For some amazing pumpkin sculptures go here and look, he has a Gallery to look over for each year!
Click:
http://pumpkingutter.com/
6 years ago
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Alright now y'all. :) I have read up on just about everybody the past two days, I think. Y'all better come on in here and sit down and visit for a while with me now. Remember, I can see you lurking! Don't just sit there, I want to hear from you, yes YOU!
Guess what? I am meeting Nelishia, Dirk, and Katie tomorrow evening at a Trick or Treat thingie in Cartersville! Neat huh? :)
Guess what? I am meeting Nelishia, Dirk, and Katie tomorrow evening at a Trick or Treat thingie in Cartersville! Neat huh? :)
Rough Day In The Chicken World
Its that time again. Every Fall when the weather is cold and warm, cold and warm, back and forth with the temperatures...a few get sick. I noticed one of the two barred rock hens I have was not feeling well. When a chicken doesnt feel well they tend to draw their head into their body and hunch up. I picked her up and could hear from her breathing that she had congestion. It takes a few weeks but usually I can cure this. The problem is sometimes they don't want to eat when they are sick, and that will kill them. She already feels lighter than she should.
The first thing to do is isolate. I have extra cages just for this purpose. Its not like the chicken feels like running around, they just want to rest. I packed one of the cages with fresh hay and made up a dish of water with antibiotics and and a vitamin, mineral, and electrolyte supplement. I also give VetRX through an eye dropper or syringe, straight in the mouth and I rub the comb and wattles with it too. It has camphor in it so it helps to clear the congestion. Clyde have to give up both his heat lamps...one to the barred rock and another to a cochin pullet.
Yep, I found one of my black giant cochin pullets feeling a bit blah. Nothing I could put my finger on, she just didn't have a lot of get up and go. I held her a while and cuddled her, gently scratching the back of her head as she closed her eyes and relaxed. I made up a sick cage for her, same deal. I also switch a sick chickens feed to the highest protien chick starter I can find, without any animal parts being included. I only buy ruminent free chicken food. Dumor has a 24 percent that I find great to use. I always keep a bag, even if I don't have chicks at that time.
It was getting late evening and the sun was going down fast. A neighbor friend stopped by on his way home from work. I had promised him I would come for a visit and see all his flock and time has just gotten away from me. I told him I hadn't forgotten the invitation. Things just get busy around here and time slips by. He had mentioned wanting some of the guinea keets when they were older and asked if he could still have some. He has three hens that he doesnt like, buff orpingtons, he says they are kind of dumb. I am thinking I can talk him out of those three in trade for some of the guineas. They would be nice to add to the layers as they are at a prime age for laying...around a year old now. I promised to catch him some and bring them by on Sunday so hopefully I will come back with three new recruits. They will have to be quarantined for a couple of weeks to make sure they are not sick or going to give my chickens anything bad and then I will introduce them to the flock. They should fit in pretty easily.
After he left I was wandering about waiting on dark to close up the pens and saw poor Bubba. Japanese Silver Phoenix roosters are not generally aggressive. They get along with each other very well and are not hard on the girls. One of my two silkie/polish cross roosters got it in his head right before dark night before last that he needed to beat up Bubba and was chasing him all over the yard. Bubbas comb had a small piece taken out of it and he was bleeding. He stopped and hid his head, putting it on the other side of the gate to protect his head. I picked him up and that darn other rooster hopped up on top of a pen to challenge him even as I was holding Bubba. I pointed a finger at the naughty boy and told him to calm down. Well he decided to challenge ME. If you are a rooster of mine, you learn FAST not to challenge me. You will get your lights punched out. This may seem harsh, but you have to be firm with hard headed young roosters or they will hurt you one day. I punched him in the side and he went squawking off like I had killed him. Night fell and all was quiet.
Usually an episode like this is forgotten and life goes on in the yard. Not so this time. That bad rooster had beat up Bubba bad this time and I hadn't been around to save him this time. His comb was bloody. He had dried blood that had pooled down under his eye and his pretty white feathers around his neck were stiff with blood. Oh I felt so bad. I immediately scooped him up and tried to get some of the dried blood off but it was just no use. I knew he was sore and I didnt want to aggravate it so I just opted to slather his head with antibiotic ointment that included a pain reliever in it. I made up yet another sick bay so he could come in where it was warm and sleep peacefully and comfortably overnight. Fresh water and the chick starter were on the menu this morning. I have locked up the offending rooster in solitary. Bubba can go back out in a few days when he has rested up.
In the meantime I am running short on heat lamps and so Clyde is in a big carrier in the house (yes that is my kitchen table, I live in a zoo) and is happy and content to stay indoors. We don't ever eat at the table anyway. ;) We always eat off of tv trays in the living room.
