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  1. gtaus

    Wheat Grass Mold

    ...I wanted a second opinion so I posed your concerns to Microsoft CoPilot AI. Here is the response I got which corroborates my experience as well. ************************ ...white mold on wheat fodder is a red flag, and it’s generally not safe for chickens. While not all molds are equally...
  2. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    I'm glad I asked for suggestions. My original plan was to just use the chainsaw to cut the tree and run like heck when it started falling down! On a normal tree, that is not a problem. But this tree was all rotted out which made it more of a challenge - not knowing when or where it might...
  3. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    The only thing I don't like is that it works best to put fresh oil/diesel on a couple times a day and let it soak in for a number of days. Then the soaked wood burns great. It takes a bit of patience to wait those days. But then that old stump should burn like a candle. I have successfully...
  4. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    I want to thank everyone for their comments and just let you know what I ended up doing. It was a bit from a number of suggestions, which worked for me, and the tree is now down on the ground, and I was able to walk away with ending up on YouTube! I have few pictures to share along with final...
  5. gtaus

    Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

    No way I could do all that work with manual tools. Well, maybe I could, but I would not want to. Amazing what some people can do with a lot of pallets and determination! :old I'm just happy to build a new pallet wood raised bed or two each year. That's more my speed.
  6. gtaus

    Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

    I have believed that for a long time. My grandpa's hand tools were better made than most of the tools I can get today. However, he paid more for that quality in terms of price for tool versus how much he made per hour of labor. So many tool companies come and go. Years ago, I got stung with...
  7. gtaus

    Free Lunch Chickens! Hawk Attack!

    Someone here on the BYC invented a word for her chickens. She called them "petstock." Somewhere between family pets and true livestock. That's pretty much how I feel about my laying hens. Not pets, but neither livestock. I can tell you the personalities of almost every one of my girls. I feel...
  8. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    I appreciated all the comments I received. In my case, I have tow straps rated for 3,300 lbs. which I intended to use to pull down that dead tree. Agreed. However, I do my best never to put a knot in a rope or tow strap. Exactly. The tree is all dead and rotted out. I looked it up and...
  9. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    ...strength. As a sport fisherman, I learned how to tie hooks and lures with using knots for that reason. But here is a pretty good explanation... ********* This statement is a practical warning rooted in rope physics and safety engineering: 🧠 Why Knots Weaken Rope Strength 🔄 Stress...
  10. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    Right. I thought the chickens might like to eat the ants and termites they find in the wood. I was only considering dumping the wood in the run, not the coop. It might not be an issue in the end because I am reading that ants and termites don't continue to live in a rotted-out tree after a...
  11. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    Yep, I can see that the tree is all punky and soft just by looking at the base of the trunk. That has been my concern because I suspect there would be no holding wood to directional felling. That rotted wood could separate at any time - in any direction. :old I have been cutting down trees for...
  12. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    :old Although not a professional logger, I have been cutting down trees for over 50 years. Probably less than 100 trees in total, but like you, I never cut on that I did not know where it was going to fall. This tree was hollow and rotted, and that caused me to stop and think about the...
  13. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    Well, the base of the trunk is a good 2 feet wide. I don't think I could push it over without a tractor. I don't have a tractor. But I think the tree trunk would easily push over with a front end loader. Probably just snap off because the wood is all rotted. Thanks.
  14. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    Yep, I think that's the method I am leaning (pun intended) towards as well. Just have to get a few days of no rain so I don't make big ruts in the yard. Thanks.
  15. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    Yeah, that's a good idea. I have tow straps that I used to pull down a hanging widow maker earlier this spring. That should work fine. Since the wood is so rotted, it might break off easily. Thanks for that suggestion. Probably a lot safer to pull it down than using the chainsaw and hoping it...
  16. gtaus

    Dead Birch Tree (Widow Maker) Falling Down - Need Suggestions

    Last night we got a little wind and rain. Not much, but this morning when I went outside, I discovered that my old Widow Maker Dead, Rotted, Birch tree had partially fallen down... That's about 20 feet of dead tree on the ground. You can see the remainder of the Birch tree still standing...
  17. gtaus

    Free Lunch Chickens! Hawk Attack!

    I just think of all the time, money, and effort that goes into raising chicks to the age where they can actually start laying eggs. With that investment, I don't want to offer them up as free lunch for predators. I know there are people who think differently. I'd like to understand their...
  18. gtaus

    Free Lunch Chickens! Hawk Attack!

    I just got a call from a friend who knows I have chickens. He said his daughter has free range chickens, but she just lost 7 chickens to a hawk attack. So, now she is buying more chicks to replace the chickens killed in the attack. I mentioned that if she built a nice chicken run with bird...
  19. gtaus

    Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

    I had considered using Black Jack #57 rubber coating when I first built my chicken coop. Lots of good reviews from other members here on the BYC forums. But the rubber coating was rather expensive compared to the linoleum I got on clearance. I don't have another structure to house my...
  20. gtaus

    Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

    It's hard to beat a dirt floor with animals. I agree. But this is an elevated coop, so it needed some kind of flooring. Thanks for the response.
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