The Front Porch Swing

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I agree on that container. I tried 40 guineas in that size. OMG.... By two weeks i was building a PVC brooder with plastic netting for walls. Didnt have access to my coop. OR they would have been outada house by then with a light at night for heat. And a tarp to keep the wind from blowing them about.

deb

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Here's a good one. A little bit of sharp witted Porch Swing advice could be useful.

My friend is a house cleaner ... she is single, 50, female. Her first husband was an abusive jerk (like her father was), and her second (fabulous) husband JUST died unexpectedly about a year ago (they'd only been married for about a year). One of my friend's male clients likes to ask her "So, are you dating yet?" This really upsets my friend, but she is so deferential to jerky men that she says nothing. She doesn't quit because she needs the money.

Dear Porchers ... What might she say to him? I'm curious to read what you guys might suggest.

I sometimes deal with difficult people by pretending that they really are nice people, and then speaking to them that way. Sometimes it sort of shames them into actually being nice people. So I would say:

"It is so sweet of you to be looking out for my welfare and concerned for my happiness. Thank you. The truth is I'm still cherishing the lovely memories I have of my past husband, and I don't feel the need for any new relationship right now."

 

[LindaB220]

Love this, Blooie! Sounds like something out of a fairytale! Congratulations Dustin and Little Diane!!

x2 May they be soooooo happy.

 

[perchie.girl]

You can make a very decent container for brooding using 1/2 inch diameter pvc pipe. They sell corner fittings. Buy a roll of Plastic netting. Then using a pvc cutter cut lenghts of pvc to make a box the width of the netting. and how ever long .... For fifty chicks I would make the whole thing about eight feet long. I usually do quick construction like this with materials that are the size as you would buy them.
PVC cutters are a quick way to cut the pipe and You dont even have to glue the pieces together. Just push them together the plastic netting gets zip tied to the pipe so that holds it all together. You could even just use a tarp for the bottoms and sides and save the netting for the top. This way you could haule the whole thing out when it comes time to strip down the garage

That many birds will cover everything you have in the garage with a thin film of dust which would be dander from them sheding out so fast while they grow. Frst the fluff then all the bits from new juvenile feathers. My moms Garage will never be the same.

The Totes retain too much moisture. And hear in a very Dry climate that is saying alot. You have to clean them very often.... Especially if someone gets rambunctious and dumps the water over.... Or kicks shavings up digging for goodies and piles the shavings up into the water and ALL the water wicks out of the waterer Soaking all the bedding. Or when your mom decides to help and puts the waterer in with the lid screwed on crookidy.

Sorry it was a night mare brooding chicks in someone elses garage. I had to do it that way because I was living down here in San Diego and not home in the Desert trying to get them feathered out before taking them home.

I had no chickens at home AND even IF I did Chances were remote that one hen would take 40.

I am half awake right now.... up till 3 AM again. But I vowed that my next brooding task will be no more than 20 and I would be brooding them outside in a brooder built to not need bedding at all. Water and feed access from the outside through openings so no one can get in to spill or poo or walk through.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Here's a good one. A little bit of sharp witted Porch Swing advice could be useful.

My friend is a house cleaner ... she is single, 50, female. Her first husband was an abusive jerk (like her father was), and her second (fabulous) husband JUST died unexpectedly about a year ago (they'd only been married for about a year). One of my friend's male clients likes to ask her "So, are you dating yet?" This really upsets my friend, but she is so deferential to jerky men that she says nothing. She doesn't quit because she needs the money.

Dear Porchers ... What might she say to him? I'm curious to read what you guys might suggest.

Hes a client. Its a tricky question. HE should be the professional one. so Jerky is right. I bet Blooie would have excellent input.

