The Front Porch Swing

[Blooie]

Hey Everyone, got some good news. Two things, actually. The most important to me is Aimee found little Tinker. A 6 lb Yorkie that has squeezed thru a tiny hole to escape from the boarding part of her business. Ten days she has been in the woods. Thankfully for the rain and bugs and stuff. The first seven days, they had plenty of calls spotting. Aimee even saw her at 5am the other morning but the stinker ran like crazy. A neighbor and customer called and said I'm looking right at her. Aimee tore over there and of course she ran. Aimee is so beat up, clothes torn, legs scratched. But she outran her. Or rather got her cornered in the woods. I've just spent 45 min holding her after her bath while Aimee pulled ticks off. I quit counting after about 40. The first thing I did was walk in with my bottle of Nutri Drench and squirted a squirt in her mouth. She has had water and a small gourmet dinner. Now she's et and gonna sleep good. By the way, Aimee was so thrilled that when they got to the car, she called to tell the owner. And you know what? It's not convenient for her to pick her up today. She did say that Tinker was the childrens dog, but jeez.
The other thing I was going to tell you was one the Basque eggs that I left in the incubator hatched, I guess the other two are duds. I didn't really expect that , it just seemed a little different. Tom has promised to send me some more in Sept. just for shipping. Nice of him. My other 11 little tiny whirlwinds are having a good time. Swarm the fermented feed. Yes, a good day.

Yayyyyy! Great news on both fronts. I just KNOW we can expect pictures of the newest addition, right??

 

[lazy gardener]

. Really kinda wishing Mom was home. I need a hug.

So sorry for your losses. There was no way to know that you'd have an ant invasion. I'm blessed to have my flock doing ant patrol for me. Every day, we sprinkle a pound or so of scratch on the many ant nests in our yard. For the past few years, with our sandy loam, and most likely the deeply buried rotting tree roots from when we cleared our land, it's been the perfect habitat for ants. In the late summer, the queens come boiling up out of the ground, to the point where the ground is so covered with them that you can't walk without crunching a couple dozen with every step. These are black ants, not terribly big, but size varies. (we also have red ants and carpenter ants, but not fire ants.) The ground will be covered, and there will be clouds of them in the sky. Last year was the first year with chickens. About a week before the queens came out, I took a shovel, and opened up all the nests behind my house, inviting the chickens to a banquet. Surprisingly, they were happy to oblige! There weren't as many ants this summer, but, i expect the problem will take years to solve. The ants also love to invade any bales of hay or straw that i have around, and they will move into the mulch in my garden and flower beds, under every rock, under, and in flower pots... you get the picture... 2 days ago, i opened up a couple of bales of straw, and found several flakes that were totally infested... so I invited the older girls to clean up the straw so i could use it in the garden... again, they were happy to oblige. The younger girls are not so willing yet, but I expect they will get the hang of it soon. on an other insect related note, for some reason, we don't have the clouds of dancing dragon flies that we used to have. I think that may make the ant problem more severe.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm dying to do just that, but I promised Katie that I'd call her as soon as we got the first one. Wouldn't you know it? She's at day camp until three today. So I just set it aside until she gets home so she can see it. In the meantime I have to head to Powell....not using layer food yet because out of the 22 chickens one tiny little egg doesn't justify it, but I am going to pick up some calcium/oyster shells. I still have over half a bag of grower that I need to use up yet. BTW, Ida (my little laying queen) is 18 weeks old, so that's pretty good!

I don't recall that layer is particularly different in cost than grower. I pay < $13 for 50# of layer and < $15 for "egg producer plus" in the winter (more protein since they aren't out eating bugs and worms and all). I expect 22 birds will go through the rest of the grower pretty fast and there is no reason they can't all eat it.

