The Old Folks Home

[Bunnylady]

Quote: Hey, I'm OK with crickets - DD's lizard loves them!

 

[Pozees]

Love your post Pozees. I totally agree with what you put in it. And you said it much better than I would have. THANKS!

Thanks - and I have to say I have always thought living in Iowa must be excellent - is it? Or am I just imagining an idyllic life of green grass, being able to grow things, and no life-threatening weather events? I'm sure they happen occasionally, but it's where a lot of food is grown, so it must be pretty nice there, isn't it?

 

[Cynthia12]

I am on a thread that is about processing support for those that have trouble processing chickens.

We sometimes get a post or two from Vegans. Honestly, There is not a nice way to dispatch a chicken if you are opposed to eating meat.

We really did appreciate your great advice on the NYD hatch a long thread. A lot of them had much better hatch rates because of the great posts from you there.

Yes, Canoe, a great help on the NYD Hatch A Long.

 

[Cynthia12]

Crickets? ...You get Crickets?!!? My sound must be broke down.

Scott

Scott, seriously now, you can't hear the crickets? Listen..there, did ya hear that one..oh wait, there were a couple more. Oh man, they are really starting up now!

 

[ozexpat]

Australia devastated England in cricket this Aussie summer

Maybe thats what you are hearing.....

 

[tnspursfan09]

Hey, I'm OK with crickets - DD's lizard loves them!

One Cricket is enough for me.

 

[kingfrodo]

thanks for the great replies about the turkeys. I do believe I may need to accidentally stumble across a pair this spring.....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Ok, this is totally off topic but as you all know; the weather is warmer on this thread than others.

With that being said. I REALLY am in love with bourbon Red turkeys.

I would love to have a pair just b/c they are pretty. My question is can you eat the eggs?

Not sure what I would do with her eggs when she starts laying.
I don't have the desire to hatch or anything like that.

I just want a pair b/c they would make great yard ornaments

There are so many beautiful varieties of those big lawn ornaments.
As someone else said. They taste like chicken eggs to me. You can eat any kind of egg. It's nature's perfect animal protein fruit. IMO, the reason you don't hear of people eating turkey eggs so much is that they don't produce like a leghorn and the eggs are too valuable for hatching than to sell them for eating. I haven't had domestic turkeys (relatively calm wild ones visit often) but a friend of mine (wait for it!) has a couple house turkeys. I think I even have a picture somewhere of a mutual acquaintance in South Africa and her house turkey in the entryway of her elegant home. Keep in mind, I'm not a fan of poultry as house pets but those people don't have toms so they have them as ornaments and therapy animals. My friend doesn't eat eggs either and occasionally I get some eating eggs gifted. Hers are a royal palm and a blue slate.

If you have a pair, your hen will most likely go broody, sit on and hatch eggs after she collects a clutch.

As I was catching up on the last ... I don't know, 6 pages? of the thread, I stopped to watch Chris Hayes' interview with Richard Sherman. For background, I stopped watching football when Jerry Jones said Jimmy Johnson should be grateful to work for the Cowboys and not ask for a raise, and I suddenly had an epiphany about the effect money/ego/rich guys were having on football. I just don't enjoy it anymore. I still watch the occasional last two minutes of a first half or a game, but aside from the fact every local news show is All Peyton Manning All The Time, I don't keep up. I was blissfully unaware of who Richard Sherman was or why his name was in the news, until tonight, in a hotel so can't spend time with chickens, cats, and Bob, I put on MSNBC and started catching up here. They played The Tape of his 25 second interview after the NFC Championship game, and then in two pieces played the interview Chris Hayes did with him this afternoon.

The correlation between all he said in that interview, and all that has recently been discussed here about how easy it is to be misinterpreted, and how we as people, our lives, and the world, are so much more than a few posts on BYC, really struck home. As he was talking about the difference in culture between Compton (I think?) where he grew up - sounds like "the projects" - and Stanford, where he earned his degree with good grades, I was reading ChickenCanoe's favorite quote from Mark Twain. If I was his mother I would be very proud of him right now. He is a nice kid. Okay he's really not a kid anymore I guess. If you have a chance to watch it or a tape of it, it's worth it. It isn't as if he said a particular thing that was remarkably profound, what got my attention was that he seemed honest and sincere and intelligent and in no way, shape, or form, the "thug" that apparently some of the media have made him out to be. He pointed out the recent misuse of that word, in fact.
.................
Ron, I never was notified about the switch of the Heritage Large Fowl thread and only know about it because you posted here. I located both the new threads one day, and decided not to click on them. There are kinder people to learn from. Walt and Fred are wonderful, but the way some other people will mercilessly pile on someone for having an opinion that doesn't match their own reminds me of how chickens and dogs will kill one of their own for showing weakness. Chickens and dogs have an instinctual reason to do so, people are just thoughtless and cruel. It is as if broadening one's perspective is too much like work. I dunno, I just know it isn't for me. Life is too short.
..................
I love purebreds, have them, will try to breed toward the SOP at every opportunity, but I don't need to be mean about it, and I don't have a low opinion of people who don't care to keep breeds pure or breed toward the standard, it is simply a choice I make with my flock. I hatch eggs from two local keepers whose chicks are not purebreds, and they are healthy, productive, adorable chicks. People love them - part of what they love is never knowing what they will look like as adults until they feather out. It's like the gift that keeps on giving.

