Farm Flock: follow along with *all* the birds in our flock

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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
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207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Just a few quick photos. :) Butters the Greeter welcoming Hubbs home from the store, Himawari Cuddlypants right before a much needed wing trim(she gets her legs caught on the long feathers when she scratches her head and they get all ratty and torn up), the female fancy mice when we first brought them home and opened up the box(note the fat brindle in the lower right, awe she is one of my favorites. :3), and our bridge under water again.



The goose did not end up making it. :( we don't know what happened to her. She seemed to be doing a little better and then suddenly passed away one night. :( we buried her out in the woods in case it was anything contageous. we had had her isolated from the other geese for a while, hopefully they are ok.



It is starting to get cold, so we have the radiator on all the time now in the bird room. It is supposed to warm up a bit over the next few days, but we will see I suppose. The time to start the wood stove for the year is fas approaching.



We are considering breeding Mischief on her next heat. She is old enough now, and Seymour is getting up there(nearly 12). He is a small terrier mix tho so is still quite spry and youthful, but still I don't want to wait until he is an old dog to get a puppy from him. The other puppies in the litter should have no trouble finding homes(edit: not that we would keep only 1, and if it is a small litter we may even keep all. Seymour was 1 of only 4), should be a very good mix. Mischief is a full stock Blue Heeler, and Seymour is 50% Scottish Terrier 25% Rat Terrier 25%Chihuahua. Pups should excel in herding, varmint patrol, family or kid dogs, should be very smart and easy to train, very people oriented, high energy, high drive, very loyal, and somewhere around 20lbs as adults.. small and easy to fit in any size home without being mini/toy/"useless":)p)... good dogs.



Other than that not too much has been going on. We are staying home mostly, as usual, and that's about it. One of the rabbits has a gross abcess where he poked himself with a nail, but it is draining now and we are going to give him a shot of penicillin when we get to the feed shop next. Rabbits are very particular about which antibiotics administered in what way will work, as many are harmful or fatal if misused. We are planning/hoping to get out tomorrow, we will see how it goes. Cross your fingers.


Off to cook dinner now.. teriyaki style pork chops and veggies. Yum!
 

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Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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I love pictures! You always have soooo much going on!!! I wouldn't be able to keep up wuth you!!!
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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Apr 14, 2015
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Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Ms Bug...I just LOVE Butters!..and Cuddlepants lmao! Not so much Rattatooi :rolleyes: Bummer about the bridge over troubled waters :eek:
Would love to have a pet bun-bun or even a "Mrs Cluck-Cluck" ( what I'd name a chicken lol)
You and Mr Bug have a lot going on there in the "holler". And how DO you EVER come up with your critters names????

Best wishes to you and Mr Bug and all the critters down on the farm,from me and Amy and The Beebs and David on this upcoming and "different" holiday season.
My son is getting married December 5th. With all that is happening with this effin virus and our State digressing.and my not-so-good health..I don't even know if I can/will risk it. He and wife-to-be Stephanie expect 50+ guests.


Jim
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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My poor poor Mr. Seymour Butts. (Spoiler: he is not seriously ill or dead, just his pride) This morning we discovered a gross pus-y slick eew area on his hip. No idea what it is.. my first thought was spider bite since we have had about 30 billion and a half spiders come into the house this year to take refuge from the winter. My grandmother had a dog get bitten over in Georgia and the poor doggo got VERY sick, and her back dissolved in some areas, even under intensive vertrinary care by a good and trusted vet.

We got him outside and washed off. It is very superficial, not hot swollen or red at all, but wet and definitely oozing pus and tender.



We sent photos to a group of family members thru text.. most of whom breed or have bred AKC dogs, many who show dogs, and work them on their farms. Lifelong dog owners all, and experts each in their own right. Not that I am not an experienced dog owner myself, but that I have never encountered this before. My one aunt diagnosed it as a hot spot, so we started to calm down a little. Tho I have never had a dog get a hotspot, I know what they are and that they are not rare nor particularly serious. They are basically an allergy. Seymour has always had dandruff, and a recent diet change no doubt pushed him into hotspot territory.


So we got him outside again and washed the whole area down and really investigated. Sure enough, he has 2 more itty bitty spots starting. We put peroxide and left it for a few seconds and then rinsed off real well. Put iodine next and left that on. And now for the loss of dignity....


