***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[tgperg]

I LOVE, LOVE LOVE your creative coop! That is Folk Art. - nice birds too.

Thank you so much! It's all recycled. The walls are made from pallets. We bought plywood from some guy on craigslist who was selling it after it had been used as shelving. The door came from craigslist as well. Windows and roofing I dug out of a junk pile. I even bought nails and screws at the Habitat for Humanity Restoration Station. The roosts inside are tree limbs that came down in a storm. And of course the political signs were after the election.

 

[tgperg]

LOL   Oh my goodness, that sounded hilarious! Too bad you don't have video!!!  
Yeah!! I am so happy for you and her!  Wonderful news! 
That sounds yummy!  I will have to try it tonight, thanks for the idea! 
Robin, if you are suggesting getting a good size order of oxine together for the June swap then I am in!  Sorry I could not resist!! That one was just too easy.  I have been there, hope you feel better soon..


I LOVE the coop with the signs!!  Now I will have to see about getting some! You can just take them down for free after the election?  I would never have known that. I will have to call around.
Hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful weather!  The kids are riding their bikes up and down the road right now. I love the quiet in the house!
Shellie

The people we talked to at the City of Edmond were more than happy to have us take them. There are rules about how long they can stay up, but they said that the campaigns almost NEVER take them down and it costs them tons of money to pay someone to go around and pull them all up. You can usually get free t-posts out of the deal too!

 

[tgperg]

Bees on craigslist, is this a good deal ??? 
http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/grd/2978810380.html

I think it's a pretty good deal. A lot of the beekeepers will sell them that way. Thought of doing it myself, but I've got too much going on with my chickens right now.

 

[tgperg]

It sounds there have been quite a few losses over the past few days. Sorry to hear about that.


Mitzi - I'm so glad you pullet is doing OK now and didn't need the surgery afterall. 

Carl - if things weren't so hectic for me right now I'd consider buying some of your Rosecombs for my granddaughter in Missouri to show there. Maybe later in the year, or in the fall that will work out. I love those birds. Almost bought a pair that was at the Shawnee show but restraint kicked in. Don't know where that came from...  



I'm thinking about getting some guineas for tick and guard patrol but have some questions for those who have them. Can they stay in same coop and pen with the chickens or should they have their own space? Or free range? Do they eat chicken feed? I will do some research, but want to get ideas from you all, too.

I won't ever have guineas in the same coop as my chickens again. Mine were psychotic bullies. The males would all get together in big gangs, single out one of my hens and chase her down and forcibly mate with her over and over. We had guinea stew the day the pinned my best hen halfway under the coop and ripped her comb off her head. I love guineas, and am getting more this weekend in fact, but I will never, ever put them in with the chickens again. Other people say they've had no problems with it. YMMV. They eat chicken feed when they're older. They definitely love to free range. What we're doing is having a movable coop and yard for the chickens and letting the guineas free range so they can eat all the ticks. Oh, keets need gamebird starter. Non-medicated.

 

[sixshooter60]

Hey Mike good to hear from you . well i messed up my leg last june , dont know if you remember but i was wearing a brace when we met at Blanchard auction .and i am still in therophy cause it still dont work real good so i havent been able to hunt in almost a year. these old hounds have probably forgot how to tree a coon..yep if you was closer i would be glad to fix your lights for you. hope your doing good and i hope to make it to auction over your way in the near future so we can talk hunting and birds..

 

[Ksane]

BFrancis, you're a wealth of information. I could listen to that kind of exp0erience all day long. The pheasant are beautiful, I've thought about getting them so many times, but most have said what you did-as far as tameness they're nowhere near chickens. I'm in my 50's and until a year ago I had no idea chickens were as calm and tame and FUNNY as they are. I missed out on 50 yrs of chicken owning. What a waste. So it sounds like I'd be better off sticking with chickens.

 

[tgperg]

I just finished my chicken tractor for the little cochins and silkie I got at POOPS Saturday. Come to think of it, scaling up from one chicken in a big dog crate to four didn't work out so hot. The rooster, one cochin hen and the little silkie hen are in the tractor. It was TOTALLY FREE! I didn't spend a dime on it! Had stuff laying around left over from other projects and gathered some stuff from a friend's junk pile, and BOOM! There it is.



And here's the other little cochin, already earning her keep.



She's been determinedly stealing every egg she can get. Yesterday she started pecking the snot out of the rooster if he looked at her crosseyed. Tomorrow if she's still serious I'm going to steal her eggs and slip some Dominique eggs under her. Does anyone want some bantam cochin and silkie eggs? They're fertile as far as I know. I know this little rooster has been doing his part at least!

We'd have to time it pretty well, but if anyone wants them and is kinda close to OKC, I could meet you with them wrapped in a warm towel.

 

[upcdayz]

I won't ever have guineas in the same coop as my chickens again. Mine were psychotic bullies. The males would all get together in big gangs, single out one of my hens and chase her down and forcibly mate with her over and over. We had guinea stew the day the pinned my best hen halfway under the coop and ripped her comb off her head. I love guineas, and am getting more this weekend in fact, but I will never, ever put them in with the chickens again. Other people say they've had no problems with it. YMMV. They eat chicken feed when they're older. They definitely love to free range. What we're doing is having a movable coop and yard for the chickens and letting the guineas free range so they can eat all the ticks. Oh, keets need gamebird starter. Non-medicated.

They would have plenty of ticks to eat, that's for sure. Besides the yard area around the house, there is quite a bit of woods for them to roam around in. I sure don't want to lose any chickens or have one mangled by a mean guinea. I would certainly protect my chickens before the guineas. Sorry about your hen's comb. Poor thing. I appreciate your input about having guineas.

 

[upcdayz]

tgperg - good way to recycle. How tall are those a-frames?

 

[bfrancis]

BFrancis, you're a wealth of information. I could listen to that kind of exp0erience all day long. The pheasant are beautiful, I've thought about getting them so many times, but most have said what you did-as far as tameness they're nowhere near chickens. I'm in my 50's and until a year ago I had no idea chickens were as calm and tame and FUNNY as they are. I missed out on 50 yrs of chicken owning. What a waste. So it sounds like I'd be better off sticking with chickens.

You are too kind. the deco pheasants are really neat to watch and are pretty tame. they will follow me around the pen chirping begging a treat. They will not how ever let me touch them, lol.

As too how to keep their tails nice...big pen. My pens for each pair are 480sq ft. 10' wide, 48' long and 6' tall. That way they can turn and display with out ever touching their tail on anything. Also tall roost to keep their tails out of the dirt helps too.

2 more pics for ya

My other male


Example of the roost


PS Thanks for the compliments Michael D!