As some of you know, Spring Creek Gems is now closed. It's been a great run, but it's time to move on to other things.
This decision has been coming for a long time, and some of you may have suspected it as I sold off rabbits, and went to fewer shows. I need to downsize my life which means smaller house and smaller yard. There won't be room for anything but me and my dog.
The remaining rabbits will be delivered within the next 2 weeks, and then the equipment will be released to the new owner. The chickens went to a new home, as did the cat.
I'll leave this blog in place for a while, but there will be no new posts after this. You can follow me on Natureschild Gardenworks as I move on to the next phase of my life.
I've made many wonderful friends along the way, and you know who you are. You are not rid of me! :-)
Goodbye, dear readers
Dennie
Friday, May 24, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
May 19, 2013
Not much happening in the rabbitry. I have 2 broken babies in the box, and they just opened their eyes. That's about it for news there.
The chickies are growing fast and keeping me busy buying to keep up with them. I only buy 20 lbs of chick starter at a time so I'm not feeding it longer than necessary. I kicked the adults out of the pen so the chicks could have the run of it. I moved the PVC feeder so the outside birds could reach it but I could still fill it from inside the pen. It's sticking through the chainlink. Because of the way it's hung, a couple of the feeder holes are inside the pen, and the older chicks are eating big bird food as well as the starter I provide in another feeder.
The chickies are growing fast and keeping me busy buying to keep up with them. I only buy 20 lbs of chick starter at a time so I'm not feeding it longer than necessary. I kicked the adults out of the pen so the chicks could have the run of it. I moved the PVC feeder so the outside birds could reach it but I could still fill it from inside the pen. It's sticking through the chainlink. Because of the way it's hung, a couple of the feeder holes are inside the pen, and the older chicks are eating big bird food as well as the starter I provide in another feeder.
The oldest ones are getting on the highest roost already. The one at the front of the line is one of my favs. He's half Silky, half Cochin. Super fluffy!
I decided to revive the garden blog. From now on, garden and nature stuff will go there. Natureschild Gardenworks
tnt
Saturday, April 6, 2013
4.6.13
I got more chicks since the last post. There's now 9. First there was another Silky/Cochin and another patterned white. I raised them alone until they were big enough to join the week older chicks in the big bin. That went well. The S/C is different than the 1st one, more gray than brown. It's so cute! There's just something about it. It kinda reminds me of a dwarf. Round fluffy head and big eyes. I think it's the sweet eyes that are getting me.
Then I found another Silky/Cochin the same color yesterday. Just one. The poor little thing cried and cried all alone in its bin. Hoping for more real soon so it can have clutch mates. In the meantime, I moved the 2nd S/C back to keep it company. It will teach the little one where the water and food is, and if there's more, that one can do the same.
The oldest S/C is now looking like it will have Cochin feathers, but with the head pouf. That should be adorable! Can't say for sure what color it or the others are, but I'm going with birchen for now. The white patterned ones, I don't have a clue. Their wings and tails are coming in dark and patterned. Pretty sure about the buffs, but not so sure about the lightest one. It could turn completely white. It's a good thing showing birds is not my goal. My goal was a pretty flock of varied colors and I got that.
I'm starting to guess gender based on comb and wings. If that's correct I only see 1 or 2 roos. Good ratio. The silky things are probably going to throw a wrench in that. I have no idea how silky combs develop since they are so unlike the cochin combs. And there's that pouf to hide what's happening.
I've talked before about how I give does more chances. Many breeders are strict in their "3 strikes and out" rule. I'm not and it usually pays off. Babe is the latest doe like this. No, she hasn't yet given me a litter but she almost did this time. It was her 4th attempt. She had 3, one was alive, and I think another might have been at birth. Since the singleton wasn't a color I wanted, I left it with her to practice her mother skills. As expected, it died by the next day, most likely to cold. I take this as a very good sign she'll get it right, and it should be warmer by the time her next litter arrives. I'm not giving up yet.
Speaking of warmer. Yeah, not so much. Spring is so unsouthernly this year. The cherries in my yard, and the Bradford pears elsewhere (I don't have any) are starting to bloom. I don't know how these continued frosty mornings are going to affect that.
There's a weed I've come to appreciate. I believe it's Hen's-bit. It's a short groundcover that blooms now in reddish-purple. It's very pretty in the lawn and gardens. The nice thing about it and why I don't object to it in the gardens is that when it finishes setting seed, it disappears for the rest of the year. It doesn't take over the garden and it helps suppress other spring weeds.
In the front yard just outside the boundaries of the Bird Garden, muscari (grape hyacinth) has escaped and joined the large swathe of hen's-bit. There's lovely pops of bright blue scattered among the purple. I like to plant muscari around the base of daffodils because they bloom at the same time and look wonderful together. But muscari has a mind of its own and sends seeds wherever it wants.
There's quite a few Peewees flitting around the yard. Actually, I'm not positive they're Peewees They might be Phoebes. According to my book, Peewees are smaller and have a prominent crest where Phoebe is shown with a smooth head. These have a crest. Without seeing and hearing (calls are similar) them both at the same time, it's hard for me to say. I'll go with Peewee until proven otherwise.
Anyways, there's more Peewees than I've seen before. They seem to be looking for a place to nest. They're looking real hard at the wind-wrecked shed. I hope they don't go there. I've set up a guy to tear it down next week. Oddly, they also seem to be looking somewhere under the gutter on the back of the house. The only thing they could possibly build on there is the light fixture on the wall.
There were a couple Rufous-sided Towhees under the feeder a week ago. That's always a pleasure because I hardly ever see them, but they sometimes appear for a short time in the spring. Mockingbirds have been cleaning up the nandina berries. I don't see any other birds eating these berries. I love mockingbirds. They're the quintessential southern bird to me, and their songs are wonderful. They don't really stick around here all year. I don't know why. For a long time, I only saw them in the spring, but in town, they were more common than robins. I guess they're city birds. But the last few years, I see more for a longer period.
There was some grossness this week. I noticed crows in the backyard and when I watched more closely, I saw them carry off what looked like red meat. Went out to investigate and found some fur near the house. Abby the cat often eats her kills in that area, and unfortunately, doesn't always finish it. Going by the fur, and the size of the meat the crows were taking, it was a cottontail. I don't know how it ended up scattered all over the yard far from the fur, but since the crows were cleaning it up, that worked for me.
Another gross thing. I found some yuck on the porch. It looked like cat food and snake. Yeah, half of a little snake. I wouldn't think there were snakes out and about this early, especially when it's been so cold, but that's what it was. I've noticed Abby often pukes after eating her ration of cat food and then a kill. Time to cut back on cat food.
Supposed to be real nice this weekend. Hope it stays that way from now on. I need to get stuff done outside, and it has to be warm enough. I could handle the coolth for working outside, but my sinuses can't. My nose runs like a faucet if it's less than 60. That can turn into a full-blown sinus attack and I'll be down and miserable until it's over. So I wimp out and only spend a short time outside until it's warmer. So come on, Spring! Get warmer!
tnt
Then I found another Silky/Cochin the same color yesterday. Just one. The poor little thing cried and cried all alone in its bin. Hoping for more real soon so it can have clutch mates. In the meantime, I moved the 2nd S/C back to keep it company. It will teach the little one where the water and food is, and if there's more, that one can do the same.
The oldest S/C is now looking like it will have Cochin feathers, but with the head pouf. That should be adorable! Can't say for sure what color it or the others are, but I'm going with birchen for now. The white patterned ones, I don't have a clue. Their wings and tails are coming in dark and patterned. Pretty sure about the buffs, but not so sure about the lightest one. It could turn completely white. It's a good thing showing birds is not my goal. My goal was a pretty flock of varied colors and I got that.
I'm starting to guess gender based on comb and wings. If that's correct I only see 1 or 2 roos. Good ratio. The silky things are probably going to throw a wrench in that. I have no idea how silky combs develop since they are so unlike the cochin combs. And there's that pouf to hide what's happening.
I've talked before about how I give does more chances. Many breeders are strict in their "3 strikes and out" rule. I'm not and it usually pays off. Babe is the latest doe like this. No, she hasn't yet given me a litter but she almost did this time. It was her 4th attempt. She had 3, one was alive, and I think another might have been at birth. Since the singleton wasn't a color I wanted, I left it with her to practice her mother skills. As expected, it died by the next day, most likely to cold. I take this as a very good sign she'll get it right, and it should be warmer by the time her next litter arrives. I'm not giving up yet.
Speaking of warmer. Yeah, not so much. Spring is so unsouthernly this year. The cherries in my yard, and the Bradford pears elsewhere (I don't have any) are starting to bloom. I don't know how these continued frosty mornings are going to affect that.
There's a weed I've come to appreciate. I believe it's Hen's-bit. It's a short groundcover that blooms now in reddish-purple. It's very pretty in the lawn and gardens. The nice thing about it and why I don't object to it in the gardens is that when it finishes setting seed, it disappears for the rest of the year. It doesn't take over the garden and it helps suppress other spring weeds.
In the front yard just outside the boundaries of the Bird Garden, muscari (grape hyacinth) has escaped and joined the large swathe of hen's-bit. There's lovely pops of bright blue scattered among the purple. I like to plant muscari around the base of daffodils because they bloom at the same time and look wonderful together. But muscari has a mind of its own and sends seeds wherever it wants.
There's quite a few Peewees flitting around the yard. Actually, I'm not positive they're Peewees They might be Phoebes. According to my book, Peewees are smaller and have a prominent crest where Phoebe is shown with a smooth head. These have a crest. Without seeing and hearing (calls are similar) them both at the same time, it's hard for me to say. I'll go with Peewee until proven otherwise.
Anyways, there's more Peewees than I've seen before. They seem to be looking for a place to nest. They're looking real hard at the wind-wrecked shed. I hope they don't go there. I've set up a guy to tear it down next week. Oddly, they also seem to be looking somewhere under the gutter on the back of the house. The only thing they could possibly build on there is the light fixture on the wall.
There were a couple Rufous-sided Towhees under the feeder a week ago. That's always a pleasure because I hardly ever see them, but they sometimes appear for a short time in the spring. Mockingbirds have been cleaning up the nandina berries. I don't see any other birds eating these berries. I love mockingbirds. They're the quintessential southern bird to me, and their songs are wonderful. They don't really stick around here all year. I don't know why. For a long time, I only saw them in the spring, but in town, they were more common than robins. I guess they're city birds. But the last few years, I see more for a longer period.
There was some grossness this week. I noticed crows in the backyard and when I watched more closely, I saw them carry off what looked like red meat. Went out to investigate and found some fur near the house. Abby the cat often eats her kills in that area, and unfortunately, doesn't always finish it. Going by the fur, and the size of the meat the crows were taking, it was a cottontail. I don't know how it ended up scattered all over the yard far from the fur, but since the crows were cleaning it up, that worked for me.
