YAY for a new roof! So glad they were able to finish it fast! I'm sure they'll be fast with the siding too when they get to it. Glad you are happy with their work.
WELCOME to the group! You'll love this thread! Sounds like you have a pretty good head start on your chicken math.
Just wait.... my bad "month" has not ended with yesterday's loss. ARGH! But yeah, I did think it was hilarious that you were asked why you "had" to get rid of 28 chickens. Just wait until everyone gets to know each other better, and it will all become funnier! hehehe!Have faith sister, it will all work out.
Hawkeye you are dead on right about why I got rid of 28 chickens.I sold some more today. I'll catch up later. Gotta go right now!
I *might* have a hen I'd part with ONLY if you have a super fortress enclosed area and coop for a silkie that would NEVER let her free range. She can NOT see. She is pet quality but stunning looking, but she has one of the biggest crests. I'm keeping her as a pet for now since she can't be out unsupervised and left out in the yard. She needs a secure pen with a top since she won't be able to see flying predators either. She's slow because of how much crest she has. I'm happy to keep her with me forever or send her to a nice secure home where a dog or raccoon or hawk won't kill her. I just have her to sell (and I'm being very picky) and then I do have a couple of silkie roosters too that I'm not being so picky about.
I have two pet quality roosters and one breeder quality that could be shown, because he's nice enough but in a BIG show-- like Nationals he didn't hold up well, he got 4th place. Yeah, I NEED the nice weather too. I'm just lifeless over here. I hope your sinus stuff cleras up quickly. I had that a week or two ago and just took decongestant and it cleared up without having to see the Dr. Take pictures of your stall coops! I'm using two horse stalls as coops, too!*****************************************************************************************
Argh... woke up with a headache. I'm sure it is from my sinus and allergy season is definitely here. Worked 12+ hrs yesterday so by the time I got home, I was dead tired. I had just enough strength to get the feeds out but no more energy to get anything else done. Just have to remind myself that only 12 more days and Tax season will be over.
Looks pretty dark, wet, and cold outside.... AGAIN!I need some nice warm weather. The baby chicks are almost 2 weeks old so I've to really get the 2nd horse stall converted to a chicken coop. I'll definitely get the much needed work done this weekend while the weather is supposedly spring-like. With all the hoop coop talk lately, I may need to look into that as well. I can put one on the East side of the horse barn (it is a 5-stall horse barn) and put the chickens in there. Do you guys' chickens live in the hoop coop all year long or they just get put in the hoop coop during the day? I need to look at some of the hoop coop pictures and see how to put a roost and nest boxes in there if the chickens are to stay there long term.
Gotta get back to work. It will be another long one day, I'm afraid.
Kuan
I think it's a compliment since it's obvious you are getting more organized and more down to business on what you're breeding! So, that's great! I have no idea why you aren't seeing the reduction in feed, though. Can't wait to hear about how your sweeter heater works! I want to know all about it!
Yeah, I'm with you. Let's just be QUIET with what we're spending on these birds!! Eeeks!!Oh - and I didn't add in the cost of building the coop or my recent Rcom incubator purchase because if I did, it would just be depressing. I justify that by saying that in the event we move, the coop can stay and be used as an outbuilding by the next owner so it increases the value of our property just by being built, and the incubator was a gift because I used my Christmas money to purchase it. Those are my stories and I'm sticking to them
What a pretty girl! Does she have split wing? I only ask because I am terrible at spotting it in pics and it kinda looked like it? I am really sorry about your hens. Loose dogs are the worst because they have an irresponsible owner somewhere! We had a beagle up at the house in Rantoul that always came down and I don't think it would bother the birds but I talked to the neighbors and they were having trouble keeping it in anyway and eventually found it a new home. They had taken it in as a stray and couldn't keep it home so I think once people started complaining about they decided it wasn't worth upsetting the neighbors. I wouldn't be afraid to tell them their dogs killed your chickens and you expect the dogs won't be on your property again and if they are that you may have to take drastic measures to stop them from killing your chickens. So sorry about your mess of a month, I hope it gets better very soon!
