calling any one from missouri

[HummelBee]

Good luck. I have a bunch of eggs incubating. I have 18 chicks a little over a week old, 9 that are about 5 weeks old and two cockerels that hatched January 2 playing surrogate mothers to the 5 week olds.
I have 4 dozen eggs ready to go in but I have to make time to get my modifications of the cabinet done right away. Hatching in a little giant is a pain in the neck.

It was the college's idea to teach the class. I've been doing it for about 5 years all 3 semesters. I teach other chicken classes there too but this is the only one scheduled for spring.

It only needs to get below freezing for a few days in the winter. We had 4 days in the single digits this winter. That's more than enough.
I'm not holding out much hope for most of it. The apricot bloomed weeks ago and the fruit was growing. It is 17 out there right now. Green fruit in apricots are 90% killed at 25F so I'm sure they are lost.
My peaches are in full bloom as are the plums. The apples and pear buds are swollen and about to open.
Peaches in full bloom are lost at 24F and plums are killed at 23F so both of those are gone too.
Pears at first white are killed at 19F so some may survive.
Apples at the stage mine are, are killed at 15F so they should make it.
Everything was a month or more ahead of normal.

http://www.hrt.msu.edu/labs/sweet_cherry_research/fruit_bud_hardiness

Totally jumping in here! We're just north of Springfield and the frost line always runs along that I-44 corridor, for the worse for us. My peaches didn't hit full flower but the buds did break. With yesterday's dip to 18° does that mean I've lost the year's crop? I know my saucer magnolia has been entirely unable to give a proper and decent bloom with this year's rollercoaster temps. Also, JAPANESE BEETLES?! How do you get rid of those nasties without all the scary chemicals? We've got a supply of stuff we were told by Stark to use (my husband grew up a few miles from their nursery and we pick their brains when we can) but I've chickened out every time it comes time to spray.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thanks for the information on the fruit trees. It was really helpful! If I don't get a successful hatch I may ask you to put some of my eggs in one of your future hatches!
Are you planning on going to :
2nd Annual Pot Luck Picnic at Tower Grove Park! (Weather permitting)
with Backyard Chickens in St. Louis
The new date is April 22nd.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll be there. The original date was the same day as my class so I guess I'm glad there is construction in the park forcing a date change.

Totally jumping in here! We're just north of Springfield and the frost line always runs along that I-44 corridor, for the worse for us. My peaches didn't hit full flower but the buds did break. With yesterday's dip to 18° does that mean I've lost the year's crop? I know my saucer magnolia has been entirely unable to give a proper and decent bloom with this year's rollercoaster temps. Also, JAPANESE BEETLES?! How do you get rid of those nasties without all the scary chemicals? We've got a supply of stuff we were told by Stark to use (my husband grew up a few miles from their nursery and we pick their brains when we can) but I've chickened out every time it comes time to spray.

If the buds were pink and nothing bloomed yet, you may still have some fruit.
At first pink and 25F, it will kill 10%. At 15F it will kill 90%
At first bloom and 26F, it will kill 10%. At 21F it will kill 90%
So if you had any blooming at all and it hit 18 at your house, you probably lost the crop.
I use the following chart as my bible on temp and fruit damage.
https://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/pub__5191779.pdf
Chickens love to eat Japanese beetles. I've used the beetle traps with some success but you have to put them far away from what you want to save because the traps will attract beetles from quite a distance around.
So depending on the size of your property and where your susceptible vegetation is they may help. They certainly kill a lot of beetles and they're in a bag that can be disposed of.
Some organic things you may want to look into are milky spore and predator nematodes.
They both work on the grubs so won't kill the adults but if applied properly, subsequent year crops of adult beetles will be fewer.
The nematodes need to be applied in a specific manner. Most importantly not in full sun on a hot day. So late in the evening is the best time.
With milky spore, be careful of your source. Several years ago, there were bad batches on the market.
Whichever you use, there actually have to be grubs or other prey insects present in the soil for the nematodes or spores to reproduce.
http://www.nematodes.com/
We have a place called 'The Bug Store' that sells them and other predator bugs.
I'm glad you asked the question because I did some research and they're supposed to be effective on ants and I have a huge ant problem. Big black ants killed 2 of my bee hives last year. I think I'm going to order some now.

