Good Morning! in 2018

[WLLady]

hi everyone!! great to meet tomk yesterday!!!
yep three shady people in a timmies parking lot lol.
al! glad to see the chicks hatched!!!

[Killerbunny]

OK so you may not believe this but..... was chatting with one of my neighbours (a good one) and his friends wife wants Chunky. Apparently she just wants a pretty lawn ornament to run about the farm and crow. Not worried about fertility at all. What a lucky boy!

[Ontario Chick]

I tell you some of these boys have more lives then cats...
Lawn ornaments they can do very well :)

[ross]

Can't resist , haha isn't that what most women folk want KB . Lolol

[SusanH]

one other thing..... i will always put a mop head in the brooder from now on. this is the quietest most relaxed bunch of chicks i have ever raised.... I guess im not the one raising them, my kids and wife are. i wasnt getting more poultry if I was the only one taking care of them, everyone steped up, even our youngest!

What is the mop head for?

[SusanH]

[quote=windwalkingwolf post_id=57026 time=1529943020 user_id=88
A favourite game is the "what am I?" game where someone posts pictures and we all try to guess genders. It's not always terribly accurate, but it is fun!
[/quote]

Ok, game on. Where should I post the pics? Under Games? Or Photos? I went out to do their pictures but it's raining so they all have spiky tousled heads. When they fluff out again, I'll post pics.

[Killerbunny]

one other thing..... i will always put a mop head in the brooder from now on. this is the quietest most relaxed bunch of chicks i have ever raised.... I guess im not the one raising them, my kids and wife are. i wasnt getting more poultry if I was the only one taking care of them, everyone steped up, even our youngest!

What is the mop head for?

It seems to comfort them to have a fake Mummy to snuggle with.

[windwalkingwolf]

Morning all!
A of yesterday, we have cancelled our trip. Farm sitter was supposed to be here twice a day for three days in a row, to feed animals and learn routines, what to do if an animal gets loose, how to check fences etc.. She came three out of the six times I asked her to come. A different excuse every time--she fell asleep, no gas in the truck, multiple appointments/no time. And two of the calves are hers, as in she owns them and buys feed for them and is responsible for their care--they just live here with mine; she can't show up half the time to feed THEM or turn them in/out. I cannot trust her enough to be 12 hours drive away from here.
I am both very disappointed, and very relieved that we're not going, and relief wins! My mother isn't happy, nor are my younger sisters, because now Mom is trying to guilt them into going all because she hates to drive.
But, I've got a WHOLE SIX DAYS off work after tonight, and don't want it to be a total waste (HA!) so we're going to take a couple short trips...maybe go to the Diefenbunker (neither of us have ever been) maybe a couple museum trips, maybe a night of camping out at the land (or some nice park, or rocky boat launch, or an OnRoute truck stop, I really don't care) Something a little different from our normal routines to do, but not too far away. Just in case.
Maybe next year, if I can find a sitter that gives a flying
As a consolation prize, I set three dozen eggs in the incubator because I don't have enough (30? 50?) fluffybutts running around

In other news, @Killerbunny , Mama turkey has hatched some chickens! She showed no signs of wanting to leave the nest yesterday, and I was afraid it was like last time and she'd let the babies die, so I went out this morning all gauntleted up...prepared to turf her out, and maybe check wing tag while I was at it. Well, she's up leading "her" little chicks around, took them outside, and took them back inside and covered them when it started to rain. Yay! Single little poult is still alive and seemingly healthy. Eating, drinking, making only happy turkey baby noises. I don't know if it helps or not, but the egg he came out of was marked either 23 or 28 (number smudged) and had very large/rough pink deposits on it.
Cheryl left her nest briefly to eat today, and I counted her clutch...SIXTEEN eggs!!! And she covers them ALL, handily! I really don't know who the father is, I've NEVER seen her with a rooster or even in spitting distance. She's an independent sort. I'm debating cutting the nettles and thistles (can't get at her if I don't) and moving her, and candling while I'm at it, or just leaving her be; she's steps from my door and reasonably safe where she is, but things happen. Foxes and raccoons are very bad this year. And yep, I just convinced myself to move her

[kenya]

Enjoy your time off, sounds like things worked out for the best.

[Home Grown Poultry]

@SusanH the mop heads act as an artificial mom, we call them mop mommas. if its low enough for the chicks to get right inside then apparently a heat source is not required because it acts as a blanket. I've brooded 100's of chicks but this is the first group with the mop heads and they are by far the most relaxed and comfortable ever. this is an extremely old school method of brooding chicks without a hen or a heat souce.