Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[Life is Good!]

I have a hard shell golf bag. Its actually ideal.
. Lets just not tell the airline I dont own golf clubs

You should see the looks we get transporting his bag-pipes AND golf clubs together! Now those are fun expressions on the security faces! (Ever seen a bag-pipe through the lens of an x-ray machine? It's WILD!) Yes, he regularly gets to pull it all out - much to the bemusement of the other folks in security. He once had a to 'prove' they made noise - so he played Amazing Grace at United terminal O'Hare! That was fun. Glorious sound, fabulous song, exceptionally loud, but awesome!

 

[Roxannemc]

I wont include transportation costs in my flock expenses

The only costs for all my chickens i ever look at is my Lowes bill for buildng coops and runs...and i dont look TOO CLOSELY...Its scarey
To think it all starts with a little innocent fuzzy $2.50 chick

Finished the last 30 pages today ..forgot about your wonderful adventure! . Really great read on this sleety cold damp MO day. Ocean beach coconuts...AAAHH

In all seriousness look at all the people who were enthralled by this adventure ,enough to comment and some only lurk usually .. and it all is from the way you write You have a gift.
Maybe you are missing your calling... another Hemmingway perhaps? You might give it a shot .
You never know
Also you are bringing a whole new more tastey bigger egglaying chicken culture to your island... Not many ppl can go down in history to have accomplished that much even, Kudos on many levels to you and look forward to the new coming egg-venture

 

[ozexpat]

You should see the looks we get transporting his bag-pipes AND golf clubs together! Now those are fun expressions on the security faces! (Ever seen a bag-pipe through the lens of an x-ray machine? It's WILD!) Yes, he regularly gets to pull it all out - much to the bemusement of the other folks in security. He once had a to 'prove' they made noise - so he played Amazing Grace at United terminal O'Hare! That was fun. Glorious sound, fabulous song, exceptionally loud, but awesome!

you have no idea how I can relate to that.

I have been known to bring a few pounds of non-declared cheese with me to the Philippines - dairy is nor their strong point. TSA will always do a secondary screen on it - it looks just like plastic explosives on their scanner. Just after 9-11 I had to eat some to show it was really cheese!

With my status as a frequent flier, I have a 254lb luggage allowance. I have been know to carry what would be normally be considered ridiculous items to the Philippines - but some times its a case of it being cheaper or easier to get here. Last time I took 2 trailer wheels with tires, a set of leaf springs and a hitch receiver. The red trailer I built over Christmas is half chinese american lol.

I wish I was at OHare when Amazing Grace was blasting - we could have had a flash mob!

 

[ozexpat]

The only costs for all my chickens i ever look at is my Lowes bill for buildng coops and runs...and i dont look TOO CLOSELY...Its scarey
To think it all starts with a little innocent fuzzy $2.50 chick

Finished the last 30 pages today ..forgot about your wonderful adventure! . Really great read on this sleety cold damp MO day. Ocean beach coconuts...AAAHH

In all seriousness look at all the people who were enthralled by this adventure ,enough to comment and some only lurk usually .. and it all is from the way you write You have a gift.
Maybe you are missing your calling... another Hemmingway perhaps? You might give it a shot .
You never know
Also you are bringing a whole new more tastey bigger egglaying chicken culture to your island... Not many ppl can go down in history to have accomplished that much even, Kudos on many levels to you and look forward to the new coming egg-venture

Thanks for the kind words. I do love to write. My mother is a Librarian and is always encouraging me. Maybe this blog of sorts will get me going. It has really been fun putting the story down on paper. I now have probably enough crazy travel adventures to put into a book. I dont think I have the imagination to blast out fiction.

My coop - which was completed yesterday and I should have pics today if Mrs Oz can get them uploaded - was cheap given its sturdiness and dimensions.

All the lumber except the plywood for the egg boxes came from our trees and milled with a chainsaw. The "lumerjack" took three days with 2 guys to mill 4 coconut trees. The posts are teak, mahogany and jimilina hardwood that was culled from closely planted trees, I got the bamboo for the floor and the framing for the thatch roof from the creek next door. The Nipa thatch was 10 cents a shingle - it took 750 pieces for 290 sq feet finished. I used about 20 pounds of nails. 5 sheets of GI sheet . I bought PVC chicken screen - 200 feet x 3 ft high. Marine grade plywood 5 sheets of 3/4 and 2 of 1/2. The wall cladding of the coop are the rounded off cuts of the logs milled in another project.Hollow blocks - 90. Hinges.