I actually thought about making a nesting box a foot off the ground, but instead of using wood to make a ramp for the birds to get up into, I'll use one of the many gate panels we have in our backyard. I can't imagine the dogs would willingly attempt to climb up into the nest if their feet fall through the holes of the gate panel. I've seen the ducks and chickens walk on them just fine, but obviously that is only because of the way their toes/webbing is so spread out. I'd make a couple ridges just for a bit more of a grip on it, but I would probably just leave it as is to make sure the dogs can't get it. I'm more concerned about the ducks using these nests than the chickens. The chickens could lay eggs in the trees if they truly wanted to, but the ducks are limited to the ground (or in the case of Indie the Muscovy, the height to which she can jump).

Having two muscovy ducks is only good if your hen can go broody without losing all her eggs to a dog. I would prefer to let her raise them, anyway, because of how great muscovy hens can be at motherhood. It would be wonderful to have Indie go broody with her clutch. Unfortunately, she hasn't laid lately because there isn't a safe place for her to lay her eggs. She quite after a couple clutches of eggs disappeared. I guess we can blame Kimchi for that.

My boxes are ~ 18" off the ground and there is no ladder, just a perch set about 6" out. Of course your ducks are different but I don't think there is a laying age chicken around that can't get up to an 18" perch. At least you can save the chicken eggs if the dog can't jump in the nests. How big is the dog compared to the chickens? Can you make an entrance to the nests that the dog can't get through?

Broke open my egg after Katie got to see it. ("Oh, Gramma, it's just the right size for Kendra!") It was perfect! One tiny little blood spot on the yolk, but was that egg ever small! The picture makes it look bigger, but that's a small little berry bowl, not a cereal sized bowl. What really surprised me was how deep golden the yolk is and how firm the white is. I'm pumped!

Ah yes, the difference between an egg laid by a happy healthy chicken and one laid by a bird crammed in a cage with others. You will also notice that you need to smack them harder to crack them open (might not be for a bit since they just started). Then you have to be careful if you are cracking factory eggs, makes a big mess if you hit them too hard.

The eggs sold at the store are Grade A. Grading has to do with how high the yolk sits and the consistency of the white. I'm pretty sure our "backyard" eggs rate Grade AAA when laid. They will slip to AA or A after sitting for days or weeks.

IB, my nest box slopes so the eggs roll out, and it would have worked today except I had put wooden slat at the back of it to keep the artificial eggs from rolling out of the nests before they served their purpose.

How do the eggs roll if there is nesting material? And if there is no nesting material, will they look for somewhere else to lay?

Hey Everyone, got some good news. Two things, actually. The most important to me is Aimee found little Tinker. A 6 lb Yorkie that has squeezed thru a tiny hole to escape from the boarding part of her business. Ten days she has been in the woods. Thankfully for the rain and bugs and stuff. The first seven days, they had plenty of calls spotting. Aimee even saw her at 5am the other morning but the stinker ran like crazy. A neighbor and customer called and said I'm looking right at her. Aimee tore over there and of course she ran. Aimee is so beat up, clothes torn, legs scratched. But she outran her. Or rather got her cornered in the woods. I've just spent 45 min holding her after her bath while Aimee pulled ticks off. I quit counting after about 40.

So glad the dog is back. Did the owners not come to help look for it? I can see a dog not going to strangers but I would think they would head straight to the owner. Janet says "if you have Lyme disease in your area, the dog needs to be treated". I have no idea how she knows this since we don't have a dog.

Bruce

 

[Blooie]

I don't recall that layer is particularly different in cost than grower. I pay < $13 for 50# of layer and < $15 for "egg producer plus" in the winter (more protein since they aren't out eating bugs and worms and all). I expect 22 birds will go through the rest of the grower pretty fast and there is no reason they can't all eat it.




Bruce

I wasn't worried about the cost of the foods, Bruce...just afraid that starting them on layer before they were really laying was harmful. I know, I know - that's what I get for taking everything so literally! We did pick up layer feed today and mixed it thoroughly with the last little bit of grower we had. I thought there was more in that bag than there was, so it's all working out fine.

