Posted on 01/31/2026 6:26:44 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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Buffs are great! They seem more likely to fall to predators than some breeds, though... :-(
My one disagreement there is that most bigger, slower hens, (and to some degree more docile birds) tend to get killed more readily than more agile hens, even by relatively small predators. Light colors also seem to draw predators, although we have one very old white leghorn who has beaten that.
Although they wouldn’t be as docile, are good flyers, and the eggs are white (colors always seem “nicer”), dark breeds of leghorns might be a good bet for production and survivability at low feed cost. We’ve also not had a leghorn die of disease. I never see the dark strains of leghorn chicks at local distributors, though. :-(
We added 2 Black Marans as chicks last summer, and so far I am liking them. The eggs are gorgeous!!
Follow up on that: To be on the safe side, I decided to run a 24 hour “burn in” — basically the light is running inside an open ended 5’ section of 4” flue pipe in a warm room: The idea is to create an environment a little warmer than the light will ever see: It’s about 120 deg. F inside the pipe there. Maybe a touch more. So far, so good (about 20 hours in.)
B4 starting the “burn in” it was noticeable that the heat sink warms considerably more quickly than before when the light is turned on - which is what is supposed to happen. We want the heat transferring to the heat sink: out of the LEDs. THEY seemed to be running a bit cooler. (Admittedly, these are very impromptu “by touch and memory” sorts of “measurements”!)
I did use the SuperLube heat sink compound, BTW.
Don’t listen to Phil. He’s a PHRAUD, LOL!
Sun Prairie (WI) Jimmy predicts early spring
Sun Prairie once again turned to its famous weather forecaster Monday morning as the city hosted the 78th annual Groundhog Day Prognostication in Cannery Square.
The event was scheduled for Monday, Feb. 2, in downtown Sun Prairie, with festivities beginning at 6:45 a.m. The prognostication itself took place at sunrise, set for 7:11 a.m., when Jimmy the Groundhog revealed whether Wisconsin could expect six more weeks of winter or an early spring.
Jimmy predicted an early spring.
The ceremony opened with a color guard performing the national anthem, followed by remarks from Sun Prairie Mayor Steve Stocker. State Sen. Melissa Ratcliff presented a gubernatorial proclamation officially recognizing Groundhog Day in Wisconsin. City council members and other local elected officials also took part.
Sun Prairie, which bills itself as the “Groundhog Capital of the World,” has a long-running tradition centered on Jimmy, whose predictions draw early-morning crowds each year.
Diana here: And for ONCE Jimmy didn’t bite the Mayor, LOL! We used to go to this with Mom when the boys were little. LOTS of complaining about getting up at the crack of dawn, but they settled down once they got there and had some breakfast.
“They seem more likely to fall to predators than some breeds, though...”
That’s because Buffs are ‘Wisconsin Nice’ and want to be friends with everyone they meet! ;)
My last coop wasn’t nearly as well protected as my current one, and I only lost a Buff or two to a racoon attack that we had one night. Lost other breeds in that, too. :( The racoon did NOT get to try that a second time! I had netting over all of the chicken yard, so that helped a lot against hawks.
I did have a Great Horned Owl in the coop one night. 2am, summertime - the girls were making a HUGE fuss and my bedroom window was open so I heard them. We went down there and roosting with my hens was the Great Horned Owl, just snuggled up, not eating anyone, LOL! Using a blanket and a snow shovel we were able to ‘convince’ him to leave through the open barn door, and as he flew off, his wingtip touched my face! I’ll never forget that. And he truly was SILENT when flying. It was so cool!
Looks like a real winner to me.
The elegant, tasty braciole recipe tenderizes
cheaper cuts of beef——easier on your food budget.
We used to walk our dogs along a fenced-in dirt access road next to a major freeway.
Someone dumped a huge pile of dirt along the side of the freeway - come spring, every type of bulb you can imagine came up out of that pile of dirt - irises, lilies, amaryllises and more - looked like a beautiful flower show - and was amazing to see.
My son is (was) going to build a catio for my now housebound-forever kitty so she can have some outdoor time.
Was looking forward to it until he started a new job that he says is overwhelming him - so I may never see it!
I do have a porch room - and I’ve cheated a bit by letting her sit out on the back porch. Hard to bring in what was once an indoor-outdoor cat, she cries to be let out (she never left our backyard but the vet said not to even let her out there now).
