Maine

[yankeehill]

Ah, you're welcome. And my gosh...reading through your blog, you use cloth diapers also? Way to go girl! We cloth diapering ladies aren't too common these days!

 

[anyasmifya]

Memama your blog is super cute, great photos too and I love the hatching countdown timer! I so want to hatch my own eggs! I don't have an incubator though. Maybe I'll break down and get some chicks in the spring, when I see them peeping at a feed or hardware store it'll be hard to pass them up!

I kinda use sand in my coop. Our dirt is naturally very sandy here, we live near an old gravel pit. So, the down stairs portion of the coop (where their waterer and food is) is very sandy. Upstairs where they roost and have a nest box I use dropping boards and their nest boxes have hay in them. As with most things in life, their are pros and cons to them. Everyone has an opinion! Like the old saying goes......

I cleaned out the coop this morning, to the best of my ability. Frozen poop is hard to remove! My roosters comb as stopped bleeding! Yay! But now I am worried about another rooster. He just stays in the coop all day long. He hardly comes off the perch. He is now the low one on the totem pole. I think his toes may have frostbite. They looked a bit of a funny color. Ugh. I should have womaned-up and put them in the freezer last fall! Stupid roosters! They hens tolerate the cold much, much better!

 

[striperon]

Numerous studies about mastitis in cows on sand bedding have found that the less organic matter there is in sand, the lower the exposure to pathogens. And if you wonder about your sand, one study found that using a propane flame on the sand to burn up the organic matter would help greatly. As long as you are using sand without lots of organic matter, it would seem OK. Hundreds of thousands of cows make their beds on sand every day.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

They hens tolerate the cold much, much better!

Why am I not surprised? ;-)

Are you guys letting your chickens out today? It's 17 here, sunny and dry. They want to go out, but it still feels darn cold to me!

And MEMama, wow. I hadn't clicked on your blog before. You've got a lot on there, I'm impressed!! I like the homemade waterer.

 

[lazy gardener]

MeMama, so sorry for the criticism. I haven't checked your blog... but, hats off to any one who is a mom. I'll take half a dozen hats off to any mom who home schools! If I had the patience, I'd be HSing my grand kids. For now, I'm keeping my eye on the system, realizing that they are treading on the edge, and perhaps going over the edge (without my knowledge) of what I consider acceptable for the school system to be teaching to my kids.

I'm so excited to have 2 eggs today. My BSL has finally started. I didn't think she was in the running to start yet, so she surprised me. Why do I get so excited about an egg? Perhaps b/c it means that spring is that much closer. Chick-a-dees were singing their spring song this morning in spite of minus 10 degrees. I think they're a bit optimistic as well!

 

[suzMEchicks]

I love reading you guys and will check out the blog after I ask one of my kids how to do that. Don't get me wrong. I can use a computer quite well when I need to like at work for instance when I need to document. Or read email or schedule a meeting. I don't know about blogs but I will learn. Especially since you have a home made waterer?
I have just figured out that at least 2 of my chickens, the RIRs have little black flecks on their combs. I'm thinking frostbite and its my fault. I meant to get one of those hanging water heater things but my sister just puts out a bucket of water in morning and evening so thats what I've been doing and thought it was working pretty well. But I figured out today that they must be sticking their heads in the water not just sipping at the edge. You can see on the wall splashing areas where they shake the water off and its frozen. So on my next day off I will have to do something about that. Also afterI did a quick clean out of the coop I brought them some treats of BOSS, popped corn, apples. They went after that but then one of them jumped into to laying box, grabbed an egg sitting there started eating it and then it was on the ground and they shared the rest of it. They didnt fight over it they just methodically finished it off. I wonder if it was an "incomplete egg" like the last one was. No hard shell. There was another egg in that box . They didnt go after it. I wondrr if they need more protein. They get their organic crumble plus the above and greens like kale. Anyway, I go on and on.

 

[suzMEchicks]

Ok 2 more things. MEMama, checked out blog. Its great. Will be trying that waterer and making the unpaper towels and giving them to my daughters for their homes as well. Second I just watched one of the black chickens lay an egg. First time I actually saw it. They were ALL making such a ruckus that I had to go out to see who was killing who!!! I guess they were all cheering her on. She was the one I suspected might bbe having a hard time and now I know she is the one who lays a speckled egg. Its fascinating when you think about it!

 

[CoopChick719]

People get heated (pun intended) about lots of chicken rearing issues. Heat, bedding, feed, space requirements, breeding practices. The list goes on and on. I just got my first negative comment on my homesteading blog, followed by a very angry email. The post was about chicken care. I guess people don't have an opinion about how I grow my vegetables or what I feed my family, or even criticize how I clean my home, but how dare I use sand in my coop, leaving my poor defenseless chicks to drown in pools of bacteria. It's a wonder I survive long enough out there to collect eggs. You'd think I'd be dead with some illness from all the diseases I've exposed my chickens to.

Sorry, that turned into a rant and I promised my husband I wouldn't dwell anymore lol.

MEMama3, Don't let the haters get you down! Someone gave me this advice when I was expecting my first child--"Everyone is going to tell you how you should raise your kids especially people who don't even have kids. Let them say their piece, smile & nod then do what's best for you & your family!" I feel the same way about chickens. Gonna go check out your blog now!

Usually best to just take a page from the book of The Dude in situations like that.

"Yah...well...that's just like...your opinion, Man."

DITTO what Jazor said!

Are you guys letting your chickens out today? It's 17 here, sunny and dry. They want to go out, but it still feels darn cold to me!

I open the pop door & let the girls decide. Sometimes they go out and come right back in. We had no heat at my office today so the boss said, "Go work from home. I'll see ya tomorrow!" When I got home, some of the girls were in the sunroom, others were dust bathing. When they heard my voice, everyone in the coop came out too.

 

[quailtrail]

@MEMama3 I know its hard not to dwell. But like others say many feel free to say whatever on-line. You do what feels right for you! And by the looks of it you are doing everything right

@joanie_maine I didn't see any...maybe it happened early?? Ughhh I don't know. Not any worse. Maybe it is the water dipping? ?? Im going to check more this weekend. He certainly acts fine.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

I open the pop door & let the girls decide. Sometimes they go out and come right back in. We had no heat at my office today so the boss said, "Go work from home. I'll see ya tomorrow!" When I got home, some of the girls were in the sunroom, others were dust bathing. When they heard my voice, everyone in the coop came out too.

Thanks, CoopChick. That's what I ended up doing and it was quite amusing! They all went out and proceeded to scratch a one square foot hole below the frost line and dust bathe. At one point there were six of them trying to cram into the hole at once. They also appeared to enjoy sunbathing on the ramp.