Another gross thing. I found some yuck on the porch. It looked like cat food and snake. Yeah, half of a little snake. I wouldn't think there were snakes out and about this early, especially when it's been so cold, but that's what it was. I've noticed Abby often pukes after eating her ration of cat food and then a kill. Time to cut back on cat food.
Supposed to be real nice this weekend. Hope it stays that way from now on. I need to get stuff done outside, and it has to be warm enough. I could handle the coolth for working outside, but my sinuses can't. My nose runs like a faucet if it's less than 60. That can turn into a full-blown sinus attack and I'll be down and miserable until it's over. So I wimp out and only spend a short time outside until it's warmer. So come on, Spring! Get warmer!
tnt
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Chicks, man.
Fun! In the last post, I mentioned a chick that was found later in the day after the first 5. This is it.
It's a bit lighter than the other patterned one. A thing I noticed was that its beak is colored. The other one, even though it's darker, has a pink beak. Got me wondering sooo.....
Looky there...5 toes. I think this is a Silky Cochin. Silkies have black skin which is why the colored beak caught my eye. That's definitely possible, I have the one partridge Silky hen. I got rid of all the other odd breeds so my Cochins could mingle freely, but decided I didn't mind if there were Silky/Cochin crosses. Can't wait to see what this looks like later.
Got a better idea of colors and maybe sexes. Looks like 2 buffs, 1 white, 1 birchen (the aforementioned darker patterned), and the white patterned one. I think now that it will be patterned and not pure white (yay!) because the wing feathers are coming in very dark. And whatever color the Silky Cochin is. I'll say birchen or partridge. Cool! Lots of pretty colors. As to sexes, I'm using a hint I read that the ones that have wing feathers at hatch or before others are hens. If so, got plenty of those in this little clutch. We'll see how accurate that is later.
A friend blogged about how she raises chicks. Thought I'd talk about how I do it. This might not work for anyone who raises a large number of chicks but it works for my small scale operation. I can raise 6-8 bantam chicks at time in this smaller bin. I have had more, but it does get crowded after a while. I do have 2 of these so I can split them up if necessary.
I start the chicks on newspaper at first. I know this isn't recommended because it can cause leg problems as the chicks move around on the slippery paper, but it hasn't been a problem for me. They are only on the paper for 3 days. I discovered I hated raising them on shavings. I tried shavings on top of paper, and it ended up in the water and food dish. I was cleaning out the water dish too many times a day. And it got stinky real fast. I tried a piece of wire on top of shavings to keep it from being kicked around and that was a little better but still way too smelly. There is also a risk the chicks could become trapped under the wire. That happened with the guinea keets.
After 3 days, they're strong enough to go on wire. I made the insert to fit inside the bin. It's rabbit floor wire on the bottom with plastic mesh forming the sides. I had the mesh for something else and it's too small for them to get their heads stuck. I just put paper under the insert. Perfect! No fouled water or food, and it's so much easier to clean. I just pick up the insert, chicks and all, and replace the paper. There's a flange on the floor wire to hold it a little above the paper, and they can reach the paper to peck at food that falls there. They also graduate to the large water crock and chick feeder. After a couple weeks, they will move into the larger bin which also has a custom insert. That one has a hinged top as well. You'd be surprised how high chicks can jump once their wings grow out.
The heat lamp is used for as long as I think the chicks need it. Usually 2-3 weeks, but that depends on the weather. When it gets warm outside, the room is also warmer. The bulb is just a 60 watt household bulb. It's puts out enough heat, and I always have some on hand. If the chicks aren't huddled under it or shivering, they're warm enough. If I see them panting, it's definitely too hot and I'll either reposition the lamp or remove it. I keep them in the house for a while longer without the lamp.
If all goes well weather-wise, I move the big bin out to the rabbit barn when the chicks are well-feathered. It has to be consistently above freezing at night before I'll move them out. By this time, I'm over having them in the house because the odor is too strong.
After they've acclimated to the barn and outside temps, they'll go out in the pen in the transition cage. This is an old 24x24 rabbit cage. I flipped it over so the bottom is the larger gauge wire on the top of the cage. This gives the chicks access to the dirt under the cage. The first thing they do when they realize there's dirt is dust bathe. It's kind of comical to see how much they wanted that dust bath. I guess under more natural conditions, they would have it much sooner. They are also ready to perch so there's one in the cage. I move the cage every day to give them clean dirt underneath. This also saves feed. If they scatter it on the ground, and they will, they can easily clean it up. I give feed in an old rabbit J-feeder, and water in a clamp-on parrot cup. They stay in the cage until I think they are big enough to be allowed out into the pen. Then I open the cage door so they can come and go as they please. They return to it to eat, drink, and roost, and also to escape the older birds. The pen is kept closed during this time which means most of the adults have to stay out. They get used to getting their feed and water outside the pen, although a broody hen might be locked up with the chicks because that's where the nestboxes are.
I'm in the process of converting an old 4 foot dog cage into a better chick cage. They'll be able to live in that for longer, and I can take it out on the grass. The chickies will enjoy that. Photos when I finish it.
tnt
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
This week at SCG
So this happened yesterday.
tnt
What is wrong with spring this year?! I haven't seen such a crappy March since I've been here. It's not even the snow, that's not a big deal here, it's the cold. I'm tired of being cold, and I've got things to do outside. This is what spring is like in Michigan, and I moved down here to get away from that.
My poor daffs have been frozen and snowed on so many times. They've been blooming since the middle of February!
This is also the first time in 9 years I've had spring fever. For me, the main symptoms of spring fever are depression and sometimes unreasonable pissed-offness. In MI, you get teased and denied spring weather well into May, and it's rough on the mood. Here, reliably good weather comes early enough that I don't have time to get depressed about it. Or at least it did until this year. I get through February by believing that March will be much better, but here it is the end of March and it still looks and feels like February. I am not content these days.
In other news.
Buffy hatched these little pretties on Sunday. At first, there was 5, and then I found another later that day. I can take a guess about colors. The solid blondies are probably buff and/or white. The lightest patterned chick (top right) might be white, too, but I hope not. One of Buffy's last year started out a lot like that and then became pure white.
The 2 darker patterned ones might not be Buffy's. The hens share nests. I think they're birchens. There's 2 birchen hens and the only roos are birchen and red. Red is the alpha roo, but I've seen Bert hit on a hen when Red wasn't looking.
This is Buffy and her last clutch last year. Sadly, none survived to maturity.
The other hens are sharing the other boxes and there have been PILES of eggs since early February! What happens to them all? It's been so freezing cold, any eggs that I don't see hens sitting on for any length of time get tossed over the fence into the field for the crows. Yeah, the crows eat them. A friend mentioned that she tossed "bad" eggs out into the yard for the crows. Shortly after that, I saw my crows carrying off the eggs they found over there. I suppose I could eat some of those eggs, but again, they've probably been frozen. I'll only eat eggs I find fresh and I can't tell which those are when several new eggs appear in each nest every day. When it gets to be too many, I toss them. How many is too many? I have chucked close to 2 dozen at a time, leaving 4 or so to keep the hens laying in the box. That's a PILE!
Buffy is still sitting on 6 eggs that haven't hatched yet. I'm not sure if they're bad, or if they're younger. I did move some from the pile in another box to her clutch. I'm also thinking about moving some more that way since she's my proven broody. At this time, there's always 2 hens hunkered down in that other box at the same time and they get quite pissed if I try to see what's going on under them. Buffy doesn't get as angry about it.
I also learned another thing about hens. They talk to their babies. The day I discovered Buffy's had hatched, she was softly clucking. A sound I hadn't heard any other time. Sure enough, when I gently picked her up, there were chicks under her. So now I know how to tell eggs have hatched. I had also jotted a note about when I expected them to hatch based on when she went broody. I was spot on, BTW.
In rabbit news, not much new. I have to get pictures of Daydreamer's 2 little boys. They are about 5 weeks old now. The keeper is a nicely broken silver marten. Not crazy about the fact that he's a silver marten, but I'll see how he grows up. The other is an otter "hotot". That's what I call it when they only have color on the eyes and ears. He's the one with the type of course! He's way too cute for something I really can't use. I'm almost tempted to keep him for a pet, except that I can't justify keeping bunnies for that reason. I'll see how I feel about it when someone hits me up for a pet when he's ready to go. Been getting the usual Easter bunny inquiries, but I have nothing else available.
Baroquen's 3 are doing well and they are all nicely broken black otters. The other doe that was due right after her failed, but she actually did pretty well for a 1st-timer. The kits weren't mangled or stretched which is a good sign for success in the future. Next litters are due in about 2 weeks. Sure hope the weather gets better by then!
Saturday, March 16, 2013
St. Patty's babies - 3/16/13
Or close enough to St. Patrick's Day to say so. Baroquen x Smith's Boo made my day. She has 3 beautiful brokens. I'm also calling it my lucky birthday litter. Hmmm, green might be the theme for names.
Baroquen is one of my favorite brood does. She's also the oldest in the current herd. Still producing like crazy, and she hardly ever fails. One of the best things about her is that she always throws nice brokens. This time, it was 3/5. Last litter (died of cold) was 2/2. Before that 4/4. There's almost always a keeper or two. The litter of 4/4, 2 had her gorgeous bold pattern which she had never thrown before. I kept the 2 does from that litter and one has the pattern.
I had Baroquen up for sale a while back thinking I was done with her, but then took her down and bred her when I didn't get any bites. That's also when I got the 2 new bucks. So glad no one bought her then.
She might go up for sale after this litter, or I might repeat the sire(s) one more time. I'll see how I feel about that when I see how this litter turns out. I'd like to try Smith's Lou again because I didn't get the chocolate I was expecting from that pairing. Maybe the genetic dice will roll in my favor next time.
All the other does are bred, and a 1st timer is due Monday. Here's hoping St. Patty and Baroquen's success bring good luck for more spring litters.
It's finally like spring here! 71 as I write this. Bout time. It's been too cold and it snowed a couple days ago. Yeah yeah, I know, it's just March. But it's March in the south, ya'll. It's supposed to be better by now.
3 days until SPRING!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Oooh, what's that smell?
Late last night, I was awakened by a strong odor and Whipper carrying on. In my sleepy fog, it took me a while to identify the smell. I knew it, just couldn't put my finger on it right away. Oh yeah...skunk. It wasn't wake-up-choking strong, that's actually happened to me before. Many years ago, I awoke gagging with streaming eyes because something that had been sprayed was right under my bedroom window which was open because it was a warm night. There is nothing like being that close to skunk spray! Last night was more like the sorta burnt odor you catch in your car when you go by roadkill. In fact, when I first woke up to it, I was trying to place it as something burning. It was still strong enough that the skunk must have been very close to my house which is closed up because it's cold out.
