Minnesota!

[FoxyChicken]

Thank you for all the lovely comments on our coop. My DH, the craftsman, built it so I cannot take any credit other than painting. We chose to use the poop board because I have a bad back. It is much easier for me to stand and scoop out a board then to stoop over and shovel or rake bedding. We currently have sand in ours, but I'm not loving the way it hardens into a crust and isn't easily siftable. I think I will slowly start to add PDZ until the sand is all gone. However, I'm a little worried about the chicks eating it. I have already noticed them picking around in the sand and eating bits of it . . .

My girls pecked at the PDZ at first but weren't interested in eating it after that. It won't hurt them, it's an all natural non-toxic product. Fine for the compost pile too. I think they have a powdered and granular form, I would recommend the granular just because of the dust from the powder.

 

[duluthralphie]

I am going to try and figure out a way to put those racks in. The problem I have in the coops is I have open rafters and the birds like to sit on them. It would be hard for me to have to walk under all the racks to do anything, and cleaning them would entail a ladder.

I would much rather sift cat litter like stuff every day or two to mucking the coop as often as I do.

Minnie thank you for the betadine sugar recipe! It is a miracle. We changed his dressing this evening and found the sugar/betadine had become almost like a cast. We had to soak his foot to get it off. Once we got it off, my DW, the nurse, said it needed to be lanced again as their was a pus sack and almost a white head type thing on the bottom of his pad.

I held him tight, he is feeling better and becoming harder to hold in awkward positions. She lanced his foot and then started talking in medical terms. She said " Oh ick, there is a string of yucky stuff coming out'. She may not have used the word stuff, but beings I am on double secret probation from BYC for my use of French, stuff will suffice.

She said Bert could not live in the bathtub anymore. She said it was time to get him out. So I set up a nice box in the hallway for him. I got a very evil look from her, but she said nothing more.

Having him out of the bathroom, I think it is only a matter of time until Bert and I can sit in my recliner together and share a beer.

I will save you from seeing any pictures of tonights events. I realize your being forced to see Bert pictures is as exciting as seeing pictures of our last vacation and grandkids photos.

Thanks again Minnie... on the egg front nothing is new, I cannot even see the little thing my wife convinced me was a pip on the first CL egg. Tomorrow is the day, I hope. MY broody hatches hers tomorrow too, When I watered her today she got off the nest so I inspected a couple eggs, no pips. BUT all 10 were warm, which amazes me as she is so small. I only looked at 2 of the 10 eggs as she was not real happy with me checking her eggs out...

 

[Minniechickmama]

You're welcome, but I was just sharing info someone else had given me. I hadn't used it yet, but it does sound like it did what it was supposed to do.
I know I have to really censor myself too, on here and other forums. LOL I do belong to one group of mostly women who do not allowing censoring. hee hee hee

 

[aussiegal318]

Catching up on the posts tonight.

@duluthralphie Wow your wife does a great job bandaging. I used to teach first aid & would be challenged to bandage all sorts of injuries, but never a chicken foot. I might not have made it so nice. Good luck with Bert! He's in good hands.

@AmericanKraut I agree with the essential oils. They are potent medicine & need to be mixed the a good carrier oil. My neighbor is a soap maker and buys argon oil in bulk which she has shared. Olive or coconut oil are my favorite carrier oils. Love how your coop looks! I might have to get ambitious & pretty mine up a bit (or not). I hope you (& your dog) are doing better, seizers are no good.

@Minniechickmama the chicks I got from you last year are wonderful. The Cochin roo is huge, but the hens sometimes intimidate him. He is the guardian in the coop. He will not go outside unless I pick him up & take him out, then he wants to run back in. The Wellsummer roo is gorgeous.

Those harnesses are too funny. I'm sitting here wondering what my dog trainer, Dawn Falk, would say about it. As part of her continuing education she has had to train several other types of animals, including chickens! She taught a chicken to walk at heel! Would it make it easier to take your chicken for a walk? It would be required at Petco as all pets must be on a leash.

