The first tractor and chick pics!

Badseed,
I love your chicks and your tractor! I am so jealous (I don't think Westwood will permit chickens). I don't know the breeds very well, but I have a chicken- loving friend (I'm not kidding: one of his e-mail addresses is poultryfan) who probably knows them all. Is Splash a breed or a color? Whatever--- I think #13 is a splash.
Since I have no chickens to show off, I'll post another picture of my canine nephew, Darby. Part German Shepherd and part Great Pyrenees. 3 months old. I'm puppy- sitting for another week.
BTW, did you get my message abt the flower sale guy in Westwood? I put his e-mail in it. (I'll find it again if you didn't.)
Pat H.

Oh shoot! I somehow missed your post! It's been a busy crazy time here in Me-ville! LOL

Yes, I think Weswood would not be very happy with chickens. LOL

That is a beautiful doggy!! I love it's sweet little face!

To the rest of you, things are going pretty well in chickenville! We still have some rump pecking going on. For the most part no damage has been done. They are pulling feathers and sometimes getting the ones that bleed. Painting the spots with Pine Tar has been like a miracle! We have been giving them vegetables like crazy. This weekend they got watermelon and grilled corn on the cob along with leftovers from a veggie tray. The short carrots and hard cauliflower give them something to work at and something to do. Two fo them had blood on their tails again today. One it was just feathers and the other it was a bit of the meat. They got painted again, got more food and more veggies.

I'm still bouncing off the wonderful weekend of the Ohio Roundup! My dear friend Wvdaisy and her husband and two little poodles spent the whole weekend here. We had agreed when she left, she would take some chickens with her. She said she had room for 3 so we sent her home with 5. LOL Hey, they need some of those eggs. LOL She was very happy that the chickens were so friendly and well socialized.

She took 9:54, 9:55, 10:01, 10:06 and one of the all black ones you can see in the background of 10:03. Those are the times above the pictures are posted.

We are happily down to a family of 46 chickens. I saw a note at the local restaurant, that someone is looking for laying hens. At what age are these considered laying hens?? After they lay an egg???

I hope all is well with the rest of you in your own little chickenvilles!

Is that a dumb blonde joke?
Silly girl

Ummmmmmm......

Hey, Badseed,
Glad you had such a good time at the RU! I was here in Westwood, still puppy sitting, and getting pounded with rain. For a 30% chance of rain, we had 90 minutes of just abt the hardest rain I've ever seen, with popcorn sized hail, flooded yards, and tons of downed trees & wires. I lost more of my elderly white pine and the rest of my garden got both flooded and pounded. The East side got zippo (they got hit Sunday).
Here's the contact info on my neighbor--- the one who has the twice a year plant sales.

Hey, Badseed,
Richard (the plant guy) can be reached at [e-mail:rrm0913@aol.com] .
(that's R R M and then a zero, not a capital O).
He said he'd be glad to hear from you.

Soggy in Cincinnati,
Pat

Here's a picture of some passing waterfowl. I was on the KY side of the Ohio river, waiting for the Anderson Ferry. I was glad that this group got some time to get past the landing!

Wow!!!!! Jealous here! LOL.. I just lost one hen last week. Now I have only one hen... She's alone now and been spend more time in back patio by doors. Poor hen! No more chicks. I got tired and fed up lose each chickens since they are free range. Well my fault but neighbor know better not to let their dog loose and come to our property and killed the hen.

That tractor house for chickens look awesome! It made me change my mind so now I want more chickens. LOL I would like to build me tractor like yours. It's roomy for less 15 chickens. I can put someting part on front so we can pull it with our four wheeler or tractor to next fresh grass.

Question..they sleep in the green house? What is the bottom.. wood ?. how can you clean it? LOL

Can you take picture of inside of the green house???

Barred Rocks are always very well behaved and friendly chickens...though they tend to get bullied by the production reds.

Hey Mini! I only have a second. I'm in plant packing/shipping hello. hehehe

They do sleep in the green house. I will get a picture soon. I know I told someone else I would. Life is zipping by these days. The whole coop is wood. We scrape the bottom with a large putty knife then put in shredded bedding for them. When they were younger and in the smaller house, I cut scrap plywood to size and put it in the end. When it got dirty, we flipped it over. When both sides were yucky, we put in a new piece.

Beth, you are correct! The Barred Rocks are the nicest birds! If you walk in or sit down for any time at all, they are standing on your feet, jumping on your head, climbing your arm, just begging for attention. They are like puppies!

When my eldest went out yesterday, she thought she shut the door but didn't. Our Sheltie/Blue Healer mix followed her in while she was not looking. She turned to see the dog then nearly panicked. The dog was in the tractor, laying on it's back and the chickens were pecking the spots on her belly. LOL

Okay, back to plants...I'll try to get back with a pic soon!

I want to know what the wire frame is.....

The frame of the tractor is cattle panels, covered with 5' wide chicken wire. huff, puff, off to finish boxes. LOL

Just woke up from a catnap!

My hen is barred rock, too! Best hen I ever had! The other that died was barred rock too. OK I will wait for pixes LOL..

Very nice chicken tactor...

Thank you Tracey! How are things going for you?

Okay, I managed to get my 8 orders packed and out of here and left one to pack tonight and ship tomorrow! Just as we were leaving for the post office a wicked storm popped up an we had glorious rain for the last hour! All the chickens ran in the coop.

The sun is sort of shining now so maybe they'll get out and I can get a picture of the inside....

Badseed, it depends on the breed, but many chickens start laying at around 5-6 months. I think McMurray's site has info on how old they are per breed when they start laying.

My two barred rocks and the buff brahma are the ones who always run up to greet me when I go up to the coop. And the rocks love to stand on my shoes. LOL

Watch out for your chicken type #3, Rhode Island Red or Red Star or Production Red....whatever you want to call them. I have had a very bad history with these as notorious egg eaters. They get the whole flock egg-eating in no time, but it is always these red ones that seem to start doing it first.

Do you mean the one posted at 9:57?? It's criminal? LOL OH NO!! I believe we only have 2 of those and the 2 reds are the ones my 3 year old claimed. I hope they are nice birds or they might up and leave the flock. ;)

Hart, I'm thinking I had read some lay as soon as 17 weeks and some not for 30! That's a long time to feed them and wish I had eggs! I believe they are 10 weeks now.

Okay, here is a pic of my 3 year old standing inside. She insisted! There is normally a shelf in there so some of the chicks can get off the bottom floor and make more room.

The 3 year old really thinks she belongs there and as you can see, the chickens don't care!

Hi,
I think you have earned your "Farmer" sticker now. Nice looking chicken tractor. You must be doing a good job of taking care of them, from the way they look.
Do you get the girls to do the chicken chores ?

Keep up the good work.
Have a nice evening!
Bernie

Hey Bernie! Thanks for the compliment. It's definitely been a family effort. We all pitch in to do the feeding, cleaning, watering and running out veggies many times a day. If those birds had their way, they'd live on corn on the cob! LOL Due to leftovers from a party tray, they've been living it up on broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and green peppers. They had a field day with watermelon and cantaloupe too!

I meant to add a pic of our mutt Dixie. She was "gifted" by a neighbor. She is the one we named the only spotted chick after. She is also the one that got in the coop and laid down and let the chickens peck her freckles. LOL

She had a good time herding Wvdaisy's little poodles when she visited us. Ahem...

Great size coop for the chickens. I see pink color inside the coop. LOL How many chicks you have??? I just told Dh and explained to him that I want the coop to look like yours. He said he want to see the pictures. LOL..


Oh my.. That's one that you had her when I got preg and had my boy Matt. Times flies. He will be 4 in Aug and going to Pre K!

Just want to share pix with you! It was taken few weeks ago. ;o)

What a cutie!

Have your hubby search "chicken tractor" and do some looking. There are many different styles and types. I can tell you from experience, 2x12s on the side are over kill!! LOL

The pink you see is an old free standing closet I made for the kids to use in the basement at the other house. Aside from the bottom frame and chicken wire, everything else on the tractor was recycled!

These ones are the egg eater types:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3532873

They are extremely productive egg layers but have been so genetically engineered towards egg laying and against "broodiness and mothering skills" that they have no idea that the egg is their offspring. In a commercial production situation they are in battery cages where the egg drops down under the cage and rolls away out of their reach. As much as I like Barred Rocks....I really dislike these Production Reds for their aggressive nature and tendency towards egg eating.

You might have a completely different experience because these tendencies vary within genetic lines and individuals.

They use to make some thing for the chickens beak so they cant eat eggs not sure what it was was a long time ago i saw it was about ten years old

Yep, that is the one I thought you meant! I will keep an eye on them and when I get eggs, if I lose any, I'll separate those out right away. Of course I'm hoping for no problems. LOL

I do see RIR are listed in my possibilities!

Hello phicks! I did read about something you could put over the chickens beaks to stop them from pecking. It was sort of like a little muzzle if I remember correctly. I didn't pay that much attention...

There used to be a plastic face sheild that you could put on pheasants by running a pin through their nose....it looked kind of cruel. Now there is this.... don't know if it would work for chickens

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/plastic_anti_pick_bits.html

This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 10:02 AM

Image of chickens eating eggs...note the type of chicken!

http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/children/kidtracks/Chicken0611_blog.jpg

This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 10:07 AM

Dixie is a super poodle herder! Glad she's doing so well with the chicks. Maybe you can teach her to herd them back into the pen when you finally let them free-range. Send her to herding school or buy a herd dog training manual. She has the instinct for it that's for sure. The chicks I brought home are doing great, thanks, Chele! Today they're eating snake. I killed one by my pond and thought I'd see if the chicks liked it. They were pecking on it when I left them, will check to see later if they've made any progress.

We had soooo much fun at Chele's and the RU, I can't wait to go back and visit again! She's the hostess with the mostest! LOL I like running around in my bathing suit all weekend ROFL!!!

Lana

Badseed,
I am okay but I cry when I look at my pics. Dogs got in my coop and killed 11 of my chicks and chickens.. Just look at anouther bad day.. You will see...Red sex links,silkies, 4 barred rocks killed..
3 barred rocks left ... Eufaula is sent some eggys for me to hatch..
Tracey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY a day late and hope you have many more good Birthdays!!!
Tracey

Thank you Tracey!!

I had a great birthday! I worked outside most of the day. I also had a visit from a DGer.

That's cool .. I hope my Birthday will be a nice one because the
last two I had where bad my 30th birthday party no one inn my family
showed up and only one friend showed up.. My 31st birthday KB and I and NB tryed to cheer me up because it was a bad day for me but no one understands that my birthdays are inportent to me
because I will be 32 on June 20th and my birthday is going to be neat I hope a chick is to be born Two days before my birthday..
But I just wish KB and NB are Throwing me a party but it will not
happen.. Wishing is two different things and hopeing is just the opsit of just thinking.. To me wishing a Happy Birthday to people
is a comfute to me...
Tracey

Tracey, chin up girl, you have it "all going on", will be here on the 20th - for you and only you on that day!

The 20th of May was my wedding anniversary (first marriage) be darned if I can remember any of the other ones. - but I did remember to take the current wifes birthday off for vacation from work, now if I can plan something she would like for it, it would be a good thing. Any ideas for me?

Dyson,Thank you!!!!
Think of a place she likes to go and eta at and take her their ..
Or think of some thing she would like to have for a gift that she
would like ..
Maybe take her to a bed in breakfast for the weekend...Or try
her favorit flowers...
Just rember the day you married her in a song in your head it helps me on a me KB's Birthday..
Take here out to dinner and a movie and give her the night of her
life.. I wish my KB would do these things for me but always thing about working his mined is always working and he all ways thinks work..
Taking a day off work and just be with her on specail days that you mark down in a dayplanner... Buy some chicks for her and make it a surprise..
Tracey

This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 10:05 AM

Hey Tracey,
You are going to be half as old as I will be this year. Boy if only I could back up.
Hang around Daves long enough & your birthday will not be forgotten! I had birthday wishes on a number of threads last year.

This is my Granddaughters birthday a few days ago.
Grandma day cares her, so she always goes along for morning coffee. The manager of the coffee shop cooked up the party. Everybody that came in that morning got a piece of cake. This place, men sit on one side, ladies on other side of the room. That's her Great Grandma in the blue blouse. She was 89 on her last birthday.

Have a Great Day!
Bernie

This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 11:25 AM

Bernie - your post are always the best - that is why I always look for them, every time I visit here. If I see your name I am going to check it out every time - thank you for your view on the world and sharing it with us.

The latest reminds me "I need to call mom and see how she is doing".

again - thank you.

Bernie has been such an inspiration to me! He has put up with my silly questions, my dumb questions, business questions, farm questions and even a few valuable questions. LOL I would not have gotten as far as I have if it wasn't for Bernie! He might think he's just some chatty old guy in Minnesota but he means the world to me! Don't blush Bernie!!

That post reminds me of one of my fondest memories. When I was young, I spent a great deal of time with my Great Aunt and Great Uncle (Papa). I often went to their parents farms where we'd either help them do things or just visit. They'd also take me to auctions and church and just plain spend time with me which I didn't get much of at home.

My Papa used to take me to a little diner. They had those old fashioned music boxes (like mini jukeboxes) at every table and on the bar, where you put in money, flipped through the pages and picked songs. He'd plop me up on the bar, feed the music box and I'd sing away. It was an older crowd and my entertainment was met with big smiles and applause. I don't know if my singing was any good but it sure was fun. How I wish for the simple days, simple pleasures and days when I was surrounded by those that are gone now!

Don't get me wrong. Life is good. So are the memories. :)

Dyson, have you ever taken your wife to Williamsburg? A romantic candlelit dinner at one of the taverns there would be pretty darned romantic. And a day shopping at the Williamsburg Pottery would be something you would both enjoy. Pots and plants and a whole bunch of other stuff at awesome prices.

Some of the hotels there are pretty expensive but there are nice places that aren't too pricey and a lot of B&Bs too.