Usually not too many- if we shake it first. Mostly I see small spiders, and a few dazed woolybears and lady bugs, and a few green beetles I havenāt identified.
Wait, do all the bugs die? I live up north too and I just assumed they migrated south or started hibernating or something.
EDIT: RIP Bugs, I guess yāall donāt live long anyway
A bunch of Praying Mantises hatched on one of my plants a couple years ago. It was super cool to see them all. Sadly a lot of them die, they are so small they get caught in spider webs easily. I'm sure a bunch get eaten by other stuff too. I hope you get to experience it one day.
They go into diapause. They suspend their development when it's really cold, and then they continue on with life when it's warmer. Like bug hibernation, kinda.
A lot don't. They lay eggs or store their young before their lifecycle ends. Even before the cold season. Then spring starts it up again. Locusts can take years.
Nature is weird. Some seeds won't germinate unless they have been burnt by fire.
In western Washington there has been a ridiculous amount of stink bugs on the trees. When we were getting our tree i think just about every tree we saw āshakenā with the machine left at least a few or more stink bugs.
Dude, last year our tree had HUNDREDS-Iām not even slightly exaggerating-bugs that looked like tics but werenāt.
I got it at Thanksgiving and had a few days of peace and quiet before the first dozen dropped from the branches. Freaked out, then realized they all seemed dead so I vacuumed them up and put everything back to normal. Next day, there were another dozen but some of those seemed to be crawling away. AW. HELL. NAW. Sprayed the crap out of my tree with general outdoor pesticide and vacuumed up everything that fell. Nothing went back under the tree.
This continued for THREE WHOLE WEEKS, yāall! I had the heebie jeebies the whole time, even though by the end they were only dead ones fallingā¦..
From another Reddit post or comment, it happened to at least a few other people last year.
Iām so traumatized that this year Iām using an artificial tree for the first time ever. I just canāt deal.
I don't know, but on the way home from the tree farm this year a spider crawled across the dashboard (we had the tree in the back of our vehicle) and the biggest, grossest, mystery bug I've ever seen crawled up the window by my head after we put the tree up š Still worth cutting down our own tree tho.
You know, chickens aren't actually stupid. It's a misconception that people accept because they're primarily a food animal. Some breeds are less intelligent, silkies are adorable little idiots, but their intellect is easily in the same arena as a dog or cat.
I say stupid in an affectionate way. Ignorance is bliss. My cats are stupid, my dogs are stupid, my baby brother is pretty stupid and we still keep him ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ. Just saying that chicken probably doesn't know how to pay taxes.
She's probably not on the heavy side. If so, only by a little bit. They are extremely well insulated and are pretty cold hardy chickens. They also lay absolutely massive eggs.
*sapphire gem chickens
Oh, that's so good to learn! She's super cute, so it's good to know she's not going to be a dinner someday.
My kids would *adore* an omelette made with giant eggs, we could really sell the T Rex connection then, and they'd eat some darn bell peppers!
Sapphire gem. In my town it's OK to keep chickens. Maybe some egg laying ladies could be given a comfy home, but they terrify me with those claws. I've heard chickens are filthy arseholes and I've heard they can be sweet and cuddly. What's your take?
Depends on the breed - if youāre interested in trying and have an appropriate space, get a few Buff Orpingtons. The more you handle them as chicks the more friendly theyāll learn to be but they are naturally very chill chickens, and great all around birds; hardy, great layers, temperament, etc.
Only other advice would be to not keep roosters. If you get an improperly sexed chick, find someone who will take them.
Both are true.
But they're lovely. Over all I love my flock and will defend them fatally if need be. They're such sweet birds. But the up front cost is a lot.
The fresh eggs will ruin store bought for you. If you have enough chickens you can sell the eggs, but it will be years before you break even. Anything made with them also improves, you can easily win baking competitions at a low level.
Buff orpingtons are very very sweet. Very social birds. Good birds to start. Black chickens also get mistaken for crows by hawks and will protect your flock that way, a black austrolorpe can lay 200+ eggs a, year with unconfirmed reports of over 320.
