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AnneInTheBurbs said:
Good morning everybody!
How do you use the chicken manure? I know you have to age or rest it for most uses. I was using pine shavings in my coop before, but I will have a much bigger coop. In the burbs, I had to bag everything up and put it in the trash. I guess this is where poop boards would be handy for "collecting".
That definitely sounds like a rabid animal. Groundhogs are usually the first to dive for cover and very reclusive. And I suspect they don't usually have that kind of stamina!
I think I'm going to build a " play gym" for my girls too when I have the time. Definitely looks like a great boredom buster. I'm sure the girls won't mind if it's held together by zip ties.... Lol.


2 days until settlement! I'm both nervous and excited! We moved most of our stuff up to the garage on the property. Today we will finish unloading the shed. Starting to get a little nervous now....! :ya

Btw, in the trash a few weeks ago, someone had tossed a pack-and-play. I thought, hey, that would be a great chick brooder.... High five for all the trash pickers! (That wasn't even my latest find....) :)
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Good morning! Great score on the Pack and Play...we have 2 old wood playpens we modified as brooders/hospital pens/isolation pens. They are perfect for it.
Sending good vibes your way on closing....once that happens though the real work will begin, we probably should hear from you most days because all your projects will have you exhausted! LOL
I never minded that kind of exhausted though, being tired when you know you accomplished something just never seemed as bad.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Good morning everybody!
How do you use the chicken manure? I know you have to age or rest it for most uses. I was using pine shavings in my coop before, but I will have a much bigger coop. In the burbs, I had to bag everything up and put it in the trash. I guess this is where poop boards would be handy for "collecting".
That definitely sounds like a rabid animal. Groundhogs are usually the first to dive for cover and very reclusive. And I suspect they don't usually have that kind of stamina!
I think I'm going to build a " play gym" for my girls too when I have the time. Definitely looks like a great boredom buster. I'm sure the girls won't mind if it's held together by zip ties.... Lol.


2 days until settlement! I'm both nervous and excited! We moved most of our stuff up to the garage on the property. Today we will finish unloading the shed. Starting to get a little nervous now....!
ya.gif


Btw, in the trash a few weeks ago, someone had tossed a pack-and-play. I thought, hey, that would be a great chick brooder.... High five for all the trash pickers! (That wasn't even my latest find....)
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Just breathe, and remember. This is new, this is scary, you might not like the new place, nothing will ever be the same, you can never go back.
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This is new and exciting, and you are going to love it. Don't look back. It is all going to be great. Congrats on being a garbage picker. My in-laws have a Pack n Play without the mattress they have been hanging onto for two years. They keep it in the trunk of their car. I keep wondering why they don't use it for a brooder.

fisherlady said:
I never minded that kind of exhausted though, being tired when you know you accomplished something just never seemed as bad.
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Very true.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Good morning everybody!
How do you use the chicken manure? I know you have to age or rest it for most uses. I was using pine shavings in my coop before, but I will have a much bigger coop. In the burbs, I had to bag everything up and put it in the trash. I guess this is where poop boards would be handy for "collecting".
Click to expand...
I feel the warnings about not using fresh manure are overblown, and that is my horticulture degree speaking. Organic gardeners make "manure tea" with fresh manure to replace the liquid fertilizer you can buy at the store. The scientific facts are that soluble fertilizer of any sort is a "salt", and like salt on a slug, if you get too much, too concentrated, it will suck the moisture out of living tissue and kill it. Plants have root hairs that are very sensitive to drying out, either by fertilizer salts or real dryness. It is the same for the tissue being attacked, it dies. If you over fertilize, it has an additive effect during a dry spell. Hydroponics runs with a pretty concentrated mixture of chemical fertilizers (salts), but because the roots never dry, it's not a problem, and ensures the plants are never limited by a scarcity of nutrients.

