Hehe yep I have it too! I am bout to start with all the gardening stuff of spring as well as chickens!Wow! Looks like everyone has been busy and getting a bit of spring fever
DH and I don't agree about the easiest way to make the hoop house. He things build the frame and then put the panels into it. I think, lay the panels out flat, attach the side boards, bend the panels down, and then add the ends on. I told him we'll just have to make two and we can do one each way and SEE which way is easiest. He's such a good sport he didn't even say "no", just "do you really need that many pens?"
I really like the way you think! Your DH really gets you, doesn't he? He cracks me up.DH and I looked at a lovely greenhouse at the lumber yard today. He knows me well enough to ask the question: "But would you really use it as a greenhouse?" Because of course, I was thinking about what a lovely walk-in brooder it would make. But after the chicks are grown, I *might* grow some plants in it too.....
I love spring!Hehe yep I have it too! I am bout to start with all the gardening stuff of spring as well as chickens!
Hope the coyote will stick to the geese, and likely he will. I have a family of coyotes living back by my pond. They are always trotting across the back field. I haven't had the right 'instrument' to get them until x-mas. I have other ones, but not right for getting coyotes... but my new one will be much easier to work with. Now, if they come up and mess with me, I'm going to take care of it. But honestly, so far, they don't test my fencing and I've never seen any dig marks or anywhere they've been snooping. They know my chickens are here-- the silkies love to hear themselves crow... ALL DAY LONG. Those guys never stop. SO funny about you meeting up with another Aussie from the same place you are! I love your accent, and for as long as you've been here, it still seems pretty strong to me!I spent yesterday morning with JosieChick, helping her and her DH set some posts for her poultry pens, and then last night had a lovely dinner at HuHot with more chicken people. It was so nice to see ChooksChicks, WichitaKidd, Deerfield Acres, and Hawkeye95. We will have to do that again soon!!!
Danz, I got you beat unfortunately. I spent Friday at EquiFest and let's just say, horse stuff ain't cheap. I did have fun though - ran into a few Aussies and it was kind of funny because I heard one guy talking and asked where he was from. He told me the city, and I said "me too". He was a vendor and was sitting there eating an Old Chicago pizza, so as soon as he heard that, he pulled out a chair and made me sit down and have pizza with him. 30 minutes later, we were best mates and when I later took my daughter and sister back to meet him, they were amazed that I had apparently run into an old friend, asking where I knew him from. I told them "from before lunch".
I had a GREAT time Saturday night! That HuHot was fun! I'm going to have to take my DH! I think he'd love it. Oh and I forgot to mention your DD is just beautiful! Congrats on the anniversary! Sounds like you are really getting a handle on the Aloha breeding and learning more in's and out's. It just takes a while to digest it all and move on and build upon what you've learned.I love getting together with chicken people. It was nice seeing everyone, meeting Heather's beautiful daughter and WichitaKidd's lovely wife last evening. What fun!
Yesterday was my one year anniversary for owning chickens. My DD remembered the date for some reason. I sure have learned a lot from this group and appreciate it all so much. I'm excited about the upcoming year with the Alohas and learning a lot more about breeding. I've just finished reading the entire thread on Heritage poultry and learned a lot more about the complications of breeding and the importance of breeding to Standard and line breeding. I look at my birds very differently these days. I am really excited about applying what I've learned to the Alohas. The Alohas are to become a line of birds that are hardy, truly dual purpose and beautiful. These birds have a long way to go but we are progressing toward the goal. On the Heritage thread, some of them seem to think that everyone ought to be just as zealous about saving every single heritage breed and never venturing outside that box. However, I believe that every bird was at some point a "project bird", or we would all still be raising jungle fowl. I do appreciate the need for a more structured approach toward building a better bird and the need to preserve heritage birds.
My goal for the upcoming year with the Alohas is to build a rounded, wide bodied bird that will be conducive to good egg production. Right now my largest, best colored and rounded body type is a 4 lb. hen. I'm going to try very hard to reach a 6.5 - 7 lb. frame hen over the next year or so. We'll see how it goes.
