Washingtonians

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
OMG,
I was afraid to scroll down.
Glad I saw the rest of the body that was attached to it.
Too much talk about freezer camp.

I replied back but your inbox is full so I sent you an email.

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
Wow, never heard of that, although 2 of my Ameraucanas went broody a few weeks ago, and were nasty growling & pecking mean.
I cured their broodiness, but still they are laying sporadically....I could not get to the gate when MOT came at me ...He is OK but has quite the bloody beak...bad idea as DH is watching & will go after the bird in a manly way.
MOT is a BIG bird!!!!!!!!! Heavy !!!
I carry a shovel now, and he is steering clear, but that happened last time too...and in a few days he will go off again.

Yeah, this is a lavender Ameraucana pullet. She did it again today....

Out of all the breeds I have ever had, the Brahmas were the best Mothers, and could take care of (and sheild) up to 20 chicks, no problemo, and never attacked me, ever.
But the Ameraucanas are a hell-fight to deal with even if they are "going" broody.

Growling like big cats, snapping & chase you right out of the coop screaming & flipping out...dust & chips flying everywhere....Thankfully the Ameraucana Cocks are nice, easy going (so far) and walk way around me.
I am going to assume at this point, that the breed simply has a wildness to it...in defense of its young.
I had to cage the two I have for a week each, until they got over it.
I could not believe the snarling & growling...CR said one of the ones I sold him was trying to go broody & did the same thing...weirdest snarling & snapping you ever saw.

 

[Zgoatlady]

Quote:
I've got bunches of it as well, and my arms and legs always have cuts, especially when I take the riding mower through the orchard and don't notice the shorter vines that get around my ankles until I've driven through them and they tighten up and rip my legs open! I now wear gaitors when I mow! The hens LOVE the berries on them, so I am leaving up the vines that grow along the fence-line to feed the hens and hopefully deter the unwelcome dogs and wildlife. My dogs now do great with the chickens! I left them all out free-ranging from dawn to whenever the hens decided to head back home ... sometime between 5&6. I'm feeling better about the wildlife situation. Shasta is getting HUGE, I don't think there's much that will tangle with her.

Oow! I wear my knee high gum boots to mow...and usually shorts.
But always watching for rocks & logs in the grass, I often get a long string of blackberries snag my arms or right across the top of the head....I hate them!
Goats will not eat the big berry canes, but if they can, they nibble off the leaves.
Then the canes on the outside where the goats eat, will die off..and get rock hard.
You still have to cut the canes back.
Mine are growing on a steep slop too...very hard to get at them with any machinery..spray has killed them pretty good but I think they will win the war.

Oh CL some of my girls love the old canes, its hard to watch them eat them.

They do love them, on one side of the fence we have black berrys and the goats side nothing. Its nice because they dont get overgrown that way..

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Yeah, this is a lavender Ameraucana pullet. She did it again today....

Out of all the breeds I have ever had, the Brahmas were the best Mothers, and could take care of (and sheild) up to 20 chicks, no problemo, and never attacked me, ever.
But the Ameraucanas are a hell-fight to deal with even if they are "going" broody.

Growling like big cats, snapping & chase you right out of the coop screaming & flipping out...dust & chips flying everywhere....Thankfully the Ameraucana Cocks are nice, easy going (so far) and walk way around me.
I am going to assume at this point, that the breed simply has a wildness to it...in defense of its young.
I had to cage the two I have for a week each, until they got over it.
I could not believe the snarling & growling...CR said one of the ones I sold him was trying to go broody & did the same thing...weirdest snarling & snapping you ever saw.

GREAT! I have some in the 'bator now!

Sumatras have been my best, protective mothers--even the roos will get mean when protecting CHICKS! The nicest/best broodies I've had are always cochins. They look concerned but don't attack when I pick up their chicks.

 

[Zgoatlady]

Quote:
There are some vids on Utube that show a chicken using one and how to train them to use it. Seems pretty simple! Even for the 'challenged' chicken!

Last time I had one of those, the group of chickens stand on it, it opens, and they proceed to "beak" out all the feed all around on the ground anyways.
The lid is open when they are eating, and so it was as if I had a shoe box of feed on the ground for them, and they kicked it out all over with their beaks.
Back to square one.

So I wonder if you could put some kind of a grid inside so they couldnt do that..

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
Yeah, this is a lavender Ameraucana pullet. She did it again today....

Out of all the breeds I have ever had, the Brahmas were the best Mothers, and could take care of (and sheild) up to 20 chicks, no problemo, and never attacked me, ever.
But the Ameraucanas are a hell-fight to deal with even if they are "going" broody.

