The Old Folks Home

[Jessshan8]

Ok thisit what i got from my coops today from bottom to top a serama egg a standard large breed egg and this monastrocity! Poor hen it must have three yolks in there!!!

 

[bamadude]

A what astrosity?

 

[Jessshan8]

Ment to write monstrocity

 

[bamadude]

Lol. Thats a big egg. Did u weigh it?

 

[bamachicks8]

A beautiful sunny 70 degrees here. Got some work in the coop done. Of course the girls were mad, they firmly believe I'm supposed to have treats every time I go out there.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

SCG how did you manage the downgrade? Are you casting spells or something? At any rate

very happy for you & others out that way

It's all the clean living I've been doing. Mother nature knows I need a break before I have a mental break. We were downgraded again, overnight:

• * HAZARD TYPES... BLOWING SNOW... AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.
• * ACCUMULATIONS... TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 8 INCHES.

I went out about an hour ago to check on the poultry (the goats can wait until tomorrow) and to give the ducks their food and water and then lock them back up. There was only about 2 inches of snow, maybe, but the wind is insane.

Lake Mead before and after link


Reservoirs in California before and after link

Thank you for this. It will be my breakfast reading this morning. I saw a lake in Arizona/Utah when I was with Dsqard. Can't recall what lake it was but the water level was significantly below what it usually was. You could see the staining on the rocks way above the current water line. I fear for you guys out there.

 

[ozexpat]

Happy Day after Valentines Day

I hope you all had a happy G rated BYC family friendly evening.

Or something like that.

On a different note

From WATTAgNet:
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza at a non-commercial farm in Chilliwack, British Columbia. This marks the first confirmation of H5N1 avian influenza in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, as all previous cases of avian influenza have been of the H5N2 serotype.
The infected premises is under quarantine, and depopulation of the affected birds has been completed, and disposal measures are underway.
While this is the first time the H5N1 strain of the virus has been detected during the current avian influenza outbreak in British Columbia's Fraser Valley, the H5N1 strain was found in wild birds in the U.S. state of Washington, directly south of British Columbia, in January.
The CFIA applies the same disease control measures following detections of H5N1 and H5N2avian influenza viruses.
This new infected premises serves as a reminder that risks for new infections remain a concern. Monitoring and surveillance activities continue to be a very important part of controlling this outbreak. It is important that all bird owners have good biosecurity measures in place to protect their flocks from infection, the CFIA stated.
Strict surveillance will continue in the area for 90 days after the last cleaning and disinfection is done to the satisfaction of the CFIA. If no additional cases of avian influenza are found within this period, the zone can be considered free of avian influenza.


​

 

[vehve]

Well, looks like we haven't been paying enough attention to Virpi. She was broody for so long, and apparently hasn't been eating properly while caring for her brood, that it has taken it's toll. She has been hiding the fact that she's been wasting away, nothing left but skin and bones on that bird. We just took her inside, and she is pretty passive. Egg yolk still seemed to be tasty enough for her to eat a bit, but she's very weak. We forced her to drink some honey water with poultry vitamins. I hope a few days inside will perk her up, but she's so skinny that it's pretty much 50-50 at this point.



The rest of the birds were happy with the sunshine we were blessed with today. They all ventured out of the run and did some tanning. Eemeli managed to find his girls some treats out in the bare patches around the coop. I don't know what he found, but he was clucking away very happily, calling for his girls.

They got a bit camera shy when I fetched my phone to take a pic.



Also mixed up some more feed for the birds again. I must say, this looks a lot more appetizing than commercial feed.

 

[ozexpat]

@vehve a hard lesson. I hope she pulls through ok.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Vehve, I had one that was broody for 16 weeks (before I finally realized she was going to hatch or die trying) a couple years ago. I mixed scrambled eggs with 22% protein feed, threw some BOSS and dried mealworms on top and did that to her a couple times a day.

She did end up hatching 3 cute babies (which I then coldheartedly sold 2 days later) and hasn't been broody since. It took a while but she regained the weight.