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

[GingersHuman]

If you end up near a horse supply store, a lunge whip gives you a nice long reach! Takes some practice to get your aim good though.

 

[getaclue]

I'm in hopes he shapes up, but if he doesn't, you've got to do what you've got to do. A mean rooster takes away from the enjoyment of owning a flock, and you certainly don't want to breed a mean one.

I'm glad someone else knows what watermelon rind preserves are. They are my absolute favorite of all the jams, jellies, marmalades and preserves. I would have to say that blackberry jelly (minus the seeds) is my second favorite.

 

[speckledhen]

If you end up near a horse supply store, a lunge whip gives you a nice long reach! Takes some practice to get your aim good though.

I'm sure it does! I used to have horses/ponies and have been in quite a few horse supply stores. I'm probably not going to buy something just for this guy. I have not had a problem child in quite some time and hopefully, won't again for years and years. At some point, I have to put down the "weapon" and let the chips fall where they may. I don't plan to watch my back in the barn, no matter who is out.

However, I still have to go through the hormone stage with the two Brahma cockerels. Now, that's a bird who could knock you off your feet by his sheer bulk and height! They are 16 weeks old now and so far, no rushing me or anything else. They've both been very good, but I don't let my breath out until they are in the 20-25 week stage and haven't shown aggression. If they give even a hint of it, I wait awhile longer to see if they're going to chill out with maturity. If not, well, you know what I'm going to say.

I'm in hopes he shapes up, but if he doesn't, you've got to do what you've got to do. A mean rooster takes away from the enjoyment of owning a flock, and you certainly don't want to breed a mean one.

I'm glad someone else knows what watermelon rind preserves are. They are my absolute favorite of all the jams, jellies, marmalades and preserves. I would have to say that blackberry jelly (minus the seeds) is my second favorite.

I mostly had blackberry jelly (yes, w/o seeds) growing up, second was apple. I have a ton of jars of that made by my late father within the last ten years on my shelf in the basement.

Here are the jellies/jams/preserves I found that Dad had made not that long ago. The apple from 2007 is great, the previous year, not so much, lol.



And I'm not sure, but I think these are apples. Some could be pears. He didn't mark everything and when he did, his handwriting was less than legible. He has "F" for fig and "A" for apple, but sometimes, they are not marked with letter or date and sometimes, I can't tell if it's an F or a P.

 

[1muttsfan]

My absolute favorite is red current jelly, but it takes a LOT of currents to get the juice to do one batch. I found one commercial brand that they carry downstate in a store I go into whenever I can -

 

[speckledhen]

I found I like red pepper jelly, which surprised me.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Has Hector been any better today? And has he done anything to your husband?

 

[speckledhen]

Has Hector been any better today? And has he done anything to your husband?

Funny you should ask. He hasn't been aggressive at all today and he hasn't done anything to DH since that day he bit him when hubs was shaking down the feeder in his pen. In fact, just awhile ago, DH and I were sitting in the chicken pen with all the younger groups, plus Xander's three and the six that includes Rita. Everyone was calm and getting ready for roost time. Hector and Apollo were chilling near each other, all their girls grooming, just standing near the gate with me sitting beside it in a lawn chair. Suddenly, Xander decides to trot around and make everyone nervous. He casually walked toward Hector. Mary, Jill and Thea ran under my chair and Hector went around in front of me, I thought to jump onto the little table on my left. Apparently, Xander stomped his feet or something and Hector launched himself into my lap, LOL. He was under my chin, snuggling against my chest trying to get away from mean little Xander. He was 1" from my face, looking into my eyes. I said, "Well, hey there, Hector. I'll save you from mean old Xander." He balanced on my arm for maybe 15-20 seconds, saw Xander had wandered off and he decided to jump down again. So, I guess he realizes that I'm safe haven, even though I've chased him with those nasty branches when he got too big for his tail feathers. Do I trust him? No. I'm not sure when or if I ever will. Time will tell.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Wow that's a strange turn of events in his behavior. Can you tell if he's got a different look in his eyes than Atlas? This is an off topic question but do you get a lot of snow where you live in the mountains? I'm looking ahead for this winters snow forecast and it looks like Maryland is going to get pummeled this year. I was wondering what you do to keep your chickens warm and not cold.

 

[speckledhen]

Wow that's a strange turn of events in his behavior. Can you tell if he's got a different look in his eyes than Atlas? This is an off topic question but do you get a lot of snow where you live in the mountains? I'm looking ahead for this winters snow forecast and it looks like Maryland is going to get pummeled this year. I was wondering what you do to keep your chickens warm and not cold.

He's harder to read. You can see that Atlas is a marshmallow where I'm concerned, just has the softest, kindest eyes. Most of what I see in Hector, while he's trying to decide what he's going to be, is gears turning. He doesn't seem to have decided what he wants to be so he's not really showing either hardness or softness in his eyes, not that I can really put a final stamp on yet.

We get snow, yes, though on a normal year, it will be 2" here, 1" there, maybe 4" on occasion. The worst winter we've had since we lived here was 10" here, 6" there, etc. We get cold temps, sometimes dipping near zero and on rare occasions, slightly below zero, but mostly, our coldest weather here stays in above 10*F. They're saying we'll get very cold temps and extra snow this year, but we shall see if they're right.

Mostly, I pay attention to the older hens. Amanda has a heat lamp over her every winter because of her arthritis-now, Snow has crippling arthritis and others are showing signs of minor issues with it in that group. Tonight, Caroline is not feeling well and she is under the old lady ramp that helps them go to the first rung on the ladder roost, very unusual, but I noticed she was acting lethargic and just not herself today. She is 9 yrs 9 mos old now and I can't say she'll make it to her 10th hatch-day, not the way she's been acting the last two weeks. Amanda is in front of the ramp on the floor with a lamp with a reptile bulb in it, adding a little heat spot but not much light-since Caroline is under that ramp, the entire area should be warmer and more comfortable for both of them.

These birds have not spent an entire winter in this barn yet. I have one of those oil-fired radiator-looking heaters that I can put in the center aisle of the barn if it really is unusually frigid, just to keep it at an okay level, but if I feel a bird is suffering pain in the joints, I'll add a heat spot in that pen, too. Overall, I don't want to actually heat the barn, per se, but there's no need for an aging hen (or rooster) to suffer. Atlas is flexing his right leg back again since we've had cooler night temps. His grandpa, Isaac, always had a reptile bulb in a fixture over his spot on the roost because of his legs being so painful.


Here is what they're expecting for this winter-we are in the "penetrating cold and very wet" area. Ladyhawk in Kentucky is in the "numbing cold and snowy". Ick for both of us.

 

[GingersHuman]

Big boo to the winter forecast