The Middle Tennessee Thread

[DMRippy]

Reached my goal today!! 12 eggs in a day!! Woohoo! And the kicker, my 12th egg came from my fbcm pullet!! Of course I found it on the floor of my coop. But maybe my dumb chicken will learn to use the nesting boxes soon! Lol. Yes my eggs are dirty, don't judge

I think EVERY ONES eggs are dirty. I have covered runs and they are as muddy as if they didn't have any cover..... the rain needs to stop and I need to clean my runs.

 

[The Colonel]

My eggs are dirty at the moment as well. Nothing to apologize about, congrats on your goal.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Reached my goal today!! 12 eggs in a day!! Woohoo! And the kicker, my 12th egg came from my fbcm pullet!! Of course I found it on the floor of my coop. But maybe my dumb chicken will learn to use the nesting boxes soon! Lol. Yes my eggs are dirty, don't judge

I found that some of them will drop them when they first start to lay. Usually they figure the nesting box out. If not put a golf ball in each box. That always helped.

 

[elorraine52]

I'm also wondering if anyone has experience growing bamboo and using it as fence posts or trellis posts. Where do you buy it?

I also would be interested in bamboo, will be following....

 

[n3kms]

I also would be interested in bamboo, will be following....

There is a place on Almaville Road in Smyrna that sells bamboo. It's near the Almaville Fire Dept. I don't know if it is good for fences or not.

 

[Gentry1350]

I read a post one time that you are better to NOT fence or bear proof your pens.  The bears will just tear them up, they are CRAZY strong..... if you can let the birds have a way to escape it is best, if not they are just cage prey. 

That makes sense...you just saved me a lot of aggravation (and a lot of $)!

 

[Gentry1350]

I would love to have some dirty eggs right now.....we haven't gotten an egg in 2-3 weeks! They need to start laying soon, husband is ready to make chicken noodle soup!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I am so over the rain. The pens are a nasty mess. There is a very real possibility that I will land on my heinie one morning as I slip and slide through the mud. The poor chickens are up to their ankles in places! Ugg. Enough already!

It is my goal to one day build a chicken barn with french drains, covered pens and a sand base. The mud makes me nuts.

 

[Heme]

Raising Hogs in a private venue with 4 or 5 pigs is not like a commercial venture, I agree. Perhaps I have not seen a clean and healthy environment for hogs at a commercial enterprise; just what has been posted on the internet or TV. I am certain there are several well established hog farms out there.

In our local area we had a large pig farm 50 acre spread that could not manage the task of raising hogs any longer. They sold off the pigs and decided to use the acreage for other purposes. The State Agricultural Inspectors canvases the land and they condemned the areas where pigs were raised, stating; the soil was CONTAMINATED from the waste byproducts of the hogs. The contamination was deep into the soil. The State said, the soil needed to be reclaimed. That process costs more money than the farm was worth. The owners turned to making Carriages and stopped farming altogether.

Perhaps in your state the rules are not as stringent, I do not know? All I know is foul gets away with soil contamination and there are other benefits as mentioned in my blog.

 

[DMRippy]

I am so over the rain. The pens are a nasty mess. There is a very real possibility that I will land on my heinie one morning as I slip and slide through the mud. The poor chickens are up to their ankles in places! Ugg. Enough already!

It is my goal to one day build a chicken barn with french drains, covered pens and a sand base. The mud makes me nuts.

Do you have a link to something like that? I am selling most of my birds right now BUT when we get moved to the farm in the new house I am going to REDO my pens and want to get them RIGHT the next time. I think sand would be really good. I am using creek gravel but it is not working like I would like.