Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[Carolyn252]

Hi Carol, Christina, Roberta, Heather (even tho you are in Texas now - makes no difference, you are still one of us)
I found the best dishes for feeding my chickens! I don't have to wash them I just chuck them. Yeah! I cut my milk cartons in half and use those. I did cut across to start with but now I do it lengthwise and my four chickens can all eat at once. Sometimes I am even able to reuse it.
Last year I got very few eggs from the chickens but this year I am still getting about 6-8 eggs a week.

Here they are enjoying the oatmeal with raisins.
I am all for meeting for coffee. My construction is still not finished so coffee sounds g r e a t!
I hope everyone was enjoying the balmy weather today. Cheers Pip

I do something similar: we buy gallon jugs of distilled water and when they're empty, DH cuts them in half and the bottoms become the catchall on the kitchen counter for all our plate scrapings after meals, (everything but poultry and citrus leftovers). Our keurig coffee machine would get so clogged with mineral deposits that we finally switched to using ONLY distilled water in them. And yes, we did try using the filters inside the keurig, but it did not help. Had to get new machines THREE times; nuff is enough enuff!!

Yesterday I gave them five warm cups of cooked oatmeal laced with maple syrup, cubed Italian bread, ricotta cheese, and hulled sunflower seeds.

Egg production is slowly starting up again. Will be trashing all the eggs til March 10th, so it's fine with me if they don't go into high production for another two weeks. Yesterday my Black Marans gave me her first egg in about four months. Deep dark brown and beautiful. HennyPenny is such a sweet bird.

The ChickArena's roof is leaking with melted snow coming through two seams in the plastic roof panels. I've got two huge buckets bungee-cord suspended below the dripping spots. Works pretty well. Any of you up for a game get-together at my house in Freeport? Mah jongg or Rummy Q or Scrabble. ???? Or maybe Canasta if you refresh my memory of how to play.
-Carolyn252

 

[JerseyHen]

So, I am sitting inside working and I hear a chicken ruckus outside. I have been letting them out of the main coop people door since the run is under 3 feet of snow and I can't even get the gate open, no big deal since I range them all the time anyway. On goes the coat, boots, gloves, and out the door I go. I see a few hens by the deck, nothing out of the ordinary. I decide to drag some more water over to the coop and when I arrive all hell is breaking loose inside. So I drop the water and go in. I really should arm myself before doing something like that, I mean anything could have been in there. So I see 30 hens shoved in a corner under the nesting boxes and zooming around like crazy, a dead bantam sumatra hen in the middle of the coop and then something flashes in my peripheral vision... a hawk, inside the coop! So I chased that thing out the door. Geesh. The girls are absolutely beside themselves. I clean up the departed banty and shut the door to go in search of the missing birds (they were all huddled under the deck, I still can't get them out to go to the coop and the snow prevents me from climbing under). I headed back over to the coop to see if there were any around there too and that hawk was back trying to get in the coop again! Glad I had the door shut this time. Looks like I will have to do lockdown until the migration is over next month and/or I can get them back into the covered runs. Hawks are really pretty, but so deadly.

I have lost more birds to hawks than to any other predator. I believe in the balance between letting them freerange and losing a bird to the hawks from time to time, but this one might be a problem if it is going INSIDE the coop. That is brazen. It has to be a hard time for them though to put them to such desperate measures.

Again, why do they always get the hen? I would gladly have given it the nasty little banty rooster that was her mate... does that make me a bad person? Now I have a nasty little rooster and no hen to go with him. I guess I know who is going in the show in spring. He is beautiful, just not very nice.

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Hi everyone!

I hope you all have been weathering this frigid winter ok! I'm freezing, but I'm back to work, plus the fire department, so I've kept busy!

I have sadly lost 4 hens this winter to raccoons. I've been so upset about it-one got into the run, and I didn't know-the next morning it was a blood bath, 4 girls dead, and one disgusting raccoon that tried to bite me while I chased it out of the coop. So sad-I lost my oldest girl-Lovey, my Buff Orp that was my cuddly lap girl.

I've decided to get 3-4 more chicks to replenish my flock, hopefully I can do that soon so they are ready to lay in the summer. I still have my quails (Coturnix-A&M's) which are pretty easy keepers. I have ducks, which I am totally nuts about-such funny girls! I can watch them all day. Sadly, my turkey venture ended, and I'm not so sure I want to try again-I get too attached to them and they are more delicate than chickens.

