The Front Porch Swing

[LindaB220]

I have determined that I have the form of OCD where if you can't keep it perfect, it is chaos....a frustrated perfectionist, if you will.....LOL I need to be somewhere in the middle.....The nurses who must be all orderly and controlling usually end up in a BSN program so they can supervise someone else getting things in order for them. The LPN's and the ADN's are the ones who take good care of their patients and do all the work.

That's got to be what I have. Seriously.

Edited to clarify: Ok, I think I read this wrong. My OCD form is WHEN I do my cleaning etc. It has to be immaculate. But sometimes getting started is a different thing.

 

[Triple Willow]

I think what Blooie needs are some ducks. That'll give her some perspective about the chickens.   

hahahaha

Hey, how do you house your ducks? Are they with your chickens? I've read that you can't house drakes and hens together...

 

[LBejaran]

I can understand,  but remember there is NO spitting on the porch!!!! 

A lady does not spit and right now, a lady I am not. However, out of courtesy, I will spit from behind my napkin and next time I come around, I'll brin out some delicious spicy chai tea with cream. No one can resist an apology sided with cream and spicy sweet tea!

Laura, so sorry for your lost baby.   I'm getting ready to predator proof my dog kennel coop and was debated on .5 or 1"  Now I know.   Maybe your tragic accident  will save me from losing the same.  Thank you.  

It's the darnedest thing. We normally use 1/5x1 inch wire in most of the coops. Sometimes, we use 1/2x1/2 inch wire. I don't remember why but on that one side of the coop, we used 1x1 inch wire and obviously there were horrible consequences. If I had a choice, we'd be using quarter inch wire for anything for the chicks, but it would be expensive. We are planning on putting some metal along the bottom of the coop. A field mouse wouldn't be able to stick even a paw through it, let alone a possum. It'll also keep out snakes.

I want it to look like a grow out pen and function like Alcatraz. I won't deal with this again if I can help it.

I'm glad you are not going to make the same mistake I did. I learned my lesson a bit too late but if I spared you the loss of any chicks, then I am glad.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

hahahaha

Hey, how do you house your ducks? Are they with your chickens? I've read that you can't house drakes and hens together...

At least one of my drakes is a serial chicken molester, so we do keep the ducks in a duck run. They have completely destroyed the area and loved every minute of their time doing it. We have a lean-to type shelter for feed that has a (totally ignored) set of nesting boxes in it. There is also a coop that they ignore, except a few of them lay eggs in it ... sometimes. Otherwise, they prefer to be out in their run, sleeping in piles of leaves, hiding their eggs, and playing in the mud/water.

They need a bigger run, to be sure. I want to move them across the driveway where they could have about 1.5 acres of orchard & pasture to destroy ... and we'd set them up with some cattle panel hoop coops and sturdier mini-ponds. That would make quite an easter-egg hunt each day, so if we do that we'll have a smaller "dry" area that we'll keep them confined to until mid-morning when we'd turn them out to the pasture/orchard/ponds.

Then I could use the existing duck coop for a chicken brooder area set up in conjunction with my main chicken coop. It's a GREAT use for that coop.

That's the plan anyway.

 

[TexasLisa]

Not even if they are made from Reese's PB Eggs??

whimper ......whimper

I'm not sure what kind of OCD I have, but I think it involves a cozy front porch, warm baked stuff, cold tea, and a lot of very nice people! I'm hoping that by now everyone who was under the weather is feeling better, those being beaten up by the weather are seeing a little sunshine, and the recent losses of little critters is a little less painful today. Kind of a generic way to answer all the posts, but even though I read every single one of them and think of you all, sometimes I get so far behind that I can't mention every one the way I'd like to. Right now my first priority is getting this stoopid coop done.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and admit that right now I am tired to death of -------- chickens. I have my little bandanna packed so when I get tossed off the porch I'll be ready to go. <sigh> They were so cute and tiny when we got them, and as they grew they started developing personalities along with their feathers. That's fun to see! I do spend a little time each day just enjoying them, but I'm spending more time each day taking care of the messes, dust and odor that 22 chickens in a old mobile home create. It's not their faults - they are just doing what we wanted them to do - grow and stay healthy. The fault is entirely ours. We thought we'd have an outdoor place ready for them long before they needed it. We were wrong, and that's all there is to it.