I *might* have a hen I'd part with ONLY if you have a super fortress enclosed area and coop for a silkie that would NEVER let her free range. She can NOT see. She is pet quality but stunning looking, but she has one of the biggest crests. I'm keeping her as a pet for now since she can't be out unsupervised and left out in the yard. She needs a secure pen with a top since she won't be able to see flying predators either. She's slow because of how much crest she has. I'm happy to keep her with me forever or send her to a nice secure home where a dog or raccoon or hawk won't kill her. I just have her to sell (and I'm being very picky) and then I do have a couple of silkie roosters too that I'm not being so picky about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So my month from Heck (being polite here, people) continues.... I went out to the coop and I had TWO DEAD hens!! They had gotten out this morning and got mauled just on the other side of their fence. No blood, and only a few feathers were removed from their backs. Obviously the work of my neighbors two dogs. I did NOT see the dogs do it, but they were in my yard yesterday tracking my hens and I went out there and yelled at them and chased them off. My layers are in a chain link pen, but there has been a hole lately they are squeezing thru in the mornings to hunt for worms in the yard. The dogs dont want to EAT, they want to torment and chase and maim and kill. Well, I've freakin' HAD it with his stinkin' dogs. I called my DH this morning and told him about my two birds-- which by the way, one was a barred rock!!! One of my BEST layers!! The other was a poor Polish-- and those things can't hardly even see to get away. I'm just ANGRY. I'm waffling between getting my gun ready to shoot them when I see them next or going over there and having a chat with the guy to give him the chance to keep his dogs on his property. I'm just ready to shoot, quite frankly. Those dogs are ALWAYS on my property and I've HAD it. I'm sort of tapping my fingers wondering which way to go with this. On the one hand, I can shoot them and drag them out to my tree line. End of story, no one ever knows. On the other, I can talk to him and alert him to my plans... and then have an angry neighbor because he knows I'm going to shoot his d@mn dogs the second I see them on my property again. I need to calm down and think rationally about this. Now.... if this had happened to my silkie flock, there would be NO words... I would be SSS for sure. This guy is just freakin' lucky that it was my layers and I'm not too emotionally wrapped up in them.
Good to see you back. How is that new incubator working for you now? I do wish it was warm today. I stepped outside and thought I'd freeze on the spot. I thought the forecast was calling for warmer temps. It's gloomy and cloudy here today which I am sure isn't helping.
Are you using the chicken tracker? I have that downloaded but not using it. I have a tremendous loss in my birds. My biggest expense other than food is housing and equipment. I don't even want to know what I've spent. I would have to successfully raise birds for 50 years to break even on housing. I did track expenses my first year and lost a couple thousand dollars. That didn't include the cost of the initial chick purchase either. If I ever get my breeding facilities done and just start raising and selling I will start tracking it all. In other words, right now I don't want to know!I'll be interested to hear how you like the Sweeter heater. I was going to suggest a dehumidifier in the basement but then kept reading and saw that you already had that thought yourself.
I'll let you know. I have to determine if it will be worth the extra expense. I did find another vender that had one and saved me on shipping.
That is interesting that the 4H girl noticed you have fewer birds. Do you track your expenditures? I have an Excel Spreadsheet that is awesome (downloaded it - I didn't create it) at tracking everything. You can enter how many birds you have and each day update it with how many eggs you collect. You also add in every time you buy feed, entering both the number of pounds and how much it cost. There is a tab for each month of the year and a summary tab that collates all the data. It tells you your egg laying % - i.e. if you have 20 hens and get 15 eggs, your rate is 75% but it adds it up over the course of each month, and also gives you a yearly average so at the end of the year you can see what the overall was. It also tells you how many pounds of feed you use per egg. While raising chicks, that number can seem high because you have to go through quite a few pounds of feed for the 5 months it takes to grow them out, without getting a single egg. By the time you get that first egg, you might have used 20lb of feed per egg, but it goes down over time as that hen lays 4-5 eggs a week. The spreadsheet also has places to enter other supplies you might purchase, flock purchases, sales of eggs or live birds or hatching eggs, and it gives you a bottom line, of how much money you aremakinglosing.
