The Old Folks Home

[ChickenCanoe]

Yes...Elaine is a WAY better dancer.

In my mind's eye...it is this...



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I personally gave up on trying to go organic. I don't feed animals to our birds as in we only feed them vegetable proteins but that is as far as I was willing to go. It would be costly to attempt to implement a "no GM and only organic feed" regiment with the amount of critters we feed here daily. I go thru about a ton a month, so 2,200 pounds of feed every thirty days (so 1 1/3 feed store 55 pound bags a day) not counting hay and such for the ruminants. Right now I am also going thru a 55 pound bag of oyster shell every few weeks---waterfowl bumping consumption way up to make egg shells.

I can only imagine what any of this would cost if we tried to do this all organically and GM free. My part time job would need to become full time and then who would do the chores?

Tara

I laughed so hard. I love your mind's eye.

That's a lot of feed.
The

What are some of u old timers opinions on vaccinations and deworming. Ive been reading alot of conflicting info. Some are saying "if it aint broke..dont fix it.. Others are the ounce of prevention is better...

Everybody's situation is different.
I never vaccinate. I have dewormed a couple times but not on a schedule but only if there's a heavy load.

~~////////////////////////////////////////// Tornadoes are moving through the area now. One just moved right through the heart of St. Louis.
Taking cover.

 

[Pozees]

Every situation is different, and each of us makes decisions based on the unique situation we are dealing with. No one is wrong. What works for one may not work for another.

 

[Pozees]

Oh geez, ChickenCanoe, make sure and let us know you are okay as soon as you are able.

 

[ozexpat]

HANG ON TO YOUR HAT CANOE

BE SAFE!!

 

[Arielle]

My first hatch - my first chick.

Congrats!!!! I still remember THAT feeling of the first hatching.

Quote: I have muscovey-- started with 3-- now have extras . . . . they love the water in the stream to bath even in the frigid winter water. Brrr.

getaclue, congrats on your first hatch!

ChickenCanoe, I got a chuckle out of your daughter's snack selections and her comment about when not to shop Been guilty of the same in the past!

Your comment about how food is made into pellets and then crumbles interested me, I didn't realize (I don't know why, I guess I never really thought it through) something had to be added to get the ground grains into pellet form. I have been meaning to go back to fermenting or at least soaking for months, and now that it's getting warmer I have to get on it. SO much waste - cleaned out pens last weekend and OMG, one pen was more food that bedding and droppings.

We had this problem too!! Our solution was to stop at McD for a 1$ burger-- sure saved a lot of money at the grocery across the street. Our rule is never shop when hungry.

Sorry to hear it bama. When I worked healthcare....and 3 yrs in a physical therapy dept at a hospital, the physical therapist as well as the occupational therapists said that orthopedic injuries will most always cause problems to the patient in their future years. Arthritis, pain, etc....
Hopefully, whatever you are able to keep in motion, Range of Motion, will help you through the years.

Quote:

I cant really complain. While going through phys therapy i met alot of people who have it alot worse. The accident has brought me closer to my family, friends, and God. Also helped me realize the things that i enjoy the most ( growing veggies, chickens, fishing, hunting, brewing beer).

Keeping active is huge-- took my wrist 2 yrs before I could hammer again. ANd I'll mention it again: swapping out breads and other high carb foods for low carb vegies and LC sweets has made all the difference in my wrist. Fortunately no pain anymore . . . though this could change in the future . . . for now it is functional . . . so eat a lot of those vegies from your garden.WHat are you planting this year??

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING...

Irresponsible viewing of the following post may lead to life long addiction...you bin warned!

Heel low:
April FOOLS day today...so a bit of fun and a few words of advice (and lots of photos) for our foolish hearts...

Quote:
Originally Posted by ronott1

They are so cute though....

Hmm, time to DISable the enablers, eh? Before it is too late.

Right now, we are all safe up here in the Great White North...safe not sorry!