I think it's the constant cleaning that has me a little down today, and I don't normally let much get me down. We bought a larger hanging feeder for the brooder that will also work out in the coop, but were still using the 1 quart mason jar type waterers. I had two of them, so one was always in the brooder and one was always clean, refilled, and sitting in the office, ready to go in. I swear every time I turn around some genius chicken has decided that if she flies to the top of it, she might find a hole I missed and escape. So over goes the partially filled water. It was getting so full of litter and poop that I was changing it more and more often. I put the waterer up on a block of wood to keep it cleaner. That worked for, oh, about 2 days. Now they are overcrowded in there so when the "thirst frenzy" hits they pack themselves in so tight around it that inevitably it gets dumped over. I put a piece of 4X4 in there to divide the area where the waterer is and where the feeder hangs from the'; litter on the other side. That worked until they decided that it made a dandier roost than the one they had and if they aimed just right they could fill the waterer with poop a lot faster, leading to getting fresher water more often. I tell ya, it's a poop plot against me!

Today I did my normal, everyday routine. I have a big box with a lid, and I line it with fresh newspapers every morning. I take out each chicken one at a time, pet her, and put her (oh, and Charlie) into that box, then put the lid on. Then out comes the feeder, the waterer, and the blocks of wood, which I scrape. I roll up the newspapers, litter and all, and pitch it. Then I use a dustpan with that little rubber squeegie thingy on the edge of it and run it over the bottom of the brooder to get any poop and litter that fell off the papers as I rolled them. A quick wipe down, because one side of the brooder is always wet, then back in go newspapers, litter, and all their accessories. Each chicken goes back in, then the net goes over all. I have done this every single day since I got them.

Today I did my morning routine. I very rarely have to grasp them - I just put my hand down and approach them from the front, palm up, and when they step forward I gently scoop them and make the transfer. They normally protest this procedure halfheartedly, but settle right down as soon as I pick each one up and pet her for a few seconds. Jane, Rose and Charlie all decided to test their protective skills this time around. Jane got me right in that little piece of skin between the thumb and forefinger and really got me good. Like an idiot I did the normal reaction - I let go of her and jerked my hand back way too fast for them. They panicked and started screeching, so the ones still in the brooder and the ones in the box started freaking out too. So Charlie and Rose went on the attack! My hand is bruised in four places and that little piece of thumb area has a bit of a cut on it. I ended up having to put on Ken's leather glove to get them out. Now, of course, I'm worried that they might not be the sweet, nice chickens they were yesterday ever again. I got the brooder cleaned and the chickens put back in, but again Jane came at my hand with her head extended and her wings swept back. I know it's all our fault for being so unprepared for how fast they'd grow, and that makes me feel even worse. We even spent part of yesterday trying to figure out a way to split them up and lessen the overcrowding, but we just don't have any way to do it. I finally measured it for sure last night, and the brooder is 5.5 feet long and 3 feet wide, not nearly big enough.

Earlier this morning I had I told Ken we needed to go pick up a bigger waterer before he left for Sheridan. We left the house and were gone about an hour and a half. Got back, I cleaned the new waterer and filled it, then took it in there to replace the small one. The small one was dumped over again and the brooder was soaking wet over halfway across. They'd tracked it with their feet and tails, it oozed under the board, they'd shredded the wet newspaper and had it strewn all over the brooder, and the divider board literally had water dripping off it when I picked it up. So I had to repeat the entire process - less than 2 hours after I'd done it already! Seriously, my first thought was, "You IDIOTS! You did this, now you can just stay in a wet brooder all day!" Fortunately good sense prevailed when I thought A) They aren't any happier with the crowded conditions than I am and B) Just what I need - 22 chickens with Athlete's Foot from a wet brooder. So I kissed Ken goodbye, sent him on his way, and started over. And yes, the Nasty Three weren't any happier with me this time, but I left them for last and used the glove. The other girls were fine, so apparently the rumor that I'm a big bad evil home-wrecker hasn't gotten to them yet.