Since the odor wasn't debilitating and eventually faded, I think it was coming from the skunk itself (they often carry the odor), not actual spray. I was worried Whipper had been sprayed but luckily not. I don't think he has any experience with skunks, and I really hope the odor made him think twice about messing with it.
When I was touring houses with my real estate agent, the subject of wildlife pests came up. She said skunks were the main ones. Turns out that wasn't the case where I settled in. Raccoons and coyotes are the main pests here. This is the first time there's been any evidence of skunk in the 8 years I've been here. Really hope it was just passing through.
Here's another skunky story from my past. I was living in a single-wide mobile home. We had built skirting from T1-11 (grooved plywood) and tacked fiberglass insulation to the inside. This was Michigan, you needed every bit of help against frozen pipes. We included a couple of access doors in the skirting because you do need to get under there. I used to store stuff in the one in back. One day I opened it to put some stuff in and was shocked to see a skunk curled up all cozy in the insulation it had pulled down! Whoa! It sleepily looked up at me and I immediately shut the door before it woke up fully. It left, I think that night, and I scattered mothballs in that space and any other access points I found in the skirting. Mothballs really do work to repel many pests.
Another time, my neighbors were all excited when I came home from work because they saw a skunk and 3 little ones go under my house. They insisted I get the park manager to set a live trap. I said oh no...I DO NOT want to piss off a mother skunk under my house! Since this happened in broad daylight, I was sure she'd take her little family elsewhere after dark and I was right.
I posted this to Facebook, but I'll talk about it more here.
Since the odor wasn't debilitating and eventually faded, I think it was coming from the skunk itself (they often carry the odor), not actual spray. I was worried Whipper had been sprayed but luckily not. I don't think he has any experience with skunks, and I really hope the odor made him think twice about messing with it.
When I was touring houses with my real estate agent, the subject of wildlife pests came up. She said skunks were the main ones. Turns out that wasn't the case where I settled in. Raccoons and coyotes are the main pests here. This is the first time there's been any evidence of skunk in the 8 years I've been here. Really hope it was just passing through.
Here's another skunky story from my past. I was living in a single-wide mobile home. We had built skirting from T1-11 (grooved plywood) and tacked fiberglass insulation to the inside. This was Michigan, you needed every bit of help against frozen pipes. We included a couple of access doors in the skirting because you do need to get under there. I used to store stuff in the one in back. One day I opened it to put some stuff in and was shocked to see a skunk curled up all cozy in the insulation it had pulled down! Whoa! It sleepily looked up at me and I immediately shut the door before it woke up fully. It left, I think that night, and I scattered mothballs in that space and any other access points I found in the skirting. Mothballs really do work to repel many pests.
Another time, my neighbors were all excited when I came home from work because they saw a skunk and 3 little ones go under my house. They insisted I get the park manager to set a live trap. I said oh no...I DO NOT want to piss off a mother skunk under my house! Since this happened in broad daylight, I was sure she'd take her little family elsewhere after dark and I was right.
I posted this to Facebook, but I'll talk about it more here.
This is a better chicken feeder. I've seen variations of this online, and one guy on Craiglist was selling them for $35. I made it for about $18. It's 2" PVC pipe and fittings. I wonder if anyone wondered what I was doing in Lowes as I picked and tried parts to see what would work.
It was my hope that it would minimize waste and it did. The hopper style feeder I was using just wasn't very efficient that way. Too much feed ended up on the ground, and to force the birds to clean it up, I had to leave the feeder empty for a day. This rig is harder for them to scatter it around. I used my little Dremel tool to cut the holes and sand the edges smooth. The 45 degree elbow is attached with a couple screws in each end because the weight caused it to fall off. I didn't glue it so I could take it apart if necessary. I left the end fitting loose to make cleanout easier. There's holes drilled in the bottom for drainage in case water gets in it.
I added this fitting to the top to serve as a funnel. There's a heavy end cap sitting inside although it might not really be necessary. I thought it would help with any rain that might hit it since it doesn't go all the way up under the roof. Rain doesn't usually drive in from that East side.
I had to make an adjustment in the design since I took these pix. Feed wasn't coming down on its own. I had to reach into the elbow with a tool to scrape it down into the feeder part. It was about the angle. I added a block behind the top to create more incline in both ends. I also recut the hole at the elbow so the birds could reach the feed laying at the bottom of the elbow. That fixed that, it's now coming down properly.
Not much going on with the bunnies. I have a litter due from a 1st-timer but so far no signs she's nesting. The rest are due next week. I had to pass on Spartanburg because of the ice storm. I've only missed it one other time due to weather, and that time the club cancelled it because of the snow that happened over the whole region. I heard they delayed it a couple hours this year to give everyone more time to be safe on the roads. I believe all of us Tennesseans opted out rather than risk icy mountains.
It was a good thing I stayed home. I don't remember this much accumulated ice since I've been here. It's usually either rain or snow...too warm or too cold for freezing rain. I expected the power to go out but happily it didn't.
I'm going to try for Fairview the end of this month, and definitely Dalton next month. My favorite jr doe (Fairlane) went senior weight but I still like her a lot so I do want to show her and her sis at some point soon. Fairlane might be a BUD but I don't think so. She's not humongous and her ears are 2". I think she's just a big boned gal which is a good thing.
Even though it's been a relatively mild winter, I've had enough cold.
39 days until spring!
tnt
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Rain rain rain rain rain
Never let up yesterday and still raining this morning. It is so gooshy out there. I almost went down yesterday while walking from the barn. Really gotta be careful with well-worn rubber clogs on slick mud. So glad I had the gravel driveway put in last year. I probably wouldn't be able to get out, let alone get back in. The last heavy rain about a week ago was the first time since I put it in that there was standing water on the low spot, but it's no biggy now. The gravel is solid and grippy under the tires. I'm sure there will be even more water by the time this system moves on.
Finally got all the does bred! Mano...every single one was frigid! I admit I didn't try every day so I might have missed their receptive days if they had one during that time, but still pretty frustrating. The exceptionally warm weather this week motivated me to make a sincere effort, and every doe responded. Almost every doe. Every doe I tried. I'm keeping one just turned senior open for shows this month and next. I'll get her the next round. Also didn't breed Broken Dream because she's for sale.
The other day, I realized I hadn't seen Silky. Searched the yard for evidence and found nothing. I did find a skull and bones out back, but they're so clean and white, it couldn't be her. She hadn't been missing that long. I have no idea who that was. It must have been there under summer growth and only just now became visible. Tried to think when I last saw Silky but realized I hadn't counted heads for a few days. Probably due to the weather, or the fact that I've been keeping feed in the hopper for the winter. They don't mob me for food every time I go outside, and if it's crappy out, I don't spend much time looking for them. They hunker down under big plants when it's like that.
The day after I missed her, there she was at the water bowl in the early morning when I looked out the window. She had a long drink and looked extra fluffy and perky. Then she dashed into the Summer House to grab a bite. And then dashed out and around the backside (unpenned) part of the carport. All signs she's broody! I hurried out to see where she went but she had disappeared by the time I got there. Still haven't caught her in the act, but I think she's under the tractor's mower deck. There isn't any other place back there to hide a chicken. I had raised the deck and chute when I parked it there for the winter and apparently that's just enough room for a broody little hen. But I can't see her under there. I've found a few eggs in the yard here and there pretty much all winter. I replenished the nesting boxes with hay and placed some fake eggs in each one. Hope that gets them using the boxes. The only hen old enough to remember using the boxes is Buffy and I happened to catch the red roo mounting her the other day. Hope she shows the others the way.
In nature, this happened.
Finally got all the does bred! Mano...every single one was frigid! I admit I didn't try every day so I might have missed their receptive days if they had one during that time, but still pretty frustrating. The exceptionally warm weather this week motivated me to make a sincere effort, and every doe responded. Almost every doe. Every doe I tried. I'm keeping one just turned senior open for shows this month and next. I'll get her the next round. Also didn't breed Broken Dream because she's for sale.
The other day, I realized I hadn't seen Silky. Searched the yard for evidence and found nothing. I did find a skull and bones out back, but they're so clean and white, it couldn't be her. She hadn't been missing that long. I have no idea who that was. It must have been there under summer growth and only just now became visible. Tried to think when I last saw Silky but realized I hadn't counted heads for a few days. Probably due to the weather, or the fact that I've been keeping feed in the hopper for the winter. They don't mob me for food every time I go outside, and if it's crappy out, I don't spend much time looking for them. They hunker down under big plants when it's like that.
The day after I missed her, there she was at the water bowl in the early morning when I looked out the window. She had a long drink and looked extra fluffy and perky. Then she dashed into the Summer House to grab a bite. And then dashed out and around the backside (unpenned) part of the carport. All signs she's broody! I hurried out to see where she went but she had disappeared by the time I got there. Still haven't caught her in the act, but I think she's under the tractor's mower deck. There isn't any other place back there to hide a chicken. I had raised the deck and chute when I parked it there for the winter and apparently that's just enough room for a broody little hen. But I can't see her under there. I've found a few eggs in the yard here and there pretty much all winter. I replenished the nesting boxes with hay and placed some fake eggs in each one. Hope that gets them using the boxes. The only hen old enough to remember using the boxes is Buffy and I happened to catch the red roo mounting her the other day. Hope she shows the others the way.
In nature, this happened.
This is unusual because while I might see the occasional Great Blue Heron flying in the distance, I've never seen one here, and certainly not perched. This one apparently startled the neighbor's dogs. I don't think they knew what they were carrying on about, maybe they heard the wing beats. It's a BIG bird and would make a fair bit of noise in flight. I looked out to see what was the fuss, and this bird was flying low circles over the yard near the creek. Then it landed in the top of a tree above the creek and sat there long enough for me to grab the camera and attempt to capture it. Again, love my new camera. This was so far away, I could barely see it with my naked eye. Most of the shots were too blurry but this one was good enough to share.
In other nature news, I think I've finally foiled the cat. Abby is good! She's an excellent ratter, and too good at bird hunting. She launches straight up and snatches birds off the feeders. Grrr. I attached cage wire to the bottoms of bird feeders which did spoil her aim for a while, but she is really GOOD. At this time, I'm only filling the one feeder in the front garden, and she has honed her skills to where the wire isn't stopping her as well. When I found too much evidence that she was taking birds again, I tried something else. I made a barrier with some cheapo folding garden fence I had on hand. I set it out far enough from the pole that she can't get good aim from that angle. Of course she can walk right through the fence to wait under the feeder. I knew that and thought about attaching chicken netting to the fence to prevent her from doing that. Figured she'd just jump over it (it's about 3' tall). Laid some more wire across the top of the fence so she can't jump from inside, and I do believe that has put a stop to that. The added benefit is that the ground feeders like cardinals and juncos seem to feel more secure with cover over head. They are spending a lot more time under the feeder cleaning up dropped seed. I love watching my birds so I'm glad I can continue to feed them without putting them at risk.
