Thats what I'm talking about Donna. I don't mind the mobilehome, I could live in a garage, but a mobilehome on five acres with a garage/shop appraised at 250,000.00. That is ridiculous, and it drives me crazy. I have been looking at homes around Knoxville, Tenn and their property taxes are 4-7hundred, and thats nice homes. This state is crazy...I don't need a lot of money, but I hate giving any of it to this stinking government so they can steal it and use it for their own devices...I despise the corruption of this government and don't care who knows it...I will never give them one dime if I can figure out how to withhold it...LOL OK, I'm off of my soap box.
My new Chicken Coup
How cute love it.
Lavina
Hi Lavina, Welcome to the forum. Thank you for your comment, I really needed that...LOL I promise I'll behave now and just talk chickens. So lets talk about yours. I'm so glad to have some new blood, I think I was due for a transfusion, or infusion...LOL...Hay. I'm already looking on the map to see where your town is. It's fun checking the map and seeing the areas the good people of the forum live in...
I need to find a few coop sites for some ideas on a New Coop for Peeper and His New Ladies that are comeing Soon.
He Has a Lil House and is Happy. However, with the New Family Moving In He Wants A Condo Built For The 4 Ladies to be Happy & They All Want their Own Rooms / Nest boxes For Laying Eggs .
You Know How the Ladies are No Sharing a Room / Nesting box .LOL
Can anyone Help me & Peeper Out we are expecting 4 ladies to join us Soon .
So we need to get busy scouting for our design , modify it to suit our liking and build it , and still get the fence / run up. so the Ladies and safely take a stroll in the yard & strut ther stuff , cackel about , and gossip about the night they had with Peeper
Thank You for your Help In Advance
The Sarge & Peeper
didja forget about Googling it? Try this for starters
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS370US370&tbs=isch:1&&sa=X&ei=FuFQTNLeOYv2nAfV8rjQCQ&ved=0CCMQBSgA&q=DIY+Hen+House+design%2Bsmall&spell=1&biw=1066&bih=738
Better yet start your own thread on the subject in this Forum.
You will get more peeps responses
Scooterbug: I spent the last two days researching Tellico Plains area. I was in shock to see how close the temps there are in comparison to ours. I did a lot of research, the area is very pretty. They get about 16 inches more rain than we do here but it is evenly spread out over the the twelve month area. I was showing the area to my wife and we have agreed in very early spring we are going to fly into Knoxville and spend two weeks in the area. I looked at realestate for at least twelve hours and saw some very pretty sites and visited utube video of the popular bakery and the town itself. I was happy to see how rural it is and the rivers and fishing along with motorcycling really interested me. The annual snow fall is even similiar to ours. Very interesting...Thanks Hay.
I don't have chickens yet but convienced 2 neighbors at the water front they neede them and we are having a ball. I love fresh eggs and little bitties . I will try to take some pictures this week end so you can see their coops and chickens.
I haven't given up on having chick as I get all kind of Mags. and catalogues. Driving hubby mad and hopping he will give in to me soon.
Its 7:00 so gotta get to work.
Lavina
Hay if your going to move why not come to Maine?Of course I live in Northeren Maine so its mostly woods and get cold and has snow but other than that its beautiful here.Our taxes just took a hike,we have 10 acers a 16x75 mobil home and a garage and two coops and our taxes are $625.00.Wouldn`t you just love to shovel snow to get to you chickens? LOL
Do you'uns let your chickens get out and about???? Chickens will scratch your
gardens to smithereens, but free range eggs are SO superior - So this little ol'
lady makes regular trips to the dump for logs and branches and boards (used to
get lots of metal, but it is strictly forbidden now) (one time I found a roll of fencing,
and didn't have a truck, and a dump worker fetched it to my house when he got off
work) - and I arrange them "artistically" to barricade my plants from chickens!!
When we lived in town, our chickens began invading neighbors' yards. We solved that
one by letting the chickens out at 3PM. That way, by the time they had worked our
yard and were ready to move into neighbors', it was roosting time!
Fitsy
Fitsy, that was a great way to solve your roaming chickens problem. We don't let our chickens out of their area, but it's quite large and they also have access to our small orchard; we have a gate that we can use to exclude them when we need to, but that's a great source of weeds and bugs. If they got into our garden they would ruin all of my nice neat rows and paths!
My Chickens go everywhere. LOL We open their door at 8:00 and they are ready for bed at 5:00 or so. They do mess up the mulch but have really cut back on bugs in the garden.
I have such a BIG problem with Wild Turkey and Deer that I gave up plantng a Vegetable garden and would have a huge fence. Our neighbors tried a 10' fence and the turkeys still got in.
Haystack - come on over to Tellico Plains - you'll be an hour or so from me, and
it is indeed nice here. You noticed the "world famous" attraction - the fiendishly
winding roads beloved by motercyclers.
LavinaMae, hang in there!
