Surviving Minnesota!

[duluthralphie]

What is a "white sport"?

A white sport is a name some people have given to a white Cream legbar. They have 2 recessive white genes. I am not sure if the name is only used on here or elsewhere. I have never had one before this hatch. I have seen pictures and they are beautiful white birds that lay blue eggs.

Jerry, I think the one hatched last night is a boy, so you might have your rooster, If I can keep him alive.

I going to St Cloud for the day so my hatch is on auto-pilot today. I have 3 SS to hatch yet and 11 Creamettes. So far it is the day of the boys in regards to the CLB's. Just what I need is more soup chickens. I hope I get enough hens to sell some.

AussieGal, King George has redeemed himself, he is off the chopping block! I let him and his British Gals out yesterday afternoon. He still growls at me but he no longer jumps or acts like he is going to attack me. He walks away from me when I walk towards him, He tries to stay between me and the girls, but that is ok. I think he would protect them from predators if he could. He went in the coop when I wanted him too, Of course he came out while I was getting the girls to put them in.

The girls are as sweet as ever. I picked them off the top of the tractor without a problem, I think they are the only chickens I can pick up. They seem to like to be held. Which is amazing considering you never held them either.

 

[duluthralphie]

Bobcat- Nice Coop and Free is even better....

As we are finishing our coop I have a question about feeders....and how they fare in MN's diverse weather.....I like the look and idea of the bulk PVC feeders. We will have start with 40 chickens....culling about 10-15 meat birds around 18 weeks. Has anyone tried either of these 2 styles of feeders. (Photo Credits to fellow BYC Contributors)
or

They would be housed inside the coop. However, my coop is inside a shed so I have ample storage outside the coop but inside the shed for bulk storage. Thoughts....Suggestions.....

If you make one of these let us know how it works. I worry about the feed getting moist just from the air and sticking in the pipe. BUT I sure would like better feeders, I do not like the hanging ones I use now.


Does anyone else have trouble with BYC and posts. I do not always see posts until well after they are posted. I did not see this post by MNChickMom last night but I saw Kloppers which was posted way after it. This is happening a lot lately.

 

[Cebarmlds]

If you make one of these let us know how it works. I worry about the feed getting moist just from the air and sticking in the pipe. BUT I sure would like better feeders, I do not like the hanging ones I use now.


Does anyone else have trouble with BYC and posts. I do not always see posts until well after they are posted. I did not see this post by MNChickMom last night but I saw Kloppers which was posted way after it. This is happening a lot lately.

I've had it happen, it's confusing !!

 

[Dandelioness]

@MNChickMom

I've made troughs out of PVC pipes cut the long way, like a hotdog, and the caps. They are pretty easy to keep clean. I've had them suspended at the birds' height and also left them on the ground with a brick or something on each side to prevent it from getting knocked over.

I have looked at the types of setups like you've shown where it's an auto feeding thing. There are not enough holes for my chickens to eat all at once, and I worry that the less dominant ones will not get enough food. It DOES look like there are more holes in this type of auto feeder than your standard round hanging feeder.

Are the stud cavities visible in your shed? I have a grit hopper in my coop that is a lot like a J-feeder. We just installed a board over a stud cavity, then made a lip sticking out the bottom. I think it could work as an auto feeder, too.

One thing to consider with keeping feed out all the time is the attracting rodents. If I have a busy couple days or have to go out of town, I will use them, but otherwise I bring the ration out everyday. You may have enough cats and dogs around to make this a non-issue, I have no idea. Just something to think about.

@ejb3810 - were you working on breeding a chicken that produces purple eggs? How is that going?

Looks like another great day - my cabbage, collard and eggplant seeds are sprouted and potted. Going to get some peppers started today. Another litter of kits arrived yesterday! And I got to hold a lamb yesterday. Spring - is it really you? Have a good day, everybody ~

 

[KlopKlop]

Good morning all! It has been a productive evening/morning around here! Buck has moved into the 'Love nest" with his cornish harem and the incubator is running and working on stabilizing!