Been trying to deal with a mess. Wicked windstorm just before Xmas blew off the entire tin roof of the old shed. This is the barnwood-slat thing that was here when I moved here. In its defense, the roof was hanging on by threads and it was just a matter of time. Mostly I just stored junk in it. A lot of junk that, you know, never know when you might need it. I don't even like to go in there during summer. Hornets and spiders and snakes, oh my. It was sort of an annual ritual to go in and straighten it up after enough cold weather had removed the creepy crawlies. The rest of the time, stuff just got thrown in any old where so I didn't have to go into it any farther than necessary.
Thankfully the wind didn't blow it where it could do more damage, like my house or rabbit barn. It did land on the carport but the next gust blew it down to the ground. I decided it wasn't worth fixing it. Hoping I can find someone to tear it down for the salvage. I can offer a lot of scrap metal for payment. There's an old lean-to type of barn at the back of the property that has been coming down little by little in every wind storm. That thing is like my own personal dump. I throw stuff up there that I don't know if the community dump will take it. A LOT of scrap metal back there. Before I can have the shed torn down, I have to go through what's in there and decide what to keep and where to put it. Trying to do that when weather permits. It has to be warm enough for me to work outside and not raining because...well...no roof.
tnt
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
12.12.12
When I saw today's date, well, it looked very cool as a post title. Photo dump follows the rambling.
Let me rave about my new camera. I'm calling it my Xmas present to myself. Been looking at them for a while as my little point & shoot just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I knew what I wanted in a camera and looked for those features. I needed/wanted (1) wide focal range; (2) viewfinder; (3) fast shutter speed; (4) easy battery; (5) video. Pretty much in that order of importance.
The viewfinder is the one thing that can't be found on most cameras, other than DSLR. But I really didn't need everything else a DSLR has, and couldn't justify the high price. Why was I so hot for a viewfinder? It's so much easier to take pictures in bright sunlight. The usual screen just isn't very efficient that way.
I wanted the wide focal range so I can get good closeups and zoomed shots. Closeups of nature has always been one of my favorite things to do with a camera. Fast shutter for moving targets. Easy battery means AAs for me. Fairly cheap and easily obtained. I use rechargeables in the camera, but I like that I can carry a set of regular ones for quick backup. Video was an afterthought as I don't know how much I'll use it. Not having an outstanding internet connection makes it hard for me to watch videos online, let alone upload them myself. But it's nice to have it if ever I wish I had it. I've never had a camcorder before, except for the rinkydink thing in my cell phone.
The Pentax X-5 ticked all my boxes and I'm so pleased with it. So far, it has done everything I've asked of it, and for half the price of the cheapest DSLR. The battery life is excellent, too. That was a thing for which all the reviews gave good marks. I've had it for about a month now, and I'm still running the batteries that came with it, and you know factory-included batteries are not of the highest quality. In fact, the battery meter is just now beginning to run down. I'm very impressed with the quality of the 26x zoom. It has an anti-shake feature and I've seen very little blurring at maximum zoom even when I knew my hand jiggled when I pressed the shutter button. It's also very comfortable and light in the hand, and there isn't that long bulky lens that you'd have on DSLR. Or the need to switch out highly expensive lenses. The screen display is actually very good, too. I can see right away whether a shot turned out too blurry. The only extra thing I bought for it was a bigger memory card, and I found that at a good price at Big Lots (8gb for $8). Oh and there's a nifty little lens cap strap. It's designed to be attached to the neck strap but I rarely use that (too bulky and in the way). I just zip-tied the tiny cap strap to the neck strap's ring. I like that as I don't always have a pocket to hold it. For a bit of insurance against clumsiness, I attached the wrist strap from my old camera to the other ring.
I posted a few pix on Facebook, but here's some of my favorites.
Let me rave about my new camera. I'm calling it my Xmas present to myself. Been looking at them for a while as my little point & shoot just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I knew what I wanted in a camera and looked for those features. I needed/wanted (1) wide focal range; (2) viewfinder; (3) fast shutter speed; (4) easy battery; (5) video. Pretty much in that order of importance.
The viewfinder is the one thing that can't be found on most cameras, other than DSLR. But I really didn't need everything else a DSLR has, and couldn't justify the high price. Why was I so hot for a viewfinder? It's so much easier to take pictures in bright sunlight. The usual screen just isn't very efficient that way.
I wanted the wide focal range so I can get good closeups and zoomed shots. Closeups of nature has always been one of my favorite things to do with a camera. Fast shutter for moving targets. Easy battery means AAs for me. Fairly cheap and easily obtained. I use rechargeables in the camera, but I like that I can carry a set of regular ones for quick backup. Video was an afterthought as I don't know how much I'll use it. Not having an outstanding internet connection makes it hard for me to watch videos online, let alone upload them myself. But it's nice to have it if ever I wish I had it. I've never had a camcorder before, except for the rinkydink thing in my cell phone.
The Pentax X-5 ticked all my boxes and I'm so pleased with it. So far, it has done everything I've asked of it, and for half the price of the cheapest DSLR. The battery life is excellent, too. That was a thing for which all the reviews gave good marks. I've had it for about a month now, and I'm still running the batteries that came with it, and you know factory-included batteries are not of the highest quality. In fact, the battery meter is just now beginning to run down. I'm very impressed with the quality of the 26x zoom. It has an anti-shake feature and I've seen very little blurring at maximum zoom even when I knew my hand jiggled when I pressed the shutter button. It's also very comfortable and light in the hand, and there isn't that long bulky lens that you'd have on DSLR. Or the need to switch out highly expensive lenses. The screen display is actually very good, too. I can see right away whether a shot turned out too blurry. The only extra thing I bought for it was a bigger memory card, and I found that at a good price at Big Lots (8gb for $8). Oh and there's a nifty little lens cap strap. It's designed to be attached to the neck strap but I rarely use that (too bulky and in the way). I just zip-tied the tiny cap strap to the neck strap's ring. I like that as I don't always have a pocket to hold it. For a bit of insurance against clumsiness, I attached the wrist strap from my old camera to the other ring.
I posted a few pix on Facebook, but here's some of my favorites.
Close up detail on a clematis.
Red Admiral on pansy closeup. Yes, that date is correct...butterflies in Dec. I love the south!
Song Sparrow in birdbath at maximum zoom.
Mid-range zoom.
Birchen roo.
Something no other camera I've ever had could do well...aquarium.
In case you're wondering, these are assorted African Cichlids in a 45 gal. bowfront tank. I believe most of the distortion is due to the curved glass.
Oh yeah, and my current crop of babies. Baroquen x Smith's Lou. 4 weeks in these pix. There's another broken buck but he's a bubba so I'll be petting him out.
I created the triptychs to show the pattern from all sides. Doe #1 is my fav of the 3 but I like the others, too. That doe is also the 1st time Baroquen has thrown her excellent bold pattern. I call it "color block". She usually throws lighter like the others. And yes, all otters. The pattern is feathery right now but Baroquen's get always matures with very clean and crisp markings. These will be just big enough for Spartanburg at the end of January. That's probably my 1st show next year.
Happy Holidays
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Manna Pro
Manna Pro recently gave its Facebook fans a $3 coupon. I've been using these coupons for over a year. Not that one, but different ones they put up as old ones expired. The others were for $2. Last December through January, I paid a little over $10 (after $2 coupon) per 50lb bag while TSC ran a 6 week long price reduction. Heck of a deal. The usual sticker price at my TSC is around $14, and has been for quite a while. It fluctuated a little higher a few times but that was in response to the hay and grain market at the time. Drought or other weather disaster caused price hikes in feeds. When the farms recovered, the price went back down to normal. Sometimes the price fluctuated a bit lower.
Recently there was some sort of glitch in the supply chain and MP was nowhere to be found in many areas. What little there was in feed stores was way too old. Breeders were not happy, and I don't blame them. I guess I was the lucky one, it didn't happen to me. It helps that I have fewer rabbits now and I'm not going through as much feed, but when I went to my TSC, it was stocked and it was fairly fresh (about a month old). If the glitch affected my store, I didn't see it. I didn't need feed until the glitch was fixed.
I wondered why the latest coupon was so generous, MP had never given a $3 coupon before. I thought it was to placate the ones who suffered during the glitch and thought that was very nice of them. Then I went and got feed this week. The price had jumped exactly $3! I had never paid that much before. I don't know why the price hike. Maybe it was trickle down from the glitch, maybe there was something in the hay/grain market I wasn't aware of. Maybe both. I don't know.
During the glitch, many breeders made a fast switch to a different brand. What are you gonna do, the buns gotta eat. Some are doing so even though it's available again in protest of the price hike. Unfortunately, here in TN, the options for quality rabbit feed are limited. There's Purina (NOT!) and off-brands, that's about it. If you want something else, you have to drive a LOT farther for it, or rely on someone to help you get it. I'm not inclined to do either so I'm glad MP is here for me. The price isn't killing me, and it will probably go back down again. If not, well, I'm still not switching.
Some breeders began to seek another feed before the glitch because they felt MP wasn't doing it for their herd. They complained of poor condition, lack of litters, poor milk production, and the general condition of the feed itself. That's why I switched from Purina to MP so many years ago. I'll buy TSC's off-brand before I'll go back to Purina!
I don't have any complaints about MP, other than the recent price hike. I get plenty of live litters and always have on MP. I've never seen a case where a doe didn't have enough milk for her litter. Condition of the buns comes and goes but it always does. As long as they are eating well, it's good. It's when they don't eat you know there's a problem. I don't even have to supplement with hay. That's another topic, but I rarely give the buns hay anymore. The rabbits' digestive systems are working just fine without it. Even weanlings do well. MP is apparently providing all the fiber they need.
Complaints about the condition of MP were about fines and corn. Fines are caused by over-handling. Every time the feed is moved, it grinds some pellets into dust. Feed that is warehoused before going to the retail store is handled several times from mill to store. I actually over-handle it as well. It goes from the car to the wagon, unloaded into the barn, and then into the storage bin. It might get moved around some more before it goes into the bin. I'm not that strong so I'm not handling the bags gently. From the bin, I scoop it into a pail, and then it's scooped more as I feed each bun. That's a lot of rough handling. I don't gripe about fines because I'm causing at least half of them. I consider the amount of fines I see to be normal.
