Bruce
Herd Master
I was going to suggest using the phone to locate the product before you drove out in hopes of finding it. But this saves you all the driving!
rachels.haven's Journal
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rachels.haven
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I found a son #2 video.
Cow pedicures in a fancy dairy. And some have spots. Thanks YouTube.
Cow pedicures in a fancy dairy. And some have spots. Thanks YouTube.
farmerjan
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The farm I tested this afternoon is a "rapid exit" like the holstein farm in this video. It does make the milking go faster as the cows all get to go out quickly rather than all following one by one through an exit gate. Most farms here do not feed any grain in the parlor and it is the first time I have seen this type of feeder in a parallel as this one is called. The cows are milked from the back, so you can get more in the same amount of space than the ones that milk the cows from the side which is called a herringbone. And I have to take exception with his "crazy Jersey" comment, but then I am partial to "Brown cows" in general. 
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rachels.haven
Herd Master
Today I slid on my bum all the way down the hill to service the chicken coop, which made Bailey very concerned so she whined and tried to get in my way and check me out until I reassured her I was fine (the chickens took a break from egg eating, but are back at it as of today, btw-what a mess). Our 6 or so inches of snow has partially thawed and refroze so the whole ground is covered with about 4" of ice. Then I crawled and carefully picked my way back to the ground level back door. My crampons are arriving on Wednesday. *facepalm* Alternately I could drive to REI and get gag worthy expensive ones. But then I'd have to go to REI.
Carrying 5 gallon buckets of water to the barn over ice is also challenging.
Right before Christmas I fell on some random ice right outside the garage door flat on my back and shoulder one evening and it was agony to breathe for several days, so I consider myself out of strikes this year and I am being very careful. I'm going to be doing minimal barn visits until the crampons come I guess, and minimal walking in the snow if possible. Just like in my childhood, snow is still pain, just not cold, sandblast your face pain-more like pulverize you pain.
Drying up Summer, Saffron is pretty much dry, Ava's udder improving painfully slowly, but faster than before with the lotion, antibiotic ointment, and the bag balm that came yesterday. Her doelings are nursing a little but she's kicking and headbutting them away. Saffron's getting big and wide. Not much more to say about the new buck(s). The nigerian bucks are themselves, as usual. Epimetheus Lace is being herself too. I'm separating and graining/alfalfa pelleting Kaos Farm Uranium because she is thin and doesn't have the pluck to compete with the others in any way-she just sits out on the ice all day so no one bothers her, especially Ava who is being a real pill again lately. I may grain/pellet the lamancha bucks too to help their feet grow. They are also a bit thin. Ava's doelings are NOT thin. They are round, so nothing but hay and water for them.
Working on getting Badger to stop baseball batting people with his paws and trying to chew them. It's not good with this weather. I'm wondering if the komondor part of him makes him so airborne and crazy. He's now as tall as Bailey, but not as long and rectangular, and has good days and bad days with behavior. He's mostly a bit of a blockhead with little hints coming back in that he wants to help and be your friend. If he'd just stop bouncing...He even bounces Bailey, then she beats the baloney out of him until he starts yelping and running away. I'm not as brutal as she is. His body is bigger than his brain. I WILL out consistent him on this, and he WILL stop jumping.
Contemplating my new chicken flock. I love leghorns for their food drive, speed, and rate of lay. I find them high strung, but not crazy. White eggs are one of my favorite colors. I do not like their combs, but I could get used to them. With that food drive there is also the chance that they started the egg eating. They are always ready to start a feeding frenzy. McMurray listed their True Blues as one of their "best" layers this year. Last year they were only "good". I think they added more leghorn to the "breed". I may get some of those too after I empty the coop. I'm contemplating keeping my rooster. Despite never showing any tendency towards it, I'm worried he may harbor some egg eating too. I'm wondering if it would be better just to make a clean break and restart completely-BUT the older the rooster, the less teen age"drive" he should have. I may crate him with an egg for a few days to check. There's a good chance it's just the hens in the nests. He's far too busy of a rooster to hang around the boxes (but I could be wrong, I guess). If I do a clean break and depopulate, I can brood chicks in the coop....meh, plenty to think about, plenty of time to do it in.
Carrying 5 gallon buckets of water to the barn over ice is also challenging.
Right before Christmas I fell on some random ice right outside the garage door flat on my back and shoulder one evening and it was agony to breathe for several days, so I consider myself out of strikes this year and I am being very careful. I'm going to be doing minimal barn visits until the crampons come I guess, and minimal walking in the snow if possible. Just like in my childhood, snow is still pain, just not cold, sandblast your face pain-more like pulverize you pain.
Drying up Summer, Saffron is pretty much dry, Ava's udder improving painfully slowly, but faster than before with the lotion, antibiotic ointment, and the bag balm that came yesterday. Her doelings are nursing a little but she's kicking and headbutting them away. Saffron's getting big and wide. Not much more to say about the new buck(s). The nigerian bucks are themselves, as usual. Epimetheus Lace is being herself too. I'm separating and graining/alfalfa pelleting Kaos Farm Uranium because she is thin and doesn't have the pluck to compete with the others in any way-she just sits out on the ice all day so no one bothers her, especially Ava who is being a real pill again lately. I may grain/pellet the lamancha bucks too to help their feet grow. They are also a bit thin. Ava's doelings are NOT thin. They are round, so nothing but hay and water for them.