Caroline-I'd love to get together when everyone is available!

I have to get on here more often. I miss talking to all of you.

 

[Carolyn252]

Rosie: So, so sorry for that awful predation. You too, Jersey Hen. Must be so yukky to clean up. We've seen one hawk around here. Just sat up high in a tall tree for a little while and then flew off. That was last summer. And I saw one fly by last week, but it didn't linger. Looked huge soaring up high. Using a Have-a-Heart live animal trap, this fall and winter, DH and I caught NINE raccoons in about five weeks and then we transported the cage after dark to a local preserve (about 15 blocks away) and released each of them there. I know that they or some other raccoons will eventually mosey on over to fill the space that these guys left, but we haven't seen any until three days ago. Little footprints in the snow and spotted one racing across the road.

The tarps enclosing the ChickArena keep the daytime temperatures at least ten or fifteen degrees warmer than outside. The sun beating down on the tarps makes it a greenhouse. This is despite the ceiling being completely open to the air. But the buildup of dust from the pine shavings and dry earth is the tradeoff. Can't wait to remove the tarps, have all the litter shoveled out, and then jetspray the hose all over the inside and outside of the playhouse coop, the wire walls, the raised roof and everything. In the warm months, when the tarps are gone, the gentle breezes ensures minimal dust. I hose it all down maybe once every ten days or so in the summer.

Just fifteen more days of throwing their eggs away and we'll start to eat them again. Back to my crochet project.
JerseyHen: any interest in growing Tahiti Squash? or craiglisting the work of emptying your coop's enriched litter? Just curious...
-Carolyn252

 

[JerseyHen]

Rosie: So, so sorry for that awful predation. You too, Jersey Hen. Must be so yukky to clean up. We've seen one hawk around here. Just sat up high in a tall tree for a little while and then flew off. That was last summer. And I saw one fly by last week, but it didn't linger. Looked huge soaring up high. Using a Have-a-Heart live animal trap, this fall and winter, DH and I caught NINE raccoons in about five weeks and then we transported the cage after dark to a local preserve (about 15 blocks away) and released each of them there. I know that they or some other raccoons will eventually mosey on over to fill the space that these guys left, but we haven't seen any until three days ago. Little footprints in the snow and spotted one racing across the road.

The tarps enclosing the ChickArena keep the daytime temperatures at least ten or fifteen degrees warmer than outside. The sun beating down on the tarps makes it a greenhouse. This is despite the ceiling being completely open to the air. But the buildup of dust from the pine shavings and dry earth is the tradeoff. Can't wait to remove the tarps, have all the litter shoveled out, and then jetspray the hose all over the inside and outside of the playhouse coop, the wire walls, the raised roof and everything. In the warm months, when the tarps are gone, the gentle breezes ensures minimal dust. I hose it all down maybe once every ten days or so in the summer.

Just fifteen more days of throwing their eggs away and we'll start to eat them again. Back to my crochet project.
JerseyHen: any interest in growing Tahiti Squash? or craiglisting the work of emptying your coop's enriched litter? Just curious...
-Carolyn252

I would definitely try the Tahiti squash. Do you want to swap some seeds? I can send you the list of what I have this year, if you like.

The craigslist idea is a very good one, but I use every bit of my coop's litter (I have 2000 square feet just in vegetable garden, that doesn't count the flower gardens at another 1000 or so and the fruit trees and bushes). So, I don't want anyone to take it away, just out of the coop. The neighbor's kids are usually up for any task to earn them video game cash, so it usually works itself out. It is not of consequence a the moment though, since there is too much snow to do any wheelbarrowing around and the litter is frozen solid at the moment... at least it doesn't smell when it is frozen.

 

[Carolyn252]

I would definitely try the Tahiti squash. Do you want to swap some seeds? I can send you the list of what I have this year, if you like.

The craigslist idea is a very good one, but I use every bit of my coop's litter (I have 2000 square feet just in vegetable garden, that doesn't count the flower gardens at another 1000 or so and the fruit trees and bushes). So, I don't want anyone to take it away, just out of the coop. The neighbor's kids are usually up for any task to earn them video game cash, so it usually works itself out. It is not of consequence a the moment though, since there is too much snow to do any wheelbarrowing around and the litter is frozen solid at the moment... at least it doesn't smell when it is frozen.