The occasional corn kernels in MP are from the cleaning process at the mill. They use the hard kernels as a food-safe scrubber in the equipment. Sometimes it ends up in the bags. No biggy unless there is way too much. I know someone that happened to, but it was an isolated event, and their feed dealer made it right. I've only ever seen a few in any bag. MP does not include corn in the feed itself, although small pieces of cracked corn might end up in a pellet. If I see yellow, I just pick it out and toss it in the chicken feed.
There's something important I learned not too long ago about condition. It's about genetics as well as feed. They have it or they don't. A certain buck improved the hindquarters on my current young does which was something I was sorely lacking. Before him, my buns often had thin flesh condition in that area (as well as less than great structure) even though they ate and drank very well. Judges feel the rump first and if that turns them off, the rest of the animal has no chance. All the feed or conditioners can't fix that. But breeders immediately blame the feed when they think their buns are out of condition. They never consider it could be their breeding stock. They might be tricked into thinking the bunny suddenly went out of condition, but maybe it was the transition from childhood to adulthood. That happens, you know. Some bunnies are just better jrs than srs. If they go to pot after maturity, that's when you cull them. You want stock that gets better as they mature, not worse.
Another thing many breeders (especially newish ones) blame feed about is fur condition. This too is a genetic thing. Some go through the molt very quickly and are almost always ready for show season. Others are in some stage of the molt for a good part of the year. I gave up Siamese Sables many years ago because they were so frustrating in that respect. There was a very small window when they were in show condition and color, and most never regained their glory after the first adult molt. I noticed other shaded lines in the region were better off this way. It wasn't the feed or the climate. It was the genetics. I didn't have it.
I'm not saying a feed can't affect the overall condition of a herd, or their ability to reproduce, it certainly can. However, if many breeders feel the feed works well, maybe it's not the feed. Maybe it's your stock or some other condition in your barn.
I have litters. Considering it's fall going into winter, and that I hadn't bred any does since June, I'd say that's really good. Most of these does are first-timers. Baroquen's litter of 4 are FAT babies. They were getting more milk than they needed even though I only allowed them to nurse once a day for 2 weeks. I was bringing the nestbox into the house at night as I usually do to protect a valuable litter. I have no complaints about Manna Pro. Just like gas prices and pretty much everything else, I'll live with price hikes.
I also have no complaints about my local TSC. They're outstanding, and the fact that the feed is not too old is the result of their intelligent management. I know not everyone can say that about their local store, but I'm so glad that I can.
Happy Thanksgiving
Recently there was some sort of glitch in the supply chain and MP was nowhere to be found in many areas. What little there was in feed stores was way too old. Breeders were not happy, and I don't blame them. I guess I was the lucky one, it didn't happen to me. It helps that I have fewer rabbits now and I'm not going through as much feed, but when I went to my TSC, it was stocked and it was fairly fresh (about a month old). If the glitch affected my store, I didn't see it. I didn't need feed until the glitch was fixed.
I wondered why the latest coupon was so generous, MP had never given a $3 coupon before. I thought it was to placate the ones who suffered during the glitch and thought that was very nice of them. Then I went and got feed this week. The price had jumped exactly $3! I had never paid that much before. I don't know why the price hike. Maybe it was trickle down from the glitch, maybe there was something in the hay/grain market I wasn't aware of. Maybe both. I don't know.
During the glitch, many breeders made a fast switch to a different brand. What are you gonna do, the buns gotta eat. Some are doing so even though it's available again in protest of the price hike. Unfortunately, here in TN, the options for quality rabbit feed are limited. There's Purina (NOT!) and off-brands, that's about it. If you want something else, you have to drive a LOT farther for it, or rely on someone to help you get it. I'm not inclined to do either so I'm glad MP is here for me. The price isn't killing me, and it will probably go back down again. If not, well, I'm still not switching.
Some breeders began to seek another feed before the glitch because they felt MP wasn't doing it for their herd. They complained of poor condition, lack of litters, poor milk production, and the general condition of the feed itself. That's why I switched from Purina to MP so many years ago. I'll buy TSC's off-brand before I'll go back to Purina!
I don't have any complaints about MP, other than the recent price hike. I get plenty of live litters and always have on MP. I've never seen a case where a doe didn't have enough milk for her litter. Condition of the buns comes and goes but it always does. As long as they are eating well, it's good. It's when they don't eat you know there's a problem. I don't even have to supplement with hay. That's another topic, but I rarely give the buns hay anymore. The rabbits' digestive systems are working just fine without it. Even weanlings do well. MP is apparently providing all the fiber they need.
Complaints about the condition of MP were about fines and corn. Fines are caused by over-handling. Every time the feed is moved, it grinds some pellets into dust. Feed that is warehoused before going to the retail store is handled several times from mill to store. I actually over-handle it as well. It goes from the car to the wagon, unloaded into the barn, and then into the storage bin. It might get moved around some more before it goes into the bin. I'm not that strong so I'm not handling the bags gently. From the bin, I scoop it into a pail, and then it's scooped more as I feed each bun. That's a lot of rough handling. I don't gripe about fines because I'm causing at least half of them. I consider the amount of fines I see to be normal.
The occasional corn kernels in MP are from the cleaning process at the mill. They use the hard kernels as a food-safe scrubber in the equipment. Sometimes it ends up in the bags. No biggy unless there is way too much. I know someone that happened to, but it was an isolated event, and their feed dealer made it right. I've only ever seen a few in any bag. MP does not include corn in the feed itself, although small pieces of cracked corn might end up in a pellet. If I see yellow, I just pick it out and toss it in the chicken feed.
There's something important I learned not too long ago about condition. It's about genetics as well as feed. They have it or they don't. A certain buck improved the hindquarters on my current young does which was something I was sorely lacking. Before him, my buns often had thin flesh condition in that area (as well as less than great structure) even though they ate and drank very well. Judges feel the rump first and if that turns them off, the rest of the animal has no chance. All the feed or conditioners can't fix that. But breeders immediately blame the feed when they think their buns are out of condition. They never consider it could be their breeding stock. They might be tricked into thinking the bunny suddenly went out of condition, but maybe it was the transition from childhood to adulthood. That happens, you know. Some bunnies are just better jrs than srs. If they go to pot after maturity, that's when you cull them. You want stock that gets better as they mature, not worse.
Another thing many breeders (especially newish ones) blame feed about is fur condition. This too is a genetic thing. Some go through the molt very quickly and are almost always ready for show season. Others are in some stage of the molt for a good part of the year. I gave up Siamese Sables many years ago because they were so frustrating in that respect. There was a very small window when they were in show condition and color, and most never regained their glory after the first adult molt. I noticed other shaded lines in the region were better off this way. It wasn't the feed or the climate. It was the genetics. I didn't have it.
I'm not saying a feed can't affect the overall condition of a herd, or their ability to reproduce, it certainly can. However, if many breeders feel the feed works well, maybe it's not the feed. Maybe it's your stock or some other condition in your barn.
I have litters. Considering it's fall going into winter, and that I hadn't bred any does since June, I'd say that's really good. Most of these does are first-timers. Baroquen's litter of 4 are FAT babies. They were getting more milk than they needed even though I only allowed them to nurse once a day for 2 weeks. I was bringing the nestbox into the house at night as I usually do to protect a valuable litter. I have no complaints about Manna Pro. Just like gas prices and pretty much everything else, I'll live with price hikes.
I also have no complaints about my local TSC. They're outstanding, and the fact that the feed is not too old is the result of their intelligent management. I know not everyone can say that about their local store, but I'm so glad that I can.
Happy Thanksgiving
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
What's in a name?
As anyone who has researched rabbit colors knows, different breeds have different names for the same color. No one is sure why this breed is called that, and that one calls it this. I think it has to do with the mindset of the founding breeders and some of those go back to the country of origin. It might have been how the color was described in that country and then how it was translated to English. Or my theory...Americans will always create new words and they just ignored the original translations.
If you look at ARBA's Standard of Perfection (SOP), you can get pretty confused. Take Flemish Giants, a very old breed. What most breeds call Chinchilla is called Light Gray in Flemish. Sandy and Fawn, I'm still not sure just what these are genetically in Flemish. I assume they're agouti, but not sure how it translates in other breeds. It gets really confusing when someone doesn't specify the breed they are talking about. Fawn in Lops (and Flemish) doesn't seem to be the same genetics as Fawn in Netherland Dwarfs. Maybe it is, but Creme in Lops seems to be the closest to Fawn in dwarfs.
And that's what it comes down to...what the color is genetically. How sweet it would be if ARBA standardized the color names across the board based on genetics. There is a finite number of genetic combinations for color so it could certainly be done, but that's probably never going to happen. Among different breeds, well, it's like trying to communicate with different languages.
I've only raised Netherland Dwarfs so that's the language I speak. The reason I felt like writing this was a recent discussion about an unrecognised color on a dwarf. They were trying to decide what to call it. The owner of the odd color was flaunting her genetic knowledge and making it more complicated than it needed to be, and I don't think she was entirely accurate in her reasoning. I'm all for keeping it simpler so everyone can understand.
So what was the color? It was a Sable Point with tan pattern trimmings. White markings on the nostrils, ears, tail, and belly. Some people might call it "martenized". Genetically, this would be a non-extension Sable Marten, but she started the discussion by calling it non-extension Silver Marten. Big difference there! Let's pick those colors apart.
It was a Sable Point, no doubt about that. Sable Pt is non-extension Siamese Sable...shaded. Sable Marten is tan pattern Siamese Sable...again, shaded. Silver Marten is not shaded. It's Otter minus Otter's gold trimmings. In other words, the gold has been replaced by silver (white). Referring to this as Silver Marten was completely incorrect.
So what do you call it? Easy. Sable Point Marten. Most everyone can grasp that concept. This person even suggested a color in Europe which didn't translate to anything an American breeder can relate to. I forget but it was something gray. Really? Maybe if you're colorblind, you'd see gray, but this bunny was brown! Non-extension Sable Marten might be the correct term but who wants to write/say all that every time. It's why other non-extension colors like Tort and Orange have nice short names. Sable Pt Marten...short and easy to understand.
I'm old school, and while I have adapted my thinking to allow for new (to me) genetic knowledge, I still think of many things the way I learned them. One thing that was hard to grasp was Tort Otter vs. Tort Marten. I learned from the old time breeders of the time (Glenna Huffman for one, who published several genetics books, and who I knew personally) and a non-extension tan pattern was referred to as Tort Marten. A Tort with white tan pattern trim. Several years ago I was corrected that this is actually Tort Otter because of its genetics. Ok, I've accepted that, and since everyone calls it that, I do too.
I tried to accept that the concept of Tort Marten doesn't exist. But wait...it does. A friend showed me a non-extension Silver Marten. It's not yellow so I guess technically it's not a Tort, but since "torted" is often used to describe a non-extension color, it can be used on this. What did this Tort Marten look like more than anything else? Ermine!
