The Old Folks Home

[vehve]

Oz, not yet, shorts and a t-shirt are fine. Once it gets to 10C it's time to go swimming

No, but seriously, it's a nice change to have some sun. I feel better instantly. Karin and I went out with the dogs, it was still cloudy and both of us were in a grumpy mood, but once the sun came out from behind the clouds we were both smiling like idiots.

 

[Bunnylady]

 

[drumstick diva]

It must be spring, in only 44 days since we had the 19" inch blizzard of snow - I finally got the driveway totally cleared

. It has never taken anywhere near that long, driveway isn't long - too many days of single digit or - 0 - the snow turned into ice., and even tons of salt didn't help. We had 51degrees yesterday

 

[chickadoodles]

We are in the 70's here but cloudy and raining. So much rain that I may need a boat to get to the coop and pens to feed today.

 

[kssunflower]

The weather man said that it is now meteorologisty (sp) spring here. Upper 60's and 70's all week. It is great!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I understand CC I am down to 4 cockerels this year but the same thing going on with our cockerels crowing like crazy! I don't have any to spare so far though.

Sounds like your class will be interesting. It would be nice if there was something like that around here.

You can start your own group. There are chicken meetup groups all over the world. I think Dallas and Atlanta have the biggest groups in the US. North Dallas has their own. Ours is up to 700 members and about the 4th largest in the country. I wasn't the original organizer but the first two moved out of state so 2 other people and I took over and changed the direction somewhat.
Originally there were just 2 or 3 coop tours a year. Now we still have a couple every year but it's more educational events and just meetings at area restaurants all over town and all days and times to accommodate people that just want to get together to talk about chickens without the biosecurity concerns. Our last one was for exchanging chicken and egg recipes.
I've held 3 processing classes so far. Another for fermenting feed and growing fodder. We've also had chicken clicker training and claw trimming classes taught by the coop fairy. She's done a lot of rescue work over the years so the Humane Society gives us excellent class room space without cost and it's centrally located.
Another benefit of bringing all those chicken people together is that we can buy feed in large quantities to lower cost.

I agree Deb if anyone comes to pick up any poult's they will have to put plastic trash bags over their shoes or stay in their car here.

My runs and pens are all covered in welded wire and I can't let my birds out to free range so I am hoping and praying we will be safe.

When my place was coming up on tour a few years ago I bought some of these. Anyone who had chickens or had visited other coops wore them. One guy asked if I was serious. I said, absolutely.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Disposable-...945?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b0dd09351

these work too

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-Pairs-10...220?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4ae2ae7c

I am in town to pick up a trap. A possum has gotten way too bold. Was eatting out of a container of dog food within a couple of minutes of me setting it on the ground while I stepped into the barn to put feed in the birds feeders. This morning I found a goose egg eaten.

The possum has to go....

A few times a year I go on a several week rampage trapping. The water barrel for drowning has been frozen so I haven't trapped lately but I think it will be liquid by tomorrow. Look out coons/possums/et. al..

Duke dog proof leg trap


hav-a-hart

@ChickenCanoe Chinese eat bird nest soup, if they don't eat chicken lungs I'm scratching them off my list Lol!

That's just bird spit, yum.

The commercial flub I remember was the toilet paper one where the little ladies were "quilted to perfection" except they were knitting!!!!

They pulled it pretty quickly and replaced it but I bet it cost them plenty.

I see the ginger ale commercial where they pull the farmer through the ground and out of the tub of ginger ale. His field looks more like a corn field. Wide open spaces. Not how you grow ginger. It can't take full sun.
You'd think a company that uses real ginger would know how it's grown. I was going to e-mail them.

What kind of light bulb are y'all using in your brooders? These red 250 watt are to hot for my totes and all the others I keep buying are not putting off hardly any heat or I have to pay 8.00 per bulb? This is insane!

