I'm never gonna get an egg!!!

[Crooked Chicken]

I've got to climb up into my coop to do anything, my neighbor and the road have seen my better side waaay too many times. Went grocery shopping Friday night before the roads froze and had a total strange man pick a feather out of my hair in the checkout....awkward.

No, haven't seen Killer Tomato....

That is too cute having someone pick the feather out of your hair!

I think I got on my coop for the 2nd and last time last week. When the guy re-roofed it he didn't leave much overhang and I think rain leaks in on the west side. I put up some metal flashing to direct the water onto the plastic patio roof panels. Unfortunately, I pre-bent it in the garage and changed my mind once I got on the roof, so now it's all mangled. lol He also didn't put the fascia boards on. I tried, but not much to nail it to. I'll have to think of some other way.

It is super windy here today. A few large branches already came down today. I put a couple short pieces in the run. I was eating my lunch and decided I better get out there now and put that screen up. I kind of quick slapped it up there and stapled it. It does seem to cut down the wind though. I scared the heck out of my chickens with all that banging with the stapler and the screen cloth. I took them a couple of small cups of dry corn and birdseed and tossed it in the run to get them out there and not be scared. It worked.

I'm sure glad my babies don't care that their home isn't the prettiest around.

 

[Chickassan]

Looks good to me CC, and as long as they're warm and dry its good to them too. Been a decent day today, the snow has about melted got my one Christmas vice in the mail an ugly sweater pretty dang good day. My girls are all dirty as sin from rooting around in the muck but it happens.

No, haven't seen Killer Tomato....

That is too cute having someone pick the feather out of your hair!

I think I got on my coop for the 2nd and last time last week. When the guy re-roofed it he didn't leave much overhang and I think rain leaks in on the west side. I put up some metal flashing to direct the water onto the plastic patio roof panels. Unfortunately, I pre-bent it in the garage and changed my mind once I got on the roof, so now it's all mangled. lol He also didn't put the fascia boards on. I tried, but not much to nail it to. I'll have to think of some other way.

It is super windy here today. A few large branches already came down today. I put a couple short pieces in the run. I was eating my lunch and decided I better get out there now and put that screen up. I kind of quick slapped it up there and stapled it. It does seem to cut down the wind though. I scared the heck out of my chickens with all that banging with the stapler and the screen cloth. I took them a couple of small cups of dry corn and birdseed and tossed it in the run to get them out there and not be scared. It worked.
View attachment 1207278
I'm sure glad my babies don't care that their home isn't the prettiest around.

 

[apryl29]

Glad your mom's hip replacement went well. Not sure how they could have missed the necrotic joint, but that does sound rather painful. My knee is feeling great at the moment -- I think those shots are wonderful. Too bad they won't give them very freely.

Yes, the bag balm application has a soothing affect on my boy too. I rarely see him relax as he's always on alert. But when I hold him and massage the ointment onto his comb, wattles and ears he closes his eyes and his head lowers -- especially the ears.

I love the heated bowls - they work great. I wish those ducks wouldn't take a bath in it though. When all of the regular bowls are frozen, the heated bowl in the run gets turned into a big mud pie.

I can see you now -- laying there reaching through the pop door. I've done it myself because I was too lazy to go around. And yeah, always seems to be the time you dress somewhat acceptable to go out and then end up crawling around or sitting on chicken poop. You sound a lot like me -- making the daily check around the coop for signs of varmints and trying to think of what am I gonna do when blah blah blah happens.

I bought some of that shade cloth.screen material a few months ago and was going to wrap part of the run with it. Not sure how well it will work, but hoping it will help keep the wind down a bit and maybe keep a lot of snow from blowing in -- if it snows.The plan was to sew dowel rod pockets like for curtains and use some hooks to attach them so they can be removed and stored later. Now I think I might just nail or staple it....

Can't wait to see your holiday photos! heee heeee

I never thought to put it on his ears! I'll try that tonight. It's a balmy 20 degrees here right now. SOOOOOOOOoooooo cold! I went to put the screen up during my lunch break and got 1 side up and I'll have to cut open the run to do the rest later tonight before it gets dark. I just use pull ties to hold it on. I wish I'd gotten a larger tarp. I got the smallest one, 8x10 and it was $20 on sale (before tax). My run is almost 14 feet wide. I really just need it to cover the space right behind the coop which is 8 feet wide, so the snow that falls directly on it will settle on the tarp and hopefully be blown off the edge instead of falling into the run. I could always get a bigger tarp later when they're on sale that will cover the 14', but something is better than nothing at this point. They were not happy to see the snow this morning and I ended up shutting their pop door when I went to lunch. Thankfully the temp inside their coop was in the upper 20's so that makes me feel slightly better. I also ended up covering the one vent b/c snow was blowing in again. And there seems to be a gap at the bottom of the door that had snow blowing in so I'm going to have to figure out something to do with that, either a bottom latch, or more likely put a foam strip over it.

Did you guys get hit with the 'clipper' that came through? We're getting tons of snow and it's super cold now. It's actually pretty ridiculous. I drove to one of our branches about 25 miles from here and saw so many cars in ditches along the way back. Very windy. I didn't expect it to be so bad b/c they are south of here and usually have nothing when we're buried farther north.
I'm somewhere around where the red circle is. It's usually kind of iffy whether or not we get hit w/ the messy gross stuff or not.