Ermine is another term I learned early on. It's showable as Frosty in some breeds, but it's not recognised in dwarfs. Ermine is non-extension Chinchilla. A new term a lot of people seem to like (I guess for how exotic it sounds) is "Ghost Chin". This is one the British came up with, but I prefer the old American term. We are in America after all, and if we had stuck to the European color names, everything would be completely different! And there's the general theme of naming dwarf colors for the animals they most closely resemble. Otter, marten, chinchilla, sable, lynx, etc. Sable Point looks like and is the name of a variety of Siamese cat. Ermine isn't really an exact match for the color on rabbits. The ermine is a weasel with a winter morph coat of pure white with a black tail tip. Ermine fur coats were pure white with the black tips included for accents. The color on rabbits is actually closer to what a silver fox fur coat looks like....white with widely scattered black ticking. Maybe Silver Fox would be the correct term for the color following that line of thought, but there is a breed called Silver Fox so Ermine it became. I'd have to look it up but maybe ermines do have an in-between phase where they look like the rabbit color.
BTW, I was an adult when it was still fashionable to wear fur. I loved my rabbit fur coats and dreamed of affording the pricier furs. Nothing made me feel warmer. Silver Fox is a luxurious gorgeous fur! Imagine how rabbits could be revitalized as a commercial industry if it was ok to wear fur again.
How do you tell the difference between an Ermine and a Tort Marten? It's in the genetics. Chin is agouti and dominant. If neither parent is agouti, it's not Ermine. Tort Marten is tan pattern which cannot carry agouti. If the parents are tan pat, it's a Tort Marten. If the parents are both, it's a bit trickier, but what I saw on this Tort Marten was that it was considerably darker than Ermine. It was light gray instead of white.
A few years ago, an importer brought in what is called Yellow Chin in Europe, and tried to spread them around. This was something entirely new to everyone and I was frustrated by the importer's inability to explain it well. It looks like Ermine but it's not non-extension. The best I could get from the very poor communication skills of the importer and what little info I could find is that it's a wideband Chinchilla. Wideband is a completely different gene than non-extension. It's what makes the Tan (color and breed) black and red, and fills in the white agouti markings on Steel with black or brown. On Chin, it made the white band wider to the point of the entire coat being predominately white. Apparently to those that understand its use, Yellow Chin produces perfectly colored Chins and Silver Martens with bright crisp white. However, I saw much confusion and even the importer kept referring to it as Ermine. If you use Ermine with Silver Marten, you are going to end up with Tort Otter/Marten! It's not the same, and when people introduce a new idea like this, they need to explain it well or every newbie is going to think that Ermine that popped up in a litter is useful that way. Oh and what about its name "Yellow Chin"? It's as far from yellow as you can get so that makes no sense.
An example where an unrecognised color became accepted with just one name is Blue-eyed White. Many years ago, BEW breeders agreed that the marked offspring from BEW x any other color should be called just one thing. Before that, they were called sports, dutch-marked, mis-marked, depending on who you were talking to. I even know someone who still calls them parti-color. He puts that on his pedigrees, and the only one I've ever known to call them that. Those terms actually refer to a specific breed or a separate gene. BEW breeders (all breeds) all agreed they should be called Vienna-marked (VM) and Vienna-carrier (VC) to separate them from the other genes and breeds. It became commonly known, and even Evans Pedigree Software included the VM/VC designation in its database. It made things so much simpler and now everyone who gets into breeding BEW learns it right off the bat.
Another term I learned from Glenna is "ee". This is the designation for non-extension in the color genetic code. Rough example: Aa-Bb-Cc-Dd-ee. I began to do as she did and call some things with this prefix such as ee Himi. Why not call all the unshowable non-extension colors this way? Non-extension Otter/Marten would be ee Otter/Marten. It would be so simple if everyone agreed (like BEW breeders) that this best describes this color code. The Sable Pt Marten that sparked this blog would be ee Sable Marten. Simple.
What you call a color is important to understand it within your breed, and that includes the unshowable colors. Can't we at least keep it simple and somewhat uniform?
tnt
If you look at ARBA's Standard of Perfection (SOP), you can get pretty confused. Take Flemish Giants, a very old breed. What most breeds call Chinchilla is called Light Gray in Flemish. Sandy and Fawn, I'm still not sure just what these are genetically in Flemish. I assume they're agouti, but not sure how it translates in other breeds. It gets really confusing when someone doesn't specify the breed they are talking about. Fawn in Lops (and Flemish) doesn't seem to be the same genetics as Fawn in Netherland Dwarfs. Maybe it is, but Creme in Lops seems to be the closest to Fawn in dwarfs.
And that's what it comes down to...what the color is genetically. How sweet it would be if ARBA standardized the color names across the board based on genetics. There is a finite number of genetic combinations for color so it could certainly be done, but that's probably never going to happen. Among different breeds, well, it's like trying to communicate with different languages.
I've only raised Netherland Dwarfs so that's the language I speak. The reason I felt like writing this was a recent discussion about an unrecognised color on a dwarf. They were trying to decide what to call it. The owner of the odd color was flaunting her genetic knowledge and making it more complicated than it needed to be, and I don't think she was entirely accurate in her reasoning. I'm all for keeping it simpler so everyone can understand.
So what was the color? It was a Sable Point with tan pattern trimmings. White markings on the nostrils, ears, tail, and belly. Some people might call it "martenized". Genetically, this would be a non-extension Sable Marten, but she started the discussion by calling it non-extension Silver Marten. Big difference there! Let's pick those colors apart.
It was a Sable Point, no doubt about that. Sable Pt is non-extension Siamese Sable...shaded. Sable Marten is tan pattern Siamese Sable...again, shaded. Silver Marten is not shaded. It's Otter minus Otter's gold trimmings. In other words, the gold has been replaced by silver (white). Referring to this as Silver Marten was completely incorrect.
So what do you call it? Easy. Sable Point Marten. Most everyone can grasp that concept. This person even suggested a color in Europe which didn't translate to anything an American breeder can relate to. I forget but it was something gray. Really? Maybe if you're colorblind, you'd see gray, but this bunny was brown! Non-extension Sable Marten might be the correct term but who wants to write/say all that every time. It's why other non-extension colors like Tort and Orange have nice short names. Sable Pt Marten...short and easy to understand.
I'm old school, and while I have adapted my thinking to allow for new (to me) genetic knowledge, I still think of many things the way I learned them. One thing that was hard to grasp was Tort Otter vs. Tort Marten. I learned from the old time breeders of the time (Glenna Huffman for one, who published several genetics books, and who I knew personally) and a non-extension tan pattern was referred to as Tort Marten. A Tort with white tan pattern trim. Several years ago I was corrected that this is actually Tort Otter because of its genetics. Ok, I've accepted that, and since everyone calls it that, I do too.
I tried to accept that the concept of Tort Marten doesn't exist. But wait...it does. A friend showed me a non-extension Silver Marten. It's not yellow so I guess technically it's not a Tort, but since "torted" is often used to describe a non-extension color, it can be used on this. What did this Tort Marten look like more than anything else? Ermine!
Ermine is another term I learned early on. It's showable as Frosty in some breeds, but it's not recognised in dwarfs. Ermine is non-extension Chinchilla. A new term a lot of people seem to like (I guess for how exotic it sounds) is "Ghost Chin". This is one the British came up with, but I prefer the old American term. We are in America after all, and if we had stuck to the European color names, everything would be completely different! And there's the general theme of naming dwarf colors for the animals they most closely resemble. Otter, marten, chinchilla, sable, lynx, etc. Sable Point looks like and is the name of a variety of Siamese cat. Ermine isn't really an exact match for the color on rabbits. The ermine is a weasel with a winter morph coat of pure white with a black tail tip. Ermine fur coats were pure white with the black tips included for accents. The color on rabbits is actually closer to what a silver fox fur coat looks like....white with widely scattered black ticking. Maybe Silver Fox would be the correct term for the color following that line of thought, but there is a breed called Silver Fox so Ermine it became. I'd have to look it up but maybe ermines do have an in-between phase where they look like the rabbit color.
BTW, I was an adult when it was still fashionable to wear fur. I loved my rabbit fur coats and dreamed of affording the pricier furs. Nothing made me feel warmer. Silver Fox is a luxurious gorgeous fur! Imagine how rabbits could be revitalized as a commercial industry if it was ok to wear fur again.
How do you tell the difference between an Ermine and a Tort Marten? It's in the genetics. Chin is agouti and dominant. If neither parent is agouti, it's not Ermine. Tort Marten is tan pattern which cannot carry agouti. If the parents are tan pat, it's a Tort Marten. If the parents are both, it's a bit trickier, but what I saw on this Tort Marten was that it was considerably darker than Ermine. It was light gray instead of white.
A few years ago, an importer brought in what is called Yellow Chin in Europe, and tried to spread them around. This was something entirely new to everyone and I was frustrated by the importer's inability to explain it well. It looks like Ermine but it's not non-extension. The best I could get from the very poor communication skills of the importer and what little info I could find is that it's a wideband Chinchilla. Wideband is a completely different gene than non-extension. It's what makes the Tan (color and breed) black and red, and fills in the white agouti markings on Steel with black or brown. On Chin, it made the white band wider to the point of the entire coat being predominately white. Apparently to those that understand its use, Yellow Chin produces perfectly colored Chins and Silver Martens with bright crisp white. However, I saw much confusion and even the importer kept referring to it as Ermine. If you use Ermine with Silver Marten, you are going to end up with Tort Otter/Marten! It's not the same, and when people introduce a new idea like this, they need to explain it well or every newbie is going to think that Ermine that popped up in a litter is useful that way. Oh and what about its name "Yellow Chin"? It's as far from yellow as you can get so that makes no sense.
An example where an unrecognised color became accepted with just one name is Blue-eyed White. Many years ago, BEW breeders agreed that the marked offspring from BEW x any other color should be called just one thing. Before that, they were called sports, dutch-marked, mis-marked, depending on who you were talking to. I even know someone who still calls them parti-color. He puts that on his pedigrees, and the only one I've ever known to call them that. Those terms actually refer to a specific breed or a separate gene. BEW breeders (all breeds) all agreed they should be called Vienna-marked (VM) and Vienna-carrier (VC) to separate them from the other genes and breeds. It became commonly known, and even Evans Pedigree Software included the VM/VC designation in its database. It made things so much simpler and now everyone who gets into breeding BEW learns it right off the bat.