I've been using the spreadsheet since the get-go, and the first year I actually came out with a monthly income of $2.97. The only thing that doesn't factor in is the eggs we ate, so I suppose it would be fair to say I had a monthly income of $2.97 PLUS free eggs. After that, I did allow it to become a hobby vs. being adamant that the birds pay for themselves, and it has been a monthly loss ever since. I am about to take delivery of a shipment of chicks next week, so the loss will only increase over the next few months. Oh - and I didn't add in the cost of building the coop or my recent Rcom incubator purchase because if I did, it would just be depressing. I justify that by saying that in the event we move, the coop can stay and be used as an outbuilding by the next owner so it increases the value of our property just by being built, and the incubator was a gift because I used my Christmas money to purchase it. Those are my stories and I'm sticking to them
I've taken a couple pictures and will take more and post them when I can get back out there and get doors etc on. Then it will be time to start the second one. I will have to buy a whole new lot of lumber for the second one. I do already have the panels. I bought them when I found them on sale. I've also considered building some hoop coops side by side to save on lumber but I really don't have a place suitable to put a string of them. If I figure it right I could save about 45% on framing lumber that way. I have so many projects to work on it's hard to determine which one should come first.
Josie, great eye!! That is exactly why she is Pet quality-- but not only does she have split wing something terrible, but the ends are twisted and she has a bit of a wry tail. It's not severe, but enough so, that I'm not going to breed her. She's in with the girls right now and happy as a clam. I have no need for her, but don't really HAVE to get rid of her either. Unless someone really wanted to take care of her. These guys just don't eat much, so it's not a big deal to have a few extra hanging around. Glad you found a nice home for your sebbie ganders! I'm sorry about the people hanging around. But if they are going to fix the foundation..?? That would be pretty nice to have done? Maybe you can talk them into painting your baby room, too!
Thank you. I do know how to load.
HEChicken, what is the software you're using, I would like to get that to use just for the fun of it. I'm not sure I really want to know how much I'm losing, but it could be useful now that I'm starting to get more pure bred chicks.Mstng67 who is on here built a hoop coop that is in use year-round. Trish44 also uses hers year round, and Danz will too. I built mine primarily as a breeder coop. My plan is to have two but so far I've only built the one. I'm hoping to get started on the next one next week. My original plan was to put the breeding pair of turkeys in one and the 6 ducks in the other. My turkeys did go in the coop for a week when I was out of town as I wanted to ensure their safety. My hen goes into the coop every night to roost but the tom jumps up on the fence of the chicken yard to roost there and every night I have to go and make him get down and go in the coop. With being out of town, I didn't want to come home and find something got him while he slept on the fence, so I locked them both in the hoop coop while I was gone. I let them out when I got back. Meanwhile, I've had several hens go broody so right now the hoop coop is in use as a broody pen. That is a lot of space for a hen to sit under a dog house, on a nest! But, once her chicks hatch, it will be nice they have a place to be safe until they are ready to be let out with the rest of the flock. But that is why I need to get busy building the next hoop coop. I still haven't segregated the ducks and I'm concerned they have a hidden nest somewhere they are laying in, as I don't think I'm getting as many eggs as I should - even with one of them being broody right now. I'd love to get them into a hoop coop where they have no choice but to lay in there and then I can finally figure out how many of them are laying.
I'll be interested to hear how you like the Sweeter heater. I was going to suggest a dehumidifier in the basement but then kept reading and saw that you already had that thought yourself.
That is interesting that the 4H girl noticed you have fewer birds. Do you track your expenditures? I have an Excel Spreadsheet that is awesome (downloaded it - I didn't create it) at tracking everything. You can enter how many birds you have and each day update it with how many eggs you collect. You also add in every time you buy feed, entering both the number of pounds and how much it cost. There is a tab for each month of the year and a summary tab that collates all the data. It tells you your egg laying % - i.e. if you have 20 hens and get 15 eggs, your rate is 75% but it adds it up over the course of each month, and also gives you a yearly average so at the end of the year you can see what the overall was. It also tells you how many pounds of feed you use per egg. While raising chicks, that number can seem high because you have to go through quite a few pounds of feed for the 5 months it takes to grow them out, without getting a single egg. By the time you get that first egg, you might have used 20lb of feed per egg, but it goes down over time as that hen lays 4-5 eggs a week. The spreadsheet also has places to enter other supplies you might purchase, flock purchases, sales of eggs or live birds or hatching eggs, and it gives you a bottom line, of how much money you aremakinglosing.
