Of course, Joy wouldn't want you to get chased away. Very
cool. Nice surprise. Take that, Ms. Feral!
Oh, my, goodness! That would have made a great movie scene. ' "A Normal Day in the Life of Tropical Babies" You are a brave mama! Good thing it was a Samoan coconut tree and not a taller one, like the evergreens we have around here. I don't think fire departments do the iconic cat rescues anymore, do they? Glad you are all safe, warm, dry and happy to be all together. Tally has hopefully learned to stay away from the Lmno's yard.My response is, lapse of judgment, temporary insanity, in over my head, no good deed goes unpunished, powerless over kitties, I sew used feed bags, have the best chickens friends ever ♡♡♡!! Life is good.
I'm def blowing bubbles today. Tally got treed by the eversovicious Lmno across the street. When I went to collect Tally from his evenings adventure of bug chasing last eve, in the rain, I could hear his weak response as I called to him. He was in a coconut palm -thank goodness a young/low one, or Samoan coconut- and he would not come down, and I could not leave him there, or just hope he would make his way to safety. Lmno is a killer and usually patrolling his yard 24/7. So, at 10:30 at night, in the rain,ioutside the fence of a killer dogs yard, I tried coaxing Tally down, and/or tried to coax him to catwalk across a palm frond. This went on for about 30 minilutes. Gilfriend was franticly pacing and crying in our yard till she slipped through our gate and ran into the neighbors yard. Forest was next to me (of curse) outside the gate calling to Tally... what a scene. Welp, seemed like the killer dog was locked up so I quietly brought my ladder over and entered the neighbors yard. Ugh, sooo terrible. I was able to quickly get the nap of Tallys neck, secured him, and was in the process of quietly whisking him and the ladder away when the neighbor woke and yelled out the window. I was sooo embarrassed. I apologized of course. I don't know how they did not hear the crying cat choir or me constantly calling to try and coax Tally down and out of their yard for 30 minutes... but my gosh, what a mission.
I called Forest and Girlfriend home, toweled of the babies. Tally stayed right next to me purring for hours. He did not leave the house all day. Poor baby ♡♡♡ So glad the scary dog did not catch him... or me.
Today, cut, cleaned, sewed many more bags. Gunna do it again tomorrow. Then, catch up on my chores.View attachment 3754980View attachment 3754981View attachment 3754982
The chick feed I buy is exactly the same crude analysis as lay pellets except more protein (18%) and less calcium if I remember right. So I'd think your 30% should make wonderful chick feed or treat feed.
I fear to much could do kidney damage. I remember when a lot of starter/grower/broiler feed was 14% protein. Now it and layer crumbles are 18. I can also get 22% layer mini pellets or game bird starter grower that is 27%. My question is is protein being wasted if there is more of it than a bird can use. They are going to eat until they are not hungry. There genes will only allow them to grow at a certain speed and lay so many eggs. In the case of fast Growing cornish cross they tell us to use higher protein one day and to limit feed the next.... If growing to fast does leg damage why the rush to grow them so fast with extra protein? I'm going to to something they say is wrong with a few this year and give them a low protein feed and let them eat longer hours so they are not starving hungry. Just as much net protein a day spread slowly out. I want some more grown hens that lay that will be crossed with a full blood Cornish Rooster for some 3/4 Cornish x 1/4 white rock meat birds that may just be able to reproduce naturally and live normal lives without leg and heart problems. I've finally lost 2 more of the last 6 of my adult cornish cross hens. For them that got a long happy life. They loved being under foot and always sang a lot to me when I would be in there coop with them. They enjoyed a very large roomy coop and they enjoyed being able to get outside and eat grass and weeds too. I know there can be a better cross for homesteaders trying to be self sufficient with both meat and eggs besides their fruit and vegetables.
Gulp. I've never really thought of cats going after and eating squirrelsSquirrels here like to taunt and throw pinecones from up above. A few of them have been caught and snacked on by the cats, as all we find are leftover parts in the yard.
That actually would be a sight 
Much less hiding out.
!
Hopefully reinforcing it will hold me for a bit longer till I have a solid plan and the time to do it.
I'm glad to hear of your feeding plans. I had no idea of the feeding recommendations for those birds. Your plan sounds so much more reasonable. I read somewhere that those birds grow so fast that their legs break, hips go out and they can't breed at all even if they reach breeding age. That's a breed that's always made me scratch and shake my head a bit. I hope your breeding plan has great success...I agree, there has to be a better cross.
Welp, my morning so far, everyone wants breakfast. Including the ferals! Babies eat out of my hand, especially when i have bugs despite what their mom thinks about it.View attachment 3757137
Fosters now politely wait for their morning meal
I must not as scary as I used to be
Happy Sunday all! It is a stunning day here and I have lots to do. Especially when it comes to chickens chores. I need to do a good cleaning of my coops and run, plus start planning out a back fence redo. Also, order some new shade cloth and tarp. I need to re-stretch the existing cloth with screws and washers, as staples don't hold the big, fat, silly kitties that like to climb up it.
Also, need to sew bags and feed the humans. Laundry and tiddy up my sewing area