As for the nesting material, the eggs do roll very nicely. We lined the nests with that soft, bumpy-textured shelf liner running from front to the very back, and we glued pipe insulation to the sides and back of the exterior access area to keep the eggs from breaking when they roll out. There is a super thin layer of the real fine pine shavings in the nests right now - just enough to encourage investigation, and it will slowly start to "disappear" as they become more comfortable using the boxes. In fact, as soon as I removed that little white backstop and barely nudged them, all three dummy eggs immediately rolled right out of the nests! I think Ken said the drop was about 3 inches from front to back.

 

[Blooie]

Just had to share this.

My youngest son Nic and Bumblebee.

Not sure how I managed to miss this picture - too excited over my $5000.00 egg, I guess! But it's such a cute picture that I just had to comment! Hope this one is framed and in your living room. Nic is little cutie....oh, and so is Bumblebee!

 

[ducksanddoxies]

Not sure how I managed to miss this picture - too excited over my $5000.00 egg, I guess!  But it's such a cute picture that I just had to comment!  Hope this one is framed and in your living room.  Nic is little cutie....oh, and so is Bumblebee!

I do need to get this one framed. Thanks for the suggestion. And thanks. Nic is a cutie and he knows it. Lol.

 

[ducksanddoxies]

Not sure how I managed to miss this picture - too excited over my $5000.00 egg, I guess!  But it's such a cute picture that I just had to comment!  Hope this one is framed and in your living room.  Nic is little cutie....oh, and so is Bumblebee!

Oh, and I'm sure I will be that excited over my first duck egg.

 

[LBejaran]

Mama is home!

They got home an hour ago and I was so glad! There was too much nonsense happening these past couple days and I hate dealing with it all alone. I mean, I can, but it's not so great especially when you know that your family is mroe than willing to help you.

The great thing is that they brought me a present from Round Top, Texas. I think you all will appreciate it.

Hope you all enjoy my staging, haha! This little sign is going to find a new home on the bookshelves that I'm repainting. This was a great gift, especially alongside the beef jerky, apple pie, and the burlap bag I was given. I love food and burlap, so of course I'm satisfied, haha! Gotta be honest, though, now that everyone is home, I'm exhausted. They were gone only a couple days but there was so much to do and I had to do it alone. I think I just have to get used to handling these big issues alone.

 

[Blooie]

I'm so excited....someone started a new thread, something or other wheelchairs, so I went to check it out. I know, I know, not supposed to leave the Porch because we usually get into trouble, but doggone it, if someone there has ideas about how to be able to get Kendra down to see the chickens close up we'd all be ecstatic! She wants to be with Katie and Evan when they are out there so badly, but all she can do is point and say, "Chicken!" She's way to heavy to carry and hold for long periods of time so when we do take her to the coop it's only for short times. Her balance isn't good enough for sitting her in a wagon - we tried that once and the stress on her back tethering was too much, even propped in with pillows. And we all know I don't have the friendliest chickens - they don't appreciate being picked up one little bit. Wouldn't it be great if someone had an idea so she could be like the other kids?????

 

[Blooie]

Mama is home!

They got home an hour ago and I was so glad! There was too much nonsense happening these past couple days and I hate dealing with it all alone. I mean, I can, but it's not so great especially when you know that your family is mroe than willing to help you.

The great thing is that they brought me a present from Round Top, Texas. I think you all will appreciate it.

Hope you all enjoy my staging, haha! This little sign is going to find a new home on the bookshelves that I'm repainting. This was a great gift, especially alongside the beef jerky, apple pie, and the burlap bag I was given. I love food and burlap, so of course I'm satisfied, haha! Gotta be honest, though, now that everyone is home, I'm exhausted. They were gone only a couple days but there was so much to do and I had to do it alone. I think I just have to get used to handling these big issues alone.

Too cute! And we think you did just fine!