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

[Leahs Mom]

Not "wanting 'em" is not the same as not "having 'em".

 

[speckledhen]

Not "wanting 'em" is not the same as not "having 'em".

Okay, I don't have them. And I try to keep it that way, LOL.

 

[1muttsfan]

For the second morning in a row it's 8 degrees, heading for a high of 12. We had about 5 or 6 inches of snow day before yesterday and that evening, now Lake Effect flurries off and on. The wind chill is much colder. Winter is here.

 

[speckledhen]

For the second morning in a row it's 8 degrees, heading for a high of 12. We had about 5 or 6 inches of snow day before yesterday and that evening, now Lake Effect flurries off and on. The wind chill is much colder. Winter is here.

It was funny that one of the weathermen in Chattanooga, our closest big city, showed a side-by-side comparison with your lake effect snow and our recent snow event in a city just west of us, Chatsworth. Chatsworth didn't get it as bad as we did here, LOL. But, our temps are not nearly as low as yours, of course. This a.m., it's 20*. Overnight windchills were about -5*. The birds did not get out at all yesterday because of the high winds. Even if I give them the chance, they just hang around the barn aisle pooping so I put them back in their respective pens and leave them there.

Bailey still refuses to eat. I'm boiling a few ears of corn this a.m.-it was getting on too long in the freezer anyway, some from a local farmer friend who raises it commercially. I'll see if she'll at least pick at that this morning. In her feed dish, she has a mix of 24% game chick starter, grit and mealworms, which she won't touch. She won't eat eggs, yogurt, nothing. We had to syringe egg yolk into her mouth yesterday. Her crop is way down now, but she has to get back her appetite or she won't make it. Betsy is doing fine, though.

ETA: She actually began picking at the ear of corn when I held it up to her and continued for a bit, then lost interest. Her crop is like a golf ball every morning, but much better than it was. Yesterday, we bought some black angus roast yesterday for a killer price to can (2.99/lb) and we actually gave her one chunk of the super soft meat shredded up to eat and she refused it so we have to shove it in her beak. What chicken refuses roast beef????

 

[kitkat5505]

I hope Bailey will start eating something soon.

I’m so glad we’re not getting snow and cold like that. We don’t even have snow in the forecast at all this month, which is weird.

 

[speckledhen]

I hope Bailey will start eating something soon.

I’m so glad we’re not getting snow and cold like that. We don’t even have snow in the forecast at all this month, which is weird.

That is very weird! Last winter we were there, we got over 100", just kept piling up.

Oh, because of our property tax reduction, our house payment went down by over $25/mo so will be able to throw more at the principal to pay it down faster.

 

[Pyxis]

We had our first big snow storm yesterday. Like a fool I was out cleaning out a coop in it, because it needed it and it was my only day off. Oh well, got it done.

As usual, the waterfowl love the snow while the chickens don't want to come out of their coops. Some of them wouldn't even come out when I scattered some sunflower seeds for them.

 

[speckledhen]

Atlas hates snow, wet, wind, odd noises, etc. Doesn't take much to keep that boy inside. He keeps flexing both his legs backwards, poor thing. It seems like he's having joint issues like Grandpa Isaac. Maybe he has realized that wet/cold makes his legs hurt more and acts accordingly.

You should have seen the groups react to ears of corn. Most of the older birds have seen it/had it that way in years past, but some acted like it was a predator ready to strike and wouldn't eat it. Thea, however, stripped two ears all by herself. Hector did take the first bite just so he could tell them it was okay to eat, I guess, LOL. But, then, Thea took it away from him. And most of the oldest hens were all over it.

 

[getaclue]

I love watching their antics when putting something out of the ordinary in with them. They can be so silly.

 

[speckledhen]

They keep me laughing, that's for sure. And they keep me moving, too. I'm not sure what shape I'd be in if I didn't have to go out and take care of them and haul their feed, shavings/hay, etc. I need to do a video about older homesteaders. Most I like on YouTube are really a generation behind me, more the age of my own sons and younger. They still have kids at home and are really in the thick of getting a homestead up and running or they have gotten it operating and they have help from their children. They're not alone like we are with no family around.

I was just saying to Tom yesterday that no matter how old I am, I will not go back to the city/suburbs even if something happens to him and I'm left alone. Because no one will be around, I may be one of those old ladies with a Life Alert necklace (ugh) in case I fall or something on the property. Even if I move from here, I'll only go higher into the mountains, not into some adult community or gated community around people I have no interest in associating with on a daily basis. The last thing I want is to be around a bunch of blue-hairs, even if I'm one myself. Nothing will age you faster. Someone had a long list of things and it was said that if you remembered all those, you are older than dirt. Yes, I remember every single one of them, but I don't mind being old as long as I don't look it or act it. If I'm around a bunch of cane jockeys who play cards for fun, I'll shrivel and die.