The Middle Tennessee Thread

[Gentry1350]

@dmrippy
I am using sand in my new coop. We moved them over when you brought me the new girls on your way to Crossville, back in late November. So far, I really like it. However, I do wish I had put down a thin layer of crushed gravel first. The sand is pretty moist (the coop is VERY WELL ventilated). Sometime within the next month, I'm cleaning out their old coop (an 8 x 14 stall in the back of a shed) for quail. We are putting hardware clothing on the floor and laying sand on top.


BTW, I think my girls have Internet in their coop and read my last post. I found this when I just went to check on them (from Thelma, SBEL I got from Donna!)....

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I don't have a link. I've just ponder it every time I have to slog through the mud to feed and water everyone. Ick.

French drains use perforated pipes in a bed of gravel to pull water away from an area. I thought if you had that on the low side/end of the pen at or just below ground level and then built up maybe 3-4 inches of gravel and 6 inches of packed sand on top of that it would allow the water to filter down and out. If the whole deal was covered with roofing it would help as well. You would need to scoop poop regularly and would probably need to refresh the sand periodically as the chickens ate it for grit, but it seems like it would help keep mud to a minimum. The hardest part would be installing it initially I would think. Your runs would end up being higher than the surrounding area, so would need a masonry edge to hold it all in somehow.

 

[DMRippy]

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.

I do think everyone here is in TN. That was a large scale pig farm and not really what they were discussing so probably not relevant. That farm probably operated for years and years and was poorly managed. I am also think the condemning was just for some uses as the property was used for other things. When they really condemn a property you have to do some MAJOR work to use it again...... for anything. The state will usually take possession if not rehabilitated.

 

[Cinny]

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

Please be careful to buy the RIGHT bamboo….you can purchase them at garden centers. The lady behind us planted the WRONG kind, we now have it in our yard, the neighbors yard and every yard down at the block…Impossible to kill and it can grow underground for a mile and come up wherever it wants. A real pain in the behind and all because she wanted to make her own brooms!

 

[A6chickenhome]

I figured out how to hook my cell phone to my laptop. could never post any pics from my cell for whatever reason. Finished my coops awhile back. Just need to add some gates yet. Then at the show in Knoxville bought a nice pair of Reese RIR's. And for the people that don't want there roos or cockerels. I'm in east TN, but depending how far u r I would take them. Out of my 15 Buff Brahmas I have 10 cockerels. A few people already want a few but I'm only keeping 3. But I don't have a problem to put them in the freezer. Farm raised chicken is WAY better than store chickens. If you knew how those Cornish X's r raised you would never eat one. LOL!

Do any fly over the fence? That's the hight of my run fence and my hens started to fly over it at about 8 months old.

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

2015 Black, Blue and Splash (BBS) English Orpington Breeding Flock.
These birds are all from my bloodline I have thee additional hens (not pictured here) that I will be adding to this flock and they are directly from Julie McDuffie Batchelor
If you are interested in eggs from these beauties please message me here or E-mail me at [email protected]
We plan to start shipping eggs out In early March but to guarantee yourself some eggs early in the Season you can place your order now and pay later!

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

These young pullets are directly from Julie McDuffie Batchelor I will be adding these beautiful girls to my own bloodline this spring!
They are missing some tail feathers where I had them housed with older Jubilee pullets. I now have them in their own separate house to recover before the breeding season!
If you are interested in eggs from these beauties please message me here or E-mail me at [email protected]
We plan to start shipping eggs out In early March but to guarantee yourself some eggs early in the Season you can place your order now and pay later!

 

[TNchickmom]

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.

Amen! It is so muddy and nasty.

 

[chknoodles]

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.

Ha..I am soooo with you on this. Some of our coops and runs are on hills...mudsliding thru the run to fill the feeders has become our new "at home" sporting event. I see on the weather forecast that it is 100% chance of rain for us on Saturday...grrrrrr.

 

[Gentry1350]

Any ideas on what could be wrong with her foot/leg? I don't think it's bumble foot, it does feel slightly swollen on the bottom. She will let me bend it....

She's hobbling around ok. It just seems stuck out there.

(I tried to post a video but it won't let me....here's a couple 'stills' out of the video)