The following link compares the two controls.
http://www.ecolandscaping.org/05/pe...-milky-spore-disease-or-beneficial-nematodes/

 

[lutherpug]

Hello fellow Missourians.

I'm not sure if it is ok to post this here so if I'm doing so in error please let me know.

I'm looking to re-home my RIR hen. She will be a year old in April and is laying regularly. She's healthy and loves to free range. She gets along pretty well with the 2 hens she grew up with but has terrorized my younger pullets well beyond when they were accepted by the other hens. I think she would do better in a bigger flock where she has more room. I've never had an issue with her misbehaving towards people. She isn't cuddly but I can handle her without any problems.

Let me know if you're interested or if I need to post this elsewhere.

 

[SueT]

Hello fellow Missourians.

I'm not sure if it is ok to post this here so if I'm doing so in error please let me know.

I'm looking to re-home my RIR hen. She will be a year old in April and is laying regularly. She's healthy and loves to free range. She gets along pretty well with the 2 hens she grew up with but has terrorized my younger pullets well beyond when they were accepted by the other hens. I think she would do better in a bigger flock where she has more room. I've never had an issue with her misbehaving towards people. She isn't cuddly but I can handle her without any problems.

Let me know if you're interested or if I need to post this elsewhere.

Hi! Good luck on rehoming the hen. There is an 'animals in need of free rehoming' forum that you can try, but you may also have luck finding someone here in the MO thread. In the rehoming thread, you'll find people in Kansas not too far away....and they probably don't check this thread.
My RIR hen is pretty fierce too. My new pullets took a couple months to get where they were more or less accepted in our little flock. But it could be that in a new flock your RIR will learn her place, and she has the temperament to defend herself. Someone will surely want that hen, who is in the prime of her laying. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
PS may I suggest that if you post on the free rehoming forum that you put your location in the title of your thread, I wish everyone did.

 

[cowboyclayt]

Hello from the middle of Missouri! I live half way between Springfield and St. Louis. What part are you in? (I havent read the other posts so forgive me if someone already asked that)

 

[givengrove]

This is a thread for Missourians - anybody near Platte County?

 

[lutherpug]

This is a thread for Missourians - anybody near Platte County?

Im in Platte County!

 

[givengrove]

PM me!! I wanna talk man!

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

Totally jumping in here! We're just north of Springfield and the frost line always runs along that I-44 corridor, for the worse for us. My peaches didn't hit full flower but the buds did break. With yesterday's dip to 18° does that mean I've lost the year's crop? I know my saucer magnolia has been entirely unable to give a proper and decent bloom with this year's rollercoaster temps. Also, JAPANESE BEETLES?! How do you get rid of those nasties without all the scary chemicals? We've got a supply of stuff we were told by Stark to use (my husband grew up a few miles from their nursery and we pick their brains when we can) but I've chickened out every time it comes time to spray.

Was the temp at your house was 18°F, or are you going by what the weather channel said for your area? I'm about 2 miles from I-44, but I live in a low spot (creek bottom) and the temps can be a good 5°F (or more) lower here than where the reporting station is. It got down to 14°F here, though the weather channel said it was 18°F for our area. That said, I knew we were going to get hit with a killing freeze regardless, and with the crazy warm weather we had prior, some of the peach trees already had gorgeous pink blossoms. I keep rolls of Agribon AG-50 frost blankets on hand, and so the day before the freeze, I went out and double layered them on the branches with full blooms, and covered with single layer those just beginning to bud, pinning them with little plastic micro spring clamps I purchased at Harbor Freight just for that purpose. I lost several blooms, but there were many I saved, and the trees are beginning to bloom quite nicely. As a precaution, I also covered what I could on the pears, and those covered branches are starting to bloom whilst the top branches are a bit behind. I have an unheated greenhouse that is full of seedlings. With the propagator lids all on and a heat lamp on (only during the night), it was enough to not only keep everything alive, but my broad beads actually sprouted during the freeze - although they are somewhat cold hardy anyway. The only thing that didn't fare so well was a big quince bush in full bloom. I wasn't that concerned with the loss of the crop, as I had a bumper crop last year, but just as an experiment I covered it with a double layer of the green frost blanket that Lowe's sells, to see how it holds up to freezing temps....it was a major fail! So if you want to save your crops, I say spend the extra bit of dosh if you are able and go with the Agribon. In fact, I'm going to be purchasing a couple of rolls of AG-70, so that I don't have to deal with double layering on those 20°F nights.

