Hudson Valley NY *chat thread*

[Coupe]

Im actually really surprised my chickens havnt had frostbite! They are the ones walking around right now in these freezing temps! The ducks are hiding in their coop.
Iv been doing the deep litter this winter , which seems to be working well..im really just dreading the spring cleaning!! I have a tarp up on the one side of the duck pen to block some wind..I dont have anything for the chickens tho..they seem to be just fine.
With Mr.Blue, did your kids have any red on, when he went after them?

 

[charlie14]

I strategically placed hay bales around key areas to block the wind. It seems to work well, it keeps the chicken nipples from freezing over. I make grocery bags out of the empty feed bags. They are actually in high demand around town, but nutreana changed the bag to UGLY! I will try to post a pic.

 

[charlie14]

 

[Coupe]

Oh my ! Thats so cool! I feed dumor from tractor supply...idk if you can use the bags, but ill save mine if you would like! Ever think about selling them back to the feed store? Maybe theu would buy them from you and re-sell them!

 

[charlie14]

Hàha I thought about calling the feed company and telling them that the new bags were too ugly to repurpose. I don't want to sell them, it is fun to make them for friends but I would hate to have to do it.

 

[Coupe]

Lol I guess having to do it, would take all the fun out of it!

 

[carress]

I love the TSC parking lot meets. I hope we can meet up there sometime. I would like to pick up a few pullets this Spring when the meets start up again even though I'm a little leary since my rooster seems to be forming opinions on who he likes and dislikes these days. He chases my son but he's 8 and can be a little rambunctuous and then there's Murphy the puppy who just freaks the chickens out as soon as they see him. But yesterday, I asked my DD (she's 24) to bring up some treats. I thought I heard her screaming (she's a drama queen so it didn't really surprise me she was screaming) but when I looked out the window she was running and Mr. Blue the Roo was in hot pursuit. She said he attacked her. After I stopped laughing I realized he's turning into a beast. Not good!

Anyway...80 chickens! Wow! You must get a ton of eggs! Do you have any other livestock?

 

[LSzajko]

Quote:
If I can catch him I'll try carrying him around. He and his harem are shy so I don't handle them that much. Let me know if you hear anything about a TSC swap? Unless I actually see a flyer at TSC or read about one here, I tend to miss them. We go to both Chester and Highland. Can't take this frigid weather anymore...really looking forward to Spring!

 

[JerseyHen]

I have had mixed results with roosters. I had 14 at one time there for a while. They were like a gang of outlaws harassing the hens. Most were just "not friendly", but there were a few who were downright aggressive. They all went to freezer camp. Prior to that madness I had 3 brahma roosters. All from the same gene pool. 1 was fond of attacking my daughter. 1 was fond of attacking company. I tried everything to rehab them (if you look through the forums there are tons of threads on mean roosters and how to "tame" them... no luck. Both were rehomed after they ganged up on my 7 year old and had her pinned to the coop in fear. They are just doing what they think they should do to protect the flock or they think the person is one of their harem (the one used to wing dance my DD) or they feel like you are competition for the harem or they are just trying to establish pecking order. So, my 2cents... they might recognize you as alpha, but it is probably not likely that they will recognize others as part of the pecking order and they will push it until they feel the pecking order is established. This might sound harsh, but I have no time for nasty roosters, there are too many sweet ones available and looking for homes. As the old saying goes "the meanest roosters make the best dinner guests".

 

[LSzajko]

Quote:
No~ they weren't wearing red. Sam and Zach don't interact with the chickens so I think Mr. Blue was protecting his girls. But if he continues to be aggressive, he's gettin' a crockpot bubble bath. He's so huge it's amazing he can waddle fast enough to catch up to anybody. And I know what you mean about the DLM. It's definitely going to be a big, messy job. I usually don't mind cleaning the coops. It's the contortionist positions I have to get myself into in order to get inside to clean them that I have a problem with. But...I LOVE the smell of the fresh wood chips and hay when they're done ~ I hate to let the chickens back in! I'm making a homemade cleaner with white vinegar and orange peels to wipe down the inside of the coop. It's supposed to repel bugs and it's non-toxic. I just hope it works!