The Front Porch Swing

[LindaB220]

Wanna see what we did this morning? No? Well, since you're a captive audience I'm gonna show ya anyway! We got the lattice up on the front of the run. I'm still not real crazy about it, but Ken likes it and the girls loved the dappled shade it provided in the morning light, so I guess it stays. Maybe after I get some flowers on it it won't look so stark. So, it's picture sharing time....


As you can see, my big trees are starting to leaf out well!


We used the pieces cut off the main one to put a small "fence" along the south side.


It does do a nice job of kinda disguising it from the street, though.


I have since done a little remodeling - rearranged the lawn ornaments and put out a solar spotlight.


Katiebug came by tonight to help with chores. She loves her new "coop boots".


Out for a little exercise this evening. The lilacs smelled wonderful, and since Ken had been watering they enjoyed finding little bugs in the grass.

Love the lattice . I mentioned to Aimee that I wanted it on the street side of the coop. She thought it was a good idea, but she says the plastic is more durable than the wooden. What do you have?

 

[Blooie]

Love the lattice . I mentioned to Aimee that I wanted it on the street side of the coop. She thought it was a good idea, but she says the plastic is more durable than the wooden. What do you have?

We got the plastic. The one place we used the wood, back behind the garage where we have some flowers for the hummers planted, it rotted out within just a couple of years.

 

[Blooie]

Oh, I forgot to share this...today it reached 73 degrees...first time we've had temps in the 70's in over 240 days - since sometime in September. Yayyyy! Tomorrow the last of the seasonally closed entrances and roads in the Park open, and Hwy 14A opened today. Lilacs are blooming. Saw a skeeter.

Hummingbird scout feeders are hung. Spring is HERE in Wyoming at long last! And WyoDreamer, please check in and let us know you're okay!!!

 

[lindz8504]

Anyone know how to tell if a bird is laying internally without culling it? My marans still hasn't laid since her first egg on March 30. I have caught her in the nest boxes but haven't gotten another egg. She was hatched in Sept last fall. I am hoping that she starts laying soon but I don't want to feed a non productive bird.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Do you put it in their feed, I guess? BTW, I restarted my computer, and everything is back!

You know, this was a dumb statement!!!

How else would they get it!! Powder their bottom with it!!!

 

[TexasLisa]

Wanna see what we did this morning? No? Well, since you're a captive audience I'm gonna show ya anyway! We got the lattice up on the front of the run. I'm still not real crazy about it, but Ken likes it and the girls loved the dappled shade it provided in the morning light, so I guess it stays. Maybe after I get some flowers on it it won't look so stark. So, it's picture sharing time....


As you can see, my big trees are starting to leaf out well!


We used the pieces cut off the main one to put a small "fence" along the south side.


It does do a nice job of kinda disguising it from the street, though.


I have since done a little remodeling - rearranged the lawn ornaments and put out a solar spotlight.


Katiebug came by tonight to help with chores. She loves her new "coop boots".

Out for a little exercise this evening. The lilacs smelled wonderful, and since Ken had been watering they enjoyed finding little bugs in the grass.

Blooie, you always have our attention. I love the lattice. If your area will allow it, you could plant grapes or some kind of climbing plants: clematis, roses, Bougainvillea, honeysuckles, etc.

Lisa

 

[OHhappychicks]

I am so relieved that you got your storm cellar done. As an added bonus, it'll make a fine place to store canned goods! Good on ya! And yep, if you even dug one little shovelful then you helped dig!

I think I would have liked your dad very much! Betcha if you stuttered he would have told you that what you had on your mind was important and if you'd write it, he'd read it. Sounds like that kinda dad!

A lady always has the option of mentioning her weight and age - a gentleman, however, never repeats that information!

I agree, I think I have time yet...it was more the sequence I was confused about...whether to wait until the first egg to get everything ready or get it ready and then wait it out. You guys are an amazing source of information! Thank you all for chiming in!

Hmm, I thought Marans were pretty good layers - I have so much to learn yet it's scary!

Wanna see what we did this morning? No? Well, since you're a captive audience I'm gonna show ya anyway! We got the lattice up on the front of the run. I'm still not real crazy about it, but Ken likes it and the girls loved the dappled shade it provided in the morning light, so I guess it stays. Maybe after I get some flowers on it it won't look so stark. So, it's picture sharing time....


As you can see, my big trees are starting to leaf out well!


We used the pieces cut off the main one to put a small "fence" along the south side.


It does do a nice job of kinda disguising it from the street, though.


I have since done a little remodeling - rearranged the lawn ornaments and put out a solar spotlight.


Katiebug came by tonight to help with chores. She loves her new "coop boots".


Out for a little exercise this evening. The lilacs smelled wonderful, and since Ken had been watering they enjoyed finding little bugs in the grass.

Blooie~~your lattice looks very nice. You could plant morning glories, or gourds or some other vining plant to grow on the trellis. That would be lovely. You have a Katiebug, (good looking boots!) I have a Katiedid! I also, which I think I've mentioned before, have a Lillian, we call Lillybug! Looking at all the green in your pics and thinking it was, what, a couple of weeks ago, you had snow!! Like good ole Ohio weather!!
Marans are good layers, just not when I want them to be!!

The fox got 2 of my cuckoo marans,

so we had that going on, the weather has been going up and down here, plus they are in a different pen. I'm thinking all of these issues might be causing the delay. I have 20 hen, and only getting 6-9 eggs a day. Before the fox, were were getting 15-20 a day. We lost 7 this spring. So everyone has slowed down a bit. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon!

Be patient. Give it time. A disruption of their regular habitat and routine might stifle or slow things down.

