Colorado

[ducks_rcool329]

I just emailed you regarding Grandma R perhaps taking her. Grandma treats the girls as her pets but do suspect that if they get mean, she'll make dinner. she doesn't like mean hens or roosters.

Thanks for that! I will certainly look into it!

Not that I ever suspect her to get mean, but the contract (through Dream Power) makes it a federal (or state, I can never remember which) crime to eat them.... just shows how much I love my babies lol

 

[wsmith]

I have the same problem here at my place. My hubby had to switch to the hedge trimmer because the weed whacker wasn't working.

That's about where I'm at now. The weeds were short and trimmed, it was hot, no rain, things looked good. Then it cooled off and rained. Now the weeds are tall and annoying. I may resort to borrowing a hedge trimmer, because the weed wackers are too lightweight for this job. Unless the weedwacker has a steel blade.......

 

[coloradogal]

Thanks for that! I will certainly look into it!

Not that I ever suspect her to get mean, but the contract (through Dream Power) makes it a federal (or state, I can never remember which) crime to eat them.... just shows how much I love my babies lol

Not sure if it would be a good match then. I don't know anyone who would take a chicken and risk it being mean toward others with the understanding they have to sacrifice their original flock for a mean newcomer. Sometimes chickens who have been picked on become the aggressor in the new flock. It is much harder then to give the chicken away because who wants a mean hen?

Grandma won't keep a mean hen or rooster because she grew up having to keep self-sustaining flocks to survive. She uses everything when she does cull and she isn't mean when she does it. They are well cared for until the end because it doesn't make sense to be cruel to your food.

So I would hate to put her in a position where her hands are tied as to what to do with a mean hen, even if it isn't mean now.

 

[mynamesjenelle]

My girls free range most days in the early evening time, and they show no interest in the weeds he's been working on. They do great in the grass though.

Interesting... maybe when they get to free range they are more picky about what they eat in the yard buffet. We have big dogs next door so that's not an option for us

I don't need any saddles because we don't have a roo, but I would like to have a chicken diaper or two on hand just in case we ever have to keep one of the girls isolated inside. I've waited on ordering them because they say to measure your hens first and mine aren't fully grown. They are all large breeds with the exception of our EE who should "only" be about 6 pounds. Is that enough info or should I wait until they are all grown up?

 

[coloradogal]

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/26302/h7n3-control-measures-expand

Mexico to cull 3.8 million chickens. We have to keep an eye on this if we start to see symptoms coming north.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Ann, weed pulling... My policy is that I try and pull two weeds whenever I go outside. I don't always, but I try and it helps.

Speaking of weeds, does anyone know what the spreading creeper weeds are? I get tons of them. They kinda branch out from one central spot. I actually have two varieties of those going nuts; one with waxy leaves and one with normal leaves.

 

[mynamesjenelle]

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/26302/h7n3-control-measures-expand

Mexico to cull 3.8 million chickens. We have to keep an eye on this if we start to see symptoms coming north.

Scary! I took a look at it on the map and where it's hitting Mexico is Jalisco state, which is about as far away from us as we are from Edmonton, Alberta (in Canada). Hopefully it stays that far away

Speaking of weeds, does anyone know what the spreading creeper weeds are? I get tons of them. They kinda branch out from one central spot. I actually have two varieties of those going nuts; one with waxy leaves and one with normal leaves.

These things are EVERYWHERE! They are in the sandy bed up front, in the loamy garden soil, in the grass, in the dirt, in the potted plants! If you find out what they are called let me know. The girls refuse to eat them so they must not taste good. They have tiny roots so they are easy to pull, but unless I go over the garden every day they spread so rapidly.


Edit: After some searching, I found it! The shiny kind is purslane and I think the normal leaves are spurge. Check out this site: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Weed/weeds.htm

We have tons of common mallow, common mullein, and redstem filaree too none of which the girls will eat though they do scratch up the roots to kill it off. Also that horrible horrible bindweed

 

[dennarahl]

Interesting... maybe when they get to free range they are more picky about what they eat in the yard buffet. We have big dogs next door so that's not an option for us

I don't need any saddles because we don't have a roo, but I would like to have a chicken diaper or two on hand just in case we ever have to keep one of the girls isolated inside. I've waited on ordering them because they say to measure your hens first and mine aren't fully grown. They are all large breeds with the exception of our EE who should "only" be about 6 pounds. Is that enough info or should I wait until they are all grown up?

I would definitely wait until they're close to full grown. I have two sets of EEs, 8 older girls and 2 younger. The older group are split into about three sizes, and the younger two are significantly different from the bigger girls and each other. I'd be comfortable ordering a large size and then fitting it to them, but I have really good sewing skills and I'm confident about what I can do.

 

[dennarahl]

Ann, weed pulling... My policy is that I try and pull two weeds whenever I go outside. I don't always, but I try and it helps.
Speaking of weeds, does anyone know what the spreading creeper weeds are? I get tons of them. They kinda branch out from one central spot. I actually have two varieties of those going nuts; one with waxy leaves and one with normal leaves.

Can you post a couple of pictures? Do they flower? Do they produce thorns?

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Can you post a couple of pictures? Do they flower? Do they produce thorns?

I can't do pictures right now, my computer is in the shop so I am working off my iPad. All I can really add is that neither seem to flower and both have shades of red in them, particularly along the stem. Oh, and the one with regular leaves seeps white like a dandelion when you break the 'branches'.

I should be getting my computer back by Tuesday. I hope.

Oh, and no thorns.