The Old Folks Home

[Highcotton]

What an amazing difference of climates between you, SCG and I.
It's almost always humid here and temperature extremes summer to winter swing wildly. It usually hits 100 and below zero.
2012 was a brutal summer. April hit 90, May 95, June and July both hit 108 and 101 in August. It seemed like it stayed above 100 for weeks. The average high that July was 99, and the average low was 77. Some nights it doesn't even get below the mid 80s.
This past winter it hit -19 here.
When it's really hot here, the humidity can be 90% with no wind.

I had my hives on a long concrete slab that once was an old machine shed. It also holds 2 of my chicken coops and the hives were between them. It gets morning sun but by 9 or 10 it's in heavy shade so that doesn't work. It used to be in the sun till noon but has gotten shadier with successive years. 70% of the property is in heavy shade at any one time and there isn't one place that has all day sun. It's mostly mature oaks, elms, maples, hackberries and mulberries. The vegetable garden is in the sunniest part of the place but still only gets 6-8 hours of sun.

The inside of the hive needs to be a constant 50% humidity. If my humidity is 80% and the hives are in the shade, that's a problem.
I knew someone in Texas that put their hives in full sun but the bee books say there should be summertime shade at noon.

From my experience morning sun is best it warms them up and gets them out in the morning and afternoon shade protects them from afternoon heat in the summer and prevents them from using so much energy cooling the hive.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Warning Graphic photo:

I am so glad we don't have any sycamore's here. But the hickey nuts will tear up a lawn mower quick.

My dogs caught this little guy trying to get to my poults in a brooder last night. And ran off a skunk two days ago and Bee got the skunks gift in the process.

At least the hickory nuts are edible, by something.
I haven't killed a fox here, yet. Don't plan on it. I do plan on killing a few dogs though.

I guess you aren't familiar with the market for Sweet gum balls. You can sell them to tourists and city slickers as porcupine eggs.

Much compost is best though it decomposes quickly in the warm climate. I would think Coconut husks would be available there.

I was thinking the same thing. Soil can be loam, silt or clay (or a combination of the three). Clay particulate is the smallest. Organic matter, in the form of compost for instance, allows the particles of whichever soil type to adhere to them and helps to retain moisture. Enough soil amendments of organic matter over long enough time and compromises can be met.

From my experience morning sun is best it warms them up and gets them out in the morning and afternoon shade protects them from afternoon heat in the summer and prevents them from using so much energy cooling the hive.

Yeah, it's a gamble any way you go. Morning sun warms up the hive but sometimes too much and they go out for a cleansing flight and drop to the ground when the ambient temperature is too cold.
Afternoon sun can be so brutal because, around here anyway, it's hottest about 5 in the afternoon.

 

[chickadoodles]

Thanks Ron and Wisher.
I am very happy that fox won't be back and hopefully the skunk won't either.

CC are dogs getting your chickens?

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

I decided on a Cala lily with pink petalled strawberries and a pink geranium for the dragon pot in the Man Porch. I whined at a friend that studies horticulture/worked at garden centers and she set me straight. I was repotting the Calas when I bought them and she told me they like their roots confined and will grow to fill a pot before flowering...so I just sunk the pot as is where is and the lily has been going great...two new flowers coming up now.

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I looked at the corn plant and think it was way overpriced here CC. They wanted $37 for it and I spent $70 on all the plants that day. Coupla mini roses, two pinks all at four bucks each and a bunch of other plants...the label warned that the corn plant did not like it near freezing and that it has been close to indeed...one night even got to minus two when I did cover all the plants in the porch up. Hoping not to have to do that too often this year but it has been dumping the moisture just as steadily as it did this winter. Every two to three days like last summer was after the two week hot in May (around 35C or 95F) and then another two weeks hot in September. I hate heat as I can't work much in it.

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Posted pics of the plants, porch, pond fish, etc. on My Coop.

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Ton on the go from putting up Bluebird houses to beginning to plant my Veg Garden. Put Nasturtiums in the mailbox planter last week.

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Some years the plants get dusted out...other times they get frozen. Some years they make a decent show...others, not so much...no worries if you try I guess.

2011
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Too early yet to put the beans in but got potatoes and onions in and Basil in the greenhouse just for kicks. Asparagus is up but not tall enough to harvest yet. Rhubarb is on the go too.

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Cleared out my soon to be Hatch House and brought home nine sheets of plywood. Expect it to run about $500-$750 or so to convert the building over to its new function. Looked at wall board for bathrooms but hated the patterns they had...so good old plywood and grey porch enamel and I'll be a happy camper.

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Rick bought two new hummingbird feeders to try out and already had one visiter this weekend.

