Nevadans?

[horseshowmomnv]

Horseshowmomnv, looking great. Don't you just LOVE the weather? Remember Tuesday is going to be nasty, and winds Monday afternoon/evening are going to be evil. But it will be nice again soon.

The weather is beautiful, had to cover the floor with plastic in anticipation of rain/snow. Then it will clear up again and back to work!
Thank you for the heads up!

 

[StevieNay]

I have spent way too many hours researching all sorts of information about chicks, chickens, coops, runs, grit, bedding... I will start out that I think sometimes we over think things, myself included. My chicks are a week and a half old, they have had two days where they were outside for about 20 minutes. Our lawn is dead right now so they pick at the soil. I have seen posts about sand vs pine, I went out side to my horse arena gathered some sand and put into their brooder, they love it. Some of it is pretty fine dusty stuff would this be considered grit? I know they don't need it unless they are eating other foods or treats. If I put that in my brooder would the whole grit issue be resolved? Seems people spend alot of money on commercial grit products when it could be as simple as the sand in my arena.

Chickens will/can use all kinds of rocks and hard things for grit. I saw someone had butchered a chicken and found a hen was "using" broken safety glass in her gizzard to help grind things up. I think the biggest reason people use commercial grit is because it doesn't have as much risk of germs/bacteria/parasites. The grit I bought ($1.27 for a little box) has lots of small sand and a few bigger pieces, so I'm guessing the arena sand is comparable.

I bet it was fun to watch them rolling in that sand!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Ok that makes sense. lol That dog is just beautiful! Jet has such a friendly, lovable look to him! Congratulations!

I have spent way too many hours researching all sorts of information about chicks, chickens, coops, runs, grit, bedding... I will start out that I think sometimes we over think things, myself included. My chicks are a week and a half old, they have had two days where they were outside for about 20 minutes. Our lawn is dead right now so they pick at the soil. I have seen posts about sand vs pine, I went out side to my horse arena gathered some sand and put into their brooder, they love it. Some of it is pretty fine dusty stuff would this be considered grit? I know they don't need it unless they are eating other foods or treats. If I put that in my brooder would the whole grit issue be resolved? Seems people spend alot of money on commercial grit products when it could be as simple as the sand in my arena.

I use sand from my property for grit. They love it and no health problems of any kind.

 

[horseshowmomnv]

Chickens will/can use all kinds of rocks and hard things for grit. I saw someone had butchered a chicken and found a hen was "using" broken safety glass in her gizzard to help grind things up. I think the biggest reason people use commercial grit is because it doesn't have as much risk of germs/bacteria/parasites. The grit I bought ($1.27 for a little box) has lots of small sand and a few bigger pieces, so I'm guessing the arena sand is comparable.

I bet it was fun to watch them rolling in that sand!

A few where just going to town, I think I will switch to sand in the brooder next cleaning, it is fun to watch!
I read in someone's post that if the chicks were with theirs Momma's at three days they would be eating all sorts of stuff.
Because we isolate them in brooders we limit their ability to do what comes naturally.
So, I gather from what you said about the glass, is that they will make do with their environment to maintain their healthy digestive tracts.
I have rocks in the brooder, they love to jump and perch on them, sometimes they peck at them.

 

[StevieNay]

I have to keep reminding myself that nature is harsh and they manage just fine in a natural setting. I am constantly awed by how hard it is to for other creatures to survive, and yet, they do it!

Couldn't help ourselves this morning... they were being too cute.
The new gals from Green's:

I feel like this is a shot from a chicken music video.

Oh yes, we're irresistible!


Oh, funniest thing, I was hand feeding them some chick feed and one decided to peck at a freckle on my hand. She really tried to pull it off, too. Whoops! Sorry! No tasty bugs, just freckles here!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Ok, this is what I have:

Eggplants: gretel, swallow, fairytale. All are early, maturing at 4-6 inches. Gretel is white, eggplant is dark purple, fairytale is purple/white striped. I could only spare a few of these, since packets contain 15 seeds and I ordered 2 of each packet. I would love to trade for the Italian variety.

Tomatoes: pineapple, cherokee purple, early girl, indigo rose, maskotka, tumbling tom yellow. Pineapple and cherokee purple are heirlooms. Early girl is an early red hybrid. Indigo rose is an open-polinated variety just released this year, red on the inside and dark purple where the sun hits it. Maskotka and tumbling tom are especially for containers.

Peppers: sahuaro, sweet spot, mucho nacho. Sahuaro is a high-yielding Anaheim. Sweet spot is a sweet banana pepper that yields up to 35 per plant. Mucho nacho is a jumbo jalapeno. Again, I can only spare a few of these, since the packs are small.

Squash: small wonder, carnival, hunter, bush delicata, small sugar pumpkin. All are early season, about 80 days each, and grow to a personal eating size. Small wonder is a spaghetti squash, carnival is a striped acorn, hunter is a butternut, delicata is similar to spaghetti, and small sugar is the pie kind.

Lettuce: wild garden mix, organic and open-polinated.

Carrots: deep purple, atomic red, black knight, scarlet nantes. Nantes is actually a dark orange. I haven't grown any of these before, so I don't know how well they do.

