The Old Folks Home

[pertnear09]

Goodmorning everyone. Hope everyone has a good day. Gonna be another hot one here.

 

[silverhair67]

And we will want pictures!

 

[silverhair67]

morning

 

[cheepteach]

good morning everyone!

 

[CSolis]

Goodmorning everyone. Hope everyone has a good day. Gonna be another hot one here.

Yups, and that is exackerly why I was up and at 'em so early. Got my mowing done, chooks fed, and my showering done. Time to relax, have a cuppa and oatmeal. Psst, did I mention trimming back the althea and watering all the plants on the front deck, or even repotting the christmas cactus I thought I killed last year?

 

[Peep_Show]

Sooooooooo, I was standing in the kitchen cooking up some scrambled eggs for the kids when I got to thinking. Could be dangerous on my part but sometimes it's worthwhile.
Has any one ever thought about buying chicks for breeding at the local farm store or where ever and thought... 'I wonder if they are siblings'. Of course you don't want that. The next generation would be inferior. Inbreeding multiplies faults, while line breeding is supposed to add good traits (I learned that early on when I had a herd of horses).

The big case about feed store chicks is they are inbred to begin with. Hatcheries do not usually bring in outside stock for propagating and their replacement birds for flocks are siblings, parents, aunts, uncles. Ergo, your hatchery Marans generally have light-colored eggs in comparison to, say, breeder's birds because of this inbreeding. Hatcheries, too, go for quantity, not quality. Breeder's chicks cost more, but you get what you pay for.

 

[microchick]

Morning everyone. Stinking hot here also. This morning DH said he stepped outside when he let the dogs out and he felt like he could cut the air with a knife, the humidity and heat were so high. We have a heat advisory through Thursday. Uggghhhh. Is all I can say.

I wondered that about birds I bought from my private breeder when I saw their breeding set up. It's like, how are they getting any genetic diversity when the breeding stock is being chosen from birds that are hatched from stock chosen from last years hatching flock and I'm looking at one pair of breeding birds?

Me thinks too many people are dealing with the $$$$ and not with good sense.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Think all of ours would be in big trouble

I use heavy duty staples with the compressor and staple gun. Except to attach hardware cloth to welded wire. Problem with zip ties is they eventually get brittle.

 

[microchick]

You have to look for zip ties that are UV resistant. They will last longer than the average regular ones.

I usually use the dreaded heavy duty Arrow stapler then follow up with wood strips with screws and washers to fortify my hardware cloth. So far so good. We have a pneumatic stapler but it's a job to haul the compressor around. So since my new motto is 'make life easier' I don't try.

Hey, @CapricornFarm. How's the Lyme battle going?

 

[CapricornFarm]

You have to look for zip ties that are UV resistant. They will last longer than the average regular ones.

I usually use the dreaded heavy duty Arrow stapler then follow up with wood strips with screws and washers to fortify my hardware cloth. So far so good. We have a pneumatic stapler but it's a job to haul the compressor around. So since my new motto is 'make life easier' I don't try.

Hey, @CapricornFarm. How's the Lyme battle going?

I do buy the SUV resistant zip ties. But since there are bears and coyotes here, I try to make things as sturdy as possible. I put the compressor in my wagon or my Mule and let them do the hard work.
Idk if it's still Lyme or something else now. My month long ear infection cleared up after 4 medications. I feel really tired , and now have dizzy spells.
I have decided to sell at least half of my chickens, and an additional breed of rabbits, which will leave me with one breed. Planning to keep my goats.
How are you, Becky?