Not much time for farm journal this week. Even less time for photography. I haven't made or bought any Christmas presents or tree ornaments. Didn't get around to doing any cards. Pretty lame! But the animals are alive for another week, so I guess I'll take that as my accomplishment for this week.
Also at TRC yesterday I started catching owls from flight rooms (instead of just cages), so it's nice that I'm taking my skills up a notch. I had 5 owls yesterday! Two barreds and 3 great horneds. Then when I got home I saw two HUGE red tailed hawks out in the grotto, so I headed out into the deep snow to scare them away. Helping raptors by morning, hazing them by night. I don't know if they were hunting rabbits, pheasant, or waiting for our chickens to stray. Either way, they can move on to the 3000 acres next door to do their hunting.
Also at TRC yesterday I started catching owls from flight rooms (instead of just cages), so it's nice that I'm taking my skills up a notch. I had 5 owls yesterday! Two barreds and 3 great horneds. Then when I got home I saw two HUGE red tailed hawks out in the grotto, so I headed out into the deep snow to scare them away. Helping raptors by morning, hazing them by night. I don't know if they were hunting rabbits, pheasant, or waiting for our chickens to stray. Either way, they can move on to the 3000 acres next door to do their hunting.
Lots of fox tracks in our yard this week, and my neighbour said she witnessed two coyotes tearing apart a rabbit about 30ft from her back door.
My new sled is working great for hauling supplies to the barn. I can fit two bales of shavings and a 50lb bag of food on at one time and pull that comfortably.
The frost free hydrant thawed and started working the day after I installed the heat tape and insulation. PHEW. Hoping this will keep it happy throughout the winter. Don't need to increase risk of colic by having the horses run out of water during the day...
Still dealing with guinea treatments, and observing the others who aren't in isolation to see who's exhibiting signs of frostbite. Every single bird who was outside now has it, to varying degrees. It's just taken longer to manifest in some. From what I've read about it, it can take 4-6 weeks sometimes.
I'm growing quite fond of the 3 who are in my main floor bathroom. We vocalize back and forth throughout the day, and it's really quite charming. Unfortunately the two hens of that group are not looking so great. I don't understand how 'blue' can have one foot almost completely mummified, but she can stand and balance on it. She preens like she thinks she's the most beautiful bird in the world. It's very sweet to watch. I guess I'll be making a tough decision on her soon. : ( The vet who has been helping with them had a family emergency this week, so the guineas couldn't have their recheck and reassessment. But no one is has infection or in terrible pain, so I don't feel anyone needs immediate euthanasia. I'm beginning to hate that word, even though it's a gift disguised by sadness.
 |
| These photos are from six days ago--so the feet look even worse now. |
I'm growing quite fond of the 3 who are in my main floor bathroom. We vocalize back and forth throughout the day, and it's really quite charming. Unfortunately the two hens of that group are not looking so great. I don't understand how 'blue' can have one foot almost completely mummified, but she can stand and balance on it. She preens like she thinks she's the most beautiful bird in the world. It's very sweet to watch. I guess I'll be making a tough decision on her soon. : ( The vet who has been helping with them had a family emergency this week, so the guineas couldn't have their recheck and reassessment. But no one is has infection or in terrible pain, so I don't feel anyone needs immediate euthanasia. I'm beginning to hate that word, even though it's a gift disguised by sadness.
 |
| One of the first major snows--Princess Venga is not amused.... |
Our egg clients at G's workplace will be very happy when he gets back to work bearing hen fruit. His clients tend to whine when they don't get their eggs! It's a good thing that our banties have been laying well while the big hens have been moulting and resting. This year's hens (Wedge's daughters) are all laying now--but we are a little confused about them. The eggs are all shades of green/grey.
I'll have to look into our book 'Genetics of the Fowl' to find out about egg colour and how it's passed on. The thing is, we only remember putting one green egg under our broody hen to hatch, and that gave us Venga's granddaughter, with very obvious Ameracauna genes. (beard, ear muffs, and laying greenish eggs) Any other hens that Wedge mated with give creamy coloured eggs. (Wyandottes, Dark Cornish, and a few crosses that don't obviously have any Ameracauna in them). So we have no idea why they are green!
 |
| top left: Venga-purebred Ameracauna. 2nd top: her daugter--ameracauna/barred rock mix. Bottom row left: obvious venga granddaugther. Bottom right 3: who knows??? |
 |
| top left 2--Pearl and Granny Rose (maybe Buff) (Delawares and Buff orpington) Brown one third from left: Wookie (barred rock cross--related to Wedge). Far right:Wicket. Bottom row: all silver laced Wyandottes (maybe a gold laced too) |
I'll have to look into our book 'Genetics of the Fowl' to find out about egg colour and how it's passed on. The thing is, we only remember putting one green egg under our broody hen to hatch, and that gave us Venga's granddaughter, with very obvious Ameracauna genes. (beard, ear muffs, and laying greenish eggs) Any other hens that Wedge mated with give creamy coloured eggs. (Wyandottes, Dark Cornish, and a few crosses that don't obviously have any Ameracauna in them). So we have no idea why they are green!
It's supposed to be very cold again tomorrow night, so I will likely put Mr. Flan in the garage again. We are still working out the best (and cheapest) way to keep our birds warm and safe this winter. This is why I hate heat lamps:
They break!! And that can be very dangerous. The heat lamp in the barn tractor has already burned Shadow's longest tail feathers off.
We'll be trying a few of these:
We'll order some 175W pressed glass bulbs, and the claim to fame from this manufacturer is that the bases are threaded on the bulb, not just cemented on(which is what fails sometimes)
A few photos from the past few weeks:
No comments:
Post a Comment