Montana

[Azriel]

I got half of my pullets moved in with the big girls today, I think they are getting pretty close to POL. I love getting the new little pullet eggs and I can't wait to see the fun colors the new girls are going to give me.
It never did get very nice today, sunny for a while, but a cold wind all day. Looks like more rain tonight. I ended up getting about 4" over last weekend. My hay is growing well and looking like I'll get a great crop this year.
Hope everyone is having a great week

 

[karlamaria]

snowed 4 inches... enough said. UGH

 

[ReneB]

snowed 4 inches... enough said. UGH

my condolences! Icky!

 

[montanachicks]

Patience finally starting to pay off ! Got the first new egg today from one of my Lohman Browns!

-- Beautiful chocolate brown color with white specks everywhere.

Now I only have 9 more of that breed to wait on (hopefully this will be a daily celebration) along with 5 EE's that should start laying any day, also.

We had cold, dreary skies today (altho the weatherman said it got up to 53 **** don't believe that for a minute!) It started raining again about 1/2 hour ago.

I love the rain, just not the cool temps -- a month or so from now we will probably be praying for rain, so I'm not saying anything.

 

[RoyalT]

The sheep got to graze out front today, they liked the freedom! Here are some pics:








All is well here, just crazy busy. I kinda wish we got some snow this week~ That would help all the grass seed we're putting in get excited about popping up Always welcoming more precipitation here, since it means more feed for the critters.

The ravens have seemed to get the message. They still fly over, but they don't perch on the place to stalk my birds, and they don't hang around. Thank goodness! Of course, now we have reports of a lion running around on the back of our property, so looks like that will be taking watch priority now! The predator fun never ends.

 

[montanachicks]

Royal T, your babies are getting so big!! Cute, cute!

Hope the rumors of the lion are false. Scary enough having to worry about your animals, but also kids--worse.

 

[karlamaria]

Awww the sheep are so sweet ! Congrats on the new eggs gals, and guess what? It's snowing. Yep has been for hours now . Ugh again.

 

[RoyalT]

Thanks montanachicks I love the baby lambs, but they all are going to be up for sale shortly. Gotta have limits somewhere!

Karla- are you up at high elevation or something? It looked menacing here today, but no such luck with the rain...

 

[karlamaria]

Thanks montanachicks I love the baby lambs, but they all are going to be up for sale shortly. Gotta have limits somewhere!

Karla- are you up at high elevation or something? It looked menacing here today, but no such luck with the rain...

yes, and it snowed all evening and then rained all night at intervals. Anaconda got a foot of snow ( was in the paper today) Im glad, we needed the water you all were getting and we were not. but I still can not plant my seedlings, if I can not plant they will not get the heads start they need to mature in the fall. we get frosts early in October already.

 

[DuginMT]

Thankful for the moisture, in whatever form it comes! I have decided not to plant a garden this year. We have to haul our water so the garden never pays off anyway for us. Hope you get enough growing season for yours Karlamaria!

I would like to hear how you all initiate free ranging. My chickens clearly want out of their run to explore the back yard, but it is not fenced and the chickens could conceivably run for miles. They have been in their coop and run for about a month, so should know where home is. Most of the chickens we can easily catch, a couple will fly up on my lap, a few are more skittish, but they will all come up and peck near our feet until we reach down to pick them up, when they usually make a quick dash just out of reach!

If one or more escapes their run, what are some tricks for catching them or herding them back in there? How close do chickens in an established flock stay together when free ranging? Would it be a good idea to let them range in the back yard (about 2/3 acre in size with little cover) if supervised? I am thinking of doing this later this year, when we get our usual horde of grasshoppers. I don't think I will ever let them free range routinely because my property is not fenced and the neighbor's houses are 150 - 250' away. Thanks for any input!

Doug