Definitely Fall 2019

Fall hit hard and fast this year.  We have already had temps drop into the 30s with frost.  The frost killed the basil plants. You can see them pulled and waiting to be disposed.  Of the six pea plants, two remain.  The slugs attacked the cilantro then headed over to the peas.  So, new copper wire has been added around the outside of the garden bed. Fingers Crossed this works.  Also, the carrots and spinach are growing. The only other outdoor crop now is the broccoli in the tub.

Four Pea Plants survived Slugs	Spinace in a cage
Broccoli in a Caged Tub

Corn was just taking up space and holding dirt in place (so to speak) so today was clean up day for that patch.

Dead Corn

Clean Patch

The Greenhouse is done with a few things that needed to keep it warmer this winter, but for now, it is protecting my lettuce and herbs from the cold nights.

Greenhouse from East	Greenhouse from West
Romaine, Parsley & Marjoram	Red Sails Lettuce

Picked the last of the bell peppers.  The plants are dying in the cool temps and peppers needed to be picked before they start to die with the plants.

Briming Bowl of Peppers

Bottom of the Bowl of Peppers

As for chickens and moulting, the Rhode Islands started to moult about a month ago, but have continued to lay eggs and we are getting eggs from them every day. The Welsummers started to moult a week or two later, and there is only one that is still laying an egg every few days, so we are stilling getting some eggs every day, regardless. We ate our first of the summer chicks this week.  Very tasty. 

Marching on in Snow - Winter 2019

So we seem to be stuck in the winter despite the groundhog signaling an early spring. 

January was pretty warm, and even one (or maybe) two of the Welsummers started to lay an egg, now and again. But that's stopped by mid February as the cold snap settled in and we started getting snow. The Rhodes continued to do their best, with at least two eggs every day. But this crazy weather is wearing on them, as well.  We are almost to 12 hours of sunlight per day, but it sure does not feel like it. Yesterday was another round of rain, sleet, hail and snow. Then we received another half-inch on top of that, last night. All together, it was a little more than a dusting, but not much more than. 

We only have 11 more days until the season changes over to spring, and I can't even plant potatoes yet! What a Mess! I may have to start them in the green house to minimize the freezing. I'm hoping that my garlic starts have survived that were started last fall. 

Some More Snow 3-9-19

Not Much, but More Than We Wanted

Late Winter Arrival 2019

So it has been a while since I last posted last fall.  We had an incredibly warm winter with a lot more sunshine than normal. We did something different this winter. Rather than put lights in the coops, especially while the Welsummers were recovering from moult, we decided to wait to see how long, in the shorter light days, the Rhode Islands would lay eggs.  Unlike our previous pullet breeds, the Rhode Island Reds continued right through December 21st laying two to three eggs per day. So we never bothered to install the timers and lights.  We wonder if a part of that was because of the warmer and sunnier winter.

The first of the Welsummers just started laying an egg every other day on January 28th. She seems to be the only Welsummer laying. 

The last part of January, the Mid-West and East Coast started dealing with a Polar Vortex, while we continued with our warm weather. Then, the last few days of January, we got some colder nights with snow and ice. Not much to speak of. About two-three inches of really wet snow, and I didn't even bother taking pictures because it was mostly gone within a day.  The ice stayed, and each morning was a little too cold to keep water out in the coops. We have been pulling the waterers out of the coops each night so that they don't freeze.  At night, temps have been dropping down to the low 20Fs. 

Rhode Islands are still laying every day, unfazed, so far, by the cold nights. 

Tonight we are supposed to get significant snow for the weekend and possibly into Monday or Tuesday. Because all of my coop covers are iced over, I could not move them into place. OY Vey. I cobbled together some covers with plastic, canvas tarps, bricks, and even a folding dog pen.  I just hope they all stay in place. This could prove to be the wrong strategy.  Hoping it lasts at least through the night until I can get the rest of the family members to help me pull in in better covers.

Update - Last night's snow accumulation. About 5 inches of snow.

Looking Northwest at Coops	Changed Light Filter
My Magnolia Top	Magnolia bottom
Greenhouse looking Southwest

Christmas Eve White Christmas

Last year, we had a sudden snow storm on the 15th of December that caught us off guard and ended up with snow inside of the chicken pens.  This year, we had the shields in place before the snow started flying.  We did not get as much snow this year and some of it was freezing rain so it was quite the mix between the two.  Yesterday was so blustery that the wind chill dropped to 16F even though the temps were closer to 30F. We even had a few gusts of 40mph. So, yah, it was bitter cold on Christmas Eve.  

Thankfully, Christmas day has been calm, although it never really got much above freezing. The new chickens are stressed by the snow, but the older chickens seem to be taking it in stride. 

