Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

LOL! Because they're too exhausted to get rid of them.

Tonight I had a breakthrough/mid-life crisis moment where I finally realized I just have to give up the dream of growing edibles in with ornamentals the permaculture way. It's just not going to happen. My dropping a screen full of rocks on top of both my feet sealed the deal. I told my husband that I'm giving up and we're bringing back the grass. The neighbors will be happier, and I will be more relaxed about it. Four years of fighting this is enough. I'm just plum tuckered out.

CL.... I'm gonna be contacting you about those boxes. I need to ask my husband something about how we might transport them, but I have an idea. I'll PM ya soon!

Ok.I will put ya on the list !
YOU WILL LOVE THESE BOXES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Use the rocks in the walkways in between the boxes.
If you do as I did, cool vegies (greens) and squash are outside, but I put 3 10' boxes in a row, screwed a 2x4 all around the bottom & framed walls & roof all attached to the boxes, and covered with green house film....excellent green house and use it for starting plants, overwintering plants (like fruit trees roses & fuschias) and grow heat loving plants in it during summer.

 

[Chickielady]

We just ate the two teensy tiny Exchequer Leghorn eggs. Perfectly formed with amazingly thick and hard shells and small but extremely dark yolks, they were the most robust yet complex of all the backyard eggs we've tried! Sooooo delicious. We both really love eggs so this is the most rewarding part for us. YUM!!! I really do think that the Mediterranean breeds' superior foraging tendencies make a significant difference in the taste of pastured eggs.

 

[Chickielady]

for those who have soil issues with rocks... same here... But I made a homemade soil sifter.
like this:

I like the covering on this one...

Often called a rotary or trommel sifter
It is tipped just enough that the rocks go only one way... and the motor is slow enough things don't go flying but strong enough to not get bogged down when you load it up.
I've made a hatchet job of one and sifted all the rocks out of my "patio" area where I started to lay concrete chunks down to make my patio for the BBQ area.
(1/2 finished job driving me batty....)
I've used it in the garden as well but the garden will get another good sifting once all my projects get finished!
It is good exerscie and will make you stronger and maybe lose a little weight

I lost a good 10lbs when I was doing the patio.... to bad I got it back

and then some

I used 2 bike tire rims, skate board wheels, and a old grinder motor on a adjustable switch (forgot what they are called... like a dimmer)
a car v-belt and had to buy the belt wheel for the grinder....
Gotta rebuild the frame since I screwed it up but it did a great job! all I had to do was shovel and haul the rocks elsewhere.

You are amazing RW !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[itsren]

Darn it! I found a 2nd egg in the middle of the coop again. This time it was Caunnie's beautiful green egg - and it was pretty smashed. Either they stepped on it going out the pop door or they're sitting on the roost when they lay them. Will chickens do that... lay eggs from the roost?

Yesterday it was Drama, today is was Caunnie. I don't know what to do about this... they have always been so good about laying in the nest boxes.

 

[Chickielady]

Yesterday I ripped out, a snip at a time, all the huge tomatoes out of the green house, except 2 I am letting go to save seeds.
Then I sprayed, scrubbed & washed the enterior walls which had some algae grow in shadowy areas...all clean !
Today I remove some tired soil from the 3 beds, and replace with tilled in fresh compost, and plant again.
So today I get out the wheel barrel......................
I will take a few pics of the green house for those of you wanting some of these long boxes.
C-YA later peeps !

 

[Chickielady]

Darn it! I found a 2nd egg in the middle of the coop again. This time it was Caunnie's beautiful green egg - and it was pretty smashed. Either they stepped on it going out the pop door or they're sitting on the roost when they lay them. Will chickens do that... lay eggs from the roost?

Yesterday it was Drama, today is was Caunnie. I don't know what to do about this... they have always been so good about laying in the nest boxes.

Yes they will.
If you have a poop tray under the roost it usually lands there in the (hopefully) sand.
If you have a ladder-style roost, it will drop to the floor.
The only thing I can think of that will cause this is their egg comes during dark hours while they are still roosting, and they will not get down in a nest box in the dark.
Maybe due to lesser hours of daylight now, here in fall.
Maybe if you add a light, on a timer, so it comes on early, like 6 AM ?
Then with a light on..
The girls will hop down & go in a nest box.

 

[itsren]

for those who have soil issues with rocks... same here... But I made a homemade soil sifter.
like this:

I like the covering on this one...

Often called a rotary or trommel sifter

Those are AWESOME! I wonder if I can convince DH that it would be a worthy project for a technically-minded 10-year-old to help build.

 

[itsren]

Yes they will.
If you have a poop tray under the roost it usually lands there in the (hopefully) sand.
If you have a ladder-style roost, it will drop to the floor.
The only thing I can think of that will cause this is their egg comes during dark hours while they are still roosting, and they will not get down in a nest box in the dark.
Maybe due to lesser hours of daylight now, here in fall.
Maybe if you add a light, on a timer, so it comes on early, like 6 AM ?
Then with a light on..
The girls will hop down & go in a nest box.

Ok... called DH and told him we've got to get the lighting issue addressed ASAP. We have the timer. We just need to get the light. Ugh! I only have 3 birds - I don't want to lose my eggs because they can't get to the box.

Since my battery operated light requires me going out and pushing the button on and off, I've been turning it on in the evening. I tried to do it in the morning, but I kept forgetting. In the morning, I'm so focused on getting the kids out the door. Obviously, what I'm currently doing is not the best thing for the girls.

 

[itsren]

Check out this cool web I found in my front yard this morning. As soon as I can track down the spider, I know three little fluffy butts who will enjoy a fun game of spider tag.



Speaking of fluffy butts... I want to rip my ugly dead corn out that didn't survive through our Yellowstone vacation. But, every time I think that's it, I'm done looking at it, my 3 little fluffy butts remind me that it is one of their favorite places to play.

 

[TerrorBird]

Every time my mom goes out to work on a ravaged section of the garden, my fluffy butts go over and "help" to remind her that it's one of their favorite playgrounds.