The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

The #11 installment is out tonight and will be out until tomorrow evening.
https://cvdsecrets.com/episode-11-live/?mpweb=1603-929-813217

 

[h2oratt]

I don't usually do this, but these two videos on this page are the last in a 2nd series that ends tonight. They will be taken down this evening. Worth every minute. Invaluable.
https://cvdsecrets.com/episode-10-live/?mpweb=1603-925-813217

Oh darn I missed it.

 

[speckledhen]

#11 should still be out, Julie.
ETA: the series is over now, unless Jonathan Otto decides to put out more. This was such a great series, so much information you'll never see in mainstream media.

 

[seminolewind]

I just remembered to take a couple pics of old Atlas. We just trimmed his spurs, but dang, the old man needs a beak trim, too, apparently. He doesn't get out and dig around like he used to in his younger days. He's lost a lot of barring in his tail now that he's up in years. And his color isn't looking particularly robust today, but he's still crowing and flirting with any hen he can get close to. The real estate sign is to keep him and Hector from fighting over the wall. This pen Atlas is in wasn't built for a rooster his height to inhabit.
View attachment 3041102View attachment 3041103

I was going to just lurk until I saw the Big Guy. He's still handsome and must be Pop to many offspring. My last elder was a BLP who was 12, (Princessfluffybritches). She was blind, and couldn't hold her head up long. But she still came for food. The food and water were always in the same place, I did put her out in the sunshine and hold her as much as possible. Til the end. Like You, Cynthia, my little loves go into retirement and special treatment until.

Atlas certainly reminded me of my past special chickens. And he is still the symbol (to me) of all those older or demised birds that always have a place in my heart. My heart still follows Atlas.

Okay, so I did want to only lurk but seeing Atlas led me to post. Otherwise not much new in my life except it's cold and I want to move back to Florida. I'm still putting together a mask with a chicken on it!

 

[speckledhen]

Good to see you posting, Karen. I don't get notifications of anything so unless I check in, I miss a lot. Atlas is a CLASSIC! He's my sweet old man and he certainly gets special treatment here.

 

[seminolewind]

I've always loved that about you; your elders or needy ones are never forgotten or brushed to the side. OMG! I think I learned all that from your posts way back in 200? Remember? When we could actually read all the posts daily, LOL

 

[speckledhen]

We've been around here together a long time, my friend. We're classics, too, haha!
I could never get rid of my oldsters. They have served this family in all sorts of ways and deserve a cushy place until they go on to that Great Roost in the Sky. But, you know me, I have a special place in my heart for my boys, even the not so bright ones like that dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks Belgian D'Anver, Aubrey. He's 11 years old now, can you believe it?

 

[getaclue]

Hi seminolewind. It's been awhile. I hope things are good with you. Are you enjoying your kitchen, and those beautiful blue cabinets?

 

[seminolewind]

Hey getaclue ! My blue cabinets are still beautiful. And between that and watching all the cooking recipes on Youtube, I've become a cook! Mostly experimentation. I'm ready to do the Great Wedding/Vegetable soup tomorrow. An awful lot of chopping. And I got tired of every soup having chicken in it so I'm making tiny meatballs (beef) for it. It's got 9 vegetables chopped up.
One thing I've just discovered is mustard greens. They are peppery and tasty.

I am going to Las Vegas next Sunday. It was going to be only 2 days to see a rock group I like called "The Scorpions". They have been around for almost 50 years! So then I realized that Hoover Dam has always been on my bucket list, so I am signed up for the tour. I think that's the only landmark I wanted to see.

I could yak all night. I've done very little since Covid began. Speckledhen , didn't we laugh about the quarantine being no different to home bodies like me.

Okay so what have you all been up to?

 

[getaclue]

Mustard greens are good, if they are young, and tender. I love getting the ones when they thin the crop. Several of those recipes will lend themselves to ham chunks, and the meatballs, like you're doing. I've even gently fried Butterball turkey sausage slices, and tossed that into a few dishes. It gives that little bit of smokey flavor, and enhances the taste of several dishes, without overpowering it.

The grands did virtual schooling this year, and it fell to me to be their learning coach. Their mother had started with it, but she graduated her nursing course, and is employed full time now. She really likes her job, and for the most part, enjoys it.

It's a lot of work, and very challenging being their learning coach, and taking care of them all day, every day. Last year, the curriculum was much better, and things were set up so much better. This year, they did away with the old virtual school curriculum, and the new one leaves a LOT to be desired, and that's putting it mildly.

The chickens are doing fine, and the duck is spoiled rotten. Dh put in a garden. He put a fence around it this year too. We seem to have a bumper crop of rabbits. When everything in the garden began sprouting, they came along, and ate the sprouts down to the ground. They wiped it out overnight. He put the fence up, and re-planted where needed. We've had some rain the past few days, so that's helped get the garden off to a good start.

Dh is fully retired now. Some days he deals with it ok. Other days, he doesn't. He's talking about going back to work again, next year. He has to take a year off, before he can go back. Maybe he'll have adjusted by then, maybe not. Time will tell.