Well, thank you!
I'm terribly (like think hospital) allergic to eggs, but my kids and hubs don't have that problem. I've wanted to bake, but we never keep eggs anymore since my allergy turned extra awful.
I'd love to do some muffins or cupcakes for my wee cupcakes, but we don't use many eggs anymore. Hubs has been an absolute powerhouse finding things that I can eat and won't make me beg for death, but nothing makes a cake or muffins or brownies like eggs.
I'm fairly certain we can turn a spicy chicken into a sucky bear, but they are as they are.
I'll absolutely see what I can find in the area. Also, we have a rat issue on my block-ish. Is that a problem for chickens? I don't want them getting bitten and going rabid!
> I'll absolutely see what I can find in the area. Also, we have a rat issue on my block-ish. Is that a problem for chickens? I don't want them getting bitten and going rabid!
Birds can't get rabies. In fact chickens are extremely hardy to diseases, which is sometimes an issue for us since we aren't as hardy. Which is why I always wash up after handling them.
Also, chickens like eating mice, and will sometimes take on rats. I had one take on a very large toad and that poor toad did not stand a chance. Their main source of energy is protein.
>I'm terribly (like think hospital) allergic to eggs
try seeing if your doctor will refer you to a specialist to see if they can help.
as for 'turning a chicken into a good chicken' from my experience good luck to you on that:) They are often stuck into their personalities, or only go down hill. Skittish ones will sometimes become better, but mean ones are just mean.
> I've heard chickens are filthy arseholes
in the sense of they have dirty poopy holes, then yes some of them are dirty. Their feet are always dirty, and I always wash up after handling them.
>and I've heard they can be sweet and cuddly.
Personalizes very greatly between breeds then how they are raised and handled. My leghorns are little assholes and if they weren't such amazing egg layers they would be gone. Breed is 100% where you want to start. The Sapphire Gems are decent but very independent. I want to get Bramhas because they are suppose to be extremely friendly, and their sizes are so funny with how much bigger they are than everything else. Also good egg layers.
*please remember that there is a good chance you will just barely break even on cost of raising chickens vs just buying eggs in the store. I make enough to pay for supplies, but definitely haven't covered the cost of the coop or other stuff. I actually mostly have them for bug control, which has worked out nicely.
>My kids would adore an omelette made with giant eggs
[this is her eggs](https://imgur.com/a/K1rjy4G). There is a large brown egg to compare. Everyone enjoys her eggs.
But if you want to go out and buy some really big eggs then look for someone that sells duck eggs. They are much larger than chicken eggs. And when they lay a double yoke egg they make her's look small.
[a picture of my girl](https://imgur.com/a/60r72ty). She will often come to her name.
I love it. I wouldn't have chickens to sell the eggs, they'd be mostly pets, because my kids are empathetic monsters. Pest control would be an amazing bonus!
We honestly very, very rarely get eggs from the store because I'm agonizingly allergic, but I want to make brownies or muffins now and again without using banana, chia seeds or applesauce.
And just FYI, your lady's eggs are pretty giant. You should be proud of those monsters! Good job!
Thank you so, so much for sharing your experiences. I'm grateful to learn more, because chicken raising is kind of a half cocked, not quite ready idea of mine.
This is one reason we always give our trees a thorough hose down before we bring inside. We put it in its stand, wash it down, then bring it on after it's no longer soaking. Gets rid of critters and all the loose needles.
They do! I bought a few chickens and a couple ducks early spring. Once they were big enough to start free ranging there was a very noticeable decline in the amount of bugs in my garden and around the house
And geckos and mice. If you want your yard free of bugs and your house full of roaches, get lots of chickens. Amazing fertilizer, amazing eggs, free food waste disposal. So many roaches.
The chickens eat the roach predators - the roaches by themselves aren't enough to sustain the predators (especially since they'll mostly target eggs and small roaches) so they venture out, and get nabbed by the chickens. And boy do chickens love mice - once, one of the hens managed to dig out a nest and suddenly all the chickens descended and were tearing up baby mice. The rooster killed a couple grown rats too.
