What did you do in the garden today?

[akroberts1085]

Does anyone know what to do with a pullet that doesn't want to sleep in the coop? She sleeps on top of the coop

 

[Squawkers]

Does anyone know what to do with a pullet that doesn't want to sleep in the coop? She sleeps on top of the coop

Ooohhh that was my daily struggle for years finally just got a new coop and that fixed it. She getting pecked on? Not enough roost space? I tried everything with mine but they just flat out refused to sleep in the coop. Dove me nuts

 

[Minanora]

Does anyone know what to do with a pullet that doesn't want to sleep in the coop? She sleeps on top of the coop

I put the problem child up on the roost with the low level girls once they are asleep. After a few days, sometimes a week, they roost with the rest.

At least for my breeds they wind up forgetting that they were not okay with the loaner being on the roost.

 

[Rick589]

That's one fancy chicken coop. Good conversion. Congrats.

Thank You

 

[Rick589]

Will you do poop boards at all? Or you could use that space under to build a separate place to let a hen be broody and have her chicks with her for a short time.

Well, at first I was going to have poop boards, then I thought about trays on the floor that could be pulled out. But the floor will be covered in vinyl planks so we’ll just let the floor take the hit and clean often and the nest boxes will just sit on the floor so they can be moved out of the way for cleaning as well, I wanted everything off of the floor or moveable. We did think about a spot for a broody but opted to use the old coop they’ll be leaving soon, both coops will share the same yard so they won’t be totally isolated from one another.

 

[Rick589]

Spent some time in the garden today getting beds ready for garlic, carrots, peas, kale, lettuce, beets, broccoli, and arugula.

Got my sulfur for the garlic beds. Sifted all of the mulch out of three of the beds.

Before and after photos. I am too tired to organize them.

Sulfur for the garlic, never thought of that. How do you apply? And do you also do nitrogen at planting?

 

[Smokerbill]

Got my sulfur for the garlic beds. Sifted all of the mulch out of three of the beds.

I've heard of using sulfur for garlic but never tried it. I have a big bag of elemental sulfur I bought for chicken mite control that I think I'll use, experiementally.

I found this article...
https://www.thepharmajournal.com/archives/2021/vol10issue10/PartL/10-10-121-229.pdf
...and if I converted it's application rate correctly (40kg per hectare), one square meter requires an application of just 4 grams of sulfur. Doesn't take much, does it.

Another article that shows results for higher application rates...
https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/19/2571

One sq meter would be 7 rows of my garlic bed, just under half of it. I'll treat half with and half without sulfur and see what happens. Reading more, using gypsum would be more effective with its sulfur being the the sulfate form, which plants can uptake.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Is that from the same guy you we're hiding out from?

Nope not at all this is the one here that posts.

 

[Minanora]

Sulfur for the garlic, never thought of that. How do you apply? And do you also do nitrogen at planting?

I use the hi-yield dusting sulfur and the epsoma soil acidifier a few weeks before planting. Then I use bulb+ from MIgardener in the trenches at time of planting, plus compost and steer manure compost in the bed.

I mainly use the sulfur to adjust the pH and protect from rot. My soil gets really alkaline from our hard water during the summer. Before I started mulching the soil would get up to 8.6pH by fall.

I also add a ton of organic matter, like rice hulls and chicken bedding shavings a few weeks before planting.

 

[Sally PB]

I dug out more of the invading grass at the edge of the garden. Man, is that stuff tenacious.