Maine

My vent of the day. Thanks to Mother Nature and very poor planning by every store in existence there is a shortage of wood pellets. I do not have any other source of heat to heat the house and was down to my last two bags. I did manage to get four bags from Ace Hardware who naturally charges an arm and a leg for a bag but I did not have much choice. So now I have enough pellets to get me through to next Saturday. After that I guess I will just be cold until the temperatures rise again. I am so tired of this stupid cold and snowy winter. Enough is enough. We do not need any more snow. We do not need temperatures well below freezing.

I spent half my day trying to keep the goat in her pen. Had to steal fencing from the chicken pen that is not in use since there is four feet of snow in it. Kept breaking through the crust and sinking up to my hips in cold, wet snow. Plus the driveway has plenty of standing water to soak through boots and socks. But I did manage to raise the sides of half the goat pen but the little monster can still get out where the fence is lower. And I have no more fence that I can easily access until the snow melts. Of course once the snow melts I will not need to raise the fence.


he.gif
somad.gif
he.gif
somad.gif
he.gif
somad.gif
We were looking for pellets, last night, too, and found some at the Brewer Walmart. I know that would be a hike for you, but maybe a Walmart closer to you might have some? My husband just said that the Bangor Home Depot sold 7 truck load of pellets, yesterday!
 
Is this a sign of things to come? The winter has been so severe, and I'm sure that's probably why, at least in the short term. I'm thankful that I laid in a store of shavings last fall. Also thankful that 95% of my heating needs are met with fire wood. We only need pellets to cover during the deep freeze nights. Spring has got to come soon. I've seen a lot of mice lurking around out in the yard.
 
Sorry for your troubles, Widget! I hope pellets will be back in stock soon (like, by Saturday would be nice).

I went to the Augusta TSC the other day hoping to pick up wood shavings. The employee told me they were all out and that there was a shortage all over New England, due to all the wood going into pellets. Apparently, that shortage did not affect Waterville, so I bought the shavings there. You may have some luck if you call around.

I just found out about the pellet shortage. I wasn't aware it was affecting the shavings as well. I bought pine shavings from Campbells True Value "Agway" in Farmingdale for $5.99. I hope they are better than the ones I've been getting from TSC. I've been finding shanks in those ones.

 
Hi I just read the last couple of weeks to catch up. I enjoy this site so much. Spent school vaca week in Boston area babysitting autistic grandchild and working and shoveling. I am either getting really old or ... Ok I'm probably getting really old. I'm wiped out. Anyway , I am in southern Maine .Half hour from Sanford. My chickens are on and off eating eggs and I think usually its "incomplete" ones. No shells. The other day I got 6/6 and yesterday I got 3/6. They aren't always interested in eating them. I do need to get more oyster shell stuff. Been out for a couple weeks. Makes a difference.
We started having trouble getting pellets all of a sudden starting almost 2 weeks ago now. We were buying them cheaply by the week at Walmart for 3.90 a bag. Suddenly they were gone. Now we are paying 5.90 a bag at a pellet stove dealership in Sanford. I promise myself next year we will get 2 tons delivered and be done with it.
So many signs that spring is coming. I have plans to revamp my chicken coop and add a big run for the times it isn't prudent for them to be running around. Some of my neighbors don't love chickens!!! I'm excited but for today I will clean out the coop like I promised my chickens and them do nothing for the rest of the day like I promised myself! Have a great week everybody.
 
After all that, I forgot I have a question. I have 2 white leghorns who are getting pretty grungy looking lately. I wonder if I should wash them? Or is it because they haven't had a dust bath all winter? Finally, the only thing I have is ash from pellet stove. Could they use that for dust bath? Or would they all have pneumonia tomorrow? Crazy questions
 
After all that, I forgot I have a question. I have 2 white leghorns who are getting pretty grungy looking lately. I wonder if I should wash them? Or is it because they haven't had a dust bath all winter? Finally, the only thing I have is ash from pellet stove. Could they use that for dust bath? Or would they all have pneumonia tomorrow? Crazy questions
not sure about the pellet ash, but all my girls are looking dingy and unkempt. I think lack of a dust bath is the reason. I had a bin in the coop, but they filled it with shavings in one day and never used it again.
 
not sure about the pellet ash, but all my girls are looking dingy and unkempt. I think lack of a dust bath is the reason. I had a bin in the coop, but they filled it with shavings in one day and never used it again.
I have been using the ash from our pellet stove, but not on a regular basis, and I mix it in with the sand that's already there. It was so funny, yesterday! They were watching me mix up their dust bath and getting so excited, like they wanted to jump right in. I also add some DE, too.
smile.png
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom