Sounded like a freight train last night.

@duluthralphie , from what I understand, VJP will help find a home for any unwanted Rooster if you keep your purchase invoice. I don't think they go back to her, but rather an owner to new owner exchange. But she's pretty proud of her show stock, so she might exchange Roosters/Hens for showing purposes if the person is also NPIP. I also like to think all NPIP folks stick to the rules.

And that's hilarious about the picture, by the way! What turkey breeds do you plan on hatching out this year?

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Ooooh, I am so excited to get Silkies now, I keep hearing good things about VJP, I am almost tempted to get them in January since they have some hatching January 5th.

I seldom hear of anyone owning Barbados rams because they are actually very aggressive and considered an exotic animal. We fixed our boy though so he never got that aggressive, just bossy. Having had him most of my childhood and adult life I actually think all other sheep and goats are small now xD I never considered he was the big one but he was about 34 inches at the shoulder, larger than my two miniature horses (24 inches and 22 inches). He ended up passing of old age in his sleep when he was 15 and was best friends with our redstar hen Tiki. When he died she attacked us and would not let us move his body. We found her laying on his back and trying to wake him up. I think I picked her up and cried for two hours because those two were always together. The sheep and his hen.

Also OMG cichlids. I have been looking into them. If I can move my goldfish to their pond this year I want to get cichlids for my 150 gallon tank or fancy goldfish. I have been seeing some beautiful blues at the fish store lately. Every time I go I oooh and aaah them. I need to finish setup on my guppy/neon tetra thank though first xD and set up my 4 way 20 gallon betta tank I promised the betta community I would do.

I still live on the old family farm. In fact this spring we are going to be setting up the old broad mare barn and turning the two birthing stalls into chicken stalls. It's a nice sturdy barn and our horses live in the newer training barn so I think the hens/chickens will like it. It's all insulated with nice big windows facing the sunrise, an indoor working water pump, and outlets. We will probably also turn the little tack room into feed storage and treat locker. There is a small indoor arena where we use to turn out new mama mare's and their foals when it was bad outside that he might turn into a little indoor 'pasture' for the chickens during the winter so they can stay indoors all year but still have space to wander. I got one of the stalls cleared out but we still have some gear to move into the large storage barn we built and clean out the second stall. I might end up with like 50 chickens once this is over >.<

You should really get some in January! I'm a chicken pusher.

I've exclusively had cichlids for 13 years now. I feel their colors are about as close as you can get to saltwater without having a saltwater set-up. I like the blues - electric blue, blue peacocks, zebra blues. You can get some pretty mixed breeds, too. Local pet stores usually have a pretty decent supply of cichlids, but my fish got ich from some Petsmart fish I introduced years back. It wiped out everything and that was even after a quarantine period. I'm a bit shy about it now. I recommend checking out the fish place in Forest Lake if you do get cichlids. Ugh, I can't think of the name of it right now! They have an impressive supply of cichlids and probably have over 100 tanks with specific breeds in the back. They also have other fish, reptiles, you name it. It's been a few years since I've been there, but I'm sure it's the same set-up. I haven't had any huge aggression issues with my cichlids, but I also have my aquarium set up like an underwater rock cavern with a lot of places to hide. I'm a bit of a fish nerd.....obviously. Lol

 

[I Love Layers]

My mom doesn't understand why I want to get chicks in January.
I told her if I want to sell older birds at New Salem I need the 'chicks' to be at least 4 months. Still doesn't grasp it

Lots of shoveling. We've got one 7 foot drift along the machine shed and lots of 3-5 foot drifts. The ditches are fuller then the roads are high.

 

[duluthralphie]

MnChickMom when I took mine (last year) they had two options Willmar and St Cloud. (otherwise just like Bantierules said it was/is)

I have to have the incubators out of my house by my next inspection. I am building a new hatchery room in the pole barn, I can see it in my mind even if no one else can. I could just use broodies and be ok too.

My inspector is JJ's lady Vet friend from the USDA. She is a super gal, so I mainly deal with her.



MnNice. I am hope she follows the rules too, so much of it is just marketing. I could take them back, I suppose, and rehome them to the Nice Asian Lady in St. Paul. I understand being proud of your show birds. I am that way with my legbars especially the whites, The partridge Chanticler I got from EJB are amazing birds, the SS are not slouches but not as good as the others, The Yokohamas have not been seen by a judge but I like them even if they are from a hatchery.and of course the Dominiques from Urch are amazing birds ( yep, I am bragging, sorry),


I am thinking of going down in numbers and breeds. I am thinking of only keeping the above listed birds. While the Appletinis are cool, I am not sure I want to mess with them or the polish, which I have taken an extreme dislike too, (the roosters mainly).

I could do 5-6 breeds easily and have plenty of time for other things, right now I spend way too much time with the birds everyday. I currently have 14 breeding pens and inside birds. I am too old for that,

I got my first Cuckoo Maran egg today. They are gone this summer. I am disappointed in the color if the egg. Hopefully they will get darker. They are my darkest egg but not the "chocolate" I had hoped for.

The rest of the chickens lost their Christmas spirit pretty darn fast. I only got 4 eggs today, toad, PC, Dom and the Cuckoo Maran. Stinking Slackers!

I am thinking this will be my last year with guineas too. I like them but I feed them all winter just to watch them get killed on the highway every summer. I live too close to a road for them.

By cutting down on breeds I can concentrate on the better ones, I enjoy hatching but am not crazy about dealing with the hassle some buyers are. I am convinced every buyer that has a chick dies thinks it is my fault because they loved it to death or neglected it or whatever. Some buyers are great, the few that are PITA's make it not worth it. I guess I am just feeling old.



MnNice I will be breeding Royal Palms, Slates and bronze this spring. I will have some mutt turkeys but not sure how many. I have not decided if I want to breed blacks or not. I might go down to JJ and a few others and stop breeding turkeys too. Again, it is time and expenses I want to cut. If you want some breeders let me know. Come and see what I have if you want. Turkeys are fun to have around and are such pets.


Layers, try explaining to your Mom, nicely, about how birds are judged and how a couple months maturity makes a huge difference on the birds at show.


Cluckies becareful walking on the drive and yard it is slippery as greased snot..(does everyone have the visual of that?). I ended up driving the ATV to all the pens, too slippery to walk and my old bones are not as flexible as they use to be. I see I have to go to the end of the drive again, the garbage can has tipped over for the fourth time today.

Jerry this is headed your way, enjoy it!

 

[jerryse]

Jerry this is headed your way, enjoy it! I think we got lucky and missed most of the fun . We had rain and fog yesterday . Never got cold enough to freeze .


Some buyers are great, the few that are PITA's make it not worth it. I guess I am just feeling old.

That is why I do not sell much . I sell until I get the one PITA that just makes me stop .