I am so grateful for this thread

I saw Richard Sherman's on field interview, the ESPN post game interview where he compared what he did and what goes on at a hockey game and I saw the Chris Hayes interview. I came away with the same impression as you.

I guess I'm fortunate I never encountered the Heritage Large Fowl thread.

I agree, but it can also be a pleasant distraction. I think the reason I want to try my hand is because I have gotten a pretty good handle on raising mutts. I want to know if I can do anything when my decisions have long term consequences. It's simply more of a challenge...the next level, so to speak. I would hope people would learn to not take themselves so seriously. Unless they are breeding chickens to win shows for the prize money as sole support for their family, it's not so critical.

That's all you can do. The way they take it is hit or miss. I have offended someone and it was certainly not my intention, I had no problem apologizing, if only for hurting their feelings, and trying to explain my true intentions. If I make that apology as sincerely as I can, I can then remove myself without any feelings of guilt or responsibility.


I still think you need some Houndstooth clad white egg layers.....just sayin'........


There certainly is.....but at least you knew what you were dealing with. We all know it is a reflection on that person, not you.


You should come down south. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "large rivers" but we have everything from the Black Warrior, Tennessee, and Mississippi to the Ocoee (where they had the summer olympics years ago,) and Little River in the Smokies all the way down to Hurricane Creek near my home that you can't canoe in the summer because most areas are ankle deep, but in the spring, it is wonderful! There's also the Cahaba River that is a bit larger but not too much. Google those and let me know if I can help you plan your trip!

I do have a houndstooth white egg layer - a Jaerhon.

Thanks so much for the offer. I'll surely return the favor.

A large river to me is the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee. I don't mind dragging my canoe or portaging. That just means I'll be the only one out there, and no motorboats zipping by. My favorites are cold, clear streams that you can see the bottom (and all the smallmouth and trout). I've been on 80 % of the floatable streams in the Ozarks. Among my favorites in MO are the Jacks Fork, Eleven Point, North Fork, St. Francis, Current. In Arkansas, the Buffalo and White.

None of the following videos are of me as I haven't uploaded any of mine but a picture is worth a thousand words.
The first one is the St. Francis. I could actually float, starting on the Ouachita creek that flowed through our farm to this part of the St. Francis just a few miles downstream. Getting to the St. Francis on the Ouachita was much worse than the river itself.
I've floated it several times and once I went 55 miles all the way to Lake Wappapello.

One winter I floated 95 miles on the Current from Tan Vat hole at Montauk spring trout park to Big Spring. I was the only one on the river the whole way.

Buffalo. One summer vacation, my wife and kids floated from Ponca and then about 8 miles on the White after the Buffalo enters. Original plan was to do all Buffalo sections but water was too low.
Long video but worth it and you'll see why I like it. The river is very pristine with such variety of animals everywhere you look. It talks about how fickle river level can be. I've been there 6 times expecting to float and could only do so 3 times. Once it was too low and twice it was too high.

In the south I've been on the Chatooga near where NC, SC and GA meet. My wife rafted the New River in WV.

My family and I also rafted the Pacuare. Most consider it among the top 10 white water destinations in the world.
It was truly one of our best experiences ever.
http://livewellnetwork.com/Motion/episodes/Rafting-the-Pacuare-River-in-Costa-Rica/9020796

Has anyone here raised birds from Frank Reese? A friend is going to pick up chicks from him in mid-March and offered to bring back with him anything I wanted to buy - saves money and worry having them transported by a caring human I actually know! I have long heard of how wonderful his Barred Rocks are, and also learned he has several Mediterranean breeds - including Buff and Dark Brown Leghorns - not Rose Combs, he only has RC Leghorns in White, but he does have Rose Comb Anconas and Minorcas ... ugh ... I cannot afford to house more than one or maybe two more breeds, and I probably shouldn't try, but the temptation is great. Can someone talk me down? Or talk me into one specifically that is a must-have from his flock?

I'm not talking you down. I'm going to enable and I vote for Minorcas.

Thanks - and I have to say I have always thought living in Iowa must be excellent - is it? Or am I just imagining an idyllic life of green grass, being able to grow things, and no life-threatening weather events? I'm sure they happen occasionally, but it's where a lot of food is grown, so it must be pretty nice there, isn't it?

Winter isn't always good but you're right, much of it is idyllic. I love the eastern side in the rolling hills near the Mississippi river.

Yes, Canoe, a great help on the NYD Hatch A Long.

Thanks. I'm a bit addicted.
I had to laugh when Ron sent the PM about the best hatch-a-long participant. He had a Freudian slip. It said pest hatch a long. I thought, "well yes, I was a pest".

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Quote: Well...I keep my volume on mute. But, they still hop around the screen...

I get so many crickets on the rest of the threads I post on....if I could only pull them out...my chickens would be so happy. The internet makes people mean. I am finding that on many different places that I try to communicate in. FB, you name it.

 

[chickadoodles]

I am persistent so I get along there now.

I still hear some crickets every now and then though....

I don't need to fit in anywhere really Ron. I have been listening and learning from them anyway. A couple of people did message me after the incident and told me to message them if I had any questions or needed any help Jeff was one of them. And ever since I just ask you all here on the OFH any questions I have and you all help me with out all the drama. I like that.

I'm pretty sure that it wasn't a "regular" there, but, rather, a young man who raised LH who was insulted that I dared to post a photo of my sub-par LH.

I am sorry you got it bad. Don't let it get to you! Keep your chicken up! lol