I've been using the spreadsheet since the get-go, and the first year I actually came out with a monthly income of $2.97. The only thing that doesn't factor in is the eggs we ate, so I suppose it would be fair to say I had a monthly income of $2.97 PLUS free eggs. After that, I did allow it to become a hobby vs. being adamant that the birds pay for themselves, and it has been a monthly loss ever since. I am about to take delivery of a shipment of chicks next week, so the loss will only increase over the next few months. Oh - and I didn't add in the cost of building the coop or my recent Rcom incubator purchase because if I did, it would just be depressing. I justify that by saying that in the event we move, the coop can stay and be used as an outbuilding by the next owner so it increases the value of our property just by being built, and the incubator was a gift because I used my Christmas money to purchase it. Those are my stories and I'm sticking to them
I'm so sorry about your hens, that's just the pits. I don't know, I'm kind of in the mindset that you just have to protect your livestock & you have a right to do that. I have only shot a dog once years ago when I lived outside of Derby, but it was threatening me & my family, so it had to go. It may have had something wrong with it & I was terrified it was going to attack me or my son who was small at the time. Since you have had ongoing problems with these dogs & the owner isn't willing to do anything about it I think you have the right to protect your birds, pets, & family. Just take care of it, make sure the dogs aren't ever found & go on. Even though they aren't expensive birds, they still have cost you money & all the time to raise them to get them to laying age & you lost the eggs they would have laid.YAY for a new roof! So glad they were able to finish it fast! I'm sure they'll be fast with the siding too when they get to it. Glad you are happy with their work.
WELCOME to the group! You'll love this thread! Sounds like you have a pretty good head start on your chicken math.
Just wait.... my bad "month" has not ended with yesterday's loss. ARGH! But yeah, I did think it was hilarious that you were asked why you "had" to get rid of 28 chickens. Just wait until everyone gets to know each other better, and it will all become funnier! hehehe!
I *might* have a hen I'd part with ONLY if you have a super fortress enclosed area and coop for a silkie that would NEVER let her free range. She can NOT see. She is pet quality but stunning looking, but she has one of the biggest crests. I'm keeping her as a pet for now since she can't be out unsupervised and left out in the yard. She needs a secure pen with a top since she won't be able to see flying predators either. She's slow because of how much crest she has. I'm happy to keep her with me forever or send her to a nice secure home where a dog or raccoon or hawk won't kill her. I just have her to sell (and I'm being very picky) and then I do have a couple of silkie roosters too that I'm not being so picky about.
Yeah, I NEED the nice weather too. I'm just lifeless over here. I hope your sinus stuff cleras up quickly. I had that a week or two ago and just took decongestant and it cleared up without having to see the Dr. Take pictures of your stall coops! I'm using two horse stalls as coops, too!
I think it's a compliment since it's obvious you are getting more organized and more down to business on what you're breeding! So, that's great! I have no idea why you aren't seeing the reduction in feed, though. Can't wait to hear about how your sweeter heater works! I want to know all about it!
