Michigan

[YakLady]

Olive Hill, sorry to just now be answering your question. Just can't get on here very often nowadays. We raise our yaks for meat. Some people raise them for wool, some for trekking, some for meat or all of the above. Rarely does anyone here in the USA attempt to milk them. There's just not much milk there, and their teats are tiny.

Silly Chicken, the bee keeping is going well. I popped open the hive to make sure the queen had exited her cage. She had, and there were already signs of egg laying. The workers are already flying in with pollen. It's funny to watch them land on the landing board with their little legs all puffed up with the yellow stuff. We noticed last year that there is a feral colony somewhere around the roof of our house. We watch them all the time, but they never bother anything. We've decided to build a small hive and set it up on the roof to try to lure them into it. We've been reading about various ways to do this, and it seems as if it takes about 8 weeks for them all to move out of their current location and into a new hive. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

 

[Ferrret]

Hello all. Sorry for no response back to my questions about letting chickens out. Its good to know they don't need a precise schedule for being let in and out.

BF still thinks I should be up at the crack of dawn to let them out to roam.

Coop building slowed down after it got mostly assembled. All we need now is to finish painting, add a people door, roosts and nest box. Gotta build a run for them too, but we want the coop finished before we do that. Painting is a tedious task that I have grown to dislike but I know its to protect the coop so I'll do it. My dislike for it has nothing to do with the fact that I get more paint on me than the coop sometimes.
The whole coop is getting a good coating of white weather proofing paint to keep water and whatnot from causing problems, and when everything is good it will get a more appealing outer coat of probably a beige-brown color to match the house.
Should the inside of the coop or nest boxes be painted a darker color or is white okay?

When everything is done I'll get pictures of the coop to show it off.

 

[Huston's Happy Hens]

Hey Sam - have you put your wellies in with your flock yet? We've let our gals out to free range daily and the LOVE it - but havn't introduced them to the flock yet....move the SLW's from Ellen in on Sunday night and it was the smoothest transition yet! Those SLW's are the sweetest birds!
I'd like to free up the coop the wellies/ee's are in - thoughts? What are they 7 wks old or there abouts.....

 

[SillyChicken]

Quote:
I would imagine since the birds laying cycle is so dependant on light exp during winter... a lighter color (white) would best to help reflect the light and keep it bright. (inside nest boxes, maybe darker would be fine).

 

[Ferrret]

Thanks SillyChicken!
I'm thinking the inside of the nests will be a brown color. Maybe I'll get creative and paint in some little leaves and make it look like a nest under a bush!

BF is gonna look at me cockeyed and call me crazy if I suggest that!
I had been thinking about painting the ceiling of the coop a sky blue. I have read a lot about hotels and businesses painting areas in shades of blue to discourage bugs from making nests and homes there.

 

[Opa]

Huston's Happy Hens :

Hey Sam - have you put your wellies in with your flock yet? We've let our gals out to free range daily and the LOVE it - but havn't introduced them to the flock yet....move the SLW's from Ellen in on Sunday night and it was the smoothest transition yet! Those SLW's are the sweetest birds!
I'd like to free up the coop the wellies/ee's are in - thoughts? What are they 7 wks old or there abouts.....

I've seen and heard of lots of problems up to and including death, with mixing flock of disparate ages and size. I won't be adding mine to the flock until at least 14 weeks.

One of the blue bantqam Orpingtons that hatched on Monday

 

[Huston's Happy Hens]

Quote:
I've seen and heard of lots of problems up to and including death, with mixing flock of disparate ages and size. I won't be adding mine to the flock until at least 14 weeks.

One of the blue bantqam Orpingtons that hatched on Monday

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/10233_reese_deck_022.jpg

Thanks Sam - CUTIE PATOOTIES!

 

[Opa]

Anyone have any complaints about the kind of day we had today. The remod project I have going is progressing nicely, the customer is extremely happy. I finished hauling all the debris from the job and got home early. Hope had mowed the majority of the yard so that only left a small section that is very steep and she is afraid to mow and about a 1/2 acre behind the chicken coops. I was such a great day that when I ran over a rope and jambed the mower blades, I still felt it was a wonderful day.

 

[Olive Hill]

I have just one complaint, Sam. My power is out. Beautiful weather, no wind, I was sitting here on the deck working and enjoying the evening and my laptop went into power save mode and darkened down the screen. I jiggled the power cord, checked my connection with the wall socket, and then realized everything else was off too. Confirmed with neighbors down the road both ways that their power is out too and called the power company. Here's hoping it comes back on soon. I would rather not have to drag out the generator... or the coolers and ice. This is what I get for letting the kids wait until the last minute to shower before bed. Now they have to go to bed dirty. *sigh*

 

[zephyrcreek]

Quote:
That stinks! Could she have just been taking a break to eat and drink? Or was she just done? I have been trying to break 2 broodys for weeks now and they wont give up! Despite no eggs, locking them out of the nest, etc.

Grr! She has decided to set again. This morning I had opened the big door on the coop and let a lot of light in directly where she was nesting. Within minutes she was in the run pacing up and down the fence line. 30 minutes later she was still pacing, and I had to leave for work. I grabbed the eggs and through them in the bator just in case. When I got home from work tonight she was setting on the eggs that the Java hens had laid this afternoon. Now I am trying to decide if I want to give her back the duck eggs (which do much better than natural methods), or let her have the Java eggs, and sneak a few more under her that I had been collecting. I just never expected a broody EE in a million years. M\\Needless to say, I will not be opening the large coop door in the morning.