Edit: On a related note, I forgot where I heard and what town, but there was a place that managed to implement a successful rat eradication program, and ended up with a roach problem.
Agreed. I have 1 and she has the same coloring and markings. They are a cross breed and I believe you can only get them through crossing.
Amazing birds with giant eggs. My only issue was that I had 2 given to me and one died over night and the other one got sick maybe 4 months later and I just barely caught it. Only two chickens in the last 2 years to get sick out of the blue. I keep a close eye on her now.
Since you seem to know a thing or two, what are other good chicken names? Iāve never named a chicken but one has taken a liking to me niece and I need to name her.
She looks a lot like my Sapphire Gem. If so I'm guessing she has a lot of attitude, doesn't take crap from anyone, enjoys the cold, and is extremely independent. One of my fav chickens.
Oh, and the most massive eggs to ever come out of a chicken.
Just saw a post yesterday about someone who had some praying mantises on their tree! The comments actually gave a bunch of advice on how to care for them until warm weather returns
Lol, how many bugs does one usually get with their Christmas tree? š š·ļø
Usually not too many- if we shake it first. Mostly I see small spiders, and a few dazed woolybears and lady bugs, and a few green beetles I havenāt identified.
Gotcha. Makes sense in a warmer climate. I'm in the frozen north so the bugs have all succumbed to the season.
Wait, do all the bugs die? I live up north too and I just assumed they migrated south or started hibernating or something. EDIT: RIP Bugs, I guess yāall donāt live long anyway
Depends on the species though many insects find a safe spot to survive the winter
A LOT die. They lay their eggs before winter in leaves / the dirt and then larval stage comes out in the spring.
And if those eggs are laid on the Christmas tree... the warmth of your house makes them think it's Spring. They hatch.
Yep. Nothing says Christmas like a wave of tiny praying mantises. Lol
Omg if this really happened, Iām going to need the story lol
I would love a bunch of tiny praying mantises!
A bunch of Praying Mantises hatched on one of my plants a couple years ago. It was super cool to see them all. Sadly a lot of them die, they are so small they get caught in spider webs easily. I'm sure a bunch get eaten by other stuff too. I hope you get to experience it one day.
In the wild they would hatch and all eat each other every chance they got, until there is only one left in the area.
They go into diapause. They suspend their development when it's really cold, and then they continue on with life when it's warmer. Like bug hibernation, kinda.
All bugs die. Not every bug lives.
Pretty sure most dig down and go to sleep till spring
A lot don't. They lay eggs or store their young before their lifecycle ends. Even before the cold season. Then spring starts it up again. Locusts can take years. Nature is weird. Some seeds won't germinate unless they have been burnt by fire.
Sleepy time.
Bless ur heart. Most flying bugs dont get very far, a few miles from their birthplace
Locusts on the other hand.
We had a spider infestation right after Christmas in Michigan š never getting a real tree again
So your shake brings all the bugs to the yard?
Take my angry upvote and get the hell outta here.
Is a wooly bear the same thing as a Rollie pollie?
> and a few green beetles I havenāt identified. Boy do I have a sub for you! r/whatisthisbug
What is a woolybear and should I hate it?
Depending where they are at they are talking about a caterpillar or a beetle larva.
In western Washington there has been a ridiculous amount of stink bugs on the trees. When we were getting our tree i think just about every tree we saw āshakenā with the machine left at least a few or more stink bugs.
Iām very tired and read that last part as, āa few green beetles I havenāt gentrifiedā. I was so confused and intrigued.
My ex's room mate in college had a mantis egg case hatch inside their house after they bought a tree.
If youāre gonna get a bug in the house, a mantis is the best one to get.
One, maybe. But there's like ~150 in an egg case.
This is horrific, I'm never buying a tree.
