Sdwd

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
I know, I know! ! ! ! I know the answer ..... build more coops and runs!

 

[rancher hicks]

I too hate winter. What it does to my arthuritis is terrrible. My poor birds see me three times a day. Once to open the pop hole if it's not too cold and change the water, Once to collect the eggs and they all have the look, "its this freezing cold and nut case still expects us to lay, yeah right!, lay your own eggs pal. You get eggs when we get a heater in here!" And once to close things up.

Serrin what I do is cover my run with plastic. It's a covered run so covering it keeps the snow out. I put a bale of straw in there and they spread it around. Last year I used tarps but they didnt' work good this year I'm got the top of the run slanted and am putting plywood under the tarps or using metal.

trylin built a nice "hoop coop" that would allow the snow to run off. It would make a great run. I don't know if she's got pics or not, but I wish I had done it for my runs. I would like to use one for a green house.

I snow blow a path to the coop cuz i can't shovel. I raise it just enough to skim the yard by an inch or so. Just make sure there is no rocks or other stuff.

Question: Sometimes when I collect eggs I will find one with what looks like Yolk on it. There are no broken eggs in the nest box and no sign of broken eggs either. I'm concerned about internal laying. Today's egg is from one of the Delawares and they are the best and biggest egg layers. What causes this? Should I worry? What can I do to prevent it?

Ta, ta for now, church tonight.

Rancher

 

[joletabey]

Amy, I can not see any other way to resolve it- take them in the house with you!

Kathy- you are full of GOOD news, and that is wonderful- DD home and snuggling with baby cloths, laying BR's and someone to do the dirty work!!! It's Christmas in August!

Nella, I am glad someone else has tall grass. DH is involved in another play, and the starter on the lawn mower is broken - it takes jiggling some thingie or other by one person under the hood, while someone else sits on the seat to keep it started- I could probably put a brick on the seat, but he has not shown me what it is he jiggles under that hood, so I am constantly wading through knee high greenery. I may take the horses out on the lawn tonight and let them at it.

Rancher, that is a good question -Sorry I don't have a clue. I still have a layer that is consistently doing that thin shell business- I would have thought that would clear up -

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
YES! ! ! I do, too! I get about 4 dozen eggs a day, and I usually get one like that almost every day. I keep looking at the girls, and I never see a problem that I can pin-point.

 

[Cetawin]

Amy...my best friend lives in Washington and has a similar situation. She has a chainlink run that is covered but that does not stop the cold, the wind or the snow. She stacks bails of straw around the exterior, 2 or 3 bails high and 2 deep. That keeps the wind and the snow out. She spreads out a thick layer on top of the ground in the run as well as extra in their little coop. The extra straw gives them more snuggling in bedding and on the ground, it keeps some of the cold off the ground for their feet. She has not lost any to winter in going on 5 years now. In the spring, the straw goes into her garden beds and her compost pile.

Start now...every time you go into town, grab as many bails as you can fit in your vehicle. Stack them up and cover them or put them under a covered area. By the time the snow hits, you will have enough gathered to build their wind and snow breaks.

And no...you have not scared me off yet. as long as the axe is sharp so I can cut firewood....I can deal with it.

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
I know, I know! ! ! ! I know the answer ..... build more coops and runs!

Ya know....I was so hoping I wouldn't have to state the obvious! Let me qualify that....Any good ideas that DON'T involve construction of additional coops at this time! Or in the near future...or...like...at all!!! But thanks for trying Kathy!

NEXT?!?!?

 

[joletabey]

I'll just state my really good idea again, Amy.

Take them in the house with you!

 

[ChksontheRun]

I went down to the chicken pen and look what I found on the ground in front of my coop

I am so excited. All of my work for the last 5 months and finally!!!!!! Yea Ha

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
Pffft! You dont' need an axe or a splitting maul, or a kindling hatchet dear....There's already about seven cords of wood stacked next to the toy shed. Just grab the little yellow garden wagon, load it up, and you're all set!

That's not a bad idea with the straw bales either. And being as we live right on the edge of the wheat country out here, I could probably get it straight from the farmer and save a small fortune over what the feed store charges.

I keep looking at a pile of these plastic like rod things that I have [long story for another time] They're very flexible, and very tough. About a half to three quarters of an inch in diameter. Most of them are long enough that if I were to put a piece of PVC pipe in the ground first and then did a half hoop arrangement like another member posted pictures of awhile back [sorry, can't remember who did that...but her link is somewhere in this very thread] I should have more than enough to do a nice big covered run. It's just a matter of getting all of the materials rounded up and then finding the time to assemble the whole affair.

All I know for sure is that whatever we build, it's going to have to really be able to handle a snow load. In '08-'09 we had over 26 inches fall over night. It was beautiful beyond words the next morning, but it took quite awhile to clear, even with tractor and snow blower. Thankfully, most of our snows are of the light and fluffy variety, as opposed to the wet and heavy snows one sees closer to the coast. Two feet of our normal snow weighs less than 6 inches of coastal snows!

Tim: Oh yeah! We know all about those pesky pebbles that like to jump right down the auger chute on the blower. We usually pack down the first snowfall if it isn't too deep, and use that as a protective base for future use of the snow blower. It's the only way to keep those little buggers from causing a whole slew of blown sheer keys!

ETA: I found it! The link to the covered run another member posted that I like so much. Again, thank you Laura. This is a great design!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4681573#p4681573

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

No idea what this means, but it is cool that BYC comes up in the top 10 of Google now when I search for it!