Colorado

[WendyGeisler]

HI Ashdoes,
We put a 10 foot post in the middle of our chicken run, then used metal wire to make an X from corner to corner (for support).
Then I bought 4 ft by 100 foot bird netting from home depot. We ran it over the metal wire and staple gunned it to each fence.
As I put up each panel, I used zip ties to "sew" the panels closed. We do have a tree growing in the middle, but this keeps the
hawks out. Just an idea for you. Total bird netting cover cost about 50 dollars. It is easy to walk under and appears almost invisible.

Also... congrats about wanting bees!! If you do decide to get bees I would highly recommend going to Bee School at the Pikes
Peak Beekeepers Asso. School is help once a year (usually in March) and it is 2 days long. They get 55 people in a weekend,
and offer 2 weekends. There is usually a wait list of 100 people. If you want to do it, I suggest signing up in advance. I did the
bee school last march and my husband did it this last month. It was a great way to meet the top bee keepers in town, get
hands on experience, and learn!

 

[WendyGeisler]

Ashdoes, I tried to find photos of our bird netting, but it so hard to see.. If you zoom in you can see the little lines in the sky. W

 

[WendyGeisler]

All this talk of fruit trees is music to my ears!!!

We just planted 22 fruit trees and about 35 fruiting bushes. I am so excited about having a mini orchard. We have all of this in our front yard across from our 3 bee hives. Yesterday we seeded the front yard area ground in clover. I am hoping all of this moisture we got today will get the clover going well.
We used white dutch clover as our ground cover in our backyard last year. I also put in purple prairie, strawberry, and crimson clover around my chicken run, garden, green house, and fence line. I figured it was an incredibly hardy and easy landscaping flower. This spring it has come up in gangbusters. Without watering it at all, my backyard looks 80% green already. Last summer we had to water quite a bit to get it going, but now I think the roots are deep and it coming up without any help at all. We intentionally used clover as our ground cover because it uses 1/10 th the amount of water as grass. We could choose to mow it or not (about once a month if I wanted the backyard to look more manicured) and in the fall I let it all go to flower as a food source for my bees.
I can't wait for the front to have some green. Right now it is all brown dirt.

 

[maggiemo]

Wow, lots and lots going on here.
Yay for bees and trees! I have three hives (that made it through the winter) and 28 fruit trees that I planted 2 years ago. It looks like all but two trees made it, though they may be late bloomers.

Mel, your coop looks great. I feel your pain having a rooster. I think at least 4 and up to 6 of my new (20) chicks I got from Meyers are roosters. I am beyond bummed about it.I waited for so long for pullets and for the breeds I wanted and now to have so many roos.
And, it is so expensive. I could have gotten cheap birds at Jax. Ugg. So bummed.

I'm in denial about this storm. I am hoping the forecasters are wrong and this will all blow over this afternoon.

 

[Ashdoes]

Hi guys! I have a Cream Legbar girl that needs a new home. She's on the smaller side, with mis marked white spots on her back, and no crest. She's friendly, the only one that follows me around the yard. But, the biggest problem is she's become a loner during the day. So when the Roo and other hens are in one spot, she's off on her own very far away. Not very safe for her in such a big yard.
If you're interested, let me know.

Thanks Wendy, for the Bee keeping class info.

 

[maggiemo]

Ashdoes, how old is your cream legbar girl?

 

[Ashdoes]

Ashdoes, how old is your cream legbar girl?

10 months. Here she is, and I was wrong, she does have a small crest.

 

[WendyGeisler]

Ashdoes_ I would take your cream legbar. I have always wanted one! Wendy

 

[Ashdoes]

Ashdoes_ I would take your cream legbar. I have always wanted one! Wendy

Yay! I was hoping I wouldn't have to put her on Craigslist. Pm me when you get a chance, and we can discuss when and all that.

 

[kismetspawn]

Ashdoes - so what other critters are you planning to get? W/3 little and 1 big boy, we might need to move to your neck of the woods just to be able to feed everyone before the littles are teenagers b/c I don't think I can convince my neighbors a mini cow is just a large dog nor do I think I can teach a mini cow to bark! LOL

Wsmith - what are the buildings for?

Mo -- oh no! That stinks! Especially since you paid more for sexed birds AND waited forever to get them. I'll cry if the olive egger turns out to be a boy.

Guessing Meyer has no guarantee?

As much as I'm sick of snow, as cold as it's supposed to get tonight, I'm kind of glad to see the rain turn to snow. Maybe the snow will protect the fruit buds somewhat. My neighbor has a huge Macintosh-type apple tree and he's not had apples for 2 years, he lets us take as many as we want b/c he's a single guy and doesn't do anything with them. So I take them and can them and share back with him. But not the past couple of years. So I've been buying apples at the markets for the past couple of years and It's expensive, would be nice to eliminate that expense b/c my kids can do some damage in apple sauce and stewed apples!