The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

I'll send that one to my sister...how very accurate!

Quote:
Nope...sis's PO is as equidistant to the nearest airport as mine is. Two hours from any airport here and also at her house/PO.

I hesitate to post a photo unless he doesn't make it. He is loud. He is fat. He sure is a pretty little thing. But he isn't really using his little legs. So I set him up with scrambled egg. Might try a little liver later.



He was getting a little sweaty in my bra, so I gave him a private room.




Okay, not so private.

LJ, I LOVE your animals!!!

Soooooooo ...

We found the spot where she brooded them. I'll post photos of that later ... it's a little weeping evergreen "Nesting Box." There were lots of hatched eggshells in there, and one lone egg. All the shells appear to be the same shade of light brown, so it is *possible* they are all her eggs, but that little bush has been where other escaped hens like to lay, so who knows.

We counted the chicks in the clutch. There are 17, and they are all different.

With the little guy in my office, that's 18.

And with the one unhatched egg, that's 19!

She isn't even a particularly large or fluffy hen.

Mark that hen....she'd be one I'd be breeding, no matter her breed. That's a survivor and a good breeder.....she's exactly what I look for in my hens.

Problem child (CX meat chicken)...

TW, your meaties are looking great! Very clean very feathered, very round.

This very moment, as I type, I can hear the sound of the skil saw up by the barn. My wonderful DH is working away on my "little school house" brooder/grow out coop!!!

He has a plan, he says. I can not wait!! Does that mean that these chickies will be out of my laundry room by the time they are two weeks old? Is that even possible?

Must have pics! Can't wait!!!

Oh my goodness how ready I am to go home!! I know what is waiting for me there and I'm quite aware of what I will be giving up- pain, depression, a fat old body that's doesnt wk as well as it used to, hurt, disappointment , death, loneliness, anxiety, worry, never having enough money to make ends meet. I'd give it all up on a heartbeat! My girls and parents, the most important people in my life, will all meet me there when it is their time. It will be nothing short of glorious!!!

Amen!!! Wishing to stay here is like thinking a mudhole in the driveway is a Caribbean paradise.

Good news Blooie. I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.
I find it difficult to convince people I am not depressed or suicidal when I say I am excited for the after life. I have a good life here and many people I love very very much. It is not like I am in a hurry to die however I don't fear death. I worry about the process of dying but not about what happens after I take my last breath. I do think being a nurse has forced me to contemplate life and death and a lot of people go to great lengths to never consider it. I can totally understand when someone says they are looking forward to Going Home.

Me too!!! What's with that? I'm not depressed either....just the opposite! I'm one of the most joyful people I know and it's precisely because I don't fear death nor want to avoid it that I can truly be free to be joyful....one can never truly live until they get used to the idea that they will surely die, so every moment should be used as well as one can...not in fear, depression, misery or discontent because all those things are wasting your moments.

And, yes, nursing does that for you....my last several years as a nurse were as a hospice nurse, so even more exposure to death, dying and leaving this place.

Hey guys!

So I caught this opposum and I'm like I think I'll try to train it. I've been thinking about trying that for a while now. So I did. I named him Bob. Well today Bob had babies.

Unrelenting rain has kept me in the house after work for a week. Only going out to let the chooks out of the run to range for an hour or two and gather eggs. Well not being seen for the week must of given the aerial predators the go ahead to start nesting in prime hunting ground.

I know you probably can't pick it out but its there (excuse my garage in perpetual state of rebuild)

Chicken coop and run.

See it yet

How about now. Pair of red tail hawks home build project going on. I've been going out every night while the chooks are on the loose. Hope I can put end to the unwanted building project.

That's not good....when predators build a nest over your chicken coop you've got problems.

Just saw Linda. She's awake and talking - well, whispering - and handled this morning's dialysis well. She said, "Hold my hand." When I could finally see her hand through my tears, I took it.

There was a little half smile. "You held my hand the whole time and I didn't let go." A little pause while she took a breath. "I knew if I let go you'd come and find me."

Thank you God, for Linda and for my amazing family. I am in no hurry to leave this Earth - I don't want to miss one precious moment with them. And thank you, my new found friends, for the prayers and support.

And I know you posted the woodwork for Bruce. Is it okay if I peeked too? WOW!

