Maine

[Mainechick168]

MKandtheforce, I don't know where you are located, but it would be great if someone ran a little house-sitting/chicken tending business. I have no idea what I will do the next time I try to go away!

OH that is a GREAT idea. Someone who is dependable and likes chickens/livestock to housesit/ animal sit would be a super idea!

 

[hoppy]

I can do it. and I'm not that far away from you. I will pm.
I can even do medicating of pets (licensed vet tech)

MKandtheforce, I don't know where you are located, but it would be great if someone ran a little house-sitting/chicken tending business. I have no idea what I will do the next time I try to go away!

 

[ashandvine]

I totally think that the farm-sitting is a great idea. I have a DH who will do it but it would be nice to have someone versed in critters when or if we ever both want to go away. Which we likely never will because our dog and kids and and and.

Anyone have names or numbers of private testers for NPIP?

Hey, Hoppy- how's your ankle now?

Does anyone grow their own wheat grass? Other things? I put in some millet, rye and sunflowers for the chickens this year. What else? I will get comfrey from friends soon, as it has great medicinal values as well.

And who knew chickens would eat radishes!? Two got into my garden and pecked the heck out of my French Breakfast radishes! And at my chard and my BASIL. Ugh. Refenced this morning. (BTW chickens under apple trees are rather pretty.)

 

[MKandtheforce]

MKandtheforce, I don't know where you are located, but it would be great if someone ran a little house-sitting/chicken tending business. I have no idea what I will do the next time I try to go away!

Fairfield is a little too far for a daily commute or else I would totally be interested. That does sound like a fantastic idea though!! Maybe I should put up a craigslist ad, hah.

I'm thinking of setting up just a temporary run and coop for the four chickens I'll be getting in a few weeks. It'd buy me some more time to save my money for the supplies I need. Is this a bad idea? The farm I volunteer at keeps their broiler chickens out like that sometimes, so I figure it wouldn't be bad short-term. And now that I've found a place to work and now that I finally have a car, I can put my money toward my coop. I just hope that when I build it, I'll be able to figure out how to put a lot of it together on my own. My stepdad is going to be supervise a lot, but since he works so often, I'll still want to get as much as I can done when he's gone. Sigh...

 

[buckabucka]

The temporary run and coop will be fine, depending on how secure it is, what kind of predators you have, and how much risk you are willing to take. Mine are in my carport. It isn't super secure, - the opening has rabbit fence, with some chicken wire and hardware cloth patched on, but not covering every inch. I put some hardware cloth scraps weighted with bricks on the ground. I think a determined raccoon could get in, or a weasel that is willing to climb a little. It makes me nervous, but I didn't have many other options. I hope to have them out of there before anything bad happens to them. It later becomes the rooster grow-out pen. I'm less anxious about putting them at risk!

 

[annabananaandfamily]

Alright, I really need this rain to stay away and a few good days of sunshine to dry out my pens! My poor chickens are going to need to learn how to swim here soon. And the meaties- eww! They smell so bad right now! With all the rain, the pens have pretty much turned to mud, and with them they are constantly "adding" to it, its just plain gross. Hopefully we will have some dryer weather over the weekend so I can refresh everything. What do you all think is best to put down in the runs? They have killed off most of the grass (between the chickens and the overflow of rain, the grass in there didnt stand much of a chance.). I usually use wood shavings and have tried hay. The last time I did the meaties pen, I actually just used grass clippings from the yard and I think that was my favorite so far. Anyway, would love to hear what you all use and what you feel the pros/cons are.

 

[klf73]

I am going to be using straw in the runs for a while ...

 

[hoppy]

I use hay, sawdust, grass clippings but for wet areas, I like hay the best (and it is reseeding the area if the chickens don't get the seeds eaten first)

 

[chickenhatcher]

I have a problem with slugs after so much rain. They get in the coop and the chickens water. AND my chicken doesn't eat them

 

[hoppy]

That's probably good they don't eat them. what was that i learned on the animal channel, if it brightly colored for a bug, it's probably *bad* to eat it.
just checked, not poisonous but doesn't say they are tasty to eat. you can set up slug traps using beer in a shallow container, set in a hole so it's level with the ground, beer attracts the slugs, they fall in and drown. do this at night when the chickens are inside and locked up. don't need any drunk chickens.

I have a problem with slugs after so much rain. They get in the coop and the chickens water. AND my chicken doesn't eat them