We tried to bandage it first with bright orange vetrap and a gauze pad, but in order to get it to stay it ended up too tight so we undid that and decided to try a doggy diaper. We have itty bitty ones and big dog ones. The itty bitty ones didn't fit at all, so we took a big one and put it on and tried to vetrap a belt for him(this roll was hot pink) that sorta worked. We used an old halloween costume as a diy e-collar. Well, unsurprisingly the diaper came off, and the halloween costume also failed. Oh well, it was good for many, many laughs before the getup failed. We were able to distract him for a little while with a kong smeared with peanut butter, but he is no longer distracted and keeps trying every few minutes to lick at it. We are buying an e collar online.



We are going to clipper him when we find the backup clippers(don't want to use the same ones Mr. Bug cuts his hair with, eew!) But with winter coming, it already being cold, and him only being around 16 lbs, we will have to make him wear a sweater! Plus that should help to heep him from messing with the spots. We will apply cortisone cream, clean daily, and change his diet back to what it had been-home made! I used to feed him a variety of real foods, with a majority being raw meat bones and organs. When covid came around we started feeding him kibble. Obviously this was a mistake and we will switch him back. Him and a few of the other dogs. We always fed the big dogs kibble, but Sey ate majority raw since he was about 11 months old. Lucky we adopted from being a street dog in puerto rico, so he never really ate kibble until recently either. Mischief has eaten "dog food" her whole life unfortunately. She is about a year and a half old or so. We will get all 3 small dogs back on better food. Hopefully this will clear up Sey's skin issues and prevent any in the others.



But for now with Seymour having skin/diet problems and Mischief expected to come into season any day now, we will be waiting for her next cycle to breed her. No sense in adding stress right now when they need a few things sorted out.




As far as names, it depends in the critter. LOL Seymour is named after the dog on Futurama. Lucky was so named because is indeed very lucky. He was a street dog in Puerto Rico(dogs are not treated well there), and someone caught him and tied him to their vehicle and dragged him 30 ft. Someone saw this and stopped them and bought the dog from them(basically paid them to go away), and rushed him to the vet.... fast forward thru his treatment and his hero sent him to the mainland to be put up for adoption. One day we were in Petco for crickets on an adoption fair day, and the rest is history. Interesting aside, the day we brought him home we were nearly run off the road by an aggressive driver. Everyone was OK. :41:


Chance we found shot full of holes in a field with an office staple in her ear. I named her after a dog who had been found with a horribly imbedded collar on a vet channel I used to watch when we had better internet access. We found her while looking at a property to buy before we found the one we are on. The cat rescue fostered her for us and oversaw her vet work while we were still finding a property to buy, and moving here. The place we were in before moving would not have allowed us to have a dog her size. We did sneak her in for the very last month or so before we moved. :D


Rico came to us named Repo, and that was not something we were willing to call a dog. He didn't even seem to have noticed the change, lol. Rico is a very easygoing guy. Mischief got her name because heelers are very mischievious, and I thought it would be a cute name. Himawari is named after a cartoon baby who crawls around being sassy and fabulous. It means sunflower in Japanese, so it also works on that level. :) her last name changes with my and her mood lol. Sassypants, Flatbird, etc :p


Butters and Professor Chaos are both named after aspects of Butters Stotch from South Park. Fish is named because he is a strange fish, lol IDK. Robin is Robin Goodfellow, or Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream.


The cats sorta just have the names they have. :confused: Charlie seemed like a "Charlie", Jellybean is a cute name, and Hubbs named Fionna because he liked the name lol


The snake is named after a greek mathematician(Hypatia), the Tegu named after a dragon rider in a book (Jaxom)... one of the mice we call... [colorful word for one's rear] Hat due to being all white except for a black speck on his bum. :52::21:


Fatty Dingdog was a caracter on a cartoon show Metalocalypse, plus I just about died laughing when a friend suggested the name, so :cool:


Freedom because she spent 28 years in a cage, Boomer because he shouts a lot lol, Rin after a merchant character in a video game.. lol the list goes on


Best wishes to you and yours as well! And best wishes for your son's upcoming marriage! Covid is forcing tough decisions on us all. Mr. Bug and I have decided to put off our wedding until after covid has calmed down. We have been legally married for over a year now, what is waiting a little longer to throw a party? But if we weren't already legally married it would have been a much tougher decision. Stupid virus.
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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Apr 14, 2015
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Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
"Fatty Dingdog was a caracter on a cartoon show Metalocalypse, plus I just about died laughing when a friend suggested the name, so "


The very first time I saw your first post about "Fatty Dingdong the fabulously rude parakeet" I almost **** myself!! :eek::35::04:



kinda knew from then that you are a very...ummmm..."unique" kind of woman ;) Thank you for all the great laughs you bring out!


