The Old Folks Home

[superchemicalgirl]

Any rain with that wind?

 

[scottcaddy]

Powers been out twelve hours just came on and another wind storm is threatening to hit.

People next door lost a tree and their patio. They say this storm is NOT el nino... I believe it because its Freaking cold wind. And blowing the wrong direction.

Trees here are braced for east west west east wind. This is racing up the canyons coming from the south.

I have only seen it blow like this once before.... in San Diego. About thirty years ago. WE were due.

deb

I hope that nobody gets silly with fire in all that wind.
Scott

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Similar weather here, I guess the weather gods decided we should have a bit of a reprieve after last winter.

I don't shovel. I rake under the roosts every morning with a regular plastic garden rake. Broke one last year when I was pushing rather than pulling. Usually I can "hula hoe" back and forth but that time I hit too much solid while flexing the tines while pushing. This winter I am only doing pulling until I'm sure the pushing will just encounter stuff that is loose.

Not sure why you all are getting poopcicles and poo mountains. I don't have poop boards and the pine shavings are several inches deep under the roosts. Maybe because my coop, being inside an old barn, is a lot more open?


Or maybe instead of a long handled chisel, a weed killer flame thrower!

But you clean daily. Some people don't unless they have a handful of birds. A lot of the people in our local chicken group clean every morning. I don't think I'd have the time.
4 or 5 times a year here unless the stocking density is high in a building and then I have to muck out more often. I have one building with a poop board and it does keep the bedding cleaner a lot longer. I'm going to modify that one today or tomorrow so I can slide it out and dump it. I'm also planning poop boards in some of the other buildings.

bruce, it must not be that cold where you are.

The poop mountains form when 5 minutes after it leaves the chicken it freezes into a rock. There is NO raking or pushing or pulling unless you are using a jackhammer or dynamite.

Nothing moves, the bedding, if you had more than 10% humidity, does not move... nothing moves. Solid bleebing rock.

You go out there, see the nasty poo mountain, kick it as hard as you can... and break a toe.

That is why every day you have to put a layer of fresh sawdust or whatnot over the poo mountain, so that you can pretend it isn't there... until finally there comes a day when it thaws enough that the poo mountain can be hacked out... probably with a pick ax, or a clam shovel. You just pray that you can knock the mountain down before it reaches their fluffy rear ends and fuses your cute chickens to the top of the poo mountain.

Lucky for me... this winter and last have been super long, dreary, extended falls. No below zeros. No poo mountains.

The poop shelves help lots, but when it does get super cold.... I actually do start to worry about one of my shelves, since the perch really isn't that high.... not that much poop storage space.

Adding fresh shavings is the key. The weather had to be warm for almost a week here before it thawed enough to muck out.

I just checked the weather. The humidity is 84%. At least it's above freezing. We'll get some 20s soon.
High humidity year round. I don't thing sand would even be an option when the air is always saturated.

huh..... I don't clean that often any more.... and no scary mountains....

huh....



my chicken density per square foot must be way lower than it used to be, hadn't thought about it, huh.

good guess

I do actually have one of those propane weeders.

Al, you are hilarious, and completely right. There is no raking when the entire sheet of poo and shavings is frozen solid.


I should have been smart enough to realize I needed to have the human door open outwards when I built the coop, but alas, I didn't. That was another reason I needed to get in there and start hacking away, yesterday. It was getting to the point that the door wasn't opening enough to bring the waterer in and out.

Nice spring project. Reverse hinges.

Powers been out twelve hours just came on and another wind storm is threatening to hit.

People next door lost a tree and their patio. They say this storm is NOT el nino... I believe it because its Freaking cold wind. And blowing the wrong direction.

Trees here are braced for east west west east wind. This is racing up the canyons coming from the south.

I have only seen it blow like this once before.... in San Diego. About thirty years ago. WE were due.

deb

How cold is it in that high desert?

 

[Alaskan]

I am with CC, reverse the hinges in the spring.

 

[perchie.girl]

Any rain with that wind?

YEs big time. We could hear the wind coming up the canyon before It hit us... the Rain was inbetween gusts.

It is very unnuusal for us to get rain AND wind... Gusts were up to 60 mph Los Angeles in some areas it ws measured around 100 mph

Weve had a couple of rain days so the soil is softer.... A mixed blessing.

One tree fell in pacific beach Dead from drought it was eight feet idameter crushed a car and driver.... so sad.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
This was a wet wind.... Weve been having rain off and on a half inch at a time for the past two weeks. So Were good Now for fire hazard.

deb

 

[Latestarter]

Hey Deb, that rain you're getting sounds about perfect! Not too much at once, and spread out over time. Hope it keeps up for you for a while longer. Maybe it will add some back to the ground water table as well as run off helping add back to the reservoir levels.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Probably below freezeing.... We get touched by the Jet stream occasionally.... in the winter. They said there would be snow in the mountains.

I am at 200 foot elevation here by the coast. Yesterday I went out for milk and little essentials. To check on mom. OUr cell phones do not work at grandmas house. The regular phones dont work when the power goes out were on COX. So I have to get in the car and drive two blocks to a sweet spot near the Santee Lakes in order to make a coherent cell call. But when I came out from the grocery the sun was almost set. The clouds were down to about 1000 feet because they were covering the mountains. Mist was coming down and it ws only sligtly gusty windy. Visually it reminded me of Hawaii.

My horse shelter is rated for 100 mph winds... It rarly gustst above 80... thank goodness.

I am sure the raingutter finally came off the house.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Hey Deb, that rain you're getting sounds about perfect! Not too much at once, and spread out over time. Hope it keeps up for you for a while longer. Maybe it will add some back to the ground water table as well as run off helping add back to the reservoir levels.

Its perfect.... How San Diego used to get rain. Now if the city will just cut down all the dead trees we will be in good shape.

It will take a couple more years of rain like this. to replenish anything.

But We are finally in our green season...

deb

 

[Alaskan]

Green is good.