Peeps in Europe!

[abpatchy]

@abpatchy so sorry to hear this. Yes ravens are very smart and cunning! And they learn from one another.

Well, the new coop is moving rather slowly, but steady. Was hoping on being finished up on Saturday, but I now have to drive my son to get a piece for his forging shop he is building. I said "yes" before I knew it was a 2 hour drive one way! So there went 5 hours of Saturday! But I DID buy an automatic door opener for the coop! A guy at my firm is rewiring it for solar power as well as battery. So no more getting up on those cold rainy mornings!

It happens... I can't change it. When you raise chicks you always have to expect something to happen, to get sick or otherwise. Just like the one who had to have the toe taken off. She is fine by the way... but her colors are very light. I am going to find her a good home though... she deserves it.

Hey, as long as your coop is coming along...it's ok. Hey, need more hens? I got 4x 6 week old that are looking for new home. hahahaha

Remember the hatching eggs I sold? Only two hatched. I told her I could give her hatching eggs next year. But at least she has two. It's amazing if you think about it. The roosters were butchered for a week. I was still able to take eggs and they hatched. 5 were at least fertilized but 3 didn't hatch. Which goes hand in hand with my last hatch during that time.... I wonder what was up.

I find myself spending more and more time at the chickens or my garden. How are you guys holding up? Are you still working?

 

[Papa John59]

Hey, need more hens? I got 4x 6 week old that are looking for new home. hahahaha

I find myself spending more and more time at the chickens or my garden. How are you guys holding up? Are you still working?

Sorry, but not looking to add any new members at the moment. And I want my Buckeyes! Only fitting, myself being a Buckeye

We are holding up! You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, at least D2 can go to the playground for a bit. And one person can visit, so yesterday the neighbor girl came over. And yes, they maintained the spacing! It was funny hearing one or the other panic and say, "Not to near" or "get back I don't want to get sick".
Work is a dirty 4-letter word! Yes, still at it but this week I start at noon. So I get to sleep in and watch tv late at night.

And spending more time at the coop or in your garden is better than sitting around all day.

Everyone be safe and stay healthy!

 

[abpatchy]

Sorry, but not looking to add any new members at the moment. And I want my Buckeyes! Only fitting, myself being a Buckeye

Did you have any luck finding someone with Buckeyes?

 

[Papa John59]

Yesterday (Saturday) I found myself with some time to work on the coop with D1. She is becoming very good with operating the equipment and seeing how everything is coming together. This project is slowly winding down and I plan to get my son and three of his friends to man-handle it to its final position. Everything on this build is refurbished! From using shipping crates that my company rejected (subpar wood quality for sea freight) to glass shelves from an old fridge to the door hinges which will be used on the door. The hinges were given to my son as payment from some welding that he did and are thought to be about 100 years old. They were just hanging on the wall on an old barn and son is in the process of cleaning them up. All I need to do now is cut the hole for the chicken door, attach the automatic door opener, install the roost, attach the side wall (really a door for cleaning and gathering eggs. Then once it is moved into position, attach the roof and install the wire messing around the vents. Easy-peasy! So here are the long promised pics the D1 took yesterday. It will measure out to 212x112x109cm more then enough room for our three ladies. I was worried about the floor not being sturdy enough....but D1 and OS (only son) were both standing inside it, shaking things up a bit to check it out....it is more solid than it looks. Also, I covered the floor with packing foil for easy clean up.
Yes, I know only 1 nesting box! There are three in the coop now and the ladies only use one, so why waste space. Anything we are missing?

 

[BDutch]

Yesterday (Saturday) I found myself with .....but D1 and OS (only son) were both standing inside it, shaking things up a bit to check it out....it is more solid than it looks. Also, I covered the floor with packing foil for easy clean up.
Yes, I know only 1 nesting box! There are three in the coop now and the ladies only use one, so why waste space. Anything we are missing?

Hi @Papa John59 . I love the family works. I have to do this kind of stuff without the help of my children. They just come by for life chatting (1,5m distance) , lunches, dinners, playing badminton in the garden, advice on buying a house, playing board games, the car park, special beers and such. Only my DH helps me with being a handy ‘man’ when I really need help.

I really love it that you teach you’re D’s how to build things. My dad didn't , even if I wanted too. Cause he was kind a old fashioned in such things. And my mother wanted help in cleaning the house .

I do have a remarks/tip: the plastic probably will be scratched and torn down by the chickens. I would paint it.

Just one nesting box is great if you don’t plan to let you're chickens breed. I have 8 chickens. They use one nestbox out of two. But also a breeding box, one poop board and one sand bath.

 

[Papa John59]

@BDutch
Thank you for your comments! D1 is the hands-on type, she would rather be building something then cleaning the house (that's D2).
The plastic on the floor will be covered in about 5 cm of hemp. I have been using hemp in the coop now and its so easy to clean. It is light weight, eliminates odors and is cheap.
As for raising chicks....no time and no space. These 3 (maybe another 1-2) are for my daily egg production and one day they will be my Sunday lunch as fried chicken! But don't let D1 or D2 hear that! Poop board! That's what I was forgetting! Thanks!

