Good Morning! 2019

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SusanH
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by SusanH » Sun Jul 07, 2019 6:41 pm

Having a lazy Sunday. I’m lazy all the time but on Sunday I don’t feel guilty about it. Sitting in the tree with my cuddliest chicken, reading a book. Poor girl is lonely since the other Polish got killed and the two Wyandottes are broody or something. They aren’t laying eggs and they sit in the empty nest boxes all day, leaving Millie to wander around by herself. She likes to watch the new kids. I think they will all get along fine but I will wait until the ducklings have their feathers. They are twice as big as they were last week. It’s phenomenal how fast they grow. They tower over the four-week-old chick at this point. She is such a dainty little thing. Ducklings are big oafish slobs by comparison. What a mess they make. Still there is no entertainment like an old baking pan full of water with some shredded lettuce on it. Such excitement. Oh boy!
The little roo is already doing his job protecting his flock. When the ducklings and Nanette snuggle in for a nap, he stands guard, lunging at visiting chickens and people. I finally settled on Nehru rather than Nero. Nero was nutty but not too nice as emperors go, and Nehru is more kindly remembered by historians. A peacemaker. May it be so.
Hope you are all also enjoying some perfect weather!
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Ontario Chick
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by Ontario Chick » Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:57 am

It sounds positively bucolic @SusanH
We had barn cleaning and brush grubbing Sunday so no lazy time here, just to take advantage of the cool day, before the heat hits again.
Chicks "the triplets" were being weaned by the broody at 6 weeks exactly, I took her out and she promptly laid an egg, so pretty good timing.
Time for coffee break on the porch, temperature pretty much perfect.
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JimW
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by JimW » Tue Jul 09, 2019 10:13 pm

Well I caught my first raccoon of the year last night and sent him off to the raccoon happy place in the sky. Traps reset, we will see if he had a friend.

Downsized my birds numbers a bit today, selling a few surplus hens. But going on a bit of a road trip tomorrow to get some new blood, so I will be upsizing my numbers a little tomorrow. lol

JimW
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Keeping poultry with my 2 daughters since 2014.
Ayam cemani, BC Marans, Legbars (Gold Crele, Opal and White), Mosaics, Hmongs and Cuckoo Malines
Black & Blue Poultry
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Killerbunny
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by Killerbunny » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:53 am

Not sure what's going on but we have a major influx of Cliff Swallows! 2 nests going on the front of the house, this is 6 weeks later than we had nests in the past. Also the cherries are/were ripe, we knew because of the robins, waxwings and starlings at them with patient chickens underneath waiting for falls!
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:iheartpto:
Beltsville Small White turkeys.
Mutt chickens for eggs
RIP Stephen the BSW Tom and my coffee companion.
RIP Lucky the Very Brave Splash Wyandotte rooster.
RIP little Muppet the rescue cat.
:turkey:

:bat:

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Jaye
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by Jaye » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:10 am

My day started with finding our Deanie dead in the coop this morning. No signs of injury. It looked like she'd just gone to sleep and didn't wake up. I'm not sure what ailed her; she was still eating, drinking, dust bathing, being her normal active self yesterday. She had, however, stopped laying a few months ago. No idea why. She and all the other hens had been given their spring and summer maintenance treatments for parasites (Bronco spray), and there were no signs of any kind of infestation.
RIP, Deanie - our favourite little olive egger.
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RIP Scooby, AKA Awesome Dog. Too well loved to ever be forgotten. "Sometime in June", 2005 - January 24, 2017.
"Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened" - Anatole France

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Ontario Chick
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by Ontario Chick » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:25 am

Not a good start to the day @Jaye .

I had to get on this morning to crow about our lunch yesterday. :turkeycook:
4 turkey drumsticks courtesy of @Killerbunny marinated in olive oil red vine vinegar and some random spices for an hour and then BBQ skillfully by DH while I was kibitzing, and it was this side of heaven.
DH said it was the best turkey he ever had. Juicy tender and flavorful, I was hoping to get two lunches out of it, but it was so good, we ate the whole thing, no leftovers for the dog either.
Have a cool one !
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Killerbunny
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by Killerbunny » Wed Jul 10, 2019 10:06 am

Sorry to hear about Deanie @Jaye she had a good little chicken life!
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:iheartpto:
Beltsville Small White turkeys.
Mutt chickens for eggs
RIP Stephen the BSW Tom and my coffee companion.
RIP Lucky the Very Brave Splash Wyandotte rooster.
RIP little Muppet the rescue cat.
:turkey:

:bat:

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SusanH
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Location: Sydenham, ON
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by SusanH » Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:10 pm

Sorry about Deanie, @Jaye

I have a question. Do your chickens fly? I didn’t think mine did, but yesterday, while I was bent over at the duckling coop, Millie came flying from across the yard and landed on my back. The hilarious thing was she let out a blood-curdling eeee-yah! Like a ninja as she did so. That was a first, and today was a second. She can really fly! This is the remaining Polish girl. I can’t imagine Wyandottes flying. Mine are like beach balls with heads and feet. But Polish have a body like a big crow, pretty aerodynamic. I don’t think she’d fly any big distance or height, but I am a bit worried.

So the question is, what to do? Do you have to clip their wings? It sounds so mean, but if helps them not to become a dog’s lunch, I would do it if I had to. I am wondering if that’s how Marsha got out and into harm’s way. There is the tree next to the fence that they used to roost in. She could just walk out on a branch. I don’t think she has much interest in going anywhere.
Advice, please.

There is some noisy varmint at night now. I can’t identify the sound, sort of snarly. Today the dogs were hysterical and wouldn’t come when called, like they had something treed, but when I went to look, they gave me that, “who, us? Just chillin’,” look. The little dog lay flat on her belly at the cat water dish to drink, and the two of them were panting so hard they could barely eat. Never a dull moment with these critters. What would I ever do without them.
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Ontario Chick
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by Ontario Chick » Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:27 pm

In my experience, once the chicken tastes the freedom, clipping the wing seems to have no effect whatsoever especially on Ameraucanas, our Wyandottes don't fly over fences, but there is an occasional low flight when running will just not be fast enough.
Our fences are 4' hight and as long as they could perch on top of the solid would frame they all used to give it a go, because it was much like a higher roost. Eventually I had to add a 1foot strip at the top, too flimsy to perch on and that solved MOST of the problems.
The biggest problem is that once they are out, they don't seem to remember how to get back in and out of harms way.
I would probably start with a wing clip, after all you are just cutting feathers, so a bit like a hair cut ;) the theory is that if you clip one wing only it throws them of balance and makes a take of more difficult, by the same token, more difficult for them to get out of harms way.
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Happy
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Re: Good Morning!

Post by Happy » Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:53 pm

Jaye I’m so sorry about Deanie. At least she had a spoiled life with you and went quickly in the end.
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