Thank you heartsizedfarm! I'm going to let it go the duration and see what happens. They still have 2-3 weeks left in the breeding pen. I only want about 6-8 eggs to hatch out! I hope they come thru for me. I actually have a broody, an araucana, but I'm not putting any eggs under her yet. When the time comes when I need a broody, I won't have one!

My Buckeye hen goes broody about every six weeks or so, but I'm wanting to put her in a pen with the buckeye rooster, but I only have room for 1 breeding pen at a time. DH suggested just buying more Buckeye chicks, which I might consider doing. The marans aren't so easy to find. At least around here.

 

[Blooie]

You know, this was a dumb statement!!!

How else would they get it!! Powder their bottom with it!!!

You'd be surprised! When I worked as a AHT for a veterinarian, we had a dog who was always coming in with chronic ear infections. We'd pluck the excess hair out of his ears, clean and flush them, then send the lady home with drops and instructions. Within a few months he'd be back with the same issues. One time the infection was particularly bad and cultures showed it was bacterial rather than his usual fungal, so we did the entire treatment routine and added a different ear cleaning solution and an oral antibiotic to his owner's medicine cabinet! She called us a few days later and told us that he was vomiting the antibiotics up within a short time of getting his dose. So I asked the vet, and he told me to tell her to give him a teaspoon of Pepto and see if that helped clear things up.

A few days later she brought in her once gorgeous Gordon Setter. His eyes were runny, he smelled awful, and he looked miserable. His ears were matted almost flat to his head and gunked up with a nasty,sticky discharge. He'd shaken his head trying to clear his ears so hard that he'd caused a pretty big ear hematoma. The vet told her we'd have to keep him for a few days to get things under control. He asked her a few questions - had she been putting the solution in his ears and rubbing them to loosen the clumps inside? Had she been giving him the antibiotics like she should? Was the nausea under control? A few well placed questions later we learned why his ears were so much worse. When I had told her to give him the Pepto to see if that helped, that's exactly what she did.....she was putting the Pepto in his ears after cleaning them. DUH! Here's your sign!!

 

[OHhappychicks]

You'd be surprised! When I worked as a AHT for a veterinarian, we had a dog who was always coming in with chronic ear infections. We'd pluck the excess hair out of his ears, clean and flush them, then send the lady home with drops and instructions. Within a few months he'd be back with the same issues. One time the infection was particularly bad and cultures showed it was bacterial rather than his usual fungal, so we did the entire treatment routine and added a different ear cleaning solution and an oral antibiotic to his owner's medicine cabinet! She called us a few days later and told us that he was vomiting the antibiotics up within a short time of getting his dose. So I asked the vet, and he told me to tell her to give him a teaspoon of Pepto and see if that helped clear things up.

A few days later she brought in her once gorgeous Gordon Setter. His eyes were runny, he smelled awful, and he looked miserable. His ears were matted almost flat to his head and gunked up with a nasty,sticky discharge. He'd shaken his head trying to clear his ears so hard that he'd caused a pretty big ear hematoma. The vet told her we'd have to keep him for a few days to get things under control. He asked her a few questions - had she been putting the solution in his ears and rubbing them to loosen the clumps inside? Had she been giving him the antibiotics like she should? Was the nausea under control? A few well placed questions later we learned why his ears were so much worse. When I had told her to give him the Pepto to see if that helped, that's exactly what she did.....she was putting the Pepto in his ears after cleaning them. DUH! Here's your sign!!

Poor puppy!!!!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Second~~I put my French copper maran roo, 2 copper maran hens, and 1 cuckoo maran hen, in a pen by themselves so I could get baby marans. They have been in the pen, which is a hoop/coop-greenhouse, with a fenced in lot behind it, for almost 3 weeks. They have plenty of room, sunshine, fresh air, but they've only laid 3 eggs!! One was broken in the lot. I have a feeling this breeding project just ain't going to fly!!
Does anyone have an idea why they aren't laying? The cuckoo is about 1 year old, the other marans are 2-3 years old. Now I know that is kinda old, but I should be getting at least 1 egg a week from them. They were laying before we put them in the pen. Getting a little irritated!!

I understand your frustrations!

This is the first year we've tried to do any kind of real breeding ... and it has been so frustrating for us, too. We only have one trio of breeding birds (Delawares, two hens and one male). We wanted to have broodies hatch their eggs. When we had a lot of eggs from the two breeding hens, we didn't have broodies. Now that we have lots of broodies, we don't have lots of eggs!

We are having the broodies hatch out the Delaware chicks in the Delaware coop. The three Delawares don't know what to make of their new roommates, and spend most of their time nosing them away from nests and feeders. The more hens with chicks we have in "their" coop, the fewer eggs we're getting. I figure that's either because the Spring Rush is over, or because the hens are too busy being nosey. We've had about 25 hatch so far, I was hoping for a hundred or more as 25 really isn't so many to choose from to make improvements in the line, and the "extra" roos were going to be meat (we have a good demand for cockerels, and these are supposed to be especially meaty cockerels), the extra hens are supposed to refresh our laying flock (Delawares are theoretically about the most ideal dual-purpose breed). Regardless, the original 3 birds will be seriously outnumbered soon enough, so they had better learn to share.

Meanwhile, Freedom Hen marched out of the bushes with her 17 Freedom Mutts ... She is doing a GREAT job taking care of all of them, and doesn't even seem to want us to bother to feed them. We cannot keep them in the coop/pasture during the day -- where they all hold their own against our 100+ hens & roosters at night & in the early mornings. Freedom Hen takes the Freedom Mutts out of the fence several times each day so they can scratch around in the leaf mulch nearer our house, then gets them back in for a little rest or drink of water. In and out, in and out. That hen is a genius, and I think she is raising some very self-suficient, intelligent chicks.

The Delawares? Le sigh.