Maine

[CoopChick719]

So sorry for everyone's losses. My girls have discovered a new treat: escargot! They go ape over the multiple land snails that we have here. I can just imagine how tasty they are...crunchy on the outside with a soft gooey filling on the inside. Can't wait till fall (not that I'm wishing the summer and the garden bounty to pass) when I can let them range the garden to clean up the pests. My winter squash are setting real nice. Have Red Kuri and a saved seed from a neighbor who grows10# buttercup. Will be interesting to see what his seed produces. Have more honey bees in my yard than I've ever seen. Some one near by must have a hive. Have been mulling that idea around in my head for a couple of years. It'd be fun to have the wax to play with, not to mention the honey. Making soap is also on my bucket list. I don't know if honey/wax would fit in with that endeavor. My 6 y.o. has very sensitive skin. So a home made soap might help her out.

My girls turned their noses up at the snails here!

I was so hoping they'd like them. We have a ton...maybe I'll try them again. My sister got me started making soap. I've only done it twice so far. There was a group of us who each bought an ingredient to spread the cost out. I think we each got 8 bars of soap out of the deal. I like it because it makes my skin feel clean not like there is a film on it. I use it on my face and have had no problems with irritation. My Mum has very sensitive skin and she uses it with no problem. She even washes her hair with it (she has pretty short hair). If you decide to put oatmeal in yours, be sure to only use a little bit. We read the directions wrong and used 1 cup per soap mold. It was supposed to be 1 cup for all the molds. My husband says there was so much oatmeal in 1 bar, he could have eaten breakfast in the shower!

:

Does anyone know when white leghorns start laying? And what size eggs do they lay?

Mine are 18 weeks old and have started squatting. I think at least 1 is laying but I'm not positive.

Lazygardener, im not sure where you are, but there is a farm here in midcoast that does soap making classes a few times a year - they had one in June and one around the holidays, they advertise them on Craigslist. I haven't gone yet, but I nearly did last year (couldn't work the transportation with my husbands work schedule) but I talked to the lady quite a bit and she was very knowledgeable! It seemed like it would be a great class.

I stuck the lone chick under one of my hens that's been brooding on nothing for close on a month and shut them in a nest box together with some food and water. She's letting it under her and hasn't killed it yet, so hopefully they'll bond over the next few days and I can let them in to the general population. This little guy is a survivor! I caught him away from the hen he hatched under with two gaping wounds on either side of his neck from being pecked (on Saturday when he hatched) put some iodine and sulfur ointment on them, and stuck him under a different with the remaining unhatched eggs from that clutch. That evening, I couldn't find him and the rest of the eggs had hatched & died, so I thought he'd been offed by one of the hens. Next morning, he turned up huddled in the creep feeder with the 6-week-olds I integrated into the coop recently. So I stuck him in my pocket and he was pocket chick for Sunday, then I stuck him under ANOTHER broody (I have several) last night and shut them in the nest box with food and water. She hasn't killed him yet and is letting him crawl under her, so hopefully it'll work out and they'll have bonded in another few days. At the very least, hopefully she'll do warming duty until he can hop up to the rim of the feeder in the creep area and eat on his own - its warm enough and the rest of the chicks are mellow enough that they will let him huddle under them for warmth. I have two 12-week old cockerels that will tuck cold younger chicks under their wings at night, so once he's big enough to reach the feeder I think hell be all right. He's definitely fixed on me as a good-thing-provider, though - when he sees me in the coop he starts peeping until I come snuggle him, but he settles down when I'm out of view. I'm building fences and felling fairly dangerous trees right now to clear fence lines, so he can't be pocket chicken during the day (Sunday was my husbands day off so we could pass him back & forth, but that's only one day a week...) I think he'll make it, he seems to be a scrapper so far! I have three of this same mix from an earlier hatch, they are really pretty little birds so hopefully this little bug will come through.

Good Luck with the little guy! I hope the hen bonds with him!!

