Sdwd

[kathyinmo]

Amy,
Heck, girl, I am in love with your most gorgeous home! BUT, no way am I moving to your weather! No, no, no! The depth of this pond is around 20 feet or more. It is spring fed, and fully stocked! As a matter of fact, we had to do some extra fishing to pull some out this past fall. Turtles, oh yes .... but not for long, around here they rehome them or get rid of them, because they are considered like "rats!"

Have you ever heard of, "Stall Dry?" It is an absorbent and deodorizer used in barns and such. It is made with DE and Montmorillonite Clay (Volcanic Ash). I use DE in the bedding and it absorbs and keeps it fresher. Last year when we threw down some hay on the snow, we tossed in some DE as well when it started melting. It did help dry it up some. A friend of mine at work swears by "Stall Dry," and uses it all the time on puddles. I don't know though, as I have never tried it.

So, what was the decision? Are you gonna let the broody girl set?

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Thank You! And may God bless you on your travels to other threads

You're killin' me, Brandon! We are all about blessings here though, yes we are!

It is a teaching tool, I tell ya.... It teaches people how to use the search button!

*hmmm, I wonder just how many people really have used the search button to find out!*

 

[Braclin]

Quote:
Thank You! And may God bless you on your travels to other threads

You're killin' me, Brandon! We are all about blessings here though, yes we are!

It is a teaching tool, I tell ya.... It teaches people how to use the search button!

*hmmm, I wonder just how many people really have used the search button to find out!*

I enjoy spreading the love around! Some act like its a big secret. I dunno.

Hope all is well up your way!! The pics of your property are awesome!!

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
If it made sense to the outside world, we'd have to move further under ground!

Kathy, Oh heck! I'd call that a small lake then in that case. Anything that deep and stays there year round, and full of fish, has probably earned the title of Lake!!

I'll see if Del's has any of that stall dry this weekend, and if so, how much it is. Today, not only did I darn near end up on my keister, TWICE, but I also almost lost the left boot off of my foot. This mud is just absurd!!

Now do you see why I prefer that it stay below the freezing mark all winter!?!? YUCK! It wouldn't be bad if it hadn't rained so hard right on the heals of about 5-6 inches of snow Wednesday morning.

Now I have puddles where I've never had puddles before. And the puddles that normally do show up after a good rain are about 5 times their normal size!

GeeGee! Oh what to do about GeeGee.

Yes, she's absolutely broody! Have to tell y'all about this morning's scene in the coop.

So, I come out to the coops to let everyone out. The boys are always first, in the interest of maintaining peace and quiet between them, and then the girls. {I can so hardly wait till Chief goes back to his ladies! They miss him being out there and so do I!}

When I got inside the big coop to do the morning clean up, GeeGee was in the same nest box, sitting firmly on her eggs and doing everything she could to get Maggie off of her back! I have NO idea what that was all about, but GeeGee sat tight to those eggs like you would not believe! I don't think I could have pried her up with a spatula!

Maggie was just as mad as a hornet about the whole thing! I think maybe she has taken an exclusive liking to laying her egg in that particular nest box lately, and by gum, she wanted it NOW!!! She was trying everything she could think of; grabbing GeeGee's comb [thank heavens she has a nice little rose comb] pulling at her neck feathers, trying to wedge herself between GeeGee and the wall and pushing...... I had to take her out of there in a hurry before anyone got seriously hurt!

Instantly, Maggie settled down into my arms, gave me her sweet little gaze, and made her sweetest little cooing noises to me. Is it any wonder I love that little turd!?

If anyone else out there tried to pull half of the stunts she does, they'd probably have ended up on the rotisserie long time ago!

But she always looks so dang apologetic every time I have to pull her away from one of the other girls, that I just can't bring myself to be mad at her for any length of time.

Anyhow, after I got Maggie settled down, I checked to see how many eggs GeeGee is sitting on. As of this morning, she still had the two that I had left her with last night. Tonight, she has a total of five. I'm still so torn. I'll keep an eye on her, and if she manages to come back to the right nest tomorrow, after she takes her morning poop and feeding break, then I might mark two or three of the eggs and let her go for it. And if her and I both get really serious about this, I may just take down the partition walls between her box and the other two and just convert that into a nice big brooder for her and any subsequent babies.

Thankfully, when Denny built those nest boxes for me, he made them easy to take down the dividers for just that purpose. Of course, I'd still need to build a hinged door to go the length of those nest boxes to keep everyone else out of there. That would give her an area of about 18 inches deep by about 4 feet long and about 18 inches tall. That should ought to be plenty big, don't y'all think? Nella? Any thoughts there, seeing as how you're the Queen of Brooder Construction!!

This is all running on the assumption that any of those eggs out there are even fertile. Chief has been away for two weeks now. It might be a real hit or miss thing. If I do let her, I'm definitely going to stuff Maggie's eggs under her too! Just a little pay back for Maggie for not getting to lay her eggs where she wants too!

 

[kathyinmo]

Amy,
You are gonna have to write a book about the adventures of Maggie!

I have a bank of nests in the layers coop ... 5 on each row, 3 rows. I swear, they all want in the same nest at the same time! What I have found works pretty well is to keep a fake egg in each nest. If they see an egg in a nest, they will go use it. It's like they just want to add to a clutch, ya know.