Jim









the very
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Fatty was such an awesome bird. A dear little imp. Ahh so many good memories. Miss him lots and lots.


Stupid cat. :(
 

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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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So, on advice of my cousin, another lifelong dog owner(LOL the only person in my family who doesn't have a dog or dogs is my brother, the weeeeirdoooo. He has 2 cats tho, and had dogs growing up, also worked in a kennel for a while) who also works at an emergency vet, we revised Seymour's treatment plan. I am happy to say that as of last night his hip is no longer oozing pus and is just a regular old scabby area now. Hooray for chlorhexidine! Now we just just gotta make sure it keeps healing and no new ones pop up! He has been off the kibble since the day we noticed the hotspot, so cross your fingers that we are thru the worst of it! Seymour is such a champ letting me mess with a sore spot all the time with very few complaints. <3


The birdos are all molting like crazy. Freedom looks ratty and pathetic, poor gal. Himawari Hotpants has lost the longest feathers in her tail and looks so ridiculous. Girl! It is going on winter, not short-short weather! [Giggle]


We had a rat give birth to 17 babies!! WOW! We will have to thin out the litter sadly. 17 is just too many for her to raise. If we reduce the number now she will lose less condition and the babies will be healthier. With 17 some would end up starving to death anyway. Taken now, we will be able to humanely euthanize them and give them to the Tegu as a prehibernation snack(have to wake him up first), and the rest of the babies will grow up fat and happy. Momma is stressed by the babies. She has many piles(code for oh gosh, too many!) And is usually hiding from the babies curled around an apple to prevent any sneaking in for a feed, and also probably to soothe her chest. I can't imagine trying to feed 17 babies! We will bring it down by about half, she should be able to raise 7-9 just fine. They are itty bitty babies, too. I mean, where would she have space to carry 17 growing baby ratlets in her belly? Not a particularly friendly momma, but she has been very friendly lately, ("give me a break from these monsters, human! Please! I'll be nice to you!")
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!



Today and yesterday has been a crazy cooking fest. We have no oven, and only a 2 burner hot plate, so we mucst cook a little at a time.



We have acorn squash and bacon mini-pies, green bean casserole, mashed spuds, stuffing with diced turkey breast casserole(a whole turkey won't fit in any of our pots)... hoping to have an actual kitchen for next year's Thanksgiving. With all considered for 2020, we are very fortunate. We may not have running water or an oven, but we didn't have to wait in line at a food bank for our food. None of our relatives have covid. We have our wonderful birds, our amazing farm. We have each other, and we have you guys here on Parrot Forums. :) Hope you guys all have a wonderful holiday.



I'm also cooking special meals for all of the critters. It is Thanksgiving for them too afterall.
 

fiddlejen

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Sunny the Sun Conure (sept '18, gotcha 3/'19). Mr Jefferson Budgie & Mrs Calliope Budgie (albino) (nov'18 & jan'19). Summer 2021 Baby Budgies: Riker (Green); Patchouli, Keye, & Tiny (blue greywings).
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!



Today and yesterday has been a crazy cooking fest. We have no oven, and only a 2 burner hot plate, so we mucst cook a little at a time.



We have acorn squash and bacon mini-pies, green bean casserole, mashed spuds, stuffing with diced turkey breast casserole(a whole turkey won't fit in any of our pots)... hoping to have an actual kitchen for next year's Thanksgiving. With all considered for 2020, we are very fortunate. We may not have running water or an oven, but we didn't have to wait in line at a food bank for our food. None of our relatives have covid. We have our wonderful birds, our amazing farm. We have each other, and we have you guys here on Parrot Forums. :) Hope you guys all have a wonderful holiday.



I'm also cooking special meals for all of the critters. It is Thanksgiving for them too afterall.

That menu with only 2 burners & no oven? ?? Impressive, your kitchen talent is amazing!
(Have a wonderful holiday! :) )
 

SailBoat

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Always a challenge, but an opportunity to have a daylong staged eat feast!!

A Wonderful Thanksgiving on the Farm!!!

