Life Sketches by Terry Berkson Made in the Shade: There’s More Than One Way to Curb a Rooster I once had this beautiful tropical fish that was mutilating and eating up the rest of the fish in the tank. It looked like he would have to be flushed down the drain, but before doing so, I tried threading a piece of dental floss through his tail with a sewing needle to create a drag that would slow him down when…
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Chickens
Editorial This Is for the Birds Last year, more than 57 million birds, including poultry, perished in the U.S. from a surge of avian influenza (H5N1), a killer disease that has been increasingly effective in attacking wild birds, especially migrating waterfowl. Mallards and Canada geese seem to be the most susceptible. The disease, which has flared up sporadically since its discovery, as fowl plague, in 1878, is caused by infections that occur naturally in wild aquatic birds. These infections are…
Life Sketches by Terry Berkson Little Caesar Hits The Highway Deporting an abusive rooster didn’t solve a plucking problem because my hens continued to lose their feathers and I was sure it wasn’t due to molting. Eventually, I caught Geezbrook, my prize Buff Orpington rooster, in the act with a telltale feather in his beak. I decided, as handsome as he was, that he would have to go to King’s Auction. Back on the farm, the remaining rooster continued the…
North American Cashmeres, junior apprentice program among Hulse Hill’s treasures Christine McBrearty-Hulse takes a moment to check in with one of her farm’s North American Cashmere Goats The chickens, Christine McBrearty-Hulse said, were “the gateway drug to farming” when she thought it would be fun to raise a few. Hulse Hill Farm, on Route 28 midway between Cooperstown and Fly Creek, still has chickens, but also pigs, barn cats, a rabbit, and goats of various age gathered in spacious fenced-in…
Life Sketches by Terry Berskon Peckulating Chickens The hens I finally found in late spring last year were now laying prolifically. I was feeding them mash but they were scattering it around the coop and yard so I switched to pellets that for the most part stay in the feed pail. Good egg production continued but I noticed that feathers were missing from the necks, breasts and rear ends of some of the birds. It wasn’t Romeo the rooster. He…
Life Sketches by Terry Berkson An egg layer with a taste for egg eating I have a problem with at least one of my chickens. She’s been eating eggs out of the laying boxes. It’s hard to determine which one is the culprit, but if left unchecked, the habit will be contagious. Egg eaters are aggravating. I’ve already consulted local experts, Vaughn and McNulty, who told me the problem is likely because of a calcium deficiency. “If you don’t have…
Life Sketches Raccoon in the hen house starts raucous battle The other day I finished weeding the garden and walked out to the chicken coop to water and feed my birds and collect their eggs. Disappointment hit me when I opened the door and found a dead chicken sprawled out on the floor with a leg half chewed off. I had left the chute leading to the yard open overnight as I had been doing for the last several days.…
COMMON COUNCIL OKAYS CHICKEN FARMING IN CITY ONEONTA – Common Council a few minutes ago approved a law, 5-3, that will allow the raising of chickens within city limits. Voting aye were Maureen Hennessy, Larry Malone, Bob Brzozowski, Madolyn Palmer and Chip Holmes. Voting nay were Mayor Russ Southard and Council members David Rissberger and Mike Lynch.…
Oneonta Councilman Larry Malone Announces He Won’t Seek 2nd Term ONEONTA – Common Council member Larry Malone, a Hartwick College economics professor and protege of former Mayor Dick Miller, told his colleagues a few moments ago he won’t run for a second term this fall. “Working to improve our city with my fellow Council members has been tremendously rewarding,” he said at this evening’s Common Council meeting. “Our successes come from casting aside politics and always putting the interest of Oneonta citizens first.…
Chickens Don’t Fly By LIBBY CUDMORE•HOMETOWN ONEONTA, THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL (Edition of Friday, Oct. 10) Oneonta residents will have to wait a little longer before they start their mornings with eggs fresh from their own chickens. In the half hour of public comment at the Common Council’s meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 7, Council members heard passionate arguments from both sides of the chicken debate. “This is a particularly foul idea,” said Frank O’Mara, Ford Avenue. “It’s guaranteed to pit neighbor…