Colorado

[uzisuzuki]

Uzi, I know I am late in responding but can you use strips of wood to secure the plastic to the frame of the run? If you can sandwich the plastic in there it will hold better.

Thank you! I actually got home way too late to get the pen wrapped tonight. Traffic is ridiculous sometimes! I'll have to try to get my winterising done tomorrow if the weather isn't too bad.

 

[bbqnmama]

Does anyone have any tips on putting up/wrapping the pen with plastic? I'm going to attempt to get it up tonight when I get home from work, but I don't want it to end up like the tarp top cover and rip off the first time a good wind blows through.

Oh yah, did it last winter and it worked fantastically. Got a huge roll of the wide, quite thick plastic in the big box from home depot. It'll last me for years (and we've got a huge run). Not a bad deal at all.

Stapled it up to get it on and then used strips of 1-2 wood screwed in, all around frame of run to secure it. ( in middle too) No flapping, no ripping etc. Solid.

Gonna do it again this year tho won't be getting to it tonight. Def gonna be on the list for the weekend tho!

 

[bbqnmama]

Really quick update on things here before the computer crashes again.

Little leghorn is continuing to improve very slowly. I am still feeding her by herself twice a day fermented feed and she is eating it well.

Cough still lingering but getting better slowly. (aging is a drag it takes so much longer to get better)

Never had one land on my head but Miss Lillian Underfoot was just that "underfoot" and would rather be carried than walk. I miss her since she was so very friendly.

Flock doing well. Mice dying by bucket traps so that helps keep things calmer.

Sarah (Dark Brahma) would like me to add more roost space so that is on tap for this Saturday as is making better window closures.

Lots of molting and attitude from some of the hens. Once they finish molting they act better. Must me uncomfortable to molt and making them cranky.

Uzi. You have some super cool birds in your group. I am very glad they are getting on well and the Peacock don't take no crap off no one. Keep up the good work with your interesting group!

I do keep reading the posts just not always time to post myself since my computer is trying to croak on me.

I'm intrigued! What do you mean by bucket traps and mice dying? (we have a healthy population of mice in both the chicken and turkey coops and I'm tired of them eating alot of the feed!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I caught 5 in one night with this type of trap. It works for rats too. Just drill holes in a can or bottle and smear it with peanut butter. Fill the bucket half full with water.

here's another style

 

[suncatcher]

Well, snow has arrived here!! We have around five inches on the ground, but the sun is out, so hoping it will melt still.... December snows usually last all winter for us, so is kinda early if it does decide to stay all winter. This is the only thing I hate about mountain living, the snow stays, down on the front range it would melt, I miss that. Love the summers here in the high country though!

Yep, make sure the plastic is tight around the entire run, the wood strips help a lot if you have tons of wind. My plastic lasted two years, I bought mine from Walmart by the paint. The stuff from Home Depot might be thicker.

Geez, these hens are taking their sweet time on laying after their molt!!! Here is hoping soon!!!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I'm intrigued! What do you mean by bucket traps and mice dying? (we have a healthy population of mice in both the chicken and turkey coops and I'm tired of them eating alot of the feed!!!

The first one posted by ChickenCanoe is the most like the one I made. Mine are done with Home Depot bucket since they are very cheap. It works very very well and only needs emptied and rebaited once in a while. Mine caught 8 in one night. I was impressed and sold on using them from that trial run.

It is an effective, cheap alternative to the snap traps and can catch more than one mouse at a time.

The hardest part of this trap will be keeping liquid water in it in the winter. I refuse to use anti-freeze so we will see how it goes this winter.

 

[samsr]

The first one posted by ChickenCanoe is the most like the one I made. Mine are done with Home Depot bucket since they are very cheap. It works very very well and only needs emptied and rebaited once in a while. Mine caught 8 in one night. I was impressed and sold on using them from that trial run.

It is an effective, cheap alternative to the snap traps and can catch more than one mouse at a time.

The hardest part of this trap will be keeping liquid water in it in the winter. I refuse to use anti-freeze so we will see how it goes this winter.

If you mixed in some salt in the water, that would lower the freeze point so you ciuld use it a little farther into the winter without it freezing. I have to fire my bucket catch back up again as i too have a lot of mice living in my coop again. It must have been another good year for mice.

 

[bbqnmama]

Hi all,

So, just arrived home to find a turkey hanging from the light cord. (long story short, she hung herself today). really not so pleasant. more so as my daughter found her.

Anyhoo...

so, I don't want her to go to waste.

We know how she died. so no issues on whether she's good meat or not.

My question is - how do we clean her?

I'm used to the bleeding out process.

since she won't bleed out as she's already dead, what is the process?

- noelle

PS: hope this post doesn't offend, i know not everyone partakes. but I'm kinda in a situation. better to use here than waste.....

 

[samsr]

Well you definately cant say that turkeys a bright even though she was hanging from a light cord. Sorry about the punn. I would definately process her also. Turkeys are just like a big chicken in the way of processing except you need a larger scalding pot.
Remove head, scald, pluck and gut. She should lose at least some blood in the process. You can also soak her in some salt water to help remove some of the blood.
If at this point you find any of the meat going bad or suspect it going bad. I would discard. Better safe than sorry. Food poisoning is a terrible thing to go through.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Well, snow has arrived here!! We have around five inches on the ground, but the sun is out, so hoping it will melt still.... December snows usually last all winter for us, so is kinda early if it does decide to stay all winter. This is the only thing I hate about mountain living, the snow stays, down on the front range it would melt, I miss that. Love the summers here in the high country though!

Yep, make sure the plastic is tight around the entire run, the wood strips help a lot if you have tons of wind. My plastic lasted two years, I bought mine from Walmart by the paint. The stuff from Home Depot might be thicker.

Geez, these hens are taking their sweet time on laying after their molt!!! Here is hoping soon!!!

My older hens usually don't start laying again until Jan sometime. The daylight needs to start increasing in order to trigger their egg laying hormones.