Good Morning! in 2018

[windwalkingwolf]

I agree. If all the 5 look exactly like the one at the top, and there's only one like the bottom, you've got 5 girls and only 1 boy. Normally I would say congratulations, but if you plan to breed them, you might want to consider finding another boy. Having only one, Murphys' law says something will happen to him

[TomK]

Yep bottom is definitely a boy. Top is a girl
Marans boys get those combs fairly early without fail

Kathy...yep.. that's what I figured..and it just exploded from his head this past week...and his size is bigger over all too along with more and fuller feathering on his legs...his cape feathers are far more colourful on the golden range...another boy, just what I need...

[WLLady]

the year of the boys. i was taking stock yesterday and i have 85% boys this year give or take. there's only about 8 girls in the grow out coop (they'll be moved soon before the boys figure out their whole purpose in life)....boys are just starting to crow, which means another 4 weeks to the freezer....so many boys....

well, clean up is almost finished. i turned over most of the dead plants in the garden, some had good roots still so i kept some out to replant in the hopes i can nurture them along (like my sage plant). bayvistafarm and her hubby dropped in yesterday morning with some raspberries and peppers and helping hands and an extra shop magnet. incredible how many nails and screws we are finding all over. 2 sheds burnt and we had been trying to figure out with the one how best to take it down because of all the nails-sawzall and haul it away or cut up and burn, but i guess that's taken care of now. now it's just don't drive up our driveway for another month until we find all the nails....we had to dig up a bit because of burn young trees, and we found a pile of horse shoes....go figure. there were never horses on the property till i got mine, and they aren't shoed because i'm not rich and they're clydesdales. LOL. so. we have now found enough horseshoes so shoe 3 horses! still don't know why the fire started or got out of the furnace, but there were a pile of animals living inside the metal cladding of the furnace.....gah....when we pulled it over it was an exodus....so that might have had something to do with it. oh well.

[TomK]

I agree. If all the 5 look exactly like the one at the top, and there's only one like the bottom, you've got 5 girls and only 1 boy. Normally I would say congratulations, but if you plan to breed them, you might want to consider finding another boy. Having only one, Murphys' law says something will happen to him

Yup...Jan..that was my next question...pretty sure that this wee group all came from the same parentage and as I am all about diversity in the gene pool i will probably be looking for another bloodline in a rooster...this guy here is probably going to turn out pretty nice temperament wise... hopefully in structure too... might actually be able to find a new home for him..his breed is working in his favour that way...anyway...the numbers worked out dor me i think.... this time...

[SusanH]

I attended my first poultry show yesterday at Odessa! It was great to see the different breeds in person that I'd only seen in pictures. Like Kenya says, it makes you want two of each! Tom, I didn't see any Marans.
More fun was meeting PTO regulars Killerbunny and KyleS. Kyle won several prizes, including Best of Show! I think the Good Heart prize should be awarded to Killerbunny, who took pity on my chickenlessness after my beloved birds were ravaged and let me have two gorgeous Columbian Wyandottes. I have named them Miranda and Mercedes.

[kenya]

Nice names! Congratulations!

[Killerbunny]

Now the real stress begins. The Hellbeasts are loose, I mean the baby turkeys are wandering out of the paddock!

[KimChick]

Good morning!

[WLLady]

well, cleanup continues....almost done. still some brick that shattered in the heat to get rid of (it will go out as erosion control) and some charred beyond use firewood to go to the woods. otherwise....had 3 rednecks come and haul off the outdoor furnace yesterday, so all the big stuff is gone, bin is full and gone and now there's just a giant black charred square in the middle of our residential part of the property. the dog figured out that the fence around the garden is gone, so we lost a little more asparagus this morning. argh. so i'm trying to get out early enough to go and buy some posts and a gate....if i can get 2 posts in, i can hang the gate and then pull and tack the wire tonight and keep the starving thing out. like we never feed him. sheesh.

house renos are coming along! we painted around the windows last night so they can trim and when we finally paint we won't have to tape all the framing. yay! and soon the siding changeover starts. that will make a huge difference, insulation being added and house wrap and new siding. we won't recognize the place when it's all done!!

unfortunately i did damage something running last week, but the PT is amazing, has me all taped up and it's helping immensely with the pain around my ribs. hopefully it will settle soon. and i received my new to me seeder in the mail yesterday (the last one turned into a puddle of aluminum), so i can finally get around to getting my garden in. alas the weeds are doing great, and our tiller also turned into slag...so i am trying to figure out if i replace the tiller, or get a cultivator, or just drive the cultivator for the field through the garden and really rip it up LOL. (i've actually decided against that just as i typed it....). so this week and weekend will be busy with weeding and planting and then hopefully some time to make some raised beds for the herbs....looks like my chervil may have survived....and the oregano will likely be okay if i cut off the charred bits. the rest bit the dust. i didn't think one could kill chives....but.....and my sage looked okay until yesterday it was totally brown, just like all the blueberry bushes, so those will get pulled and composted. oh, guess i need to build a composter too. i didn't think dirt could burn, but it did....my composter was behind the red shed, and it's totally gone to sand....all gone....at least theres no time to be bored!!!!!

[kenya]

I feel bad for you, what an awful cleanup, I hope your insurance will cover new tools.