The first thing to do is isolate. I have extra cages just for this purpose. Its not like the chicken feels like running around, they just want to rest. I packed one of the cages with fresh hay and made up a dish of water with antibiotics and and a vitamin, mineral, and electrolyte supplement. I also give VetRX through an eye dropper or syringe, straight in the mouth and I rub the comb and wattles with it too. It has camphor in it so it helps to clear the congestion. Clyde have to give up both his heat lamps...one to the barred rock and another to a cochin pullet.
Yep, I found one of my black giant cochin pullets feeling a bit blah. Nothing I could put my finger on, she just didn't have a lot of get up and go. I held her a while and cuddled her, gently scratching the back of her head as she closed her eyes and relaxed. I made up a sick cage for her, same deal. I also switch a sick chickens feed to the highest protien chick starter I can find, without any animal parts being included. I only buy ruminent free chicken food. Dumor has a 24 percent that I find great to use. I always keep a bag, even if I don't have chicks at that time.
It was getting late evening and the sun was going down fast. A neighbor friend stopped by on his way home from work. I had promised him I would come for a visit and see all his flock and time has just gotten away from me. I told him I hadn't forgotten the invitation. Things just get busy around here and time slips by. He had mentioned wanting some of the guinea keets when they were older and asked if he could still have some. He has three hens that he doesnt like, buff orpingtons, he says they are kind of dumb. I am thinking I can talk him out of those three in trade for some of the guineas. They would be nice to add to the layers as they are at a prime age for laying...around a year old now. I promised to catch him some and bring them by on Sunday so hopefully I will come back with three new recruits. They will have to be quarantined for a couple of weeks to make sure they are not sick or going to give my chickens anything bad and then I will introduce them to the flock. They should fit in pretty easily.
After he left I was wandering about waiting on dark to close up the pens and saw poor Bubba. Japanese Silver Phoenix roosters are not generally aggressive. They get along with each other very well and are not hard on the girls. One of my two silkie/polish cross roosters got it in his head right before dark night before last that he needed to beat up Bubba and was chasing him all over the yard. Bubbas comb had a small piece taken out of it and he was bleeding. He stopped and hid his head, putting it on the other side of the gate to protect his head. I picked him up and that darn other rooster hopped up on top of a pen to challenge him even as I was holding Bubba. I pointed a finger at the naughty boy and told him to calm down. Well he decided to challenge ME. If you are a rooster of mine, you learn FAST not to challenge me. You will get your lights punched out. This may seem harsh, but you have to be firm with hard headed young roosters or they will hurt you one day. I punched him in the side and he went squawking off like I had killed him. Night fell and all was quiet.
Usually an episode like this is forgotten and life goes on in the yard. Not so this time. That bad rooster had beat up Bubba bad this time and I hadn't been around to save him this time. His comb was bloody. He had dried blood that had pooled down under his eye and his pretty white feathers around his neck were stiff with blood. Oh I felt so bad. I immediately scooped him up and tried to get some of the dried blood off but it was just no use. I knew he was sore and I didnt want to aggravate it so I just opted to slather his head with antibiotic ointment that included a pain reliever in it. I made up yet another sick bay so he could come in where it was warm and sleep peacefully and comfortably overnight. Fresh water and the chick starter were on the menu this morning. I have locked up the offending rooster in solitary. Bubba can go back out in a few days when he has rested up.
In the meantime I am running short on heat lamps and so Clyde is in a big carrier in the house (yes that is my kitchen table, I live in a zoo) and is happy and content to stay indoors. We don't ever eat at the table anyway. ;) We always eat off of tv trays in the living room.
So that is what is happening around here. Thank goodness it is going to warm up some today. Highs in the mid to upper 60s and the weekend in the lower 70s. I am SO looking forward to it.
Ian will be off for four days in a row so I probably won't be online again until Tuesday. We have plans to work on that flower bed now that the neighbor with his tractor has helped finish pulling up those bushes. I will be selling birds on Saturday and catching guineas Saturday night. Sunday I will fit in visiting the neighbors and exchanging birds.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I sure am going to try. Trick or Treat and Happy Halloween to you all!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Some Emu and Chicken Talk
Its sunny here in Northwest Georgia, but there is still a chill in the air. Will you folks up north please turn down the wind machine up there?
The emus have decided their bed is going to be by the stairs off of the screen porch, behind the row of pens. Which is fine. I would rather have them up close to the house anyway. Now I just have to figure out how to make them some sort of shelter back there without disrupting the area too much. I don't want to run them off. They have been laying there until the grass is gone and all that remains is dirt, which is mud when it rains, and so that won't do. I laid down half a bale of hay in their spot the other evening. They really appreciated it. Ian said they seemed much more relaxed and happy. I watched them bed down last night and they did seem comfortable. It won't be long and they will have that mashed down and I will be adding the other half of that bale. I am going to try to construct something for them before we have rain again. I should have time over the weekend. I was going to build them a shelter out by the fence, but I bet if I did, they would still be laying down for the night right where they are now. Thats how animals are, I have learned that.