I've only got ten Tahiti Squash seeds left from last year's purchase from Raymond, so at most I'd swap out four of them. If you have any seeds of blue flowers, or fragrant jasmine flowers, I'd swap for those. It's easy to get Tahiti Squash from Raymond; just send him an email and let him know that you'd like to purchase some. And, thank goodness for neighborhood kids. I find them indispensable. For everything from shlepping the out of season clothes upstairs from the basement and downstairs again from our closets, to chickensitting when we go visit our kids for a weekend. I can always leave the girls with enough food and water for three or four days, but am reluctant to leave their eggs in the nest boxes for that long lest they start eating them. I just came in from afternoon chicken housekeeping and the weather is a balmy 36 degrees. Maybe, maybe, we'll soon be done with all this ice and snow and slush.

 

[HippyChippy]

So, I am sitting inside working and I hear a chicken ruckus outside. I have been letting them out of the main coop people door since the run is under 3 feet of snow and I can't even get the gate open, no big deal since I range them all the time anyway. On goes the coat, boots, gloves, and out the door I go. I see a few hens by the deck, nothing out of the ordinary. I decide to drag some more water over to the coop and when I arrive all hell is breaking loose inside. So I drop the water and go in. I really should arm myself before doing something like that, I mean anything could have been in there. So I see 30 hens shoved in a corner under the nesting boxes and zooming around like crazy, a dead bantam sumatra hen in the middle of the coop and then something flashes in my peripheral vision... a hawk, inside the coop! So I chased that thing out the door. Geesh. The girls are absolutely beside themselves. I clean up the departed banty and shut the door to go in search of the missing birds (they were all huddled under the deck, I still can't get them out to go to the coop and the snow prevents me from climbing under). I headed back over to the coop to see if there were any around there too and that hawk was back trying to get in the coop again! Glad I had the door shut this time. Looks like I will have to do lockdown until the migration is over next month and/or I can get them back into the covered runs. Hawks are really pretty, but so deadly.

I have lost more birds to hawks than to any other predator. I believe in the balance between letting them freerange and losing a bird to the hawks from time to time, but this one might be a problem if it is going INSIDE the coop. That is brazen. It has to be a hard time for them though to put them to such desperate measures. 

Again, why do they always get the hen? I would gladly have given it the nasty little banty rooster that was her mate... does that make me a bad person? Now I have a nasty little rooster and no hen to go with him. I guess I know who is going in the show in spring. He is beautiful, just not very nice. 

Sorry to hear about the hawk losses. You are lucky you didn't get hurt.
Are you doing any better?
Stay warm. I can't wait for spring.

 

[JerseyHen]

I am still having a relapse and the new meds are giving me a run for my money, but I am trying to push through it again. The thoughts of spring gardening keep me going.

Here is what I am growing this year (did anyone get any squash from those seeds last year?):
Collective Farm Woman Melon
Early Silver Line Melon
Sleeping Beauty Melon
Charentais Melon
Love-Lies-Bleeding - Red Amaranth
Fengyuan Purple Eggplant
Resina Calendula
Atomic Red Carrot
Purple Sun Carrot
Purple 68 Carrot
Red Samurai Carrot

Basil - Emily
Forellenschluss Lettuce
Lollo De Vino Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce

Mayo Bule Gourd
Big Apple Gourd
Birdhouse Gourd

Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Flamingo Pink Swiss Chard
Blue Curled Scotch Kale
Vates Collards
Cour Di Bue Cabbage
Nero Di Toscana Cabbage
Red Orach

Sungold Select II Tomato
Black Icicle Tomato
Gezahnte Tomato
Tigerella Tomato
Japanese Trifele Black Tomato
Indigo Blue Berries Tomato

Jimmy Nardello Italian Pepper
Shishito Pepper
Canary Bell Pepper
Emerald Giant Pepper
Corno di Toro Rosso Pepper

Zucchini Fordhook Squash
Patisson Golden Marbre Scallop Squash

Bush Buttercup Squash
Golden Delicious Squash
Kikuza Squash
Galeux D' Eysines Squash
Rouge Vif D' Etampes Pumpkin
Musquee De Provence Pumpkin
Tennessee Sweet Potato Squash
Victor or Red Warty Thing Squash
Thai Rai Kaw Tok Pumpkin
Marina Di Chioggia Pumpkin
Gills' Golden Pippin Squash
Butternut-Waltham Squash
Baby Blue Hubbard Squash
Table Queen Bush Acorn Squash
Boston Marrow Squash
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Sweet Dumpling Squash
Jarrahdale Pumpkin

