Montana

[RoyalT]

I only clean the coop 2 times a year, but I'm changing that now. Going to be scooping the sand bedding every few days to keep an eye on the poo. Going to have to get more sand today.

The Wringer is great. You don't need the Poultry one, I used the Rabbit one and just held the head. It dislocated the spine (and just pulled the head right off, to be brutally honest- I used a wee bit more pull than necessary) and the chickens were all super calm through the whole thing. I prefer holding them up do pinning them and stressing them like we used to.

I'll let you know on the 1588. Gotta get the other bator in first Can't be bator-less in case something good pops up on eBay, hah!

One of my little black chicks (OE) met its end via my LGD who for the life of me I can't get to stop licking/inducing heart attacks for my birds. It was a rooster, so not a huge loss, but still. -.-

I went to town late last night and did a coupon run. I love Target. WM is terrible with coupons, so I'll only be going in there for free frosting buckets from now on.

It snowed last night, but it's all melting off pretty quick. Already pushing 40* out side Supposed to get rain today and snow tomorrow. I'm ready for spring, but I would like to get another couple weeks of rain/snow. I don't want everything to burn this summer!

 

[karlamaria]

A hawk in the coop wow, I'm sorry for the bad luck with the wild animals , glad I do not hae to deal with that, but again wishing I had some land! You guys make me smile, of course is I had as many girls as you all have I would probably hate to clean my coop as often, but I'm just not happy unless the coop is clean and purdy lol we change the litter out in 2 feet of snow now I wish I had composted it so I could have had it for my gardens.
I'm going to be repainting my coop this spring, the inside anyways. The out side still is real nice, just have to add the cute signs and decorations to the out side.
I hired another man and his son to build a coop for mom, right on her property, starting this weekend. So yep I will be coming to get the baby's soon azreil Maybe we can do it this weekend or next? I got the shaft from the guy I had originally hired, but Butte is a small town and I called his mommy who I found on Facebook, then saw him on her Facebook lol., she contacted him, then wrote me a check for what I paid him, she was sorry he scammed me .Well I'm off to make some kind of soup for dinner, then take a nap. I hate that it's snowing, I was wondering why the pain was so bad in my body and getting worse, then I looked out the windows and saw lots of snow coming down. Looks like a nap after some major pain Meds. Have a good day all

 

[montanachicks]

Thanks for the info, Reptilemom. I am going to call Big R tomorrow to see if they carry this stuff.

Azriel, I'm sorry about the hawk in your coop & that you lost a hen.

Sneaky buggers. If you are ever able to get ahold of a couple of Leghorns, they are FANTASTIC layers of white eggs. Mine are doing a wonderful job..... never miss a day.

I am looking forward to the weather warming up so I can completely clean out my coop. All winter I have just been using the pitchfork/rake to take off the top layers of poo on the floor, dumping it in the wheelbarrel & hauling it over to my compost pile, then putting down a fresh layer of woodchips & straw. -- every Saturday or Sunday. We have well water lines back near where the coop is & that water is shut off in the winter time, so I have to wait til it's turned back on before I can do a good cleaning & spray everything down.

Also looking forward to see how well my flowers do this spring & summer with the good compost!

Hoping everyone has a great evening. Karlamarie, glad you found someone else to build the coop for your mom, and kudos to you for the detective work!!! --

 

[ReptileMom]

That's what I need - a new, larger coop. I keep raising all these chicks and have run out of room, but they keep growing up and the coop is overflowing! I started selling the last of my hatchery ladies that I started out with. As soon as those are gone, I will be just working with my breeder/SQ chickens. I will still need another coop, but selling those ladies will put it off just a little longer.

RoyalT, since I am new here, I thought I would ask where in Montana you are. I'm trying to get an idea of where everyone is located and what each raises - working on my 'network' of like-minded chicken fanatics!

Montana Chicks, the Zeolite stuff really does help keep the ammonia smell down. You just have to remember it doesn't negate the build-up of the feces and the coop still needs to be cleaned out for the flocks health.

I never got around to painting my coop inside or out before I got my girls in it two years ago. I keep hoping for a time in the summer to do it. Just have to figure out what paint I can use that will adhere and stay put over the deposits they have put on the walls (those that won't wash off easily with water prior to painting). Any ideas?

Just had an itty bitty serama hatch today, the only one out of 8 eggs I bought on eBay. They are so small when they hatch.

Well, gotta go take care of the food and water for all the baby chicks in the house here before bedding them down for the night. Catch ya'll later!

