Officially a little above freezing around noon, there’s mud on the sunny side of the yard. Yesterday started sunny but never got quite this warm, and then in early afternoon a new storm front roared through. Not a lot of new snow but I got my first taste of ‘blowing snow’ in a long time…
Nightly temps have gone single-digit, which makes the internal temp first thing in the morning something less than a joyful prospect. But I’ll go ahead and repeat that it’s better than it ever was before, so there’s that. All that pallet wood I cut in September is earning its pay, in less than an hour the little Lair is quite comfy.
Also more good news! The ladies are coming back to some sense of their duty.
And it’s possible the younger ladies are giving it a go, since somebody doesn’t seem to have figured out the purpose of a nesting box. With the morning so cold, this one that was left outside froze pretty much immediately.
I need to suck it up and get on my knees in the frozen goo to see what’s been going on under the coop. If there’s one, there may be a dozen.
Cold is supposed to stay till maybe Friday, but at least there’s sun in the forecast, which has been eerily accurate lately.
I hope you’ll give any frozen/cracked eggs to the “boys.” That will be extra good for them this time of year.
+ 1 on comment above. When I accidentally drop and crack an egg, I give it to my on top of her dry dog good, who goes into ‘bionic eating mode’ – she loves the taste of egg. I don’t let her see the egg though as it might give her ideas to get the eggs herself.
LOL, you’re probably right Anon… I used to have a big black Labrador who helped me collect eggs. Some chickens had gone feral in the hills above our place, and it was almost impossible for me to find the nests and collect the eggs. The dog was very well trained and had a super soft mouth, so he’d snoop around in the rocks and brush up the hill, bringing me the eggs one by one. Never cracked one either, that I recall. Since I had no idea how fresh those eggs might be, I always gave them to the rest of the dogs in the kennel. They had prize winning shiny coats and were very healthy.
Oh, man…I boarded a friend’s big Shepherd mix one summer many years ago. His coat was all dry and dull and somebody said, “Feed him eggs, it’ll shine up his coat.” It did, too. It also gave him gas you could have used to clear a WWI trench.
Ah, dog farts. One of the real blessings of keeping a kennel. But I don’t remember the eggs giving the Labradors gas, or any more than was normal. I boarded dogs too, and one stands out. He was a seriously fat Basset Hound, and super spoiled on a “special diet” that did him little good because the owner wouldn’t stop giving him “people food.” He came to be boarded often, and the owner was generous, so we would keep him in the house for the few days he was with us. If left in the kennel or even outside in the yard, he would howl loud enough to wake the dead, and I swear he never took a breath… He was a sweet old duffer, and the kids loved him… but oh, the smell. He farted almost constantly. What a memory!
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me sappy…
But what’s all that white stuff? You got THAT much cocaine lying around? Hell, you gonna be RICH, bro! Just let them Hollyweird types see that shiite and they’ll be grovelling at your doorstep, beggin’ for some of the action…
}:-]
I hear you on the basset hound… We have a four year old (Copper) who is an all around awesome, loving, and stupid as nails hound dog.
But his howling, and machine gun bark make me certain that the reason for the stupid as nails part is that hounds never inhale enough to get oxygen to their brains…
Indeed, abnormalist. That’s always been my impression of most hounds, though I’ve known lots of people who swear by their intelligence. Maybe… if you can ever get them to shut up. But it’s not limited to hounds, by any means. My sister has a Chihuahua that is only (relatively) quiet if she’s in someone’s lap and there are no strangers around closer than the freeway. 🙂
On the other hand, I have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi that hardly ever makes a sound. Corgis are notorious for being very busy barkers, so this one is a clear anomaly. He was rescued from some serious abuse, but is growing less timid and more assertive the longer I have him. I just don’t ever expect him to become a true watchdog type. He’s now giving a “woof” or two at the deer, or when friends come to visit, but is silent and wary around strangers. We have a bit more work to do.
We recently got three pampered chickens, and they have taken to eating their own eggs, as far as we can tell. Have gotten almost nothing from them, even though they are eating well. I did find one intact egg without a shell on the nest once, that I managed to save, but wife has seen broken eggs with good shells too. We’re about ready to get the axe out…
It didn’t help to put the plastic eggs in the nest boxes either.
Paul, this page has a lot of good ideas to help solve your problem. How to Keep Chickens from Eating Their Own Eggs I had hens who started to eat eggs, and crowded conditions or boredom were usually the identified cause. Never thought to hang a cabbage, but I had plenty of greens and other stuff from the garden and kept a pile of it in the center of their run as much as possible. I got old rotten fruits and vegetables from the corner market to give them in the winter. It not only stopped the egg cannibalism, but it improved their overall health and the egg production considerably… readily noted when I fell down on the job for any length of time. Sure wish I could have some chickens here… just need to figure out how to get a shelter built for them. It’s on my “bucket list” for sure. 🙂
Well… for some reason the link didn’t show up last time. Let’s try it again. How to Keep Chickens from Eating Their Own Eggs http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Chickens-from-Eating-Their-Own-Eggs
I see what I did… put the title of the article in, but not the link.