MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

I'm so glad you have such talented backup. I believe you won't need it because I know how determined you can be. You will do this and have something of which you will be very proud and your hens will love!

You got this!

Well, that's the plan and hopefully it won't go too far astray! I'd like to look back and take pride in a life well-lived one day.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, that's the door to the cellar. It's a little gummed up from the finish but I'm loosening it carefully with a stanley knife. It's freeing up and so far I haven't damaged the surface.

The floor guy also installed the flush fit cellar door pull for me.

It's pine. Mostly 100 years old, but the boards from the wall to the edge of the trapdoor are only 20. It's stained to a bespoke shade. I couldn't tell you the recipe although I know it was 60-30-10 mix of different stains.

It is spectacular.

 

[BY Bob]

Because there are fewer obstacles to climb around if you do it first, which is convenient when you're working above your head.

Ok. I guess that makes sense. Thanks for enlightening me.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Yes, that's the door to the cellar. It's a little gummed up from the finish but I'm loosening it carefully with a stanley knife. It's freeing up and so far I haven't damaged the surface.

The floor guy also installed the flush fit cellar door pull for me.

It's pine. Mostly 100 years old, but the boards from the wall to the edge of the trapdoor are only 20. It's stained to a bespoke shade. I couldn't tell you the recipe although I know it was 60-30-10 mix of different stains.

A cellar! I'm so envious!

It's worn really well for a pine floor. I thought pine is a fairly soft wood? I suppose it varies within the genus.
It's a lovely colour and grain. You really have an eye for this.

 

[BY Bob]

Well, that's the plan and hopefully it won't go too far astray! I'd like to look back and take pride in a life well-lived one day.

I think you'll be able to do that whether you need help or not building.

 

[BY Bob]

A cellar! I'm so envious!

It's worn really well for a pine floor. I thought pine is a fairly soft wood? I suppose it varies within the genus.
It's a lovely colour and grain. You really have an eye for this.

Your are right, pine is a very soft wood. It has certainly been well cared for.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Isn't it awful when it goes wrong. I'm glad I managed my expectations or I'd have been truly shattered.

The was a hug by the way.

 

[MaryJanet]

Ok. I guess that makes sense. Thanks for enlightening me.

Still, for a beginner like me, I think ground up will be ok. I'll assemble a crack team of friends and family to help me lift the roof up when it's time.

 

[Lexicon]

We will disagree here.

I do not believe that brooding the summer away is something I would permit. I for one do not think that they always know what is best for them. For example, Phyllis would have died brooding if I had not intervened and took her off the nest everyday.

These hens we are all raising are not like Shadrach's tribes in Catalonia. They have not been re-educated in the ways of natural chickens. Many of them have not been raised by mothers. They have instincts but not the knowledge handed down by generations of parents. I will not let them make bad choices when I can help them to avoid such bad outcomes. Just like I posted tonight regarding Betty and roosting outside.

If I have a broody going longer than 28 days I am going to break her. If I have to use a crate to do that then so be it. Better that than a hen that is now malnourished and subject to disease and other bad outcomes.

This is something that I struggled with all summer last year. I did a lot of research before getting chickens, but didn't realize that mine would be so prone to broodiness. I have four hens that go broody regularly. One was broody five times last summer!
I started out crating my first broody and it was awful, I have to say. She was not thrilled with the crate during the day, but she really freaked out at night. I moved her into the coop inside the crate, but she was alarm calling and smashing her head through the bars over and over. I was really worried and finally told my husband that I was going to check on her and if she was still agitated, I would release her. She had settled by then, so I left her, but in the morning I saw that she had scabs on her earlobes from trying to push her head through the bars. I felt horrible!
The third time that she as broody last summer, I tried a new technique. I would carry her out to our smaller (185 square foot) run in the morning and she would stay there throughout the day. She had a dust bath, food and water, fresh greens, but no nest. She could also interact through the fence with the other hens. In the evening, I would open the door to the coop and she would run back to her nest and spend the night there. We would repeat the same thing the next day. After nine days, she stopped being broody.
My last hen to go broody last fall, was my broodiest girl and I just let her be. It was late September and many of the girls weren't laying, so there wasn't as much fighting over nests. She sat all the way through for three weeks and I still ended up crating her for one night to get her to switch from being broody. In general, the more experience I got, the more likely I was to let the hens be.
It's sometimes hard to know what to do. I want the best for my hens and sometimes what is best for one is not the same for another.

 

[MaryJanet]

A cellar! I'm so envious!

It's worn really well for a pine floor. I thought pine is a fairly soft wood? I suppose it varies within the genus.
It's a lovely colour and grain. You really have an eye for this.

Thank you!

The floorboards chap did a great job sanding it smooth. He was brilliant.