We have a gopher this year that has been taunting the chickens, tunneling under their coops and into their pens. The coops have floors, so it's not like the gopher is adding tunnels into their coops, but my guess is that, either the gopher or mice using the tunnels are getting an added food resource this year.  We do not seem be going through feed quicker, so I don't think they are able to get into the hanging feeders, but I know that the chickens do drop food on the ground, giving the field critters access to the spillage. 

Some of the hens are still laying, so we got a few eggs this weekend. Not as many, but some eggs is better than none eggs. 

Facing East	Facing West - Coops, Cars & Hills
Light dusting of Freezing Rain and Snow	New Hens at the Feeder
New Hens Confused by the Snow	New Hens Perplexed in a Row
Egg in the Nesting Box on Dec 24	Dec 25 More Freezing Rain
Freezing Rain on Coop 1 (older hens)	Freezing Rain (and Snow) on Coop 2
Nesting Box lid Warmed by Hens	Egg in Nesting Box on Dec 25
Gopher Hole from the Field	Gopher Hole and Trail to Hole under Coop 2
Close up of Gopher Hole under Coop 2	Gopher Hole on Other side of Coop 2

It is supposed to warm up tomorrow - we will see if that happens.

More Meat in the Fridge

The six Cornish Cross chickens have been processed.  We had two roos and four pullets (two male and four female). Collectively, we ended up with 45 pounds of chicken after processing. So that's pretty good.  We spent about $90 on feed, but factor in that they also pastured. No antibiotics, no chemicals, no hormones. We have our winter chicken meat "resting" in a refrigerator for a few days, then they will be frozen for use over the winter months. We still have a 10 pounder left over from last spring. The plan is to roast him this weekend. In some ways, it is a lot of work, but for the assurance of what we are going to eat, it feels about right. 

The HoopPen attached to the HoopCoop Update

The sun is out, albeit, brisk. Temps are not getting above mid-60s this weekend. However, the chicks are enjoying the fresh air, and the sun through the door.  On occasion, one or two will pop out into the grass to look for bugs and worms, but mostly like being inside where there's heat radiating from overhead. While we have placed food and water in the pen, we will also keep it inside the hoop coop unless they start getting so fat, that they can't walk.  We don't want them THAT fat!

The heavy water-proof canvas tarps along with the down-filled comforter laying in between, is doing the trick to keep the warmth inside at night. That's our solution for now, until we can come up with something better for next year. 

Next weekend will be the extra lighting set up in the other coops, since we are barely getting 13 hours of sun per day. To keep the layers producing a little better, we need at least 13 hours of sun/light. We set up the lights inside the coops to come on at 4 am for the layers and that way, all fall, winter and spring, they are getting a minimum of 13 hours of light and sun to help with egg production. Additionally, we will take off the sun cloth from the pens, so that any sun that does peek out from the clouds, helps to promote a little extra warmth, and lots of vitamin D. 

We always try to use clear plastic on the pens as rain guards covering over 75% of the pens, but at the same time, there's a gap for ventilation purposes on each side.  We do cover one or both sides of the pens, when there's a strong wind or snow for a little extra protection.

I recognize that some people think we go a bit overboard with protecting our chickens, but the reality, as we have learned, is that the extra protection reduces the stress level for the chickens, and we don't need to feed them any medicated food in order for them to be good egg and meat producers. The layers produce good eggs almost all year long, they don't pick/peck on each other, they forage like "real chickens" are intended to do, and they are not bored because we move their paddocks regularly to fresh grass. We don't pamper them; we do treat them humanely without turning them into pets.

Close up of Hoop Pen	Hoop Coop and Pen is Set up
Cornish X Sunbathing	The goofy Hoop Coop and Hoop Pen
New Welsummer Doing the Sunshine Lean

Hoping we don't have Chick-sicles in the Morning

Today, the cornish cross went outside into the hoop-coop.  It's cooooold tonight, so hopefully they will stay warm enough.  We started with the 50 watt infrared light, but it was barely warming the coop, so we went to the 75 watt.  I just checked on them. It's 45F outside right now, but they are moving around in the coop and not all huddled together, so that's a good sign. We have never tried the fall season for new chicks before, so this is all new territory.  These guys are four weeks old, and have most of their feathers.  Have my fingers crossed that this is going to work.

Update: October 10, 2017
The temps inside the coop dropped pretty low Monday morning, down into the mid 40s(F) and the birds were a bit lethargic Monday morning at 7:30.  Monday  night, we placed a heavy bed comforter and another canvas tarp over the coop. That kept the temps inside the coop about 12 degrees warmer all night. This morning, at 7:30, the temp was 52 inside the coop. We may want to add a blue plastic tarp if it rains tonight, to protect the comforter from getting wet. The chicks were more active and alert this morning, so that's a good sign!

