The Front Porch Swing

[Tomtommom]

Oh, btw, Foghorn is a white rock (according to TSC). But he looks like foghorn leghorn, so who cares?

 

[Blooie]

My grandson Jamie and his wife Rachel just sent me a text message with a picture of Landyn, our great-grandson.

 

[ducksanddoxies]

My grandson Jamie and his wife Rachel just sent me a text message with a picture of Landyn, our great-grandson.

What a cutie!

 

[Blooie]

What a cutie!

Yep,he is....um, can you read his shirt?

 

[enola]

Is there another baby on the way???

 

[ducksanddoxies]

Yep,he is....um, can you read his shirt?  

Best brother ever. I'm guessing he's been an only child up to this point?

 

[tntchix]

My grandson Jamie and his wife Rachel just sent me a text message with a picture of Landyn, our great-grandson.

I assume congrats are in order?

 

[Blooie]

YES!! to all questions! That picture is how Jamie and Rachel broke the news that they are expecting another baby! So happy for them, and excited to meet great-grandchild number 2! Won't be for a while yet, she's not due until the end of February. But what a sneaky way they had to tell us! In fact, I got the text, texted back about how big he's getting, then noticed the shirt! I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes! But we are deliriously happy about it. Thanks for the congrats! I'll pass them on - as soon as I stop grinning!

 

[lazy gardener]

Blooie: I think Pearly girl is beautiful.

Tomtommom: You'll know for sure whether Foghorn is a leg horn or a white rock when he starts laying eggs!!!!!

Sorry, this is what sleep deprivation does.

What color are his earlobes?

 

[bruceha2000]

Off to the Columbus Zoo today. Jayla has a flight out to go home tonight so we decided we could get in one last treat. We will do as much of the zoo as we can then go to the airport. Having both girls here has been a handful. Madi had just really settled in when Jayla arrived. For two weeks neither of them has done much except fight and sleep. Starting tomorrow Madi will have a schedule again and get back to her schoolwork. I will be relieved. Having two teens in the house has been a little stressful. Thank God I have a very patient and understanding husband. Yesterday he took them out and gave them shooting lessons. The grins on their faces were priceless. They sent pics to their parents before we were back to the house. Well, off to fix everyone breakfast, get the car loaded, and pack a lunch. After paying almost $20 for 2 dipping dots and 3 waters the other day at The Wilds, we will be bringing our own treats to the zoo!!!! Welcome Aussiegal

You will enjoy the company here.

Just be glad you don't have both of them all the time. My girls are still like that at 19 and 21. Separated this past while the younger one was at school and it didn't take more than a couple of hours before they were bickering at each other. Eventually (I hope) they will outgrow their early "pecking order" and figure out they are equals. The older one talked for the younger one for quite a while and has yet to figure out that she has a mind and voice of her own and that the older sister "job" is not permanent.

Welcome Aussiegal! You have quite the menagerie. Got kangaroos? They look so cool, but I bet they wreck havoc on a garden!


My coop will be either 8 or 10 x 12, so, if i allow the flock to have access under any of it, it will just be a small area that i will be able to reach under with a rake. It would definitely provide nice option for cooling off in the hot summer weather, but I don't want anyone to start laying under there, or using that space for sleeping instead of going in to roost. I have a while to think on it. Hubby is the brains with design, as he's got an extensive background in building design. I also want to check building codes to be sure that our construction plan doesn't hike our tax rate any more than necessary. ie: if i have permanent plumbing and electric, vs "temporary (in theory only) plumbing and electric". I'd love to have an open floor... bare ground to facilitate deep litter, but don't think that will be an option given our building site. And a solid floor will be an asset if sometime down the road the building gets repurposed into a tool or work shed.
Normal is just a setting on the washer.

Ditto.

I still say make it EITHER high enough for them to get under easily OR not at all. If they decide to lay eggs there, it won't matter if it is cosy. In fact, that might encourage it. They are less likely to lay under there if it is very open. They won't sleep there at night, they will want to be up off the ground.

If I have a slack time in egg laying, I don't buy eggs. I am sorry, store bought eggs do not taste like eggs.

So, I hatch at least 6 pullets every spring so they will lay all winter.

And they don't LOOK like eggs either! All the same color? Pale yellow yolks? Nope, not real eggs

Hey guys! I just saw my 'funny' rooster crow.... what a pathetic sound. Sort of like a 8 week old cockerel. I am pretty sure he is one year old this month. Maybe I should name him Daniel. Well......maybe not ......I have a grandson named Daniel. .....

Ah go ahead! My daughter named the 2 Partridge Chanteclers after her grandmother and aunt (last name Partridge).

