Savingdogs-Saving the chickens

[savingdogs]

I'll have to get some new pictures of her.

The goats are HOT. Are goats supposed to pant? They keep standing in the sun like idiots when there is a nice cool shady area in their pen. They go over there if I go down and stay with them but go back out into the sun when I leave.

I couldn't get the corn to stand back up. It was broken. I could prop up a couple and we'll see, maybe enough for one dinner.

The silver lining in that cloud is that the rabbits ADORED the immature corn stalks. All eight had a corn feast.
:bun :bun :bun :bun :bun :bun :bun :bun

 

[Javamama]

Yes, goats pant. I have one who loves to lay in the sun She's weird. Her coat is all sunbleached now.

 

[abifae]

Had nothing to add. Just sayin' hi

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

My goats pant in the heat too. Sometimes oats help them regulate their body temp to cooler. Just provide plenty of shade and water.

Loved the soaps, BTW. Nothing at all to laugh at. Much better than I could have done!

 

[savingdogs]

Well the soap is turning dark BROWN now......I'll have to ask glenolam how to fix that. I don't think I'll use it as gift soap, dark brown soap doesn't look too appealing.

Oats help in the heat? I have oats. They don't care for it especially. I tried to sing them the song ...

Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy
A kid will eat ivy too, wouldn't you?

My mom used to sing me that when I was little. and my goats like me to sing to them, Ginger especially when she is being milked. They are the only ones who like to hear me sing now that I can't hear.

Well, back to the rabbitry building project.....three cages are done, four to go.....

 

[savingdogs]

Well the price in feed around here jumped and prompted a few ads posted on Craig's List. I'm giving up on ducks and have the last pair for sale. They are not laying eggs and are not hatching ducklings and eat a lot (especially the drake) because they are huge ducks. So far I've gotten one nibble on my CL ad, I hope it pans out.

I've got two male bunnies to sell as well, unfortunately these two are not show quality like the two I sold at Easter time last spring. So I am selling them cheaper and if they don't sell after two ads, then we will just process them (same with the ducks). One has a weak ear and looks half-lop. Unless someone finds that endearing he will be bunny-tamales, poor guy. And I just can't see the point of continuing to feed and care for these ducks that not only don't reproduce, but the female doesn't even lay eggs consistently (or she eats them, not sure which). And I have absolutely no use for two more male bunnies, so these may be the first ones we process on purpose (we had one break a leg that we ate too).

And I have three roosters and only need one or two. Probably just one really. I have 23 chickens counting the three roos and don't necessarily want to hatch eggs from all of them, just the Easter Eggers, so I don't need three easter egger roos since half my flock is some other breed. They are all three so gorgeous now, I thought I would let the buyer pick, if I get any takers. I see a lot of roosters for sale on Craigs List, so we may have another donation to freezer camp to make soon. The one is a nice roo, another a bit too shy and the third seems dysfunctional so far regarding mating, he just watches the nice one and attacks the head of the poor hen during the ....er.... mating. I think one of those two has to go. Unfortunately the one that just attacks the hens heads is the most beautiful and unusual type of EE. Someone at BYC told me to use him for breeding.

My soap turned brown but someone on BYC's Soapmakers Help pointed out that I used a fragrance that turns the soap brown. Duh. Should have read that fine print better when I saw the bargain page! Oh well, the fragrance is awesome, I hope brown soap becomes the new style..... If not my family will smell like Black Amber and Lavender.

Our new rabbitry is finished and is wonderful. The spot is deep shade under the pines and actually one of the most pretty parts of our garden, so it is a very nice spot to work and/or meet people who might buy my bunnies. Before I had them tucked behind Hubby's junk pile and it was embarrassing. Now where the rabbitry WAS is a huge pile of lovely dirt I'm moving to the garden. The chickens love this spot and keep escaping to go scratch through the rabbit hay and poo.

Computer Nerd is back from Europe........*SD sighs huge sigh of relief* He had fun but drank mostly coca-cola and ate at McDonald's every day. He went to Great Brittan, took a ferry to Holland and they ended up in Amsterdam, then came back to England for the flight home. His camera and Kindle got wet and ruined at Creamfields so NO PICTURES, can you believe it?
But his friends have photos.
By the way his friends are comparable to "forum" friends.....a group of six of them got together and none of them had actually met. It would be like six of US meeting for a trip to Europe. He said they were all "just like he knew they would be" as he has actually known these young men about six or seven years via internet.
It is a strange world these days................................

I've been reading and seeing all the sad tributes to 9/11 on the news, media, etc., and remembering that sad day. Our American flag has hung in front of our yard ever since that day and will continue to do so. Such a sad day in our history and I don't think we are out of the deep water, even 10 years later. My nephew was inspired to be a fireman and even now, he is working to fight the wildfires all over our country, they keep shipping him here and there and he has barely been home to Lake Tahoe, where he lives, in over a month.

*SD lowers flag to half-mast for tomorrow to honor all those who died in 9/11, or afterwards, defending our country against further attacks.

 

[savingdogs]

Well I've been free-ranging the chickens a lot because.....well, because of the time of year that it is, we have lots of vegetation and need to keep our feed expenses down. They return to the coop nicely at night and everything is hunkey dorey, right?

Well, now the Speckled Sussex and Easter Egger pullets are getting old enough to lay.....and I've found their eggs everywhere! Places I didn't even know they could reach. The EEs can fly really well, but they seem to think hiding the eggs is the idea. One just seems to be dropping them where she lays.

Do I need to coop them up while they learn nest box etiquette?

I'm trying this question over at BYC as well so if you see it over there don't be surprised.

 

[old fashioned]

SD...even when they know where the nest is and where they are 'supposed' to lay....is NO sure bet of them doing it right :/ Locking them up might help, but it's also possible when they are let out free they will lay 'all over the yard' again.

How hot is it getting where you're at? We are supposed to be in the upper 80's to 90's all this next week. This is one of the latest summers I can remember...but atleast it finally got here as opposed to last year's near no show


Take care & have a great day!

 

[savingdogs]

Yea, we almost didn't have a summer, no days reached 90 degrees, until JUST when they were starting to send the kids back to school in September. We don't have air conditioning normally and it was sweltering. Over this past weekend, we actually dug an old one out of the closet (buried in there from long ago when we had money for things such as cold air) and set it up in one room that we are huddling in now. The computer is actually working!

I had a terrible time keeping the bunnies cool enough, we had a high of about 95 yesterday and a about the same. We are getting a weather report that it should cool off by 10 degrees tomorrow and then go into the 70s after that. I don't know how accurate our weather guys are however, I think they just put a finger up into the wind sometimes and make a guess based on what happened on this day last year.

 

[Javamama]

Sorry it's so darn hot for you now. I would lock those egg hiders up once it cools down a bit.

heehee, guess what I brought home today...

I'll make a post about it if it stops storming. We are still getting hammered by tropical depression Lee It seems it has stalled over the Ohio valley.