Maine

[mlowen]

I got my gift beans, squash, and cucumbers planted. Spent a lot of time just watching my new pullets...they are beautiful! They are all black, so I'm calling them the Crow sisters--Lilly, Laura, and Addie Mae--after my granddaddy's sisters. Looks like we're getting that much-needed rain for the next few days. Reading (should be cleaning) weather.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Looks like we're getting that much-needed rain for the next few days. Reading (should be cleaning) weather.

I got up early so I could finish cleaning the house and I'm even mopping the floor (I hate mopping the floor) so the rest of the day I can spend listening to it rain and sewing!

I am almost finished my songbird/birdhouse quilt top. Should be able to finish it up today. Just have to finish the floors in the living room and upstairs.

 

[lazy gardener]

i SHOULD be sewing. I desperately need to make some chicken saddles. Jack really loves his girls. I may have a broody hen, which would be good, because I have too many chicks spoken for. But, I don't think she's gonna cover a very big clutch, if she is broody, b/c she's a little Dom. So, I'm looking for advice here. One of the Doms started laying on the floor in the brood chick area I built in the coop. A couple of other gals have added a few eggs. I think the first egg went into that area around 5/20. I dated all the existing dom eggs on the 25th, and there have been 1 - 2 Dom eggs added since that date. Yesterday, I noticed that some of the eggs were moved from the corner that they were laid in. This morning, all of the eggs have been moved, and she's hunkered down on them with her tail tucked into a little tiny corner at a stud at the middle of the wall. So, given that the eggs are moved, and she did not get up for breakfast, what do you all think? I hope it's not the same Dom who sat golf balls a month or so ago, and abandoned the nest when I gave her eggs that were in the process of hatching. Even if it is the same Dom, I may let her go and see what she does, b/c when I gave her the pipping eggs, she'd only been on her golf balls for a week or two, and I moved her the day before giving her the pipping eggs. So, basically, I know I did everything wrong with her.

So, if she sets the nest all day today, and tonight, my plan would be to slip about 8 fresh eggs under her tomorrow night. Otherwise, would you leave her completely alone, on the floor? Would you toss in some loose hay for her to arrange to her heart's content? Would you give her a box for some privacy? It would be very easy for me to just close the door to that broody area, and put in some feed and water. It's about 3' x 4', and 3+' high.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

If it were me I'd just leave her be, and when she got up to poop and eat I'd swap her eggs with (premarked) ones you want her to hatch. My broody girls don't get picked on too much, though.

You'll need to check the nest daily if possible to remove non-sanctioned eggs. My broodies let me lift them up to inspect.

 

[suzMEchicks]

This is my ChiChi. She's so calm and loves to be held and will lay down and cuddle with you. Wish the other 11 were like her [/quote]
what breed of chicken is this? I have 2 little ones that look like this one. Sorry I am computer challenged!

 

[diana507]

Chichi and my other 11 are Isa browns.

 

[buckabucka]

Well, I should've been sewing AND cleaning yesterday! I did start on the kitchen, but then we froze asparagus and made a bunch of other things and trashed it. This is the time of year grades must get done, newsletters, inventory and budget for next year, artwork stripped from the walls.....
And then I come home to the seedlings crammed in their little pots.

My peppers look great also, LG. Some already have peppers on them. I start them in peat pots so I don't have to transplant up, and I managed to get them in the ground a few at a time after school. My brassicas I was faithfully hardening off, but they managed to pick up a heavy dose of cabbage worms. I don't ever remember getting cabbage worms this early, and definitely never on my seedlings. And while the beets and carrots only got planted on Saturday, I can already hear the rodents chomping away. I need to make a plan for them.

 

[suzMEchicks]

If you get a plan for rodents vs carrots let me know. Last year they deccimated my carrot crop. Like a cartoon really. All greens still there. Carrots gone!

 

[IZZYBELLA]

What did your questionable broody end up doing, LG?

I have a broody myself! This is the same one who attempted (unsuccessfully) in the dead of winter. I got 6 fertile eggs from a farm down the street and set them under her Saturday. She is in the box that all the others lay in, so she keeps stealing additional eggs that get laid. It is very cute to see her rock them under her. Other than removing the unmarked ones, I'm just going to leave her be and see what happens! If she does make it closer to hatch, I'll have to figure if I should move her or somehow block off the others/build a shelf to protect the chicks from falling.

My garden is planted, but later than I had wanted. About half of my beds I dedicate to perennials that my bees appreciate. As for veggies, I am most excited about the asparagus bed that I'm trying to get established... we shall see.

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks for asking Izzy. She's still frequenting the spot. It appears that she is playing with the eggs. One day, they'll all be in a pile, the next day, several of them will be rolled off to the side. I need to mark the new Dom additions. I keep taking the ones that obviously aren't Dom eggs. As they age out, I'll take out the oldest ones, and cook them up for the flock. If she doesn't get down to business in an other week, I think I'll break her. If she does get serious, I'll take the old ones and give her a fresh batch, so they'll all be started on the same day. I THINK I had excellent results with my gender selection experiment. Of the chicks I kept, I THINK there were 2 roos, and 7 pullets. (3 of those were later sold) Of the first 10 of that batch that went to a new home, it looks like there are quite a few pullets... more than 50%. I'm still waiting for a final count on that 10. So, based on that info, I plan to hatch under a broody: eggs that have been shape selected to favor female chicks.