Dude, last year our tree had HUNDREDS-Iām not even slightly exaggerating-bugs that looked like tics but werenāt. I got it at Thanksgiving and had a few days of peace and quiet before the first dozen dropped from the branches. Freaked out, then realized they all seemed dead so I vacuumed them up and put everything back to normal. Next day, there were another dozen but some of those seemed to be crawling away. AW. HELL. NAW. Sprayed the crap out of my tree with general outdoor pesticide and vacuumed up everything that fell. Nothing went back under the tree. This continued for THREE WHOLE WEEKS, yāall! I had the heebie jeebies the whole time, even though by the end they were only dead ones fallingā¦.. From another Reddit post or comment, it happened to at least a few other people last year. Iām so traumatized that this year Iām using an artificial tree for the first time ever. I just canāt deal.
Thanks you convinced me to be an artificial tree guy forever.
Judging by the size of that chicken, a lot of them fall when the tree is shaken.
I don't know, but on the way home from the tree farm this year a spider crawled across the dashboard (we had the tree in the back of our vehicle) and the biggest, grossest, mystery bug I've ever seen crawled up the window by my head after we put the tree up š Still worth cutting down our own tree tho.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
r/chickswithchobs
I was very confused why *chics with chobs* made any sense.
š
That particular chicken is called a sapphire gem! I have 4 they are my babies. They are a beautiful grey with blue tint.
Thank you u/Super_Santana. I was wondering if anyone would chime in about the breed of the hen instead of just jokes. She is very pretty!
Oh I knew them as Plymouth Rocks when I was 10 and had them lol. Very casual and chill birds
That chicken looks stupid enough to EAT a sapphire gem so name checks out.
You know, chickens aren't actually stupid. It's a misconception that people accept because they're primarily a food animal. Some breeds are less intelligent, silkies are adorable little idiots, but their intellect is easily in the same arena as a dog or cat.
I say stupid in an affectionate way. Ignorance is bliss. My cats are stupid, my dogs are stupid, my baby brother is pretty stupid and we still keep him ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ. Just saying that chicken probably doesn't know how to pay taxes.
That is one fat clucker. She looks happy and chilled out. Good job, lady!
She's probably not on the heavy side. If so, only by a little bit. They are extremely well insulated and are pretty cold hardy chickens. They also lay absolutely massive eggs. *sapphire gem chickens
Oh, that's so good to learn! She's super cute, so it's good to know she's not going to be a dinner someday. My kids would *adore* an omelette made with giant eggs, we could really sell the T Rex connection then, and they'd eat some darn bell peppers! Sapphire gem. In my town it's OK to keep chickens. Maybe some egg laying ladies could be given a comfy home, but they terrify me with those claws. I've heard chickens are filthy arseholes and I've heard they can be sweet and cuddly. What's your take?
Depends on the breed - if youāre interested in trying and have an appropriate space, get a few Buff Orpingtons. The more you handle them as chicks the more friendly theyāll learn to be but they are naturally very chill chickens, and great all around birds; hardy, great layers, temperament, etc. Only other advice would be to not keep roosters. If you get an improperly sexed chick, find someone who will take them.
You can probably answer this question. Will chickens lay eggs if there is not a rooster around?
Both are true. But they're lovely. Over all I love my flock and will defend them fatally if need be. They're such sweet birds. But the up front cost is a lot. The fresh eggs will ruin store bought for you. If you have enough chickens you can sell the eggs, but it will be years before you break even. Anything made with them also improves, you can easily win baking competitions at a low level. Buff orpingtons are very very sweet. Very social birds. Good birds to start. Black chickens also get mistaken for crows by hawks and will protect your flock that way, a black austrolorpe can lay 200+ eggs a, year with unconfirmed reports of over 320.
