Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Sunday morning. 57 and up to 61 cloudy and wet out there..

WE all met up around 8:30.... So very nice that @fuzzi got hooked up with @canesisters and a stay over at her place... That was very nice of @canesisters to host her at her house... Reminds me of the generous hospitality that @Mike CHS and his wife Teresa showed to me, when I made a quick trip to their place and had the opportunity to meet with @Baymule in person.... they were about half way from me and from @Baymule ... a little closer to me, but I don't think a trip to Texas is in the cards so was glad to take the time and go down. Mike and his wife are wonderful people... @Baymule is a HOOT......

Anyway... someone else will have to post the picture, you know my lack of "electronic skills".... @canesisters sister came with them also... so she did the picture taking of us 4 BYH ladies. Thank her for us again @canesisters .

This "Swap meet" has grown to such a size that seeing it all in one day is very difficult and tiring. We started out together... but the crowds made it difficult... and when someone would stop to see something and the rest moseyed on... we kinda got split into 2 groups... @fuzzi seems to be very knowledgeable about stones and things for crafting and there were several places for her to indulge... @Mini Horses gets sidetracked with goat people when they get into a conversation and I of course get sidetracked with chicken people...
And as you have probably read on @fuzzi 's post... trying to educate stupid "experts" of 18 MONTHS, on the qualities of the American Bresse chickens that are supposed to be the answer to the Cornish X meat birds... for farmers to raise... Didn't even know the cycle of roosters inseminating hens and the amount of time their semen can last in a hen's tract to fertilize the eggs for saving for hatching...

Yes, the cornish x are somewhat lazy birds, yes they are messy, yes they "sit around" alot... yes their legs are not designed for long life carrying in the bird... BUT.... the can successfully be raised out on grass... loose or in a chicken tractor situation. Yes they eat alot, but they do and WILL forage for bugs and such... They do have a more mild flavor... as in "bland".... compared to birds that run out all the time... but they will have a more flavorful meat than ones raised in a confinement situation.
And if raised out on some sort of a grazing/grass/free range situation... their legs will develop stronger and will keep them going for longer. And the shortest time from gain to butcher is the goal...

Oh well... maybe in my I am tired of younger people that think they know more than they know and become instant experts on something... Especially when these experts cannot even answer a simple question... like I asked them approximately how long to a decent butcher size... they started telling me about how the cornish x cannot stand up on their legs and that they have very bland tasting meat where as these Bresse have more flavor etc and so on... I had to ask 3 times to get an answer of about 12 weeks rather than the cornish at 8 weeks.,...

For those of you not familiar with chickens... the rooster will mount and breed a hen frequently... they do not have to "be in heat" like a mammal.... but due to the egg formation process.. the sperm do not just swim up and get an egg fertilized... Think about the process of an egg down through the oviduct, to go from a yolk, to adding the "white" which is the albumen...to the membranes and finally the shell before being laid. The spot on the yolk that will accept the sperm and start to develop, HAS to be fertilized at the very beginning of the whole chain of egg formation.... so the hen is designed with a storage area gland/sac at the opening of the cloaca and it releases sperm regularly to "swim" to the area where the yolk starts.
One source said the sperm can be viable for 4 weeks... we always used the 2 week rule... eggs can/will be fertile for at least 2 weeks after a mating... maybe more than that but I never tried it.
That is why we would have some pens with a single female or maybe 2, and rotate the rooster we wanted to use for these breedings... between cages/pens.... 1-3 days with each hen and then move... When we wanted to switch males to do a different breeding, we would leave them without a rooster for a week, then start with a new rooster, but would not save the eggs for at least 2 more weeks so that they were fertile by the new rooster... If the hen has not been with a rooster, the eggs are often fertile after a few days matings... but sometimes not for over a week-10 days.