I am brewing coffee for a quick break then I am back to being productive! I will be running to town later to try and get the hardware i need to get my corn grinder up and running, I need a big big pulley and some lag bolts for building a heavy duty stand for it. I also will be spending some of my day in the wood shop! I have several orders for making chalk boards for people. I have made a couple for use around our house and at our farm stand. People have seen them and liked them and bada bing bada boom I am now the chalk board man haha

Happy friday all!

 

[ejb3810]

There will be no Purple egg layers anytime soon, as I have move on to develop a hen variety that lays a Sky Blue Pink egg.

 

[aussiegal318]

I came home yesterday for a break. Found the dogs had rolled in something so I gave them a bath. In my line of thinking, once they were clean I could take them to see Tim at the hospital. This being we would be gone I could open up the WestWing girls to free range. When my son closed up, Chuckie got left out. This morning I let the dogs out then 10 mins later I realize that I didn't close the coop last night. Yes I forgot that my son was here. I ran out the door to find Chuckie being plucked by Rio. No blood no injury to Chuckie just getting his feather pulled out by the juvenile delinquent.

 

[MNChickMom]

@Dandelioness & @duluthralphie

Rodents may be an issue...presently no cats or dogs. Moisture (Sticky feed) was my bigger concern. I think we will be doing some more research before I bite the bullet and invest time and money. Until then hanging feeders will be the plan.

T minus 28 days until chicks come.

 

[MNBobcat]

@MNChickMom

I've made troughs out of PVC pipes cut the long way, like a hotdog, and the caps. They are pretty easy to keep clean. I've had them suspended at the birds' height and also left them on the ground with a brick or something on each side to prevent it from getting knocked over.

I have looked at the types of setups like you've shown where it's an auto feeding thing. There are not enough holes for my chickens to eat all at once, and I worry that the less dominant ones will not get enough food. It DOES look like there are more holes in this type of auto feeder than your standard round hanging feeder.

Are the stud cavities visible in your shed? I have a grit hopper in my coop that is a lot like a J-feeder. We just installed a board over a stud cavity, then made a lip sticking out the bottom. I think it could work as an auto feeder, too.

One thing to consider with keeping feed out all the time is the attracting rodents. If I have a busy couple days or have to go out of town, I will use them, but otherwise I bring the ration out everyday. You may have enough cats and dogs around to make this a non-issue, I have no idea. Just something to think about.

@ejb3810 - were you working on breeding a chicken that produces purple eggs? How is that going?

Looks like another great day - my cabbage, collard and eggplant seeds are sprouted and potted. Going to get some peppers started today. Another litter of kits arrived yesterday! And I got to hold a lamb yesterday. Spring - is it really you? Have a good day, everybody ~

I've seen those PVC feeders on youtube. The one video I saw, the guy loved it. I believe he mentioned something about keeping a stick handy in case he had to knock some of the feed loose. What was nice is the way he had it plumbed he would fill it from outside the coop. He had something similar for his water as well.

 

[MNBobcat]

My wife seems to think that we need to clean the coop once a week (using a $6 bail of straw). I was just going to throw some new straw (about 1/4 or 1/2 bail) down on top of the old stuff and give them a fresh layer on top. But she had talked to someone who said they cleaned their coop twice a week to avoid mites, etc. I think they can go a couple of weeks or longer between cleanings. Am I wrong?

Since I removed all the old straw last night and swept out the coop, it was a good time to work on the roost. There was only one roost at about 40 inches from the floor. I only ever saw 2 chickens using it. All the other chickens either sat on the floor or in a nest box. So I removed the existing roost and moved it further away from the wall and then added a new lower roost closer to the wall. In other words, they were staggered so the hens on top weren't dropping poo on the hens below. I also figured they could hop from the low roost to the higher roost. Well...I saw the same 2 hens on the roost afterwards and the others on the floor. I'll watch to see if anything changes.