My secondary goals are to keep small breeding groups of quality Buff Sussex, Wheaten Ameraucanas, Speckled Sussex, Plymouth Barred Rocks, German New Hamps and our tiny little Seramas.
Just rambling this morning.
Can you post how-to pictures? Like how you started to finish? I don't know if I'll get my pens built or what we'll be doing. This weekend we really kicked off getting this house in shape to sell if need be. My DH got into the attic and was adding in new lighting for the inside and outside. We got a new flood light installed on the front of the house and it's wired to a switch plate by the front door. It'll be nice having something much stronger than that little porch light. We also got a new chandelier installed above the staircase-- I've been wanting a light above that forever-- just so that it's not dark there, and it's always been annoying that that space is so dark.If it helps, DH and I are building a hoop house this afternoon - about to head to the store and get the lumber for the frame. Trish's is 12' long by 8' wide, and that allows for enough height for her to stand upright. However she is taller than I am, and I have hog panels vs. utility panels, already on hand. Rather than buy more panels, we wanted to use the ones we have, so we've just come in from seeing how far we can bend them over (the hog panels are stiffer than utility panels). We can easily bend them to create a base 10' wide. We could probably stretch it and do the 8 if we used a ratchet but.....we realized that if we do it 12' long (3 panels) by 10' wide, it is still tall enough for short little me to walk upright in the center. Yep, I layed down on the ground near the chicken coop to test that theory. So - ours is going to be 12x10, which will actually give them more sq. footage anyway. This is only to be a breeding pen for my turkeys since I don't want Madge going off and building herself a nest in the hedge, when that coyote is so close. The rest of the year they will be out in the main flock, but it will be nice to have the pen for any other purpose too.
Anyway, you are taller than me, so you might want to stick with the more typical 8' foot base. You can do the length anything divisible by 4' since the panels are typically about 4' high. If you are buying panels, you want to get the utility panels. They will be 4" square holes throughout. Hog panels have 4" squares at the top but they gradually get smaller so at the bottom they are 4x2" rectangles (Google Images may be your friend if this explanation doesn't make sense). The extra wire to make the smaller rectangles at the bottom of the hog panel, make it more difficult to bend.
DH and I don't agree about the easiest way to make the hoop house. He things build the frame and then put the panels into it. I think, lay the panels out flat, attach the side boards, bend the panels down, and then add the ends on. I told him we'll just have to make two and we can do one each way and SEE which way is easiest. He's such a good sport he didn't even say "no", just "do you really need that many pens?"
Is your sister in the Topeka area??? There is a family that has a couple of VERY large greenhouses up there that i met last year and they have a wood stove that heats their greenhouses in the winter and they have several very large banana trees!! I mean, those banana trees are like 14 feet tall, or maybe taller?? The greenhouse is really tall, so I'm not sure how big the trees are. But they sell their "Kansas grown" bananas at the Farmer's Market up there. I'm just wondering if that is your sister??? If so, I met them and they showed me their greenhouse and it was awesome!!!Wow! Looks like everyone has been busy and getting a bit of spring fever
I have been helping my sister get her greenhouse set up. She is the only person i know that actually grew BANANAS in Kansas last year. Obviously she got all the green thumb gene in the family. It was so nice being in the greenhouse though--i cannot wait for it to warm up.
Maidenwolf-if you get a meet up planned i would be there!
I got 5 baby cochins from my first shipped egg hatch. They were all out of eggs marked from the blue splash/blue mottled roo, none of the mille's developed :-( I am feeling chicken math about to strike again
I am excited to see if they frizzle or not.
Danz-so excited for you with your new birds.
Ahhhh, all you guys with husbands that love your birds. Sigh. Mine is tolerant, for sure. But I wouldn't go so far as to say he is a big lover of them. He did tell me this year to get rid of some of my layers and buy more barred rocks. They are the ONLY bird laying right now (and all year long for that matter) and he's sick to death of the others not laying or taking breaks. So, I think we're done with the other breeds and I will try to CraigsList them and hunt me down barred rocks. Of course, I'm keeping silkies-- I never include them when I talk about the layers! LOLIts true, Deerfield, I am very lucky. But I have a feeling you're in pretty good hands yourself.