NO, no hatching of waterfowls, not yet--any photos with GREEN are not now...WHITE here (oh the after affects of SNOW blindness, but I digress from my reasons to post) ...the Geese, the Appleyards, Dutch Hookbills, the Crested and ALL the bantam ducks (Indies, Oz Spotted, and Calls...oh the Calls are calling, "YOU WHO have the ultimate CONTROL--or lack there of!

) are laying up a storm of mega EGGS! A STORM of eggs that are freezing at our last night temp of -20C/-4F (I know...what? again? They say, "March; in like a lion, out like a lamb"...not lions & lions and yet more LIONS--someone is LIEing right sure of that!)

A nice scene, eh...an very nice scene until...I tell you! The story to unfold is painful to tell...delightful to witness but absolutely dangerous to READ if you do not heed the warning signs. Signs of immanent addiction, a trap, a snare...dangerous!

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They look so innocent, so non-LIFE STYLE threatening and that my Dears is going to be YOUR undoing downfall. Never happens "just over night" either...I have been at this darn near half a century and no you don't get stronger...like old cheese...you get WEAKER like a rubber band that has been pluck strummed one too many times on a mock makeshift guitar. You fall victim to the gaze, the steady eye contact...the FORCE that is cutester...the steady stare of "We know you WANNA!" and I am here now to warn you...don't give in, don't look them in the...STOP...don't do it...don't l00k them in the....

​

Dang it all! You didn't did you? Did you look, did you LOOK them in the EYE (oh my eye, I cry for you)
Misery loves company!

​

​

You are done for now...these little Ancona patterned Call ducks (a blue one and a black one) have the massive powerful force of the DUCK-DUCK EYE (more powerful than witch's brew eye of newt!). Look at even the TOES of the Black! Them are surely webbers lovenly marked by the Creator (not me...oh no, I make no claim to fame for how cute they be!). Even the tiny webber toes are carefully painted up to entice even the strongest stone of hearts to utter the inevitable...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ​

Never EVER make eye contact...never look that tea candled sized webber in the eyes!

Avert thine eyes...cover your eyes...do not gaze upon the ducks, no looking ducklings in the EYES....​

Blue Fawns, Greys, Pieds, Blue Bibbed, even the mighty Chocolate Calls!
Why yes, there is a chocolate even better than the eating coco kinds!

All will be lost for you...next thing, you will find yourself enslaven...ball and chained to a four letter occupation (WORK--even if you are retired you will find yourself at a part time job once again) to pay for your wrong doings, your weaknesses, your inability to simply say NO!

Time for the stand up confessions of a <<sigh>> duckaholic, addicted to quack....

"Heel low thar, my name is Tara and I am a duckaholic..." <<<head hangs in shame>>>

There is no cure past....past feeding the beast...making more of the same and admitting you cannot fight it. No hope once you take the plunge, no cure past adding even more ducks...hair of the dog, yes, that is the only solution.


I have three words for any of you thinking about ducks...very simple advice from an addict and not ever gonna be a recovering one I fear...never not an addict!

FTD...​

as in FEAR THE DUCK! Words from the wise (or really stupid to have weakened to it...remember, you don't have to LEAVE eggs in their quarters...you can STOP this...collect yer eggs up & not to incubate but to...STOP the plague of FTD!)


Here's what I mean...and I'll use my Mandarins as an example.

As we have aged, Rick and I have begun to focus more on the easier to maintain and manage poultry. The wild kinds such as the Australian Black Swans, the Ruddy Shels, and the Mandarins! Not in your face like the flirty ducks of Mallard descent like the Call ducks, but those breeds of waterfowl that prefer not to be messed with. The WILD ones! Bit of TLC and they are very much good to go...all on their lone. They don't desire your attentions, time and observations (though we still love to look at their prettiness!). quite happy with minimal care and thrive well.