Plywood

120​

Lumberjack

60​

Screen

100​

Nails

13​

Thatched Roof

75​

GI sheet

35​

Hollow Blocks

20​

Hinges

30​

Carpenter (3weeks)

90​

Total

543

​

The coop is 8 x 16 inside. with a 4 x 16 "lanai" it is divided into 2 with pvc chicken screen down the middle. There are 10 laying/broody boxes in each side. The runs extend past the lanai 16 feet so between the under-the-coop, each part of the duplex has 360 sq feet of outside space and 64 feet of inside space. I will place 24 chooks in each side.

I need at least 3 more to house just the chooks............

 

[3Dchicken]

you have no idea how I can relate to that.

I have been known to bring a few pounds of non-declared cheese with me to the Philippines - dairy is nor their strong point. TSA will always do a secondary screen on it - it looks just like plastic explosives on their scanner. Just after 9-11 I had to eat some to show it was really cheese!

With my status as a frequent flier, I have a 254lb luggage allowance. I have been know to carry what would be normally be considered ridiculous items to the Philippines - but some times its a case of it being cheaper or easier to get here. Last time I took 2 trailer wheels with tires, a set of leaf springs and a hitch receiver. The red trailer I built over Christmas is half chinese american lol.

I wish I was at OHare when Amazing Grace was blasting - we could have had a flash mob!

They forced you to eat the cheese? LOL

You should see the looks we get transporting his bag-pipes AND golf clubs together! Now those are fun expressions on the security faces! (Ever seen a bag-pipe through the lens of an x-ray machine? It's WILD!) Yes, he regularly gets to pull it all out - much to the bemusement of the other folks in security. He once had a to 'prove' they made noise - so he played Amazing Grace at United terminal O'Hare! That was fun. Glorious sound, fabulous song, exceptionally loud, but awesome!

LOL That I would pay to see. XD

 

[NovaAman]

Hey Oz... Ya know what you need just for Pretties? Some of DecoyMan beauties...

 

[ozexpat]

Hey Oz... Ya know what you need just for Pretties? Some of DecoyMan beauties...

tell me more............

 

[yinepu]

Funny you should mention it......

Mrs Oz only had to hear the name and she has been asking me to bring them. I have them on my lists - as with turkey geese. Guinea fowl , peafowl and even emu.

I did a lot of reading on raising quail and will definitely explore the market.the growth rates are appealling.

Its for the same reasons I am trying to warm my wife to bunnies.

You may want to rethink the emu
They need very sturdy tall fences and unless you vent sex them the only other way to tell if you have males or females is to have them DNA tested (or wait until they are full grown and into breeding behavior)

plus you will have to hand turn the eggs about 5 times a day by hand.. for around 55ish days (depending on incubation temp)... lol

i love my emus.. but they aren't for everyone. Think of them as being a 100+ pound dinosaur with a taste for shiny things...

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: OZ I sure hope you "aint" bald!!! he he he

 

[yinepu]

OZ I sure hope you "aint" bald!!! he he he

Oh they love jewelry.. shoe laces.. buttons.... eyes (my livestock dog whom they were raised with isnt fond of the emus ever since they tried to go after her eyes), glasses.. tools.. nails ...

pretty much if they can fit it inside their beak.. and it looks like it's the least bit appetizing (to them anyway) they will try their best to eat it


they will (usually) attack pretty much any critter smaller than themselves.. even if they have known it all their lives. So dogs, cats, chickens, quail, turkeys... squirrels.. all that is fair game.
Sad thing is they don't start out that way. Mine were raised with the other poultry, the dogs and the cats.. but here lately any chicken or turkey that ventures into their yard is stomped.. It could be that they are getting older and more territorial.
Unfortunately this doesn't make them good livestock guardians because even though they can protect their territory during the day.. at night they sleep and can be attacked by any stray dog or other critter who feels lucky.