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

[Cpolanco3]

I'm not building the coop first cause i already built one here where i'm renting... I'll just need to move it. AFTER we're settled it, we'll build a bigger one. The one i have now is only good for about 5 hens.... or it can be a grow out pen in the future. I had originally started with 4 pullets, but one got put down after a nasty possom attack and another disappeared very mysteriously after animal control showed up at my rental house telling me that unless i moved two blocks over i couldn't have chickens. D'OH! I guess its time to move. I took the remaining two to a farm but kept my mouth shut about the eggs i had incubating. I had a miserable hatch though, only 2 hatched, one was a quiter and the other 12 eggs were clear.

It works out a whole lot better anyhow since hubby also wants a whole menagerie. He's been enabling my ideas of goats and pigs and the only thing he's kinda iffy on is my cow. So.... we'll have to just wait until next time he gets deployed to get it bwa ha ha ha.

claudia

edited to add that he also wants turkeys, peafowl, ducks and geese.... AND THEN and only then will he let me get the guineas.

 

[Tomtommom]

Trouble with things like a single cow is that you have to have it pregnant every so often, or you wont get milk. Big eaters too.. I love cows, they're adorable.. but a lot of work.

 

[hillfloweranch]

I'm not building the coop first cause i already built one here where i'm renting... I'll just need to move it. AFTER we're settled it, we'll build a bigger one. The one i have now is only good for about 5 hens.... or it can be a grow out pen in the future. I had originally started with 4 pullets, but one got put down after a nasty possom attack and another disappeared very mysteriously after animal control showed up at my rental house telling me that unless i moved two blocks over i couldn't have chickens. D'OH! I guess its time to move. I took the remaining two to a farm but kept my mouth shut about the eggs i had incubating. I had a miserable hatch though, only 2 hatched, one was a quiter and the other 12 eggs were clear.

It works out a whole lot better anyhow since hubby also wants a whole menagerie. He's been enabling my ideas of goats and pigs and the only thing he's kinda iffy on is my cow. So.... we'll have to just wait until next time he gets deployed to get it bwa ha ha ha.

claudia

edited to add that he also wants turkeys, peafowl, ducks and geese.... AND THEN and only then will he let me get the guineas.

I liked the .."wait till he deploys again!"

 

[ozexpat]

In Cauayan better to built is a cement water tank specifically if you live along shoreline area. My father before use to erect cement made culvert into a water storage tank. Five culvert of 3 ft height is already fifteen ft high. Enough too supply water through pipeline in a bungalow type house.

indeed Rolito. Cement works fine. So does plastic. The Best Tanks are great but pricey. I have to save the one up high.

Ideally I would like 1000g of rainwater in a concrete tank to water garden. That about 6'x7'x6'. The cement alone for a tank would be 12000pesos. With Steel, sand, gravel and labor close to 35,000. 20x55g drums would be 16,000. I have to price a Best Tank

 

[ozexpat]

Update from Cocobeach

The chicken mission hatch

DATE SET

set

type

day 8

lock down

DUE

HATCHED
7-Jan-14

26

mutt

23

23

28-Jan-14


11-Jan-14

24

mutt

20



1-Feb-14


15-Jan-14

20

mutt

17



5-Feb-14


19-Jan-14

16

mutt

13



9-Feb-14


23-Jan-14

16

mutt





13-Feb-14




102



73








Another 20-ish will be set later today.



The quail celebrated their 2 weeks today. 110 hatched. 110 alive. The 2 that had curled toes got orthotics for a week and are doing fine. Their light goes off during the day as they have feathered well but we will keep it at night for another week.



Being inspired to grow more veggies. I had asked the gang to increase the beds from 3. They spend Saturday completing 8 beds 10 meters by 1 meter! Using 2 rows per bed, thats over 500 linear feet of rows.



20 meters is just tomatoes. 40 local type plants 3weeks old were moved into one bed. I can see canned tomatoes in our future. String beans,bitter melon, chinese long beans, eggplant, bell peppers are also sown.