The photos below are from Tuesday morning.  I know it is a goofy look, but, at least it helps to keep the warmth inside the coop.  This coop was originally designed to house two heritage sized turkeys, from spring to fall, so, yah, it is what it is.  To determine the approximate inside temp, we are using a digital terrarium thermometer, with the  readout taped under the flap on the outside of the coop, and the gauge hanging inside, near the middle of the coop, where the chicks can't peck at it.  Plus, in addition to the heat lamp that we have hanging in the coop (a safe distance from the ceiling, and from the birds), we have a 50W LED light on a timer that comes on 12 hours per day to help with the night vs. day situation since the door light, especially on cloudy days, is not enough light for the chicks' circadian cycle.

The chicks are only four weeks old, so they really are not quite ready to deal with the outside temps yet. But they grow quickly into stinky pooping machines, and we could not handle the smell wafting through the garage any longer.

Oh, yah, the white board to the side is the "door cover" to help with a sense of security for the birds at night. The coyotes and raccoons will look through the plexiglass at night, and it scares the birds to see these predators leering at them.  We fasten the board over the plexiglass to impede the view at night.  The coyotes were very active last night in the area, and I had to go check on the birds several times for that, in addition to the cool temps.

Layers and Turkeys

We have concluded the the two turkeys are both hens. I thought they were toms, but as the weather got cooler, they developed feathers on their heads and the snood never got any longer. So we are assuming that they are not going to get much larger. Regardless, and we have fattened them to prepare for the fateful day. 

The Orloffs have started to lay again.  When the standard time went back into effect, we put the lights back into the coop to light up at 4:00 in the morning.  The Orloffs are back to laying, but it is sparse at this point. Only one egg every other day, this week. The "layoff" lasted fabout 10 weeks. Little by little.

The Blending Experiment Failed

The combining of the Orloffs failed. The three Orloffs were pretty cruel to the one transitioning Orloff. They made her sleep on the floor at night, or in the nesting box. She spent most of her day in the nestbox to try to protect what feathers she had left. The brutes were picking all the feathers out of her back and neck. 

The humane solution was to put her back in with the Welsummers, who were all too pleased to have her back. The Welsummers truly missed her as their "dominant" hen. So, yah, that attempt to combine the remaining Orloffs was not successful. 

The Wellsummers are starting to molt, as well.  The egg production has slowed down to one per day from that pen. It will be interesting to see how the Welsummers molt since we have never experienced the molting season with them. They are starting to look pretty scraggly, but not anything, yet, as scraggly as the Orloffs look 

We were talking about transitioning out of the Orloffs this next spring to raise meat birds along with just a few Welsummers.  A small flock of four or five would probably be perfect for our needs. The Orloffs are too easily stressed out with the rains and heat. While they do fine with the really cold temps, the Welsummers also do fine with the type of winters that we have. We may just get a couple of new Welsummers next spring, and thin out the aging Orloffs that have slowed down on their egg production.

A little sneachta with that New Year

Our "official" winter, thus far, has been cold but not a lot of precipitation in our area, so that's been nice! The east winds have been whipping through with 30 mph gusts that drop the temps from barely freezing to brrrrrr. So we put up wind break panels on the chicken runs. You may notice that we have clear plastic strapped on the top parts of the pens to allow sunshine in but keep the elements off the center of the runs. This only helps on snowy days, like today, or when there's a light rain.  Heavy duty rains, of course, can turn the run into a real muck fest, so we throw out some hay to keep that manageable. 

Also, you may be able to see a block on top of a garbage can lid near the corner of coop two. That's to help protect the power cord connections from the elements to bring light and water heaters to life on these dark, cold winter days.  Coop one, in the background of coop two is empty. If you look in the "space" next to the wind break of coop three, you can see one of the Welsummers peeking out to see what's flashing?  :) 

Coop 2

Coop 3

Checked on the garlic and onions.  Garlic stems look fine.  Can't find any onion stems. Hoping that's normal and they will be back in the spring. We will see.  I have enough seeds left to plant more onions in the spring, if necessary.  That's it for the New Year 2016 update. 

Update on our efforts to combine the Welsummers with the remaining Russian Orloff in coop three.  I think it was about November 10 that we shoved the Welsummers into the coop in the dark of night and kept our fingers crossed.  While two of the Welsummers did fairly well with the transition, the smallest of the Wellsummers was bullied by the primary Russian Orloff.  We kept that Orloff because she was the best layer of the group. And, she still is the best layer, laying almost every day after finishing the molt. The smallest Welsummer even pushed her way out of the pen one day to get away from the Orloff! She was a mess! She ended up with a bloodied comb, losing all her tail feathers and neck feathers. We were not certain she was even going to make it through the week! Although she still avoids the Orloff, she is now being allowed to roost with the other three hens at night together. She has regained her feathers, her weight and is no longer getting beat up. She even laid her first egg since the transition on December 31. So, all in all, it took some time, but the hens are all back in action as a new flock.