So back to the swap... the weather was good overall... some sun, but we had a brief period of a few sprinkles... sun was out some too. Glad it was not beating down, that would have been too hot.
We didn't wind up eating any lunch together... after several hours we sorta met up again, and @canesisters "group" were going to meander through some more stuff on their way to the car... they had gotten some donuts and such when they first got there which they shared... but were not really hungry. @Mini Horses and I decided we had seen enough... more and more crafty things and we were more interested in the animals... so she went with me to the car.. with my stuff... then she found a place where a car had pulled out right near the opening to across the road to the swap stuff... so I moved the car there.. and then we walked back to the friend that had my Buff Leghorns for me... She went from there back to her car... I did offer to take her... as she was parked up in the field in the opposite direction... but the traffic was UNBELIEVABLE... and I sat with the guys at the chickens for a bit... then a couple of the sons/friends carried the crate with the birds to the car just across the road and loaded it... My friend said I could take his crate rather than try to put them all in boxes and pull them in the wagon I had... The wheels do not swivel right and it is awkward.. got a new one that a friend borrowed so got stuck with my old one.. ....

So it was a shorter day than planned... @Mini Horses and I talked about in the fall... maybe meeting up first, going around with whomever wanted in pairs/groups... then agreeing to meet like at 11 or so... getting some lunch and sitting and talking/visiting a bit... MAYBE there will be less people???? Or just all saying okay, we will meet at 11 at the feed barn and then eat and visit... so no one has to get there too early to meet up...
It's not like we can see it all in a few hours.. and the crowds are just getting huge. It is not so much a poultry swap... or even just related poultry type things/crafts... It is a full fledged "flea market, craft fair thing with animals thrown in" huge thing. We said it would be nicer to have the animals in a more localized area... and the other stuff in another "area"... BUT...

Maybe I am getting less tolerant in my ....
I did get a trio of good Buff leghorns and he threw in a couple extra hens that are not as good... I said I could use the eggs... and wound up buying the pair of black Langshan bantams he had... I used to have black langshans in bantam years ago and some large ones not that long ago that the coyotes decimated.
The buff leghorns are just pretty... and they are show quality so might be able to raise and then show some next year. Same with the langshans. Need to get things set up better for them. Glad I got rid of the rescue roosters.... My NH bantam rooster is very happy to have some company... he is outside the pen and they are inside, but at least he has some contact.. I was not able to find any hens for him... going to see if I can get with the guy who had the extra roosters last fall... and get some eggs. Got a different phone number for him so maybe this will work.

 

[murphysranch]

Fascinating. Thanks!!

I'm sad that the five of you couldn't sit and chat for a while. Next fall, I like your plan to do just that. Thanks also to Canesisters for hosting Fuzzi.

 

[canesisters]

I'm sorry that we couldn't stick together in a bunch too. Sis's back gets to hurting when she just stands for a bit, so we kept walking. I wanted her to have a good experience (she still thinks I'm a bit crazy for all this 'farm stuff' but she IS trying to relate ).
I agree, it would be great if they could seperate the animals from the yards yardsale.
There's always the fall swap.....
I'm REALLY glad you got those leghorns, they were GORGEOUS .
I'm still determined to give the Breese a shot & will report details back of the end results once I've processed a few.
I'm 50/50 split to see if they really all that or just a bunch of marketing hype.

 

[farmerjan]

Anyway, @Mini Horses had a lady to meet up with to get some canning jars, and I sat and talked chickens with the friend... who is a licensed poultry judge and very knowledgeable.... and his various family members in and out... then I came on home... Got here and DS had said the calf was very weak in a phone call... so I got a bottle of electrolytes made up and went to the farm... calf drank good but was very weak to stand... wound up moving the cow and calf into the barnlot and inside of the barn... she followed DS and the calf pretty easily... It had started to rain then, and I got soaked to the skin as we got her out of the small field she was in and got her down the "alley" that goes to the barn lot.

When I got home to make up the electrolytes, I did bring in the laundry right quick... GOOD THING... as it rained quite hard.
Unloaded the blueberry bush and a "Fall Gold, yellow raspberry plant"...that I got at the swap... I lost 2 of the blueberry bushes I got last year... I think that real cold spell with the snow and ice just did them in... The raspberry plant I will let it bend over and make some new plants at the cane tips... so will have several in a year or 2 I hope. I like raspberries a little better than blackberries... and have some "wild black raspberries, and a red raspberry plant so now have a yellow...
On the way home I had also stopped at my favorite nursery, and got some tomato plants before they sell out... I like the "big Zac" as they grow huge ones... fun... and a few others, and a couple pepper plants.
Put all them in the back of the ranger p.u. for the night.

