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It has been quiet in this thread for a while. Good morning, squirrelhunter!

I have been searching for a meatloaf recipe I shared somewhere here. I looked in the keto thread, where I thought it was. Nope. I think I am going to wing it. Ground beef, eggs, onion, garlic, bacon, tomato sauce, seasonings, no carbs (bread, oatmeal or crackers). Quantities will be based on other recipes. Have to do some research.
 
either a dog or a coyote made a play on my roosters Monday.
I came home from work and see feathers here and there. Im thinking dang! dang! dang!
Over a year ago I had to separate my extra roosters from the girls in the coop and their favored rooster. Usually I cull any extra boys in the fall but that year, I didn't have time and kept putting it off and was having a hard time deciding who I wanted to keep. I liked them all.
They are all really mellow, big and beautiful. I wanted to keep one purebred, so I gave the other purebred to a friend who just lost their rooster. So I ended up with 3 extra. They made themselves at home in the woodshed, go along well with everyone and Ive just kinda let it be.
During the week when Im at work the main flock has to be in the coop. They get in my dogs bones and toys and that is his red line if they venture into his yard when Im not home and start pecking at his bones. Ive lost a few and since I do have a abundance of creatures around that like chicken..they have to stay in. The girls have a big ourdoor run with a sand/dirt kiddy pool including a umbrella for shade in summer and many different level perches outdoors in the run. All I need is a disco ball and chicki mealworm bar to make it look like a groovy chicki hangout.
Anyways, however, during the work week, the roosters can come out if they want and roam about. They don't bother the dog bones or toys and mostly just hang around the coop or in the garden area.
So, I park the truck and see one rooster, Stalker who looks fine but by himself sitting outside the coop.
I go in the barn and Jack is up in on the hay pile. He looks ok other than he was stressed and lost most of his beautiful tail feathers.
Mr. Hyde is still missing. He is kinda special because he always seeks me out, comes running to me most of the time and has always been super friendly. I didn't raise him but he just for whatever reason likes me. He has even tried to feed me the bits of tortillias I just gave him and sometimes will do the little rooster chicki dance. Maybe he thinks Im one of his hens?? lol?? I don't know..but of course I dig him too and was pretty bumbed it appeared he was lunch.
Well..I follow the feather trail. It appears there were battles all over with both. It started by the coop, at some point by the woodshed , then by the barn, working south all the way down to the garden. I can clearly see where Jack lost his tail feathers by the shop, both Jack and Mr. Hyde were battling something by the side of the woodshed , Jack jumped over the fence and the dog or coyote followed ( I can see the prints of the animal in the snow. ) Jack went under another fence and the animal had to go around . That gave Jack time to scoot into the barn. It seems my goats , Probably Chewie chased the dog/coyote off. My buck Chewie chases coyotes, Ive seen him do it. My female boer chases strange dogs and pounds them if she can..Ive seen her do it too.
Anyways, the feather trail leading toward the garden was mostly Mr. Hydes. There were a few spots where struggles took place and I follow it out. About 50 feet away from the last few feathers is Mr. Hyde, he looks up at me and starts making his happy noises he makes when he sees me.
He lost a lot of feathers mostly along his back. He has about 5 small puncture wounds and a scrape type wound. He was shivering pretty bad, so I put him in my still warm truck to warm him up and get a place for him ready to recover in.
He didn't eat at all yesterday but today he drank and ate well and even got out of his kennel thing. I put him in a 30 gallen water trough with hay on the bottom and he stayed in my laundry room where it is warm. He likes his new pad and seems like he will be fine. We will see. I figure he is going to have to stay inside for a few days until he heals up good and figure out how to keep his back warm. I might have to just keep him in the spare room until it warms up enough. He lost a big patch of his insulation and its below freezing.
Im thinking if it were a coyote..he would be dead. Im thinking a neighbors dog ?? Its a mystery..but the boys are staying inside unless im home for awhile.
 
Hooch said:
either a dog ...
Click to expand...

I'd guess a dog. I get home and let the chickens free range. Just after supper (before dark) wife yells that there is a dog killing my chickens! I get one shot off at a dog hightailing it north from my back yard. Feathers all over the back yard. I find the hens clustered in different groups and in statue mode hiding in tall weeds. Hens have all of their feathers, I gently direct them back into their run and shut the door. That leaves the Rooster, two sweeps through my acreage and no rooster. Finally find him across the south side of the road. He's missing all of his tail and back feathers otherwise uninjured (other then his pride). Rooster played tag with the dog to give time for the hens to escape?
 
