Minnesota!

[Cluckies]

What the new house needs is to integrate with a chicken coop so I don't have to go outside to do chores.... Wouldn't that be nice.

How great would that be?

 

[Bogtown Chick]

But the thing with those Silver Maple leaves is that you mow them and they nearly disintegrate. We discovered that if we wanted them for composting, we had to rake or catch all the mowed clippings. Otherwise, they are in such small pieces we would just leave them to work into the soil for the future.

I can see that the Poplars we planted will likely have quite a few lower branches that will come off well before the trees are harvestable. They are fun to listen to the wind blowing through though.

Another thing about poples is they are the first to leaf in the spring and the last to lose their leaves in the fall. And I like splitting pople better than oak! When it's dry you basically don't need kindling to start a fire. It just goes on it's own. I love it. But its poof wood that's for sure.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I would love an attached coop. In fact I had a moment on Sunday morning at 6:30 am as I was walking down the hill to the coop bleary eyed. "I should get rid of the chickens." Because my sloggers slipped on the dew of the grass on the hill. one foot went straight forward and the other leg bent underneath my not so small frame. Knee bent. Heel to butt. Too fast for an non-flexible person. At my age that does not feel good in the slightest. And I rolled myself over and laid in the dew grass for a bit and cussed myself out. Cussed at Sadie...because she thought it was great fun I was on her level rolling in wet grass. And cussed the chickens. Today I looked at an automatic door opener. The thing of it is though is I like getting up to let them out and I like tucking them in at night. I like the taking care of them part. Except on the days (there are a few) when I don't want to do it.

But that bit of a $200 investment in the coop seemed not so out of line Sunday morning. That or an attached coop.

I can walk fine when I get a going here the last couple days. But the morning is rough.

We have electric heat with gas back up and a foo-foo gas fireplace in the living room. I wanted a real fire place. But the macho DH trumped me with the builder. Those two in cohoots talked me out of a lot of stuff in this house. Anything to get out of a little extra work. DH will do it. His Dad used to make him chop wood early in the morning on weekends when he knew he was hung over. LOL. So I guess I can understand to some extent his reticence.

 

[holm25]

All my Cochins r broody!! I have held them under cold water about 5 times and still broody!! What to do....

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Holm. Put them in a cage in the garage without nesting materials. Just food and water and a perch. Leave the light on in the garage all night. That should broody bust them.



That being said I love broody Mommas. LOL

 

[holm25]

Holm.  Put them in a cage in the garage without nesting materials.  Just food and water and a perch.  Leave the light on in the garage all night.  That should broody bust them.



That being said I love broody Mommas. LOL

Lol u need to meet these girls. These r wire mesh bottomednest boxes. I took the straw out so they r on wire and that hasnt worked. I dont have a cage for them either.

 

[duluthralphie]

BC.. There is no such thing as popples! Notice how spell check grabs it. We have a friend that is a teacher/ or was in Florida. She lived across the street from our home there. She asked about the trees that grew at the cabin in Togo, I said Black spruce and popple mainly. She asked all kinds of things about this unheard of to her tree. Finally I showed her a picture of the cabin and said trees and she became adamant they were poplars and there is no such tree as a popple. She looked it up.


I guess you had to be there. But I thought it was funny. I think those of us in Minnesota and Wisconsin are the only ones that call them popple.

 

[lalaland]

its definitely popples. and they smell so good when you cut them down, and they also smell great burning. plus every pileateds nest ive ever found has been in a popple.

 

[duluthralphie]

its definitely popples. and they smell so good when you cut them down, and they also smell great burning. plus every pileateds nest ive ever found has been in a popple.

I agree, how we going to get the rest of the world to change to our terminology?

 

[lalaland]

ok, I'm gonna bore you all with the quails again.

First off, I think I have 3 males and 5 females. They should start laying in the spring.

Reading on byc about them is a challenge. Just like chickens, there are people who will tell you they will die if you do this or don't do that....I remember reading here on byc that you couldn't feed chickens tomatoes. or potatoes. or beans. or....so I know to not necessarily believe what I am reading.


I read that you can't keep them anywhere near chickens because the quail will get sick and die. (?) when someone asked why they were smacked down with a kind of nasty toned thing about fine don't believe me just watch your birds die response.

I've looked at a zillion pics of what look like indoor avaries for parrots, and rabbit hutch type cages, two quail to a cage.

I just don't think that is a life for a bird.

After work, I watched them, and got to hear the little males try to whistle the girls into the coop. Some of the hens would go in, others would come out, and pretty soon the males would give up and come out again, only to repeat it all over again. I finally crawled in the pen again but this time was easier, they more or less went in on their own with a little encouragement.

I found some 28% grower for gamebirds. They went bonkers over it.

They walk on their tippy toes! kind of penguin posture.

I think you all should get quail. Repopulate minnesota with them.