Ken will be in Sheridan until Saturday, and a lot of what's left to do I can't handle. So I'm going out in a little bit (if the weather clears) and I'll begin priming the inside of the coop so we can get it painted. We thought about just leaving it, but we used that siding that has the plywood on the back and the flyer that came with it said that "all substrate must be primed and painted as protection against moisture". Since I know first hand about my chickens and moisture.........

Okay, got my whining clothes tossed into the hamper now. I've slung my bandanna over my shoulder, packed a lunch, grabbed my phone, and I'm getting ready to walk that long, lonesome road away from the Porch as an admitted chicken-abuser. Here I go......<looking over my shoulder>....feel free to stop me any time.....<scuffing my toes in the dirt>.......

Quick someone get her a BALUT!!

Lisa

 

[SonRise Silkies]

I can understand, but remember there is NO spitting on the porch!!!!

A lady does not spit and right now, a lady I am not. However, out of courtesy, I will spit from behind my napkin and next time I come around, I'll brin out some delicious spicy chai tea with cream. No one can resist an apology sided with cream and spicy sweet tea!

MMMMMM sounds great!!!! I don't mind the spitting really, but sometimes it makes for a pretty slippery porch!!!

I'm so sorry about the chick, I use hardware cloth on the smaller cages [under 5ft] it costs a lot but it works.
Did you know a pretty good size snake can get through 1/2"X 1/2 wire?
I found one in the "nursery" not till he ate several chicks, and he was a lot bigger then and couldn't slither back out. He died very UN peaceably

 

[Blooie]

I think what Blooie needs are some ducks. That'll give her some perspective about the chickens.

HA! Shows what YOU know about scaring me with ducks! I think I've already posted pictures of my daughter's "family" here on the porch, but just in case.....
This is Black East Indies duck Chester, with his best friend, Nappy the rock dove. It was popcorn and TV time.


Part of last year's hatch. Chester and Emma had 10 or 12 - I can never remember.


This February Chester and Emma again became proud parents - 10 more! These will live outside though.


Chester can't get enough of this toy. Plays with it constantly. Nothing else interests hi...wait, is that a spider?


Chester and Emma enjoying a dried mealworm snack.


Basking in the sunshine - in the living room!

Yep, all of her ducks live in the house. Loose and free, along with Nappy and Annie, the rock doves. You know, come to think of it 22 chickens in a small brooder with a nice big coop suddenly doesn't sound so bad! Thanks, guys! Between balouts (I can't even spell it - I darn sure ain't eating one!) chocolate eggs, duck eggs, eating contests and a batch of Almond Cookies I feel a whole lot better!

 

[Blooie]

Look, they made a flower!

 

[Triple Willow]

@Leslie...Sounds good. I'm supposed to go check out a 10X20 chainlink dogpen. I like using those but I am going to have to arch some cattle panels across the top for the roof(s).

 

[LindaB220]

I was on the La state thread and someone was talking about a friend that had an incredibly bad infection going on. Thought it was gall bladder. They found out it was a bacterial infection from weeks before that had not been treated in her tooth. Ended up traveling to her heart valve and it had to be replaced. For not taking care of her teeth her hospital bill was $400,000. Wow

Downs Syndrome: Four years ago grandbaby Nikki got pneumonia so bad that she was in intensive care 5 weeks. They had her knocked out for a month. One day Jenny called and said that Nikki was dying. I rushed to Austin and during that time her heart stopped twice. Got it started again. What happened is her lungs were so fragile (paper) and a nurse pierced it twice while inserting a feeding tube. The Dr said they were shredded. I literally had taken my funeral outfit with me. But she struggled through. After a month they woke her up. At seven or eight yrs old she was pi$$$$$ed You know when you get so mad you just want to hit or kick someone. The first one was when she drew her leg back and drop kicked a nurse in the jaw. Knocked her down.

Sorry, still laugh about it. Nobody but mama was safe from those thighs. She recuperated for months before she could do anything without gasping for air. She's a pistol. Her hospital bill was a cool half million. That makes over 2 million over her lifetime. The ONLY good thing about Obamacare is the fact that the insurance company could not drop her at the 2 million cut off.

On a lighter note, my babies are the quietest little things. Happy content loving their fermented feed. I'm happy.