I have to many boys. It is a fact. Too many boys means stressed out hens and picked on docile roosters I keep. Goatman has retreated to the pen almost all of the time because the other white crested polish boys have decided to become a part of the pretties flock. They pick on him, so rather than be picked on he isolates himself. I can't blame him. Yesterday something happened, and although it shouldnt surprise me when things like this happen, it still does indeed surprise me. Before I get too far off track I want to say I will be remedying that problem on Saturday morning. Tractor Supply Company is having a deal in their parking lot where you can bring your chickens, goats, horses, tack, whatever..to sell. I am taking at least three of the six white crested polish roos. Goatman stays, and maybe Mullet. There is one other that is docile. He looks terrible but doesnt seem to be aggressive, so he can stay. I am also going to take that big huge yellow chicken that was a freebie when I bought the chicks. It has turned out to be a HE, and HE is of no use to me and is already terrorizing my layers..so he has to go. I don't like to get rid of anyone, but sometimes you just have to for the flocks overall happiness. I do hope they will sell and go to good homes. At least with the Polish I know even if there are Mexicans there looking to buy dinner they won't bother with them as they are not meaty chickens at all. The yellow rooster however...might not be so lucky. I reserve the option to sell to who I want. I intend on putting signs up on their cages as to what breed they are, how old they are, and what temperament, and put NOT FOR FOOD on there too. Hey, they are my chickens, and if they don't like it, they don't have to buy them. I CAN pen them if worst comes to worst and I need to isolate them from the flock to keep the peace.
Back to my surprise I got. Let me see if I can paint an image. The waterer was empty so I had the hose over the fence and was sitting in one of those metal fold out chairs. I keep those here and there out in the yard because often I will find myself stopping and just sitting, being, with my animals. I would sit on the ground but the fire ants would get me. Goatman was in the pen on the roost watching. I knew he probably hadnt had enough food or water so I put some food on the ground in the pen and shut the pen to curious onlookers. He got down and was able to eat in peace despite the dirty looks he was recieving from outside the pen from gawkers wanting some of what he had. While he ate I scrubbed out the waterer and filled it. Closing it up and turning it right side up everyone was eager and ready to take a drink of fresh water. Goatman was still eating. When most everyone had had a good drink and was wandering off I opened the pen door and Goatman came out right away ready for a drink. I was sitting directly in front of the feeder with just a foot between me and the waterer. He came right in that spot in between my legs to drink. Now that was not what was so surprising. Anytime one of those white crested polish boys tried to get near him he got nervous, I could tell. So I began pointed a finger out at the ones getting too close and making them go on. He relaxed a bit knowing I would keep them away and kept drinking. At some point one scared him anyway, getting too close and he turned and hopped up onto my leg! I have not handled these birds a lot, just sat and spent time with them. He seemed perfectly comfortable to hop up onto the safety of my leg. I talked to him and comforted him by picking him up and holding him against me. His legs and feet were cold so I cradled them in my hands to warm him up. He didnt seem to mind a bit, and I think he liked it, no I know he liked it. He has made his way into my heart just as easy as that. Don't ever let anyone tell you that a chicken is dumb or doesn't have feelings. They know who will protect them. They are sometimes content, sometimes afraid. Some are as loyal as a dog. Some are standoffish as a cat..but let me tell you, they are far from not having any feelings. I was blessed with the ability to see this in all animals. Something that not everyone can see. I guess they know that too judging from Goatmans behavior.
Goatman will go back to being top white crested polish after Saturday, and I know he will be happy about that.
Aquarium Slideshow 4
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/KellyGa/?action=view¤t=a39c178f.pbw Here is a link straight to the slideshow...trying a different approach since the other way doesnt load on here anyway.
Aquarium Slideshow 3
Are these loading for anyone? Please let me know. I am having to click on View All to see them, they aren't loading here.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Birthday Cake Time
I am posting the same video that is above on photobucket, below on Youtube. I can't get the photobucket video to play...can you?
????
What am I doing wrong? I made a slideshow on photobucket. I took the code over here, clicked on Edit Html and pasted the code...and it just sits there and says its loading. Is there some other way and I am not doing it the right way?
If you can't see the slideshow try clicking on View All Images below where it says its loading and hopefully it will take you to the slideshow.
If you can't see the slideshow try clicking on View All Images below where it says its loading and hopefully it will take you to the slideshow.
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