Colorado

[Ashdoes]

We planted our peach tree 5 years ago and haven't gotten a peach yet, even though it has bloomed the last couple springs.  This year it is completely covered in blossoms and has been for over a week.   I'm dying for homegrown peaches.  Hopefully we'll have a mild spring and everybody's fruit trees will pull through. 

Is it a self pollinating? Otherwise it needs a pollinator, like a different type peach.
That's why we had to plant more then one cherry tree. I picked a Bing first, and misread the label, it needs another cherry to pollinate it. So, then we picked a Rainier, but the nursery didn't have them yet. So, Stella is also a pollinator for it. If we had only wanted one, we could have gotten just a Stella or just a Rainier, because they're self pollinating. Bing is a grafted cherry, so it needs a secondary.
I also picked a self pollinating Dwarf Peach tree, but they were all sold, so I have to wait for the end of the month for one.

 

[suncatcher]

We only had the one tree, so assume it was self pollinating. I have noticed that all the cherry trees I have seen here, they have a net over them, I am guessing the birds like them too!!!

 

[kismetspawn]

Pozees -- thanks for the info. The austrolorp definitely has thicker legs and seems generally bigger than the other birds. It doesn't have much of a comb yet, no more than the other 3 weekers, but the cape and sweep feathers do look more pointed than rounded. I think it's a boy and figuring that will only become more obvious in a week or 2.

So, that stinks b/c we can only have 8 and, so far, I don't suspect any of the others. That means we'll have 1 to replace which will mean either getting a pullet and trying to integrate it or getting 2 chicks and hoping our neighbors can't count as well as we think they can!

Here are some pics of "it". It really is a striking bird.







We aren't quite ready to put anyone in the coop yet, mostly b/c the coop isn't finished. It's about 60% finished and about 75% done enough to be usable by chickens. Plus, there are only 2 of the 8 who have a full compliment of primary feathers. That and the potential for snow for the next couple of weeks makes me think they might need to stay in the brooder a bit longer. Though I would LOVE to put them outside, tired of cleaning out the brooders each day! Here are some pics of the coop in progress.



Nesting box entrance.



Coop door.






We're thinking of putting a cistern like thing in that top box for water, the bottom box will be storage and the middle box is the access door to the nesting boxes.



The nesting boxes... there are 3 with a little space at the right to store a hand broom or "stuff".



So, it's getting there and there's a better than not chance it'll be done in time to save my husband's bikes from a certain poop fate from birds roosting in the garage rafters.

Once we get the wire down to the ground and buried, figure out how to enclose the gap btwn the roof and walls, get a ramp, get fill dirt to level out the run and btwn the coop and fence, get inside the coop painted and get the roost bars up it should be usable and the rest can be finished over the summer, though I'd really like to just get it done!

 

[Ashdoes]

We only had the one tree, so assume it was self pollinating. I have noticed that all the cherry trees I have seen here, they have a net over them, I am guessing the birds like them too!!!

I figure with three trees, we might be able to share with the wild birds, without it causing too big a dent in our share. Otherwise, we'll net the whole area, which wouldn't be too hard, since the structure is already there.
I just checked on my fruit bushes, the raspberries and blueberries seem to be coming back. My blackberry bushes aren't, but they weren't wintered correctly last year, so they have to be replaced. My apple trees are already getting new leaves, but they're super young, and I don't think we'll get fruit for quite a few years.

 

[Latestarter]

"...Our subdivision has been talking about keeping bees. Our size lots, 2.5 acres, just got Hobby Farm status last year from El paso county so we can have all kinds of things now, that we couldn't when we bought the house two years ago. I wish it was easier to keep bees, and I'd jump on it. Most of us out here think more bees are needed in our area, and moving them in would be the quickest way for that to happen. I love Spring! Just wish it was a little more predictable."

I've been thinking of placing a couple of bee hives at the back property line as well. I only have 1.4 acres, but that would be far enough away from any homes to not cause issues. in addition to studying chicken mastery here at BYC, I've also been reading up on bee keeping. All the back to nature folks say that the honey bee is an endangered insect. I live in farm country here and they'd be a big help for my (future) garden, grape vines and fruit trees. I'd enjoy the free honey too! I mean, have you seen the price of natural honey?!?! OUCH!

 

[Euarto Gullible]

Is it a self pollinating? Otherwise it needs a pollinator, like a different type peach.
That's why we had to plant more then one cherry tree. I picked a Bing first, and misread the label, it needs another cherry to pollinate it. So, then we picked a Rainier, but the nursery didn't have them yet. So, Stella is also a pollinator for it. If we had only wanted one, we could have gotten just a Stella or just a Rainier, because they're self pollinating. Bing is a grafted cherry, so it needs a secondary.
I also picked a self pollinating Dwarf Peach tree, but they were all sold, so I have to wait for the end of the month for one.

If I remember correctly our peach tree is a Reliance, a self pollinating variety, but I might be mistaken. It started forming peaches last year before we had the hard freeze and snow on May 1st so it's either self-fertile or is being pollinated by the neighbor's tree 100 yards away. I have a giant globe willow that needs to come down. Once it does, I may have room for several more fruit trees.

 

[Ashdoes]

If I remember correctly our peach tree is a Reliance, a self pollinating variety, but I might be mistaken.  It started forming peaches last year before we had the hard freeze and snow on May 1st so it's either self-fertile or is being pollinated by the neighbor's tree 100 yards away.   I have a giant globe willow that needs to come down.  Once it does, I may have room for several more fruit trees. 

That's what my mother in laws did, had blooms and then the hail ripped them all off. I'm trying to talk her into hail netting. I really love those fresh peaches.

 

[Ashdoes]

I've been thinking of placing a couple of bee hives at the back property line as well. I only have 1.4 acres, but that would be far enough away from any homes to not cause issues. in addition to studying chicken mastery here at BYC, I've also been reading up on bee keeping.  All the back to nature folks say that the honey bee is an endangered insect.  I live in farm country here and they'd be a big help for my (future) garden, grape vines and fruit trees. I'd enjoy the free honey too!  I mean, have you seen the price of natural honey?!?!  OUCH!

I was thinking about finding someone that needed land for honey bees, and let them use part of my back acre.
I love fresh honey, and you're right, it is crazy expensive.

 

[wsmith]

More progress today. We hatched 21, 14 pullets and 7 cockerels. Sold three pullets today.Got some help and did some more work on phase 3.

 

[samsr]

More progress today. We hatched 21, 14 pullets and 7 cockerels. Sold three pullets today.Got some help and did some more work on phase 3.

It is coming along quite well. It was a wonderful day to get things done. I processed 3 quail and a hen that was laying internally, filled my second planting bed with good composted manure, installed a mailbox post and mail box ( my mail man will be so happy) This one has numbers on it. Also fixed my neighbors atv that has been sitting around for a couple of years. Hunted turkey this morning as well. It was a good day, busy, but good. 11 eggs out of 13 laying hens (the chicks don't count at this point) I got rid of three more chicks today also. Those silkie americauna's are definately some little cuties. The only thing in the incubator now are the goose eggs. They should hatch any day now. I candled them last night just to take a little looksy. They are still moving around. It looked like they may internally pip at any time.