What do you guys do when it snows? Just leave the pop door closed, open it? I'm not sure if I should just leave it open, close it, or if there's a certain temp outside w/ the snow that I should keep it closed. Part of it is also that I don't really WANT to go outside to open it if I don't have to...

 

[apryl29]

And I forgot... last night my little llama decided to do a dance in front of the trail cam. I have to pull the card this evening to see if it caught her. Chances are she was too close, but if not I'll be sure to share them. lol

 

[CABINHOLLOWNC]

I didn't notice the jail sign. LMAO.. I need a sign like that for Odin's cage.

LOL!!! What can I say...when we were building the coop I was like...I know my luck...I'm going to need a jail because I sure I'm going to need to separate someone! I do have to say that they work perfectly for integration! We have integrated all of our 14 week olds with no issue what so ever...they all walked out of the Jail and Hospital and everyone was like oh look you're out. The one dumb Faverolles boy thought it was a good idea to challenge Esmarelda...it was hilarious...he fuzzed up on her and she laid into him then Zaffer saw what was going on and came over, Esmarelda gave him a look as if to say... "I got this". Zaffer said OK girl and wandered off like the good boy he is!

Little Tiny decided to give up the goods finally!
A little light blue egg! She was so proud of it! I didn't have my phone with me to snap a picture.

 

[Chickassan]

I'm pretty sure the faverolles will be the death of me, Lulu got a banana sticker on her face "it was stuck on my pants she pecked it off" and proceeded to freak out ran full speed into the side of the rain barrel and knocked flat on her butt. I'm hatching more in the spring, I'm obviously crazy.

 

[Crooked Chicken]

I wish I'd gotten a larger tarp. I got the smallest one, 8x10 and it was $20 on sale (before tax).

Did you guys get hit with the 'clipper' that came through?

What do you guys do when it snows? Just leave the pop door closed, open it? I'm not sure if I should just leave it open, close it, or if there's a certain temp outside w/ the snow that I should keep it closed. Part of it is also that I don't really WANT to go outside to open it if I don't have to...

OMG, $20 for a tarp? I guess I'm cheap these days. If you have a Harbor Freight store anywhere near you, they sell tarps and stuff really cheap.

No, didn't really get hit with it here. We did have some high winds for a couple of days and the temps are frigid, but never got the flurries we were promised. Several days ago we got some tiny sleet that lasted all of about 5 minutes.

Since I haven't had chickens before now I really don't quite know what to expect. I plan to open the door to the run everyday unless it is extreme weather. I'm more concerned with lightning -- it terrifies me to go out during those storms. The run has fiberglass panels on top except for about 1-1/2 feet along one edge, so they will still get rain and snow, but hopefully they are fairly well protected. This cold weather, and even the wind, didn't keep them inside. I really don't wnat them to spend all day in the coop as it will surely be extra poopy, lol.

Speaking of poop - when I was cleaning the coop today I had a coffee can full of straw/poop I'd picked off the floor. I was going out the door and lost my balance. My arm went up in the air as I twisted and I threw poopy straw all over my head. hahaha I really need to build myself a couple of steps.

I'm pretty sure the faverolles will be the death of me, Lulu got a banana sticker on her face "it was stuck on my pants she pecked it off" and proceeded to freak out ran full speed into the side of the rain barrel and knocked flat on her butt. I'm hatching more in the spring, I'm obviously crazy.

hahaha so funny -- they do pick at anything that stands out. When I put bag balm on the chickens the other day, I tired to make sure I didn't leave them too gooey. Well, the next day I saw one of the barred rocks with a white duck feather stuck to her head. She looked like one of those Vegas showgirls.

 

[Chickassan]

You okay? Besides the straw and poop on your head.

OMG, $20 for a tarp? I guess I'm cheap these days. If you have a Harbor Freight store anywhere near you, they sell tarps and stuff really cheap.

No, didn't really get hit with it here. We did have some high winds for a couple of days and the temps are frigid, but never got the flurries we were promised. Several days ago we got some tiny sleet that lasted all of about 5 minutes.

Since I haven't had chickens before now I really don't quite know what to expect. I plan to open the door to the run everyday unless it is extreme weather. I'm more concerned with lightning -- it terrifies me to go out during those storms. The run has fiberglass panels on top except for about 1-1/2 feet along one edge, so they will still get rain and snow, but hopefully they are fairly well protected. This cold weather, and even the wind, didn't keep them inside. I really don't wnat them to spend all day in the coop as it will surely be extra poopy, lol.

Speaking of poop - when I was cleaning the coop today I had a coffee can full of straw/poop I'd picked off the floor. I was going out the door and lost my balance. My arm went up in the air as I twisted and I threw poopy straw all over my head. hahaha I really need to build myself a couple of steps.



hahaha so funny -- they do pick at anything that stands out. When I put bag balm on the chickens the other day, I tired to make sure I didn't leave them too gooey. Well, the next day I saw one of the barred rocks with a white duck feather stuck to her head. She looked like one of those Vegas showgirls.

 

[CABINHOLLOWNC]

I'm pretty sure the faverolles will be the death of me, Lulu got a banana sticker on her face "it was stuck on my pants she pecked it off" and proceeded to freak out ran full speed into the side of the rain barrel and knocked flat on her butt. I'm hatching more in the spring, I'm obviously crazy.

 

[Chickassan]

Oh,laugh while you can this is your future too!