LGBTQ+ Poultry Keepers

[ChocolateMouse]

Hi fam! Anyone on the east coast doing any prep for Isaias? We’ve got 2 pretty heavy mobile coops that I’ve anchored down (the meat birds in them will be processed in a week), and we moved them out from under trees, but is there anything else you’d recommend doing? We do have a barn we could move them to in an emergency (it would be a difficult move though), but we are in eastern mass, so it’s looking like a tropical storm here, we are on the wind side of the storm, not the rain side. Any advice welcome!!

Make sure that your center of your tractors or coops can handle weight in case a branch falls on it or a bunch of water pools up. This can be as easy as propping up the middle with an extra 2x4 or some PVC if you've got it as a temporary center post, with the base in a cinder block. Make sure you use extra zip ties on any tarps or coverings, etc.

Just gotta nail down what isn't and support what you can basically. Chances are good it won't be so terrible by the time it hits you.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Hoping it’s not too bad for you! Be careful down there. And thanks for the info and update. Do you have peeps outside hunkered down or you have them all in a non-movable structure? Thanks for you reply and advice!!

I have a shed with a coop inside, so I don’t have to worry about shelter too much. Tonight the storms started so suddenly I didn’t even know what was going on by the time it was too late to go out, so the door from the coop to the run was left open. The chickens just seemed to stay inside the coop, but tomorrow I am going to close the door and windows.

I’m expecting tornado like conditions, which aren’t too rare here this time of year, so I’m not too worried about me. Up there it sounds like it’s going to have mostly died down by then, so I would just batter down the hatches and keep an eye out for any falling branches.

 

[Stablecoop]

Make sure that your center of your tractors or coops can handle weight in case a branch falls on it or a bunch of water pools up. This can be as easy as propping up the middle with an extra 2x4 or some PVC if you've got it as a temporary center post, with the base in a cinder block. Make sure you use extra zip ties on any tarps or coverings, etc.

Just gotta nail down what isn't and support what you can basically. Chances are good it won't be so terrible by the time it hits you.

That’s FANTASTIC advice re: center support. Will do that tomorrow morning. THANK YOU!!!

 

[aart]

Yeah I know.... positive ID being the whole dang point of not just broad spectrum-ing them away! Naturally, these two cecal or roundworm eggs are supposed to be super hard to differentiate.

deeper i head into the world of parasites!

One of the biggest probs I had when contemplating doing chicken fecals, and looking at pond fish bugs, was finding pics with magnifications noted for positive ID's.
That and my scope is sh!t.

 

[Kusanar]

Lol...and I'm snickering right back because I also started with a small square foot bed and was enthusiastic enough to be seen from space. Things got bigger as I went along and figured out what worked for me and it sounds like you have excellent plans going forward. Oh and if you haven't experienced it yet, the seed catalogs that arrive snail mail in Dec/Jan really will have you drooling and make you plot and plan on graph paper (or scribbled on make do graph paper) like a mad person. Those around you will come to recognize this as gardening withdrawal and have them begging Ma Nature to bring early spring weather because they fear for your sanity.
Love the bramble fence idea, and corn in a Sq Ft bed??
What kind of horses? A couple of us have horses too.

I am currently going to try overwintering some tomato cuttings and maybe the pepper plants to put back out next year, if that doesn't go well I will probably buy seeds and start them, the ones this year were bought at walmart and I'm not super impressed.

Graph paper?? lol, I have CAD and have measured out a good bit of my property by triangulating and then plotting it in CAD.. I still need to graph over where the garden is from where I measured though...

Yeah... popcorn in a Sq Ft bed was a great idea until I realized that corn has huge SHARP leaves.... so, I have actually pruned my corn several times to remove all of the leaves that are pointing into the rest of the bed so I can garden without being sliced.... NOT putting corn back in there again, but it was a decent experiment.

I'm actually down to 4 horses now, 3 at my place and one next door because he was being beat up. The 3 at my place are Stud (Sabino White TWH percheron cross stallion), Papi (Bay and White Tobiano TWH gelding), Pippin (Silver Dapple Mini gelding). The one next door is Splash (Chestnut and White Overo Arab x Paint gelding).

Stud doesn't respect things that run from him so he picked on Splash pretty bad, so Splash lives next door with a herd of beef cows now. Pippin will kick Stud in the head if Stud tries to mess with him, it's pretty funny watching them play actually. Pip is 32" and Stud is around 16hh but Stud has been with Pip off and on since he was a yearling so the're good friends and Stud and Papi have a really weird possibly somewhat gay relationship where Stud is absolutely in love with Papi and if they are separated for any period of time will run up to him nickering and try to mount him when they get back together.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

popcorn in a Sq Ft bed

Like actual popcorn seeds?

 

[jolenesdad]

One of the biggest probs I had when contemplating doing chicken fecals, and looking at pond fish bugs, was finding pics with magnifications noted for positive ID's.
That and my scope is sh!t.

I just ordered a new eyepiece with a scale/ruler in it. Apparently that should differentiate between most.

 

[jolenesdad]

Like actual popcorn seeds?

I hope it was that candy gem corn!

 

[Kusanar]

Like actual popcorn seeds?

Yep, regular yellow popcorn from Walmart. There are 2 main types of corn, Dent corn has a small indention in the ends of the kernels and that is the type that is sweet corn, the kind you roast or buy in a can. Flint corn is the other kind, that kind is left on the stalk until the entire plant dies and dries up, the seeds of flint corn are rounded on the ends and that is the type used for feed, cornmeal and popcorn.

Different varieties have different properties, but generally a dent corn is meant to be harvested at the "milk stage" and eaten wet (rather than dried), flint can generally be popped but some varieties will pop better than others.

 

[Kusanar]

I hope it was that candy gem corn!

Sadly no, this year it was just regular old yellow popcorn. Next year I'll try glass gem corn if I can get my hands on it. There are a lot of "indian corn" varieties I would love to try. I may even try hybridizing them at some point.