Washingtonians

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote: Yes, I spent over $200 for 1 live pullet and 10 dead birds. The shipper is looking into it on her end. Nothing I can do as the receiver. The guy at my PO said that as long as they arrive within 3 days, they don't guarantee live animals. (He feels really bad, but his hands are tied).

 

[Chickielady]

Yes, I spent over $200 for 1 live pullet and 10 dead birds. The shipper is looking into it on her end. Nothing I can do as the receiver. The guy at my PO said that as long as they arrive within 3 days, they don't guarantee live animals. (He feels really bad, but his hands are tied).

Dang !!!!!!!!!!!!! How awful !!!!!!!!!!!!! I would be alternating from rage, frustration to tears & sick to my stomach....feel horrible for you !!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote: Thanks. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up....feeling extra sick right now, because I still have to go out and deal with the bodies....

 

[Chickielady]

I gotta go dig in my green house, so I'll be back later...C-YA peeps !

 

[itsren]

It appears that Iron Imagery will be at the PNPA show in Salem.

Now I just have to work it out with a friend to see if I can get down there for the show. She and I are walking the Girlfriend's Half Marathon in Vancouver in support of cancer and in memory of my MIL. Last year I trained for 6 months prior to. This year... aaaagh.... I haven't walked at all in at least 6 months. I'm not sure how I'm really going to make it through a Half Marathon.

This has just been an insane year. Part of me just wants to back out, but I'm going to try to do what I teach my kids on a daily basis... "just do your best."

Maybe if I can work it out to visit the PNPA show, too, I'll feel more motivated.

 

[itsren]

So, after seeing my GI Dr I now have an abdominal ultrasound scheduled tomorrow (guess that's today), repeat celiac antibodies blood test to get done and another upper endoscopy scheduled in a couple weeks. Fun stuff!!! Can't wait for the bills to come in! Guess I should try to go to bed while my cough has let up. GRRR!
Sorry. I hate being so negative. Just need to vent.

I really do hope everyone has a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just ignore me, please!

I have gone through the ultrasounds, colonoscopies and full endoscopies twice and I'm supposedly to young to have had to have them done at all. It turned out to be a good thing I did - I was told having it done at an early age saved my life because they managed to removed a fast-growing pre-cancerous polyp. I was told had I not been "lucky" enough for my doctor to request that test, on a hunch, I probably would not have lived long enough to see 50. But, still. Not fun. I understand the frustration/dread associated with those tests.

Just an FYI... the type of pre-cancerous polyp they removed - they told me was associated with eating the charred part of meat that is barbecued. We *were* a huge barbecue family prior to that. Now we've very careful about how we barbecue - all meats get cooked in foil so they don't get charred. I guess blackened foods are not good for you.

 

[itsren]

Hey guys....it's my turn to

So ...

I just received 2 huge boxes of birds from the good ol' USPS, (note, said with maximum amount of hostility possible at the moment) and except for one bantam pullet, they are all dead.

The boxes are completely intact, without a single ding, I can't imagine what the hell happened.

I am absolutely sick to my stomach right now. The poor things are still in their boxes, I can't even look at them right now.

Some of these were EXTREMELY rare bantam white Faverolles...sent to me in an attempt to keep them from being lost as a variety, as I can count on 2 fingers the number of people that I know of that are breeding them...luckily I have some bantam black males to breed this little girl to, and I am going to guard her with my life....

Oh. I am so sorry to hear that. That's very sad.

Do you have any other chicks to put the bantam with so she's not alone?

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote: I put her in with my misfits...now it's her, a blue bantam Ameraucana hen, and a mille fleur d'Uccle hen. She won't leave the d'Uccle's side.

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
My first hand experience with this was when my chickens hopped over the 4 ft. wire fence we used to have. When I saw them, I went running to open the side of the fence and get them back into my yard. When the girls saw me they started running towards me just as the neighbor's 4 month old lab puppy saw them and he went chasing. He grabbed my girl Juju in his mouth, I said loudly and firmly, "DROP IT!", reached through a space in the fencing with my hand on the scruff of his neck and he let go of her in a hurry. I told him "STAY" and opened my fencing to get the girls. Every time he flinched I gave him a verbal correction and he sat back down. Whew.

There wasn't a mark on Juju. Thank goodness for that boy's soft mouth. I could tell the way he was holding her in his mouth that he wasn't clamping down. I love Goldens and Labs, but I realize not all will react the same way. My Golden is fantastic around our chickens, but I wouldn't trust just any old retriever around my girls. That soft mouth is a phenomenon and it's interesting to me how they were bred for the purpose of carrying game back to the hunter unharmed but how it translates now.

My Golden, Gryffin, is a great dog who never counter surfs, but for some reason cannot resist butter and when I'm baking will cry until I let him lick the wrapper. I once lost two cubes of butter I had left on the counter to soften and later found an entire cube downstairs on our patio with only a dent or two where he had carried it in that gentle mouth of his.

The neighbors behind us have since moved out quite suddenly. I'm pretty sure the bank owns the house now. I sure do not miss those people, but I kind of miss that sweet lab. He was the most well behaved member of the household. I would have adopted him if I'd had the chance.

 

[itsren]

Actually a Labrador is a fishing dog, bred to swim & retrieve fishing nets.
Since they do so well in water, they were imported to the USA to train for duck hunting.
They were never bred to hunt down any prey.
Most also have a soft mouth, and will catch & bring a bird to you without harming the bird.
Some, however are a bit hyper after being inbred so many years here in the States, and will kill a bird.
The dogs mostly bred to hunt prey were the sight hounds, and all hounds actually...they will chase down prey & kill it or hold it until their leaders could kill it.

I have no idea if their lab is a pure-bred or not. Thankfully Rhodie got out alive. If I had not been out there, and saw the dog scoop her up, that might not have been the case. Their dog is not used as a retriever - it is purely a pet that belongs to a young girl in her early 20s. The dog spends most of his time cooped up in a small house.

My husband is a bird hunter. He's hunted with labs many times. He wouldn't trust a lab with our chickens, pure-bred, or not. I grew up with a black lab that was trained for hunting. Dogs have an natural instinct, but they also have to be trained to ensure that the natural instinct becomes a predominate trait. Our black lab had to be trained to develop his soft mouth. When he first started hunting, he tore a few birds up. Labs, particularly young labs, love to play and can tear apart things like crazy.

Our pure-bred French Brittany, who my husband had for 15 years, and was the son of Champion hunting dog, still required training to get him to point properly.

Many dogs in the USA are not utilized for the skills that they are/were bred for. In heavy residential areas like mine, they are pets that have very little land (if any at all) to run or play, get bored, and get themselves into a lot of trouble.