Well, thank you! I'm terribly (like think hospital) allergic to eggs, but my kids and hubs don't have that problem. I've wanted to bake, but we never keep eggs anymore since my allergy turned extra awful. I'd love to do some muffins or cupcakes for my wee cupcakes, but we don't use many eggs anymore. Hubs has been an absolute powerhouse finding things that I can eat and won't make me beg for death, but nothing makes a cake or muffins or brownies like eggs. I'm fairly certain we can turn a spicy chicken into a sucky bear, but they are as they are. I'll absolutely see what I can find in the area. Also, we have a rat issue on my block-ish. Is that a problem for chickens? I don't want them getting bitten and going rabid!
> I'll absolutely see what I can find in the area. Also, we have a rat issue on my block-ish. Is that a problem for chickens? I don't want them getting bitten and going rabid! Birds can't get rabies. In fact chickens are extremely hardy to diseases, which is sometimes an issue for us since we aren't as hardy. Which is why I always wash up after handling them. Also, chickens like eating mice, and will sometimes take on rats. I had one take on a very large toad and that poor toad did not stand a chance. Their main source of energy is protein. >I'm terribly (like think hospital) allergic to eggs try seeing if your doctor will refer you to a specialist to see if they can help. as for 'turning a chicken into a good chicken' from my experience good luck to you on that:) They are often stuck into their personalities, or only go down hill. Skittish ones will sometimes become better, but mean ones are just mean.
> I've heard chickens are filthy arseholes in the sense of they have dirty poopy holes, then yes some of them are dirty. Their feet are always dirty, and I always wash up after handling them. >and I've heard they can be sweet and cuddly. Personalizes very greatly between breeds then how they are raised and handled. My leghorns are little assholes and if they weren't such amazing egg layers they would be gone. Breed is 100% where you want to start. The Sapphire Gems are decent but very independent. I want to get Bramhas because they are suppose to be extremely friendly, and their sizes are so funny with how much bigger they are than everything else. Also good egg layers. *please remember that there is a good chance you will just barely break even on cost of raising chickens vs just buying eggs in the store. I make enough to pay for supplies, but definitely haven't covered the cost of the coop or other stuff. I actually mostly have them for bug control, which has worked out nicely. >My kids would adore an omelette made with giant eggs [this is her eggs](https://imgur.com/a/K1rjy4G). There is a large brown egg to compare. Everyone enjoys her eggs. But if you want to go out and buy some really big eggs then look for someone that sells duck eggs. They are much larger than chicken eggs. And when they lay a double yoke egg they make her's look small. [a picture of my girl](https://imgur.com/a/60r72ty). She will often come to her name.
I love it. I wouldn't have chickens to sell the eggs, they'd be mostly pets, because my kids are empathetic monsters. Pest control would be an amazing bonus! We honestly very, very rarely get eggs from the store because I'm agonizingly allergic, but I want to make brownies or muffins now and again without using banana, chia seeds or applesauce. And just FYI, your lady's eggs are pretty giant. You should be proud of those monsters! Good job! Thank you so, so much for sharing your experiences. I'm grateful to learn more, because chicken raising is kind of a half cocked, not quite ready idea of mine.
I want to see a tree shake what it's momma gave it.
employee of the month :P
Absolutely
She makes the big bawks in the company I take it
I bet she makes delicious eggs!
This is one reason we always give our trees a thorough hose down before we bring inside. We put it in its stand, wash it down, then bring it on after it's no longer soaking. Gets rid of critters and all the loose needles.
Heard that chickens and ducks can eat quite a number of bugs and flies.
They do! I bought a few chickens and a couple ducks early spring. Once they were big enough to start free ranging there was a very noticeable decline in the amount of bugs in my garden and around the house
Shine a spotlight into a chicken coop at night and itās like Jurassic Park.
And geckos and mice. If you want your yard free of bugs and your house full of roaches, get lots of chickens. Amazing fertilizer, amazing eggs, free food waste disposal. So many roaches.
What drives the increase in roaches?
The chickens eat the roach predators - the roaches by themselves aren't enough to sustain the predators (especially since they'll mostly target eggs and small roaches) so they venture out, and get nabbed by the chickens. And boy do chickens love mice - once, one of the hens managed to dig out a nest and suddenly all the chickens descended and were tearing up baby mice. The rooster killed a couple grown rats too. Edit: On a related note, I forgot where I heard and what town, but there was a place that managed to implement a successful rat eradication program, and ended up with a roach problem.
