Quail_Antwerp: Words from the Barnyard...

[Quail_Antwerp]

Crossing my fingers that all goes well for you, Aly!!!

I can't wait to see pics of the new coop.....*wink wink*

Thank you.

I will put up pics. I'm taking progressive pictures of the entire project.

Becca, Autumn seems to be doing much better now. I'm going to pick her up some moist dog food today and see if she will eat that. She's not touching the dry kibbles.

 

[keljonma]

Sounds like you are playing musical coops today!

Hope Autumn does better. This has been a really bad year for fleas in our area too. Titan seems to do better when we add garlic oil and fish oil to his feed. The topical stuff isn't working at all this year. The dog groomer suggested Ovitrol, but we haven't tried it yet. She said the rest of the stuff on the market doesn't work as well. I saw Revival Animal has a 16 oz spray bottle for $10 plus shipping. I buy the Oxine AH from Revival and they always provide good customer service, ime.

VK (Vet-Kem) Ovitrol Plus Flea, Tick & Bot Spray:

Description
Quickly kills and repels fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, lice and flies. Contains Precor Insect Growth Regulator to kill flea eggs and larvae for up to 2 months. Prevents botfly eggs from hatching into adults. May be reapplied weekly. For use on dogs, puppies, cats, kittens, horses and ponies. Do not use on puppies or kittens under 12 weeks of age. Contains Pyrethrins and S-Methoprene.

Ingredients
(S)-Methoprene (CAS #65733-16-6) 0.27% Pyethrins (CAS #8003-34-7) 0.20% Piperonyl Butoxide (CAS #51-03-6) 0.37% N-octyl Bicycloheptene Dicarboximide (CAS #113-48-4) 0.62% Other Ingredients 98.54%

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Well, I haven't been getting eggs lately like I should be. Oh I'm getting around 2-3 bantam eggs a day, but my standards haven't been giving me eggs on a daily basis.

So, I sent Ernie to the store to pick up a dozen eggs. Figures, he brings home a dozen eggs, and today the girls pop the eggs out!

I found an egg from my Welsummer Hen (yet unnamed)! She even went in the box, made a nest, and left a perfect brown egg with speckles. Not the nice dark Terracotta egg I'd hoped she laid, but it's an egg!!!

Then Ernie informed me that Louisa and one of my SpSussex were both on a nest in the red coop. I was very excited to collect the Sussex egg, as she laid first. Louisa was taking her time so I went on to other things. I came back to check about 30 minutes later and Louisa was still on the nest. I lifted her off the nest and collected 2 more eggs!!

Then I cleanded out the nesting boxes, put in new straw, and set up a second broody pen for Mumble, my blue silkie. I won't move her until tonight.

I thought I'd check to see if any of the Ladies had gifted me with a cackle berry. Nope. No eggs in the First Ladies laying area. Not only that, but Pat, Betty, and Mary were all 3 missing! So, I started on a chicken hunt, forget the eggs! I started searching through the barn and pasture area, as the three of them love to forage in those areas. I found a nest of FIVE dark brown eggs! LOU has been laying in the BARN! Then I found another nest of 10 small white eggs! Not sure which of the ladies laid them, but now I know why I've not been finding eggs from the ladies!! They've hidden their nests!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told Ernie the Ladies are going to be furious with me, because by the end of next week I'll have them all moved to the red coop with the rest of the flock. NO MORE hiding eggs! Once they give up their rent, then I'll be letting them out to free range.

We're going to start a new schedule with the chickens, see if it helps with the egg production, or lack of. I'll be feeding the chickerdoodles every morning, and letting the waterfowl free range until early afternoon. After the ladies have had time to "pay rent" then the waterfowl will be penned up with their feed and the chickerdoodles let out to forage in the afternoon into the evening hours.

this works and eggs start appearing more frequently in nesting boxes than in hidden areas!!!!!

 

[keljonma]

I thought I'd check to see if any of the Ladies had gifted me with a cackle berry. Nope. No eggs in the First Ladies laying area. Not only that, but Pat, Betty, and Mary were all 3 missing! So, I started on a chicken hunt, forget the eggs! I started searching through the barn and pasture area, as the three of them love to forage in those areas. I found a nest of FIVE dark brown eggs! LOU has been laying in the BARN! Then I found another nest of 10 small white eggs! Not sure which of the ladies laid them, but now I know why I've not been finding eggs from the ladies!! They've hidden their nests!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And where were Pat, Betty and Mary hiding out? Somewhere good, I'm sure.

