Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

Hi guys...I have been busy and on the puter on another thread for a while.
No time to catch up to last night's posting at the moment.
I have lots to do again today.
AND we have to get ready for tomorrow's trip.

Tamara: probably will not be able to stop by after all.
I am keeping 2 coops locked up while we are gone: the meatie chicks and the Buckeyes.
The Buck's pen not covered by net yet, unless I get out there and get it done now, but is raining on & off and I am getting other stuff done indoors.

So...gotta go!

I have 2 female pumpkin blooms now!!!
That thing is huge!!!!!!!!

Cucmbers are supposed to ONLY get 5 feet long, mine are all the way up the 5 foot net & trying to grab onto the green house rafters..and they have a cucmber every 5" at each leaf joint, about 10 per plant, and have about 12 plants !!

Hopefully, a giant batch of cucmber chips will be the result!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

peas blooming, ate 2 zuchinni last week end...onions almost ready to pull & dry...Tomatoes (30 plants !) all have fruit and are 4 feet tall with stalks about 2" through..they be loving the compost!!
Cantalopes crawling up netting & blooms all over..wow, the garden is doing great!!

BYE !!

Busy busy busy!!

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
You could whip up a quick cement block corners for it to sit on. This way you could lift it up as much or as little as you would like. Wouldn't be too costly to do either. (Just a thought)

the cinder block idea is what DH and I have been throwing around. I think I could anchor the box to the building behind it just to stabalize...not sure if it will be wobbly or not on the blocks. It is really heavy.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
Kids are doing great. We are getting an egg a day (I am assuming Martha)...but I think that Milly will be doing soon. I had been letting them out with the big babies....but they got a bit unsupervised one day (I was gone) and Adam either got into a fence fight with Tyson (soon to head to freezer camp as he is too mean) or one of the big baby's bullied him. His comb got a tiny bit bloodied up. He is doing fine and I need to look at it again. But Alisha messes with them almost daily. I just love that she can go out there and sit in a chair and she can love them up and they fall asleep in her lap. She is having so much fun with them.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
LOL
Yes, Kansas and CR, the feed is medicated. That is why I was curious/concerned. I was wondering on just putting them on straight scratch or something to get the medication part out of their body before head chopping begins.

Flock Raiser, or another all purpose, high protein poultry feed for 2 weeks, then chop chop away!!!

Thank you much. I just didn't know. Cant wait for the chop-chop....I want to eat these little buggers as they are kinda getting ornery.

 

[Chickielady]

I am going out to work but will be back in a few to answer Clover~~

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
4312, this is looking great, I vote for raising the coop so chickens can go underneath, my cochins love it , will stay outside in all kinds of weather now that they can go under. I sure glad you explained the large yellow shoot-I was trying to imagine the size of chicken it would take to lay an egg that large that you would have to use that shoot to keep it from getting broken?

LOL. .... I could have told you that this is where I kept my teradactyle (sp?).....

 

[SadieSue]

Finally worked up the courage to let the big girls free range yesterday for a few hours. Their space is compromised, though not cramped, since I put the chick pen inside the run so I decided an afternoon in the sunshine would do them a lot of good. What fun to watch them discover things in the yard! I saw Whitey Ford pull a big worm out of the grass with delight just as Harper tried to go steal it from her. Whitey slurped it down like spaghetti before Harper could ever touch it. It was surprisingly easy to get them back in the run. All I had to do was walk out to their door and they all came running to me. I tossed treats inside the run and like a flash they dove after whatever delicious enticement mom had brought for them.

I worry too much about the chickens. We have plenty of trees and low cover in the backyard but I still worry about eagles and hawks. I'm guessing it would do them all good to let the chicks out to free range at the same time since there is plenty of space for all to have a good time without getting in each other's way, but again, I fuss about their safety.

Dogs are kept inside the house while chickens are outside free range. I worry about interaction between species and am certain that requires a LOT more training, although I have witnessed the Pomeranian try hard to pretend the chickens don't exist as he's obviously a little afraid, and the Golden Retriever just LOVES all little babies we bring home and enjoys laying down outside the run and keeping company with them.

It's such a pleasure to see pretty chickens wandering about the yard though. One of these days I'll get that the small risks outweigh the benefits, but it's difficult to ignore the nagging concerns. It's a surprise that my 19 year old daughter ever got to experience anything outside the realm of my vision since every scary news article became a part of my list of "things to be cautious about while raising children". I'm grateful she's not a trembling mass of insecurities.

Looking forward to going on the Tacoma Coop Tour tomorrow! (Where perhaps I will meet other overly concerned city chicken parents.)

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
LOL
Yes, Kansas and CR, the feed is medicated. That is why I was curious/concerned. I was wondering on just putting them on straight scratch or something to get the medication part out of their body before head chopping begins.

Flock Raiser, or another all purpose, high protein poultry feed for 2 weeks, then chop chop away!!!

Del's sells a Game Bird starter, non medicated, 24% protein, might be the ideal "weaning off" food

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
Excuse me while I turn chartreuse. Nifty stuff, and all that HELP.

Husband and middle DS. They know that it was in their best interest to help me out...especially after I have been complaining to do something with the giant blue/gray box and get it away from my lilac bushes. Sometimes I have to start these projects....then DH will step in to help/take over and he will recruit a kid to help too.

Properly raised, and praised, resident teenaged sons are a great source of help: my son is 25 and has his own apartment, job, fiance, so I'm short on that source. And DH, although dear, is recovering from major back surgery.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

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I have 2 LS. They were around 8 months when they started to lay.