Taking the fronts off buildings, cleared out the five inside pens in the Duece Coop last week and changed the rubber water pans over to the stainless pails. Even sprinkled a few handfuls of grass seed on a few bald patches in the lawns. Sheep/goats/llamas have been on pasture and cleaned up the Point pasture before the grass got tall enough again to be over the swans' heads! I am thinking of moving the not so small Crested Ducklings to one last brooding space (rabbit hutch cage on wheels) before transitioning them out to the Duck Barn. Rick split up more birch and figures we have more than enough firewood for next winter...yah! Still having fires every three evenings or so which means I am still emptying walls of wood as I continue to fill them.

The 3 or 4 standard Chanteclers decided to stop being setty so I expect to see "pillow fight" reminants as they all convert winter tatters over to summer feathers...still got a quarter of them laying eggs which is nice. I'd be a bit tired by now as the girls have been giving "winter" eggs since September of last year...time to take a break me ladies! They been eyeing up the grass in their outdoor runs but I have not had the heart yet to let them at it. I know they can make short work of new growth in a day if I mess up and succumb too early to their demands.

Rick got the second c-can in place this weekend. Had all winter for the gravel to settle out and seems his projections of where the gravel needed to go has worked out quite nicely for the foundation for his Parking Building. I got a bit of rake work to do now with the dirt piled up...get her leveled out and toss grass seed mix on it.

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Rick's Parking Building is going to have me re-fence out a new section of free range areas for the Chants...this new piece has some rather good stands of green lawns in it that will put up with clean legged chicken scratching abusiveness more.

Getting the mindset in motion...it might actually be warming up weather time. Har har...we had hail mixed in a rain shower the other day...so I guess I can quit calling it "spring" so much and now move into the more "summer" mode?

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[drumstick diva]

Hagar tell the tourists if they incubate the 'porcupine eggs' they can raise the babies

My bad!

 

[drumstick diva]

Now for something completely different. There is a new thread "How About a new thread for those of us in wheelchairs."

ANYONE - OZ especially, please come up with some suggestions for making coops, maintaining , etc. doable for disabled chickeners. Why should they miss out on things they love??? Old folks here surely understand the limitations baby boomers, etc. have to work with. You don't even have to be old to have arthritic conditions, etc., bad hips, knees, trying to trick us up.

There a lot of brainy people on him - please come up with ways to make feeding, cooping cleaning, etc.
easier to manage. I've done searches for coops for disabled (people NOT chooks) and there are very few indeed. It's a crime that more isn't available among these lines.

I know I sure can't do the things I used to. Bending over, or kneeling is very painful to me- climbing stairs has always slowed me down. For some reason I can push snow away from me but, can't rake leaves toward me. I hybridize house plants and have them indoors on shelves. Really the top shelf is too tall for me and the bottom requires, bending. I either have to sit on the floor to tend to them, and sidle up to something so I can pull to a stand. Consequently the middle shelf is the only one fully utilized.

I truly appreciate anything you can add on this new thread. Please visit and check it out. Thank you

 

[chickisoup]

Now for something completely different. There is a new thread "How About a new thread for those of us in wheelchairs."

ANYONE - OZ especially, please come up with some suggestions for making coops, maintaining , etc. doable for disabled chickeners. Why should they miss out on things they love??? Old folks here surely understand the limitations baby boomers, etc. have to work with. You don't even have to be old to have arthritic conditions, etc., bad hips, knees, trying to trick us up.

There a lot of brainy people on him - please come up with ways to make feeding, cooping cleaning, etc.
easier to manage. I've done searches for coops for disabled (people NOT chooks) and there are very few indeed. It's a crime that more isn't available among these lines.

I know I sure can't do the things I used to. Bending over, or kneeling is very painful to me- climbing stairs has always slowed me down. For some reason I can push snow away from me but, can't rake leaves toward me. I hybridize house plants and have them indoors on shelves. Really the top shelf is too tall for me and the bottom requires, bending. I either have to sit on the floor to tend to them, and sidle up to something so I can pull to a stand. Consequently the middle shelf is the only one fully utilized.

I truly appreciate anything you can add on this new thread. Please visit and check it out. Thank you

Have to give it some thought but since I've been working the past year or two designing my gardens and coop so that I would be able to continue to do what I love as my neuropathy, etc. invariably will continue to worsen, I might be able to pass along a tip or two on what works (and what ideas didn't) for me.

 

[chickisoup]

BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Thank you Chickisoup. My brother had very painful neuropathy in his feet (diabetic) and the only thing that is giving him some relief is lidocaine patches on his feet. The dr. recommended he change locations till he found spots that worked the best for him. Now he can walk in stores and to and from the parking lot, and even around the zoo a couple weeks ago. The zoo and museum are his favorite retreats but the neuropathy had prevented him from doing it.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Quote: Uhm...ima city slicker.