In a tote, you don't need a heat lamp. If I just have a couple chicks and use a tote. I use a regular incandescent lamp in a drop light laying in the tote.
You can cover the lamp with aluminum foil to cut out the light.
A 250 watt heat lamp is way overkill. Hanging it high over the tote will just waste most of the heat into the room.

I use:

http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=135875

Those are nice. Do you like them?
They're supposed to work well except when it's extremely cold out.

I use free big boxes I get from work, hook two together and keep the heat lamp on one side, food and water on the other, flat newspaper for bedding they rip up themselves, don't seem to ever eat newspaper. Plastic garbage bag underneath in case it soaks through. They hang out on whatever side makes them comfortable. When the boxes get stinky I just throw them away and use new ones. I use the red heat bulb because I heard its better for their eyes or sleeping or something.

I do the same thing if I can't brood outdoors. For about $1.50, Lowe's has large moving boxes.
After brooding, I dump most of the debris into the compost and open the boxes up and lay them on the ground in an area of the garden I want to kill the weeds and limit new growth till I plant. You can cut a hole and place transplants right through the hole. It also retains moisture. The earthworms eventually eat the cardboard.

A simple brooder design.

Its a modified ohio brooder.

install a 40 watt bulb in the closed in section with a hinged solid lid over it.

dimensions 36x24x15 with an 8" divider from the heated section to the non heated.

That's a good idea.
I made smaller versions of the Ohio brooder for brooding larger numbers. The shavings keeps the heat in.




I still have heat lamps but haven't used them in a long time.
I use ceramic emitters now.



Or a hen


she's trying to cover about 30 chicks

I might have to we have turned one of our spare rooms into a brooder room for now. I want them out ASAP. I hate the dust.

I hate the dust even if it's in the basement.
If I brooded them in the house, the dust wouldn't have a chance to kill me, my wife would.

I'm still redesigning 3 coops so have to keep chicks in the basement temporarily cause I'm out of space outside.
There are 4 chicks down there and I can't even smell them when I'm next to them. This morning my wife asked if there were chicks down there cause she could smell them (on the middle floor).
I said, "that's quite a nose you have on you - and it works good too."

I thought I read that incandesent light causes the chicks to peck each others eyes out...
Or maybe it was peck each other. Dont remember.

I'd peck too with 24/7 light. Like enhanced interrogation techniques.

It can cause aggression. @ChickenCanoe posted a link to some ceramic bulbs that have no light. I have seen lower wattage red bulbs too. Red will calm them down.

The aggression is caused by not having a dark period.
These are available in anywhere from 25 to 300 watt. They don't break as often as lamps and if they do they don't get glass shards everywhere. They're also more efficient.
They allow for a daily dark period.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/25W-250W-11...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item35e0374d1c

As for light color, red hides blood to limit pecking but blue is actually a calming color for chickens.

They should try red street lights...see if it works on humans. Alot of aggressive up in that neck of the woods lately

That's in the red light district.

We are in the 70's here but cloudy and raining. So much rain that I may need a boat to get to the coop and pens to feed today.

It was 33 when I went out this morning and such a thick fog. It's supposed to be sunny and 70 or more. The fog is almost burned off now.
I went to the gas station about 6am and the fog was so thick sometimes could only see one white stripe in front of the car. There were a lot of serious accidents.

 

[ronott1]

Those are nice. Do you like them?
They're supposed to work well except when it's extremely cold out.

The premier plates are rated down to 32. The thinking is that they only go that low because the water in the brooder will freeze and the chicks will have trouble drinking. Do people brood chicks outside in the winter? I use the garage and of course I live in the Sacramento Valley of California...It rarely goes below 32 in the winter.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I usually do, especially if I have a lot of chicks.
Last winter was the first time I brooded a lot in the basement because it stayed below zero so long. It got to -19F one night.
I've brooded them in those Ohio brooders when the outside temperature got into the low teens and the mid 20s in the uninsulated building. Never lost one.

 

[vehve]

Yup, chicks sure do smell. I like hatching with a broody way better. We had no problems in the winter, I put on a bit of heat during the coldest periods.

 

[Cynthia12]