The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[camilleathome]

Oh no Camille!

Henry was doing so well when we were over, but his interest was very captured by the chickens, which is something you will have to work on.

Poor Steven..

Im trying not to cry but Im just so upset and exausted and have to log in to work in fourty minutes and Im just overwhelmed. Right now I could just get rid of the poodles all together Im so upset.

 

[Quailsong]

Bulldogma, that was an interesting story (the '94 fire). Quite fun to read (though I'd be a ball of stress if it happened to me). I wonder how my new neighbours are in a jam - I'd def take hillbilly w/ wranglers any day! So far they seem very kind & pleasant to chat with.

Mumsy, it's a 70's house but the foundation is good & solid. The only big prob atm is there's no storm door. We had a couple huge side-ways rain this week & tons of water was literally pouring into the kitchen from the old wooden door. Even weeping right through the door's boards. Some of it leaked into the floor (under the tile) & basement wall. It was tiring wringing out cloths constantly till the storm passed. Luckily we had lots of buckets, plenty of cloth to mop up with & a dehumidifier to pick up the extra moisture. A solid storm door with updated weatherstripping (it had none..) is the first upgrade on our list - ASAP. For now, the door is duck taped shut - Canadian style.

That cabbage looks scrumptious! I can't have much of them (brassica + thyroid issues) but man, that cabbage would make a FINE kimchi.

Aoxa, I've some kefir grains that I took with me in the move. They're in the fridge & won't be restored for a couple weeks, but if you can't find any local folks for the grains just let me know. I also have kombucha disks. Same time needed to restore though.

Camille, I'm so sad to hear that. Crying can help us adjust. Let it all out now, least it builds up over time. *hugs*

 

[aoxa]

Camille, I'm so sad to hear that. Crying can help us adjust. Let it all out now, least it builds up over time. *hugs*

I agree, crying really does help.



Camille, Henry can be worked on. Send him to rehab. There is this place that helped Clementine. They fixed us as well...

 

[camilleathome]

I agree, crying really does help.



Camille, Henry can be worked on. Send him to rehab. There is this place that helped Clementine. They fixed us as well...

How much do they charge? I swear Ill send all my dogs there for a month.

 

[aoxa]

How much do they charge? I swear Ill send all my dogs there for a month.

Really reasonable. I'll PM you on FB.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I bought and used a June bug lure. I made sure it wasn't poison, just a lure. It was meant to replace the lures in the bag trap. I attached it to the fence just above the height of a small bucket with a lid. I cut a hole in the lid and put a funnel (really the top of a juice bottle) in the hole. Put water in the bucket. It worked decently well. I still hand picked a ton off my strawberries. My poor berries have been eaten to nothing. I think it may have worked better if it had been higher. I just set the bucket on the ground. If I could have hung it somehow, it may have attracted more. But it was very easy to remove the lid and take the bucket to the girls. They LOVED bobbing for beetles. Dead or alive, they ate them. I really did hate hand picking them though. It was OK for the most part, but every 4th bug would grab my finger and I would shake desperately to get it off and into the bucket. I think beetle season is over now, because the cicadas are starting to sing. Ugh. I hate them even more. Last year was a bumper crop and they were everywhere constantly. Creepy things. And no chickens to feed them to last year.

Last night I put out a (glass

) pyrex pan (13 x 9) under the back deck light which stays on at night just to see what I'd get. Put about 1/2 in of water in it.

This morning there were about 30 June bugs and a stink bug in there. Just took it out to them and it was less than 30 seconds that they were all gone.

I'm going to keep a pan or 2 out there every night from now on.

I'd probably catch more if I used some kind of lure scent elsewhere during the daytime. Can you describe what that scent smells like? I'm wondering if I could "home make" something that would lure them in. I was going to get some alfalfa cubes and put in a bucket of water yesterday for that purpose but then I remembered that much of the alfalfa on the market is GM now and I didn't want to buy any unless they clearly stated that it was conventional or organic. (When I feed the bugs to the chickens they'll get the alfalfa in the pan at the same time.)

 

[aoxa]

I asked people on Facebook to describe what it takes to be a farmer in one word. Wanted to share what everyone came up with. There were over 80 people who gave a word, but a lot were repeats:

 

[crazyhen]

AOXA Just in front of perseverance put intelligence . They have to be able to use that brain to organize everything and remember everything to grow , plant, breed and do all that needs to be accomplished on a farm.

 

[MumsyII]

Today I decided to pull one of my White Silkie boys out for another look. Sheryl Butler strain. I hatched him out on Dec. 31, 2012. He is six and a half months old. Crowing since he was four months and trying to breed and fighting with the Catdance cock since he was five months old. He whooped the Catdance boy and they both got beat up so I separated him from the flock. He is rough and inexperienced with the pullets and hens. But....After looking him over he is by far the best White Silkie male in the pen! So the Catdance boy is getting a well deserved rest. I have plenty of eggs under incubation to see what he begets. Now it's Mr. Big Foots turn. Pulled him out of a pen dirty and rough but he is a natural at posing. What a guy!









His bum is trimmed. Can't hardly wait to see if he can get the job done. I'd love to have chicks by this guy.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I set three eggs from my buff pairing under the buff girl. She went broody a few days ago. So with the one under my broody BO and these three, I may have four buff chicks soon. Gotta see the end product of this pair to see if I need to change it up.