ALSO, forgot to mention, @canesisters brought me some irises that she was thinning out, and another plant ... I forget the name already... ... put them in the bed of the ranger so they got a decent watering also...will get them planted in the next few days.

We got rain when I first got home... looked at about 1 inch but it was still sprinkling so did not dump it.. It rained some during the night too... Total this morning was 1.3 inches... what a godsend.... It will not alleviate the increased drought status, but it ought to drop us back to abnormally dry... which is great. Plus it was a perfect type rain... and soaked right in. It is cloudy still, might be some clearing later, but possible showers in the forecast for a couple days... WE NEED IT..... the pastures ought to really jump and DS just fertilized some more stuff this past week so PERFECT timing...

Had a cow and calf reported as being out in the road at a pasture we had just moved them to, on Friday... couldn't find them anywhere... and the fences that one of the guys working for DS that day, said was good... actually has 4 trees down on it and NOT RECENT... You can't trust people to do the job they are paid to do... There was $3500 worth of cow/calf missing... DS was totally FURIOUS, P.O.ed to the Nth degree... after he went looking for her and found this fence that the guy said was fine...
He called all the neighbors around there and let them know (cattle neighbors) and then Sat morning he said he found them in with the other cows... and moved them into "section 2" where he had personally gone around that fence... until we get section 1 fixed... Unnecessary aggravation and worry because of that BS.....this is the son of the older man that does real good work... that DS has been giving him work also... he works good with his father... but not worth a tinker's d@#n on his own... another drug addict/jail time person with no incentive to get better and make something of his life now that he is out of jail and living home with his parents again... the only reason DS has him, as he does some of the heavier work when he and his father are cutting brush; as his dad is late 60's and has a bad back and knees from years in the log cutting industry...but the father is very dedicated to doing things right even if he cannot work long stretches or days in a row... at least when he works, he does work...and does it right. Takes pride in whatever job he is doing.

It is still cloudy, might clear off some this afternoon. Going to go out and clean out the crate so it is ready to return it to the friend. If I can get some hatching eggs for the NH bantams, or chicks, I will be going in that direction and can drop it off...
Going to have to mow the lawn again as soon as it is dry enough...
Got to get anything remaining in the garden moved so that I can see about it getting tilled as soon as DS puts the tiller on the small tractor for me... Will bring it here to keep for a few weeks.

List of little projects .... don't we all know about them....

 

[farmerjan]

I'm sorry that we couldn't stick together in a bunch too. Sis's back gets to hurting when she just stands for a bit, so we kept walking. I wanted her to have a good experience (she still thinks I'm a bit crazy for all this 'farm stuff' but she IS trying to relate ).
I agree, it would be great if they could seperate the animals from the yards yardsale.
There's always the fall swap.....
I'm REALLY glad you got those leghorns, they were GORGEOUS .
I'm still determined to give the Breese a shot & will report details back of the end results once I've processed a few.
I'm 50/50 split to see if they really all that or just a bunch of marketing hype.

I am interested in the Bresse... I am sure they have their place... but the cornish x are not the most terrible chicken there is... LIKE anything that is developed for a certain purpose... they fill a niche.... the cornish x fill a purpose... and they are not designed to be a "keeper"... they are a hybrid that does what it is intended to do... Even in the commercial poultry set ups.. the hens are kept as producers for 1 year... then are shipped to butcher... so there is no longevity in the equation... and they are not
the "cross" but the foundation breeding cornish that bred by the plymouth rock males... for the cornish x resulting chicks.
Hope your sister's back is not too aching today.. I get the walking around to keep moving... the crowds were making it difficult to stay together anyway... Now we can make some better plans for the fall... you don't know how things will work until you try, and change things to make them work... and maybe @Mini Horses and I have fewer patience with "know it all's"... although that one person she spent some time with talking must have been nice, for them to talk goat breeds etc... Same as me with chickens... or cows... I am not a goat person, but appreciate someone that can connect with someone of like interests. And I know I get side tracked if I am talking about something, with someone that seems nice and at least educated in the animal/breed they are promoting...

 

[canesisters]

Iris & 'obedient plant' aka false dragon head

 

[fuzzi]

Sunday morning. 57 and up to 61 cloudy and wet out there..

