This is SO hard.....

[hannakat]

Totally understand and feel your sadness. But please know, I've learned that if you reached the point where you listed an ad, you've really reached the point where it will be okay.

You have so many wonderful memories and I feel that's what life is about.

 

[drdoolittle]

Well, I'm starting to think this guy is not coming to get the birds. I've had no correspondence from him since he said he would be coming to get them and would call before they came (that was Thurs.). I think he is in Lake Station, IN and I will be surprised if he does come-------that's 2 1/2 hours away! I don't think I would drive that far for something that isn't all that rare. Oh, wel, we'll see what happens................

 

[drdoolittle]

This is just kind of an update. The guy who was supposed to come get the birds, "I'll call before we come", did not call or come over. I e-mailed him Sat. afternoon, telling him we'd be gone after 4:30 and he should come before then, or come on Sun. I let him know I'd be home up until 12:00 on Sun., and then I'd only be gone for a couple of hours, and he could come before I left, or after 2:00. He replied that he thought he should come after the chickens were roosting so it would make it easier to get them, and that's why he hadn't called yet, and as far as Sun., he wouldn't be able to do it before 12, so he said he would come the following weekend if possible. I'm not sure he's really interested in buying them at all. One thing I have discovered is that the hens definitely do not care for 2 of my roosters----I've been keeping the 2 roos separated from the rest of the flock, and the hens have started laying like crazy-----7 or so eggs a day instead of just 4 or 5 (it was even less than that at times! So I really need to go through with selling the birds I had picked to sell, and I am kind of getting excited about selecting the ones to breed and also getting ready to add some new chicks to the flock----looking at the different hatcheries helped with that.

 

[DelcoChix]

Don't look back--you have made the decision to cut back a bit, which I think is the hardest part....stick with it! It will be good when you 're-home' the extras,and you will enjoy the others that much more. Once you have your population at a point where you are able to take care of them w/o thinking that it's "work" you will know that's where you need to be. Just my opinion of course, but for me, when it crosses the line from enjoyment and becomes just another "chore," then it's not worth it...or worse, if it becomes stressful then why? Again, that's my perspective--no need to feel guilty about realizing that you want to focus on a specific area and in order to do that you need to cut back...stick with it!

 

[drdoolittle]

I don't think of taking care of my flock as "work" really-------I actually love being out there with them. I was just thinking of the person we have take care of them when we go to Colorado this summer, and I really want to separate some of the ones I'm keeping in order to breed true. The guy was supposed to come yesterday between 11 and 2, and was going to call before he left his place. Well, Friday he sent me an e-mail saying his mother became ill and he had to go to Chicago. I'm not even going to bother replying to him----if he wants the birds, he'll get ahold of me. If he doesn't, it's no big deal as my sister and I will take the ones I'm selling to a swap meet and sell what I can, and what I don't, I'll have a friend butcher and throw them in my freezer. I don't know about the ducks and geese----never eaten duck, and goose only once (it was Canada goose, and just the breast). I also had a woman supposed to come and buy my macaw yesterday-------only re-homing him in order to give him a home where he can spend most of his time OUT of his cage. Of course, she didn't call or come either. I'm kind of glad, as my macaw is so much like a child to me (I think it's the act that he talks a lot.).