Saw the fox that's been eating my chickens!! They didn't go out at all yesterday. They were not happy! We'll be camping this weekend so I felt bad not letting them out. I was out supervising range time. DH was putting new reg. stickers on our camper and one of the girls was out back with him...Supervising. He yells out to me Are all the chickens with you? I did a quick head count. Yes they were. He said Are you sure because there is something moving through the bushes out back here! I went out back to see the bushes now moving in the opposite direction back towards the woods. Saw a bushy tail. I hollered at it as DH tried to circle around to get a better look. It sat down behind a tree so all I could see were ears and part of it's back. I didn't see it take off when DH & the dogs were making their way to the spot. It must have been going after the bird that was behind the camper. I bet they hadn't been out more than 20 minutes when it arrived around 4:30 pm.

 

[TAMMACLEAN]

My leghorns are laying bantam size eggs. I'm assuming they will get bigger since they just started. But I bought these girls from TSC during chick days. I wasn't expecting eggs until September at least. All my other chickens started early too but not this early.

 

[MEMama3]

It's raining so bad that the girls aren't even leaving the coop. That's never happened before. I just closed the pop door because they have no interest and the bedding was getting wet.

 

[buckabucka]

I know a fox comes around in the woods nearby at night, because we've seen him on the game cam. He hasn't come for a chicken ....yet. Will fox eat skunks? Our first litter of skunks lived in a hole by the wood shed. 5 babies, very cute to watch, wandered the yard day and night, and they never bothered us. After a few weeks they went off to live on their own.

The other day I heard DH scream and run from the garden. He went to lift the upsidedown wheelbarrow and found another litter of skunks under there! He pulled the wheelbarrow away with a rope, and those skunks dispersed and are usually only seen late at night. I wondered if the fox wasn't bothering us because of the abundance of other food right now, or if we've just been lucky. I do leave the chickens locked up if we are gone for the whole day, or if it is raining hard.

I've never tried glycerine soap, only the kind with lye. I don't really follow proper safety procedures. When I add the lye to the water, I kind of avert my face while holding my breath. Then I quickly put the mixture out in the shed to cool. We've tried a lot of experiments and used many different essential oils, but basically settled down to 2 favorites: lemongrass with a little patchouli, or cinnamon with a sprinkle of cinnamon powder in it. Occasionally, I'll make an orange one colored with a little annatto, but the orange scent seems to fade quickly.

One of young blue Marans pullets started laying this week. Small pullet eggs, but beautiful chocolate color. I can't wait to see what the others will lay.

 

[MustardTiger]

Gah, I would like to declare my garden a huge fail this year

It was our first go at it so I am not totally distraught but it was a big investment and the yield has thus far been disappointing!

Our big fails have been: broccoli, chard, kale, spinach and all the root veggies except for potatoes.
The successes have been: cukes, zucchini, peas (so so we need to plant more!) lettuce and it looks like the corn and tomatoes will be good too.

Can anyone recommend varieties of brassicas or leafy greens they have had luck with? we are in zone 5b.

I do thank goodness we have not been harassed by deer or other bugs yet!


Also, my direct seeding of brassicas for fall seem to be failing. Do you folks think it is too late to plant some inside for later transplant?

My chickens are out and about even in this rain. They don't seem to care! The turkeys on the other hand wont shut up!

 

[cyndischicks]

Hi everyone! Haven't been on lately as my computer keeps freezing up! My buffs decided to finally venture out on the lawn this past week end. They were so cute, now they want to be out all the time but we have quite a few hawks so they are only out when I am out there too. Not that I would be able to stop anything from happening.




Don't think they will be wanting out today in this rain! Will read back to see how everyone is doing!

 

[buckabucka]

Gah, I would like to declare my garden a huge fail this year  

It was our first go at it so I am not totally distraught but it was a big investment and the yield has thus far been disappointing! 

Our big fails have been: broccoli, chard, kale, spinach and all the root veggies except for potatoes. 
The successes have been: cukes, zucchini, peas (so so we need to plant more!) lettuce and it looks like the corn and tomatoes will be good too. 

