***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[NanaKat]

Thank you for the well wishes....Roger is improving daily. He has been doing his walking and obeying his doctor's instructions. We had to ace wrap his leg yesterday but not tonight.

Saturday, I butchered two fryers and three roasting roosters. Two hens have decided to sit on eggs so they have been given a clutch of eggs since the temps will drop a little. Four hens have hatched their summer clutch so there are babies running around.

Sunday, we both took it easy...just drove to Prague to check the herd. Bought some duck eggs and some Turken eggs and other breeds from a family there. Those are in the prepped incubator this evening.

 

[CLSranch]

I only got 1 more chick this morning. Better than a stick in the eye.

 

[dunnmom]

Got 3 pullet eggs in 4 days. Today I got to watch Honey Ryder (one of my BOs) lay, so I think she may have laid all 3. They are all nearly identical in size, shape, and color. She waited a few minutes before coming out and singing the egg song, to which everyone else sang along. Goofy girls!

 

[NanaKat]

We are simply sick! Who would be so cruel!!
Someone killed our barn kitty....impaled him on a rebar rod and anchored him in the ground in our front flower bed!
It had to have happened while we were gone Sunday because I fed him yesterday morning
We rarely use our front door so we're surprised when Gracie kept wanting out the front door.

 

[limited25]

That is horrific ... I am so sorry!! I hope you find out who did it and that person faces charges! What a sick person!!

 

[Kassaundra]

So sick and cruel, both to the cat and to you!

 

[dunnmom]

Wow, that's horrifying! I'm sorry some cretinous mouth-breather killed your cat. Any guesses who might have done such a thing?

 

[limited25]

Remodel of coop is still coming along, and we just started phase 3 of integration on Saturday. Divided the coop with hardware cloth so the new pullets now have half of the coop space and one of the runs. They are also divided under the coop. Plan to leave it like this for 7 weeks until the pullets are 5 months old and then take off all dividing screen. They are watching each other and so far haven't seen anyone try to peck each other. On Sunday, when a couple of the hens were laying eggs and the egg song started all the pullets ran into the coop to witness what was going on. I'm not sure if they were singing along too but it was the loudest chorus to date.

The little leghorn made herself right at home choosing to sleep on a roost in the center right beside the screen, and the others decided they would sleep in the doorway, so we had to give them a little push inside. They all slept on the roost (guess they learned that from the older ones) and keep running up and down their ramp to explore their new home. Reggie (our rooster) really had a fit when we caught them to put them in with the others, so guess he has now claimed them as his. So glad to get them out of that little coop they were in, they are really way too big for it even though they didn't seem to know it.

We removed the 10x10 front run and now have a little time to get the front of the coop done. The coop is now twice the size and has a lot more ventilation at the top where we made it taller. We made the 4' run into a 6' tall run and like that much better. The top picture is the back of the coop because I wanted to show how we divided it. It is now harder to clean but can still do it. The screen is in 2 sections and each side can be folded up like an accordion and bungie corded to the sides if I need more space. The pieces are held together with zip ties.

So glad we are finally getting a break from the heat.



Front view, which still needs altering (and a 2nd coat of paint). Painted it white this time so we can see everyone better. We do plan to put the 10x10 run back on once we get the alterations done.

Not sure what to expect when we actually integrate ... have 5 new pullets and 3 hens ... should we add a couple more nesting boxes on the newbies side? There are 3 nesting boxes on the left side right now. Will they continue to think they each have their own side, or will the new ones go to the old nesting boxes?

 

[NanaKat]

That is horrific ... I am so sorry!!  I hope you find out who did it and that person faces charges!  What a sick person!!

So sick and cruel, both to the cat and to you! 

Wow, that's horrifying! I'm sorry some cretinous mouth-breather killed your cat. Any guesses who might have done such a thing?

Thank you. We have no idea who this could be.

Some strange things have happened this past month that were explained away....
Three weeks ago the incubator in the hot tub room was turned up to 110 degrees ruining all the eggs...it was not just a temperature spike...could have been turned by accident.
Two weeks ago the Moonglow pear was picked clean, including all pears on the ground while the apple tree next to it was full of fruit. We thought it might be raccoons.

Now this week, the cat.

 

[NanaKat]

Remodel of coop is still coming along, and we just started phase 3 of integration on Saturday. Divided the coop with hardware cloth so the new pullets now have half of the coop space and one of the runs. They are also divided under the coop. Plan to leave it like this for 7 weeks until the pullets are 5 months old and then take off all dividing screen. They are watching each other and so far haven't seen anyone try to peck each other. Front view, which still needs altering (and a 2nd coat of paint). Painted it white this time so we can see everyone better. We do plan to put the 10x10 run back on once we get the alterations done. Not sure what to expect when we actually integrate ... have 5 new pullets and 3 hens ... should we add a couple more nesting boxes on the newbies side? There are 3 nesting boxes on the left side right now. Will they continue to think they each have their own side, or will the new ones go to the old nesting boxes?

Nice coop set up! Yes, they will use the same nest boxes...so no need to build more.