Surviving Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

BC and Holm grats on the friend badge thing,

Thank you Ralphie. I think it pays to have friends in High Places.

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Thanks Ralphie! Didnt even realize I got one!

I didn't either....now what do I do with it? Am I friendly? Usually I'm quite bossy.

@Bogtown Chick and @holm25 Congratulations

Thanks Erlibird.

I think I will put a golf ball in. Like I said they aren't doing it anymore but I don't want to lose hatching eggs!

I've always kept golf balls in the nests or at least the favorite nests. It shows the new girls where to go...but am a firm believer that a good bit of hard resistance to rattle the beak and noggin from a hard peck teaches the curiosity right out of them. I have had eggs eaten in the coop but it was because they were being dropped from the roost and cracked. Open yolk for the taking is too much to resist.

Double dog today

Love Winter Rainbows. Pretty.

 

[destiny_56085]

I can't move today.... Took a paint scraper to every surface in the barn and deep cleaned/rebedded all the pens yesterday. I also pulled down all the plastic sheeting I had put up on the pens in the barn. I'm losing the war with those dang starlings. They'd find ways to burrow through the plastic and every morning I'd find 500+ of them trapped in my pens. My pens got crapped full worse than ever and my breeders laying very little due to lack of light. I've tried almost everything and nothing seems to get rid of those pests.

Incubator is going here and I have 3 XL dog kennels full of chicks in my basement already. Its too dang cold to move anything out to the garage yet so I haven't set up the official brooder pens yet. My truck is spoiled inside too...

I'm not sure how all the other parents on here have managed to keep their sanity. My little girl is in kindergarten now. A little over a week off school almost drove me nuts. She's the only grandkid, so of course was spoiled rotten by my family. Despite all those new toys, she's still BORED all the time and naughtier than ever. I owe my mom a huge thank you for watching her yesterday so I could actually get some work done in the barn. Last night was an absolute battle to get her to bed and I was never so glad to ship her off this morning on the bus.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Destiny: I have two fighting 14 year old twins. So today was a good day...despite sending them out on winter roads. School was on time today for us.

 

[destiny_56085]

Bogtown.... I don't know how you do it!

My mom bought my kid this $275 monstrosity of a Barbie dreamhouse for Christmas. It even gets WiFi and responds to over 100 voice commands. It keeps her busy for all of 5 minutes and then she flits to something else that can make a mess in another room of the house. I just rotate cleaning rooms after she'd leave it like a tornado had come through.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

@Bogtown Chick and @holm25 Congratulations

Yes, congrats to all of you! Now you have some BYC flair!

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Man, I'd rather have snow than the crap ice we got last night. Counted 12 cars in the ditches on the way to hockey.

Does it matter what age a rooster starts breeding? My thinking is if I hatch a boy out in the next month or so to use over my hens, he'll probably start chasing the ladies around by Summer. Not sure if it matters for hatching reasons.

 

[holm25]

Man, I'd rather have snow than the crap ice we got last night. Counted 12 cars in the ditches on the way to hockey.

Does it matter what age a rooster starts breeding? My thinking is if I hatch a boy out in the next month or so to use over my hens, he'll probably start chasing the ladies around by Summer. Not sure if it matters for hatching reasons.  

I don't think age matters. My Cockerels start trying breed at around 17 weeks although I have a 15 week old who is try to figure it out. I just think you will have lower fertility until he figures out what he's doing

 

[holm25]

I can't move today....  Took a paint scraper to every surface in the barn and deep cleaned/rebedded all the pens yesterday.  I also pulled down all the plastic sheeting I had put up on the pens in the barn.  I'm losing the war with those dang starlings.  They'd find ways to burrow through the plastic and every morning I'd find 500+ of them trapped in my pens.  My pens got crapped full worse than ever and my breeders laying very little due to lack of light.  I've tried almost everything and nothing seems to get rid of those pests.

Incubator is going here and I have 3 XL dog kennels full of chicks in my basement already.  Its too dang cold to move anything out to the garage yet so I haven't set up the official brooder pens yet.  My truck is spoiled inside too... 

I'm not sure how all the other parents on here have managed to keep their sanity.  My little girl is in kindergarten now.  A little over a week off school almost drove me nuts.  She's the only grandkid, so of course was spoiled rotten by my family.  Despite all those new toys, she's still BORED all the time and naughtier than ever.  I owe my mom a huge thank you for watching her yesterday so I could actually get some work done in the barn.  Last night was an absolute battle to get her to bed and I was never so glad to ship her off this morning on the bus.

Do you have cats? Maybe cats would help keep them out? We had birds in all the put buildings u til the cats came and went through the buildings all the time.
What about an owl statue thing? Or an eagle? Just something to scare them? They are nasty birds. Maybe if you killed one and hung it out by the building?

 

[holm25]

Yes, congrats to all of you! Now you have some BYC flair!

Thank you!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Roads are terrible. I had a layer of ice on everything, coop table, step stool ect. Banana belt sucks.

Man, I'd rather have snow than the crap ice we got last night. Counted 12 cars in the ditches on the way to hockey.

Careful Ladies you'll be scaring Ed off his plans to move to the Banana belt.

Yes Snow....here-thank goodness...instead of ice. I tell you what that rain we got Christmas really did a job on the snow pack. I feel bad for the Deer breaking through that stuff. Sadie runs through it and she trips when she breaks through. She has a broken claw on her rear paw...I'm sure from busting it on that ice.

Destiny...I guess maybe it gets easier overall...the older they get. And when you've taken your last load of toys to the second hand store...that's kind of nice. Kids want electronics now, clothes. etc. Easier to tuck and away and store stuff. So am finding Christmas nicer without all the toyland stuff. Ew, Gosh I remember those days. Figuring out where to hide the Pink or bright Monstrosities that are toys. One thing I always liked getting them though was the outdoor stuff. The tub sleds, fakey snow boards, one year I got them Cross Country skis and it was a fabulous year and Christmas...we skiied right after Christmas brunch. The outdoor stuff never disappointed me. Or them.