WE all met up around 8:30.... So very nice that @fuzzi got hooked up with @canesisters and a stay over at her place... That was very nice of @canesisters to host her at her house... Reminds me of the generous hospitality that @Mike CHS and his wife Teresa showed to me, when I made a quick trip to their place and had the opportunity to meet with @Baymule in person.... they were about half way from me and from @Baymule ... a little closer to me, but I don't think a trip to Texas is in the cards so was glad to take the time and go down. Mike and his wife are wonderful people... @Baymule is a HOOT......

Anyway... someone else will have to post the picture, you know my lack of "electronic skills".... @canesisters sister came with them also... so she did the picture taking of us 4 BYH ladies. Thank her for us again @canesisters .

This "Swap meet" has grown to such a size that seeing it all in one day is very difficult and tiring. We started out together... but the crowds made it difficult... and when someone would stop to see something and the rest moseyed on... we kinda got split into 2 groups... @fuzzi seems to be very knowledgeable about stones and things for crafting and there were several places for her to indulge... @Mini Horses gets sidetracked with goat people when they get into a conversation and I of course get sidetracked with chicken people...
And as you have probably read on @fuzzi 's post... trying to educate stupid "experts" of 18 MONTHS, on the qualities of the American Bresse chickens that are supposed to be the answer to the Cornish X meat birds... for farmers to raise... Didn't even know the cycle of roosters inseminating hens and the amount of time their semen can last in a hen's tract to fertilize the eggs for saving for hatching...

Yes, the cornish x are somewhat lazy birds, yes they are messy, yes they "sit around" alot... yes their legs are not designed for long life carrying in the bird... BUT.... the can successfully be raised out on grass... loose or in a chicken tractor situation. Yes they eat alot, but they do and WILL forage for bugs and such... They do have a more mild flavor... as in "bland".... compared to birds that run out all the time... but they will have a more flavorful meat than ones raised in a confinement situation.
And if raised out on some sort of a grazing/grass/free range situation... their legs will develop stronger and will keep them going for longer. And the shortest time from gain to butcher is the goal...

Oh well... maybe in my I am tired of younger people that think they know more than they know and become instant experts on something... Especially when these experts cannot even answer a simple question... like I asked them approximately how long to a decent butcher size... they started telling me about how the cornish x cannot stand up on their legs and that they have very bland tasting meat where as these Bresse have more flavor etc and so on... I had to ask 3 times to get an answer of about 12 weeks rather than the cornish at 8 weeks.,...

For those of you not familiar with chickens... the rooster will mount and breed a hen frequently... they do not have to "be in heat" like a mammal.... but due to the egg formation process.. the sperm do not just swim up and get an egg fertilized... Think about the process of an egg down through the oviduct, to go from a yolk, to adding the "white" which is the albumen...to the membranes and finally the shell before being laid. The spot on the yolk that will accept the sperm and start to develop, HAS to be fertilized at the very beginning of the whole chain of egg formation.... so the hen is designed with a storage area gland/sac at the opening of the cloaca and it releases sperm regularly to "swim" to the area where the yolk starts.
One source said the sperm can be viable for 4 weeks... we always used the 2 week rule... eggs can/will be fertile for at least 2 weeks after a mating... maybe more than that but I never tried it.
That is why we would have some pens with a single female or maybe 2, and rotate the rooster we wanted to use for these breedings... between cages/pens.... 1-3 days with each hen and then move... When we wanted to switch males to do a different breeding, we would leave them without a rooster for a week, then start with a new rooster, but would not save the eggs for at least 2 more weeks so that they were fertile by the new rooster... If the hen has not been with a rooster, the eggs are often fertile after a few days matings... but sometimes not for over a week-10 days.

So back to the swap... the weather was good overall... some sun, but we had a brief period of a few sprinkles... sun was out some too. Glad it was not beating down, that would have been too hot.
We didn't wind up eating any lunch together... after several hours we sorta met up again, and @canesisters "group" were going to meander through some more stuff on their way to the car... they had gotten some donuts and such when they first got there which they shared... but were not really hungry. @Mini Horses and I decided we had seen enough... more and more crafty things and we were more interested in the animals... so she went with me to the car.. with my stuff... then she found a place where a car had pulled out right near the opening to across the road to the swap stuff... so I moved the car there.. and then we walked back to the friend that had my Buff Leghorns for me... She went from there back to her car... I did offer to take her... as she was parked up in the field in the opposite direction... but the traffic was UNBELIEVABLE... and I sat with the guys at the chickens for a bit... then a couple of the sons/friends carried the crate with the birds to the car just across the road and loaded it... My friend said I could take his crate rather than try to put them all in boxes and pull them in the wagon I had... The wheels do not swivel right and it is awkward.. got a new one that a friend borrowed so got stuck with my old one.. ....

