Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

Atta girl Vicki!

Keep setting those traps, sounds like it's a family affair, and there will be more. Then the coons start coming too, so you'll be ready for them!

Kathy ~ Thanks for the full version of that poem. I've known too may mothers who had immaculate homes, while the babies were either raised by a nanny or planted in a playpen in front of a TV. I have one that explains my life as it is now, no more baby excuses.

Well...maybe chicken babies!

"Come in, sit down, relax, converse,

My house doesn't always look like this, sometimes it's even worse!"

 

[Ivywoods]

Way to go Vicki! Yes, you need to keep those traps set. The scarry part is, where there are possums there are raccoons. The worst chicken massacre I've ever seen was due to raccoons. Fortunately, my great pyrenees dogs keep those varmints away.

Wow! Your new barn sounds like it's going to be nice. I am determined to get mine built this spring. It will be 20 x40 on the enclosed part with a 4' overhang of the roof on 3 sides, and runs built off those 3 sides. There will be a center isle from which all feeding, watering and egg gathering will be done. I am still planning just how I want my storage, cage and brooder area.

I'm going to have someone come out and build the roof of the thing, kind of like a hay shed. Once that is done, hubby and I will finish the enclosure underneath and all the runs. That will still be enough to do for us old arthritic folks!

 

[gilavina]

Yeah...the predators are bad this year. I think it has to do with the farmers that just harvested around me...there are three farms that all hired the same contractor to dig out and reshape all of the small creek beds running through their fields. There was a bit hullabaloo about overflow and ruined crops because of another neighbors pond...so i'm afraid the predators feeding ground were disturbed and they are hunting elsewhere now. I'm not going to be letting my guard down for a long while....

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
I hope that the pens turn out well. I'm still gonna have plenty of time to get my plans in order over the winter and to sort out the exact supplies I have and what supplies I will need still. For the most part I have nearly all the stuff I'll need minus some more 2x4s and 4x4 posts and some cement mix. I don't think that it will be that expensive to build either as I have all the tools and if you saw the sheer amount of hardware like nails, hinges, locks, etc I have from my dad's stuff i sorted in the garage, you would think I was opening a hardware store. So, I figure why not put it to use!?

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
I hope that the pens turn out well. I'm still gonna have plenty of time to get my plans in order over the winter and to sort out the exact supplies I have and what supplies I will need still. For the most part I have nearly all the stuff I'll need minus some more 2x4s and 4x4 posts and some cement mix. I don't think that it will be that expensive to build either as I have all the tools and if you saw the sheer amount of hardware like nails, hinges, locks, etc I have from my dad's stuff i sorted in the garage, you would think I was opening a hardware store. So, I figure why not put it to use!?

Cool!

I think I am a bit of a salvage/junker nut. I love finding stuff that I can put to use. Adaptive re-use, I think a lot of people call it. I was looking for a tie rack or something like that to put in the closet for my belts. None of the stores around here had one. My sisters and I were at a flea market last week and I found a new one and picked it up. At the very next booth I saw an old garden rake without a handle that someone had painted and had little nik-naks hanging from it. I put the new rack back, and yesterday my hubby dug an old garden rake head out of the junk pile. I hope to have time later today to polish it up and shoot a coat of black paint on it and it will hang in my closet for a belt rack.

 

[flgardengirl]

I wish i could build a barn -sounds like such fun but I really want to move to a bigger place (acreage wise) so not really worth it right now. I am putting off buying any more animals like the goats I want etc too.

The U shaped coop/runs sounds really cool. You will have to post up some pics when you get it done!
I still have not finished those breeding coop runs. I've got my silkies in one and the olive eggers in another (although theOEs will not be there permanently).
I put my black marans roo in with the OEs so he will be safe and nothing hideous happens to him.
I still haven't even named my blk marans rooster lol. I am trying to tame him down. I let him freerange and live like a wild thing for too long. He is getting protective of the girls he's in with he tried to bite me when I put thier water in this morning. Little terd!

