[walkinthewalk]

Geese are great watch pets

Years ago, I was chased twice by the same goose, lollol. My friend kept it as a watch pet and that goose served her well, lollollol

Even though all of us let her know know when we would be coming down her road, I suspect she “forgot” to put the goose up, in order to watch us make the mad dash from her porch step back to the car — until her sister threatened to shoot it and put it in the stew pot:rofl::rofl:

Here’s hoping you have success raising geese. You should post pictures of your baby fowl when they hatch — all baby birds are so homely they are cute:loveshower:

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

We have a couple of these chicks. I think they want to be bald eagles when they grow up.

I suspect that they will simply be really ugly chickens.

 

[egrogan]

I love teenager chickens-I think that’s their cutest stage!

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

The geese have wasted no time. We have our first goose egg today.

 

[walkinthewalk]

The geese have wasted no time. We have our first goose egg today.
View attachment 1009105

Holeee Moleee! Everyone should now know where the term ”goose egg” came from, when referring to a knot on the head, lollol

How are the “Eagle” chicks that are really chickens:smile:

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

@walkinthewalk. The eagle chicks have begun to grow feathers on their heads. From the looks of it the heads will resemble the body color. One has a row of dark feathers down the middle of its downy head like a mohawk.

On the horse front, Skippy came in this morning with a cut on her off side foreleg, near the shoulder. The joys of keeping horses in a wooded pasture. This is the second time she’s had a cut in that area. First one healed up nearly without a scar.

This one had a small triangular flap of skin hanging off it, and some sand stuck in the raw parts. I snipped the flap of skin off, washed the wound, and scrubbed the sand out.

I hit it with some wonder dust and purple antiseptic.

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

Double post. I’ll just use this one to post the second photo the first wouldn’t allow.

On the horse front, Skippy came in this morning with a cut on her off side foreleg, near the shoulder. The joys of keeping horses in a wooded pasture. This is the second time she’s had a cut in that area. First one healed up nearly without a scar.

This one had a small triangular flap of skin hanging off it, and some sand stuck in the raw parts. I snipped the flap of skin off, washed the wound, and scrubbed the sand out.

I hit it with some wonder dust and purple antiseptic.

View attachment 1009233

 

[walkinthewalk]

Boy, she literally did just peel the skin off, didn’t she?

Good thing you know how to be a vet and you may even know more than some

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

Don’t know about being a vet. But I can handle basic first aid like this.

The last one was worse. It was a puncture as well as a cut. I consulted the municipal vet about that one. He sent me some antibiotics.

It had been over 35 years since I had given an injection, but we did fine.

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

The “bald eagle “ chicks are finally getting feathers on their heads. This one is starting to look more like a buzzard.

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

More on the poultry front.

I think we got our time share contracts mixed up.

 

[walkinthewalk]

How funny, especially when there is an empty nest right next door, lollol

They both look like they are embarrassed they got caught together and are making up excuses as to how it happened.

Boy, that’s a story you could run with in a few different directions, lollollol

It’s also a great picture from a photography point of view. That would be a great post card

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

How funny, especially when there is an empty nest right next door, lollol

They both look like they are embarrassed they got caught together and are making up excuses as to how it happened.

Boy, that’s a story you could run with in a few different directions, lollollol

It’s also a great picture from a photography point of view. That would be a great post card

Lol. Kind of a long story on that particular nest box.

Prior to the holidays, I had been gathering eggs from all the nest boxes and baskets daily. Then we went traveling for the holidays. When we got back, I found that the crew had not been gathering eggs. All the nests had clutches of eggs in them and the hens still laying daily. It was impossible to tell old, developed eggs from fresh.

Since we were already overpopulated with chickens, I proposed destroying all the eggs and starting fresh with the gathering. You’d have thought I suggested burning down the farm. “The babies! The babies!”

Never mind that we already had so many chickens that some young roosters had stolen hens and started little half feral flocks here and there in the woods.

I quietly began tossing out a few eggs each morning when I went to feed the horses. Took about a week, I guess. But I got it down to one egg in each nest. I marked those, and left them to keep the chickens coming back to the boxes.

All except that one box. About the same time, the ducks started laying eggs. They left their eggs all over the place. I collected them and put them under one of our best sitting hens. That hen stayed on them until the marked egg hatched under her. But every day a different hen would sit on those duck eggs.

In the meantime, I was able to start gathering eggs again. Two or three at first, but more and more over the past month. Today, I collected nine. I leave that one box alone, and still put every duck egg we find in there.

The other day, a duck started sitting there. The hens still go in there, but the duck is now the primary resident. Maybe we will have ducklings soon.

 

[walkinthewalk]

What a great story - except - for - one - small - part ——

And you can guess which small part that is, even though I understand the reasoning, lollollol

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

Still more action on the poultry front. One of the geese has started sitting on the eggs. There are at least 3 eggs under her.

 

[walkinthewalk]

Too bad you can’t put a bird cam in with the goose so we (WE, LoL) can all watch the hatching process.

If you aren’t going to eat the geese, that is - I have turned into a real coward as I age, lollol.

I knew the pigs I raised, in my forties, would eventually end up in the freezer but when the reality of that finally came to pass, I said never again. And I was raised in a small dairy farm with a smokehouse, lollol

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

And we have running water at the barn! Previously , we were completely dependent on rainwater.

Yesterday and today, our longtime friend George, ran a gravity fed line from our main tank to the barn.

We are gradually joining the modern world.

 

[walkinthewalk]

YAY:clap::cheers::clap::cheers:

A simple pleasure and necessity we always seem to take for granted but shouldn’t:cowboy:

 

[Cordillera Cowboy]

Folks seem to enjoy the updates on the poultry.

Our chickens have divided themselves, more or less, into two flocks. All are free range, and most will come into the enclosure at feed time and to roost at night.

One flock stays Fairly close to the poultry enclosure , which is uphill from our house and the main portion of the farmyard. The other flock stays mostly in the farmyard.

Each flock has a number one rooster. In keeping with our loosely Tolkienesque naming theme, I’ve taken to calling the head rooster at the enclosure, the King over the Hill. And the one in the farmyard, the King under the Hill.

The King Over the Hill is a colorful fellow with a distinct white marking at the base of his tail.

The King Under the Hill is white, with a rusty saddleback.

 

[walkinthewalk]

They are both quite handsome in their own ways

We had chickens on the farm but I have never lived with divided flocks - that - means - another - first - grade - question, lol.

Those two fellas won’t get to fighting because one of them might want to secure both flocks for himself?? That would be a fight I would probably need a lot of Kleenex for.