I'm a bit fed up with the rain...i need to finish my bachelor pen, it digging post holes doesn't work so well in the mud.
Its getting a bit like this out there:
Except, there are six of them and they're not bantams! Like the man says, not even the water pump is safe!
My Rocket laid her first egg! She's half Faverolles and half Kinardly ("kinardly tell what he is") and her egg is dark tan with white speckles. She was surprised as hell, and I am delighted! Everyone else is either broody, raising chicks, or molting - this is the first egg I've had in more than...
Yep, regular ol' wood ash from the fireplace. I screen mine but only to separate out the biochar for the compost pile - the hens dont mind a few cinders, and I've seen then eating them from time to time. The ash is extremely alkaline and dessicating, so it'll do a number on any soft-bodied...
Seconding the wood ash. We struggled with lice for a while this spring (learned all about why hay is bad chicken bedding...) and couldn't kick them with even sevin. I ended up converting 1/5 of the coop floor into a dusting space with peat moss, wood ash, DE, sulfur powder, and builders sand...
MustardTiger, this year I've had a hard time with greens too. Chard and lettuce have been a bust, but Red Russian Kale has done well, and so have a few of the dozen or so sorts of Bok Choi/Pac Choi that I've planted.
My father in law is having huge problems with cabbage moth caterpillars right...
Lazygardener, im not sure where you are, but there is a farm here in midcoast that does soap making classes a few times a year - they had one in June and one around the holidays, they advertise them on Craigslist. I haven't gone yet, but I nearly did last year (couldn't work the transportation...
Does anyone have hatchlings right now? We closed down our brooders a couple weeks ago, but had one broody splash cochin sitting a mixed nest until yesterday, when they hatched and she promptly killed (but did not eat, ugh) all but one of them - she tried, but I got it before she did any damage...
Widget - no input on the John Deere, but we'll be watching everyone else's comments with interest, as we're in the same boat with a cruddy push mower and WAY too much lawn. I keep trying to dig garden beds or plant potato towers to make it smaller, but Patrick won't have it.
In other news, our...
So if anyone is looking for work, or knows anyone looking for work....Borealis Breads in Waldoboro desperately needs some new employees, they are way understaffed right now. Delivery drivers, retail cafe workers, and production bakers. No experience necessary. The shop is under new management...
Thanks for the tips! The Farmers Union and the place in Detroit are a bit of a haul, but I think it'll be worth it - half a ton at a time is right about what im looking for. We go through close to 100lbs a week, and buying it retail at shops that dont offer multibag discounts is a pain (as is...
So where is the bulk feed mill? I know there has to be one, but I can't find it. Found the guys who build the trailers to transport bulk feed, but not the feed itself. I am sick to death of paying through the nose for subpar feed at Agway, etc, but I can't find a mill! There are enough serious...
Is there an entry fee (for the public) for the show tomorrow? We'd like to come, but it's far enough away that if we have to pay to get in as well as pay for the gas...we may not. Cheaper to stay at home and read...
Tammaclean, what sort of cochins are you looking for? My splash pair are just about the only birds laying right now (durn half-a** broodies!) Theyre a splash roo over lighter splash hen. I've got several of her eggs incubating, oldest ones are on day 13 and only one was infertile out of the 14...
Lazygardener, it's just about the jankiest "electronet" set up you'll ever see. Not even electrified - it was given to us by our old landlord, and the charger was shot so we just use the netting as a fence. Our big ol' cochins and faverolles can't get over it, or are not motivated enough to try...
Well, Patrick is building trap nests so we can track winter egg production by hen, and im thinking about trying to grow a couple of red broilers out to breeding age later this summer to add in to the mix - we'll be setting up a pen of compost chickens, and I've been trying to decide how i want...
grace, they are pretty! One of the orp cross chicks is showing split wings, so will be either a layer or food (depending on gender) but I have high hopes for the cochin pair. They're not great as cochins, but as far as I can tell the areas where they fail as cochins, they are closer to the Fav...
Gracejr, there are black and blue Faverolles in the US, but they are exceedingly rare. There is the common salmon color, which is actually black salmon - there are blue and splash salmon patterns as well, but again exceedingly rare. My husband and I are working on B/B/S Faverolles as a project...