***OKIES in the BYC III ***

Quote:
Been there - Done that.
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This hasn't been a good test winter for it. Please don't skimp on your green house cover. You don't want to chance loosing your plants from a late winter storm. Stay with the 6 mil. It'll hold up to the elements much better. The difference in price will pay for itself too, by holding the heat in better.
 
It was a lot of fun hanging out with all the BYCers last night at the auction. Came away with only two bird last night but what a score. Michael brought me a beautiful black LF cochin hen and I bought a gorgeous, huge lemon/blue LF cochin rooster. I am so excited to get him now I can really get busy with the breeding/genetic charts. I have some very interesting ideas for the combinations of cochin and ameraucana. The birds I have now will give me a good start.
Breeding season is nearly here and I am so excited!!!
 
The supports for the plastic are 20ft 1 inch PVC-- used rebar hammered into the ground & PVC was slide onto the rebar, they are about 2 ft apart. When using greenhouse plastic the UV protection will help keep the PVC from deteriorating. But at best PVC is only suppose to last 4 yrs. the PVC was giving to us-- so could have sat outside for several years already, but since it was free I won't fill sad when it breaks. If i were buying materials poly pipe would be a better choice, doesn't break as easy as PVC. Think we paid about $65 for 100ft of polypipe when we did our well. oh DH said the hoop house is actually close to 12x18.

We had 8 chicks hatch so far. Will spend most of my day watching the rest hatch. First chicks of the yr is much more exciting, once we get to hatching every wk the excitement seems to wear off!
 
The supports for the plastic are 20ft 1 inch PVC-- used rebar hammered into the ground & PVC was slide onto the rebar, they are about 2 ft apart. When using greenhouse plastic the UV protection will help keep the PVC from deteriorating. But at best PVC is only suppose to last 4 yrs. the PVC was giving to us-- so could have sat outside for several years already, but since it was free I won't fill sad when it breaks. If i were buying materials poly pipe would be a better choice, doesn't break as easy as PVC. Think we paid about $65 for 100ft of polypipe when we did our well. oh DH said the hoop house is actually close to 12x18.
We had 8 chicks hatch so far. Will spend most of my day watching the rest hatch. First chicks of the yr is much more exciting, once we get to hatching every wk the excitement seems to wear off!

If you paint the PVC it will last a lot longer.
 
Quote: Originally Posted by jcatblum I put 4 mil contractors plastic across the top of my chicken lean too-- (just to keep the chill off the birds) it has survived the wind & climate since November, so I am thinking it would work to cover a hoop house for a yr. Been there - Done that. This hasn't been a good test winter for it. Please don't skimp on your green house cover. You don't want to chance loosing your plants from a late winter storm. Stay with the 6 mil. It'll hold up to the elements much better. The difference in price will pay for itself too, by holding the heat in better.


I know this winter has spoiled us! Maybe The mild weather is our reward for the summer we endured! I use floating row cover over my plants inside the hoop house when temps get below 30-- just as extra protection. My biggest fear with 4 mil is it tearing easy. I never compared contractor plastic price to greenhouse plastic-- I know that American plant products the greenhouse plastic was over $100 cheaper than many of the popular mail order & online suppliers. It is worth the trip to American plant products for the savings.
Thankful we live in a mild climate up north they have to force air between 2 layers of plastic to achieve the same thing we can do here with 1 layer.

Considered painting the PVC-- but I don't want to do anything to keep DH from building me a bigger better house next season-- he doesn't know about painting the PVC to extend the life of it-- so no one tell him!
 
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is anyone else not getting update notices from byc?

heard a awful strangling-larangytis crow today... yep, my ee cockerel is discovering his mission in life... coral, anytime you need him for practice...??!!

I've not gotten update notices since they updated the site. I've tried several things, but so far, it is very unwieldy for me.
 
If you paint the PVC it will last a lot longer.

First off like to say wow on the rooster last night, He was awesome. Didnt get to see the hen you got from Michael but bet she was nice also. OK now the hoop house question. When the temps get down about freezing with the water barrels how warm does it stay and at what point do you cover and turn on heater. Also what type heater do you use. Sorry for all the questions
 
Ok. I am a novice. How can you tell if your chickens have worms? I am wondering if mine do have worms and did a search on BYC and didn't get any info that I understood. Do the remedies like garlic in the water really work or do I need to get commercial wormer (which I don't want to do).
Thanks.
Always assume they have worms.If their feet have ever touched dirt, they've been exposed to worms & it's nothing to fool around with. There's no real way to tell except by having a vet do a fecal. I worm & re-worm everyone while they're in quarantine. You can use Safeguard paste or Valbazen, Safeguard's a ton easier to find. A 1/2" ribbon to each bird and repeat 10 days later. Also-there's a 99% chance they've got lice also. It's common like fleas on dogs. You can use 5 drops of Ivomec Eprinex or Frontline (like for dogs) for that and it'll take care of it for months. The people who swear their birds don't have lice, mites or worms are the ones who've either treated them for it or didn't check well enough to see them. DE does *not work to get rid of lice or mites. At most it *may* prevent them but usually not even that. I worked for a vet for a lot of years and I suppose that's why I'm so OCD about the whole debugging/deworming thing.
 
Robin - How old is the cockerel? 4 - 6 weeks is optimum. Later than that and it's like Kass said; he may still crow. The two late Cs I've got are putting on a little weight and they are less aggressive. If you decide you want yours Cd, I could pick him up next week. I'm waiting for some suture needles from Jeffers Livestock. I know suturing is not required, but I think the cockerels will heal faster thus reducing the risk of infection following the procedure. I have two more (again, too old to be good capons, but still great for the freezer) I plan to C next week. --- I'm not getting update messages from this thread either. I think it's been two days since the update feature worked for me.

The third beekeeping class was informative. We now know how to assemble our frames and hive boxes. We're bringing our hammers and wood glue to the next class meeting, and everyone will have a chance to assemble what they've bought. The instructor has a box jig and a wire jig, so assembly will be fast and painless. If I decide to build more hives, I'm going to take the extra time and build jigs to make assembly more efficient. I'm going to research extractors to see if it's more practical to rent than to buy. One of the NEOBA members rents extractors and hot knives, so my first honey crop (two years away??????) may be harvested using rented equipment.

Sooner - Thanks for the Grit link.

The wedding at the cathedral began at 7:00, and the reception was still rocking and rolling when we left at 10:30. We were home around midnight, and the goats were anxious at being out in full dark. I put them into their little house and gave them extra hay as an apology. They ate half and slept on the rest. Silly goats. All the chickens had put themselves to bed, so all I had to do was close coop doors. I hope some of the photos I took turned out. It was dark in the church and at the coffee house where the reception was held, so I expect most of my photos to be blurry.
 

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