Can anyone recommend varieties of brassicas or leafy greens they have had luck with? we are in zone 5b. 

I do thank goodness we have not been harassed by deer or other bugs yet! 


Also, my direct seeding of brassicas for fall seem to be failing. Do you folks think it is too late to plant some inside for later transplant?

My chickens are out and about even in this rain. They don't seem to care! The turkeys on the other hand wont shut up!

This is a weird summer, weather-wise, so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. Exactly what is happening with your broccoli? I never direct seed it any more because we have really bad flea beetles here.

What is your soil like? We have sand here, and unless it is raining, I need to water daily to get anything to germinate. Maybe you have the opposite problem? I don't have a favorite broccoli variety, but this year I tried Donkey spinach and was really impressed by the size of the leaves. It has all bolted now, but I was able to freeze a little.

I think with gardening, as with chickens, it is best not to think of the investment, but rather the satisfaction of growing your own food.

 

[echosrevenge]

MustardTiger, this year I've had a hard time with greens too. Chard and lettuce have been a bust, but Red Russian Kale has done well, and so have a few of the dozen or so sorts of Bok Choi/Pac Choi that I've planted.

My father in law is having huge problems with cabbage moth caterpillars right now...last year it was tomato hornworms.

Dont stress on the investment, seeds keep for years under the right conditions and if you amended the soil this year, you've got a big jump on next season. Gardening is a big learning curve, and every year is different - especially in the last decade or so. The best strategy for us has been to try LOTS of things and run with what works. This year, that's meant very few salads but we'll be up to our necks in watermelon soon. If you put up a simple hoop house you can keep sowing greens weekly until October/November - many of the "pot herb" greens like chard, collards, kale, etc get sweeter after a frost. Its not too late to plant overwintering carrots either. Dont give up!

 

[pellepeterson]

Our leghorns pushed the 20 week envelope. There are two batches, two weeks apart for a total of nine. We also have 4 BSLs. About two weeks ago, I came home and found two very small eggs, I was excited as you can well imagine. That was only the machine starting...I can tell that one of the oldest leghorns is doing her job very well, her eggs will not fit in the XL egg carton from the store that we have been saving (for a long time). The others are catching up. I have no less that 7 eggs a day, mostly white from the leggies, and a pair of browns from the BSL's.

My biggest clue was when they started to act "different". They were very flighty...spooked easy and did not want to be near us when we were in the yard, all of a sudden, they were following us around and talking to us. I was in your shoes for sure...just ride it out, it is totally worth it!

 

[hoppy]

don't replant your peas yet, they like cool weather. I've have a huge crop of chard, i don't plant spinich any more, it always bolted on me. cauliflower is really slow this yr that I asked a co worker to start some more for me in her greenhouse and even she said it was really slow. I planted my potatos (both sweet and white) in straw bales this yr, just to try, so far they are doing great and when they are ready to harvest, just cut the string all the potatos will fall right out.
I've had great luck with lettuce, my first yr that it didn't taste aweful. i planted 6 different kinds. beans are doing great. for lettuce, try new red fire,green star, coastal star romaine and tropicana, these are heat tolerant.

Gah, I would like to declare my garden a huge fail this year

It was our first go at it so I am not totally distraught but it was a big investment and the yield has thus far been disappointing!

Our big fails have been: broccoli, chard, kale, spinach and all the root veggies except for potatoes.
The successes have been: cukes, zucchini, peas (so so we need to plant more!) lettuce and it looks like the corn and tomatoes will be good too.

Can anyone recommend varieties of brassicas or leafy greens they have had luck with? we are in zone 5b.

I do thank goodness we have not been harassed by deer or other bugs yet!


Also, my direct seeding of brassicas for fall seem to be failing. Do you folks think it is too late to plant some inside for later transplant?

My chickens are out and about even in this rain. They don't seem to care! The turkeys on the other hand wont shut up!