Colorado

[mountain mom]

We are high and dry on eggs right now. There was a serious slow, then no eggs for the past 2 1/2 weeks.... sigh. I was resigned to buying eggs.
Not for eating for breakfast, because, yuck. But we have zucchini coming out our ears and I really need to make bread and get it in the freezer.

Latestarter- Congrats on the honey! I have been mildly curious about bee keeping... not enough to research it greatly, but enough that it is in the back of my mind. Your honey looks amazing!

 

[21hens-incharge]

The neighbor that had bees lost both hives again this year. One was weak and got attacked by yellow jackets and other predator bees/wasps from what he was saying. The second one took a bad hit from the same critters then just failed. Perhaps his queen died.
I know little of bee keeping but hope for better years.

He plans to restart in the spring. I will make sure and start all my plants for the garden from seed to avoid any issues from whatever is in Home Depot/ Other big stores plants. Gonna be interesting since one of the cats likes to eat the seedlings down to the dirt. May do a greenhouse after all.

Oh and I know the bees LOVE sunflowers. Perhaps planting them will give them an additional pollen source.

 

[cluckylady812]

Just a reminder that Bear season is fast approaching, I just did a walk of the (albeit small) property, looking to see where I can move feed, etc to make sure there are no attractants for the final calorie push the bears will be having here over the next month or so. I know we all live here, and this isn't news so to speak, but I hadn't seen this topic mentioned in all the "winter prep" threads and thought it may be helpful. So, make sure all feed is put up, and no feed/treats in the runs, lock the coop securely (admittedly, if a bear wants in, its going to get in, by why make it easy?) NO trash that isn't in a bear proof container, review bird feeders, pet food etc. The Colorado Div of wildlife has great info on the website as well as the Extension office web site.
Now, if anyone has Mtn Lion tips, other than those that apply to bears as well I would love to hear them. That is one topic my research hasn't uncovered, and a friend whose husband is a CO wildlife officer just said "do what you can and good luck".
This is my first year keeping chickens, and I admit I worry over the predator issues. I feel slightly envious to those who only have skunks etc.... real threat, yes, but at least it cant collapse coops, break into homes, and remove windows lol.
Next year I will have electric fencing, but this year the out laying cost was prohibitive. They have wonderful solar powered systems that are fairly reasonable. Thank goodness for my dog, (Great Pyr) he's probably the best protection my little ladies could have.
Anyway, good luck in your winter preps! And I Love the bears and wildlife, I hope by everyone can do "an ounce of prevention/pound of cure" approach.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Sorry......

I have been battling the bears since Spring this year. The Mt. L are not that big of a threat as they generally are not out at the same time. If you keep the Bobcats and fox/ coyote out, you should be okay. You also need to think about weasels if you are high enough in elevation, but the bears......, I suggest ammonia bags around your coop at night and a few unwelcome mats if you do not have an E-fence. Get some firecrackers in case they break in!!!!! And a very good flashlight! I have had multiple bears hit the fence and I would have no chickens left if not for it. I have never had bear issues until this year and we all carry bears spray out hiking/ hunting because desperate is not even close to what they are going to be. And they will NOT hibernate if they do not get enough food; they will stay out and forage until they die or they find food.
Signed, Veteran Bear Fighter I have been growled at and lunged at too many times this year. Not gonna happen again......

 

[Double Kindness]

Yes.. you read that right. I raised up 10 cornish x meat chicks, 2 died but at 12 weeks of age they were dressing out at 24lbs each. They were the size of turkeys!!

I feed them fermented feed that was from Ranch-way mills in ft collins. I feed 23% protein non medicated organic non gmo gluten free chick starter. After 3 weeks of age I with held feed to only 1x a day. They were ridiculous sized!! When we dressed them out we couldn't get the water through the carcass as the breast meat was so big it stopped the water flowing through their wind pipes. If we hadn't processed them then, they would have died because they couldn't hardly breathe.

I'm also looking to sell my 1 year old mated trio of white bresse. My rooster has had a crow reduction surgery. I also have f4 white bresse pair, but I'm planning on eating the young cockrel in a few months when he's big enough 1 of my white bresse hens lijes to go broody. She did so 2 x this year and was sucessful

I sold my bean line ayam cemani and a f4 crested cream legbar rooster and a f3 pullet. Leaving me with 5 ccl pullets and 12 ccl eggs under 2 broodies.. but I have 4 broodies (a runner duck is on eggs under the chicken condo for the 2nd time!!) & my polish cross Dawn wants to hatch eggs too. I'm contantly battling the broody!!

 

[cluckylady812]

Thanks for the tips. So sorry to hear youve had issues all summer. Weve been very fortunate, the natural resources have done well and we havent had issues since late spring. Our resident lion tho apparently has been active tho. We are all very bear aware, always have had flashlights, sprays and will. Definately get fire crackers. We are not new to bear country, just new to having a potential buffet in the backyard. My coop was built with predators in mind, hopefully it holds up.

 

[Ashdoes]

Double Kindness, how were your Cream Legbar Roos, personality wise?

 

[samsr]

...

Yes.. you read that right. I raised up 10 cornish x meat chicks, 2 died but at 12 weeks of age they were dressing out at 24lbs each. They were the size of turkeys!!

I feed them fermented feed that was from Ranch-way mills in ft collins. I feed 23% protein non medicated organic non gmo gluten free chick starter. After 3 weeks of age I with held feed to only 1x a day. They were ridiculous sized!! When we dressed them out we couldn't get the water through the carcass as the breast meat was so big it stopped the water flowing through their wind pipes. If we hadn't processed them then, they would have died because they couldn't hardly breathe.

I'm also looking to sell my 1 year old mated trio of white bresse. My rooster has had a crow reduction surgery. I also have f4 white bresse pair, but I'm planning on eating the young cockrel in a few months when he's big enough 1 of my white bresse hens lijes to go broody. She did so 2 x this year and was sucessful

I sold my bean line ayam cemani and a f4 crested cream legbar rooster and a f3 pullet. Leaving me with 5 ccl pullets and 12 ccl eggs under 2 broodies.. but I have 4 broodies (a runner duck is on eggs under the chicken condo for the 2nd time!!) & my polish cross Dawn wants to hatch eggs too. I'm contantly battling the broody!![/quot



Wow. I would love to see a picture of one of those 24 pound chickens. That is just unbelievable. Lots of meat for the freezer. My heaviest was only arpond 8 pounds. I was feeding organic nonsoy from happyhens. He gets it from Nebraska

 

[KLBCOS]

...

Well, finally got up and took care of the bees. Lessons learned include but are not limited to...

Thanks for sharing. We are considering bees next year. We visited some urban homesteads over the weekend and saw lots of amateur beekeepers. I also learned if you have 3 hives or more DOW will pay to put electric fencing around them to protect them from bears. Envious of all that yummy honey. Great post!

 

[Latestarter]

Quote: Just as an aside, the fed govt will "insure" your hives as well if you register the hive locations with them (dept of agriculture). That way if you have a die out (CCD) or a natural event like flood/tornado/earthquake, etc, they will pay the cost to replace your losses. I think the fed has altogether too much in my file as it is and I'm unwilling to provide them more "personal" information. I'd like to remain invisible from them. Of course since they're probably reading this post, (keywords) I'm sure I probably just added another flag...