LOVE this story, Blooie!! I'm so very pleased for you and for LInda....prayers answered! Woot!

Hi
I would like to pull up a chair and join you on the porch. I have spent many hours on the front porch swing growing up and boy do I miss it! I"m from New Mexico. I just got 5 beautiful 2 month old Barred Rocks. These are my first little chicks. My grandmother and aunts had chickens so I grew up with chickens when I was young, but I have never had any of my own. I have always loved them and decided to have a backyard farm. I have 3 dogs and a horse now I have 5 little chicks.

Welcome to the Porch!!!

So glad you and your chicks could join us...we all have many animals here, so make yourself to home on the Porch and jump in when you can.

Good.... I am glad. Raising up a baby for a pet is one thing but taming a wild one.... Plus they carry a zipload of diseases and parasites...

from http://daviswiki.org/opossums

""Opossums very rarely carry rabies because of their unusually low (for mammals) body temperatures. However, they are known to carry diseases like leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, and trichomoniasis.""

deb

I'm glad too....folks imagine wild animals will benefit from our love and our care simply because we have so much to give, but in all actuality, they much prefer their natural habitat and their own kind and that's where they will thrive best.

 

[tntchix]

Well, sitting here in my OPEN HOUSE waiting for a buyer to show up ...

Man, I gotta get this house sold. Missing too much back in WI.

DH called to tell me he found a soft spot in the hay field. Yep, he buried the Tahoe out in the field. Without the big ole' Dodge, the tractor, the ATV's or really any of the get-you-unstuck equipment. All that stuff is sitting here with me in Wyoming. He used his floor jack, carried out across the field on the zero turn mower the former owner left for us. Along with a bunch of lumber - that had to be many trips on that mower to get it all out there and back. I can see it in my head and LMAO.

Hopefully the neighbors are thinking "yep, he fits in" and not "Oh my gawd, the new neighbors are freaking idiots!"

oh my. I hate when that happens.

I had similar problem last winter, all my get-u-unstuck equipment is here, but I'd never used it and teen son tried to help and we both got stuck (in the dang driveway). Nasty ice was under snow. DH was 1600 miles away, so no help there. Passerby saw us still trying to get unstuck at night and pulled in and unburied both of us.

Best wishes on your home sale, been there waiting, waiting, waiting, then Boom. Sold.

 

[Beekissed]

That soft spot would be a great place for a pond....

 

[Triple Willow]

@Bee... thanks. The pullets all look like that one but the roos are still a little mangy looking (thin feathering) and smaller. I'd love to keep a couple of these pullets. I hope they stay healthy and I can.

 

[Triple Willow]

I think the answer is.....   It depends.       If they got along before the odds are they would get along in a Broody space....  And 7 x 13 is a good sized space.   What you can do is divide the space with a little wall of Chick proof wire.    As long as the chicks are contained the hens will be contained.

deb

Good idea Deb.

 

[LBejaran]

Money is gonna be tight for a little while, it seems.

Don't get me wrong; I expected to not have money for awhile since I quit my job (and Thank The Lord I have such great, supportive parents who have taken care of me when I did and didn't have a job). However, I had hoped there wouldn't be any extra expenses which obviously hasn't worked out.

I really don't want to cut into my savings since my student loan payments come out of there.

So, if anyone is interested, I'm painting custom eggs and selling them! I'm trying to sell them locally, but I figured I'd put this out there! After all, Mother's Day is coming up and don't you all want to share your chicken fixation with all your favorite mothers/grandmothers/etc? .

 

[Beekissed]

Looked up how to sex Khaki Campbell ducklings vid and got my hands on George, the KC duckling......not George..Georgia!

 

[LBejaran]

Looked up how to sex Khaki Campbell ducklings vid and got my hands on George, the KC duckling......not George..Georgia! 

It's just the best feeling in the world, right? I love finding out my birds are girls after weeks of thinking I only have boys. If only I had a single male duck that I could rely on. We picked up three ducklings from TSC about two months ago and I thought I'd get at least 1 boy. It looks like I got all girls.

If only it worked out that way all the time, hehe!

 

[lovingmyhens]

I let Bob go guys. 

Good idea!!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I let Bob go guys. 

Wishing Roberta and her little ones all the best for the future!