***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[mjgigax]

Fodder system is going great, I have pics and will post them soon, This a run down on how I do it, I went to atwoods and got two small green house at 20.00 each.
Went to Walmart and bought roasting pans at .97 each, bought 10, got my seeds from my local feed store,it was pretty cheap, 50lb barley 12.00 and 50lb wheat about
12.00 also. I soak about 3 cups for each tray anywhere from 12 to 24 hrs,I put a cap and a half of bleach in the water,after the soak period I rinse. I take all of the pans
and a small tip screw driver, and poke drain holes all over the bottoms for drainage, I can fit 8 trays on each green house, I also bought a tote to sit under the green
house to catch the water run off. It is good to stagger your soak days so you always have fodder growing, mine first few trays will be ready to go out in a day or so,
water twice a day so they dont dry all the way out and make sure the water drains out so it doesnt mold, at the end of the growth pull out, cut up and let the animals
enjoy, this stuff grows so fast you can almost see it...lol.

FYI......you want the seeds to be about 1/2 to 1 inch deep in the pans
and the bleach is to kill any bacteria and mold.

Thanks! - good set up!
I want to do this so badly.

 

[NanaKat]

Had a nice visit with SplitSocket222 and his wife today. They came to pick up a Delaware Bantam cockerel...it is so nice talking chicken with someone more experienced. I always learn so much.
We had three calves born today and there are chicks hatching in the incubator...two out, two pipped and 8 more to go.

Skunks, possums and owls are on the hit list here. The coyotes are hanging out around the calving pasture trying to do cleanup duty...so now the loaded gun goes with each time we visit the pasture. There were three earlier this evening that were howling from the neighbors pasture and drew the cows with no calves in to stand sentry. The cows with calves moved in the opposite direction.

 

[mjgigax]

yes I ordered a very nice one from a lady on the Orpington group on Facebook. He's fantastic! I should post a picture soon. The pullets have both started laying and he's finally figuring out his job. I have 3 little eggs that have made it to lockdown they hatch Monday!


Awesome! How are the Russian Orloffs doing?

Pics Please! - I love fluffy butted birds in every color. I am suprized that i don't have any Orpingtons
yet.

 

[Tony O]

Just saw this and thought I'd share.

~~The farmer's son was returning from the market with the crate of chicken's his father had entrusted to him,

when all of a sudden the box fell and broke open.

Chickens scurried off in different directions,

but the determined boy walked all over the neighborhood scooping up the wayward birds and returning them to the repaired crate.

Hoping he had found them all, the boy reluctantly returned home, expecting the worst.

"Pa, the chickens got loose," the boy confessed sadly,

"but I managed to find all twelve of them."

"Well, you did real good, son," the farmer beamed.

"You left for home with seven."

 

[mjgigax]

Just saw this and thought I'd share.

~~The farmer's son was returning from the market with the crate of chicken's his father had entrusted to him,

when all of a sudden the box fell and broke open.

Chickens scurried off in different directions,

but the determined boy walked all over the neighborhood scooping up the wayward birds and returning them to the repaired crate.

Hoping he had found them all, the boy reluctantly returned home, expecting the worst.

"Pa, the chickens got loose," the boy confessed sadly,

"but I managed to find all twelve of them."

"Well, you did real good, son," the farmer beamed.

"You left for home with seven."

- very funny!
Is that how I planned for one pen of chickens but ended up with 11? Eleven pens that is; I have way more birds that 11.

 

[mjgigax]

My Cochin hens are slowly begining to lay again but my Mille Fleur colored girls haven't started back laying yet. They must know that they are my favorites and are torturing me.

My one Marans girl is still laying 5-6 eggs a week and I already have 6 Splash and 8 Blue chicks.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

so sorry for your loss! Youll get them! Our neighbor kid has been the one that gets the predators really bad. Hes kind of brutal on how he gets rid of them though. He let his dog attack to kill a couple raccoons last time but normally he takes them by the tail and hits their head on a tree really hard. Im more shoot and kill quickly kind of person... so his methods are a little rough to me.

No we are a shoot quick family too. They are killers but they do so because they have to and there is no reason for them to suffer.

Oh @TaraBellaBirds I'm so sorry for your loss! How awful! I know Big Mama was one of your special babies, and how devastating that has to be. I would offer you one of these Ameraucana/EE roos Cathie Sue and I have to get rid of, but that's not what you're looking for.
Thanks I will miss her grumbling for tomatoes every morning. I actually might be interested, can I see a pic of him. Also any roo has to be pretty docile, I want them to defend the flock but not attack my kids!!!

So sorry. I have a gold-laced Brahma cockerel for sale, he's about 4 months old. Let me know if you are interested and I can post pics. I don't want much for him, maybe $12?

Definitely love to see a pic! I don't think I've even seen that color on a Brahma!

Keep any eye out for the ones you didn't find the bodies of. Last year I had a similar situation and thought I lost 15+ chickens. Only found 5 bodies. After looking around several hours later found three girls hiding in my hay bails. One in the innards of my horse trailer and two more showed up 2 days later. Good luck and sorry for your loss.

Maybe Big Mama and the Roo are in hiding??? Hugs Hun!

I don't have a whole lot of hope, there is a trail of feathers leading to the hole where they got in and a piece of flesh and feathers stuck to the fence....

Oh Tara

I'm so sorry-I remember you talking about Big Mama, I just loved her name. I had the exact same thing happen a few months back (twice). It turned out t be a possum both times. It still literally gives me chills when I think of finding 5 of my babies spread out with their heads gone :-( I can't tell you how sorry I am.
I've got roosters coming out my ears (as we all know). If you have any interest in a Gold Laced Cochin (10 months) , Blue Laced Red Wyandotte (5-6 months) you or anyone else is more than welcome to them.
RIP to all.

It was not a scene I want to see anytime soon.... She was pretty great, I will definitely be getting another BO in the future!

X2, I hope so. I hate losing any but some I really miss.
We lost Moonpie, our bantam Buff Cochin roo, this week. He was such a good roo - would take care of the babies that hatched first while his hens were still sitting on the nest. He showed the chicks where the food and water were and called them up into the coop at dusk. We got him at an auction for $1.25. The other bidder was buying them for bait in bobcat traps. We had Moonpie for nearly 5 years so I guess that is not bad, longer than bait and he had a 5'x8' pen, and nice coop and 3 pretty girls all to himself.

Sorry for your loss as well

Quote:
I guess that means that Spring is here and the predators are hungry.

 

[artsyrobin]

Sorry for everyones losses!

sometimes makes you wonder why you have chickens, but won't give up.

our road is finally cleared enough we can get out, living on the bottom of a hill can be a challenge


look what this poor little serama girl laid- felt so sorry for her, she slept in my lap a long time after her bath for eggbinding, and decided to lay it in my lap

 

[shelbydog]

Sorry for everyones losses! sometimes makes you wonder why you have chickens, but won't give up. our road is finally cleared enough we can get out, living on the bottom of a hill can be a challenge look what this poor little serama girl laid- felt so sorry for her, she slept in my lap a long time after her bath for eggbinding, and decided to lay it in my lap

Yeah, this last couple of months has felt like my house is the place chickens go to die. She laid an egg in your lap?! That's a cool story to have.

 

[CayuseRanch]

hello from vian oklahoma . pumpkins and lemons look to be sorta rare

Welcome to byc and our great group of enablers!

Someone help me out here but don't we have someone else that lives in vian?