Another term I learned from Glenna is "ee". This is the designation for non-extension in the color genetic code. Rough example: Aa-Bb-Cc-Dd-ee. I began to do as she did and call some things with this prefix such as ee Himi. Why not call all the unshowable non-extension colors this way? Non-extension Otter/Marten would be ee Otter/Marten. It would be so simple if everyone agreed (like BEW breeders) that this best describes this color code. The Sable Pt Marten that sparked this blog would be ee Sable Marten. Simple.
What you call a color is important to understand it within your breed, and that includes the unshowable colors. Can't we at least keep it simple and somewhat uniform?
tnt
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Whipper
I just felt like devoting a post to him. Whipper is a Smooth Collie, now about 8 years old. I got him in Michigan just before I moved here. He was about 4 months at the time, and came from a show breeder. He is the best dog I've ever had.
Whipper is the guardian of the place. It's mostly a night shift job because his main nemesis's are raccoons and coyotes. Since I fenced the backyard, the birds and rabbits are completely protected from either of these predators. He has a cozy doghouse on the porch with a thick bed in it, but I bring him inside on cold mornings (I'm up stupid early).
What prompted me to write about him is a behavior I occasionally see. Smooths are rather rare in this country. In the UK where they originated, they were the working collies where the Roughs became the more common companion dogs in the US. However, Whipper doesn't have much opportunity to display his heritage as a herding dog here. Except sometimes.
When he gets riled by something, he tears up and down the yard barking. What does he get riled about? Noise in the forest. Often instigated by the neighbor's dogs (who run loose), but sometimes he starts it. Any crashing noise in the woods puts him on high alert. It could be a coon scrabbling in a tree, or coyotes running through the underbrush, or maybe even a bear. I've never seen a bear but I've seen scat so I know they are there. I can put him on alert by saying "Coon!". He's so sensitive to this kind of noise, even chainsaw work sets him off. Branches or trees crashing down, it's all the same to him. Something is in the forest.
When he gets fired up like this, that's when I see what I believe to be his herding instincts. As he's running up and down the yard, he makes a quick little jog at whatever chickens are in the vicinity. He lowers his head at the bird, and to someone who doesn't know him, it might look like an attack. I think he's actually herding them to safety. "Run to cover!". He swings away from the bird as soon as it moves out of his way.
Most of the time, he ignores the birds, and I'm not the least bit worried he will hurt them. They don't fear him and will peck the ground all around him when he's laying in the grass. There was a time this summer when a rooster was annoying him while he was relaxing in the grass. The bird kept trying to peck his front feet. I don't know why the bird was so fascinated by his feet. Whipper bared his teeth and swung his head at the bird, but that was all it was...a warning. "Leave me alone, you annoying little chit."
He's not what I'd call a guard dog in regards to people. He doesn't bark when someone comes up to the house, although I wish he did. He might bark at a passing car but not all the time. We don't get much traffic back here other than the people who live here, so he knows who belongs and who doesn't. The mail and paper carriers are the only other daily traffic and he doesn't react to them either. Unlike the neighbor's dogs who are kind of stupid that way. They chase my car, and the mail and paper carriers...pretty much everybody but their own people.
If there was one thing I don't like about Whipper it's his intense fear of thunderstorms. I blame it on an incident a couple years after I moved here as he had never exhibited this fear before. That July, the neighbors were shooting off fireworks. Whipper wasn't confined to the yard, I hadn't put in the fence yet so he had the run of the place, and he spent a lot of time over there. I didn't like it, but tying him up wasn't a good option so I didn't. He actually learned his guardian skills from their dogs (different dogs back then), so it was good in that respect. Anyways, he disappeared for a day and half. I don't know where he went. I looked for him but didn't find him in the area. When he came back, whoever had him obviously meant to keep him. They had given him a bath. I could smell the shampoo. I was so happy to see him again (couldn't help thinking "Lassie Come Home".), I tried tying him up, but that just doesn't work very well here. It was shortly after that I invested in the fence. And ever since, he's terrified by thunder, and gets anxious about gunshots. I don't allow him to become a "velcro dog" when he gets like this because it just makes me tense (I don't like violent thunderstorms either). He goes off to his "cave" under the back deck. I don't know why he feels safe there, he gets wet when he could stay dry in his house on the covered porch.
Whipper is showing his age a little but not so much I think about the day he's gone. He's getting a little gray about the muzzle and looks a bit stiff after laying down for awhile, but other than that he's pretty spry. I try not to think about it.
tnt
Sunday, November 4, 2012
November
I have babies! Yay. It's been awhile since I had anything to talk about in the rabbitry, let alone litters.
Baroquen x Smith's Lou had 4 nicely broken blacks just an hour ago. I was so pleased to see the entire litter is broken and all have very good pattern. I was hoping there would be chocolate, but I'll take it. I'm actually surprised there were no chocolates since she threw it in her last litter without trying. I was trying this time...Lou is lilac. Also pleased the litter is live and healthy. It's been 4 months since I bred any does so I was prepared for failure. Good girl, Baroquen! I didn't look to see if they are otters or selfs. Being broken, it might be a couple days before I can tell. Would be very helpful if the Smith's bucks carry self.
It took a while to get the rest of the does bred so the next round isn't due for 2 weeks. I still have one who will not lift. I had to do a lot of shuffling around to get the others bred. No one was cooperating, so I moved the does to a different cage everyday until they did. It's not working on the frigid one so I'll take her for a ride the next time I go to town.
It was such a great year for daylilies. Mild winter, plenty of rain and sunshine through spring and summer, and now still mild in November. Best bloom I can remember in a long long time. What really amazed me is that a couple varieties not known for reblooming did just that.
Baroquen x Smith's Lou had 4 nicely broken blacks just an hour ago. I was so pleased to see the entire litter is broken and all have very good pattern. I was hoping there would be chocolate, but I'll take it. I'm actually surprised there were no chocolates since she threw it in her last litter without trying. I was trying this time...Lou is lilac. Also pleased the litter is live and healthy. It's been 4 months since I bred any does so I was prepared for failure. Good girl, Baroquen! I didn't look to see if they are otters or selfs. Being broken, it might be a couple days before I can tell. Would be very helpful if the Smith's bucks carry self.
It took a while to get the rest of the does bred so the next round isn't due for 2 weeks. I still have one who will not lift. I had to do a lot of shuffling around to get the others bred. No one was cooperating, so I moved the does to a different cage everyday until they did. It's not working on the frigid one so I'll take her for a ride the next time I go to town.
It was such a great year for daylilies. Mild winter, plenty of rain and sunshine through spring and summer, and now still mild in November. Best bloom I can remember in a long long time. What really amazed me is that a couple varieties not known for reblooming did just that.
Like this one. This is Golden Gate and it has never ever rebloomed. It's been kicking out flowers for the last month. It's usual bloom period is early in the season (May-June) and then it's done. Even had 1st frost yesterday and the buds still opened today. Oh yeah, didn't get 1st frost until yesterday.
There's a few other blooms as well. The pink Knock-Out rose has some, and the white coneflower sent up more buds that started to open. I think the frost stopped them which made for an interesting flower. The petals look like toothpicks sticking out of the cone. I tried to get it with the camera when I got the daylily but I think my camera is dying. It gets harder and harder to get decent pictures. Seriously considering a new one in the near future. Other flowers are still coming but that frost should put a stop to that.
Didn't get the snow they went on about out of hurricane Sandy. It spit some mixed with a fine misty rain that day but that's all it amounted to. I guess the highest elevations got quite a bit. How odd that I had snow before Michigan.
I finally sold the 3 odd breed hens at a TSC parking lot animal swap a few weeks ago. Now I don't have to worry about cross-breeds in hatches next year. That leaves me with 8 cochins (2 roos, 6 hens), and the Silky hen. I'll probably bring in more next spring. I have a line to a breeder who has Mille Fleur cochins (pretty!), and I might try a hatchery order to get the colors I want.
tnt
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
This & That 8.28.12
In the rabbitry: The sell-down went well. After the last of them are delivered, I'll have 7 broken black does and a solid chocolate doe. That's right...no bucks right now....but I'll be getting 1 or 2 new ones very soon. In the meantime, I'm cleaning out and rearranging the barn so I'm not in a big hurry to breed does. Everybody is out in the Summer House so I don't even have to think about running a fan or leaving the door open in the barn. Part of the plan is to keep the numbers low enough that every bunny will move outside for summers from now on. Better for them, better for me.
The new program will be strictly brokens. Most likely chocolate and dilute will be part of it since most of the does carry one or the other. I have a handle on broken pattern, now I'll concentrate on type and for that, I'll need some seriously nice solid bucks. Which I am getting. I won't be going to very many shows while I work on this.
And now a short intermission to show off the current stars of the gardens.
This scene was so tranquil and pretty. That's the Summer House on the right. The yellow in the middle is an enormous perennial sunflower but I can't remember just which one it is except that its cultivar name is "Lemon Queen". I have to move it (I want that box it's in for something else) but have no idea where to put it. I'll think of something. Everything else in that box needs to go elsewhere, too.
In chicken news: Sadly, too many more losses. Poochy, my favorite mottled roo disappeared. It was very mysterious. He was there in the morning at least until noon. In the late afternoon he was gone. I found a few mottled feathers over beside the fence where they often root around, but not enough to be evidence of foul play. In fact, he and the other older roos are molting which could explain the few feathers I found. I think I may have solved the mystery.
About a week ago, I caught my littlest red hen outside the back gate. A very dangerous place for a small critter to be (resident fox!). She was just poking around back there in the undergrowth as though it was perfectly normal. I realized she could fit through the gap at the bottom of the gate, and must have been doing it for a while. I used to have a piece of wire there but it had got bent back by the mower. So I put it back and then she got out again! So I watched all day to see what she was doing and finally caught her at it. She was squeezing through the even smaller gap on the hinge side. So I added wire there as well and that seems to have stopped it. I now think Poochy followed her out there before I discovered what they were doing. He was small enough to fit through the first gap. It never occurred to me at the time he went missing to look back there. She knew how to get back in quickly but maybe he didn't and was out there all night, and then he was gone.
I also lost the mottled blue cockerel that I was excited about and all 3 of the partridges. They just up and died of unknown causes. I was pretty heartbroken by all of these losses. All that's left of Poochy and Buffy's last hatch is 2 pullets (white and black).
It's been really beautiful for weeks. Almost too nice, it hasn't rained in over 2 weeks. A bit too hot in the high afternoon but mornings and late afternoons are just right.
tnt
The new program will be strictly brokens. Most likely chocolate and dilute will be part of it since most of the does carry one or the other. I have a handle on broken pattern, now I'll concentrate on type and for that, I'll need some seriously nice solid bucks. Which I am getting. I won't be going to very many shows while I work on this.
And now a short intermission to show off the current stars of the gardens.