Sgt., since you ask, I'd like to mention 2 things:
(1) I recommend covering all openings, except doors, with "hardware cloth"
(wire screening) to keep rats and varments out, and you close the doors at night.
(2) Consider temperature. My house has western exposure, and got so hot
that I let chickens roost in trees, and even tho they were 7' up, something got one.
So I have rigged shade over the house, and I hose it down in the evenings.
So if I had a roof designed to help with warmth in winter and protect from heat in
summer, it would have saved me some trouble. Yes, my house has wide open
windows on east and west.
Fitsy
PS - Oh, yes, Picabo's chicken house is adorable, and exactly what I'd expect
from her - I am used to seeing her creations over on Mid South forum
We had a Chicken Murder last night. The only thing I could think of that could get in would be a mink or Weasel. It bit the head off two of the girls. There was one little hole, maybe 6" wide under the bottom rail of the Chain link fence that didn't have 2"x2" welded wire laying on the ground about a foot inside and out. The creature got in there. I could see where something small had dug under. I was fencing for skunks and Raccoons. Didn't even think about those evil little things. Tune in tomorrow for a picture of a dead sneaky little thing that will wish it hadn't dug under my fence.
We had a mink get in last winter and kill about 12 of our chickens. We had a new coop, too, and we had left the small louvered windows open just a crack for ventilation. The creature got in through the small opening, tore a hole in the interior screen, and left dead chickens and smears of blood everywhere. It must have been horrible for the poor chickens.
We decided it was a mink based on its footprints in the snow, and also the size it would have had to be to get in through so small an opening. Our field guide also mentioned that minks were known to prey on henhouses, while it was rarer for weasels to do so.
Good luck catching the mink, although I'm not sure how you're going to do that. Ours never came back.
Fitsy: Thank you so much for the invite, Indeed you have some very pretty territory in your neck of the woods. I'm really looking forward to visiting and looking around. It is so nice to meet more of God's wonderful chicken-heads. I enjoy seeing and hearing how others do things and the great ideas that are out there. Thanks Fitsy for sharing with us all...Hay
LavinaMae, I sure do hope your hubby will give in to your desire for some girls. I find them to be very calming and they sure do make me laugh at their antics. Thanks so much for taking the time to share and we look forward to your pic's...Hay
Green: I have been to Maine and always thought if it as one of the most beautiful states, especially during the fall. I think snow is beautiful but never liked it on the end of a shovel...however you are very special...Hay
Green, Thank You. I would rather ours not come back.
I set two traps, they are the ones we caught the raccoons in so may be too big. I baited with corn.
I fixed the little hole under the fence. Now wondering if it just went through the chain link fence. I have 1" Chicken wire lining the chain link up about 3 feet. The Chickens have lived in this same chain link pen while we built the house, never bothered except the night we forgot and left the door open for the raccoons.
If your intruder killed chickens I would bait the trap with meat. After all he didn't break in to steal the scratch grain, did he? Good Luck!
It ate all the grain that was left in the feed dish and looked like it had been digging at it through the fence. I'll try meat tomorrow night.
Do minks/weasels eat grain? Could it have been a raccoon again?
I could just barely get my hand through the hole under the fence. The last time the Raccoon got in with the chickens it ate the entire hen. Only the heads were missing yesterday. That is why I don't think it is a Raccoon.
All were fine this morning, both traps were sprung but no catch. DH told me that minks and Weasels were too smart for my live traps. I won't use a leg wire trap. I'll try some meat tonight. I did install a new door from the pen to the house. At night just another door to remember to shut.
When we had a raccoon attack it ate only the head and neck, but it was probably rabid as it came in the day so... I'll bet you will catch something in your traps; let's hope it is the felon.
Whatever we catch will go far far away. I have trouble getting things out of the traps but the nature center will usually release them.
Unfortunately we couldn't trap our marauder because we have feral barn cats which would get caught instead and possibly savaged by coyotes. We shot her and buried her.
I have shot Skunks before that were hanging out in the barn. I drive a little Miata Convertible. I would roll down the window enough to take aim with my 22 then roll up the window before I got "shot". LOL
We have Coyotes, Bobcats and Foxes around the farm but not near the house. DH is afraid the Foxes will be hunting in the yard soon.
Picabo, I love those little miata's. I think a little skunk in the passanger side would look so cute with you...lol...so your not as fast with that window as you are with the trigger huh!!!...happy hunting...Hay
I'm pretty quick for an old lady. One finger on the trigger and one on the window button. LOL
I did have a snake try to get in the front seat with me one day when I had the top down and stopped to pick up the mail. My neighbor still makes fun of me over that. LOL
Haystack, wherever you go, make sure you check out the water quality of that area first. Here, we have some big problems with chemical and petroleum plants dumping their waste into our ground water. It's disgusting and dangerous.
And outrageous, too!!!
I'm sorry about the chicken losses! Yours and mine.
I'm always curious and interested to know what breeds folks choose.