Corn: painted mountain. It's a short-season Indian corn that can also be eaten fresh, but isn't as sweet as most fresh corn. It was bred in Montana, but is too short for a 3-sisters planting.

Spinach: space hybrid. I have tons of this!

Chard: bright lights. Again, I have tons, and it's a cut-and-comeback plant.

Kale: winterbor hybrid. I'm mostly growing this for the chickens.

Cucumber: spacemaster. Bush-habit, good for slicing.

The peas and the beans I'm growing are all common varieties, like Kentucky Wonder and sugar snap, that can be found at Walmart.

Potatoes (which won't be here until mid-April): yukon gold, purple majesty, mountain rose, yellow finn, purple sun. I've only grown the yukon gold out of all of these, so I can't vouch for how the rest will do. Purple majesty is dark purple inside and out, mountain rose is pink inside and red outside, yellow finn is deep gold, purple sun is purple outside and yellow inside. These will be a bit more expensive to ship down to Vegas, though.

For anything that I have limited varieties of, a trade for a food type seed would be awesome. I can put a bunch in an envelope and send them off for the price of a stamp.

I would love a few of the fairytale eggplant! I have a few of the Rosa Bianca eggplant seeds to trade. I'm in the same boat as you on the eggplant seeds. Not many to spare. I also wouldn't mind a few of the sugar pumpkin seeds.

I also have...

Spinach: Tykee (small leafed salad spinach) and Bloomsdale Long Standing (a slow to bolt, deeply savoyed, large leaf spinach). I have plenty of these I could trade.

Tomato: A very few of Chocolate Cherry and Mortgage Lifter.

Carrot: Rainbow blend (purple, yellow, white and red finger sized carrots). I have lots of these as well.

Cantaloupe: Lil' Sweet. A small hybrid made for shorter seasons. Ron says they are fantastic! Kim has already requested some of these but I have a few more I could spare.

Leek: American Flag. I have lots of these to share.

Leaf Lettuce, blend: Mix of Romaine, Black-Seeded Simpson, Salad Bowl and Red Sails. No guarantees on which varieties pop up from this blend. Again I have lots of these!

Hybrid Sweet Corn: Gotta Have it and Xtra-Sweet bicolor. These varieties must be isolated from SU, SE and Synergistic varieties (300' or 3+ weeks maturity time).

Snow Pea: Oregon Sugar Pod II. Salad type of pea pod. Very sweet and freeze well. I have quite a lot of these as well.

Potato: Viking purple, and a variety of "fingerling" potatoes. I'll have a few of these to share when they get here.

Cute pics Stevie! Especially the misic video one! hahaha

 

[chicharomirinda]

love the photos, vegaschick and stevienay!

 

[americanvalkyrie]

I would love a few of the fairytale eggplant! I have a few of the Rosa Bianca eggplant seeds to trade. I'm in the same boat as you on the eggplant seeds. Not many to spare. I also wouldn't mind a few of the sugar pumpkin seeds.

I also have...

Spinach: Tykee (small leafed salad spinach) and Bloomsdale Long Standing (a slow to bolt, deeply savoyed, large leaf spinach). I have plenty of these I could trade.

Tomato: A very few of Chocolate Cherry and Mortgage Lifter.

Carrot: Rainbow blend (purple, yellow, white and red finger sized carrots). I have lots of these as well.

Cantaloupe: Lil' Sweet. A small hybrid made for shorter seasons. Ron says they are fantastic! Kim has already requested some of these but I have a few more I could spare.

Leek: American Flag. I have lots of these to share.

Leaf Lettuce, blend: Mix of Romaine, Black-Seeded Simpson, Salad Bowl and Red Sails. No guarantees on which varieties pop up from this blend. Again I have lots of these!

Hybrid Sweet Corn: Gotta Have it and Xtra-Sweet bicolor. These varieties must be isolated from SU, SE and Synergistic varieties (300' or 3+ weeks maturity time).

Snow Pea: Oregon Sugar Pod II. Salad type of pea pod. Very sweet and freeze well. I have quite a lot of these as well.

Potato: Viking purple, and a variety of "fingerling" potatoes. I'll have a few of these to share when they get here.

Cute pics Stevie! Especially the misic video one! hahaha

I'd really like to try leeks this year. And I'd love a few canteloupe seeds, probably just enough for 2 successful plants. Maybe a couple mortgage lifter... I've heard those are great. I'll be starting my seeds around the 15th of this month.

The rainbow carrot blend is really good. The whites mature fast, and will be going to seed about the time that the other colors are ready. But they're really great tasting, and so fun to pull them up and see what color you have.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Hey everyone, Candy has a friend that has BLRW chicks that will be 3 weeks old this Saturday. If anyone wants some, I can bring them back with me when I go get my hatch. Anyone interested? Just let me know.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Good to know. Steve loves carrots. The only way I like them is fried tempura style.

OK, I have you down for a few cantaloupe, egg plant, mortgage lifter and some leeks. Leeks are fantastic! Add a wonderful mild onion flavor to dishes without the tearing up or allergic reaction of an onion. Have to slice in half lengthwise (after cutting off roots) and soak then separate leaves and swish and rinse to get all the dirt out though. I plan to grow them in a sand free soil to make cleaning them easier. They are ridiculously expensive in the stores!