SA Farm's journal

[Bruce]

Nope, no supplemental light. Since the girls stay until they die of natural causes (which has included predators ) I figure they need their time off and MAYBE that would also allow them to lay longer.

Did your girls moult when/before they stopped laying? If so they aren't last year's chicks. How old were they claimed to be when you got them and when was that? From my personal experience, in my location and it may not hold for everyone everywhere:
Early June chicks start laying mid Nov or later and lay through their first winter. This has been true for 3 batches.

I figured I could get them laying earlier if I got late April, early May chicks. The plan being I wouldn't have a period of no eggs when the older girls moulted. 2 batches and other than one girl that started laying way late ALL of them started in the early fall and QUIT for the year when it got darker, starting back up with the older girls in February. Thus all my future chicks will be early June hatch, MAYBE squeak back to late May.

Some of my girls have restarted, not expected. Mostly from the 2019 girls though one is a 2018 Barred Rock. Got a second blue/green egg to go with Rhea's egg so now I have to figure out which of the 5 EE's it is from, likely not Persephone (the 8.5 Y/O).

 

[Mike CHS]

We don't have any real old right now but since hens have a finite number of eggs, we give any that stop laying and roosters to a hired hand at our feed store.

We get eggs year round but we have supplemental light that comes on in the morning.

 

[thistlebloom]

How old were they claimed to be when you got them and when was that?

They were point of lay supposedly, so 5ish months. I got them in September? Hard to remember, may have been late August. He bought them as chicks from the feed store and they are all different breeds.
They didn't moult officially, but 3 of them have been losing bloomer feathers all winter. Not a lot, but noticeable. Maybe my expectations were too high and they really are under a year. Hopefully they will all decide to start laying again in February!

 

[Baymule]

What a heavy burden, being the parents best kid! Making such decisions such as what chickens to get for the parents, so you can keep your preferred status! Choose wisely grasshopper!

 

[SA Farm]

He does get new hens every couple years. The “or else” usually means the closest auction. He gets them himself from the feed store, so they’re always POL red sexlinks. Some are definitely better quality than others. He does let them slow down in the winter.
He heats and lights the rabbitry.
He was very pleased with the does I found for him:

Their buck (a descendent of my original NZ reds 🥰):

The lady I got the Cali/NZ doe from was very sweet and new to raising rabbits, so we chatted for a bit and I sorted out her grow-outs. I also offered to answer any questions or help her out if she needed it.

Sorting those meat buns reminded me why I don’t want to raise rabbits anymore! (I still really like them and would do it if DH would let me. I told him I might need a pet Angora for the wool )
That’s just one arm. I have scratches on my other arm and my leg too! They were very feisty lol

 

[thistlebloom]

I told him I might need a pet Angora for the wool )

Hahaha! That's hilarious! But of course you're gonna need several to keep you in fiber...

 

[Bruce]

They were point of lay supposedly, so 5ish months. I got them in September? Hard to remember, may have been late August.

If they were 5 months in Aug or Sept they might be following the pattern of my April/May chicks. They'll probably kick it into high gear in a week or three.

 

[Baymule]

Most people don't realize how rabbits can rip you up!

 

[Ridgetop]

A friend of my grandmother's raised rabbits back in the 30's and got badly scratched. It turned septic and the friend nearly lost her arm! Better antibiotics these days, but always use antiseptic on rabbit scratches. Rabbits on wire floors are not as bad but when they used to be kept in wooden floored hutches they picked up a lot of germs on their feet and claws. Rear leg scratches are worst - you can understand why a young coyote could lose a meal if the rabbit were able to turn and kick it. Those rear legs and claws are their only defense. And they are good ones. Lots of rabbit scars on my arms and legs before I learned to grab, tuck under the arm and hold solid. Fewer afterwards, but still some! LOL

 

[SA Farm]

Right? If I had just been grabbing to move from one place to the other, no problem, but they took offence to my flipping them upside down to take a gander at their bunny bits

Pretty quiet today. Getting some nice light snow, going out soon to sell my last extra bird (Turkey jake) for the season. He’s lucky he gets to go have some ladies of his own rather than go into my freezer 😋
Baby is napping right now, so I’ve been enjoying some quality time with a book - reading, not writing atm.

I reserved 4 fleeces to add to my collection lol! I’m picking them up at the end of the month. Hopefully my spindles and dyes arrive by then 😁 My little homemade one works, but I already had to reglue it once from the weight of plying, so it would be nice to have a “real” spindle to work with.

I do believe that Foxy has guard hairs. I took a closer look at her the other day. I need to find out what that means in regard to spinning. If I have to pick those hairs out, I probably won’t be able to use her fleece 🥺

Also, look how cute the weasel was! Glad it’s gone now, though!