***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[our 5acre farm]

the snake that ate my ducks the the brooder

my helper this weekend

 

[Greybear23]

Morning all, I have to go to town today and get prescriptions filled and pic up some feed. Please stay in the shade and stay hydrated everyone, Be careful in this heat!!! Lynn

 

[Elie mea]

Hi every one sorry haven't been on in a while been working and auctioning and building pens and on the chicken hunt for other people. I went to the auction in Blanchard and when I got home I drove past the house and strait to the quarantine pen to use my headlights so I could see 20 feet away is my brooder almost walked passed it the I saw it a 6 foot black snake hanging on the front of my brooder but he didn't get my babbies I put hardware cloth on the brooder when built so yea but creeped me out called hubby to come shoot it

 

[Kassaundra]

I offered my chicks that are still in a large stock tank brooder a male dubia today there are about 80 chicks in it and none would take it from my hand and when I dropped it in the sawdust it just sat there for a moment and and everyone just froze on tippy toes, necks stretched and staring, then it moved and all hell broke loose, there was shear pandemonium and panic! It took a while to catch it and even longer for the chicks to decide that the giant carnivorous chicken eating bug monster was gone, I obviously picked a bug that was much too large for them and they are too young to understand the safety in numbers thing that will have them chasing down and dismembering rodents later in life...

LOL LOL LOL chose a smaller dubia and on it's underside place a fingernail just below it's head area into the body and place it on it's back in the brooder tank. It will be incapacitated and unable to right itself but it's legs will still kick, the chickie doos find it less intimidating that way. Just as soon as they figure out it's food you won't have to do that and even the most timid will take it from your hand.

 

[Poco Pollo]

Morning

I'm in for a second cup of coffee. I think I'll put on some sun screen before I head back out. It's already hot out there.

If anyone is still looking for shade cloth, I saw a few rolls at Lowe's in Muskogee. I'm sure the big DIY stores carry it in their garden departments. I'm putting up a new roll to cover the west side of my pens. I think the chickens will enjoy having more shade in the late afternoon.

Purple Martins did fly-bys at my head when I opened the barn this morning. I'm happy to see they are eating bugs in and around the barn, but they need little horns to honk before they come whizzing out. I don't want to be knocked unconscious by a bird bullet : )

Oops! I hit the wrong button and posted before my photo was uploaded.

 

[Kassaundra]

Buster I understand not washing the eggs, I don't wash the ones for our personal use-- honestly I rarely even put them in the fridge. Technically the way I understand the very vague Oklahoma dept of Ag egg packers information - the eggs are suppose to be cleaned, graded & in the fridge in new cartons within 12 hours of lay. When I was looking at the USDA site it states they must be refrigerated within 36 hours.
I don't want to be a rule breaker-- but my eggs get 2 grades.... Pass or fail. We pass them into an egg carton or the ones who flunk go to the chickens or dogs.
This wk I want to try my hand at pickled guinea eggs. Think DH can take the eggs to work & his drills will enjoy them in the field. I am off to bed, want to be out in the garden by 6, have greenbeans & okra to pick before the triple digits hit.
It was a sad day for my peppers. Many gorgeous bell peppers got sun scald. No signs of sun scald until today. I picked them, chopped them up & they are in the dehydrator now. First time I ever got pruned fingers from chopping too many sweet peppers. The smell is making my tummy growl.

Me too

 

[MacGuyver]

McGuyver, he is a Game Fowl, or per se a Old English (Standard size), they trim the combs and wattles when young for sport or in the show rings the Old English must be trimmed for showing. They only trim the males over one year old. Personally I like them trimmed, they are very sleek and handsome looking I think, they are my favorite breed!!! Lynn

Oh, I didn't realise they didn't grow that way.

 

[MacGuyver]

Was on the USDA website to read up on properly sanitizing eggs. The website says the FDA does not have a published regulation regarding cleaning of eggs shells! Shocking to me personally.
My broody RIR is staying on her nest & not willing to budge. Had a fan on her all afternoon. Her keets should hatch soon, of the heat doesn't get the eggs. DD took her a tomato as a treat & she tucked the tomato under her. Maybe I can get the tomato back tonight. Crazy chicken!

LOL! I almost ruined a perfectly good keyboard with Diet Coke! You need a beverage warning! Did you get the tomato?

 

[MacGuyver]

There should be a warning, I almost blew my Diet Dew through my nose when I read that!!!!!

LOL! Oh gosh! I just said the same thing! Should have scrolled down before replying!

 

[MacGuyver]

Lynn, there is a difference of opinion among pastured poultry folk on whether day range shelters should have floors. Based on my unofficial observation I would say most are pro-floor. They see the shelter as a moving coop, and use bedding and the like. The thinking is the birds are less exposed to the elements, like rain and cold. This system combines the best of both worlds of confinement and free range. The birds are protected, yet have free access to fresh pasture. Plus, to move it, you just shut the birds in for the night, then move to fresh pasture in the morning with zero injuries due to running over birds.

Others see the floor as defeating part of the purpose of the system: to simplify the work, put the droppings directly on the pasture, and to make the birds environment more natural. You do leave the shelter in one place longer than a broiler pen, as you only move it once a week, if that, so there would be a lot more buildup and the birds would be wallowing in their own manure. Unless you move it daily, but then that defeats the purpose of the larger day range shelter.

Me, I'm with the no-floor people, and I'm trying to come up with a design where when you move the shelter, there is space for the birds to escape from under it without injury. I'm finding it is an easy task to control broilers with the feed trough. If you want them in a certain place, you just place the trough there and open the shelter. The birds make a bee line for the chow, leaving the shelter empty mostly, and that allows you to just move it without harming your birds. There is no reason you can't still use deep litter bedding to avoid manure buildup, and when you move the shelter, you can use a front loader to clean up and move the stuff to the compost heap.

But the pallet thing is a different issue. That is just a protection for the feed and water I want available to the birds when they are out ranging. It is protected from rain, and the shelter aspect for the broilers is secondary. If they are like my birds now, they will return to the main shelter when they are hot or tired.

I should mention that my eggmobile has a slated floor covered with chicken wire. So you have a floor, but the poop just falls through to the ground below. Best of both worlds. I might try something similar with the broiler shelters. But early on, broilers have tiny feet, so I'm not sure how practical it is.

I just built a hoop house day range shelter. It has expanded metal flooring. No problems so far with feet. I have two month old Dominiques in it. And six week old guineas.