Growling like big cats, snapping & chase you right out of the coop screaming & flipping out...dust & chips flying everywhere....Thankfully the Ameraucana Cocks are nice, easy going (so far) and walk way around me.
I am going to assume at this point, that the breed simply has a wildness to it...in defense of its young.
I had to cage the two I have for a week each, until they got over it.
I could not believe the snarling & growling...CR said one of the ones I sold him was trying to go broody & did the same thing...weirdest snarling & snapping you ever saw.

Yeah, in order to candle her eggs, I had to put a plastic dish over her head!! LOL

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
Yeah, this is a lavender Ameraucana pullet. She did it again today....

Holy cow!! I can't imagine having to go through that with one of my birds...I am too wussy for it! My husband bugs me all the time that our birds are better fed then he is sometimes and he wants me to save one just for him to try...so if I had a bird like that I would point at it and say have at it hunny! Sweet birds...nah can't stand the thought...mean birds, he can have them!

Good luck figuring out what to do!!!

HA! There is NO problem whatsoever figuring out what to do here...I keep thinking how much fun I had with the 9mm loaded with snake shot YESTERDAY>>>>>>AHHHHHHHHH the fresh smell of cordite is STILL in my nostrils!!!

I am NO wuss...although I would have had issues IF he was as kind as he was a month ago..sweet and puppy-like..hand fed & spoiled.
NOT NO MORE!!
So, life is too short and I have a hundred birds.........I just need my BIG pot & the plucker, although I have no problemo hand plucking 1 big applesauce cock bird!!

 

[Zgoatlady]

Quote:
So I got the exterior nest boxes done and they turned out way better than I planned.

(cause I didn't have a plan ... or drawing!

) Before I screwed on the floor board, I put a 1/2 inch piece of scrap wood under it on the side that is away from the egg collection door. The egg rolled great. One of the people that I viewed their plans used coconut coir sheet in the bottom of the nest box. I'm going to try that and hope that the eggs will still roll to the back. I also made a drop down door instead of a hinged lift up roof cause my kids are going to collect eggs and are not tall enough to reach down inside. I'll have to attach chain to the door to keep it from opening too far. This will make a ledge that they can set the basket while they gather the eggs. All in all, it was a successfully productive afternoon! Now, if I can only find sheet coir around here!

Sheet coir ?
Do you mean sheet rock ?
Chickens will peck at & eat sheet rock...and how are you insulating it (the nest boxes) ?
I would love to see photos.
We are making ours with a sheet of OSB sandwiching a 1/2" sheet of styrofoam board insulation.
The sheets are cheap, and easy to glue on with liquid nails, and OSB on box sides (think SIPS panels)
Then the nest boxes are inside, but we are building a hatch door outside to reach in to get eggs.
I just built a hot frame with the foam..and OSB.
Took a sheet of both to build, 2 hinges and liquid nails, and an old double paned window.
It is 3 X 3 feet, 2 foot high in back, 1 foot high in front, a sack of sand inside & about 15 feet of heat tape keeps it at 78 degrees all night even in 33 degree weather.
My vegies are loving it!
Will get a pic later today.
You have to get a window, then build the box to fit it..I still need to paint it if the weather ever allows.

Oh Great Idea CL

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
Out of all the breeds I have ever had, the Brahmas were the best Mothers, and could take care of (and sheild) up to 20 chicks, no problemo, and never attacked me, ever.
But the Ameraucanas are a hell-fight to deal with even if they are "going" broody.

Growling like big cats, snapping & chase you right out of the coop screaming & flipping out...dust & chips flying everywhere....Thankfully the Ameraucana Cocks are nice, easy going (so far) and walk way around me.
I am going to assume at this point, that the breed simply has a wildness to it...in defense of its young.
I had to cage the two I have for a week each, until they got over it.
I could not believe the snarling & growling...CR said one of the ones I sold him was trying to go broody & did the same thing...weirdest snarling & snapping you ever saw.

Yeah, in order to candle her eggs, I had to put a plastic dish over her head!! LOL

I refuse to let mine brood, not only for that reason, but the chicks grow up freaked out...every time I even enter the coop they fly crazy all over hit me in the head screaming...some have hurt legs & limp, some have wings hanging..geeeeze louise, I was just coming in with feed...but they were raised by a broody, so they are freaked by people...never again with Ams.

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
I had a dog kennel run with a peaked tarp roof, but the snow took care of that. I had a friend put a wood frame on top of the run and I have clear corrugated panels on that. Love it! Holds up to the snow and wind. Lets in loads of lights, so I hung hanging baskets in the run. The roof is no longer peaked. Not sure what the angle is, but if you turn this: / 90 degrees, it looks about right; my roof may be a bit shallower pitch. It can hold quite a snow load, but we framed it pretty good underneath.