For Japanese Beetles, I planted a few knock-out roses. I found out a few years ago with my first knock-out rose that Japanese Beetles LOVE them so much they tend to leave everything else alone. And since I don't eat the roses, it doesn't bother me to plant them as a bait plant. When the JB start hitting the roses, I go out a few times a day with a coffee can that has a couple inches of water in the bottom, and go around knocking the beetles off the rose bushes and into the can. When they hit the water and their wings get wet, they are stuck there. Then I just dump the contents of the can into a shallow feed tray and the chickens and ducks make short work of them. I don't spray or put down any '-cides' of any kind...and haven't since the day I bought this place over 20 years ago, so I know where you are coming from.

 

[HummelBee]

Was the temp at your house was 18°F, or are you going by what the weather channel said for your area?  I'm about 2 miles from I-44, but I live in a low spot (creek bottom) and the temps can be a good 5°F (or more) lower here than where the reporting station is. It got down to 14°F here, though the weather channel said it was 18°F for our area. That said, I knew we were going to get hit with a killing freeze regardless, and with the crazy warm weather we had prior, some of the peach trees already had gorgeous pink blossoms. I keep rolls of Agribon AG-50 frost blankets on hand, and so the day before the freeze, I went out and double layered them on the branches with full blooms, and covered with single layer those just beginning to bud, pinning them with little plastic micro spring clamps I purchased at Harbor Freight just for that purpose. I lost several blooms, but there were many I saved, and the trees are beginning to bloom quite nicely. As a precaution, I also covered what I could on the pears, and those covered branches are starting to bloom whilst the top branches are a bit behind. I have an unheated greenhouse that is full of seedlings.  With the propagator lids all on and a heat lamp on (only during the night), it was enough to not only keep everything alive, but my broad beads actually sprouted during the freeze - although they are somewhat cold hardy anyway. The only thing that didn't fare so well was a big quince bush in full bloom. I wasn't that concerned with the loss of the crop, as I had a bumper crop last year, but just as an experiment I covered it with a double layer of the green frost blanket that Lowe's sells, to see how it holds up to freezing temps....it was a major fail!  So if you want to save your crops, I say spend the extra bit of dosh if you are able and go with the Agribon. In fact, I'm going to be purchasing a couple of rolls of AG-70, so that I don't have to deal with double layering on those 20°F nights. 

For Japanese Beetles, I planted a few knock-out roses. I found out a few years ago with my first knock-out rose that Japanese Beetles LOVE them so much they tend to leave everything else alone.  And since I don't eat the roses, it doesn't bother me to plant them as a bait plant. When the JB start hitting the roses, I go out a few times a day with a coffee can that has a couple inches of water in the bottom, and go around knocking the beetles off the rose bushes and into the can.  When they hit the water and their wings get wet, they are stuck there. Then I just dump the contents of the can into a shallow feed tray and the chickens and ducks make short work of them.  I don't spray or put down any '-cides' of any kind...and haven't since the day I bought this place over 20 years ago, so I know where you are coming from.     

My thermometer said 18 when I checked it, but that's no guarantee that that's the lowest it got, I'm not one to check it several times throughout the day. I know it was too cold to take the kids out and they were hating life! Every peach bud did die, they're all brown and pitiful. I'll have to look into frost blankets for next year, it's disappointing seeing entire trees rendered fruitless. I do have knock outs in my yard but the beetles preferred my fruit trees and sweet potatoes last year actually. They would swarm the trees in literally a black cloud. It was disgusting. I worry we'll never eradicate them totally since out neighbor runs a dairy farm. I've gotten some of the nematodes recommended by @ChickenCanoe from Wickman's in Springfield and we'll see how they do. I'm not a huge fan of proffering my flowers for their consumption even to trap them since I have flower beds as well as vegetables. I know the flowers are purely for my enjoyment, but it's frustrating seeing something you've spent so much time and money on being eaten by something as nasty as a Japanese beetle. Thank you for your advice!