The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

Silly girls! I know it's not that bad here, and I'd be putting the chicks out in a blizzard at this point......it's the notion of being out there in a heavy rain/snow storm and freezing temps WORKING on the coop that I'm fretting over! LOL

Can't paint in that kind of weather, can ya?

 

[Triple Willow]

I'm going to get in on this HATCH-A-THON with you guys. A dozen EE eggs going in about tomorrow. I'm sorter eggcited! <that's bad! LOL

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Silly girls! I know it's not that bad here, and I'd be putting the chicks out in a blizzard at this point......it's the notion of being out there in a heavy rain/snow storm and freezing temps WORKING on the coop that I'm fretting over! LOL

When I'd finally had it with brooding things indoors ... I STILL have chicken poo stains clear to the ceilings on the walls of my office ... I set up a brooding area in the coop with a 3-sided protector ... I used large scraps of plywood (almost full sheets) for the sides, securely propped together, then left the top and one end open, and hung a heat-lamp fixture from above ... I improvised a heat-lamp fixture from some scraps of wood I fastened together so I could hang 3 lamps from the same fixture, just in case I needed that many to keep temps up ... then I set the food and water towards the open end ... and as the birds got bigger I moved the food and water further and further away until the birds were big enough to use the whole coop. I left the protected area for a good while, but eventually stopped turning the heat lamps on even at night.

At first I kinda went for a super warm spot right under the heat lamps, knowing the birds could & would move further away if they felt too warm.

I'd like to use a heat-plate type brooder, but for some reason lamps work better with our electricity ... I'm sure an electrician would be able to explain why. I still haven't hard-wired out to the coop ... maybe this summer.

I had this arrangement in place while I was working on finishing the coop. The birds seemed to enjoy helping with the building. And I sure preferred having them out of the house!

I haven't painted any piece of any coop yet ... it's on the list.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Dad's baker friend, the one I got the lone snickerdoodle from last week, this is what she sent home last night! I got so excited I forgot to take photos before I started eating.


That's a 4-serving cake made from the "leftovers" of a wedding cake Dad's friend baked.



And this is a 4-serving quiche. It has all kinds of things in it ... onions, mushrooms, asparagus, salmon, cheese. Mmmmmmm!

 

[Beekissed]

I brooded a batch of chicks inside for a couple of weeks once, just until I had time to finish an outside brooding place and it was a pure-D nuisance! They were still too little to make too much mess but the sounds and the dust was enough to drive a person mad. When I think of how some folks keep chicks in the house for months I can't even fathom it....I'd go crazy from the mess, the smell, the noise and the inconvenience of it all!

Outside brooders are so very easy to maintain and it cuts down on chore time tremendously, you can hang nipple waterers out there so no more bedding and poop in the water, and you can tend all your chickens at the same time. Bliss! They also seem to benefit more from the fresh air, the outside temps and humidity levels and the exercise of a larger brooder.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Coop progress this week:

1) We determined we should advertise duck eggs on CL, and I managed to wrestle CL into submission and finally posted an ad. We shall see if we get customers this way before the ducks decide they don't want to lay again.

2) The feed mixer from the local-ish feed mill I really want to work with finally wrote back to me. She says she wants to "make this happen," meaning helping us formulate a flexible, sensible, real-food based, locally-sourced-where-possible, nutritious, multi-purpose, FRESH, flock food for our birds to which we can eventually add our own grain crops once we get that figured out. It's a step ... so fingers crossed something comes of it this time.

3) I have also solved one more riddle in my scheme to get vast amounts of horse manure shifted from very local and very fancy horse farms in the area directly into my chicken paddock. So this might actually happen "soon."

Phew.

 

[rrrmamma]

Just got home from picking up our Great Pyrs. Didn't get the kennel outside finished because of the weather so brought them in the house. Big mistake. Mamma dog immediately ran into the hallway and took a huge pee on the rug then ran into the living room and pooed on the carpet there. Hubby is outside now finishing up the kennel and I am on my way out to help. They are definitely outdoor dogs.
Katy (Mamma) is sweet and the puppy is adorable. I am going to try to post pictures on here because we need a name for him to register. It will be ____________________from Camolot Farms.. We are open to all suggestions. More later. Gotta build kennels while the sun still shines or something like that. Be back later.

 

[Beekissed]

Coop progress this week:

1) We determined we should advertise duck eggs on CL, and I managed to wrestle CL into submission and finally posted an ad. We shall see if we get customers this way before the ducks decide they don't want to lay again.

2) The feed mixer from the local-ish feed mill I really want to work with finally wrote back to me. She says she wants to "make this happen," meaning helping us formulate a flexible, sensible, real-food based, locally-sourced-where-possible, nutritious, multi-purpose, FRESH, flock food for our birds to which we can eventually add our own grain crops once we get that figured out. It's a step ... so fingers crossed something comes of it this time.

3) I have also solved one more riddle in my scheme to get vast amounts of horse manure shifted from very local and very fancy horse farms in the area directly into my chicken paddock. So this might actually happen "soon."

Phew.

You have been BUSY!

Just got home from picking up our Great Pyrs. Didn't get the kennel outside finished because of the weather so brought them in the house. Big mistake. Mamma dog immediately ran into the hallway and took a huge pee on the rug then ran into the living room and pooed on the carpet there. Hubby is outside now finishing up the kennel and I am on my way out to help. They are definitely outdoor dogs.
Katy (Mamma) is sweet and the puppy is adorable. I am going to try to post pictures on here because we need a name for him to register. It will be ____________________from Camolot Farms.. We are open to all suggestions. More later. Gotta build kennels while the sun still shines or something like that. Be back later.

......and so have you.

How horrible!!! I had that happen to me once when my sister brought a dog over and left it in my house while we were at church......huge pile on the carpet, puddles everywhere, our blinds torn down, etc. I had to replace the carpeting in that room to get the smell out of the house..

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I forgot ...

4) I'm brewing a batch of brine so I can defrost one of our monster turkeys in it ...

5) Flock is Free Ranging in the sunshine today. I've been getting excellent Chicken TV out the various windows. The birds deserved a special treat after a few days of record-breaking rain.

 

[LindaB220]

Dad's baker friend, the one I got the lone snickerdoodle from last week, this is what she sent home last night! I got so excited I forgot to take photos before I started eating.


That's a 4-serving cake made from the "leftovers" of a wedding cake Dad's friend baked.



And this is a 4-serving quiche. It has all kinds of things in it ... onions, mushrooms, asparagus, salmon, cheese. Mmmmmmm!

Keep the cake . Quiche. Yummmmmm