the rest of the concrete
growing Chicken feed
Very nice! And, again, thanks for some greenery in the background =). Beige is wearing thin on me right now LOL!
It's awesome.
ditto L_F_J said.. Wow!
That's going to be a great big coop! Wow!
From what I read, the current 200 pullets are just the beginning; they're going to need a BIG coop.
if the market can "really" move the eggs from the 200 i have-- I will double that # [they say they can move 600/day] but-- i am a little careful about how much to believe them, -- I believe in a carefull approach to expansion, -- so -- we will see, --- got 2 roof rafters up after work, --
I wondered if you were doing the work. I would love to see pictures as you go along.
That's a great coop you have going up. I cannot imagine having 200 hens. I have 27 and think it's a lot. LOL I got 12 eggs 2 days in a row!!
I found a HUGE turnip at my friend's garden that had been overlooked last year and survived the winter. I pulled it up and threw it in with the younger hens. It was a feeding frenzy on the top. I wondered if they'd get around to the turnip itself. They did!
They grow lots of cushaws here and I plan to grow a couple this year. There is a soft skinned and a hard skinned. I have seeds for both.
Have you thought of trying mirlitons (chayote squash)?
I have grown Chayote before, it works Ok some years when the frost is late in the fall, -- but it starts making fruit in the fall about a month [or so] before our first frost, -so about the time I start harvesting a good crop ,it freezes, and dies, -- I covered a row with plastic one year, and got a good crop until late dec. when it froze under the plastic cover,[ and it is a bother to put the cover on at night] -- when I raise them in the greenhouse I have to hand pollinate and it is a bother with them for some reason [ I had only a small amount that made fruit] I am thinking of growing them under the frost sprinklers and see how long they last, --but will wait till the farmers almanac sayes we will have a mild winter, --
I am doing the work myself, but had some men from Crones Cradle [organic farm down the road ] come help on pour day, -[I am still sore from pulling the screed bord, -- I am thinking it is an "old age " thing ]
A friend back home grows them yp a big screen trellis next to her barn. They make like crazy. They are good pickled. I may try one here.
rafters are going up on the coop, -- it's a foggy morning, --
Wow.. it's really comin along fast! Be careful. :)
Oh good, pictures! That's really going to be a nice big coop!
got some more rafters up, -- now for the perlins, and metal roofing---
Wow! I'm most impressed with your progress!
Wow! You are quick.
This is so fun to watch! I'm so glad you are posting pictures.. :)
I hope to get some roofing on this wekend, -- at least that is the plan, --
the area I planted for the chickens is growing well, [so are the weeds] but the carrots were planted with too much seed, as all of it grew, -- I planted a bed about 5 feet wide, and over 100 feet long, the carrots are growing great but will have to be thinned a lot, --the Purple Top Turnips are the same story, all of the seed grew, [I had suposed it would not all grow as I just brodcast it on top of the soil, I was wrong], -- the Rutabagas [yellow turnips] have a half bed [2.5 feet wide] and have all come up well also but they are not as thick and will not have to be thinned as much, -- I also planted chard, daikon, Appin Forage Turnip, and some stock beets [Red Mangles] -- it will be interesting to see what produces well here, -- but I am sure the Chickens will like what ever grows, --
this rutabaga is 4 lbs, -- a row of these would make a lot of chicken food, -- this one tastes a little bitter at the bottom, the bottom was also a little woody, -- but the rest of it tastes great, -- cool, the chickens are eating the tops and enjoying them, -- [should have harvested this 2 months ago]
LOL! That is quite the rutabaga! My chickens will eat almost any green thing. As luck would have it, tomato horn worms are green!
Mmmmmm!
Hope you keep posting pictures!
got most of the framing done-- but it is dark, -- will try to get a pict in the AM, ---
here are some picts of the progress, -- got the tin on, but ran out of screws, with 1 1/2 rows to go, -- will have to wait till another day, --
here is a pict of the framing
You do nice work!
He certainly does. I would be so happy if I had a coop like that one! How many silkies could I put in there? OH YES!
Wow! I am amazed at your progress. You must be a young buck to be able to get that much done so quick. Good job!
I am 56, [not so young], and a little broken up, -- but still not about to give up, -- but i am still sore, -- I got the rest of the screws in the roof after work today
In my experience old people can/will outwork young people every time.
I think it is because we are too stuborn to give up. LOL
I think it is because the work ethic fell through the generation gap.
I wonder when work became a dirty word.
I hate to sound like I walked 5 miles to school barefoot in the snow..... but... a lot of kids today don't have work ethics. A friend of mine won't let her 17 year old son mow the lawn because he might get hurt (but he drives a car). At 17 I had been driving a tractor and bailing hay for years. Mowing the lawn was an easy chore LOL
Kids that grew up on farms took work for granted. Farming is a waning profession. Today kids grow up playing on computers.
AnnieBBB, how true. I was considered a bad parent in my neighborhood because I had my #2 son working outside and doing the lawn (I think he was about 11 then and he's in his early 20's now--I started mowing the lawn when I was about 9). The mothers' group at his school had a "talk" with me about having him work in the yard with "dangerous" equipment. I stopped going to the meetings. I asked him if he thought using the lawn mower was dangerous. He said no as I had gone over all the steps to use the lawn mower and my dad had been having him use the lawn mower (a rider) at his place during the summer visits for a couple of years. He said he liked working outside so he didn't mind (son #1 liked working inside and did a great job with the dishes). Son #2 said about the only thing he objected to was that our lawn mower was electric and it was embarassing to have his friends think his parents were "hippies". He wanted a gas with more power or a rider! Poor kid =~p! I sound grouchy, too, don't I? I could be sitting on a porch somewhere yelling "Hey you kids, get off of my lawn" but I don't have time =D!
Michaelp, I especially like the sunlight at the peak of the roof. Will that be done up in some way to keep that light coming into the building? We used to call that a monitor, but I don't know what they call it here in the South.
the gap at the peak of the roof [in the last picture] is a vent [8" high] it has 1x1 hardware cloth over it to keep coons and possums from getting in, -here the big problem is heat, we have 8 months of summer, [we have had 90+ deg days already] -- The walls will be tin roof metal on the bottom 2 feet [to keep the coons from reaching in and getting the chickens, and to break the wind in the winter], the top part of the walls will be horse panels, 2"x4" wire spacing, --also keeps predators, including cats and bears out, --
Re work ethic, -- I raised my Boys on a hog farm,/ organic vegetable farm they worked hard, and I also got a lot of un-solicited advise from people and organizations, [including the LDS Church] telling me I was abusing and "destroying the future" of my children, [and home schooling was also part of that abuse]--now-- their children are worthless, and have been in lots of trouble, my oldest graduated from Hastings School of Law,and works for a state out west, the second graduated from Stanford, and is a professer at Colorado School of Mines, --etc, -- looking back on it, I am very glad I didn't do as they sugested, and let my kids just go play and "hang out" with the others at the park, or church, --they got to do what ever they wanted to [with in reason] after all the chores and school work was done, and no matter how late they came in, Chores started at 6am, --
Glad I got a quick update on your work here Michael.. it's awesome!