***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[mjgigax]

Not Chicken related, But how is everyone's gardens doing ?
We are getting lots of green beans, and the squash are really starting to get after it.
I keep eyeballing those green tomatoes, seems like they are taking their sweet time this year getting ready.
I am really surprised that the garden did not drown out, with all of the rain we had.

I planted my garden late; just tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cucumbers. Everything is growing very fast but no produce yet.

 

[NanaKat]

Good Morning OKIEs...Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday. It should be a gorgeous day.

Well, this Southern Baptist lady can dance....especially if a big black snake is wrapped around her leg and is biting her pant leg! One of the hazards of walking a barb wire fence line to replace clips on a fence after the boys restrung some downed wires. Yesterday, there I was leisurely enjoying the sunshine and the birds singing when the 5 foot monster attacked...it didn't help that I stepped on it first. I screamed like a girl. BIL Larry was able to pin its head down and I was able to cut it's head off with the wire cutters and then unwrap it from my leg.Those things really stink when you cut off their head! uuuugh!

Lynn1961, our garden is going good after three hail storms. Haven't planted the beans or okra yet, but the onions have recovered, the potatoes are blooming, the squash is looking about ready to pick and the Sugar Snap peas will get picked this morning. Cabbage, collards and broccoli are looking good too. Got our first head of broccoli this past week. The tomato plant were put out late, so the green ones are a little bigger than marble size now. The peppers are just beginning to take off. Tomatillos are big plants now covered with blooms. Eggplant, cucumbers and Jerusalem artichokes are growing nicely. Looks like we will have a crop of blackberries. in a few weeks.

Jcatblum and artsyrobin, I don't think Ninya will be returning. She had stopped laying and was beginning a molt...as much as geese do. We looked high and low for her. But thank you for the comments.

On a chicken note, the juvenile birds saved from the breeding pens are growing nicely. Have had to already separate the bigger 4 - 5 month old cockerels from the young pullets...already doing the dance for the girls and trying to breed them. Two month old girls don't like their attention.
I'm putting up a smaller pen (10 x 20) along the side of the goose pen for the next group of young birds. These 4 week - 6 week olds are sleeping without a light in the brooder room and really need to be outside on grass and in the sunshine.
And I will turn the goose pen into the Birchen Wyandotte and Cochin pen for the bigger juveniles and keep the Columbian Wyandotte in their current pen. They are all growing so fast.

 

[NanaKat]

Good morning! Glad to hear the garden is doing good. We are really ready to get some canning started. We ran out of salsa in the middle of the winter and store bought just isn't the same. We planted our garden pretty late, but it is looking good. Still have the okra and melons to get planted. I do have a chicken question for all of you. We are new to this this year, and have 8 bantams that are 9 weeks old. 2 Welsummers, 2 E.E. and 4 Silkies. Is there any kind of routine medicine we should know about giving them, or should we just feed, water, and play with them and not worry about it? Thanks. Anyway, back to the garden. We also planted 10 blueberry plants. Never had them before and they are looking really good. Have a great day all!

Hi unkljim, Welcome if I missed your first post.
Are your birds free-ranging? If so, a regular worming program would not hurt. I do mine twice a year using Wazine...available at most feed stores and Atwoods, etc. I use Wazine first and then follow up two weeks later with a worming using Ivermectin. The Wazine gets the round worms and the Ivermectin gets everything else like tape worms, mites, etc. Keep an eye out for mites. Wild birds bring those in. Sevin dust and sifted wood ash in their dust bathing areas helps deter them. And spritzing their bums and under their wings with Adams flea and tick spray helps.
Also, feeding yogurt, pumpkin, help to keep the gut healthy. I also like adding a glug of apple cider vinegar (with the mother) to their water to help with the probiotics. Glug...about a tbs per gallon. When temperatures get over 100, I start adding electrolites to their water also. You can find it in powder form in a pouch at the feed stores.

 

[Kassaundra]

My garden did get drowned, I lost 2/3rds of my tomato plants, and have planted squash more times then I care to count. I planted especially for drought conditions so the month long monsoon really hit my garden hard, would not have if I had planted normally.

My cherry tree went insane, picked cherries until I was sick of picking cherries,they are in the freezer now waiting until I get set up for wine making, going to try and turn them into a tasty wine.

Raspberries are loaded it should be a couple of weeks and I will be buried in raspberries, I plan on making them into wine too.

Just planted blueberries this year for the first time, the duke had done the most amazing of the types I planted, I did harvest a handful.

Fig tree looks good should get figs for the first time.

Other fruit trees except the sweet cherry all look good

The plants in the garden that did survive the floods look good,squash bugs are BAD this year.

Nana you ready to "bust a move" on the show "So You Think You Can Dance"? lol

 

[Poco Pollo]

Chickens are making little dust bath bowls all over the place. I came across two of the hens who were supposed to be free-ranging (bug hunting) asleep, shoulder to shoulder, in their dust bath. They'd picked a shady spot, and I could tell there'd been a lot of activity in the bath with all the torn up weeds and dirt kicked aside. I wiggled the toes of the bigger hen, and she lifted her head up, opened her eyes, sneezed, and then lay back down.

Robin - Therese and Agatha are exploring the house several times each day. They are still spending evenings in the pantry, in their comfy bed box, but when I'm inside I let them search the rooms upstairs. They haven't ventured into the basement, yet, but that's probably because the stairs are daunting, and without the lights on, the basement looks rather cavelike.

 

[Ginger Assassin]

Not Chicken related, But how is everyone's gardens doing ?
We are getting lots of green beans, and the squash are really starting to get after it.
I keep eyeballing those green tomatoes, seems like they are taking their sweet time this year getting ready.
I am really surprised that the garden did not drown out, with all of the rain we had.

we are getting good carrots because the last few years they got sprouted and died. Also we are growing our peanuts well. Good to hear your garden is doing good too.

 

[Ginger Assassin]

My garden did get drowned, I lost 2/3rds of my tomato plants, and have planted squash more times then I care to count.  I planted especially for drought conditions so the month long monsoon really hit my garden hard, would not have if I had planted normally.

My cherry tree went insane, picked cherries until I was sick of picking cherries,they are in the freezer now waiting until I get set up for wine making, going to try and turn them into a tasty wine.

Raspberries are loaded it should be a couple of weeks and I will be buried in raspberries, I plan on making them into wine too.

Just planted blueberries this year for the first time, the duke had done the most amazing of the types I planted, I did harvest a handful.

Fig tree looks good should get figs for the first time.

Other fruit trees except the sweet cherry all look good

The plants in the garden that did survive the floods look good,squash bugs are BAD this year.

Nana you ready to "bust a move" on the show "So You Think You Can Dance"? lol

i am so jealous none of that stuff will grow here because of those dang moles and chipmunks!! Except for the stuff in the green house.

 

[Kassaundra]

i am so jealous none of that stuff will grow here because of those dang moles and chipmunks!! Except for the stuff in the green house.

Robin has kittens, they would be good for your mole/gopher problem.

 

[Ginger Assassin]

Robin has kittens, they would be good for your mole/gopher problem.

our dog would not allow that if it moves fast he will kill it but he got one mole ate it vomited it . Then hated then ever sense same with chipmunks.

 

[Kassaundra]

our dog would not allow that if it moves fast he will kill it but he got one mole ate it vomited it . Then hated then ever sense same with chipmunks.

Oh, that wouldn't be good then. My doxy loves to hunt rodents, or steal them from the cats, but he doesn't eat them ever.