Yep you guessed it. It's raining..... AGAIN.
In August.
At least it was relatively cool today though and was pretty nice napping and sleeping temperatures.
Since I was shut out from doing any one of the million things I need to do outside I decided today was a good day to attempt to tackle that ever broody hen once again.
This time I am taking a play out of Sunnybrook's book and putting her in a kennel with her eggs and let the whole thing run it's course. Maybe she will feel better if I actually let her hatch one or two that live because every attempt I have made at breaking her of her broodiness has failed.
So I marked six eggs. Three she was sitting on and I stole three from the nest next to her. Mrs.PP and I got the kennel ready with old hay and put the eggs in while I held the screaming pissed off hen. We put her in the kennel and she was so upset she didn't even notice she had eggs in there. Within a few minutes the eggs were buried under the hay. I opened the door and tried to uncover them and the broody hen shot out of the kennel like a greased pig so I put her eggs back in the nest and will try again tomorrow I guess.
So the forecast for the rest of the week is a slight chance (like less than 15%) of a thunder storm each day until the weekend. I am going to roll the dice and cut the front field tomorrow I think and hope I can mange to get it baled before it rains on it. I really can't wait any longer. The back field has gone so long now I doubt the hay is going to be worth much now anyway but I might try and cut it as well.
I was reading today where Louisiana is getting flooded bad and New York is under such a heat wave that electric lines are bursting into flames. Seems like screwed up weather is literally everywhere this year.
Maybe someone is trying to tell us all something?
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!
I know you are not a believer in global warmer, but hear me out. Average tempatures have been higher. Higher temps mean that more moisture can be absorbed into the air. More moisture/humidity means more absorbed energy into the atmosphere, ergo wilder weather. Perhaps we are on the cusp of weather phenomenons that have toppled several ancient civilizations ( Bluff dwellers of the SW, Etc...) through agricultural non-subsistence. The oil age (fertilizer and cheap energy) has allowed us to transport agricultural products worldwide, thus insulate monied regions/nations from famine. Just food for thought....
ReplyDeleteK - Well global warming is a scam. There is plenty of evidence to show the opposite move in average temps and historical data that shows it was much warmer or colder at other times in the past. That being said I do not necessarily disbelieve in climate change per se. I am sure it is possible because we have seen the effects large cities and such can have on weather patterns. The problem is those people who try and politicize global warming or climate change are only doing so for nefarious means. The only thing we could really do about climate change is begin eliminating people and destroying cities and that ain't gonna happen. So instead they use it for their own ends like a swindler.
DeleteAlso warming periods are not something to be feared anyway. We owe our entire civilization to a warming period really.
I made a chicken jail for broodies that were broody for too long, a wire cage with food and water no bedding usually 24 hours in a cool drafty place brings them out of it, when I want to a broody to sit I move them on to eggs I do it at night, set the nest with eggs up pick up the hen pop her on the nest in the dark and leave her shut in on the nest for the next day, if she is still sitting the next day then all is fine.
ReplyDeleteDawn - We are going to try and let her have the eggs she has under her but if this little batch fails then I will have to put a stop to the sitting. She has been constantly at this for months and I ama fraid it is going to kill her off we it doesn't end soon.
DeleteIf you have a dog or cat crate, you might try putting her in there with the eggs and some wood shavings or something. Once she figures out she is sitting on eggs then she goes into a trance and comes off once a day if that so you can open the door once that happens. Put it in your kennel.
ReplyDeleteSF - That's what we tried. In a dog crate but she was so upset she ended up burying the eggs under the hay that was in there I don't think she knew they were there.
DeleteIf I can get her to sit there then as you say I will open the door during the day like you suggest.
You will have a lot better luck moving your hen at night. Put the eggs in her new nest and when you pick her up keep your hand over her head. She should just settle down on the new nest with no problems
ReplyDeleteBub - Ya I think we will try it at night next time.
DeleteI don't know if the strange weather we're having is natural, or induced by man, but SOMETHING's up. I guess only time will tell. Meanwhile, back at my ranchito, the garden withers, the cactus are drying out, and the dust devils are carrying away the topsoil... America has indeed become a land of extremes. 'Must be all that hot air in 'DC...
ReplyDeleteWe're prepping, and God is prepping us... Seek God whilst He can be found... Learn, learn, learn...
Pete - Yes I have been saying for the last few years it is like there is no adjustment knob any more. Just off and on for whatever is in the que.
DeleteThis winter up here in MN, they are talking BITTER COLD. We get rain every few days. Getting old. Maybe its time for that hen to meet the Kentucky Col.
ReplyDeleteRob - NO way!!! That hen is just now about a year old, maybe a few months over a year and was a good layer until she went broody.
DeleteBroody Hen vs PP.... hehehe Like others said, move her at night. Or if you want to try to break the broody set her in an open cage on the ground - dirt/rock/concrete, just no nest material - in a cool, drafty spot for two-three days with water only (they don't eat much during broodiness anyways) and sometimes they snap out of it.
ReplyDeleteBUT some are just plain determined to be broody. We had a Silkie hen who would hatch air molecules if she could. She was a great mama though. She hatched a few clutches and brooded some hatchery bought chicks, as well.
Weather has been horrid here, too. Hot & dry wind. No green thumbs around here this year.
Hobo - Ya I have tried breaking her a couple times already and even thought I had it done once but she goes right back to it. She actually hatched one egg but in a bad spot and the chick died. I am thinking maybe if I let her hatch one or so that live for a while she will give it up. We really can't handle chicks right now as we are not set up for it but I figure maybe it will get her over this broodiness.
DeleteAl Gore is right! Global Warming/Climate Change will kill us all! The end is near!
ReplyDeleteHe says from his fuel guzzling jet.
DeletePP - no advice on that broody hen but i am glad you are getting some rain. and i hope it holds out while you are baling. we have been experiencing some strange weather patterns here, too. nothing bad - just different. for example - we saw our first yellow-jacket wasp the other day and they are usually out in june drinking all of the hummingbird water!!!! but as you say - weather patterns have fluctuated since the beginning of time - but the industrialization of society is but a blip on the screen. i guess we'll see...or won't see or whatever. just keep prepping.
ReplyDeletesending love buddy! your friend,
kymber
Kymber - Ya the weather has just been crazy the last few years. I wish it would get over it and settle down again.
DeleteI have one brooding in the dog crate after a coon destroyed her two previous attempts. She's sick of it now and wants out, but only has 3-4 more days. I hope she mothers the little chicks okay after this, considering what a pain in the butt it's been. And I AM HEARTILY SICK OF THIS RAIN. It's cracking my maters, and probably rotting my taters, and I have too much that needs to be done outside! Argh.
ReplyDeleteXL - I tell ya when we get a drought I always say I will never complain about too much rain again. I guess too much is better than not enough but it is certainly more work for me.
Deleteread that the la nina would make winter less severe in the east this year.
ReplyDeletesigns here tell me early autumn and winter [ne ohio].
DH - It seems like every year has been a La Nina-something for the last five or so though. Does it ever stop?
DeletePP,
ReplyDeletePlenty of screwy weather across this country. Waiting to see what September and October bring. Glad to hear you finally got some good rain.