Devonviolet Acres

[CntryBoy777]

Are ya doing okay there @Devonviolet ?....haven't heard from ya in a while....hope ya are just busy with things....

 

[Devonviolet]

Are ya doing okay there @Devonviolet ?....haven't heard from ya in a while....hope ya are just busy with things....

Sorry to took so long to respond to this CntryBoy.

I have been really busy for the last couple weeks. So I haven't been able to be online much.

I did want to tell you that our Khaki Campbell drake's coloring has changed &is different from the hens. His head is black & his beak is green. He also has some darker feathers in his wings. He looks more like the Mallard, than the girls. I tried to get a photo of him. But, the Khaki's freaked out & ran away. I've been too busy to take photos since.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

I hope it is a"good" type of busy & that all is well! Hope you had a nice Christmas.

 

[Devonviolet]

I hope it is a"good" type of busy & that all is well! Hope you had a nice Christmas.

Oh yes, all is well. I've just been busy with family & church activities. Yes, we did have a nice Christmas.

I've also spent quite a bit of time tracing my father's birth family. He died, in a plane crash, at the age of 36, so I can't get any info from him. My mother has been gone for 27 years, as well, and she never shared much info, about our father, with us kids.

He was adopted very young & we know nothing about his family of origin. In spite many hours searching, I still know next to nothing.

I do have a few possible leads, so after the 1st of the year will be doing more searching. So, will likely not be able to spend much time here on BYH.

 

[Devonviolet]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope everyone is having a safe, warm New Years Eve!

DH & I made Mama Wall's Eggnog for the second time (the first time was on Christmas Day). That is some yummy stuff! This afternoon, we made cream, so we had fresh cream, to whip Last time I sprinkled nutmeg on top, of our drinks. This time, I added 1 tsp to the eggs yolks before I added the sugar. That helped make it possible to taste the nutmeg, which, to me, is what it needs.

I hope everyone is staying warm, in the frigid Winter blast most of the country is experiencing. This morning it was bitter cold, going out to feed the animals & milk.

Right now it is 23°F with a wind chill of 9°F!!!! BRRRRR!!! We left MMinnesota to get away from temps like this! But I guess I can't complain. Right now, in SE MN, it is -13°F with a "Real Feel" of -34°F!!!!!!

We seriously don't miss that kind of cold. It is just too painful!

 

[farmerjan]

Well we were supposed to get down to 11* last night. Gee surprise it got down to 4* with wind chill in the minus. Tonight, New Years night is supposed to be down to 9*, the coldest.....Hmmmmmm think they missed that already..... Our normal for this time of year is 20's and days in the upper 30's to low 40's. I moved from Ct and New England to have milder winters.... sure isn't that way this year. We are supposed to have artic chill weather all week; maybe getting above freezing on Wednesday.
But; up in the Erie Pa area, they got over 3 ft of snow on Christmas and another 2 plus ft the next day.... don't have any idea of their temps....

We need moisture. I would deal with some snow accumulation if the temps were in the normal range.
Hauling water is a real trick in this weather. We have moved cattle from 2 places that were running out of water. Will have to start moving some out of where I am hauling to now. I cannot keep this up. No moisture in sight for the next week to 10 days. Not good at all here.

 

[Bruce]

DH & I made Mama Wall's Eggnog for the second time (the first time was on Christmas Day)

and you didn't tell us!!!! For shame!!!! I can't imagine how good it would be with fresh cream!

My vision therapy optometrist also made it for XMas, said it was well received. I have 16 lazy butt chickens at the moment so no more Mama Wall's in our near future. As it is we are shifting from Sunday AM omelettes to pancakes or waffles. Total of 9 eggs in the refrigerator, only Trill is laying and not real regularly at that. But we will get more sun each day, hopefully that will nudge some of the others back to the factory. Not sure how this frigid weather, more than a month early, maybe affecting their laying.

 

[Devonviolet]

Well we were supposed to get down to 11* last night. Gee surprise it got down to 4* with wind chill in the minus. Tonight, New Years night is supposed to be down to 9*, the coldest.....Hmmmmmm think they missed that already..... Our normal for this time of year is 20's and days in the upper 30's to low 40's.

BRRRRR!!! Our lowest "Real Feel" temp this morning was 5°F. Usually the chickens hang out in the coop, when it gets colder, & the ducks, turkey & geese stay out in the run. But, this morning, we only had the two geese in the run. That 8×8' coop must have been PACKED, even with chickens on all the roosts.

I have 16 lazy butt chickens at the moment so no more Mama Wall's in our near future. As it is we are shifting from Sunday AM omelettes to pancakes or waffles. Total of 9 eggs in the refrigerator, only Trill is laying and not real regularly at that. But we will get more sun each day, hopefully that will nudge some of the others back to the factory.

We had a dry spell, for eggs, late Summer/early Fall, when the birds were all molting. Some days we didn't get any, some days one chicken egg. We have 10 female ducks of laying age & 12 chickens.

The 10 Khaki Campbell girls should start laying in January some time.

The ducks & chickens started laying about a month ago. But not all that well. We get 7-8 eggs a day & most of those are duck eggs.

 

[CntryBoy777]

We have 1 khaki that is still molting, but the other 4 are laying regularly.....with a rouen or 2 laying every so often....there are a couple of them still waiting to get their new wing feathers in....

 

[Mike CHS]

That slacker sign had me laughing.