Don't forget.. the BATOR! Oh NOOOOOOOO Just imagine watching them pop out and look at you.. lil boo boo babiez.. they say wut wut wut wut.. then your hooked..
The first time they jump up in your hand and scratch lookin for something good.. You will be a puddle of human melted on the floor.. LOL
barnevelder pullets
Yup, that one I forgot...let me continue:
g) What kind of incubator should I get?
h) Oops, my first incubator is too small. Which second incubator should I get?
i) Which eBay egg sellers are best?
j) Which eggbid.com sellers are best?
k) Which ovabid.com sellers are best?
l) Which eggs should I bid on now?
m) Does my friend _____'s incubator have enough room for these extra eggs I bid on and won by mistake? Or what about my other friend _____? Oh no, I forgot, I'm already borrowing her incubator.
n) What breeds don't I have yet? Who is selling eggs for those?
o) Should I get ducks?
p) What size of water feature do I need?
Yup.. that's it!
Q. then it is oh crap cant go on vacation
R. if you decide to go on vacation who am i going to get to watch them
S. will they love them like I do
T. OMG i cant believe we left them
U. Lets call home make sure they are OK
V. No answer
W. Turn around go back home vacation over
X. Arrive home to find the farm sitter in the goat barn with one kid sitting on their lap and two more dancing around trying to nibble on their hair.
Y. Realize there's no place like home.
Z. ZZzzzz-living the dream, Baby!! Much more safely and cheaply done from behind the eyelids!!
lol!
Still haven't heard from the feed store guy about whether Ideal has some barnevelders, and was talking with a friend whose father died and she doesn't know what to do with his 2 little banties.
Oh, dear lord in heaven, I'm going down the Claire Road at the intersection of Moxon and Grownut.
He's guiding your footsteps!! Don't complain. ;-)
Oh, I know! It's just that I hate it when I tell him what the plan is and he just laughs...
We have so much in common....lolol
Oh Brigid, those pooor, poooor little banties with nobody to love them, nobody to care for them, and stroke their soft little feathers. They so need a good home, a nice little yard with a bamboo gate....
Brings a tear to my eye....
And those pooooor, poooor little banties, so tiny, so small and innocent, barely taking up any room at all, just wanting to scratch around and eat bugs and lay eggs for somebody...
Pardon me, I need to get a tissue...
Counting my blessings our Moxy never tried to sell used cars -lol!!
(sniffle.....wheeze...)
I....I just....I just want you to tell your friend, that I (sniiiiifffff) love those little banties.....and if they want to come to Iowa (sniiiiifffffff, stifled sob...) they would have a home with me.
(runs off to get another tissue)
{{plaid trousers and polyester faux-button-down shirt -the snap kind}}
{{oh the fashion police are out today!}}
Wahl,darlun, tha waay yu wuz sellun thum baynees, whawuz ya hpoun fer?? Wanna see muh shaaany baydge??
{Am I reading too much into it, or do y'all think Claire's trying to get me to go get those bantams?}
Okay, but seriously now, I'm going to go get bird netting to cover the pen this afternoon. Those with experience, please tell me what I should and should not get. I'm assuming that black plastic stuff will do? You know, the CHEAP stuff? Just want to thwart the occasional hawk.
I've used it and thought it worked great! It can stretch though. Just check on it periodically. And perhaps don't be TOO neat in putting it up...saw a hawk swerving away from ours when it saw a fold...and the object is not to catch hawks, afterall.
Yes, I really had a horrible flight of fancy in which I rescued an eagle from the netting... I wasn't left completely blind and maimed...
I'd thought about putting pinwheels around to scare the birds off, but I wonder if that wouldn't scare the chickens, too, though I guess they'd get used to it. There are also 2 small pear trees, a fig tree, and a bay laurel in their area, so a slightly billowy net over the whole thing ought to do the trick.
Then I saw this: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Ask-Our-Experts/Sustainable-Farming/Protecting-Free-Range-Chickens.aspx?utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email
I still think I'll put up the netting, though.
Yes, I have used bird netting as well. I use the stuff that the garden shop sells to cover berry bushes.
Oh, imagine, 2 pear trees, a fig tree and a bay laurel. Those poooor little banties would just think they'd died and gone to heaven....finally feeling like they have found their right place in the world, where they can just be themselves and lay eggs and cluck when they like, no hawks to swoop down on them.
But no, as it is, they are stuck, homeless, frightened and alone, wondering what will become of them, and why nobody wants their precious little eggies...
{{{nobodyluvs'emeverybodyhates'emtheyoughttagoeatwoooorms....}}}snuffle
OKAY! OKAY! I'LL TAKE THE D@^$*D BANTIES!!! NOW ARE YOU HAPPY, YOU FIENDISH BARN FAIRY!?!?!?!?!?!!!!
(I was going to take them anyway...)
(and no, I don't feel manipulated at aaaaalllllll...)
This message was edited Feb 18, 2009 3:01 PM
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=6151572
fiendish indeed!!lol. A mover and shaker of barnyards everywhere...
Hey, can you point her away from Texas, please!??!!!
I think she's pointed towards Ohio. You may be getting some weird backdrafts though...
I've also used bird netting if your using the plastic kind be careful because it can rip easily. I have it and the poultry netting i think it's the big 2 inch kind stretched over my ground pen on a frame made of aluminum tent poles.
I've had hawks land on it and bounce like they on a trampoline
That has to mess with their programming a little...lol. Hawks don't usually bounce...
Oh yes, the barnyard fairy is delighted now. :-)
As are the banties.
I think the fairy has redirected her attentions now.
LA lookout!!!
We used 2" poultry netting over the top of our pen. Wouldn't mine trying the bird netting though. Is there ever a build up of ice or snow on them?
Ours turned into a sheet of ice this past ice storm. So did the trampoline netting. We had a total 3/4" on all surfaces so...
eww. hate ice. hate snow but rather have that than ice.
Did it make it sag or break from the ice, grow?
Not much fear of ice down here, luckily.
So -- another gulp -- bought my first bag of layer feed today. I hope those banties are hungry! I have grit and oyster shell (didn't know whether I needed both but what the heck) and have started sprouts in my kitchen sprouter. I have wood shavings (not cedar) for bedding, a 1 gallon waterer, and two little silver-colored feeders to put on mason jars.
Anything else I'll be sorry I didn't have before they got here? I know I have the blessings of the Barn Fairy, so I guess I'm good?
Do you have your super-powered protector goggles for preventing mesmerization?
You could buy them a bag of what is called "medium scratch" which I give as morning treats. It's sort of a mix of cracked corn and seeds. It's like candy for chickens.
Hey by the way, I'm my own barnyard fairy too. These two angora bunnies came in to our shelter yesterday. Guess who's gonna be their new mommy???
Yes, I do have the goggles -- they're the ones that look like a Mardi Gras mask...
I should have had them on for the picture of the iddy biddy bunny wunnies...
aaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
Protector goggles are all that came to mind...
JM -sagged to the ground then slowly raised itself back up as it melted.
I've decided to name them Flynt and Kindlin' (Male and Female). I work with a lawyer in NC named Flynt and he is a great guy, so I'm naming the grey male (which is flint color) after him.
I visited them today and they need major grooming. Their owner died. I think they need some TLC. Once their coats are groomed, maybe having to be clipped, they will start on a good new footing. They are sweet natured too. Love my bunny wunnies!