​

Mandarins are nice ducks, not domestic, a wild duck; we keep these wild type ducks captive. So pretty these ducks...eye candy. So pretty and yet, so utterly manipulative--they grow on you (like moss might if one ever stops moving along) ...here we go on the journey of self discovery...if my words and photos can save a life from the lifetime of toil and servitude...my work here will not go unrewarded.

Starts out innocent enough...about middle of May (also when the real wild migrating Wood Ducks in our area begin also!), I note the captive wild Mandarin hens start visiting the nest boxes...



See the Mandarin hen above, in the far nest box entrance hole; she's been in, laying her clutch of Mandarin eggs.

​

It gets serious when they tear out chest down and cover the growing pile up of eggs after they leave...of this clutch, she laid nine eggs. I candled them and five had chilled & were clears--1st timer hen. So she hatched the four (cover thine eyes--no eye contact with the FTDuckling monsters...like Medusa--maybe best use a mirror to read this post!).

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The young hen, she began laying too early (she did better the next year, began later plus I left dummy eggs in and took the beginnings of the clutch OUT to hold where they would not freeze--me learning too!) and hatched out seven!

Mandarin ducklings are tiny, they are fast, they are ever so cute too.



And they grow! All you gotta do is blink and nothing beats the growth rate and speed of ducks ... fast and efficient...



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For in the wild, these tree ducklings would be hatching beginning of June and able to fly and migrate come September--not a lot of time, eh?

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Time to get big and be on their way...or not...for if you have a Hero like my Rick...he will build you the Taj Mahal...

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The ultimate building to house the wild Mandy ones...and then...yes then...

Them ducklings will become DUCKS that can fly and when you go inside to do chores, they will fly up, and up and up and look DOWN upon you...you who are a mere servant slave to the FTD wonderous ones.

​

Taunt you and laugh...laugh hearty with their good digs, and foods, and dabbling pools...you who be the "room service" and never get any tip past everyone is a critic for your troubles and efforts.

Them Mandarins will shout out to you...

"Have you not left for work yet? What's the hold up...are you TIRED? Phht...phht!" <with a head shake or three>...

"Get up and hurry along now--dunna wanna be late for your important date!"





Can you hear the whistling (Mandarins don't quack) LAUGHTERS of the ever so UNgratefuls standing POOL side?
​

So let MY lessons be YOUR lessons...this April Fool's Day of 2014.

Anyone not heeding the warning...FTD...well you are no stronger or weaker than I...FTD...and I am not just contemplating sending you all "dead flowers" either.

Take a bow...!!.....Tara Lee Higgins!!! That was quite the post!!!!

Worth posting again!!!! Ducks just are NOT chickens-- gotta have a little of both.

 

[Arielle]

THe buckeye chicks arrived this morning. A day late. Hopefully the USPS will back up their money back guarentee on the shipping. Not likely.

All the chicks seem to be in good shape. THough very hungry and thirsty!! THe house is full of peeping again!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

We're in the clear for now.
A tornado touched down about 8 miles south of me as the crow flies right in the middle of the metro area. A lot of trees came down, buckled the pavement and caused a gas leak making everyone in the area evacuate at 4 AM. I was watching the weather live when they were showing the rotation on Doppler. That rotation moved straight east right through downtown. So far, no injuries reported but some messed up houses and cars.

We're supposed to be getting 3 more bouts of severe weather this afternoon, this evening and in the wee hours of the morning. The lightning and thunder has been pretty consistent since about 2 am and it's almost 9.
Quote: ~~Every situation is different, and each of us makes decisions based on the unique situation we are dealing with. No one is wrong. What works for one may not work for another.
X2
I imagine if I was currently raising non-indigenous stock in a tropical climate, like OZ, I'd do things much differently.
The same holds true for anthelmintic treatment. I imagine in Florida or Louisiana, I'd be using them more regularly.
However, I still believe in breeding for resistance. IMO that starts with only breeding vigorous birds.
Another entry in 'Chicken Diseases', the book CanuckBock cited where the author Fred P. Jeffrey, a professor of poultry science advocates the rigid culling of all snifflers, droopers, feather rufflers, poor eaters and pale-headed birds to be sure they don't reproduce their kind.
I feel the same way. I wouldn't feel that way if I was a chicken pet person or wasn't breeding a very rare bird, but I do - so I am.

