The Old Folks Home

[Dragonfly216]

Beautiful eggs! I can't wait for my Easter Eggers to start laying! I'm just so impatient for the beautiful egg basket!

 

[Alaskan]

Vehve we get quite a bit of snow here and my birds deal with it. They don't like it a whole bunch but they deal with it. If it gets real deep I will shovel a clear area in their pen.

My plan is to keep the run snow free and covered with bedding, and hopefully they'll enjoy playing in the snow outside the run. Not much free ranging to do in the snow though. I don't think they are too thrilled about pine needles as a source of greens.

Some people bag up dried leaves to use in the winter.

I get too much snow to shovel for chickens. Bare bones shoveling can equal 2 to 3 hours a day, every day.

@chickisoup
 I just stumbled upon a cheap greenhouse idea. Get one of those cheap tarp carports, and instead of the tarp, cover it with clear plastic. When the night frosts come, you can light a few candles inside the greenhouse to keep it above freezing. This won't help you this year anymore, but maybe next year. Also, storing large water containers inside the greenhouse would help stabilize heat.

I dunno.... One year I knew a frost was coming, and all of my onion harvest was drying in the greenhouse. I turned the greenhouse heater onto 50..... but that ripple plastic holds heat about as well as a metal colander. All of my onions froze.

 

[vehve]

Quote: Some people bag up dried leaves to use in the winter.

I get too much snow to shovel for chickens. Bare bones shoveling can equal 2 to 3 hours a day, every day.

@chickisoup
I just stumbled upon a cheap greenhouse idea. Get one of those cheap tarp carports, and instead of the tarp, cover it with clear plastic. When the night frosts come, you can light a few candles inside the greenhouse to keep it above freezing. This won't help you this year anymore, but maybe next year. Also, storing large water containers inside the greenhouse would help stabilize heat.

I dunno.... One year I knew a frost was coming, and all of my onion harvest was drying in the greenhouse. I turned the greenhouse heater onto 50..... but that ripple plastic holds heat about as well as a metal colander. All of my onions froze.
Yeah, I plan to collect some leaves too in the fall.

A double layer of plastic would trap heat better.

 

[Cynthia12]

ron, those are nice sized. Well then, will have to look into getting some of these birds. Love the color.
Boy, are you hatching!

 

[ronott1]

ron, those are nice sized. Well then, will have to look into getting some of these birds. Love the color.
Boy, are you hatching!

I hatched a couple hundred of them this year for the egg farmer. He kept them in a breeding pen at his farm and sent the eggs to me for hatching. Some hatches there were so many that they did not fit in my two brooders.

Last month he moved them out with his flock--with a bunch of different roosters and did not tell me he had done this

Now they are messed up for hatching eggs.

I am supposed to get the hens back, just before they molt and needing to clean out the old sperm before I can start collecting pure eggs again.

I am a bit miffed.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: Ron your eggs are nice size and love the blue! I told DH I was getting him some more egg layers that will lay all thru the summer so he won't be upset with me for buying another breed.... lol It worked! I hope you have me on your list for some eggs and I would likely want 2 dozen.

 

[ronott1]

Ron your eggs are nice size and love the blue! I told DH I was getting him some more egg layers that will lay all thru the summer so he won't be upset with me for buying another breed.... lol It worked! I hope you have me on your list for some eggs and I would likely want 2 dozen.

You are on my list!

I will contact you when I have them laying again and the eggs are pure.

 

[Alaskan]

Morning conversation.

Spouse "those peacocks are up on high ground today. No, you are not getting peacocks."

Me "what? I didn't say I was getting peacocks. Why no peacocks?"

Spouse "no peacocks. I said no"

Me "but why? Why not?"

Spouse "any peacocks show up, they will immediately die."


-sigh-

(Someones peacocks have gotten loose, haven't gotten caught yet)

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: Great thanks, I get my disability the end of the month, ok?

 

[vehve]

Morning conversation.

Spouse "those peacocks are up on high ground today. No, you are not getting peacocks."

Me "what? I didn't say I was getting peacocks. Why no peacocks?"

Spouse "no peacocks. I said no"

Me "but why? Why not?"

Spouse "any peacocks show up, they will immediately die."


-sigh-

(Someones peacocks have gotten loose, haven't gotten caught yet)

Didn't say anything about peahens...