Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

hope to see a crowd at the swap in augusta tomorrow. looking for a young rooster.

What kind are you looking for? I won't be at the swap but I have a few olandsk dwarf cockerals left. Free.

 

[blueseal]

What kind are you looking for? I won't be at the swap but I have a few olandsk dwarf cockerals left. Free.

rhode island red or newhampshire red

 

[echosrevenge]

Bucka, conifers work great for hugelkultur - you just have to plant acid-loving plants in those beds! We're using all the white pines were taking down to make blueberry beds. You can also mitigate the acid by layering wood ash and lime when you're building the bed. Its a great way to use up punky wood and brush without burning them and sending all that potential soil fertility into the air! Our land is basically a giant rock pile with a thin coating of dirt, so all of our organic matter is precious to us for soil building.

The last chick hatched, unfortunately the reason it took so long was that it had no upper beak and several other awfully gross deformities. It managed to hatch on its own (amazing, considering it did so with no egg tooth, poor thing busted out of the shell with its tongue!) but we culled it quickly since it wouldn't be able to eat or drink. It was another little black mixed-breed. A couple of the Favs have spraddle from sitting on the soapstone bricks (which are quite slick) in their cage, but a little yarn and they're on the mend. I am thinking of bringing some of them to the swap this morning with the 3 started pullets.

Thanks for all the good interview mojo! He starts Monday, the pay is CRAP but it's a company he can believe in (unlike Crapplebee's), and hell have regular hours so i can start looking for work without having to get a second car. Some things are worth more than money...like having my husband home for dinner, and not hating his life because of work!

Well, time to load up baby birds for the swap!

 

[buckabucka]

Bucka, conifers work great for hugelkultur - you just have to plant acid-loving plants in those beds! We're using all the white pines were taking down to make blueberry beds. You can also mitigate the acid by layering wood ash and lime when you're building the bed. Its a great way to use up punky wood and brush without burning them and sending all that potential soil fertility into the air! Our land is basically a giant rock pile with a thin coating of dirt, so all of our organic matter is precious to us for soil building.

The last chick hatched, unfortunately the reason it took so long was that it had no upper beak and several other awfully gross deformities. It managed to hatch on its own (amazing, considering it did so with no egg tooth, poor thing busted out of the shell with its tongue!) but we culled it quickly since it wouldn't be able to eat or drink. It was another little black mixed-breed. A couple of the Favs have spraddle from sitting on the soapstone bricks (which are quite slick) in their cage, but a little yarn and they're on the mend. I am thinking of bringing some of them to the swap this morning with the 3 started pullets.

Thanks for all the good interview mojo! He starts Monday, the pay is CRAP but it's a company he can believe in (unlike Crapplebee's), and hell have regular hours so i can start looking for work without having to get a second car. Some things are worth more than money...like having my husband home for dinner, and not hating his life because of work!

Well, time to load up baby birds for the swap!

Hmmm, this got me thinking. A neighbor wants us to try blueberries up at the end of our field (there is a natural sandpit up there, which he thinks would be perfect soil). I've tried high bush blueberries with no real success, but mostly because I let them get overrun with weeds. Maybe I could try some low bush in the pine pile, and high bush up in the field where there is no weed competition. This may seem strange, but we purchase 110 pounds of blueberries every year for personal use.

Sorry about the culled chick, Echo, but congrats to DH on the new job! I agree about some things being worth more than money. DH has never worked full time. I love having a live-in carpenter, and most nights dinner is waiting.

Someday, I would like to get to a swap. But Saturday mornings, I am toast. And then there are all the projects going. I hope to get onions in today.

 

[ashandvine]

Echo... a woman I correspond with who has kept birds for years uses dirt right out of her yard. Its less dusty than the the silica of sand or clay. She says it encourages them to dig and forage at an early age and that it gives them grit.

Hey Joanie.... I think I want a blue girl... got one?

 

[echosrevenge]

Hey, that's a really good idea...i took some of the day olds to the swap today (sold the pullets online AS I was walking out the door so they stayed home) and one of them snapped a spider right off my sisters hand! So they are definitely interested in foraging. I bet it's pretty easy to scoop the poop, too, just get a kitty litter scoop with fair-sized holes. Cheaper than buying a whack of sheets, too... Does she reuse it between hatches or change it each time? I know Harvey Ussery sings the praises of reusing brooder bedding for increased immune function, and also the praises of brooding on dirt whenever possible (provided you dont have endemic cocci)...hmmm, i will have to think on this.

Came home from the swap with a very pretty pair of splash cochins. I'm a sucker for blues and splashes, and my husband loves blues...now that he's seen the splashes, though, he lurves them too. They are both really nice and dense, the cock is downright majestic. Thought we were going to move the ice shack closer to the house this week for the grow out flock, but i guess it's a good thing we didn't since it makes great quarantine! The two roos have been crowing back and forth some, the new guy has a very melodious crow - nice and deep with a trilling finish. Really excited for some blue cochin babies! we might stick a couple of our darker Favs in with him just to see what happens - the nice thing about experiments is that they all taste like chicken!