So it was a shorter day than planned... @Mini Horses and I talked about in the fall... maybe meeting up first, going around with whomever wanted in pairs/groups... then agreeing to meet like at 11 or so... getting some lunch and sitting and talking/visiting a bit... MAYBE there will be less people???? Or just all saying okay, we will meet at 11 at the feed barn and then eat and visit... so no one has to get there too early to meet up...
It's not like we can see it all in a few hours.. and the crowds are just getting huge. It is not so much a poultry swap... or even just related poultry type things/crafts... It is a full fledged "flea market, craft fair thing with animals thrown in" huge thing. We said it would be nicer to have the animals in a more localized area... and the other stuff in another "area"... BUT...

Maybe I am getting less tolerant in my ....
I did get a trio of good Buff leghorns and he threw in a couple extra hens that are not as good... I said I could use the eggs... and wound up buying the pair of black Langshan bantams he had... I used to have black langshans in bantam years ago and some large ones not that long ago that the coyotes decimated.
The buff leghorns are just pretty... and they are show quality so might be able to raise and then show some next year. Same with the langshans. Need to get things set up better for them. Glad I got rid of the rescue roosters.... My NH bantam rooster is very happy to have some company... he is outside the pen and they are inside, but at least he has some contact.. I was not able to find any hens for him... going to see if I can get with the guy who had the extra roosters last fall... and get some eggs. Got a different phone number for him so maybe this will work.

I could have brought you some bantam eggs...


Those Rhode Island Red bantam pullets were gorgeous, almost as pretty as the buff leghorns you bought. If I ever want to add another breed to my flocks, those would tempt me.

I am a novice, but something about that seller's birds impressed me, they looked so vibrant, glossy, hard to say exactly what, maybe just "quality"?

 

[farmerjan]

The guy selling them is Douglas Cauthorne.. He is a licensed APA judge and one of the founding members of the Va Poultry Breeders Assoc.... Well maybe he was not a founding member, but has been a member since before I became one in 1973 or 1974. He is a really great down to earth guy, as is his family... I was really good friends with another member, and got to know Douglas when he was just a young man. He has good birds... show quality stuff... The trio I got are show quality, and the 2 extra hens he said were not as good but I said I could use some for eggs anyway... Plus an extra female or 2 NEVER HURTS....

And I got the pair of Black Langshan Bantams that he had... I used to breed them years ago... and then had some big ones... LOVE the tall stately carriage...

We have a poultry show the weekend before Thanksgiving... at the Caroline Co Fairgrounds... The VPBA show used to be 2 day, and often had 1500-2000 birds.. Now it is one day (Sat) and usually 800-1000 birds... That weekend can be cold or can be nice... not in a heated building so sometimes is chilly but it is in a building at the fairgrounds...Usually some good birds there... I will try to announce/list it, closer to the show... If you like to look at chickens, always fun to go to a show...
Do you show your speckled Sussex?

I am going to go to Columbus Ohio this fall to the HUGE Ohio National Poultry Show...I think there were over 7,000 entries last year.......been a goal to go and am going to make it happen this year. Mostly to just go, but looking for some more New Hampshires in the large fowl... and see whatever else catches my "fancy"...The Ohio National is like the "super bowl" of poultry sows.... I will not show there, since I am not much on showing "bought birds".... although if the ones I got from Douglas are in real good feather I might show them at the VPBA show.... just to help promote them... I would give him credit if I ever won anything..

I missed having my chickens and seeing the people I still know in the show circuit... many of the "old-timers" have passed away that I knew, and I have been out of showing for many years except to go to a few of the closer shows to just see what is there. That show is the 2nd weekend in Nov...actually Nov7-9th... It will be a 3-4 day trip for me... driving so that I can bring back anything I might acquire...
Time to do a few things I like to do...

