What did you do with your flock today?

[kurby22]

We're home and tired but it was fun. Guess I'll still call hubby dear for at least a few more years.

Hurricane Hilary moved enough west that it wasnt bad at all. It missed AZ completely and Rocky Point was rain all day Saturday and high winds this morning as we were heading home. But gentle rain and not the worst winds I've seen. Saturday we walked all over the beach and town in the rain. It was delightfully wet and wonderful. We didn't even use the umbrellas I brought...we just enjoyed the drizzle and the warmth.

@kurby22 how are you guys doing? Hope to hear all's well there... looking at the maps to see what to expect made me worried for you.

Home front looks great. Gotta say I love my kids! What blessings they are! It's so nice to come home to just everything perfect. I feel very fortunate in my children. Got them both gifts while we were there...think they liked them.

Hope everyones well, happy and chock full of eggs

Some pics of playful pelicans feeding as the tide came in.View attachment 3615486View attachment 3615487
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Glad you made it home safe and enjoyed a quick getaway!

The weather report for Rocky Point was dire! Glad you survived haha. I’m confused though—Rocky Point appears to be quite a ways from the ocean?? Did you go to Mexico for the day? It looks beautiful though

I don’t feel great, but I feel at least 80%. Not bad after feeling like death on Thursday and Friday I feel okay until I try to do things and then I’m just so tired.

 

[kurby22]

I don't think I ever imagined having such an incredible bond with a bird. He is pretty intelligent and very train-able. He 'gets' things very quickly and he's super affectionate. He loves to snuggle into my neck and nibble my ear, preens me at least twice a day and gives me little 'kisses'. He likes to make a lot of eye contact and loves one on one time. He loves to sit on my left shoulder and if I take him to the food gods aka the fridge and pantry, he indicates what he wants to eat by craning his neck towards it and makes a trilling noise when I select the right item. He has me well trained!
He amazes me as he is so friendly and yet is very good at being a roo, finding food, escorting them places, protecting them etc. He managed to learn all his roo duties without the benefit of his dad too.

Ferdy really sounds extra special!! What a well trained human he has!

 

[LTAY1946]

I shook out a few bales of pine shavings where needed and filled feeders and watering stations. Sweet talked a few of the pullets and scolded a rooster or two. I trapped some of the wayward pullets that played coop hookie last night. That was about all I could do in this heat wave.

 

[MaeM]

I went to visit them and found these two like this.

Does anyone know wth are they doing? Lmao

 

[LTAY1946]

Sounds like you have an amazing number of chickens! I'm wondering if you broke them into smaller flocks per coop and turned them out one coop per day, or each coop let out widely separated, if that'd increase your egg production, get them returning to their coops on their own at night, and reduce roo problems? I've never raised chickens in that kind of volume and I'm trying to imagine the challenges of it. It sounds very challenging to me! I'm used to single flocks per coop that live as a family unit even when there's multiple roos. Think when you get 70 birds in one group, the family behavior breaks down. I'm wondering if they're trying to form flocks and find separate roosting areas for their self formed flocks?

I don't envy you trying to manage that many birds. Sounds like you want to give them a good life and maximize their productivity at the same time. It'll be interesting to hear how you solve the problems you're encountering as you work out your care system.

They get to free range most of the day normally and only use the coop at night normally or when we are gone with is rare. They do get along well. I cover a lot of ground by using a John Deere Garden tractor to move bags of fee and bales of shavings out to the coops as needed. I have to minimize my walking to save what knees and hips I have left. All the other coops are much smaller in number of birds. Ten or less except for the fryer birds for our meat source to put in the freezer.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Too beautiful! They still remind me of ballerinas in tutus!

lol yes they do!!!

 

[FBMcrazy8]

We are in another heat wave. Temps are reaching a high of 108 with heat index and the actual temp is only 89. Then for the next 3 days it’s 100-101 without a heat index. Hoping all my babies can get through this heat. I hope everyone else is staying cool!

 

[FBMcrazy8]

The first time I gave one of our neighbors a dozen fresh eggs, he thought they were old because of how they peeled! I had to explain to him the difference between fresh and store bought, how to boil for an easy peel, how to float test etc. Now he loves fresh eggs...but the first few times I gave him eggs, he fed them to his dog because of how they peeled.

My mom is getting used to the idea of some of the quarks in fresh eggs. For the longest time my mom would throw out the eggs with a little blood in them from the store because we thought it meant a baby was developing. And of course I learned it from my mom, so when I was finally able to get into chickens I was able to understand that it was normal.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Had to share! Maybe Shadow doesn’t have to be a rat killer after all…apparently we just need to let Koda out at sunset every night! Murdered it right in front of the kids This is one of the big bucket pooper scoopers for some size reference—it’s at least 10 inches long and thick Clearly eating well The kids were so excited and I cried a little I don’t have a very hard heart and it’s very annoying!

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That is awesome!!! Get them buggers out of there!!!

 

[kurby22]

Spent a little time with the chickens this morning while we got a bit of drizzle from Hurricane Hilary. It’s muggy, but cloudy with a lovely breeze and a smattering of rain. Feels quite nice, wish it would stay a bit longer!

I love this little dude—he’s gonna be one of my bantam Lav cuckoo EE roosters. I decided to name him Colonel Mustard hehe. He’s super sweet and Aria loves him of course.

This guy is Professor Plum, and will also be in my EE flock. He has fantastic barring but his beard isn’t as impressive. I also think he has better potential to use for my d’Anver line if I want barring. He has nice body type.

This girl is Ms Scarlett and while she was supposed to be a Watermaal, she has no crest and a normal rose comb, so I need to figure out what to do about her She is tiny, has nice tight feathering, and a beautiful feather sheen

And Cookie is doing such a good job mothering her brood. I really love watching them mother the babies.