 

[Widget]

Nice day today to get some work done outside. The birds spent most of it sunbathing. The bees were zooming in and out of the hive like crazy. The ones going in had plenty of pollen on their legs. No idea where they are getting it but it is nice to see that they can replenish their food supplies. I managed to rake out the garden and get half of it ready for planting the peas. And I also put in half the new fence posts for the horses' paddock. I do have to call Dig Safe on Monday before I can finish putting in the posts. The power line goes directly through the horses' are and while I sort of know where it is I'm not 100% sure. I just have one post that I need to put near it and with my luck I would probably hit the line.

The little ones are still in the brooder. The oldest are about five weeks old. The youngest two weeks. All are thriving hopefully next weekend I can get their outside area fenced in so they can go out before the turkey poults arrive.

So much to do so little time to get it done in. But it is so nice that it is finally Spring.

 

[lazy gardener]

Hey, that's a really good idea...i took some of the day olds to the swap today (sold the pullets online AS I was walking out the door so they stayed home) and one of them snapped a spider right off my sisters hand! So they are definitely interested in foraging. I bet it's pretty easy to scoop the poop, too, just get a kitty litter scoop with fair-sized holes. Cheaper than buying a whack of sheets, too... Does she reuse it between hatches or change it each time? I know Harvey Ussery sings the praises of reusing brooder bedding for increased immune function, and also the praises of brooding on dirt whenever possible (provided you dont have endemic cocci)...hmmm, i will have to think on this.

Came home from the swap with a very pretty pair of splash cochins. I'm a sucker for blues and splashes, and my husband loves blues...now that he's seen the splashes, though, he lurves them too. They are both really nice and dense, the cock is downright majestic. Thought we were going to move the ice shack closer to the house this week for the grow out flock, but i guess it's a good thing we didn't since it makes great quarantine! The two roos have been crowing back and forth some, the new guy has a very melodious crow - nice and deep with a trilling finish. Really excited for some blue cochin babies! we might stick a couple of our darker Favs in with him just to see what happens - the nice thing about experiments is that they all taste like chicken!

Doesn't H.U. say that Coccidiosis is endemic every where? My recollection is that he recommends exposing chicks to native populations: As long as the chicks have decent immune systems and aren't stressed out by over crowding and poor nutrition, they should be fine per H.U. I've found his book to be full of good stuff, and of course realize that there are as many ways to raise chickens as there are to make chicken soup. On the home front, my big "tractor" which is no longer a tractor has moved to it's final resting place, just north of the garden, in a close to level spot, Doors are finished, waiting to be installed, and we installed the glass board in the ceiling today. An other day should have it finished up so the chickens can move in... none too soon as a dog tried to break into their small tractor 2 days ago. I threw a hunk of fire wood at it, and it thought I was playing. Chased it off with a rake. If it comes back, it'll be introduced to a leash and stay safely in my yard until her people come looking for her or until I have animal control cart her off.

 

[buckabucka]

I can't figure out how to deal with all my chicks. 12 are seven weeks old and in the back section of my coop. 25 others are 2 weeks old and indoors in the brooder. I'd like to get them moved out in 2 weeks. I have the new 7' x7' tractor almost ready, and I'd like to grow the roosters out in there. I can't tell the sex of most of the 25 indoor chicks.
Do you think I can mix 4 week old chicks with 9 week old giant chicks? I'm thinking I could put the 5 known girls that will be 4 weeks old (when I move them) in the coop with the 5 known female 9 week old chicks, and then put a mix of 27 (4 and 9 week olds) in the tractor until I sort out the girls.

How do other people deal with this? Do you have lots of pens, or do you just throw them all together with mixed ages? This is the first time I've done more than one hatch, and I'm worried about throwing the 4 week olds in with the 9 week olds. I can't picture the tiny lavender Ameraucanas living with the giant cuckoo Marans cockerel. I suppose I could section off part of the Ameraucana pen for the Ameraucana chicks. Anyone have any tips on this?

 

[hoppy]

I actually do this all the time. I have chicks hatching every week and what I do is I have several pens. for the first 2 weeks, they are in one pen, and every 2 weeks, everyone rotates to the next pen until they get to 5-6 weeks, then they go in with the oldest chicks I have. once the weather is warm enough, that entire pen goes out together. every time I move a bunch of chicks, you will have one or 2 that pick on the younger ones but because so many are moving at once, they get less picked on as they can't get singled out as easy.

I can't figure out how to deal with all my chicks. 12 are seven weeks old and in the back section of my coop. 25 others are 2 weeks old and indoors in the brooder. I'd like to get them moved out in 2 weeks. I have the new 7' x7' tractor almost ready, and I'd like to grow the roosters out in there. I can't tell the sex of most of the 25 indoor chicks.
Do you think I can mix 4 week old chicks with 9 week old giant chicks? I'm thinking I could put the 5 known girls that will be 4 weeks old (when I move them) in the coop with the 5 known female 9 week old chicks, and then put a mix of 27 (4 and 9 week olds) in the tractor until I sort out the girls.

How do other people deal with this? Do you have lots of pens, or do you just throw them all together with mixed ages? This is the first time I've done more than one hatch, and I'm worried about throwing the 4 week olds in with the 9 week olds. I can't picture the tiny lavender Ameraucanas living with the giant cuckoo Marans cockerel. I suppose I could section off part of the Ameraucana pen for the Ameraucana chicks. Anyone have any tips on this?