Bruce's Journal

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Supposed to be 90° today, too hot for us!

Dang, Mr. @Bruce, that's only 2 degrees cooler than it is here! I am glad I didn't move up there thinking we'd be getting away from the heat when we retired last year!

And I bet, Miss @RollingAcres, that the weather you are having reminds you of Louisiana when you were going to school there! I hope you don't have the mosquitoes as badly!

 

[Bruce]

Dang, Mr. @Bruce, that's only 2 degrees cooler than it is here! I am glad I didn't move up there thinking we'd be getting away from the heat when we retired last year!

We don't spend all summer with those temps though! More than we did 40 years ago though. Way back it seemed to hit 90° only once or twice a year. Lately its been many more times each year but on the whole, a lot cooler than the south.

 

[Baymule]

Our rain and spotty showers are going away and it's going to be hot all this coming week. I go out to do something and I'm soaking wet in no time.

 

[Bruce]

Does this little 4 week, 2 day old chick scream ROO or what? He is showing some pin feathers on his back today.

This is the other Columbian Wyandotte chick

 

[SA Farm]

Thick legs, upright stance, cocky expression...I’d guess roo, but give it a few more weeks to be sure

 

[Baymule]

Is he the first one to feed, aggressive eater and does he eat more than the others? That is the first indication of a roo. Watch him and see, it takes awhile for rooster feathers to show up.

 

[farmerjan]

The color in the wing feathers and the pointed ends to the new neck feathers most likely indicate it is a cockerel. Neither has much of a comb but that is more typical of a wyandotte due to the rose comb that follows the head and does not have a spike that stands straight out.
Did you get straight run or pullets? Even with sexing, there are mistakes made.

 

[Bruce]

I don't know that he is more aggressive than the others. It is quite a show when 8 chicks and 16 hens all come racing out of the coop in the morning. They all dive for the BOSS and whatever kitchen scraps are out for them.

Ordered pullets and yep they to make mistakes. Got a Barnevelder cockerel 2 years ago. Meyer guarantees 90% so I'll get my money back since I ordered 9 chicks. Unfortunately the money is all you get back, the unwanted roo/one less layer is on the buyer.

I don't expect to see any rooster feathers for some time. Trouble (the Barnevelder roo) was CLEARLY a roo at 3 weeks. But you have to wait until they are at least 11 weeks to claim the error. Similar to this one, Trouble had no back or shoulder feathers when all the girls, including Trill (the other Barnevelder) were pretty much feathered out and his tail, like this one, was only a stub for quite a while.

 

[Bruce]

Today:
The Plan: DD1, DW and I do alpaca nails, hand shear/scissor Teddy
Actual:

• Friend called about 11 AM, just as we were about to go out to execute the plan. Said they were in the area. Gave them the address and they showed up about half an hour later. We visited for some time, showed them around.
• On to the plan ... oops the boys aren't in the barn any more. Plan B, change the oil in DW's car
• Execute Plan B, while the oil drained I took apart the small shop vac and oiled the motor, it was sounding bad. Put that back together, finished Plan B
• Alpacas back in the barn so back to "The Plan". I snuck around the back of the barn and closed the boys in. If they spook, they are near impossible to get back into the barn.
• Got Teddy's halter on, not too bad. Laddie fought it some but was trapped in the alley to their door so got his on too.
• Did Laddie's nails. Of course he fought the whole way but didn't kick
• Did Teddy's nails, he fought some but not near as much.
• Used hand shears and Fiskars scissors to shear Teddy. He is actually pretty good once he is up on the stand.

Pretty well beat! DD1 noticed an odd thing on Teddy's back leg, way down just above the ankle, as she was cutting hair. From the look and feel of it, at some point he cut his leg about 1.5" long and it healed with the skin adhering to the exposed bone?? Is this possible? It wasn't tender at all, clearly whatever happened happened a long time back. We don't remember seeing it when we sheared him last year though. Is this something I should worry about?

 

[RollingAcres]

Glad you were able to complete both plans.