Utah!

[thebirdguy]

Wow guys.. I am gone for 10 days and you have 450 posts!! Hope I didn't miss anything I will wish I hadn't missed...

I spent every waking moment from Friday the 21st to Saturday the 29th (other than Sunday) working on our fence out to the farm... and I am thrilled to report that we have the whole ten acres completed minus the gates... This has turned into such a huge project..we hit lava on the ridge in front of the barn and after the auger wouldn't work, the back hoe wouldn't work and the jack hammer couldn't break it up... we ended up on three posts drilling a hole in the lava and in the bottom of the post.. sticking a 1 inch steel rod in the hole.. pounding the post down on it and then cementing around it. I have several holes we had to dig with a backhoe for corners to get down deep enough that we just filled with cement.. They aren't going anywhere!!!

It is soo exciting to have it almost finished!! We are planning to get the gates installed in the next couple of weeks and we'll be able to mark one major item off the to do list!!

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Wow guys.. I am gone for 10 days and you have 450 posts!!  Hope I didn't miss anything I will wish I hadn't missed...

I spent every waking moment from Friday the 21st to Saturday the 29th (other than Sunday) working on our fence out to the farm... and I am thrilled to report that we have the whole ten acres completed minus the gates... This has turned into such a huge project..we hit lava on the ridge in front of the barn and after the auger wouldn't work, the back hoe wouldn't work and the jack hammer couldn't break it up... we ended up on three posts drilling a hole in the lava and in the bottom of the post.. sticking a 1 inch steel rod in the hole.. pounding the post down on it and then cementing around it.    I have several holes we had to dig with a backhoe for corners to get down deep enough that we just filled with cement..  They aren't going anywhere!!!

It is soo exciting to have it almost finished!!  We are planning to get the gates installed in the next couple of weeks and we'll be able to mark one major item off the to do list!!

Good grief that is a RIDICULOUS amount of work Shawn! I cannot believe you did all that! That is a gigantic area too, pats on the back to you!

Cynthia thanks for sharing pics! Your buff is sooooooooo pretty. Her head is getting way rounder than mine. And she has a cute body type--shorter neck, mine is a bit longer. She has GOT to be a she. Mine is hopefully a she! Mine is skinnier than yours too, need to fatten her up Love your Bertha, look at all that pretty stuff going on in her breast feathers!

So cute the pics of you and Andrea!

 

[RedIII]

Way to go, Birdguy!! Sounds like the posts will all be in pretty solid, and that's always nice. I hope you're treating yourself to a party after that monster project is done. That is pretty inspirational.

Hey, I forgot to ask something for those of you who have the EE/Leghorns from Cynthia. Is anyone else seeing thin, spindly tips on some wing and tail feathers? Like the rest of the feathers are normal, but about the last 1/8 or so of some feathers taper very sharply and curl. I noticed it a couple of weeks ago when I was trimming Chuck Norris's wing. She still looks very girly in all of her features, but I found the curl thing to be interesting. I'll try and get pictures, when I can.

 

[kimmypie]

Can we talk wormers? I have had the chicks since March, well then I added a few more over time. LOL They are for the most part 6-7 months old now. I've never wormed them. Should I? Why or why not? I know I will get different opinions. I want to keep my ladies healthy.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Chickens do not have heat receptors. You can put cayenne pepper in their feed as a natural wormer....just sprinkle enough in to make it rusty. I have never noticed a difference in the eggs, so I like to use it versus a dewormer where you have to toss eggs out. Also I put Apple Cider Vinegar in their water, it is a good tonic for lots of different illnesses, it is supposed to be really good for them, and help keep the parasites down as well. You can search those two items on BYC, lots of info will come up for you to decide if it is something you like

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Wow Lisa, that NNN splash is going to be fun to watch! I'm happy you got her. Cynthia, you look great, as always. Don't worry   It's so fun to see all the chicken people on here.

Oh and what is this I keep reading about Lisa on a diet?! Stop it! You don't need to diet, girl! You're already beautiful. I guess it wouldn't help if I mention that I cooked some bacon in worcestershire sauce and spices this morning............

I got some video this morning of my crazy turkeys eating breakfast, but they didn't act nearly as wild as they usually do, now that I had the camera in hand :/  I demand savagery on grains!!!!......Once my laptop is fixed, Ill have to unload some of what I got. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow morning for crazy shots. I was a little worried about my little tom last night. He had literally pigged out so much on feed, crab apples, grass and other foraging, that his throat was full to capacity. He couldn't even swallow. I tried to get him to drink some water, but no, he decided he wanted to go eat more grass   Don't worry, he's alive and fine today.

Cross your fingers for my Un-NN to be a girl hoping. The diet worked for awhile, now I am flatlining, and the M&M's are c-a-l-l-i-n-g my name.

What's this about the little pig-turkey! He trying to get ready for Thanksgiving or what?!

Wait...did you say bacon?>!

 

[RedIII]

Lisa, he's getting more meat on him, but I don't think either he or the little white hen will be ready for butchering until after the new year. Which, honestly, is fine by me. I like having them around. But where winter's coming and it's getting cooler, I've been trying to make use of as much food around the yard as I can for the birds. We've got that huge crab apple tree out front, and the chickens and turkeys love to go out there and gorge. Especially the turkeys. Did I mention that turkeys are pigs with feathers? They're fun to watch, though. I've caught several of the neighbors coming out to watch them sometimes, too. And it's funny when people drive past the house and stare at our living lawn ornaments I'm just standing there, waving and smiling like, "Hi, nice people! Thanks for looking. Please don't report me!"

Sorry, I can't stop blabbing about the turkeys.

Oh, thou stupid forum coding. Please stop jumbling my paragraphs together.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Aww Red I think it is so cute how much you love your turkeys I have gone round and round trying to decide about getting some. Maybe next year

 

[Sphinx]

I've enjoyed hearing about your turkeys too, Red.

Love that polish.

Birdguy, that is a LOT of work. Congrats on getting it all done!

 

[RedIII]

Aw thanks, I'm glad you guys tolerate my turkey obsession Lisa, I think I mentioned somewhere before that turkeys are more costly to raise than chickens, because they can eat, eat, eat, eat...................etc. I try to give mine as much range time as possible, and it really helps cut down on their scratch/feed consumption. But I've been astounded at their personalities. They follow me everywhere, and if I go in the house, they camp on my porch and start protesting because they can't come in. If you do decide you want to try some next year, I'll bet Birdguy would have a couple he could sell you Turkeys do way better in pairs than singlets, especially if you can get a male/female pair. Their personalities and antics are so rewarding to watch.