Consolidated Kansas

[pikeman94]

Justin - I have that problem with 1 of my hens. She is constantly laying under the darn deck. Not too happy about that.

 

[chicken danz]

Justin, I have that problem too. It seems these young pullets just lay where they happen to be at the time. Unfortunately my dogs find the eggs faster than I do...and they so love a good egg!

 

[chicken danz]

I put 8 eggs in the hatcher yesterday. Had 8 new chicks today. I keep saying I'm not going to hatch any more but when I do I get so excited. There is something special about hatching those babies.
I have a group of 5 Serama hens that went broodie. They are still sitting, but there are at least 6 chicks out there under them. I noticed the oldest chick had a little pasty on his butt. I reached down to pick it up to clean his behind and I had three hens fly up at me ready to maim and dismember me. I had to laugh. They aren't very big but they think they are when it comes to protecting their babies.

 

[rittert3]

Danz, don should be down at yates center he said he would like to see your serama hens some day.

 

[Ivywoods]

Hi folks!

Well, it's been a rather frustrating day for me today. I had so many things planned, and I wasn't able to get much done. I've been working on cleaning out the barn and moving chickens around and rearranging pens, etc. Every time I went to do something I ran into a roadblock. A pen panel was stuck. The panels weren't the right size...too long... too short.

I spent my time trying to figure out what to do than I did doing anything.

I sure wish we had been able to build the other barn this year like we wanted.

I'm getting sold down to just what I am keeping for the winter, plus some I am holding for about a month, and then of course some extra cockerells. I sure wanted to get some of these pens set up so I could start separating my varieties, but it's not going to happen today, and probably not tomorrow, either.

One good thing is that DH and I worked on my John Deere Gator.

It's almost ready to put back together. It had engine problems a while back, and has been sitting around in pieces for quite some time. I will be SO glad to get it going. It is so handy around here for hauling hay, feed, yard stuff or just going for a ride around the property to enjoy the day.

 

[chicken danz]

Quote:
I live within 25 miles of there. Tell him he could stop by on his way home.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
ARGH. I just wrote out something and it disappeared on me! Frustrating!! Anyway, Ivy I was just saying that I'm sorry about your frustrating day and maybe some creative thought will come to you that will help you figure out your pens. Good luck! Oh, and nice that your John Deere is working- always a good feeling.

My DH and I worked on the coop all day yesterday. However, we only got the facia done. Either we are really slow, or things just are taking forever in our hands. I did paint two sides of the facia (not fun having it drip on you)- but using a brush is obviously a bad idea, it didn't cover well. Going to use a roller today and go back over it again. Just hope I don't get paint in my hair again. Even when I'm trying to be really careful, I still manage to do something really stupid.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm jealous Ivy. I have to use my dixon mower for my Gator or 4-wheeler. Seriously. It really isn't bad, just not as fast. I can hook a wagon to it if I need to. Worst problem is I need to use two hands to steer. Makes spraying or something kind of difficult.
I'm getting none of my projects done either. Seems like I am going backwards. This running to town 3 days a week just ruins all my work time. I've only managed to stay home one day this week. It stinks. So what do you think? If I built a pole type barn and just had a dirt floor Do you think that would work for adult birds? I think I might be able to afford to put in a pole building next year if it weren't for the concrete work and all those bells and whistles you can add.
I won't have any crop money this year so money is going to be tight. I'll have to sell a bunch of chicks this coming spring to have any money at all.

 

[Ivywoods]

Yes, the gator is really nice. We use it for SO much. We didn't quite get it finished last night. It was the perfect frustrating ending to a perfectly frustrating day.

DH was putting the starter back together when a little tiny spring went, "PING!" We heard it hit the wall of the shop and then fall down. We searched and searched. I got the magnet out and swept with it but didn't find it. We decided to go ahead and put the other 3 springs in. I pinched one to see how hard I was going to have to squeeze it and, "PING" it flew out from between my fingers. Hubby said the look on my face was priceless.

Well, we didn't find that one either.
We went to town this morning and found some that should work as replacements.

We bought a few extra while we were at it.

 

[Ivywoods]

Danz, I think a pole building would work. I just know it is pretty hard to clean up poop inside a barn if you have dirt floors. I suppose if you use enough shavings it would be easier. I have one pen in the barn right now that is on dirt floor inside. The poop is always getting caked under the roost. Because it is hard to clean, I end up not doing it as often as I should. It is SO much easier to clean the layer coop where I have a wood floor covered with metal sheeting.

Maybe there's some tricks that I don't know.

I'm going to have someone build a hay shed type building next year. No sides, just the roof and posts for support. Then DH and I will finish the building underneath. The roof will be quite a bit larger than the actual building. That way all the runs will have an area that is partially covered, and there will be runs coming off 3 sides. I guess I should draw up some plans and scan some in so it would be easier to see what I 'm talking about.

The nice thing is we already have a cement slab in good condition that we are going to build the enclosed part over.

Do you have a slab somewhere that is already there and not in too bad of condition? Maybe you could build your pole barn over the top of it and at least have some hard floor in part of your barn where you could put your pens.

I'm still saving up money for my pole shed project. I have quite a bit of the material gathered up for the part we are going to build ourselves, but it takes quite a while trying to save up "egg money" to build a shed!

Did you make it to your auction?