The Ladies are not as fond of that large nest box as some of the others we had. Especially when it is backless. We used to use old corner hay bins or milk crates, as we found they liked those better than the large box.

We used the large box mostly for Lou when she was broody. She hasn't gone broody yet this year - she used to go broody every 6 months, so you might want to keep an ear out for her Marlene Dietrich impersonation.

Some of the Ladies lay their eggs late in the afternoon and in the evening.

White eggs could be Lady Bird, Martha, Eleanor, Hannah, or Dolley.

It could be that the Ladies don't feel settled in a hen house yet, since they have been moved around since they have been there. Locking them in for a week would probably help, if you have the room without them being too over crowded and not over heated in the red coop. If you have the room, putting the water and feed inside will help.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

And where were Pat, Betty and Mary hiding out? Somewhere good, I'm sure.

Did I leave that part out?!

They were having a roundevous in the pasture field...feasting on bugs and seeds The three of them were quite happy with themselves, too.

Mary and Lady Bird went roosting on a log in the pasture. I had to go bring them in. They are now in the red coop.

I don't think locking them in the red coop is a good idea. I think it will be too crowded and too warm. Fine for roosting at night, but until I get the addition on, not a good idea to completely lock any chickens in.

 

[keljonma]

And where were Pat, Betty and Mary hiding out? Somewhere good, I'm sure.

Did I leave that part out?!

They were having a roundevous in the pasture field...feasting on bugs and seeds The three of them were quite happy with themselves, too.

Mary and Lady Bird went roosting on a log in the pasture. I had to go bring them in. They are now in the red coop.

I am not a bit surprised to find the ladies in the pasture!

I don't think locking them in the red coop is a good idea. I think it will be too crowded and too warm. Fine for roosting at night, but until I get the addition on, not a good idea to completely lock any chickens in.

Well, it was just a thought...... I agree you wouldn't want to stress or overcrowd any of your birds, as that just leads to ugly situations.

It was pretty easy for us on the farm with just the 1 building to search for eggs!


How is Autumn doing?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

How is Autumn doing?

She is doing sooooooooo much better! You wouldn't even know she had a problem this morning!

 

[keljonma]

That is wonderful news!

We had a puppy that had seizures years ago - we found out she was epileptic. She was an adorable AKC registered black and white English Springer Spaniel. The first time we saw the seizure, it frightened the kids (10 & 2 at the time) and I very badly. So glad to hear Autumn is better.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

So today we went back over to mom's and managed to take apart all but one wall of the coop. We'll probably go back to mom's in a few days and take the last wall done.

Meanwhile, we need 9-10 more fence posts to finish the pasture. I'll be pulling them up out of the woods probably tomorrow. Which should mean by the end of this next week, pasture should be done and opened up for Boss, Chase, and Emmy.

We've managed to add a new project to our to-do list before winter as well. Ernie really wants Bourbon Red Turkeys. Becca has hatched several, and we're planning to get a young trio from her. So, since we'll want to keep the two turkey breeds separate, we'll be working on dividing the dog kennel pen in half. Bourbon Reds on one side, Royal Palms/Blue Slate on the other side.

I had three ducks here that belonged to my mom. She was waiting until they moved to take them home. She picked them up today. YAY! Monday I'm taking the 3 Embden geese and 3 Pekin ducks to the auction. Have 3 mixed breed bantam chicks, a Sumatra Mix chick, and one SpSussex chick all going to the auction as well. Labor Day auctions usually do very well!

Tomorrow we're going to Becca's in the evening for a cookout. I'm hoping I'll get to bring home some BBS Orps from her house. And I'm hoping Ernie will get a gander at the Bourbon Red Turkey poults.

We hit a couple end of the year yard sales today. I picked up a water bath canner for $1 and a large pot to match for $1. Ernie got 2 pairs of jeans that will fit him for $1 and I found some winter clothes for DD and oldest DS for 50cents. Oh and curtains for DD's room for $1.

Ernie also saw a nice deer stand at one yardsale for $70. I could tell he was seriously thinking of it. That is, until I said, "If you buy that, I'm placing a chick order with McMurray on Tuesday!" He walked away so fast!!!!!!!

Really, we didn't need it. He already has a tree stand, and he wouldn't have anywhere to put up a second one.

 

[MorelCabin]

Wow Quail, you are one busy girl! How you do it all AND with children underfoot I have no idea!