Working on getting Badger to stop baseball batting people with his paws and trying to chew them. It's not good with this weather. I'm wondering if the komondor part of him makes him so airborne and crazy. He's now as tall as Bailey, but not as long and rectangular, and has good days and bad days with behavior. He's mostly a bit of a blockhead with little hints coming back in that he wants to help and be your friend. If he'd just stop bouncing...He even bounces Bailey, then she beats the baloney out of him until he starts yelping and running away. I'm not as brutal as she is. His body is bigger than his brain. I WILL out consistent him on this, and he WILL stop jumping.
Contemplating my new chicken flock. I love leghorns for their food drive, speed, and rate of lay. I find them high strung, but not crazy. White eggs are one of my favorite colors. I do not like their combs, but I could get used to them. With that food drive there is also the chance that they started the egg eating. They are always ready to start a feeding frenzy. McMurray listed their True Blues as one of their "best" layers this year. Last year they were only "good". I think they added more leghorn to the "breed". I may get some of those too after I empty the coop. I'm contemplating keeping my rooster. Despite never showing any tendency towards it, I'm worried he may harbor some egg eating too. I'm wondering if it would be better just to make a clean break and restart completely-BUT the older the rooster, the less teen age"drive" he should have. I may crate him with an egg for a few days to check. There's a good chance it's just the hens in the nests. He's far too busy of a rooster to hang around the boxes (but I could be wrong, I guess). If I do a clean break and depopulate, I can brood chicks in the coop....meh, plenty to think about, plenty of time to do it in.
thistlebloom
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Ugh, be careful on that ice. It seems that even when you are being ultra careful your feet can just shoot out from under you unexpectedly.
farmerjan
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Do not crate the rooster with an egg/eggs to see if he is eating. The boredom of being crated, with no hens to take care of, will turn him to the eggs even if he never touched them in the past. A chicken/rooster/hen will go to extremes if crated for any length of time and they will do what they would not do out loose.
As for the leghorns..... find some that are rose comb instead of the single comb. Some of the bigger hatcheries ought to carry them. Try Ideal in Texas, I have gotten birds from them in the past and had very good service. Don't know if they have rose comb leghorns but there are breeders that have them. You could subscribe to the Poultry Press and find a breeder of rose comb leghorns but they would be more show quality and might not lay as good.
Hamburgs come in different colors, lay white eggs, are fairly active like leghorns and have rose combs. Considered to be non-sitting fowl like leghorns.
If there is any way for you to make a trip to Eastern States Expo... the BIG E.... in Springfield Mass, they have a huge poultry show put on by the Northeastern Poultry Congress. You will see more breeds of chickens , turkeys, waterfowl than you can imagine. You can google it, show is Jan 18-19th .
There will usually be a few companies that set up booths with poultry supplies, You might find something to stop your hens from eating eggs.
As for the leghorns..... find some that are rose comb instead of the single comb. Some of the bigger hatcheries ought to carry them. Try Ideal in Texas, I have gotten birds from them in the past and had very good service. Don't know if they have rose comb leghorns but there are breeders that have them. You could subscribe to the Poultry Press and find a breeder of rose comb leghorns but they would be more show quality and might not lay as good.
Hamburgs come in different colors, lay white eggs, are fairly active like leghorns and have rose combs. Considered to be non-sitting fowl like leghorns.
If there is any way for you to make a trip to Eastern States Expo... the BIG E.... in Springfield Mass, they have a huge poultry show put on by the Northeastern Poultry Congress. You will see more breeds of chickens , turkeys, waterfowl than you can imagine. You can google it, show is Jan 18-19th .
There will usually be a few companies that set up booths with poultry supplies, You might find something to stop your hens from eating eggs.
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rachels.haven
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McMurray has the rose comb leghorns. They don't lay as well though.
Springfield is an hour and a half away. For a special occasion, it's do-able. Let's see what happens. A poultry expo would be fun even if I wasn't looking for solutions. I've considered roll out nest boxes, but people report hens going into the rollout box through the shoot and having a hay day or learning to catch eggs, so I've held off.
Springfield is an hour and a half away. For a special occasion, it's do-able. Let's see what happens. A poultry expo would be fun even if I wasn't looking for solutions. I've considered roll out nest boxes, but people report hens going into the rollout box through the shoot and having a hay day or learning to catch eggs, so I've held off.
Baymule
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I hate egg eaters. Those are MINE.
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rachels.haven
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yeah, I know. I wouldn't mind as much if they would eat neatly and not foul the other eggs and bedding and would eat less afterward but they really love making a mess and getting obese...and then I get whatever they stoop to give me to boot.
Bruce
Herd Master
That was LAST year! But I don't suppose it would be good to start striking out again so soon in the year
Sounds like they aren't very well designed roll out nest boxes then. A hen shouldn't be able to reach the eggs once they have gone down the back let alone get into the collection area.