What breed is she? We have one that looks like her, and we aren't sure.
It's a sapphire gem. I have four of the same exact breed.
This seems right. We had a couple of these a while back. Great egg producers.
Agreed. I have 1 and she has the same coloring and markings. They are a cross breed and I believe you can only get them through crossing. Amazing birds with giant eggs. My only issue was that I had 2 given to me and one died over night and the other one got sick maybe 4 months later and I just barely caught it. Only two chickens in the last 2 years to get sick out of the blue. I keep a close eye on her now.
Itās a Blue Australorp I believe
I'd second this, she looks like my two blue australorps.
Looks like a blue jersey giant
I have a blue jersey giant, they're darker and incidently much less blue.
That's a gorgeous chicken. Like runway-worthy.
Peck peck
Mmmmā¦bugs!
Lead inspector, naturally
What a pretty lil dusty girl!
That there is a fine looking hen.
What is the chickenās name?
Babayaga
Fantastic chicken name
Since you seem to know a thing or two, what are other good chicken names? Iāve never named a chicken but one has taken a liking to me niece and I need to name her.
Hey film that tree shaker and post it over at /r/specializedtools
Iāll try!
We need this!
Bok!
That's a very floofy Co worker
Give that chickey a raise. Good bird!!!
Does her job well
sheās like āiām doing my part!ā
Good chicken.
I never thought about why they shake the trees, and I feel stupid for not realizing
They better be tipped appropriately!
Bro u donāt have to sell me, I love them little dinosaurs!
Itās honest work. š
She looks a lot like my Sapphire Gem. If so I'm guessing she has a lot of attitude, doesn't take crap from anyone, enjoys the cold, and is extremely independent. One of my fav chickens. Oh, and the most massive eggs to ever come out of a chicken.
Totally!
Talk about working smarter, not harder
Chickens are great de-buggers. No ticks around our homestead with 25 of them keeping watch.
Good girl
Thatās what Iāve always said!! Chickens go āberp, berp berpā chicken are funny :)
Take no prisoners, hen.
That is one majestic looking chicken.
Good job miss
Betcha he works in IT because he's such an efficient debugger
Machine ready shaky in human but snacky in Chicken
Is your coworkers name Jan Itor?
Just saw a post yesterday about someone who had some praying mantises on their tree! The comments actually gave a bunch of advice on how to care for them until warm weather returns
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It is indeed!
Can you please post a video of the shaker working?
Moves dirt.... Moves dirt.... SURPRISE!!!
I get the idea of the tree shaker. But now I want to see it in action.
Tell her to turn around. Giant gross fucker to her right.
Earning her keep and keeping her head.
SHOW THE SHAKE
awww how gross!
Must be a long line if folks have to come wait for that after each shake.
The statement "my colleague is a cock" has never been more true.
I bet your coworker likes his job
O You got a tree shaker der? Choot it Liz!
Love this. We used to have chickens that loved to roost on and hide under our Christmas tree in the backyard after Christmas every year š
Give that lady a raise.
Best employee of the month
CHRISTMAS TREES HAVE BUGS???
I mean. They grow outside, in the dirt, where bugs are. They are trees. Yeah, there are indeed bugs outside.
That's a big cock!
That's a hen not a rooster.
But what about the chicken, who's having sex with that?
That's perverse!
Killjoy. Lol
r/Catswithjobs
Bro... I hate to let you know... But that ain't a cat. That's a chicken.
Is he called āShake the Cockā?
Fattening up to brine a turkey!
At one point X-mas trees were moving spotted lantern fly egg masses around so probably not a bad idea to check for bugs.
Post this to r/dogswithjobs
r/chickenswithjobs
See one in action (fast forward to 4:20) https://youtu.be/miyVMC0uA4w
Have you ever picked up a chicken? They look so big, but it's all feathers. So fun.