Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz I hope you get your fence charger fixed or replaced. You sure have had problems with things lately, hopefully this is the end of it.

My new chicken tractor is supposed to get here today, I'm excited! Then I have to assemble it & I know there are a lot of parts, so that will be a job.

 

[chicken danz]

Trish, I hope your chicken tractor goes together well. Sometimes those things are two person jobs for sure.
I've got to make sure my brooder house is all dry and if it is, load it up and move some chicks out there. I'm going to build some water stands for it because I have such a terrible time keeping the floor dry. I should probably paint the floor again while it's totally empty but that would put me behind another day. I need it now!
I am wanting my Bobcat fixed more than anything right now. I use that thing for everything. And I have so much work to get done. I got some long screws earlier this week and I want to start building my runs south of the building. But I need to get a bunch of dirt moved in and get the thing filled in so water doesn't stand out there. The dirt moving has to wait until the Bobcat is running and the ground is dry enough. Spring messes up my window of opportunity so I really need to get it done now.
I have another service appointment tomorrow with Whirlpool to hopefully figure out why my freezer quits working. Hopefully they'll find the cause. I can just hope they have some way to do diagnostic tests to read a malfunction, otherwise it will be a guessing game.

 

[Trish44]

Well I had to have my DH help me finish putting my little chicken tractor together yesterday. Altogether it took about 6 hours to get it assembled, much more than they said it would. The pics weren't very good on the instruction sheet & I think they skipped a step or two, but we finally got it together. I got the old pen they were in moved out of the way & put the new one in that spot then got the little Japanese Ohikis & put them in there. They were having fun exploring while I did chores. When it was almost dark I heard the little rooster just talking & talking to the little hen. I went over to see what was going on & he was trying to show her how to get up the ramp to the 2nd level so they could go roost. He would go up the ramp & call her & then go back down & show her how to go up there & he kept doing that till she finally went up with him. It was just too cute! I'm taking the old pen apart now to salvage the hardware cloth off of it, that's about all that is any good since the wood is rotten.

When I went out to feed after getting the little coop in it's place what do I see but a 6 foot long rat snake trying to find it's way into my little coop. Well needless to say it is a dead snake now. I'm not going to feed it eggs or my chicks either one. I didn't think the snakes were out yet but this one sure was & my neighbor said they found one across the road from us too when they were clearing brush.

 

[chicken danz]

Well I had to have my DH help me finish putting my little chicken tractor together yesterday. Altogether it took about 6 hours to get it assembled, much more than they said it would. The pics weren't very good on the instruction sheet & I think they skipped a step or two, but we finally got it together. I got the old pen they were in moved out of the way & put the new one in that spot then got the little Japanese Ohikis & put them in there. They were having fun exploring while I did chores. When it was almost dark I heard the little rooster just talking & talking to the little hen. I went over to see what was going on & he was trying to show her how to get up the ramp to the 2nd level so they could go roost. He would go up the ramp & call her & then go back down & show her how to go up there & he kept doing that till she finally went up with him. It was just too cute! I'm taking the old pen apart now to salvage the hardware cloth off of it, that's about all that is any good since the wood is rotten.

When I went out to feed after getting the little coop in it's place what do I see but a 6 foot long rat snake trying to find it's way into my little coop. Well needless to say it is a dead snake now. I'm not going to feed it eggs or my chicks either one. I didn't think the snakes were out yet but this one sure was & my neighbor said they found one across the road from us too when they were clearing brush.

That's a cute little coop. Congrats on getting it together. I saw a snake a few weeks back. Warm weather seems to drive them out to sun themselves.
I got my brooder coop put back together and got the Icelandic chicks moved out there. I still need to clean one brooder bin though. They seemed really happy to have the extra space.
I am so discouraged. The guy I've been holding my turkeys for a month for messaged me and said he wasn't going to make it again today. Ticks me off. I put them up for sale on one facebook page today but not others. I need the money desperately and made him a huge bargain. I need the pen space and am tired of feeding them.
Well we got the Bobcat running but I didn't get to do all the other work I wanted to do to it. It was too close for time for DH to leave so it will have to wait. I have so much to do with it but now they are forecasting rain starting tonight. Figures. Warm dry weather and it was broken down. Operable and now the weather is going to interfere.
It's supposed to be cooler today but still fairly nice out. The problem for today is I have overdone it and can barely move. Too much work for this old lady. It's sure been quiet here. I guess everyone has been out working in the nice weather. Me included.

 

[rlh1]

One of my girls caught a baby snake yesterday. I'm not sure what kind. It was fun watching her run around with her prize while the others gave chase.

 

[tlzimmerman]

Coop looks awesome....I hate that snakes are out already.

 

[Plinky]

Folks, I know I'm the odd one out

, but I WISH I had a snake like that! Used to have one that lived under the shed. No rats/mice/voles. Snake gone = have had more rats/mice/voles!

 

[TattooedChicks]

Hello, hello from the heart of Kansas City! Hope my new brood grows up to be Royals fans.

 

[TeeMom]

Folks, I know I'm the odd one out , but I WISH I had a snake like that! Used to have one that lived under the shed. No rats/mice/voles. Snake gone = have had more rats/mice/voles!

I'm with you! I love to see snakes around, but aside from tiny little garter snakes, we don't see many here. That being said, my chickens and their eggs have never been threatened by them either.

 

[Plinky]

Folks, I know I'm the odd one out

, but I WISH I had a snake like that! Used to have one that lived under the shed. No rats/mice/voles. Snake gone = have had more rats/mice/voles!

Right after I posted this I happened upon a video on YouTube of a snake about that size devouring a not to small Cornish cross pullet!
I do realize the hazards may outweigh the benefits, but in my case (no chicks running around and coop secure) I'd rather have a snake or two keeping the critters from my garden!