But yes, if you are interested, I could ask Douglas about them... If you are not wanting to show, then some of the "culls" would still make some nice birds... usually the color might not be quite what they are looking for... little things like that. And even with the "culls" , breeding them still might produce a couple real good ones...

Good "real poultry fanciers" will sell birds, but many of them do try to take care of their animals... because it reflects on their reputations. And nice looking healthy birds will sell.... just a fact of life...

Thanks for the offer of the bantam eggs... @Mini Horses asked if I needed any, she usually has some in the spring when everything is laying... so I gratefully accept. I want to make some bread pudding since I just got milk... that is a project for maybe tomorrow aft/eve when I get back from the chiropractor appt. .

 

[farmerjan]

The wet cloudy day cleared off and it was nice this afternoon. Not too warm, but sun was out. Hit 76.

Went down and the little tiny calf was acting really good... those couple of immodium pills to get him "stopped up some... and the electrolytes to get him rehydrated... really seemed to do the trick. He was trotting out behind her at the barn. I did get her in the chute late this afternoon and got her milked out some. The calf not using much milk is making her to slow down and her udder was not tight. She had a few flakes in the one quarter, but that could have been from "caking" in the udder when the calf had not nursed it. The GF was there and she said the calf was sucking her earlier... he looks filled out a whole lot more than yesterday and is getting around so much better... not weak and wobbly like he was. I really want to see him do some manure though if I can catch him.... He is now over 10 days old so hopefully is going to go in the right direction now...

Fed at the nurse cow pasture, betsy came in for grain and put a bucket in the other stall area for the calves. They came in and a couple of the newer ones on the cows came in the creep gate but did not go in the barn yet... that's okay, they are getting the idea of coming in there...

Silkie, the cat, sure misses her brother... she stays around me wherever I am in the house... I feel bad for her missing her buddy and playmate.... Going to go to bed so I can get up and go to the chiropractor appt in the morning...

The chickens all seem to be getting along okay. The little NH bantam rooster was out there all day just up and down the outside of the pen... not going to let them get together for a couple of days... One of the buff hens is a bit of a bully to the other chickens, both the leghorns and the black pair... Not one of the 2 better ones either...she better watch herself and her attitude...

 

[fuzzi]

The guy selling them is Douglas Cauthorne.. He is a licensed APA judge and one of the founding members of the Va Poultry Breeders Assoc.... Well maybe he was not a founding member, but has been a member since before I became one in 1973 or 1974. He is a really great down to earth guy, as is his family... I was really good friends with another member, and got to know Douglas when he was just a young man. He has good birds... show quality stuff... The trio I got are show quality, and the 2 extra hens he said were not as good but I said I could use some for eggs anyway... Plus an extra female or 2 NEVER HURTS....

And I got the pair of Black Langshan Bantams that he had... I used to breed them years ago... and then had some big ones... LOVE the tall stately carriage...

We have a poultry show the weekend before Thanksgiving... at the Caroline Co Fairgrounds... The VPBA show used to be 2 day, and often had 1500-2000 birds.. Now it is one day (Sat) and usually 800-1000 birds... That weekend can be cold or can be nice... not in a heated building so sometimes is chilly but it is in a building at the fairgrounds...Usually some good birds there... I will try to announce/list it, closer to the show... If you like to look at chickens, always fun to go to a show...
Do you show your speckled Sussex?
...

But yes, if you are interested, I could ask Douglas about them... If you are not wanting to show, then some of the "culls" would still make some nice birds... usually the color might not be quite what they are looking for... little things like that. And even with the "culls" , breeding them still might produce a couple real good ones...

Not planning to show at this time. When I first got my Sussex I tried to get more information, and a breeder/judge from FL replied to my email. She gave me advice, and pointed out what I would be looking for to assess my birds.

The only one that was bred by me is Zacchaeus. He has some nice qualities, but probably is not good enough to show. I'm hoping to hatch eggs from him and the better Sussex hens, waiting for one to go broody. I have an incubator, and could set up a brooder in the coop but prefer to let the hens follow their nature. Rahab was a wonderful broody, would give her eggs without any hesitation.

I would like to help improve the breed, which is not common in the bantam variety. The judge said they're hard to get "right", she's been working on hers for 20 years!

I'm good for now, but those RI Red bantams were tempting. Thanks.

Maybe I could get some just for eggs!