Minnesota!

[Chickenchick11]

SPRING IS HERE!!

The snow is nearly gone, the drive is mud, I hope this lasts until May.

48 degrees here right now.

X2

 

[jailerjoe]

My issue with Monsanto and the other big seed producers is thier quest to control seed production to the point where farmers have little choice but to buy from them. They're using patent litigation to stifle competition and pretty much control most of the worlds food supply. I get protecting investments in R & D but I'm very uncomfortable with the big seed company's stranglehold on the food supply. I don't know if it actually went into law but the EU was proposing to criminalize heirloom seed use and saving. It's a scary proposition and I can totally see the big seed companies trying to buy this kind of legislation here in the US.

You may not want to demonize Monsanto for GMO's (they are necessary to feed the world's growing populaiton) but you can and maybe should in order to protect the food supply, heirloom seed production and plant diversity.

EDITED to reflect minniechickmomma already said what I was thinking and did it more eloquently. I should read before I post.

 

[jailerjoe]

SPRING IS HERE!!

The snow is nearly gone, the drive is mud, I hope this lasts until May.

48 degrees here right now.

It's just a big, fat, cruel Minnesota joke. My chickens and I are loving it however. I was out working in the yard the last two days in a T-shirt! I have no doubt we'll pay for it in January or February with 30 days of below zero weather.

Yep. I'm an optimist!

 

[jbenson]

It's just a big, fat, cruel Minnesota joke. My chickens and I are loving it however. I was out working in the yard the last two days in a T-shirt! I have no doubt we'll pay for it in January or February with 30 days of below zero weather.

Yep. I'm an optimist!

It really is a big fat joke on all of us. And it's forecast to be below average by the end of the week which will feel extra cold now that's it's thawed a bit.

It was so warm this weekend I cleaned the coop and none of the birds put up any kind of fuss about being turned out into the run and shut there while I got things really cleaned up (and I put a fence on the compost to keep the dogs out of it - ick, poo eaters). Normally I have a few who will put up a fight about even going out due to cold. They're such whiners.

And I got the breeding pen all cleaned up too - it was a total mess cause the birds decided to spill water everywhere - I gotta get those guys a nipple waterer soon. It was so warm this fall, I got the breeders separated early and already have a full set in the incubator to hatch by Jan 1 in anticipation of the 4H crowd (last year I hatched too late - I had d'Uccles and they were interested, but the birds were too young for what they wanted and many told me they were looking for birds hatched in Jan.). Worst case will be I get them all sexed before people are ready to buy and I can charge more for pullets (being in the city those are in high demand). I'm hoping my early hatches are high pullet to cockrel ratio again. Last year, the warmer the season got, the less pullets I got. My last hatch of the year in early June, I was trying to hatch some more blue layers just to thicken my own flock and I got 1 pullet and 7 cockrels (well and like 6 early quitters). I want to be done hatching by May this year.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I will take 35 degrees and sunshine over this. I hate this kind of weather more than any other kind. It is still cold enough and with all the moisture, it is just a recipe for birds to get sick. I lost 30 birds in a week a few years ago on a week just like this at the end of November. Nope, I will gladly take the colder weather with dryer air.

I am firing up the incubator this week and getting my first hatch set for just after the New Year. First, I will hatch for my kids and I to show first, then fill other 4-H orders. After those, most other folks will be ready to start getting their chicks for their flocks. I am lucky that I have a brooder house that is well insulated and keep my chicks happy and healthy. A couple of heat lamps keeps it nice a toasty in there, even on the coldest days. I used to brood in the basement or garage, and I hated the mess.

 

[jbenson]

I brood on the basement until it is warm enough to move them into the chicken shed with a lamp. I also have a grow out pen, but they gotta be pretty big or its gotta be pretty warm before they can go in there cause it is attached to the main coop and not heated.

 

[duluthralphie]

I am concerned about the moisture, also.

I have been opening the main door to the coop to try and get the moisture in there down. Little good it does with the air so moist. BUT the birds are still loving the lack of snow and all the scratching.

They even ignored the corn/wheat.milo mix I threw out for them to scratch in the leaves.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I am changing all the bedding out this week due to the wetness. The shavings just soak up this moisture! I hate it! Hate it! Hate it! (as I stomp my feet like Daffy Duck).

 

[Cluckies]

I agree, very hard to keep moisture down. Last night it was 99-100% humidity outside, 95 in my coop. My coop actually went down over night to 86. Thing is, my coop always mimics the outside humidity almost percent for percent (maybe just a few percentages lower sometimes). I'm not sure how you can get it less humid inside than outside, other than putting a dehumidifier in there It is a constant battle. With it being as wet as it is right now, lost cause. I too will be changing out all the wood shavings in the coop, and the run. I use more course wood shavings in the front of the run and dirt in the back. I put the wood chips in there because the front got wet from snow, then froze and I didn't want the girls to jump down off of their branch and get injured. I'm not sure how i'll be able to dry out that dirt now in the back though, the water came up through the ground. Maybe have to use wood shaving back there as well. I liked it as just dirt, and so did they.

 

[PoultryBird12]

I live in Big Lake, MN..... I'm hating this moist weather..... had to promise my dad I would clean out the coop today because the moisture is ruining the wood floor of the coop.....