Shepherds in the Pyranees raise Great Pyranees puppies with the sheep so that they look at themselves as part of the flock and defend the flocks against wolves.
Could you raise an orphan owl to consider itself as part of the flock and that would provide still have enough inate "Owlness" to provide some protection against predators like weasels and rats? Humm. There is a Video of Chicken who fostered a Pecock egg and the peacock and foster mother still hang around together. Might be an interesting experiment!
Something about High Fat Cheese and Brain health. Posted an article about this earlier (Or maybe C.M. did?) but a bit more information here:
High-Fat Dairy May Protect Your Brain Health, Study Suggests
(Haute Couture in a Wisconsin Dairy barn!)
Note that If you pasturize your milk it destroys the Vitamin K....Europe uses grass fed Cows raw milk for many cheeses like Parmesean and they contain Vitamin K!
Bon... see PM re Catio.
‘Mr. Owl’ will kill and eat his favorite chicken...last!
I keep tellin’ ya - Fat Is King - for human baby brains and growing puppies!
(I’m not sure anything works on cat brains...LOL!)
I am on a tear, today! Beau went to work on clearing some logs for his pals at the Prairie Preservation group, and I am all caught up on household chores, so I am looking into making my greenhouse as efficiently laid-out as possible.
I found an old book a while back from ‘Smith & Hawken’ a garden store/company that was ahead of it’s time with the ‘old timey’ tools and heirloom this and that. Not sure if they are still around. The book is, ‘The Potting Shed’ and it is SO inspiring!
I am looking on-line for organizing ideas to make the most of every inch of the greenhouse and to keep it better organized versus it becoming a ‘dumping ground’ that I don’t even want to be in by the end of the growing season!
Here are some sites I’m looking at this afternoon. I will report back with any earth-shattering ideas I find.
https://homesteadsupplier.com/blogs/news/best-greenhouse-layout
https://www.epicgardening.com/organize-greenhouse/
https://earthsoulorganics.org/garden-layouts/20-innovative-greenhouse-vegetable-garden-layout-ideas/
https://greenhouseemporium.com/best-greenhouse-layout/
So far I KNOW that I need a couch in there, a chandelier and some statuary. ;)
The injections the sawbones did in my back on Friday have helped quite a bit with the pain. The procedure itself was extremely unpleasant - they stick a needle all the way through the muscle tissue along the spine until they hit a rib, then back out a bit and squirt the medicine in. It was NOT a nice experience.
Saturday was worse. I had 80% of the previous pain along with new pain from all of the needle stabs. I felt like I'd been beaten with a baseball bat. By the end of the day the pain had eased a bit and I was able to get some decent sleep - almost 12 hours - I felt better yesterday than I have in months. It's better yet today. There's still quite a bit of soreness from the needle work and the muscles being locked up for so long, but the red hot steel ball that's been swimming around under my shoulder blade has cooled down noticeably so maybe there's some hope. MRI on my cervical spine this Thursday then see what's next. In the meantime I'll pick up a bottle of conolidine and add that to the supplement regimen.
Howard had bit of a tough weekend. Somehow he managed to injure a toenail on his right hind foot. It's been bleeding on and off for the last three days. It doesn't seem to be causing him a ton of discomfort, but he'll gimp on it when he knows someone is looking. There's not really a good way to treat it, AND he lost his 2nd training collar on Friday, so we've been trying to keep him indoors to the extent that it's possible.
He's managing to get his naps in spite of the sore toe.
Glad you have some pain relief. Looking at that pic of Howard, he knows how to milk it!
You post made me LOL and I can use every laugh I can find. It is so you and know you are loved and so generous to be hosting this thread. You are so suited to it.
Now if I had a greenhouse (no bitterness there) I would go for inexpensive shelving and thought of old oven racks. Stainless steel and they would let maximum light through. I definitely go vertical in a small greenhouse. You would just need a framework to hold the shelves and hopefully move them around height wise. Looked at all your links, nothing jumped out for me. Have fun.
So glad the shots gave you some relief! Finally!
Howard is his usual handsome self, I see. If we have a hound that DOESN’T have a missing toenail or a toe pad injury of some kind, it’s a miracle. They seem prone to it. We use a product called styptic powder that stops small toenail bleeds like Howard’s.
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