***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[RetiredArmyWife]

I may be a little overly excited but....we have our first egg!! I'm so excited!

I was so excited when we got our first egg I posted pics on here and facebook.

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote: i have a jar in the fridge with first eggs..... and you know, its still exciting! when our first hen laid her egg i was so excited i took it over to the mother in laws and she was holding it and commented it was still warm! we were boith like kids at Christmas!

 

[Tony O]

broom and water hose are the tools we use, the chickens leave a mess but they aren't dying in this heat so i have to do a little more work , has anyone ever got done with work farming ?? no end in site here.

Took the words right outta my mouth. I don't know about the broom, but a good spray nozzle on a water hose sure will keep those chickens off the pourch.

Will usually clean off any presents they leave you there too, when you're not out there to watch things.

Oh, BTW -

from NE Oklahoma.

As far as getten done work,

Not gonna happen.

 

[NanaKat]

Just gave another one of my hens her own nest of guinea eggs due to hatch in a couple days. I didn't have a single hen set until we were hitting the hundreds & now I had 3!!!

We had to put a male guinea in a cage by himself. He got the crap beat out of him by my alpha male. Pretty sure I have a guinea hen sitting on eggs in the woods. In the AM we may look for her, then I can sneak her some eggs that are about to hatch too.

I think this year seems to be a good tomato yr for everyone. We picked 30lbs this wkend not counting the culls that went to the chickens. Made some salsa tonight. May do more tomorrow if I get time. The salsa disappears as fast as I make it.
Still haven't pickled my guinea eggs yet. After I unplugged the barn fridge I am short on cold space. Maybe next wk I will get a chance.
Y'all be careful in the heat. DH just picked up this set of trainees on wenesday & has already had 6 fall out in the heat & they are not even really training hard yet.

I brought eggs in from the CW pen that have been laid since I marked 6 for the broodie hen to set. Now two girls are in the same nest box and seems all the girls are laying in the same nest. Since I couldn't tell dates, I left the marked eggs and put the unmarked in the incubator and have noted the date. Will have to be more diligent about checking that nest often during the day.
There are two Cochins sitting on a nest in the hen house too. When the temps get over 90, the fertility drops and some of the girls just quit laying. I think they think they are supposed to go broodie since they quit laying.
Hope your guinea cockerel is okay.
Tomatoes were really good this week and the temps have slowed the fruit set. So we may have a break in the fruiting. I set out several different beds at different times to help extend the crop. Spider mites love this heat and love my tomato plants.
Are you having any problems with spidermites?

 

[jcatblum]

No spider mites yet. A guy about 10 miles down the rd has been loosing all his tomatoes to blister Beatles. Never saw a mark on a tomato until he told me about his. Of course my first brandwine to break color is the but the beatle got! I do have something eating my lower tomatoes... Not a bug, a critter. Guessing birds. I have even found tiny little eggs laid in my rows & I often catch them hanging out in the garden.

 

[NanaKat]

Mockingbirds love tomatoes too.
I'm getting out the Pyloria and soapshield tomorrow to spray.

 

[our 5acre farm]

i put up a little bit of deer netting today, i hope i get a snake tonight. i did kill a snake today when cleaning out my old feed room. bc of this heat i have now lost 3 of my young dark standard cochin chicks.

 

[Kassaundra]

I have a silly question, I know that is so out of charecter for me LOL. Anyway I have several pullets starting to lay. They are free range. How do I get them to start laying in the henhouse in the nests so everyday isnt like easter.

You must have given me your smartest pullets b/c they lay in the nest. lol

 

[nnbreeder]

I don't have much trouble with shade cloth, but tarp is terrible in the wind. The shade cloth has those little holes for the wind to go through.

We keep our eyes open for old truck tarps at swaps and auctions. Beats most sold at stores by far.

The tarps get replaced when they have tears or holes in them and the last one we bought was about 60'x20' and we gave around 100 dollars for it. It was used by a steel hauler so there was numerous small holes in it from rubbing on the corners of the steel. Doubled up it is pretty watertight too.

The secret to keeping a tarp in good shape is to not let it flap in the breeze and to keep ice off of it in the winter.

Tarps that rock haulers use is a lot like shade cloth with the open spots and we snag every one of those we can.

At Govliquidation we often buy the tent half shelters to use them as shade and cover for pens, they can often be had for as little as .50 cents apiece and will last about 3-5 years in the open all of the time depending on weather. There are also at least two behind the seat of everything we drive just in case we need to lay them out to make repairs on the road. The big tents are also usually up for grabs most of the time without the poles and tarps could easily be made out of them.

 

[nnbreeder]

Mockingbirds love tomatoes too.
I'm getting out the Pyloria and soapshield tomorrow to spray.

And don't forget the box turtles, they know just when to take a bite of a ripe tomato!