Yeah, I'm with you. Let's just be QUIET with what we're spending on these birds!! Eeeks!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So my month from Heck (being polite here, people) continues.... I went out to the coop and I had TWO DEAD hens!! They had gotten out this morning and got mauled just on the other side of their fence. No blood, and only a few feathers were removed from their backs. Obviously the work of my neighbors two dogs. I did NOT see the dogs do it, but they were in my yard yesterday tracking my hens and I went out there and yelled at them and chased them off. My layers are in a chain link pen, but there has been a hole lately they are squeezing thru in the mornings to hunt for worms in the yard. The dogs dont want to EAT, they want to torment and chase and maim and kill. Well, I've freakin' HAD it with his stinkin' dogs. I called my DH this morning and told him about my two birds-- which by the way, one was a barred rock!!! One of my BEST layers!! The other was a poor Polish-- and those things can't hardly even see to get away. I'm just ANGRY. I'm waffling between getting my gun ready to shoot them when I see them next or going over there and having a chat with the guy to give him the chance to keep his dogs on his property. I'm just ready to shoot, quite frankly. Those dogs are ALWAYS on my property and I've HAD it. I'm sort of tapping my fingers wondering which way to go with this. On the one hand, I can shoot them and drag them out to my tree line. End of story, no one ever knows. On the other, I can talk to him and alert him to my plans... and then have an angry neighbor because he knows I'm going to shoot his d@mn dogs the second I see them on my property again. I need to calm down and think rationally about this. Now.... if this had happened to my silkie flock, there would be NO words... I would be SSS for sure. This guy is just freakin' lucky that it was my layers and I'm not too emotionally wrapped up in them.
She has a beautiful head! I would keep her too. It wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't trying to deal with unpacking the house and work on all these projects to have people here but we have had several months of people here working on s*** and I am over it. The dogs bark all day, even after they leave, because they think someone is coming back. I also have my two barn cats locked in the summer kitchen to bond to the property and we specifically picked the summer kitchen to bond them to as their "home" because it was on the bottom of the list of things that would get fixed. It is the detached building behind the house and the house needs so much work that I figured it wouldn't get worked on for quite a while and would give the cats plenty of time to settle in and feel at home. I just don't see the sense in spending a small fortune on the foundation back there when the house foundation is in desperate need of repair, never mind paint, new upstairs windows, a new back door, rotten wood work replaced etc. In my mind the house should be the main investment of finances and the summer kitchen can wait because if it is falling over can always be removed if we don't have money to repair it. It is so bad that they are talking about having to take it off the foundation, replace the foundation then move the building back. I can't even imagine how much that will cost and we can't even afford to pay someone to paint one room in the house? Ugh. Sorry for the vent!!!!
I didn't realize they have been causing problems and the owner hasn't done anything. Might be time to take matters into your own hands. I have neighbors who have shot "at or near" dogs and it does scare them badly enough to keep them away. I have heard of something you can load into a shot gun that is non lethal but stings like nothing else that you might be able to use as a deterrent. Such a shame people aren't more responsible, its not the dogs' fault they have a stupid owner. One of our dogs chased a neighbors calf once and I went up an apologized profusely and told him to let me know if he ever saw the dog get loose on his property (he would dig under our fence) and that if the dog was chasing his livestock that I would completely understand if he had to take lethal measures to protect his animals. We then rehomed that dog because he was so much trouble and really didn't belong with our family anyway. I was horrified though when I saw he had gotten out and went looking for him immediately.Josie, great eye!! That is exactly why she is Pet quality-- but not only does she have split wing something terrible, but the ends are twisted and she has a bit of a wry tail. It's not severe, but enough so, that I'm not going to breed her. She's in with the girls right now and happy as a clam. I have no need for her, but don't really HAVE to get rid of her either. Unless someone really wanted to take care of her. These guys just don't eat much, so it's not a big deal to have a few extra hanging around. Glad you found a nice home for your sebbie ganders! I'm sorry about the people hanging around. But if they are going to fix the foundation..?? That would be pretty nice to have done? Maybe you can talk them into painting your baby room, too!
--oh and I forgot, I guess I have TWO pet quality hens! LOL I forgot about Yoda! She has gold leakage on her chin. I can't use her either. But they are great with chicks. She molted out gorgeous, it's such a shame I can't use her either. I have toyed with the idea of selling her to someone who is starting a Blue Partridge project. She'd be great for that.
Thank you. I do know how to load.I'm still trying to remain calm. And still debating on talking to my neighbor or just doing what I will and be done with it. I don't think he'd offer to pay anyway, I know this guy. I'd rather get rid of his dogs and end the problem. Ive never threatened to shoot them before-- but I know my neighbor down the road with calves certainly has. He'd never suspect me. And even if he did, I have every right, and his dogs have no business being over here. His dogs have a history of chasing people and animals (like horses and cattle) and people all hate his dogs. Still stewing over here.......