 

[bamadude]

Arielle: i an planting white peas, butter beans, purple hulls, poblanos, purple cherokee tomatoes, black krim tomatoes, silver queen corn, carolina reapers, trinidad scorpions, chocolate habanero, white habaneros, purple jalapenos, burgundy okra, peter peppers, naga vipers, banana and bell peppers. Oh and regular tomatoes i think are better boy variety

 

[Arielle]

We're in the clear for now.
A tornado touched down about 8 miles south of me as the crow flies right in the middle of the metro area. A lot of trees came down, buckled the pavement and caused a gas leak making everyone in the area evacuate at 4 AM. I was watching the weather live when they were showing the rotation on Doppler. That rotation moved straight east right through downtown. So far, no injuries reported but some messed up houses and cars.

We're supposed to be getting 3 more bouts of severe weather this afternoon, this evening and in the wee hours of the morning. The lightning and thunder has been pretty consistent since about 2 am and it's almost 9.
Quote: ~~Every situation is different, and each of us makes decisions based on the unique situation we are dealing with. No one is wrong. What works for one may not work for another.

X2
I imagine if I was currently raising non-indigenous stock in a tropical climate, like OZ, I'd do things much differently.
The same holds true for anthelmintic treatment. I imagine in Florida or Louisiana, I'd be using them more regularly.
However, I still believe in breeding for resistance. IMO that starts with only breeding vigorous birds.
Another entry in 'Chicken Diseases', the book CanuckBock cited where the author Fred P. Jeffrey, a professor of poultry science advocates the rigid culling of all snifflers, droopers, feather rufflers, poor eaters and pale-headed birds to be sure they don't reproduce their kind.
I feel the same way. I wouldn't feel that way if I was a chicken pet person or wasn't breeding a very rare bird, but I do - so I am.
Good to hear from you. Glad it missed you though 8 miles feels too darn close.

THe extreme weather for some reason has cut down on the number of tonadoes this year-- far fewer than normal apparently.

I have often what it means to breed for resistance. THe term is bandied about, but no process ever put to it. " snifflers, droopers, feather rufflers, poor eaters and pale headed birds" should be culled. THis gives me a process to work with.

 

[chickadoodles]

We're in the clear for now.
A tornado touched down about 8 miles south of me as the crow flies right in the middle of the metro area. A lot of trees came down, buckled the pavement and caused a gas leak making everyone in the area evacuate at 4 AM. I was watching the weather live when they were showing the rotation on Doppler. That rotation moved straight east right through downtown. So far, no injuries reported but some messed up houses and cars.

We're supposed to be getting 3 more bouts of severe weather this afternoon, this evening and in the wee hours of the morning. The lightning and thunder has been pretty consistent since about 2 am and it's almost 9.
X2
I imagine if I was currently raising non-indigenous stock in a tropical climate, like OZ, I'd do things much differently.
The same holds true for anthelmintic treatment. I imagine in Florida or Louisiana, I'd be using them more regularly.
However, I still believe in breeding for resistance. IMO that starts with only breeding vigorous birds.
Another entry in 'Chicken Diseases', the book CanuckBock cited where the author Fred P. Jeffrey, a professor of poultry science advocates the rigid culling of all snifflers, droopers, feather rufflers, poor eaters and pale-headed birds to be sure they don't reproduce their kind.
I feel the same way. I wouldn't feel that way if I was a chicken pet person or wasn't breeding a very rare bird, but I do - so I am.

Keep safe ChickenCanoe!