When Maggie was broody in the layers coop .... let me tell ya .... NO ONE messed with her! No way, the other girls never even came near her to add an egg either. She growled and they knew she meant business! She hatched in the middle row, middle nest. She is the only broody I ever let stay in the layers coop to brood. Everyone else I always set up a separate area. I had never planned to let her brood, but Brock had other ideas, ya know. It all worked out well, in the end. She is one ferocious broody, that girl!

 

[Serrin]

Ya know, I almost got the feeling that she was trying to kick GeeGee out so that she could take over on the eggs. Especially as she just laid her egg yesterday. It won't be her day to lay again until early tomorrow morning. She seems to be on about a 36 hour schedule.

Oh good lord! What am I gonna do if Maggie goes broody too!?!?

I definitely want her to do it, just not right now!!

Please Maggie! Just hold that thought for a few more months, and then I'll let you sit on as many eggs as you can stuff under that fluffy little butt of yours!

Though it would be kind of fun to have two broodies at the same time, raising chicks side by side.

Too bad I can't convince both of them to hold off until mid to late April. I've learned my lesson about breaking broodies with FussyButt. The last time she went broody, it literally was the last time, on account of I broke her so well she's never been inclined to try since then. I don't want to have that happen ever again. There is something so completely attractive in the thought of having broodies do the incubating and rearing of chicks, as opposed to me doing it all.

Wanna know something really strange? Ever since Denny put up this new row of just three nest boxes, not one of my girls has laid an egg in the old boxes since!

No clue why. But they sure love the heck out of those new ones. Maybe because they're just slightly bigger than the old boxes? Maybe on account of the fact that they are above the pop door and therefore out of the line of draft from the door? Maybe it's a better view out the big window from those boxes? Maybe because these new boxes are about 6 inches higher off the floor than the old ones? Your guess is as good as mine!

Crazy girls!

 

[PepsNick]

WOW kathy I am jealous- would kill to live there! And what stock are your BRs?

ETA... Can someone losses help me with this?

thanks. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=440107

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Research "circadian rhythms," to learn about this.

I think I am gonna write an article about it for the next Delaware Club newsletter.

 

[PepsNick]

Amy, this is my reply to my mulch question LOL my bad!

''Haha, sorry. Was in a rush. I meant in the brooder. Cypress mulch from home depot, though I was really asking about mulch... In general? I am not very mulch-smart.

''

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
Research "circadian rhythms," to learn about this.

I think I am gonna write an article about it for the next Delaware Club newsletter.

Well hush my mouth and slap my face! Leave it to Maggie to make a liar out of me!

Guess who laid her egg in GeeGee's box after all yesterday morning? Oh yeah! It was Maggie! Can't mistake that egg. She's the only olive egger I've got!

I discovered this just a few minutes ago when I went back out to the coop to see just how many GeeGee is sitting on. And yes, she's sticking tight to the right nest box now. This is the beginning of the third day for this set of eggs. Anyway, there it was. Maggie's beautiful green egg, just as pretty as you please, right in the middle of a clutch of six eggs! GeeGee only had three as of yesterday morning, two of which that had been from Thursday's lay and that GeeGee has stuck her butt too like glue.

I talked it over with Denny, and he couldn't give a rat's rear end what I do out there.

Or should I say, what GeeGee does out there? So, hang on to your Bippie's kids! A-hatching we will go!! Yes, I'm gonna let her do it!

I'm so excited! My first broody with potentially fertile eggs. Oh how I wish she had done this three weeks earlier. I'm pretty sure just about every egg out there would have been fertile. Now, it's any body's guess. I suppose we'll know in another week when I candle them.

Now, I've marked my calendar on Thursday, January 13 as being the first day, as that is when GeeGee, with great determination, started sitting on the first three she had. Maggie and at least one other girl added her egg in there sometime between yesterday morning and this morning. The third one might be GeeGee's but I couldn't really say for sure. With 13 young girls all laying now, it's hard to keep track.

But we all know who the baby daddy will be!

My CHIEF!!!

Ummmm...with one possible exception. The other day, oh I don't know, last Monday or Tuesday, who other than mischievous Maggie, the little sneak, managed to slip out the front door of the coop and smack dab into all three boys who didn't waste one single second in grabbing her. It was all so fast, wings flapping, total pandemonium, but I think Red is the only one who nailed her successfully.

Gosh Darn It MAGGIE! You little tart!

Oh well, Red is a beautiful boy in his own right and has tons of wonderful qualities all his own. I'd have not one single objection to a chick from he and Maggie. Especially if its a little girl!

Anyhow, I returned Chief to his girls today. He still gets a little winded if he overexerts himself. Poor boy. He couldn't even begin to keep up with big fat old Brewenna!

And now she's thinking she's all that and a bag of chips for having so handily eluded Chief! Everyone [except the boys of course] are out free ranging and having the time of their lives today. The sun is out, it's a bit breezy, but the temperature is almost 50F right now. How could I possibly deny any of them the chance at green grass? Yes, weird stuff that we have up here, this crazy grass grows under the snow. When the snow all melts, there it is. Green, lush, [albeit very short] and ready for the plucking of 20 hungry little beaks! They're all so happy right now! And so am I!