The Front Porch Swing

[vehve]

I will be interested in finding out your learning curve.    I have only to deal with wind....  we get some snow... but only a grand total of  72 hours worth.  Winter time winds here have gusts of sixty and seventy miles per hour.  I wonder what if there is a BTU rating that chickens put out.

Article on keeping chickens in Alaska

He doesnt heat at all.

deb

Our winters typically have a snowy period which can last from 3 to 6 months, usually we get snow in Dec and most is gone in Apr, but snow in Oct happens too, and rarely there has been snow left in May, or even June. Lapland has a 6-8 month winter.

A chicken should put out about 10W.

I'm planning on not heating too, but I like to prepare for the worst.

 

[lovingmyhens]

They are driving me crazy! My cat killed two in a week! I swear they just love are yard and leave everyone else alone. I hope I killed a few. Uh. Going to stuff the hose down two more holes tomorrow! Will have to go get ammonia. Where would you even get that?

Not sure if you've got Walmart, but any grocery store would have ammonia. I think right around where the vinegar is.
Melanei

 

[Blooie]

Not sure if you've got Walmart, but any grocery store would have ammonia. I think right around where the vinegar is.
Melanei

Or in the section of your local store where cleaning products are displayed - usually on the bottom shelf because most folks don't use it much anymore. Ma used it for everything - if she could have found a way to make it taste better she'd have made us brush our teeth with it!

 

[vehve]

Or in the section of your local store where cleaning products are displayed - usually on the bottom shelf because most folks don't use it much anymore. Ma used it for everything - if she could have found a way to make it taste better she'd have made us brush our teeth with it!

That might no be too healthy, I almost passed out turning my compost while it was at its hottest - 70 deg C ammonia steam isn't good to breath.

 

[wyoDreamer]

There is a really impressive list of uses for ammonia on the Readers Digest site. Here are a few: clean your electric oven, make crystal shine, repel moths, eliminate paint odors, clean gold and silver jewelry, remove grease and soap scum, remove stains, clean carpets, brighten windows, clean bathroom tiles, use as a plant food, and keep stray animals out of your trash.
check it out here: http://www.rd.com/home/home-and-garden-uses-for-ammonia/3/

I was doubtful about the ammonia working, especially after the ground squirrels ejected the rags on the first day. But persistence paid off,I kept adding ammonia and shoving them back down the holes and after 5 days, they even quite trying to dig new holes nearby. The flower be is growing back and blooming again.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Yep.... I used to clean horse stalls. that Ammonia can knock you over. The only thing to worry about is mixing ammonia and bleach. That will release... Chloramine vapor. Liquifies the lungs if concentrated.

It seems Bleach is the Major offender..... here is a caution from Washington State Department of Health.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/HealthyHome/Contaminants/BleachMixingDangers.aspx

deb

 

[LBejaran]

Ibejaran - you could create a logo of a knothole in the side of a treek and on your sign where you can put more detail put a hidden nest in there with lots of goodies in it - eggs, chickens. Or make it kinda look like a peak into the shop type of thing with dresses, chairs, and stuff. If you ever end up with a shop with a window, you could paint on the glass to make it a knothole view into the shop.

You read my mind! I'm working on a flyer (because despite all the new work I'm doing for this shop, I need a day job, haha!) but once I'm done, I have a project that will hopefully be the new logo for the shop. I'll post photos as soon as I'm done with it! I wish we had a great big shop window, but it looks like it'll be run mostly out of our garage. Maybe in a couple years, once we have something really going, we can have a shop of our own.

What do you do for egg collection? I'm guessing keeping the eggs in outside temperatures isn't a good idea with a Texan climate.

Dad built the coop in such a manner to protect it from the harsh South Texas sunlight. As such, the coop is about 20 degrees cooler throughout the hottest part of the afternoon (around 2-3 PM). The nesting boxes face the east, but the shed the coop is built next to blocks the sunrise. When the sun sets, the light is blocked by the back of the nest boxes. The boxes stay pretty cool because of that. I'd likely be able to leave the eggs out for a couple days without worry about them going bad. I mean, I wouldn't really like to leave them out for very long, but I've found hidden nests a week old in places much less protected from the sun and they've passed the float test!

Also, I've had hens collect nearly 2 weeks worth of eggs and hatch all of them. I imagine if fertility is great, consuming them would just fine.

Yep or a Fox Terrier.... Any kind of terrier.... only deal is dont yell at them for excavating to dig the varmets out. Because when they go to ground they will be on a MISSION.

My Rosie was not a terrier but tenaceous none the less. She removed the whole garden bed under the window when i spotted a rat disappearing in a hole in the ground. She removed a yard of dirt AND killed three adults two juveniles and uncovered three nests full of Pinkies. Good job Rosie I can fill in the hole later.

deb

My rat terriers, Rosie and Kimchi, are the mother-daughter rodent-killing tag-team, haha! Occasionally, they get so excited that even Sandy (my German Shepherd/Boxer mix) joins in the hunt. Kimchi is sturdier and manages to fit her way between a two fences and chases any rodents or bunnies out. Rosie and Sandy wait alongside the fence and snatch up anything that runs out. They've killed a couple rats, destroyed a nest of baby rats, and killed a couple bunnies. Not entirely happy about the bunnies, though.

 

[LindaB220]

Hi everybody, how is your day going? Mine is ok. The weather is holding cooler this week due to the rain. And we have had some rain. Some more expected tomorrow I think. My new babies are doing alright but are totally terrified of me. They huddle in the brooder the whole time I'm in there. Part leghorn and part Crested legbar so I guess scaredy cats. And so tiny even at 4 days.

.

 

[LadyCluck77]

Hi everybody,   how is your day going?   Mine is ok.  The weather is holding cooler this week due to the rain.  And we have had some rain.   Some more expected tomorrow I think.    My new babies are doing alright but are totally terrified of me.   They huddle in the brooder the whole time I'm in there.  Part leghorn and part Crested legbar so I guess scaredy cats.   And so tiny even at 4 days.  .

Those sound like they'll be great layers, they'll handle the heat well too. I really love my leghorns. They can get friendly if you handle them a little every day. That's what I did with mine, and my avatar picture shows one of my white leghorns playing in the sandbox with my son. She flies over her pen fence whenever she sees him, even when he gets off the school bus, and runs over to get the crust from his sandwich.
Sounds like yours might carry the blue egg gene too? That would be a great breeding project.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Ibejaran - for now you could take an old wooden window and paint your knot hole on it. Add OPEN to the Bottom/top and use it as an OPEN sign you can hang outside when you are .. well ... open.