It's so fun to hear about everyone's chickens. ralphie your such a story teller.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I think all my rooster are gorgeous, but those Welsummers are the prettiest ones I have. My Cochins, though not ever really anything but laid back, aren't wimpy, so that surprises me. I have a 4 year old Partridge Cochin who is boss of the mixed yard, but right now there are only Cochin roosters out there.
I am glad they all worked out for you.

 

[duluthralphie]

Winter has returned! I for one have submitted my letter in support of global warming to the UN. I will be voting for it when it hits the ballet.


Bert enjoyed a good evening in the hallway. He seems to be getting better, but he is a chicken and will look just fine until I find him dead.


Minnie If you have never used the sugar/betadine mix., one thing to know is it turns rock hard like a cast. We have had to soak his foot to get it off. With the number of chickens you raise I doubt you would go to as much bother as I am over Bert. A cast that needs to be soaked off would not work in high volume operations.

None of my CL eggs have pipped that I can see. The thing my wife convinced me was a pip must have been a dust spot or other gunk. I know ONE OF YOU think I worry like an old woman about my eggs.....That person is right..


I think I have won the battle to make Bert a house pet. My wife is in the hallway crowing at Bert, trying to get him to crow, and lovingly reprimanding him for pooping on his newspaper, saying,' Now Bert, I just changed that how come you messed it again".

I can see it now Beers with Bert in front of the air conditioner this summer!

 

[AmericanKraut]

mint is easy to grown and really makes ice tea fabulous in the summer.  it takes over pretty well so to me it isn't a garden plant but I planted it a couple of places in the yard and so always have some.  ActuallyLavender is a plant....not so easy to grown in Minnesota as most varieties aren't winter hardy.  

There is  a co-op in St Cloud, Ralphie, that might be the closest to you.  They will have that and other herbs in bulk, and you can get just as much as you want.  Also online....

I pick yarrow, wormwood, mint, tansy and clover in the late summer and dry them.  They munch on the clover but leave the others alone.  I toss a couple of handfuls every now and then in the nest boxes in the winter.  You can buy really pretty nest box blends with dried rose petals, caledula, etc but it is very pricey - maybe 12 bucks for a bowlful.     

I did buy a forage blend for the chicken run - from peaceful gardens.  It has clover, and I can't remember what else.....I'm going to block off an area and seed it, and not let them into it until it is going strong.  Then I can block a different area off  and seed that.  About a mile down the road is a guy who lets his dogs run - has everyone in an uproar and lots of threats to shoot the **** dogs but so far no one has.  Anyway, they come up here maybe once a week that I notice, so I keep the chickens locked up when I am not here.  A couple of years ago the mother of his current dogs came and killed my entire flock except for one.

Lalaland is right. Lavender is a bit iffy in MN but I see patches of it around me more than I've ever seen it anywhere. My grandma said it needs to be able to get a lot of water but the flip side is the water has to be able to drain off, it can't stand after a rainfall for too long, but can't just runoff either. It needs a lot of sun, too, so that means it can be shaded by trees and likely ends up out in the wild grasses where it can get choked out easily. I'm going to try putting it on the very lowest part of my septic mound and see how that'll go.

Anoka has a co-op, too, a drive but relatively close to you. You can do essential oil or by it dry. Started plants or seeds you can get from Prairie Restorations in Minnesota and Native Landscapes, both working to restore non-altered native plants to MN.

If you're into plants and seeds, www.rareseeds.com is worth requesting a catalog. It's stunningly gorgeous. My non-gardener friends flip through it! All non-GMO rare seeds going extinct from the world. Purple potatoes!

 

[AmericanKraut]

Lalaland, how awful about those dogs! I'm so sorry. So sad some people can't think of the impact of others when their animals leave their property without concern or care.

 

[AmericanKraut]

Here's my new Cream Legbars from Triplell. Not the best pics but they just arrived out of a box from my dad's backseat and an closed up Princeton gas station at midnight to a temporary late night garage coop. I had half a bag pine shavings left from my brooder box and Dandelioness says she uses dry leaves so that saved me for a quick improvise.

 

[AmericanKraut]

DuluthRalphie, how's Bert? Did you get to the recliner and you'd beer together? The images you conjure up!!