Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!

[TasBird]

Hey! I got your message, Nifty!

I haven't been up to much. I moved houses so am temporarily down to three chickens and a butcher bird got into my quail run and got a few of them, so I'm down to two!

I'll probably breed some more in the summer or wait until I move again!

 

[janiedoe]

Still here, but have been super busy with kids and dog and chickens and things... We still have 4 of our original 6 in our flock and they are now 7 years old, still laying and still bring me so much joy. We just found our first case of bumblefoot and that is giving us a run for our money (just posted a thread in the emergency section), but we are doing our best to help her heal and get back to her sisters as soon as possible. This is a picture of Peep getting some much needed sun after being kept in the house while she gets treated. Love my little flock

Great photo! You should enter it in some photo contests, such as the picture of the week.

 

[janiedoe]

Hi,

It really has been a while since I spent much time here on BYC. I usually don't think to visit this site when the chickens are doing well (which they are). Family is doing well. My 2-year-old wakes up in the morning with a sleepy request "eat eggs". He enjoys the chickens like we all do.

It's nice that you have dropped by. It sounds like a busy life. Enjoy that baby while he is still a baby.

 

[janiedoe]

View attachment 3827328One of our girls finally hatched what she had been laying on!!

Congratulations!!!

 

[janiedoe]

Hey! I got your message, Nifty!

I haven't been up to much. I moved houses so am temporarily down to three chickens and a butcher bird got into my quail run and got a few of them, so I'm down to two!

I'll probably breed some more in the summer or wait until I move again!

I'm so sorry about your quail. Congratulations on the move!

 

[CarlaCo]

I was asked to chime in, lol. Happy to as we are in our 2nd year now with our 5 hens. We had a roo, but he became too aggressive when he hit puberty and in our size pen, it became too hard to do chores and enjoy my girls. We culled him, and not to waste, I forced myself to make a delicious dish with wine and garlic and white sauce. My son and husband had no problem gobbling it down, but I admit I had a harder time, lol.

All our plans and coop changes and water and feed have gone so well. We even made it through their first molt, kind of scary looking etc.
The best thing I did was making that poop board and using PDZ in it. We use a cat scooper that looks like a sieve and cleaning the poo takes only 2-3 minutes. I dump it in a bucket by the pen and have a rubber door mat with a brick to keep it dry. When full, it goes on the compost or around the yard where it will do some good.

Our auto door was our other great choice- we used the one from Omni and it performs perfectly. Only once, we had a problem,

but taking it off we found a buildup of sand and hemp stuff, cleaned it and its back to perfect. Worth every penny.

Our newest challenge is that we can no longer free range them. We used to only give them an hour or two late afternoon and they would return to the coop and put themselves to bed. We limited it because they get in so much trouble, wreaking too much havoc on plant beds, but unless I babysit them, broom in hand to shoo them, they have been going into the neighbor's and ruining his beautiful landscaped yard. A fence is out of the question because that side of our yard is 200 yds!

I have landed up the idea of a long moveable chunnel that will attach to the pen via a door. One end must be flexible so I can angle the chunnel onto new grass every couple weeks and mow. I plan to start a thread to see how others have done it.
Thanks for Backyard Chickens and the great community here who never fail to help out with advice and experience!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I was asked to chime in, lol. Happy to as we are in our 2nd year now with our 5 hens. We had a roo, but he became too aggressive when he hit puberty and in our size pen, it became too hard to do chores and enjoy my girls. We culled him, and not to waste, I forced myself to make a delicious dish with wine and garlic and white sauce. My son and husband had no problem gobbling it down, but I admit I had a harder time, lol.

All our plans and coop changes and water and feed have gone so well. We even made it through their first molt, kind of scary looking etc.
The best thing I did was making that poop board and using PDZ in it. We use a cat scooper that looks like a sieve and cleaning the poo takes only 2-3 minutes. I dump it in a bucket by the pen and have a rubber door mat with a brick to keep it dry. When full, it goes on the compost or around the yard where it will do some good.

Our auto door was our other great choice- we used the one from Omni and it performs perfectly. Only once, we had a problem,View attachment 3827430View attachment 3827431View attachment 3827432View attachment 3827433 but taking it off we found a buildup of sand and hemp stuff, cleaned it and its back to perfect. Worth every penny.

Our newest challenge is that we can no longer free range them. We used to only give them an hour or two late afternoon and they would return to the coop and put themselves to bed. We limited it because they get in so much trouble, wreaking too much havoc on plant beds, but unless I babysit them, broom in hand to shoo them, they have been going into the neighbor's and ruining his beautiful landscaped yard. A fence is out of the question because that side of our yard is 200 yds!

I have landed up the idea of a long moveable chunnel that will attach to the pen via a door. One end must be flexible so I can angle the chunnel onto new grass every couple weeks and mow. I plan to start a thread to see how others have done it.
Thanks for Backyard Chickens and the great community here who never fail to help out with advice and experience!

Welcome back and thanks for updating us! Sorry that you had to eat your rooster. Your coop looks amazing! When you post your thread, feel free to post the link here so we can follow it.

 

[ronott1]

I was asked to chime in, lol. Happy to as we are in our 2nd year now with our 5 hens. We had a roo, but he became too aggressive when he hit puberty and in our size pen, it became too hard to do chores and enjoy my girls. We culled him, and not to waste, I forced myself to make a delicious dish with wine and garlic and white sauce. My son and husband had no problem gobbling it down, but I admit I had a harder time, lol.

All our plans and coop changes and water and feed have gone so well. We even made it through their first molt, kind of scary looking etc.
The best thing I did was making that poop board and using PDZ in it. We use a cat scooper that looks like a sieve and cleaning the poo takes only 2-3 minutes. I dump it in a bucket by the pen and have a rubber door mat with a brick to keep it dry. When full, it goes on the compost or around the yard where it will do some good.

Our auto door was our other great choice- we used the one from Omni and it performs perfectly. Only once, we had a problem,View attachment 3827430View attachment 3827431View attachment 3827432View attachment 3827433 but taking it off we found a buildup of sand and hemp stuff, cleaned it and its back to perfect. Worth every penny.

Our newest challenge is that we can no longer free range them. We used to only give them an hour or two late afternoon and they would return to the coop and put themselves to bed. We limited it because they get in so much trouble, wreaking too much havoc on plant beds, but unless I babysit them, broom in hand to shoo them, they have been going into the neighbor's and ruining his beautiful landscaped yard. A fence is out of the question because that side of our yard is 200 yds!

I have landed up the idea of a long moveable chunnel that will attach to the pen via a door. One end must be flexible so I can angle the chunnel onto new grass every couple weeks and mow. I plan to start a thread to see how others have done it.
Thanks for Backyard Chickens and the great community here who never fail to help out with advice and experience!

Nice job on the setup you have!

 

[alwaystj9]

I took a computer break, shut down FB and realized that I was still online an awful lot with some forums so I shut it all down for a while. I am getting better adapted to retirement. The chicken and goat population are getting a little out of hand so I just took sales pictures and am about to craft some ads. Anyone looking to buy a slightly used goat or two??

 

[ronott1]

I took a computer break, shut down FB and realized that I was still online an awful lot with some forums so I shut it all down for a while. I am getting better adapted to retirement. The chicken and goat population are getting a little out of hand so I just took sales pictures and am about to craft some ads. Anyone looking to buy a slightly used goat or two??

It is nice to see you back here!

I will have to figure out the retirement adaption in another year or so.