I can only answer from my own point of view. I should say to him "Questions like that are inappropriate." The problem is .... for me I share too much information to begin with just in conversation. So My personal problem is taking down those professional barriers Or never really erecting them in the first place. And its very hard to erect them once they are down. It can be done... but its very difficult.

deb

 

[LindaB220]

You can make a very decent container for brooding using 1/2 inch diameter pvc pipe. They sell corner fittings. Buy a roll of Plastic netting. Then using a pvc cutter cut lenghts of pvc to make a box the width of the netting. and how ever long .... For fifty chicks I would make the whole thing about eight feet long. I usually do quick construction like this with materials that are the size as you would buy them.
PVC cutters are a quick way to cut the pipe and You dont even have to glue the pieces together. Just push them together the plastic netting gets zip tied to the pipe so that holds it all together. You could even just use a tarp for the bottoms and sides and save the netting for the top. This way you could haule the whole thing out when it comes time to strip down the garage

That many birds will cover everything you have in the garage with a thin film of dust which would be dander from them sheding out so fast while they grow. Frst the fluff then all the bits from new juvenile feathers. My moms Garage will never be the same.

The Totes retain too much moisture. And hear in a very Dry climate that is saying alot. You have to clean them very often.... Especially if someone gets rambunctious and dumps the water over.... Or kicks shavings up digging for goodies and piles the shavings up into the water and ALL the water wicks out of the waterer Soaking all the bedding. Or when your mom decides to help and puts the waterer in with the lid screwed on crookidy.

Sorry it was a night mare brooding chicks in someone elses garage. I had to do it that way because I was living down here in San Diego and not home in the Desert trying to get them feathered out before taking them home.

I had no chickens at home AND even IF I did Chances were remote that one hen would take 40.

I am half awake right now.... up till 3 AM again. But I vowed that my next brooding task will be no more than 20 and I would be brooding them outside in a brooder built to not need bedding at all. Water and feed access from the outside through openings so no one can get in to spill or poo or walk through.

deb

Seriously, ALL that happened to me. I screwed on the lid twice and upended it over the brooder. Half a gallon to clean up.

 

[bruceha2000]

Then using a pvc cutter cut lenghts of pvc to make a box the width of the netting. and how ever long .... For fifty chicks I would make the whole thing about eight feet long. I usually do quick construction like this with materials that are the size as you would buy them.
PVC cutters are a quick way to cut the pipe and You dont even have to glue the pieces together.

PVC pipe can also be cut with a hack saw or a miter saw, one or both might already exist in your house. I watched a couple of you tube videos of PVC pipe cutters (never used one), I'd stick to the other options if for no other reason than I wouldn't have the hand strength to squeeze them through many cuts and most looked to work quite poorly on the 1" pipe he was using.

- If you have a miter saw, make a short pencil mark where you want to cut. If your saw is power, put the mark on the pipe under the blade and done in 2 seconds, no strain at all. If it is a manual miter box, the slots in the box will keep the saw blade straight, saw away.

- If you use a hack saw and no miter box, the easiest (and CHEAPEST) way to make sure your cut is straight is to wrap a piece of paper as a guide around the pipe where you will cut it and draw a line all the way around with a pencil. That way you can see if you are going off on an angle. Hold the pipe on a table or other comfortable height flat surface with the pencil mark hanging over a couple of inches and saw away.

BTW, pipe comes in 10' lengths so if you make it 10' long, you have fewer cuts to make. If you make it 5' wide, you only need to cut one piece of pipe in half. They even make 3 way fittings so you can make a corner with a vertical post using a single fitting. 3 cuts on a 10' pipe and you have four 2 1/2' 'wall' posts.

So a brooder 5' x 10' with 2.5' high walls - 4 pieces of pipe and 4 cuts. If you need intermediate bracing across the 'box' AND a vertical post at that location, they make 4 way fittings! Of course you would then be cutting the 10' long sides everywhere you used that fitting.

 

[chickenboy190]

Hello

 

[lovingmyhens]

I sometimes deal with difficult people by pretending that they really are nice people, and then speaking to them that way. Sometimes it sort of shames them into actually being nice people. So I would say:

"It is so sweet of you to be looking out for my welfare and concerned for my happiness. Thank you. The truth is I'm still cherishing the lovely memories I have of my past husband, and I don't feel the need for any new relationship right now."

Add to that " you will be the first person I tell when I do feel the need to begin dating"

 

[lovingmyhens]

Hello 

Howdy!