***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kassaundra]

My question is how deep should the sand be, and could I mix it with PDZ? Right now I use PDZ directly on the wood, then pine shavings on top. They poop a LOT in their coop, and I don't have time to clean it but maybe once a week. Would sand still be a decent option?

Yes b/c you could just rake the top of the sand. I try and keep a couple of inches 4 or so just add more when it gets low. ( usually just once a year or so)

 

[Mommaj89]

The soil in our yard is super sandy and we are building our coop where there will be plenty of shade for a lot of the day. I will definitely have a place to cool off and wade in and I will be prepared to have lots of cold water always on hand. I have my heart set on having Orps and I'm sad to hear that they don't tolerate heat well. The chart on here that I was referred to said they were heat/cold hardy. Poop. I definitely don't want them to keel over because of heat.

I have one Rhode Island red rooster & 2 buff orpington hens and they did pretty well last year in spite of the heat. I did throw a fan out there on the really hot ones & gave some frozen peas & yogurt in the afternoon for treats as well as made sure they have no corn in their feed, but they are doing great, and I'm excited to add more to our flock this year my Barnvelder chicks just pipped today

 

[NanaKat]

NanaK especially an any others interested I realized I finished two quilts and didn't post pics. So here they are, my version of an Underground Railroad quilt, made w/ swap blocks from this site, and the second is a double sided Bonnie Hunter inspired quilt.

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Beautiful! Love your quilts!

Hubby had surgery this past Tuesday. He is doing great....thankfully!
Sister is scheduled for her brain surgery April 5.
I'm watching fully loaded incubators...hatching chicks and ducks. And the garden is sprouting potatoes, onions, peas, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, radish, carrots and garlic. The seed trays of tomato, peppers, squash, cucumbers are popping.
And calves are everywhere!

 

[CLSranch]

Your having another busy Spring NanaK. Glad your hubby is well and hope all goes just as well with you Sister.

 

[NanaKat]

Everyone

 

[Mattok1]

I absolutely understand the points made. All very good points but I know the full history we've had with these neighbors and their efforts to annoy not only us but every other neighbor out here. Now, if he had been doing annoying things to other neighbors or they had anything bad to say about him, I would absolutely give credit to these people and say they have a point but that's not the case. There's a reason the other neighbors got along with him and they didn't. He didn't bother anything or anyone when he roamed according to the others. He just roamed and barked. The old families like us that have been here for a few generations refer to time as "before them" and "after them" if that tells you anything. They reach over another neighbors fence with a stick and trigger their hog snares, get caught on game cam, confronted about it and that's ok but that same neighbors little lap dog crosses that same fence just to smell around (nowhere near their house or yard or their animals) and they threaten to shoot it? They leave the gate open and their stud horse comes through 2 of our fences, fights my dads stud horse through the fence and causes hundreds in vet bills plus broken fence that they don't even offer to repay and that's ok but my chickens hunt bugs in their driveway at the edge of our fence and they call the sheriff? When I say unreasonable, I mean unreasonable. I believe most people are reasonable and compromises can be made but honestly, after 30+ years, it's getting real old trying to make it work and be nice. The other neighbors stopped trying long ago.

The main goal of the post was to find a safer home for Newt, which I did. He is about 40 minutes from me on 23 acres with no neighbors for 4 miles in any direction and the nearest one is kind and communicates with the new owners and from what I gather, has already met Newt and likes him. He's got chickens to look after and two new sisters to play with which he loved immediately. They came out to meet him and brought one of their current LGD's and they were best buds right away. New owner is a retired vet tech and former humane rescue officer so I feel pretty good about where he ended up.

I understand what you're saying. You caught me at a time when I'm REALLY thinking about dogs loose and running around because of my 10 month old son and how I know he's going to want to run around outside soon. There are WAY too many loose dogs around my place and some of them come into our yard from time to time and have been fairly aggressive to my wife.
I just want people to realize their pets act differently than expected in different situations

 

[dunnmom]

I need some advice and opinions. After breaking 2 broodies last year, I really would like to give my girls an opportunity to hatch some eggs this year to see how they do with it. Trouble is, I'm limited on coop and run space, so I would not be able to keep scads of hatchlings.

I've been considering some easier to manage options such as giving them a handful of eggs only, letting them hatch attractive breeds or meat breeds that have a better chance of finding a home, or even another species altogether. I may be able to allow 4 more (tops) to live in the coop and run, but I don't want to crowd my established flock.

I know a lot people just hatch eggs without much of a plan and figure it out later but I'm a worry-wort who prefers to be prudent and have her ducks in a row, so to speak.

 

[NanaKat]

Well this is definitely the time to hatch if your girls are going broody. The babies running around with their moms is more fun than watching TV.

Eggs from local folks usually hatch better in our climate than eggs shipped in from out of state...been there/done that. There are several breeders here that would have eggs or you could check out the Oklahoma Facebook pages for eggs.

Giving each broody hen 6-8 eggs would give you a nice number of chicks to grow out, select your keepers and then sell or freeze the excess.

I have started canning the meat and broth from the bones.
Makes for a nice pantry.

A broody pen can be set up in the coop. A 2 x 4 feet pen with a nest, food and water until the chicks are a few days old and listen to their mom. Then turn them in with the flock. Often several broodies at the same time will mother all together.

 

[LittleCheepers]

LittleCheepers, How old are your chickens now? When did you get them?

Hi Tony O.! Is is rude to reply to a post three months later?! . I’m sure it is but I’m hoping that “better late than never” will apply here. I truly didn’t see your post until tonight, don’t know how I missed it.

Well, our first experience with chickens turned out to be far from a success story. Our six little straight run chicks all eventually started crowing. We asked everyone, everywhere we went, and posted online to give them away - I even joined the Facebook group Oklahoma Chicken and Game Birds and advertised them on there and could not find anyone to take even one, for free! But, they were actually getting along pretty well for the most part and the neighbors, surprisingly, hadn’t complained so we were just enjoying what we had and tried to make the best of it. Then, first one, and very shortly after another, got really mean and aggressive, so after watching them terrorize the others on a daily basis, DH sent them both on to the great chicken coop in the sky. Thought that would take care of it, but nooooo! Another one stepped up and took over the role of inflicting torture on the others, so he was soon sent to join his dearly departed brothers. Okay, so the three nice ones remaining should be good to go, right? But sadly, no. A week ago Sunday DH hears a terrible commotion (and he is hard of hearing so it must have been something) and goes out to investigate. One of them was on top of another one who was covered in blood and had been pecked almost to death. So, you have to end his suffering, and you can’t leave the remaining one to be his next victim, so the aggressor has to go as well . . . and that just leaves one sad, lone little rooster. So, they have all gone on to meet their maker. I feel so sad about the outcome and have cried and cried. I feel like we didn’t give them a choice and basically set them up to fail. They were all so sweet and it’s not their fault their hormones started surging about the same time and they just followed their natural instincts. I think any of them would have made a great rooster for a flock of hens - they just never had that opportunity. And besides being totally heartbroken, I feel so terribly guilty and responsible for not giving them a chance at a happy life. I just didn’t know how to make that happen. I hope getting some new chicks will help with the sadness and guilt - I can at least give the new ones a good and happy life, as far as it is in my power to do. And I have to trust that God knows my heart and won’t hold it against me for dealing so shamefully with six of his amazing little creatures that were entrusted to my care.

 

[dunnmom]

Does anyone have any idea where I can find runner duck hatching eggs in Oklahoma?