Those little polish are so cute. I am thinking of getting red ranger meaties just the min. to try. I need to find a butcher or processing place, I don't want to do that part. I may have to. This breed lays eggs I guess if I chicken out I could keep for eggs. 
Hey everyone. I'm in the Alexandria area. I just put down my last laying hen.Something has been picking them off one or two a day. After trying everything else, I finally locked them up (down to two hens and two roosters) and the "monster" still ripped a hole in the roof and took one hen out through a three inch tear. My roos are beat up and bloody, and my last hen was literally skinned alive.
SO....no more chickens in the pasture for a while. I'm moving them right next to the house and making some changes to the pen.
Does anyone know where I can get started pullets or even older hens still laying? Like I said, I'm in the central LA area, so I'd like to find someone nearby. I'll get chicks to start over with, but I need some girls to give us eggs until then. We are NOT eating store bought eggs (y'all know how it is!).
At this point I'll take just about any breed!
And btw, I'll gladly give you some rir roos!
TOo CUTE!!!!!!Water cooler chat time.....And then there if FACE FIRST nap time! Lol!
You should post these on the DYI Show Me. your Inventions thread.I got ducklings and chicks from Tractor Supply a few days ago, and the ducklings were making a horrible mess with the waterer. I'd change the bedding only for it to be soaked twenty minutes later. The chicks were getting wet and everything was stinking. So, I started doing some digging and came up with a solution. I took a small plastic drawer from walmart and turned it into a water catcher.I de-assembled the drawers to just the top drawer and its case. It was easy, since they just snap apart. (The bottom two drawers can't be used, since they don't have a top. They just snap into the drawer above them.) Then I scored the top at an indention then ran the sides until I was able to snap a square out. I took hardware cloth and zip tied it underneath to the opening, making sure to cut around the corners, since they are what connect the lid and the case together. I then cut the excess zip tie off (make sure it doesn't make a sharp edge) and turned it to face up and inside. It wouldn't face down, because the zip ties in front the drawer prevented it from opening. This left me with a box to place my waterer on, that will catch spilled water which then can be removed by sliding the drawer out. The drawer itself had plastic catches on the side to prevent it from coming completely out. I just cut those off with a sharp knife. This isn't necessary though. It's short enough for chicks and ducklings to hop onto, and has worked fabulously. There is only a very small amount of water that gets splashed onto the newspaper. I also started on a brooder for my little sister!
It's about 4' at it's peak and 30 inches in length. I can't remember the width at the moment. After the pictures I added two supports for the floor, which will be hardware cloth. We've been remodeling for years, and have a lot of leftover wood of various types. All the wood came from that. I also found a custom drawer that we had ordered that was an extra. It fit perfectly! It's not everyday you get that kind of luck. I'm going to attach it beneath the floor to catch whatever falls. The back will be wood, and I can't decide yet if the sides will be solid or supported hardware cloth. The front will have a door in the center surrounded by mesh, and it will all be painted and spruced up. I had to by hardware cloth and nails, so it has only cost about $20-$35. My sister's extremely excited.
She'll be able to raise chicks until they're old enough to come to the barn, then she'll get some more and start over.
Way, way, way ahead of me.I did some gardening today.
Got seedlings in a bed, covers ready, cleaned up rabbitry, fertilized and bagged some up for later. Collected 25 gallons fresh rain water and filled the barrels for the rabbits and chickenspleases me to use rain water and I often use pond water to water potted veggies. My asparagus bed is coming back to life too! Yay!
Arugala in
Couple rows of rainbow chards Mmmmm
Have dill, oregano, cuban oregano and cilantro going in the herb garden
Strawberries & peaches coming
It was a full day!
