Minnesota!

[KlopKlop]

Now I know why she is jumping the fence. Because I closed off the feed area she has started a nest in the barn. Eight eggs we found today.

What a turkey! (That is what we say about our dogs when they are being goofballd )

 

[KlopKlop]

Here is my somewhat cluttered grow stand. It has worked well for about 14-years. The lights are adjustable with chains on the sides. This has two shelves, but for growing sprouted fodder, you could have more shelves spaced closer, but then you would need more lights. The top is solid too and the two sides and back are solid so we can close it if we want by putting a curtain or something in front if we want it to stay warmer for starting seeds.

That is awesome! Is it plywood on the sides??

 

[lalaland]

nothing as determined as a hen that wants to go back to her nest!

 

[lalaland]

Get to head for home in a few minutes.

In about 2 hours I'll be home, and I really really don't want to haul out to the coop and coax Goldie into eating meal worms via headlamp. I'm definitely not being a good chicken keeper tonight. I should be getting her a fleece pullover to cover the bare spots....but she will have to make do with the heater panel.

I don't really know how much the heater panel will help. When you hold your hand next to it, it feels warm but not like a heater, and you can't feel any difference a few inches away. But I do notice she sleeps next to it.

Here I am complaining when I should be so thankful she has made it so far!

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Looks noce to walk up too. What am I missing. It is a nice run.

Looks great to me! Do you have hardware cloth around the bottom half of your run though? if not, I would think about it. I can't tell from the photo... looks great though!

The sight of the chickens staring at me through the plastic makes me laugh every time! I really shouldn't make fun of them....

I don't have hardware cloth anywhere on the run. I do inside covering the ventilated areas. I think it's a great idea and makes sense....I'll stick it on the Spring project list. There were 4 Coyotes roaming through Blaine a few days ago. We hear them once in awhile. It got me thinking about what I need to do to make sure they don't make a meal out of the girls.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Wow,,, I don't even know what to say,, I really cant believe some people.. I'm outside with my dogs yesterday because of the hawk situation. And the guy in the house behind me walks over to my fence and says ' did you know a hawk got one of your chickens?.. yea i know.. THEN the guy says he was out side and seen the hawk fly down and grab it and it was so cool he got out his camera on his phone and started taking pictures of it. It was so cool it was only about 5 feet away from me. and then it dropped the chicken and the chicken tried running and the hawk jumped on it and started pulling the feathers and finally the chicken gave up and then it just sat right there and was eating it, then after a little while the hawk took off with the rest of the body I HAVE THE PICS IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM......... OMFG I CANT believe people.... why would you not try and chase the hawk away after it dropped the chicken????? instead of taking pictures.... I understand the kids interest but REALLY the parent.... i could have hit him.... this is the same family that called the inspector on my coop, the same family that would watch me everyday out there by myself trying to build the coop and never offered to even hold a board, the same family that was the 1st to ask if i have any eggs left over if they can have them... the same family that spread it around the neighbor hood that I'm the house that needs to be watched because they think i might have a drug house because i have people over here all the time. WOW that was fun to learn about..i have people over because i have always had allot of friends and they like to check up on me.. this is the same guy who actually had the nerve to ask me if i have one of those OPEN RELATIONSHIPS??? just straight out and asked me one day... I told him if i did it would be none of his business BUT NO I'm not the 2 guys he was referring to were my 2 brothers that were here almost everyday helping my cut down trees and do other things. how dare anyone be so rude...

Some people....

Did you lay into him? And why did he call the inspector on your coop? Is he the Dad to that kid that said he saw it, too?

Want me to thunder punch him for you?

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I ordered them from here: meal worms on amazon it says by garden at home, but also sold by rainbow meal worms so I think they are the same thing... Good stuff, all of them were alive.

I'm back reading posts....can you tell? Lol! I've purchased from this same link before and have had good luck. Alive, good size, reasonable price.

 

[KlopKlop]

Now I know why she is jumping the fence. Because I closed off the feed area she has started a nest in the barn. Eight eggs we found today.

I went into the corncrib tonight to shoo out some hens who were late to lockup and wouldnt you guess what i found!



14 eggs! our egg counts from the coop in there was down about 30% for the last week and now i know why! I had chalked it up to some of the BA hens molting and it being close to the winter solstice (shortest day) but now i know the truth

I feel like similar things happen to us in tandem frequently, scandia!

 

[lalaland]

hmmm, maybe I should be searching more carefully. I'm down to one or two tiny eggs, and two brown eggs. I should by all rights be getting at least 6 eggs a day....

 

[Minniechickmama]

That is awesome! Is it plywood on the sides??

Yes, very thin plywood. That is a new addition though last year that my husband put on. We had it in the heated garage, which we have been keeping at 55-degrees, and he thought it would keep it warmer in the grow stand. Starting tomatoes in this thing always makes them leggy. We have used little fans to help them be a little sturdier. They still do the same outside, regardless though.
I want to build another one or two of these for growing lots of herbs.