What did you choose, Picabo? Sarge? Everybody??
Fitsy
Hi Fitsy
I have Rhode Island Reds, Araucana and Red Sex Link. No reason other than that was what they had at the CoOp the day I went. LOL
We did catch another Raccoon last night and took him for a long ride and released him beside a lake. This was a young one but looked almost grown. That makes three in the last few weeks. The traps are sprung every night no telling now many we miss.
The breeds I have are Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Jersey Giant, Ameraucana, and Buckeye. Chosen for their friendliness To people and reliability of egg-laying. Also I like large chickens as they are easier to contain and less likely to be taken by hawks. The Buckeyes I chose as they are an "endangered" traditional breed.
Picabo, how far did you take the raccoon? You need to go at least twenty miles to be sure they don't find their way back.
We get a different breed every year. We are on about a four-year rotation; the oldest hens get butchered out, along with the young cockerels, each fall. This way it's easy to tell who's who. Right now we have White Rocks, Cuckoo Marans, Cherry Eggers, and our chicks are Speckled Sussex. We always choose dual-purpose birds that lay brown eggs. We had Silver Wyandottes in 2006, and they were so aggressive to the chicks we got in 2008 (Cuckoo Marans and Salmon Faverolles), going after them and not letting them eat, that we lost almost all of them due to stress and failure to thrive. We developed a whole new setup after that, where the young pullets are kept separate from the adults until they're almost the same size and can fend for themselves. We're also not getting SWs again!
Has anyone ever processed golden comets?I have some that will be three years old and are slowing down in egg laying,they are so srawney I would think they would be tough and very little meat.
We had Buttercups a few years ago, and they were tiny, too. I haven't tried them yet but am planning to cook them in a crockpot for soup.
When we butcher, we let the birds rest in the refrigerator, or at about 40 degrees, for 24 to 48 hours before we freeze them. I also dry rub them with salt for a dry brine. When I take them out to use them, I fill the plastic bag I froze them in with water and change it several times while the chicken is defrosting. Since I've been doing that they are much tenderer and juicier.
Very, very interesting about the breeds! Thanks very much for all the info!
Interesting info about butchering, too.
I had Golden Comets. I thought they were right small and dainty, but good
egg layers. Very gentle and "sweet". About eating them - maybe they make
good soup! Aren't old chickens supposed to be superior for soup?
I just lost the last one to a very strange disease(?). Its craw would swell up like
a balloon full of fluid. Twice it recovered, when it got sick the 3rd time, my kind
brother shot it. I took it to a vet who advertised that he does farm animals, but
he wasn't "up" on chickens. I searched the internet and finally found mention
that stopped up craws (crops, they call them) could be caused by many things.
Now I have RI "Production Reds" pullets, just now laying small pullet eggs.
Years ago we had those, and their eggs were giants. You could not begin to
close the lid of the egg carton.
I want to include an endangered breed, too.
Fitsy
Yes, old layers become stewing hens, or just plain hens; in French they're "poules," meaning an older bird that needs longer cooking. I cook them in a crockpot or pressure cooker and they make lovely stock; the flesh, cooked that way, is tender enough that it can also be enjoyed.
Fitsy, if your looking for an endangerer breed, you'd be hard pressed to find anything better than the Buckeye's. They are wonderful birds. My bird of choice is the Serama, and I also have a hard time getting their eggs to fit. It's a terrible problem to have to cope with...LOL...Hay.
Thanks for telling me about those two, Haystack! I am taking notes!
Fitsy
picabo, I just had to pop in late and tell you how much I enjoyed the photos of the finished and in-production coop. What an accomplishment!
And good luck with your trapping project. I've read about weasels when I can find something as I find them interesting. About this time of year the young males get driven off to find new territories. One of those may have visited your coop, in which case he may not be back as he is probably looking for females--your chickens were just a side trip =(. Not that any females would be that interested in a younger male, but such is the life of a weasel. He'll have to keep traveling until he finds just the right home of his own. Even though they love our farm yard livestock, weasels don't really like to raise their families around humans. They will if they must, but they would prefer not to. So you may not see this weasel/mink again.
And thanks all for the info about butchering and freezing chickens. I'm not really up to that stage yet and DH and I still think of our girls as pets. But eventually we will get to the point where we will have some hens for the freezer. I still don't think I can do the butchering myself, though. Will have to figure something out......
Thank you Terri...
We have trapped four Raccoons but nothing small. The first was a VERY aggressive male second may have been an adult female. The other two were young ones. All were taken far- far away for release.
I am with you on my chickens being pets. I am sure what you raise is much better, but it is so easy to get the ones in the grocery that come without extra parts and feathers. LOL One of my neighbors was in his 90s when he passed. Life long farmer of over 500 acres of land. He raised every Vegetable that his family ate. He also raised hogs and cattle. He told me one day that he couldn't bring himself to eat his own animals and would sell them and buy something that had already been processed for his freezer and table. LOL, It's not just us.