Maine

[MEMama3]

My name is MEMama3 and I'm a nerd. Now that I have that out of the way, I figured I'd do the nerdy thing and share my chicken stats that I reconfigured today. Here are my chicken breeds in order of production (I only have one of each). I'm not sure if it IS breed specific, but it might help people that are wondering about production.

1-Red Sex Link-26.28epm
2-White Plymouth Rock-25.71epm
3-Silkie/Ameraucana-24.38epm
4-Easter Egger-22.8epm
5-Buff Orp/Australorp-21.82epm
6-Buff Orp-20.29epm
7-Ameraucana-19.6epm

 

[MustardTiger]

I did not catch the orp but I got close enough to see she is fine


I should add we do heat mostly with wood as well. We are lucky to have a house built well as far as heat retention goes and right now it is 69 in here with no heat running at all. Thank goodness for good windows! I love old houses but my bank account is happy we live in a newer (78), less drafty one.

 

[lazy gardener]

Funny you mention "6th grade girls" because that is exactly what they remind me of! And oh, how I hated junior high.

I'd be interested in the recipe. I've always wanted to try homemade detergent, but have been a little afraid to.

You'll love it. It gives the laundry that old fashioned fresh laundry scent without the perfumes! And, I think my laundry is looking "brighter." I put the recipe in a safe place, and when it re-surfaces, i'll post it, probably in the DIY thread.

I hated Jr. high too. Last kid chosen for any team sport... Pick me! Pick me! During base ball season, I was in the (way) out field, doing a worm casting count per square yard!

 

[anyasmifya]

Izzybella,

I actually made my white crested polish her own coop because I swear the other chickens & roosters are trying to kill her. She also wouldn't roost and just sat on the coop floor. Yesterday I actually put bird netting across the top of if so they can't fly in. And I have also considered bringing her inside and calling her a rare cockatoo! But I really don't want to be one of those people who has an indoor chicken, too me it just seems wrong but I am tempted. lol. Now BigBird has her own fortress! Take that jerky birds.

It is currently 75 degrees in my house with the door open. I have the wood stove going and am actually boiling a giant potato on top of it. It's always warm at my house, some people would say hot. lol

I am patiently waiting for my girls to start laying. Last year they started laying on the first day it snowed. Maybe these new girls will do the same thing.

I hope they aren't laying somewhere besides their nest box. Last year we had two separate nest boxes. It was a pain to get the eggs out of the one in the back, so this year we turned it into one giant nest box, I hope they use it.

 

[CoopChick719]

Do you have two water stations, too, or just two food ones? When I changed out the bedding this weekend I did put down extra shavings in the corner... I'll have to sneak out tonight to see if she used them.

Non-chicken question: what temperature do you keep your house in the winter? I keep mine at 60, but put the bedroom up to 66 at night. Husband says I'm cheap, since the neighbors keep their house at 72. To me, 72 would be a sauna!

Hi Izzybella--I have 2 watering stations & 3 feeding (2 are just small pans then the gutter feeder hanging on the wall of the pen), plus my dry feeder tubes that are in the coop. They are all different heights so the Silkies & Cochins can reach as well as the BR's & other taller birds.

We have a programmble thermostat as well but have yet to turn the furnace on. The pellet stove has been on which keeps the downstairs between 65-70, upstairs is cooler but we like sleeping in a cooler room.

Totally not chicken related, but I know that a lot of readers like to save money: I borrowed some home made laundry detergent from a friend. It works great in my front load washer. I think my 7 y.o. who has a lot of allergies is responding well to it. It's dirt cheap to make, uses borax, fels naptha soap, and Arm and Hammer washing soda. When I find the recipe, I'll post it if folks are interested.

LG--I have been using this recipe for at least 5 years in my front loader. It's cheap per wash, easy to make and gets the clothes clean without a lot of perfume. I started out using the liquid version but have switched to the dry powder which I do like better...less labor intensive. I gave some to my mum & sister. They both make it now as well.