 

[abpatchy]

yay...my timer for the chicken door showed up! Can't wait until we can put it in!!

@Papa John59 Another good reason for hemp is... it turns into compost faster! Nice stuff for the garden...and it is more efficient to grow. Just makes more sense.

Saturday I will be selling 6 more hen chicks... well.. they are actually looking and acting more like chickens. Other than their size there is not much chick left in them. They are growing and I need to make space. Keep the good ones and sell the not so good ones. And in about two weeks I will move the Bielefelder hens over to the adult hens. More space!

Well... I got to go.. need to mail off the chicken poop to the University of Gießen... They got an animal clinik there.

take care everybody!

 

[Papa John59]

At last the Big Day was here! I was finally get help with the coop (Son has been to busy building his forge shop and starting his own business. That's another story for another day)
Now remember, I am building this coop with rejected shipping crates and wood from other projects. Everything is all finished, roost ladder built in on the far wall, poop board ready to be laid, nesting box ready to be sit inside the coop. D1 made the decided that instead of cutting a hole in the back wall and attaching the nesting box, that we would just sit the nesting box inside the side door. (See photos above) She said that it would keep the hen warmer as she was laying. I don't know, its must be a girl thing. The window was placed in the door and the door was all ready to be put on. Our newly bought automatic Chickenguard door was installed. WOW it even works properly!
So Saturday arrives, son and D1 are both here, time to finish the roof and then attach the door. After much debate, we decided to attach the door before roof. Door attached, and it doesn't close properly! All of a sudden, the angles of the walls are not at 90°! And we are not talking about 2-3°! I mean 9-10°! How can that be? We measured the angle just minutes before attaching the door! The door is TOO HEAVY! and the weight pulls it down. Now we have to find matching wood so that we can build a bracing frame. Easier said than done! Son and I agree, that's just build the brace out of wood we have laying around and be finished. D1 is having no part of this! She wants matching wood so that when she opens the door, it looks nice to her and (now get this) so it looks good to the hens while they are inside! (Told you it must be a girly thing) So now here I am, waiting for OBI to open up so I can make her happy! We never did get the roof on, but as that is just metal sheeting, that is not a problem.
Once I get the door braced up today and the roof on, it will be finished.
BUT, we can't move the coop from the building site to the run for at least two weeks!
Our delay on Saturday is now being stopped my our having the house roof replaced, the house painted and converting the terrasse into a glass enclosed wintergarten! My poor girls will not be moving anytime soon. ☹
The only good news I have....I'm on vacation and D2 goes back to school today! Time to go sit with my ladies in the sun!

 

[abpatchy]

Well, you're getting there! Congratulations! I get to think how I am going to build my rooster pens with a little hut for them. I was thinking of just using a large dog house... but a lot of people seem to think the quality is not there. So I guess I am building it myself.

I was able to sell 6 more young hens. They were all from my second breeding group which I don't want to continue. They were all of pretty low quality. I have read about linebreeding and it seems to make a lot of sense. So I am going to try that route. The breeder I have gotten my first breeding group from is doing linebreeding. At first I was so opposed to it. But now that I have read about it and saw the results of both breeding groups...
Oh and I have one lady wanting to buy a rooster and 5 hens. I am making room and getting some feed money. Because wow! Those chicks are going thru some feed!!!! At the moment I am almost at 50kg a week. Crazy!!! I wouldn't mind... if I had income at the moment. So far no news yet when we are going back to work.
The next item... the chickens need to be de-wormed. Their poop was off-colored.. and I thought some of them are carrying their tale down. So, I had their poop checked. Don't ask me about all the stuff I was thinking could be wrong!! Nightmare! I was so releaved to hear they only need to be dewormed.

enjoy your vacation!!

Hope everyone is doing ok.

 

[Erba]

I'm on vacation too. Good to hear the coop is finished @Papa John59 ! and yup, it is a girl thing..lol I now have 10 chicks in the brooder, it's looking like 50/50 hatch at the moment but time will tell, so more layers and more meat birds. Yeah! One of my male Pure light Sussex cockerels has started to try to crow, so I think his sister will start to lay soon. Have put two cockerels up for sale, but still waiting for a buyer.

I've been working on maintenance and in the garden, fixing and repairing things and garden clean up. I've got a lot of wood lying around, from the yew hedge we cut last year, that needs to be cut smaller and stored for my iron grill basket as my wood stock is greatly depleted for grilling. So it's chainsaws and hedge trimmer time for me. I already cut the brambles back from my side, as the neighbour that used to do it on his side died, and his brother just mows the upper part of their property now, the rest is left to go wild... So i fight the brambles growing on my side from his. Shame is, the orchard their father planted is now a bramble patch, but it's none of my business.

Great weather here at the moment, so I'm using it well. Will be planting my cucumber, pumpkin, zucchini and sowing green beans today, the tomatoes went in their beds yesterday, but there are more to be planted yet....making more tomato preserves this year if I am able.