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

[kitkat5505]

Well...it looks like Christmas around here is going to be very peaceful. I am one of those folks that wishes that I could go to sleep a couple weeks before and then have someone wake me up when it's done and let me know what happened

I think that's because when I was younger with kids around, it never felt like I could afford to do enough.

We've started a new tradition with my adult kids. We don't buy gifts for each other, but we do a variation on what my Grandma did. She called it the "lucky tub". She would purchase inexpensive gifts, wrap them and put them in the tub (an old wash-tub). They would each have numbers on them. Then we'd pick a number from a bowl, and get whatever was in that numbered gift. They were really inexpensive, but it was fun for us at Grandmas.

So each of us brings 2 gifts wrapped that are $15 worth. We put them all in the "tub" (a wire half-bushel in this case), then we play short competitive games like "minute to win it" that have been altered to make it work. Then the winner of each game gets to pick a gift. Of course, everyone wins, and I usually put a few more in than 2.

This seriously has taken that feeling of wanting to hide out of Christmas. We enjoy playing the games and eating, and no one is stressed over finding the "perfect gift".

My family does a white elephant gift exchange at my Mom’s for the adults. Anyone who wants to participate brings a $20 gift and we draw numbers and pick a gift in that order and have the choice to steal someone else’s gift or choose a wrapped one. This helps because I’ve got a big family and it keeps the pressure off having to buy something for everyone. The kids get gifts from grandparents and sometimes from a couple aunts and uncles, but most of the party is focused on eating and spending time together.

I love Christmas, but I’m also relieved when it’s over and all that stress is gone for another year.

I’ve had people ask me how my chickens can lay eggs without a rooster, if brown eggs are healthier, if I am going to hatch some (again, no rooster...), etc. Common sense isn’t so common these days.

 

[getaclue]

Back in the 80's when they were doing the Farm Aid concerts, the main focus was about local farmers needing money. The message about the critical role the local farmers played in their communities was never really addressed. When people should have been jumping on the bandwagon to take measures to slow down big govt., and commercial farming, they didn't, because the need for it was not stressed enough. I'm not even sure they knew back then the full impact of getting rid of locally producing farms.

Commercial farmers wanted local farmers out, because it cut into their income. They had the money, and power to get legislation passed to change the requirements, so that the smaller local farms could not reasonably expect to be able to afford to meet the requirements. I don't think anyone back then really saw the scope, and range of the negative impact this would have over the years. It's sad.

 

[speckledhen]

There are people around here who refuse to eat blue/green eggs

My ridiculous DIL will not even eat brown eggs. Just another reason I'm not thrilled with her. I've said over and over that it's only because of the breed of chicken, that I do not have any white egg layers, but it falls on deaf ears. And my son just chuckles at it. I want to whap them both upside the head. It's another case of willing ignorance.

Well, Maretta sounds like she's gearing up to go broody since she's laying again. She will be 7 years old in April when the older Stukel hens are. She screeches at other hens and I think I just heard a quiet cluck or two from her. She's raised three broods in her life, if I am remembering correctly, always a good mom. She showed my cat what a broody will do to you if you get too close so he leaves chicks alone, LOL.

The Brahmas are doing very well. Bailey still has a little doughy golfball size mass in her crop, but she is showing more energy and is spending some time with her group. Betsy is gaining weight again slowly after her crop crisis, looks really good as far as her feathering goes, but I can still feel some quills so she's not quite over the molt yet. Brandy, Bonnie and B.J. are back to to full Brahma size again, especially B.J. as you can see in this short video:

 

[getaclue]

That's because brown eggs cost more in the supermarket, and her parents cut costs by buying inferior white eggs....Toss that one out at her.

 

[speckledhen]

That's because brown eggs cost more in the supermarket, and her parents cut costs by buying inferior white eggs....Toss that one out at her.

Well, if I ever see her, I will, but I also have no extra eggs to send home with them so I guess for the time being, it's a moot point. Let her be ignorant.

 

[1muttsfan]

Oh that Bash is a handsome lad

 

[speckledhen]

Oh that Bash is a handsome lad

Thanks, I sure think so. He's just a big doll.

I was making a lapghan, but I began making too many mistakes and it was not going to come out right so I stopped, edged it and made it a shawl/wrap. On to other stuff now.

 

[kitkat5505]

Yes, Bash is such a handsome guy. Love all those fluffy feathered legs.

I’m busy trying to fix my Mom’s old netbook. It has been going downhill for years and now she can’t get it to startup. Hoping I can get it started up at least once to backup files. Planning to find her a used laptop to replace it, nothing fancy since she just uses it for basic stuff.

 

[getaclue]

Wow! I LOVE the colors, and design of your shawl/wrap. It's beautiful.

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, Bash is such a handsome guy. Love all those fluffy feathered legs.

I’m busy trying to fix my Mom’s old netbook. It has been going downhill for years and now she can’t get it to startup. Hoping I can get it started up at least once to backup files. Planning to find her a used laptop to replace it, nothing fancy since she just uses it for basic stuff.

We sure love big old Sebastian around here!

I have a little Acer netbook that my friend, Ellie, bought me when I broke my ankle and was stuck in bed. We were on the phone and I said I never saw the attraction of laptops until I couldn't sit at my computer and now, I sure wish I had one. She said something like, "Well, it was going to be a surprise, but it's on the way". She had ordered me one and that little thing saved my sanity. It was an amazingly generous gift. I still fire it up from time to time, though it's so far out of date now, eight years later. I was writing on it, using it as a word processor while sitting in bed.

Wow! I LOVE the colors, and design of your shawl/wrap. It's beautiful.

Thanks. The colors didn't translate all that well in the photo. The red is Boysenberry, a deep purple-red color, the blue is called Peacock. But, I thought it made a pretty nice shawl. I was afraid if I continued with stitch counts going wonky, that a couch afghan would be out of shape by the time it was the full size.