INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

This is a photo of one of my wood chip piles from last year. The pile had set long enough that it was full of tons of redworms so on occasion I would put the electronet over there so they could dig through it to eat. Mostly, though, I didn't give them access to it last year. I just wheelbarrowed it over to the kennel run.

If they dig through the piles, they will spread them all over kingdom come - so be aware that depending on where your pile is, you might not want them to do that....and you might not have a pile anymore at all!!!!

Here you can see them working to spread the chips in the kennel run. I don't spread chips ever. Just put them in a pile and put the helpers to work.
You can also see the pile in the background.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: The tree trimmings we get include tiny stick that bagged mulch would not have. The stuff we get typically includes leaves too and is dye free as Leah's Mom posted. It also comes in large quantities not 50-75pound bags. Unless the day was a stump grinding day, the tree trimmings are FRESH wood or green. Even stump grindings sometimes include a bit of green roots and nearby grass. Over all I really like the tree trimmings and the cost is great. I can only image how much I would be spending on bedding for all of my runs and coops if I had to fill them 2-3 inches deep with the bagged shavings. Plus the tree trimmings are delivered to us. The downside is the greenness of the trimmings and the amount requires space. We have the space but a downtown small lot might not want a giant mound of trimmings in their back yard.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: The tree trimmings we get include tiny stick that bagged mulch would not have. The stuff we get typically includes leaves too and is dye free as Leah's Mom posted. It also comes in large quantities not 50-75pound bags. Unless the day was a stump grinding day, the tree trimmings are FRESH wood or green. Even stump grindings sometimes include a bit of green roots and nearby grass. Over all I really like the tree trimmings and the cost is great. I can only image how much I would be spending on bedding for all of my runs and coops if I had to fill them 2-3 inches deep with the bagged shavings. Plus the tree trimmings are delivered to us. The downside is the greenness of the trimmings and the amount requires space. We have the space but a downtown small lot might not want a giant mound of trimmings in their back yard.

Re huge piles...

If a tree place comes out, you can have them leave as little or as much as you want. Around here, they will bring it if they're working in your area because it saves them having to haul it back and find a disposal for it or store it. So if you need just a small hill, you could always tell them that. But it will still be a hill

A mountain of dried leaves is also nice in the fall. They love to spread those around too if you put them in the run. I just don't like to use them in excess as I've found that unless you have leaves from trees that dry and break up easily, they didn't break down as well. It was okay when mixed w/the wood chips, but not as good all by themselves. (wet and slippery in the rain if in excess.)

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Yes.  The wood chips would in other terms be called mulch.

But...If you purchase mulch in the bags from the store they are often dyed and may have other additives that may not be a good choice to use around the animals.

That would be why I was a little a lost. I use wood chips, wood shavings, and saw dust all interchangeably

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I just found out that a tree trimmer near me has  piles and piles of wood chips.  His wife said I can come and get all I want for free (delivery would be a fee).  Should I put this in just the run, or should I put it in the coop as well.  We have always done straw in the coop but I keep hearing people say they are using woodchips.  Are wood chips better than straw?

What area is this fellow in? If he's close enough, I might be able to help him get rid of some as well.

A mountain of dried leaves is also nice in the fall.  They love to spread those around too if you put them in the run.  I just don't like to use them in excess as I've found that unless  you have leaves from trees that dry and break up easily, they didn't break down as well.  It was okay when mixed w/the wood chips, but not as good all by themselves. (wet and slippery in the rain if in excess.) 

Now you tell me! I have been loading the Guinea's lower yard with leaves to take care of the sludge pit they usually produce. It's been great thus far, nice and solid footing even with all the rain we've been having here. D'you suppose that means it'll be alright overall? I've only have leaves in there for a week or two, so the recent weather is all I have to go off of.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

We got some work done on the duck coop today! We got the framing up for the walls and attached it all to the floor. Pictures!

The front (and blueprint to show what's going on) :

This is the other wall with a window. The window will go between the top two boards here:

This space will be covered for feed and wintertime water / shelter. The pop door is in the near corner of the coop in this picture.

The pop door space (picture didn't turn out very well...). The pop door will be about 15x15 inches:

By the way, for the windows, Mom found this place in Fort Wayne called The Wood Shack, which goes through old buildings and strips them of anything of value before they're demolished. They have LOTS and LOTS of neat old windows and doors, as well as all sorts of other stuff! We got a window that fits perfectly between the studs, and you can tell it's an old window because it has that nifty rippling effect in the glass. I love it! The other window is bigger and has split glass, just like I pictured. They both need cleaned and probably should be repainted, but totaled around $60 put together. I'm happy!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: I think they'll be fine!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I hope so! We'll see how it goes with snow this winter anyway. I think I'll gather some up to throw over the snow during the winter, too. I think the girls would appreciate that, at least.




Funny story about the leaves. When I tossed them in the Guinea enclosure, it was after dark and I had closed the coop up already so the Guineas were none the wiser. The next morning, I opened their coop and they stood in the doorway and just screamed. I don't think any of them would have come out if it weren't for one of them at the back of the group bowling them through the door while trying to get out, himself (he hadn't seen the horrifying leaves yet ). Then, they screamed for a few seconds while standing in the leaves until--gasp!--one of them discovered they could scratch them up and find bugs and other goodies! It's stuff like this that makes me wonder why people call you chicken if you're afraid.

 

[leslea]

Had a nice weekend, aside from FREEZING my toes off at the camper! Rained most of the evening. We were able to winterize, get things closed up.

IMPORTANT Sharing this event, be on the lookout for this scam! Had a very upsetting event when we got home last night. Checked my bank account and found 2 separate fraudulent charges of $59.99 each! Called my bank, they said the vendor was "microsoft' and gave me the number. Got on the phone, and without even asking my name, the rep asked if I owned an Xbox. I said no, we don't and have no interest in one. This person insisted I do, and said maybe a child or grandchild? I said, my kids are grown, and I have no grandchildren! Then he went on to say they needed to log into my pc remotely. may be a charge of up to $99 to find the problem..WHAT!?! No way!
I told this "microsoft rep" (obviously not!) that I will be calling my bank and the Attorney Generals office to report their fraudulent activity. Promptly drove to the bank and filed the claims. The bank manager feels it was possibly a small vendor that "stole" my credit card info this weekend. Had to cancel the card and freeze my bank account until its resolved! How very upsetting.

What a mess. I am so sorry to read this.

I once had my info stolen after I picked up take out from a Chinese restaurant (owned by a Korean family). Charges started showing up all over Korea.

It was very easy to trace it back to them because I hadn't used the card for months prior. I called the police and they took a report.

If you can figure out who did this to you, I hope you will report them.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

And I forgot to post these earlier, so here are some pictures of a few of the girls during free-range.

Miss Frou-Frou la splash Marans, looking grumpy during her molt. You can really tell which feathers still need to molt out here.

A good wattle scratching for the Frou-Frou bird.

Violet, my young Bielefelder, telling me she needs more food. She actually hopped up onto the feed shed when I was finished distributing the feed this morning and yelled at me because I didn't give her her usual hand full of feed. What can I say, she's serious about the feed.

Grumpyface. I'm getting that a lot lately from my girls.

Betty the Easter-egger, looking fabulous after her molt!

Love that beard!

And, well, Diana's having her usual molt. She is bare-butted like this every year.