Welsummer Layers are Back

Despite the troubling start to merging the one remaining Orloff with the three Welsummers in coop 3, the distress appears to have settled down. The smallest of the Welsummers is regaining her tail feathers and has found a spot on the nightly roost. That Orloff has been literally laying an egg per day for the past week! The Welsummers have been leaving us one to two eggs per day since December 18, so I think we are back to getting a decent number of eggs.  Of the eight layers that we have, we are getting at least three to four eggs per day!  So we are short a couple eggs per day, overall, but that's fine. We still have enough eggs left over to sell off to friends. One Orloff in coop two continues to lay her eggs in the corner of the coop, just outside of the nesting box. :)  

Weather continues to be a sloggy mess, but the winds have been coming in from SW making temps stay above 40F in our area. We may get some snow in a few days.  

The 12-week Moult is Done

Finally! The Orloff hens in Coop Two have finally started laying eggs again!  They started molting about the 2nd week of September and in the past two days, we have received 2 nice eggs.  Big Sigh of Relief there!  I really think this very hot summer was just too much for them so they molted twice as long as typical. 

The Welsummers have yet to lay any new eggs since being consolidated into coop three. That was two weeks ago. One of the Welsummers is super low hen on the pecking stick. She's finding creative ways to avoid the other hens' pecking by hiding behind the water pail and fighting back when necessary while making a mad dash for the feed when the other hens get in the coop.  Hopefully, she will be able to regain her weight and strength soon.  

Coyotes are coming right up to the house with the colder weather creeping in. We've been locking the hens in at about 6:00 p.m.  The light set-up that I created for the two coops this year seems to be holding the lights in place without allowing the hens to knock them down. I have the timers inside of a hard plastic casing. This year, we have the lights coming on at 4:00 a.m. instead of 4:00 p.m., because last year, the ladies would not go to roost until the light would go out at 8:00! This makes it easier to corral them in as it is getting cold at dusk.   Live and learn what works for us.

Last weekend, we prepared the garlic and onions ground with old hay to help prevent deep freezing. It looks like we have about 10 garlic and about 15 onions.  Hoping  they make it through to spring.

Re-Group and Re-Coop

Well, it's that time of the year!  We have less pasture places to place the coops and with the lack of sunlight/new plant growth, we have to move coops more frequently throughout the area. Four coops was two coops too many! We have consolidated. We kept the "only 2nd year layer" of coop three, and she is now co-mingling with the 1st year layers. We also kept all of the 2nd year layers of coop two. Coop one's 3rd year layers will all be winter soup material by the end of this week. 

D has decided that he definitely "over built" that first coop. Without any wheels to move it along, the process of moving that big old heavy coop was getting to be too difficult to move in the winter, even with heavy slog boots on. That coop will be put away, for now. 

I have strategized a different "hoop" coop that we can build for next spring. We can work on it over the winter in the garage. It will be a combo of the coops we built last year along with PVC hoop (tunnel) pen. So I think we can get at least five to six hens in that one while it will still be easy to move.   

So, our thirteen hens are dwindling down to eight hens this winter. That will be plenty of eggs for the family with a few extra that we can sell.

Last night, at dusk, we pulled the three 1st year Wellsummer hens out of their coop. Just before that, we closed the door from the coop to the pen on coop three. Then we pushed all three hens into coop three with the remaining Russian Orloff (in the dead of night). Interestingly, no major fights.  I knew they would not fight in the dark, but wondered what the daylight would bring. They definitely kept their distance, with three in one part of the pen with the one in the other part of the pen. So, perhaps, they will work it out without any damage until they figure out a new pecking order. 

The moult has been a long one this year.  Don't know if the extra hot summer is the reason, or if all the house construction has just been too much stress on the hens. The 1st year layers, of course, basically grew up with all this noise, so they appear oblivious to the racket. Nonetheless, the coops are set up for winter with lights in place.  I attached some oversized plastic electrical boxes in the coops to protect the timers from constantly being knocked down.  Now the issue is the light socket being knocked out of the box... Oy Vey! Will need to work on getting that secured. 

Hopefully, we'll start getting some more fresh eggs in the near future! For now, we are only getting one or two eggs per day! Come'on Girls - let's get back to Egg'n!

Garden-wize, I wanted to make note so that I don't forget next spring, that I planted the Garlic and Onions about the 3rd week of October (10/18/15).  I had never tried onion seeds before, so I was not sure that would even work.  Due to the temps being in the low 40s almost every night, not much was happening even after two weeks. I put my plastic hoop house over the garden, and a week later, I had a nice sprout of onions and garlic.  It's dipping into the high 30s at night now, so I'll leave the hoop house up for another week or two. In the meantime, I plan on adding straw to the garden to help protect the bulbs from frost. Winter is on its way!