 

[lazy gardener]

Powdered version? Same ingredients w/o the water? Share your recipe please! I didn't know you could use dry in a front loader. I have very hard water, so will probably stick with the wet, but options are nice, and I bet there are those readers who would love your recipe.

I'm working on getting the last cord of wood in the garage. It's an extra challenge with chickens and cats wandering in and out. They have a certain sense of entitlement. I swear chickens are worse than cats, poking their noses/beaks every where they don't belong.

My house is also very well insulated. We heat almost exclusively with wood, a few bags of pellets down stairs during the very cold weather- use less than 2.5 cords of wood. It's nice to have all of our winter heat expense taken care of in the summer, so we can coast through the winter without having to worry about extra expense.

 

[ashandvine]

We broke down this past week and started a fire as well. The chickens are huddling in this wind and coming to me to fix it. Sorry! Not in my repertoire of skills.

I am still struggling with these Orloff chicks that were sent. They look good but they aren't as vigorous as I would like. The car is fixed and the hoses are in, some of the storm doors on but there is still a lot to do. We gathered about 1/3 of our Jerusalem Artichokes. I was surprised at their rosy color. We ate some for dinner and they were good. Our waters are already freezing so I am feeling as though winter is about to bit my uh, tail feathers. Time to plug in the cookie tin warmers and make sure the lights are set up I guess.

Izzy I have a little Polish hen who would love some company

Also if anyone knows of someone looking to offload a couple layers my neighbor still wants a few. He had his taken by foxes or run over by jerks. Thanks.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

Izzybella,

I actually made my white crested polish her own coop because I swear the other chickens & roosters are trying to kill her. She also wouldn't roost and just sat on the coop floor. Yesterday I actually put bird netting across the top of if so they can't fly in. And I have also considered bringing her inside and calling her a rare cockatoo! But I really don't want to be one of those people who has an indoor chicken, too me it just seems wrong but I am tempted. lol. Now BigBird has her own fortress! Take that jerky birds.

It is currently 75 degrees in my house with the door open. I have the wood stove going and am actually boiling a giant potato on top of it. It's always warm at my house, some people would say hot. lol

Ok, I'll admit that the idea of having a house bird flitted through my mind - haha! I, too, came to the conclusion that I can't be one of "those" people, though. I'm glad BigBird has her own coop now!

I'm green with envy for all of you with wood as your heat source! We are stuck with oil and propane... for this year anyway.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Ok, I'll admit that the idea of having a house bird flitted through my mind - haha! I, too, came to the conclusion that I can't be one of "those" people, though. I'm glad BigBird has her own coop now!

I'm green with envy for all of you with wood as your heat source! We are stuck with oil and propane... for this year anyway.

I would look into a pellet stove. It has paid for itself already and I've only had it 3 years. I used to have to keep the house at 58 to afford the oil heat and I was quite uncomfortably cold. Now I use on average 1 bag on a moderate day and 2 bags of pellets on a really cold day. My living, kitchen and bedroom are now quite warm due to the stove, and it stays at a constant temp. I adjust it down when I leave for work, and then adjust it back up when I get home. It doesn't take long to heat back up, unlike a wood stove.
The downsides are:
1. Uses power so doesn't work when power is out unless you have a generator
2. Its tink-tink-tink of the pellet auger was annoying the first month or so of use, but it no longer wakes me up at night. I'm also so much warmer with it, that the annoying is overruled by the warmth.

 

[lazy gardener]

Re: pellet stoves. We bought ours during the year when the price of oil went through the roof, and people were standing in line to buy the few that were available, so we got the only one available at home depot. It heats well, works well, but does not have a removeable ash bin, so it has to be vacuumed out. That's a pain, to say the least. If you invest in a pellet stove, be sure to get one that has a removeable bin. Most models can be hooked up to a thermostat. We could easily do that as there's a thermostat not being used, less than 20' away, but just haven't done so as we don't use the stove that much.