I use fresh manure of all types, all the time. The key is moderation. Don't put it on delicate plant tissues (leaves or roots), and don't put it on too heavily, but if you spread it thin, it works great without any composting needed. Actually, the composting happens "in situ" in this case, the free ammonia with either evaporate (what you smell) or leach into the soil in the next rain. The majority of the N is locked up in organic matter and as the bacteria and fungi consume the organic matter, they excrete excess N. It becomes a slow release fertilizer. Keep in mind that this is also cumulative and too much a of a good thing can still turn bad, so don't keep adding manure to the same area and get a buildup.

Composting is to eliminate the free ammonia component, hopefully getting the ammonia locked up in the bodies of microrganisms as they consume the more fibrous parts of the bedding. I'm not arguing against composting by any means, just saying you don't need to regard fresh manure as "plant poison" as many writers would argue. Do an experiment if you want. put a pile of fresh manure all around, but not touching the stem, of a weed. Compare how it grows to others that don't have the manure. Or use another plant if you think weeds grow anyway.
 
Gm all:

The ups and downs of byc are upon me....finished up a hatch.....7 of 11 went to lockdown and four hatched....two OEs hatched first and are doing great...the third was a CCL boy who had a bunch of 'stuff' still attached after hatching,,,left it go for 24hrs then cut it off ...he went south last night....a 4th CCL boy hatched yesterday(very late) and he seems to be failing also....electrolytes don't seem to help....

On the up side I moved my x6 5week olds outside to their coop...always a great day....
 
stake said:
Gm all:
Good morning!

The ups and downs of byc are upon me....finished up a hatch.....7 of 11 went to lockdown and four hatched....two OEs hatched first and are doing great...the third was a CCL boy who had a bunch of 'stuff' still attached after hatching,,,left it go for 24hrs then cut it off ...he went south last night....a 4th CCL boy hatched yesterday(very late) and he seems to be failing also....electrolytes don't seem to help....
I'm sorry!
hugs.gif

On the up side I moved my x6 5week olds outside to their coop...always a great day....
celebrate.gif
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Chicken yard improvement. The people that owned this place dumped just about everything up in the "woods". This is now our chicken area. Last week dad burned all the brush. This weeks project was leveling the mound of concrete, asphalt and lord only knows what else. Goal was to use the block, rock, whatever to reinforce the **** he built to slow down the water that runs off the hill when it rains. Note: I decided it was a good plan to take my chicken killing dog to work yesterday as a precaution...smart of me since chickens were definitely out of the fenced area during "construction." Also rent a quality bobcat...wheel fell off and project was not totally completed.

BEFORE:

400


400


AFTER:

400

No more mound!!

400

The reinforced dam...little hard to see because of the tree shadow.

Now the plan is to build a covered run so they have a yard protected from snow. Last winter the four stayed in the coop for few days but there are too many for that this winter.
Second goal will be an attempt to plant grass
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I'm now versed on how to can bacon (awesome!). I was only concerned about the grease being too hot for the jars. As silly as it sounds, I would rather be safe than sorry. I can now confidently can the duck that I had cooked yesterday. :yesss:
 
gonehencrazy said:
Chicken yard improvement. The people that owned this place dumped just about everything up in the "woods". This is now our chicken area. Last week dad burned all the brush. This weeks project was leveling the mound of concrete, asphalt and lord only knows what else. Goal was to use the block, rock, whatever to reinforce the **** he built to slow down the water that runs off the hill when it rains. Note: I decided it was a good plan to take my chicken killing dog to work yesterday as a precaution...smart of me since chickens were definitely out of the fenced area during "construction." Also rent a quality bobcat...wheel fell off and project was not totally completed.

BEFORE:

400


400


AFTER:

400

No more mound!!

400

The reinforced dam...little hard to see because of the tree shadow.

Now the plan is to build a covered run so they have a yard protected from snow. Last winter the four stayed in the coop for few days but there are too many for that this winter.
Second goal will be an attempt to plant grass
1f606.png
Click to expand...

:thumbsup Great job!
 

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