 

[RoyalT]

ReptileMom- I'm West of Missoula a ways, conveniently located a few miles off I-90 If you ever head this way, you're more than welcome to come hug a yak! The Scottish Highland is leaving, but we have Tibetan yak, Icelandic and one Shetland sheep, chickens, ducks, bunnies All kinds of fun stuff.

 

[karlamaria]

I want leg horns so bad, just do not want to have to raise them from chicks right now. With my two cats still being kittens I would have tonight them tooth and nail. I wish my girl would go broody, heck I could sneak a few under her lol. Anyone want to raise a few for me and sell them to me as pullets?
Busy day today, shopping and stocking up again on all the animal feeds around here. So glad it's the weekend I get to sleep in. I'm off to bed now, sleep well everyone

 

[RoyalT]

I spend more money each month on my animals' feed than my family's... I'm making up a new budget for the house, and that was an interesting discovery! I do have almost 60 animals, so I guess it's not shocking... still, a funny thing to realize!

It was the perfect feed storm today. Literally everyone got new food. The buns and birds get that daily, but the yak get a large round bale every 10 days or so, and the sheep get a small square every 4 days or so. Today, everyone got a new bale and water! I need to work to make sure this doesn't happen again, even if it means over-feeding for a day! What a pain.

It's looking an awful lot like SPRING here. Down to the mud/clay sludge that we are cursed blessed(?) with here. We'll need a few loads of gravel for sure in a month or so.

 

[montanachicks]

I found the "zeolite" stuff at Big R -- they sell it in granular or powder -- 40# bag for $15.99. I am gonna test it out tomorrow when I clean the coop. Says it is completely safe for all animals. The brand name they sell it under is Sweet PDZ.

Sure looks like spring here today; supposed to be beautiful all weekend. Getting new pullets on Sunday so hope that goes well.

While I was at Big R, I spent some time looking over all the new chicks they have in & I found a dead one

in one of the troughs they keep them in. Couldn't stand seeing that so I went & found the gal taking care of them to let her know; she got it out right away.

Hope everyone has a great evening..... leaving in about an hour to go to a nice fish fry...... yummmy.

 

[karlamaria]

I spend more money each month on my animals' feed than my family's... I'm making up a new budget for the house, and that was an interesting discovery! I do have almost 60 animals, so I guess it's not shocking... still, a funny thing to realize!

It was the perfect feed storm today. Literally everyone got new food. The buns and birds get that daily, but the yak get a large round bale every 10 days or so, and the sheep get a small square every 4 days or so. Today, everyone got a new bale and water! I need to work to make sure this doesn't happen again, even if it means over-feeding for a day! What a pain.

It's looking an awful lot like SPRING here. Down to the mud/clay sludge that we are cursed blessed(?) with here. We'll need a few loads of gravel for sure in a month or so.

what does the yak and the sheep eat once the hay is gone? I know nothing about other animals lol, but my 8 chickens do some big eating these days. Maybe it's the feed I'm giving them but there throwing out eggs like crazy and eating up a storm. That scratch and peck is the favorite, then they et sunflower seeds, then millet . Today the got roast beef and they went wild over it. My daughter went to costco's in Helena for me, brought 6 months worth the dog food and cat food, and a years worth the scoop away litter. I love being able to send someone else to shop for me .
My mind set is if anything happens how do I feed my animals or my family? I tend to stock up on everything when I have extra money. Last week was 6 months worth of litter for the coops, changing them every week, or every few weeks adds up. Next winter I'm going to try doing the coop monthly. It's not real dirty any ways . My daughter is going to back for me this weekend and pick up a composter, Costco has ones with double barrels! I can compost my chicken poop and scraps etc from my porch this winter !

 

[karlamaria]

I found the "zeolite" stuff at Big R --  they sell it in granular or powder --  40# bag for $15.99.  I am gonna test it out tomorrow when I clean the coop.   Says it is completely safe for all animals.  The brand name they sell it under is Sweet PDZ.

Sure looks like spring here today;  supposed to be beautiful all weekend.  Getting new pullets on Sunday so hope that goes well.

While I was at Big R, I spent some time looking over all the new chicks they have in & I found a dead one  in one of the troughs they keep them in.  Couldn't stand seeing that so I went & found the gal taking care of them to let her know;  she got it out right away. 

Hope everyone has a great evening.....  leaving in about an hour to go to a nice fish fry...... yummmy. 

many talk about sweet PDZ here, they swear by it. What birds are you getting? I saw pullets at murdocks and was so tempted, but I just do not want to go through the pain of adding new chickens stage. I have so much on my plate . I hope the weather holds up, it's going to be near 50 here !