The Lazy L said:
I'd guess a dog. I get home and let the chickens free range. Just after supper (before dark) wife yells that there is a dog killing my chickens! I get one shot off at a dog hightailing it north from my back yard. Feathers all over the back yard. I find the hens clustered in different groups and in statue mode hiding in tall weeds. Hens have all of their feathers, I gently direct them back into their run and shut the door. That leaves the Rooster, two sweeps through my acreage and no rooster. Finally find him across the south side of the road. He's missing all of his tail and back feathers otherwise uninjured (other then his pride). Rooster played tag with the dog to give time for the hens to escape?
Click to expand...

I seems that at least one rooster has balls.
Back when the world and I were young - - dogs were required to know better.
 
-18 today at work, it took until after lunch for it to warm up to zero.
At the end of the day it warmed up to 27 at my station. Yay!
I saw a new one today.
A chain flew off one of the sprockets by the trimsaw backtable. directly in front of my line of sight.
.That is not what was new..it happens all the time however,
It caught a 14 foot 2x6 just right and violently flung this board out of the chain, flying horizonally, it hit the waybar thing that has a bunch of sensors on it, did a spinny all flying southward and landed half way on the chains and catwalk about 30 feet away from launch!
luckily no one was around to get wacked..but it was pretty cool to watch. It got my heart going for sure...
Oh, and the wiring to a 480 chain motor on my machine never was repaired properly a few weeks ago when I had a fireworks show , motor chains went kaput with a full unit of lumber over it all..
and guess what happened again..fireworks..the electrical panel shut it down..I very much dislike electrical fireworks..
Mr. Hyde is doing well. He is fairly bruised around his wounds but nothing seems to be infected so far and he is eating and drinking well.
 
Patchouli said:
@VThillman I was sort of kidding. I know they nit pick from stuff my husband has told me.
My main worry is Hooch's safety cuz it sounds like somebody could get killed the way lumber goes flying around in that place.
Click to expand...
From his descriptions, the automation may be fundamentally flawed - engineered to function efficiently enough most of the time, with operator safety not a significant part of the design. Or, it could be engineered well, and set up or maintained carelessly. Gotta be one of them, eh? Maybe the owner hasn't been hit hard with a lawsuit, yet. Maybe Hooch has examined the risks/rewards.
Maybe - maybe - maybe. Maybe the dice ain't doctored.
 
Hooch is a woman, make no mistake about that.
Careless maintenance sounds most likely, from her other comments. Things she notices and reports and nothing is done until it breaks.
(We had some comments going at one time where she thought I was a guy and i thought she was a guy. We got that straightened out).
:LOL:
 
Patchouli said:
@VThillman I was sort of kidding. I know they nit pick from stuff my husband has told me.
My main worry is Hooch's safety cuz it sounds like somebody could get killed the way lumber goes flying around in that place.
Click to expand...
I am expecting that someone is going to get seriously hurt as well, and I hope that it is not Hooch. I have seen wood fly in woodworking shops, and if someone were in the way, they would be seriously hurt. It is a real shame when the people in charge of safety do not take it seriously and do what needs to be done to keep people safe.

I also understand how guards can get in the way of getting work done. Sometimes, a guard is almost as dangerous as no guard.
 
Patchouli said:
Hooch is a woman, make no mistake about that.
Careless maintenance sounds most likely, from her other comments. Things she notices and reports and nothing is done until it breaks.
(We had some comments going at one time where she thought I was a guy and i thought she was a guy. We got that straightened out).
:LOL:
Click to expand...
A small gender indicator along with our names would save folks from making an incorrect assumption. Of course people could opt out of displaying it.
male-sign_2642.png
 
VThillman said:
Hooch, the Stuff Screwing Up you describe is a reminder that automation is sometimes cluttzy. Engineered to work right - when all of it's parts are working right - and dangerous when they don't.
:fun fun:
Click to expand...
this place is patched together with equiptment from auctions a lot..lol..Many of the motors, chains and systems were enginerred for dry wood from kelns..not wet heavy lumber. Its been a interesting education for me..lol..
 
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