The Old Folks Home

[IrishGardener]

Hi! I think I fit the parameters having kids who are 20, 18, and 8! I am new to chickens, so I am relying heavily on the internet for help as I raise my 4 New little girls! I need someone to nurture, and the chicks are doing the trick right now. I work full time in a child care center. I am the lead teacher of the wobblers-12-18 month olds. I am also taking classes to get my degree in Early Childhood Development. Add to that a dog, 6 cats, a guinea pig, a pond with 4 goldfish, and the 3 kids living here with all their various schedules and needs....lucky for me I married well, and my husband is an amazing partner. He cooks, cleans, and helps me stay sane....even supportive when I add chickens to the household, lol.
I hope I can get lots of helpful advice here, and find some people who are experienced with chickens! My big plan now? Working with hubby to build a coop! These babies are growing FAST!

 

[perchie.girl]

Hi! I think I fit the parameters having kids who are 20, 18, and 8! I am new to chickens, so I am relying heavily on the internet for help as I raise my 4 New little girls! I need someone to nurture, and the chicks are doing the trick right now. I work full time in a child care center. I am the lead teacher of the wobblers-12-18 month olds. I am also taking classes to get my degree in Early Childhood Development. Add to that a dog, 6 cats, a guinea pig, a pond with 4 goldfish, and the 3 kids living here with all their various schedules and needs....lucky for me I married well, and my husband is an amazing partner. He cooks, cleans, and helps me stay sane....even supportive when I add chickens to the household, lol.
I hope I can get lots of helpful advice here, and find some people who are experienced with chickens! My big plan now? Working with hubby to build a coop! These babies are growing FAST!

Welcome to BYC

from the San Diego High desert. Wow sounds like you have quite a bit on your plate.... LOL Wobblers.... Love it.

Appx what part of the world do you live.

deb

 

[Wisher1000]

Yes, welcome, IG (Iggy?) we are glad you joined us. There is some great information to be found on the Internet. There is also a lot of bovine excrement. The trick is to find some old, wise, experienced, rational, helpful, and friendly chicken keepers to bounce ideas off of. Oh, wait, you just did.

 

[IrishGardener]

I'm in Western Washington. True to it's nature it has been raining on the weekends...the time I have to work on my coop! Hoping for a Sun break soon. 3 of my girls will be 4 weeks April 1, and the other will be 5! Tick tock...

 

[Beer can]

@chickadoodles That's what I do also. Deap litter is better for the chickens. I only clean mine out every other yr. Doesn't stink, I throw scratch around and they keep it stirred up.
Spring I rake and wheel borrow all the sawdust from cutting firewood. Fall I put a couple feet deep dry tree leaves, they shred them down to just inches in no time. I'll be cleaning it out this spring for pumpkin fertilizer.
Two yrs ago I grew a dozen big pumpkins, 63 pie pumpkins and a few dozen butternut squash in it.

 

[chickadoodles]

Hello and welcome IG we are glad you joined us. BYC had a wealth of information and everyone is very friendly and helpful!

 

[chickadoodles]

@chickadoodles That's what I do also. Deap litter is better for the chickens. I only clean mine out every other yr. Doesn't stink, I throw scratch around and they keep it stirred up.
Spring I rake and wheel borrow all the sawdust from cutting firewood. Fall I put a couple feet deep dry tree leaves, they shred them down to just inches in no time. I'll be cleaning it out this spring for pumpkin fertilizer.
Two yrs ago I grew a dozen big pumpkins, 63 pie pumpkins and a few dozen butternut squash in it.

That's definetly the way to go!
We have a lawn vaccume and we get the leaves shreaded and then just dump them into the coop and spread them around. We do our every fall when the leaves come down. We pile it about 2 1/2-3' high. The hens just dig and turn it over looking for bugs. We don't throw food in there.
I have never grown pumpkins. I like pumpkin pie but I only have two small area's to grow in these days. And I know pumpkins won't work there. lol
maybe if someone has a bunch of pumpkin some time they might think of selling someone a jar to try.

 

[bruceha2000]

I think I may know why I have so much trouble getting things done - it may have something to do with all the "help" I get.

Clearly you need a cart and pulling harnesses for the ponies. Besides more helpful 'help', cleanout will be a 'many fewer trips' task.

I'm in Western Washington. True to it's nature it has been raining on the weekends...the time I have to work on my coop! Hoping for a Sun break soon. 3 of my girls will be 4 weeks April 1, and the other will be 5! Tick tock...

Yep, time is flying by for you!

Build .... rain or shine.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I took a few photos as I was cleaning out the goats... took almost 3.5 hours. And closer to 20 wheelbarrow loads full.

Pippy... the very helpful goat.

 

[Latestarter]

Welcome to BYC Irish, from the front range in warm, dry, dry, dry Colorado. I'd be most grateful if you sent us some of your abundant moisture! Glad you found us, and since "age" is a number, it's no precursor to admittance into TOFH (The Old Folks Home). We have some mighty "spry" old folks here

that have joined the rest of us

. There's lots of great info throughout the site, and the folks here are really great if you have questions. If you happen to have some pics of your new chicks, we all love pics here

Make yourself at home!