is erin dead??? - Page 2

Most folks who keep chickens and similar species will generally keep them inside of a coop/house/hutch in the winter if there's any amount of snow on the ground, as their feet and combs become frostbitten very quickly, and chickens who lose toes can't perch securely so they have trouble roosting with the rest of their flock [plus frostbite hurts like a mfkr, trust!]. 'Flocking together' is part of how they keep warm, snugged up next to each other on their roosts. Some people, like me, put a heat lamp on a timer inside the coop or hutch or house so it's less arctic-like in temperature in there, because really, the closest thing you'll find to a chicken naturally occurring in the tundra is the ptarmigan, and I don't want my chooks to lose a toe or a chunk of comb because I was too cheap to pay the cost of a lightbulb being on for 14 hrs per day...

ML,
that appears to be a Brahma.

I've had birds roosting outside with no problems.
Just think of the wild birds.
 

Moons, if there's just a small amount of snow lying, like an inch or so, I do open my chook house and let them decide if and how long they want to be outside; but once the snow starts getting deep it's hard for the chickens to move quickly through it, and they're better off staying inside, since the hawks and eagles are still on the hunt around here, and chooks are easy picking for them in those conditions.  Most of my chickens can fly a short distance, but they're no match for a hawk or eagle.

I went bird watching today in the fields along the river, counted 3 Harriers, 3 Kestrel, 1 Red Tail, one Great Horned owl, and a couple of dozen Turkey.
The kestrels were watching a flock of Starlings feeding in some grass, but mostly except for the Turkey's they were all looking for mice.
I haven't seen an Eagle for a few weeks.
Oddly today I saw a female Gold Finch, they're not supposed to be here this time of year.


Most of my Birds were under roof and caged but still exposed to the wind, Pheasant mostly.
Turkeys and Peafowl were free ranging roosting in trees.
Yeah I've lost to the hawks and owls.
The chickens had a coop and as you said never got out in much snow ever, game fowl can take it but not layers or exotics.

I'm still amazed by wild birds who survive these conditions and seem to not struggle much at all.
The Geese love it.


 

I need to thank Erin for turning me on to the facebook groups on IPO.  She was right there are some excellent discussion groups on FB.  

I see the dislike (fag) fairy is here...LMAO  The Face Book groups have some excellent dog training forums, like it or not.  

Shame on you, Slamdunc, shame on you and your house.  I thought you better than such behavior.

There is ABSOLUTELY no call for the use of such a slur, and especially by an officer of the law, someone we civilians are asked to look upon with respect and gratitude; I get that there is little enough of that from the public in recent years, but that does not an excuse make for this comment from you. 

How DARE you 'utter' what you clearly intend as a demeaning and debasing word toward another human being? And for what--clearly, you have a target in mind, but has that person defiled your daughters or sullied your wife and mother?  Someone indicates that they didn't like something you posted--there's a legion of anti-facebook individuals, for a variety of reasons--and you pull out the verbal equivalent of an iron mace to flail at them for that affront?  I don't care WHO you think you were aiming your bile toward with that post--it is for sure that you meant no endearment or jest with your choice of words, and in doing so you have befouled your own character.

Shame on you.

Hexe,
I sincerely apologize to you and also anyone that I may have inadvertently offended.  It wasn't meant in the offensive way that it came out and certainly not as it was taken.  Yup, I had some one in mind when I made the statement.  That person is male and I was only distinguishing gender, if that makes sense.  It was an insult directed towards one person in particular but not in the way it came across.  There are plenty of demeaning and debasing words spoken here to other human beings, I generally try to hold back.  Even so, that doesn't excuse my poor taste and poor choice of words in that post.  

I appreciate that you have taken the effort to point this out to me and I have taken it to heart.  You are one of only a few people on here that I truly respect, most have left a long time ago.  The last thing I wanted to do was to insult, hurt or infuriate anyone with that comment.  It was made as a joke, but I see how much of a mistake it was.  I don't know how to express that the comment was not a "global" comment or how I feel.  I wish I could edit that post and remove that comment.  Again, I apologize to anyone that I may have offended.  It was inappropriate, thoughtless and unnecessary and I am truly sorry.  

Thank you.

I wish it weren't the case, but--no point in dancing around who your intended target was--I accept that the rift between you and GSD Admin is unlikely to be breached, short of a replay of the cosmic "Big Bang".  I have no right to expect or ask, but I do hope your apology is truly all inclusive, and extends to him as well. 

The sad part is that were the two of you to have only become known to each other IRL, you'd probably get on fairly well; from an admittedly limited-view observer's vantage point, there are a number of admirable qualities shared between you.