Maine

[dowgirl71]

Busy weekend! Swept, raked & bagged 9 feed bags & 1 large contractor bag full of dried grass & leaves. Discussed w/DH...again...storage of said bags of bedding in 1 of the 2 garages we own. Said it would be nice if I could get even a 4 x 4 spot in one of the garages for MY stuff! He told me I could store it in our 5th wheel camper!! That man!! I'm just going to start stuffing bags in any nook & cranny. Scored a 30 gallon trashcan full of wood ash from the new neighbor who has a wood burning furnace. I told him I'll trade him ashes for eggs. My boss said he has some old hay I could use for bedding if I want it. Pretty sure I have 3 pullets laying now. And I think I have rats. Found a hole inside the pen. Gotta go buy some traps!

CoopChick, that sounds familiar about the multiple garages. My husband has 2 garages, but also has one of his tool benches in my chicken coop. Although, it is nice having the countertop space on it and I have filled up a couple of the drawers.

 

[lazy gardener]

Re: urgency for winter prep. I am feeling the need also, but my hands are somewhat tied. Until we get the coop done, we can't even think about splitting our wood and putting it in. Hubby will be ordering the roofing... as soon as he gets a final measurement. Then, we should be able to cruise along on the project without too much further delay. I also have a sense of urgency to get my food pantry well stocked.

 

[Tnic]

I think I'm coming to the same conclusion about butchering any birds. I'ts so time consuming, and find that I'd rather pick up an extra shift of work, and pay someone else to do the job. Getting rid of the mess after the finished carcasses are in the fridge/freezer is even worse than the butchering. What to do with the stuff. If I bury it, I have to cover it with wire for a long time to keep animals from digging it back up. Last time, I had lots of flies for weeks after the butchering.

Lots of flies mean lots of high protein larvae for the ladies too.

I just read Harvey Usery's book recently and he has some helpful tips on how to grow larvae for the chooks.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have his book and devoured it before I even got chicks! I like his approach about looking at environmental impact of chickens, as well as the benefits. So many folks get chickens, and keep them in a tiny run, where it turns into poop asphalt with stinky run off every time it rains. Without reading his book, I most likely wouldn't have considered electronetting. IMO, that stuff is absolutely necessary 8 - 9 months of the year. During the frozen ground months, I put up a temporary run.

 

[ashandvine]

Usery also warns about what can be transmitted to your birds this way so read some of his updated articles too. I had thought a lot about a 'chum bucket' as I was calling it and decided against it.

Rats: I read an article recently about rats written by a veterinarian and poultry keeper. She went over a lot of good information and eventually it came down to bait/poison or getting serious mousers/ratters. I live on an old farm and there's rats abound in the field and I saw a cute little frigging mouse yesterday! They like my sunflower heads I *try* to put up for the chickens as a winter treat. So... we use bait. I don't have a cat because I don't want it eating my chicks/goslings/ducks.

 

[CoopChick719]

Thanks for all the advice on the rats! I've used peanut butter & birdseed to bait traps in the past...it works! I've heard Reese's peanutbutter cups work too! I like the "get them used to the traps" theory then set them! Really don't want to use poison with all the other critters that might get it by mistake. Thinking about using my son's pellet gun this weekend see if I can get any with that. Not sure how long I'll have to sit out waiting for them. I wish the neighborhood cats would help out with this! Mine don't go outside...the road is too busy! I just found out that we have raccoons living in an abandoned house up the road. A friend lives 2 doors down from it. We think that's what got 2 of my neighbor's cats just recently.

I do use FF but my girls bill through it so it does end up on the ground. The girls don't seem as interested in it as they once were. Thoughts? All feed is kept in the garage--used to keep it in the coop but squirrels started raiding it whenever I left the people door open on nice days.

Winter prep has started here too! 5 ton of pellets were delivered Sunday--oww my aching back!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Do you keep your feed in metal cans? That's the only way to keep rodents out of it. They will find a way into the garage.

 

[Jazor]

Do you keep your feed in metal cans? That's the only way to keep rodents out of it. They will find a way into the garage.

I keep my chickens in the barn--where I don't really care too much if there are mice. I still keep my feed in metal cans though. No sense inviting them in if you can avoid it!

 

[CoopChick719]

Yes my feed is metal cans. I may be overly optimistic but I don't think they'll get in the garage unless they gnaw a hole through the siding, OSB & the Sheetrock. I'm not say they couldn't but We've never had a problem before.

 

[Widget]

Yes my feed is metal cans. I may be overly optimistic but I don't think they'll get in the garage unless they gnaw a hole through the siding, OSB & the Sheetrock. I'm not say they couldn't but We've never had a problem before.

I have four metal 30 gal trash cans that I use for feed. What do I use for garbage? All the 50 pound feed bags that I end up with between the birds, the goats and the horses.