Calima Bean
Purple Podded Pole Bean
Or Du Rhin Bean
Chinese Red Noodle Bean
Envy Soya Bean
Sugar Snap Pea
Little Marvel Garden Pea
Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea
Speckled butter bean
Scarlett Runner bean

Boston Pickling Cucumber
Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber
Muncher Cucumber

Cherokee Long Ear Corn
Luscious Corn Organic
Strong Start 7112 Corn
Glass Gem Corn Organic

Cylindra or Formanova Beet
Detroit Dark Red Beet

American Ginseng

 

[Carolyn252]

I am still having a relapse and the new meds are giving me a run for my money, but I am trying to push through it again. The thoughts of spring gardening keep me going.

Here is what I am growing this year (did anyone get any squash from those seeds last year?):
Collective Farm Woman Melon
Early Silver Line Melon
Sleeping Beauty Melon
Charentais Melon
Love-Lies-Bleeding - Red Amaranth
Fengyuan Purple Eggplant
Resina Calendula
Atomic Red Carrot
Purple Sun Carrot
Purple 68 Carrot
Red Samurai Carrot

Basil - Emily
Forellenschluss Lettuce
Lollo De Vino Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce

Mayo Bule Gourd
Big Apple Gourd
Birdhouse Gourd

Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Flamingo Pink Swiss Chard
Blue Curled Scotch Kale
Vates Collards
Cour Di Bue Cabbage
Nero Di Toscana Cabbage
Red Orach

Sungold Select II Tomato
Black Icicle Tomato
Gezahnte Tomato
Tigerella Tomato
Japanese Trifele Black Tomato
Indigo Blue Berries Tomato

Jimmy Nardello Italian Pepper
Shishito Pepper
Canary Bell Pepper
Emerald Giant Pepper
Corno di Toro Rosso Pepper

Zucchini Fordhook Squash
Patisson Golden Marbre Scallop Squash

Bush Buttercup Squash
Golden Delicious Squash
Kikuza Squash
Galeux D' Eysines Squash
Rouge Vif D' Etampes Pumpkin
Musquee De Provence Pumpkin
Tennessee Sweet Potato Squash
Victor or Red Warty Thing Squash
Thai Rai Kaw Tok Pumpkin
Marina Di Chioggia Pumpkin
Gills' Golden Pippin Squash
Butternut-Waltham Squash
Baby Blue Hubbard Squash
Table Queen Bush Acorn Squash
Boston Marrow Squash
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Sweet Dumpling Squash
Jarrahdale Pumpkin

Calima Bean
Purple Podded Pole Bean
Or Du Rhin Bean
Chinese Red Noodle Bean
Envy Soya Bean
Sugar Snap Pea
Little Marvel Garden Pea
Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea
Speckled butter bean
Scarlett Runner bean

Boston Pickling Cucumber
Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber
Muncher Cucumber

Cherokee Long Ear Corn
Luscious Corn Organic
Strong Start 7112 Corn
Glass Gem Corn Organic

Cylindra or Formanova Beet
Detroit Dark Red Beet

American Ginseng

Good G-d woman! You must be feeding an army, or running a major farm stand. Oh my oh my. That's some list!!! Do I dare ask? What do you do with all them veggies? Supply restaurants? Put up/can/preserve? Sell to wholesale markets? You are now my new hero. What an undertaking. I'm still cooking with onions and beets from August's harvest, but that's all that's left. Though I do still have rosemary in the garden. Sorry to hear that you're not feeling well, and glad to hear that your mindset is to push through and carry on. Hope there's a quick resolution and good health awaits.
Some warm sunshine and clear skies would sure be welcome.
-Carolyn252

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Happy Weekend, everyone.

I wound up getting 4 little girls-Cochin/RIR mixes, they're really cute, and fairly friendly. 1 black, one red and blue, and 2 blue. They look like they'll have dad's (Cochin) looks and hopefully mom's egg laying superpowers (RIR) I also picked up a half grown white silkie girl to keep as a pet. My dog is obsessed with "Polly" the Silkie, as is Hiawatha our half grown Drake Indian Runner.

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the sunshine, I think they mentioned the 4-letter s-word for tomorrow.