 

[hillfloweranch]

Update from Cocobeach

The chicken mission hatch

DATE SET

set

type

day 8

lock down

DUE

HATCHED
7-Jan-14

26

mutt

23

23

28-Jan-14


11-Jan-14

24

mutt

20



1-Feb-14


15-Jan-14

20

mutt

17



5-Feb-14


19-Jan-14

16

mutt

13



9-Feb-14


23-Jan-14

16

mutt





13-Feb-14




102



73








Another 20-ish will be set later today.



The quail celebrated their 2 weeks today. 110 hatched. 110 alive. The 2 that had curled toes got orthotics for a week and are doing fine. Their light goes off during the day as they have feathered well but we will keep it at night for another week.



Being inspired to grow more veggies. I had asked the gang to increase the beds from 3. They spend Saturday completing 8 beds 10 meters by 1 meter! Using 2 rows per bed, thats over 500 linear feet of rows.



20 meters is just tomatoes. 40 local type plants 3weeks old were moved into one bed. I can see canned tomatoes in our future. String beans,bitter melon, chinese long beans, eggplant, bell peppers are also sown.

way to go OZ! when the world ends...I'll be on a boat to your place!

 

[rolito tabujara]

Update from Cocobeach

The chicken mission hatch

DATE SET

set

type

day 8

lock down

DUE

HATCHED
7-Jan-14

26

mutt

23

23

28-Jan-14


11-Jan-14

24

mutt

20



1-Feb-14


15-Jan-14

20

mutt

17



5-Feb-14


19-Jan-14

16

mutt

13



9-Feb-14


23-Jan-14

16

mutt





13-Feb-14




102



73








Another 20-ish will be set later today.



The quail celebrated their 2 weeks today. 110 hatched. 110 alive. The 2 that had curled toes got orthotics for a week and are doing fine. Their light goes off during the day as they have feathered well but we will keep it at night for another week.



Being inspired to grow more veggies. I had asked the gang to increase the beds from 3. They spend Saturday completing 8 beds 10 meters by 1 meter! Using 2 rows per bed, thats over 500 linear feet of rows.



20 meters is just tomatoes. 40 local type plants 3weeks old were moved into one bed. I can see canned tomatoes in our future. String beans,bitter melon, chinese long beans, eggplant, bell peppers are also sown.

Save banana peel and use it as natural fertilizer in your plant. It will get rid of aphids too. Place it around every plants base slightly cover with dirt.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

to Oz!!

Question; (a thought pops up every now and then) Being that you are so close to the beach and all, I am guessing sand is a major soil component there. What are you doing for soil amendments for all of your deliciously big gardens? I know when I lived in Cuba, and the Gulf Coast, i had to contend with sandy soils and soil composed mainly of ancient coral. Not much to work with. And that was years before I even dipped my toe into growing my own compost.

I didn't start making compost till 93, and it turned out to be more successful than the little garden we had. (More fun too)

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Quote: Oz....on another note. How is the water treated for drinking after being caught and stored in the concrete tanks? Is it filtered first? Or just boiled? We are looking to build some sort of water storage here on our 1 acre, however, that project is still in the "research & design" stage. Not enough information gathered yet.
I like the idea of the culverts used for water storage.

 

[ocap]

Oz....on another note. How is the water treated for drinking after being caught and stored in the concrete tanks? Is it filtered first? Or just boiled? We are looking to build some sort of water storage here on our 1 acre, however, that project is still in the "research & design" stage. Not enough information gathered yet.
I like the idea of the culverts used for water storage.

water treatment:
Small scale, (survival mode) treat only drinking water, filtering or boiling is way too expensive to do otherwise, the easiest is a gravity powered filter, the filter canister is below the water storage bag that holds about a gallon, I have backpacked and you will not drink enough if the system is difficult, keep it simple. Oz will have other great ideas on systems that are not survival mode so I now retire again into the lurking group.