fuzzi's Chicken Journal

[NanaK]

Always something to move, change, clean or...oh yeah.....add on to.

 

[fuzzi]

Always something to move, change, clean or...oh yeah.....add on to.

That's one of the reasons I want the hens to do the brooding, even though I enjoyed doing it myself last year. I have plenty of other tasks to do, let the gals do the chick raising this time!

 

[NanaK]

That's one of the reasons I want the hens to do the brooding, even though I enjoyed doing it myself last year. I have plenty of other tasks to do, let the gals do the chick raising this time!

I'd much rather let the broodies hatch and raise the babies. I love watching them hatch in the bator but watching a mama with the chicks is just so !!!

 

[fuzzi]

I bought a bale of straw on Friday, but am thinking of storing it elsewhere. Keeping it in the back of the hoop coop worked for a while, but the dampness/humidity of the air (NC) seems to concentrate inside the wheel barrow, causes condensation. And the location is below their nighttime roost, not optimal. Despite a shower curtain liner covering, droppings are getting mixed in with the clean straw.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to do "a little trimming". Uh, yeah. A little.

Before and after:
View attachment 3773436
View attachment 3773437
I could place one of my pallets underneath the lean-to. I think having the straw on top of some sort of wire rack or maybe a spare brooder crate on top of a pallet would provide more air flow and reduce the possibility of pest damage. And then a cover of sorts, like a shower curtain liner or cheap plastic tablecloth.

Done:

 

[MamaHutch06]

The rain held off all day, so I made the most of the mild weather, and worked on the hoop coop!

I found out something..my hands are not strong enough to attach wire. Even with needlenose pliers I could not twist wire around the hardware cloth tight enough to hold it to the coop frame.

So I used zip-ties to secure the hardware cloth to the coop frame and to other pieces of hardware cloth.
View attachment 3401540
Zippity-do-dah!

I'd like to eventually go back over today's work with something stronger, maybe hog clips/rings?

I secured the hardware cloth to the wood frame with fender washers and wood screws until I ran out of wood screws.
View attachment 3401548
Screws and more fender washers and more zip-ties are on my Saturday morning errands list. It's supposed to rain tomorrow but maybe it will hold off until later so I can start attaching the next piece of hardware cloth.
View attachment 3401551

Slow but steady...

May i ask how much hardware cloth you used. Just want to make sure I get enough to cover my panels

 

[fuzzi]

May i ask how much hardware cloth you used. Just want to make sure I get enough to cover my panels

I bought 2 rolls of 48"x50' 1/2" HWC due to the weight, one 100' roll would have been cheaper but I wanted to be able to handle the rolls by myself.

I did buy a small additional roll as I didn't quite have enough HWC to finish. I used some of it to secure my dog crate brooder, and still have leftover HWC for future needs.

Everything that I have read and experienced about HWC has confirmed to me that the initial expense, investment, is worth it.

 

[fuzzi]

MARTHA'S BROODY!!!

She slept in the nesting box the last couple nights, and didn't leave it all day Sunday. I figured she was going broody but decided to give it one more day.

When I got home from work today Martha was still in the box. She was sitting on a faux (plastic) egg, another egg, and a fairy egg. I removed the first two, and went inside to get some recent Sussex eggs. All were laid within the last week.

Two of those are definitely blue streaked, so they were laid by Sussex hens. The third has bluish spots, probably a Sussex egg. I took them outside, slid my hand under Martha and removed the fairy egg. I placed one of the Sussex eggs in front of her, and she pushed it underneath herself.

Here she is pushing number two egg underneath:

The third egg I pushed under her after a couple minutes of blank staring.

If it doesn't happen I'll just be out three eggs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Go Martha!
I hope she's a good broody for you.

I love to watch them pull eggs underneath them.

 

[fuzzi]

Go Martha!
I hope she's a good broody for you.

I love to watch them pull eggs underneath them.

I taped her for almost 3 more minutes before finally tucking the third egg underneath.

Rahab's yakking in the background.

 

[fuzzi]

I just read @DobieLover 's article about brooding, and the recommendation to not leave the hen and eggs in the nest box due to other hens bothering the broody.

I could move the nest underneath the A-frame roost, blocking off one end with some netting or a piece of fencing. That way the chicks would be at ground level from the start.

For reference:

The slats on the sides are too narrow for adults to pass between.