I was walking out in the woods behind our place the other day and found a bunch of mostly eaten eggs. There was also a golf ball in there LOL!

I bet the oppossum who took that was real suprised haha.

I think the freerangers have been hiding thier eggs again and the oppossum found them.

 

[Mountain Mel 22]

Quote:

GOOD WORK!!!!!

 

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
I hope that the pens turn out well. I'm still gonna have plenty of time to get my plans in order over the winter and to sort out the exact supplies I have and what supplies I will need still. For the most part I have nearly all the stuff I'll need minus some more 2x4s and 4x4 posts and some cement mix. I don't think that it will be that expensive to build either as I have all the tools and if you saw the sheer amount of hardware like nails, hinges, locks, etc I have from my dad's stuff i sorted in the garage, you would think I was opening a hardware store. So, I figure why not put it to use!?

Cool!

I think I am a bit of a salvage/junker nut. I love finding stuff that I can put to use. Adaptive re-use, I think a lot of people call it. I was looking for a tie rack or something like that to put in the closet for my belts. None of the stores around here had one. My sisters and I were at a flea market last week and I found a new one and picked it up. At the very next booth I saw an old garden rake without a handle that someone had painted and had little nik-naks hanging from it. I put the new rack back, and yesterday my hubby dug an old garden rake head out of the junk pile. I hope to have time later today to polish it up and shoot a coat of black paint on it and it will hang in my closet for a belt rack.

I love junk and recycled stuff too. We built most of our entire breeding coops (its 6 connected all together) from salvage wood from a house that got torn down. Some of the back walls are tongue and grove wood slats. A little beat up but perfectly usable and free lol. So far the only thing we have had to buy are latches/locks, screws, nails, paint and a few rolls of roofing to cover the plywood on top. We pulled hinges off the doors we got so luckily didn't even have to buy those.
Good find on the rake. What a clever idea. I love it!!
I found an old hoe that the handle came off of. I found it works perfectly for scraping out the rabbit cages and small chicken hutches with partial wire floors. So then I cut the handle halfway off another old hoe and it works perfectly for scaping out the nest boxes when I want to replace the litter.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
I hope that the pens turn out well. I'm still gonna have plenty of time to get my plans in order over the winter and to sort out the exact supplies I have and what supplies I will need still. For the most part I have nearly all the stuff I'll need minus some more 2x4s and 4x4 posts and some cement mix. I don't think that it will be that expensive to build either as I have all the tools and if you saw the sheer amount of hardware like nails, hinges, locks, etc I have from my dad's stuff i sorted in the garage, you would think I was opening a hardware store. So, I figure why not put it to use!?

Cool!

I think I am a bit of a salvage/junker nut. I love finding stuff that I can put to use. Adaptive re-use, I think a lot of people call it. I was looking for a tie rack or something like that to put in the closet for my belts. None of the stores around here had one. My sisters and I were at a flea market last week and I found a new one and picked it up. At the very next booth I saw an old garden rake without a handle that someone had painted and had little nik-naks hanging from it. I put the new rack back, and yesterday my hubby dug an old garden rake head out of the junk pile. I hope to have time later today to polish it up and shoot a coat of black paint on it and it will hang in my closet for a belt rack.

I love doing stuff like that! Part of my artistic nature I guess...the term most often I find is 'upcycling'...basically the same thing you said, but probably what people have come up with to appeal to a different demographic I would guess...its the new it word in art...it usually equals quite a bit of money tacked onto whatever is being sold.

I loved that set of pens you built that you posted a while back. I love when people can repurpose things and do it in a way that looks clean and sharp like you did. To me it is worth the gallon or two of paint if it will give a uniform look. I really hope to be able to get things done efficiently and quickly in the spring. I think it should go well as I am doing prep work now and also can work on gathering materials and building other things in the winter. I just am ready to have my pens done!

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
haha so if you run across a possum with broken teeth you'll know he had a run in with the planted golf ball eh?

Smart girls...booby trapping their nest! Good job girls!! hahaha