Bless you and your's dear lady!
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Real quick update: last night we noticed the first baby mice in the smaller mouse cage! 5 fat and healthy full bellied babies as tiny as they come! Wow I forgot how teeeeeeny they are when they first hatch. Smaller even than freshly hatched budgies! We did not check the larger cage, tho they could very well have babies too. Probably best to leave them to it and not go poking around looking for babies and stress them out. The bigger cage is a big group of mice in a 55 gallon aquarium loaded with toys and things to hide in and climb on. Would be way more stressful for them than to peek in on the 3 we have in a 10 gallon tank(the cage with 5 babies). We will find out if they have babies in there the next time we clean the cage.



It is COLD. Arctic blast hit us. Made a big pot of chili last night and I'll simmer some beans or make broth or something overnight to add more heat to the house. Brrrr, we slept with hot water bottles last night because the radiators were needed to keep critters warm, since we don't have all the critters in their winter locations yet. Weather is supposed to warm up again before winter sets in for good, but obviously we need to get some critters moved around ASAP. Thankfully we have electric radiators and some heated perches for the birds, and heat pads and lamps for the reptiles.
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Cleaned the big mouse cage and well gee, there's a "few" little mouselets in there. This is several litters.. the moms just piled them all in the same nest and all look after all of the babies. :)


I didn't even count them. So many! So squirmy, so tiny, so cute.


Freedom wants to eat them. :eek: ("MMMM!" When she saw them) LOL, no little monster, you cannot have the baby mice to play with and gobble up. :58: :D
 

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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Mixed update this time.



Alex is sadly under the weather. He had some respiratory strain a couple of days ago.. Noticed on Thurs evening. He also had not eaten his nutri berries, and I was quite terrified and upset. Upped the heat, put antibiotics in his water. He seems to be on the mend. His appetite is decreased and he seems unwilling to climb to the cage floor to eat the nutriberries he tossed down there. Thankfully he is still eating, tho not as much as usual, and drinking. I have not noticed any respiratory distress since Thursday evening. We are watching him VERY closely. I literally do not have the words to express how very dear to me he is. His vet only works 3 days a week and we have had vehicle trouble or else we would have already had him in to be seen ages ago. For now he continues to improve and be in good spirits. Shouting to me when I am in the other room, whistling and displaying and being his nearly usual precious self. I have lost a LOT of sleep. Once he is recovered we will begin a weight loss plan for him. He can stay a smidge pudgie, but he is downright fat at this point and that just isn't healthy.



We will start by ordering some harrisons regular... do they have a senior or low cal blend? I would also reduce his access to pellets, but I have found he gorges on pellets when offered if I only give him acces part of the day to them. We also have TOPs for the budgies, but have never tried offering these to Alex. Will start offering him those.



The rat babies we are about to wean. We have been supplementing mom's diet with cat food and reconstituted all-species powdered milk replacer for extra fat, protein, calories, and minerals & vitamins. We try to give mom a break every day from the babies while we play with them. 3 siamese babies, the rest are mostly black berkshires and 1 black irish, all dumbo.



The mice are doing well. The tegu has been awake lately with all the warm weather, and so has been the snake. Mischief went into heat but even tho Seymour is doing better and eating better food we will wait till spring to breed them.



We have been looking for a bird to bring home. We were thinking about a grey or amazon, decided on a grey, and now I have recently been speaking with a lady about a galah with some baggage. We will see what happens.


My brother got engaged to his wonderful girlfriend. The check from my grandmother's estate got lost in the mail and delayed for a while. It is allegedly now in the PO box waiting for us, but we have been rained and snowed in for ages! Hoping early part of next week we can get out.


Equines are well. Fionna the kitty is back indoors. She never really got comfortable outside and we decided to bring her back in. Jellybean has since seemed less than pleased to be outside alone. Maybe we should try to adopt a kitten from someone's barn? IDK what to do. He has been outside most of his life, he is not an indoor cat. But he also is only semi recently alone out there. IDK, but he whines and yells at us a lot and is clearly not thrilled to be alone out there. When we have brought him inside previously he just sorta hides and is on edge the whole time, and runs out the second the door is opened. :confused::(
 

SailBoat

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"We will start by ordering some harrisons regular... do they have a senior or low cal blend?" Yes they do and we have used it for many years.

That is one huge pile of baby mice... Kind of proves the point: If you see one, there are a bunch more!