Crape Myrtle and Althea (aka Rose of Sharon). This is the view from my computer desk and I also see it from the window over the kitchen sink. The pink thing in the foreground is a dwarf Joe Pye Weed. The native species grows wild all along the road but it has never transplanted successfully. So I bought this smaller domesticated version several years ago. Butterflies love it. I'm going to dig up some splits to add to the Porch View Garden.
This is the Porch View Garden that I've been revamping all summer. Everything came from somewhere else in the yard. You might remember when I posted it in progress in the spring, there were a couple more overgrown miscanthus (the large dark green grass behind the pink althea on the right). They were removed (not easily!) to make room for more diversity and butterfly flowers. I still want to transplant some groundcovers, but mostly it's finished for now. I say for now because perennial gardens are never really finished.
This scene was so tranquil and pretty. That's the Summer House on the right. The yellow in the middle is an enormous perennial sunflower but I can't remember just which one it is except that its cultivar name is "Lemon Queen". I have to move it (I want that box it's in for something else) but have no idea where to put it. I'll think of something. Everything else in that box needs to go elsewhere, too.
In chicken news: Sadly, too many more losses. Poochy, my favorite mottled roo disappeared. It was very mysterious. He was there in the morning at least until noon. In the late afternoon he was gone. I found a few mottled feathers over beside the fence where they often root around, but not enough to be evidence of foul play. In fact, he and the other older roos are molting which could explain the few feathers I found. I think I may have solved the mystery.
About a week ago, I caught my littlest red hen outside the back gate. A very dangerous place for a small critter to be (resident fox!). She was just poking around back there in the undergrowth as though it was perfectly normal. I realized she could fit through the gap at the bottom of the gate, and must have been doing it for a while. I used to have a piece of wire there but it had got bent back by the mower. So I put it back and then she got out again! So I watched all day to see what she was doing and finally caught her at it. She was squeezing through the even smaller gap on the hinge side. So I added wire there as well and that seems to have stopped it. I now think Poochy followed her out there before I discovered what they were doing. He was small enough to fit through the first gap. It never occurred to me at the time he went missing to look back there. She knew how to get back in quickly but maybe he didn't and was out there all night, and then he was gone.
I also lost the mottled blue cockerel that I was excited about and all 3 of the partridges. They just up and died of unknown causes. I was pretty heartbroken by all of these losses. All that's left of Poochy and Buffy's last hatch is 2 pullets (white and black).
It's been really beautiful for weeks. Almost too nice, it hasn't rained in over 2 weeks. A bit too hot in the high afternoon but mornings and late afternoons are just right.
tnt
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Bio-diversity
The latest issue of Backyard Poultry has a great article about how you can keep poultry for next to nothing in feed costs. Homesteaders know this, it's the way our great grandparents kept chickens. I really recommend this magazine to all backyard flocksters. I've been taking it for awhile, and learn something new in every issue. This particular article wasn't really something new for me, it just validated what I've been thinking all along. It also gave me ideas for how it can be done with limited space and freedom. As a gardener and nature-watcher, I understand how bio-diversity works. It's the key to successfully raising chickens on a natural diet. In this case, natural means for free.
I'm lucky that I have a lot of space and freedom. So much that I can even support multiple roosters. They have the room to work out their pecking order and room to avoid each other, and nobody cares if they crow. A large part of the yard is fenced with 5' chainlink, and one of the reasons I settled on bantam cochins is because they aren't likely to fly over that fence. As long as they stay inside the fence they're safe (nothing bigger than a rat gets in without Whipper knowing) and they have nearly unlimited natural food. They don't need much from me. I've set up roosts under the carport behind the rabbitry and that's where they spend the night, and they dash there when it rains. There's several bowls of water around the yard, for the birds as well as dog and cat. I do give them some daily feed. This is either laying pellets or cheap mixed birdseed with cracked corn. This is mostly as a treat to keep them tame and friendly. They get more during winter when insects aren't available, but here in the south, there's always something green and growing, and many ground-dwelling organisms are active all winter. My very 1st chicken was an obnoxious rooster who annoyed me so much, I quit feeding him at all in hope he'd just go away. He thrived in beautiful condition through all seasons and was as ornery as ever. I had to give him away to get rid of him.
So what's happening in my yard that makes it so perfect for chickens? I'm a perennial gardener and have extensive gardens all over the place. I've been landscaping since the day I moved here. Literally. I brought a lot of perennials from my MI garden, and they went in the ground almost immediately. Natural habitat has grown up all along the fence, and I don't care that it's untrimmed and messy. You can barely see the fence except at the gates and I like that. The lawn is not manicured in any way other than mowing it, and it's made up of a lot of different native plants. The gardens provide protective cover and shade for the birds. I don't use any chemicals or pesticides other than Round-Up to keep garden edges neat and eliminate the need to trim hard to mow areas. The diversity of plant life encourages a multitude of animal life...insects, worms, etc. I dump rabbit manure directly on gardens which invites more life. There's a lot going on in my yard. It's highly bio-active, and chickens fit right in.
So how can a flockster (love that word, I found it in BYP) with less space and freedom provide more natural "free" food for their birds? There's the obvious ways that can be found on most homesteading sites. But if you're not a flower gardener or nature-watcher like me, you might not think about bio-diversity. You should.
Someone in a limited situation might choose the chicken tractor method. A portable coop that gives the birds fresh pasture on a regular basis. This is a great option, but you have to think about the pasture underfoot. Mowed lawn is not going to provide much more than entertainment for the chickens. New grass, maybe a few bugs or worms but they will clean it out in no time, and if you leave them there long enough, you end up with a barren patch of ground that doesn't provide anything. Instead, think about how you can allow some overgrown areas. Let a patch the size of your coop go unmowed for a while. It needs time to develop a mini habitat, including letting plants go to seed. You could even seed the areas with self-sustaining forage such as grain or legume plants. I suggest at least 3 areas per coop. This works like a 3-stage compost bin. There's the "new" part, the "cooking" part, and the "done" part. When the birds have created a new part (depleted it), move them to the done part and let the others cook. In fact, these areas could also be used for composting. Throw all the things you would toss on the compost pile (including rabbit manure) in these areas instead. Decaying vegetation provides a lot of animal life for the pecking, and the birds work the compost pile for you.
If you have a vegetable garden, it could be part of the layout. Let some areas around the garden grow up, and do double duty as compost piles. You could even fence each area so you can just put your birds in a done part. You'd want to include shelter as part of a permanent layout. And of course, the garden itself can provide excellent foraging. You could build narrow runs that fit between rows and tractor them along. The birds will do the weeding. Toss the weeds they couldn't reach in the cooking parts. After the harvest, leave the garden debris right there and let the chickens have at it. Add finished compost from the working areas. They'll turn all that into rich soil for next year's garden, as well as adding their manure to the mix. You might not even need to till it...it's all done and ready to go in the spring. Free food for the birds, and other than moving the coop around, it's free labor for you.
Bio-diversity. Think about it. Chickens that are pastured to save feed costs need it.
tnt
I'm lucky that I have a lot of space and freedom. So much that I can even support multiple roosters. They have the room to work out their pecking order and room to avoid each other, and nobody cares if they crow. A large part of the yard is fenced with 5' chainlink, and one of the reasons I settled on bantam cochins is because they aren't likely to fly over that fence. As long as they stay inside the fence they're safe (nothing bigger than a rat gets in without Whipper knowing) and they have nearly unlimited natural food. They don't need much from me. I've set up roosts under the carport behind the rabbitry and that's where they spend the night, and they dash there when it rains. There's several bowls of water around the yard, for the birds as well as dog and cat. I do give them some daily feed. This is either laying pellets or cheap mixed birdseed with cracked corn. This is mostly as a treat to keep them tame and friendly. They get more during winter when insects aren't available, but here in the south, there's always something green and growing, and many ground-dwelling organisms are active all winter. My very 1st chicken was an obnoxious rooster who annoyed me so much, I quit feeding him at all in hope he'd just go away. He thrived in beautiful condition through all seasons and was as ornery as ever. I had to give him away to get rid of him.
So what's happening in my yard that makes it so perfect for chickens? I'm a perennial gardener and have extensive gardens all over the place. I've been landscaping since the day I moved here. Literally. I brought a lot of perennials from my MI garden, and they went in the ground almost immediately. Natural habitat has grown up all along the fence, and I don't care that it's untrimmed and messy. You can barely see the fence except at the gates and I like that. The lawn is not manicured in any way other than mowing it, and it's made up of a lot of different native plants. The gardens provide protective cover and shade for the birds. I don't use any chemicals or pesticides other than Round-Up to keep garden edges neat and eliminate the need to trim hard to mow areas. The diversity of plant life encourages a multitude of animal life...insects, worms, etc. I dump rabbit manure directly on gardens which invites more life. There's a lot going on in my yard. It's highly bio-active, and chickens fit right in.
So how can a flockster (love that word, I found it in BYP) with less space and freedom provide more natural "free" food for their birds? There's the obvious ways that can be found on most homesteading sites. But if you're not a flower gardener or nature-watcher like me, you might not think about bio-diversity. You should.
Someone in a limited situation might choose the chicken tractor method. A portable coop that gives the birds fresh pasture on a regular basis. This is a great option, but you have to think about the pasture underfoot. Mowed lawn is not going to provide much more than entertainment for the chickens. New grass, maybe a few bugs or worms but they will clean it out in no time, and if you leave them there long enough, you end up with a barren patch of ground that doesn't provide anything. Instead, think about how you can allow some overgrown areas. Let a patch the size of your coop go unmowed for a while. It needs time to develop a mini habitat, including letting plants go to seed. You could even seed the areas with self-sustaining forage such as grain or legume plants. I suggest at least 3 areas per coop. This works like a 3-stage compost bin. There's the "new" part, the "cooking" part, and the "done" part. When the birds have created a new part (depleted it), move them to the done part and let the others cook. In fact, these areas could also be used for composting. Throw all the things you would toss on the compost pile (including rabbit manure) in these areas instead. Decaying vegetation provides a lot of animal life for the pecking, and the birds work the compost pile for you.
If you have a vegetable garden, it could be part of the layout. Let some areas around the garden grow up, and do double duty as compost piles. You could even fence each area so you can just put your birds in a done part. You'd want to include shelter as part of a permanent layout. And of course, the garden itself can provide excellent foraging. You could build narrow runs that fit between rows and tractor them along. The birds will do the weeding. Toss the weeds they couldn't reach in the cooking parts. After the harvest, leave the garden debris right there and let the chickens have at it. Add finished compost from the working areas. They'll turn all that into rich soil for next year's garden, as well as adding their manure to the mix. You might not even need to till it...it's all done and ready to go in the spring. Free food for the birds, and other than moving the coop around, it's free labor for you.
Bio-diversity. Think about it. Chickens that are pastured to save feed costs need it.
tnt
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