Hey folks, remember when I told you how happy Aimee was to finally after 10 days be able to catch the little runaway dog? Bottom line is the owners are not prepared to live with the 14 day medication and the fact that the dehydration might have blinded her so they put her down. On the weekend and are going to of course bill Aimee for charges. That dog left here happy, tired and de-ticked. She would have needed an antibiotic and possibly could have lost her sight. but, you know, we were so thrilled to be able to get her home. Destroyed within 6 hrs. Dr and his wife have plenty of money. and took photos of the 10 year old boy holding his dead dog. Probably going to sue for damages and suffering. This woman never said that Tinker was an escape artist and regularly got out of their yard. Sometimes I'm so disappointed in people. I always expect the best. Not this time.

It was pretty clear early on that the owners didn't give a rat's patootie about that dog. Anyone who did care about their animal would have been out there day and night, put posters all over the place.

You are in my prayers.
Linda, I'd further recommend that your daughter have no further verbal contact with this woman. Any contact should be in writing, preferably by e-mail, so she can keep a detailed record of all interactions. She should sit down at this time, and write down her recollection of all conversations, dates and times, and who said what and any one who may have been present to witness any of the conversation. She should collect names of all of the people who turned out to help search for the dog, the amount of time she spent looking for the dog, and the effort she put into finding the dog. Also write anything the owner stated about her own time spent looking for her dog. If she can't get a statement from the dog's vet, she can get a statement from her own vet about the typical treatment and prognosis in a similar situation. Since when do we euthanize an animal because something MIGHT happen? I'm thankful that we don't use the same standard for people. My hearing isn't so good... and my eye sight is not as good as it used to be... I'm glad the dear woman's Dr. husband is not my doctor!!!

Very good advice. Sadly, it is always one person's word against the other so she wants to make sure every possible bit of evidence is in her favor. Given the money available, the dog's owners might hire a lawyer which will then end up costing your daughter having to pay for a lawyer as well. It can break the bank very quickly give what they charge.

I totally forgot to post these pics of Daphne/Daniel.

Are those hackle feathers actually pointed or do they look like that because of the penciling? She simply will not tolerate being held.


She's 18 weeks old. I don't see anything that really says "roo" but I admit that one day I look at her and see a him, the next day a she. <sigh> Thanks for your help!

Daphne. Look at the comb and wattles. 18 weeks? That is not a rooster. You are correct that the penciling makes the feathers LOOK pointed, but look at the ends carefully, they are rounded.

I was right the last time so clearly I MUST be right this time given my 100% accuracy rate with your chickens so far.

I think the fascination with the EEs and their colored eggs is why I initially chose them. Instead I love them more because they're like snowflakes - no two are alike! Even as chicks they each looked different, and as they got older it was still easy to tell who was who. Pearl was my darkest colored chick, and Agatha was my light yellow with a little blue on her head and back. She's now white with tan edges and scattered blue feathers, with a blue and white beard. Mathilda and Daphne looked the most alike, and if you're not looking at the heads they still are - both black and white and grey, but while Daphne has a white head and neck and no beard, Mathilda has a black head and a profuse beard. Gladys, well, she's just Gladys - she was a light tan chick and is now a glorious shade of deep gold.

I never even thought about what a mess those beards would be with FF. Oh, I'll bet they look so silly! Do you clean it off or do they manage to do that - eventually? If I was to start over with chickens I think I'd get just EEs and nothing else. The Gold Laced Wyandottes are so much alike we call them "The Quints." The Marans are "The Twins". The Buff Orpingtons have slight differences - Jane is the only one I can consistently pick out though. The Red Sex Links are pretty easy, but you have look expressly for those differences to identify. You can't tell just at a glance. I suspect Mathilda will be my next layer. For a couple of weeks now she's been really affectionate, purrs (I don't know how else to describe the sound) and as of this week if I even move my hand toward her palm down she squats and stays there for a bit. I caught her coming out of a nest box this morning, but there was nothing there except one wooden egg, and I don't think she laid it!

Yep, Mathilda in a day or two! I agree on the EEs. If I were raising birds that I would eat, I'd probably go for a flock of all the same breed, nearly impossible to tell apart. Much harder to get "attached" if you can't tell one from the other.

By the by, I USED to be able to easily tell the Faverolles apart, until after they moulted. Anais got darker around the neck which was the telling point between she and Clemence. The Anconas as well, Last year Zia's comb hung to the right, Yue's to the left and it was bigger. This year, Zia's is almost straight and not much different in size than Yue's which while still on the left is more of a lean than a hang.

Bruce