Any updates on fixing the bridge, or did I miss that?
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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No repairs to the bridge yet. Our county is getting hit hard by the virus, so we are just staying home. Our water guy friend is still tangled up in the next state over working on installing a gas line, so hasn't been available to help out with any projects. Hubbs' blood pressure issue has been acting up and he has been pretty unwell for a week or so. Spending a lot of time in the bedroom watching the news and stuff like that. As most of you probably know, we brought home a Galah(Pidge/Pink Pigeon) the day after Christmas, and 2 female cockatiels on January 10th. We have been spending time with them while being in the bedroom.



Getting ready to place a bunch of huge bird orders... about to drop around a grand at each of 3 retailers. YIKES birds are expensive! No cages, no
big playgyms or other major purchases. Mostly food. Lots and lots of bird food. To get something "to try it", even a treat, I usually have to order a few pounds of it. :53: Getting a bunch of cookable foods, ingredients to add in to cookable foods, different seed mixes to try as treats, base seeds for the budgie mix, pellets, food cups, as well as a few toys, perches, mineral products, and some first aid supplies we want to add to our kits or that need replacing due to age. Also buying about 30 water bottle holders for rodents, and dozens of rodent water pbottles. For whatever reason the type that works is getting harder and harder to find these days. Most of what is available is a strange design with a base that a bottle fits into and sits on the enclosure floor. Made of soft wood or plastic.. no thatnks. Give me the "old style" glass or plastic bottle that fits into a metal holder/chew guard and hangs off the side of the cage or glass tank. Found somewhere that carries the old sty, so ordering 10 each of 3 different sizes in case I am unable to find them again in the future.



Going to be a semi short post, my phone acting up a lot tonight. le..


Speaking of things hard to find these days, nest boxes that are going to actually work. The ones I saw online are listed as being "soft wood" plus they are do the people who make these actualllly breed birds? Or even have them? B
udgies*tiny*. Absolutely devour wood, especially soft woods. Plus budgies may start small, but a nest with 8 nearly fledged babies gets CROWDE
D


Ok phone says it is done now. Hopefully this is understandable.
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Hello guys




Just wanted to pop in and quickly reassure all that we are well. Things have just been a little overwhelming lately. That huge giant major flooding completely missed us, thank the Gods. Just a county over things were *bad*.



All the birds are good. Each and every one. Himawari is still flat, Cupid(/Pink Pigeon) is still a sweet cuddly LOUD hormonal (totally normal) cockatoo, Alex Bird is now officially 19 years old. Boomer and Rin are housemates with their gals, tho we have doubts if these will work out as breeding pairs. The birds are not super interested in each other. The hens are still very friendly with people (not so much their boys, tho they aren't cruel to them) and I worry they may not look at themselves as cockatiels. I suppose only time will tell. Freedom is hormonal right now too, but is doing good. She figured out how to open the feed cup doors and squeeze out the opening, so that was fun to find her out unsupervised and just hanging out messing stuff up in the living room. The windows were WIDE open. While she "can't fly", that still gave us a heart attack. Thankfully it ended well and now we "lock" the feed cup doors! Tho it is only a matter of time until she lears another way out I am sure. :rolleyes: Anybody know someone who will install stainless steel bars on mobile home windows in an isolated holler in appalachia and not get the wrong idea? :D I would hate to have to have the windows shut any time we are not in the house.


We have been busy with a lot of different projects, but I will try to be better about coming on here again. We also have been having significant connectivity issues and so will finally be getting internet at the farm soon. Woo!
 

SailBoat

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So very happy to hear from you Good Friend!
Huge Warm Amazon Feather Hugs and Prayers.

Likely a good idea to pull back to your side of the stream! Just been odd, out here anyway, Far too many individuals are choosing not to get vaccination. Sad!
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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Hello guys. Another quick check in. Most all everyone is alright here. The birds are going strong, Cupid/Pink Pigeon settling in well. Hima is still flat and sassy, Alex is still old and grumpy.

We have pigs now. A couple of young gilts(unbred females), we are trying to get a young boar, and a few feeders to raise up for the freezer. We bought a herd of goats... this has turned into a big problem. We got scammed/taken advantage of/whatever. Were supposed to be buying 16 of them, only 15 showed up. They said they couldn't catch the last one. It became quite clear that the last one wasn't uncatchable, it died. I know this because we are now down to 11 surviving goats at this point. 6 have died here, including the twin doelings who were born shortly after the herd arrived, and then died within a day of birth. The herd are some sick puppies. We were threatening to take the seller to court if they didn't fix the situation(take the surviving goats back for a refund), but then my mom had some health stuff come up, and the goat situation has been shoved to the back burner. We are resigned to keeping the poor sick things and trying to treat them medically.

They started out with ringworm, "soremouth", coughing, etc. The sore mouth has healed without spreading. Same(I think) for the ringworm. The coughing has gotten a lot worse and concerningly Butters is coughing a small amount. The goats also have significant copper diffeciency as well as a high worm load. A couple of them also have swollen and sore feet that we think are abscesses that they got from being poked in the foot by something with their currently compromised immune systems. It's a whole thing....

We also got another puppy, a protection mix we named Saint(IDK if I wrote about him here. Trespassers are brutal). He is a hodgepodge of mastiff breeds and already is huge, tho he was only born on St. Patrick's day(thus the name).

On to my mom... without too many details, she had a kidney stop working randomly and when they took it out they found cancer. It isn't "kidney cancer" which is good, since that is what took my dad from us in 2014. But not sure 100% yet what type of cancer it is. They also noticed a spot or 2 on her liver when they were taking the kidney out.

Nobody is sick here with Covid, thank the Gods. We have quite enough on our plates. I've been quite depressed lately. Lonely and very, very worried about my mom. Trying to figure things out, she lives nowhere near any family. If it comes to it, I am willing completely to move back in with her while she undergoes treatment. I *really* don't want her to face this alone. She has the same cancer dr who helped get her thru Lukemia treatment in 2001, so her dr isn't a stranger. Plus she actually taught the child of her dr! My mom knows *everyone* somehow. :) You can be lost in a foreign country with her and walk into a random shoe store and the cashier would come up and already have inside jokes with her, I swear. My mom is a treasure.
 

Jen5200

Well-known member
Mar 27, 2017
1,874
Media
23
Albums
2
249
Washington State
Parrots
Baby - Sun Conure;
Tango - GCC;
Bindi - Sun Conure;
Stanley - Pineapple GCC;
Screamer “Scree� - Cockatiel;
Tee - Pineapple GCC; Jimmy - Cockatiel
Goodness so much going on in your world. Glad to hear from you - and sending positive vibes to you guys and your mom.
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2018
1,371
207
Isolated Holler in the Appalachian Wilderness
Parrots
B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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  • #160
Auuurg! Ohhhhhh mannnnn, that is beyond irritating!! I wrote up this huuuge thing and was almost done when the phone crashed and it disappeared. I can't do it all up again right now that literally took 2+ hours to type up on my phone. I'll circle back to making a proper update later, but for now:

Cliff notes: Mom's cancer responding VERY well and she is doing good

Hima, Freedom, Pidge, etc great, various individual updates. Alex 20 years old as of yesterday and doing great

This past Winter was super tough, we lost a few animals to the cold. A few chickens as well as the tegu and boa sadly. Despite their heaters going and moving their enclosures right next to the wood stove it just got too cold in this drafty trailer with poor insulation. We humans suffered from cold also. 100% dependant on blankets, coats, hot water bottles in the house. Bird room radiator on full whack kept that room chilly but safe temp range for the parrots thankfully!

Big mystery predator stalking our farm currently, fighting it as best we can. Early for a bear, haven't heard coyotes in a while, it has taken 3 adult male turkeys so far... Have chased it off several times with fireworks and gunshots, but have not gotten eyes on it, nor have we heard it. Based on the guineas, the dogs, etc behavior we know we have run it off... nervous animals making alarm calls dogs barking and growling followed by calm animals after the firecrackers etc.

Incubator with geese and ducks hatching now, about a dozen in the brooder already.

Doing spring garden stuff because farm and rising food prices.

Wanting to start a family soon, so doing serious work on house building. Also due to our winter losses. If next winter is unusually tough like this past one was, we WILL be ready for it and not lose a single critter to cold.

Lucky the dog passed away in his sleep a few months ago, before the weather turned super harsh thankfully. He was an old boy but it was still very sad to lose him.


I can't remember what all else I wrote up, undoubtedly there is other stuff though. It has been a long, long time since I have been active on here. I'm sorry! A mix of reasons, but I need to make more of an effort to at least poke my head in from time to time. I miss you guys.

And I am still very unfamiliar with how to use the new layout from my phone... Hopefully with practice I will get used to it! But I need to post this before it deletes too and I just put the phone down without posting anything!
 

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