RIR Chicks Moved to Coop Early 2020

The Rhode Island Red Chicks (4) that we picked up last month are in their new home. They are in the 3x4 coop designed for four hens. They will have a lot of room to wander around until they get bigger and actually grow into the space.  I hooked up the light in there on a timer for a few days until they are comfortable with going outside. I also included the tall brooder warmer for them 'cause we are likely to have a few cool nights for the next few weeks. Their food and water is inside the coop with them until they are bigger and better feathered.  

It worked well to get the meat chickens early in the season, got them processed at seven weeks, clean/bleach down the hoop coop and moved the three year old Welsummers into that coop on fresh ground. Since the hoop coop does not have a nesting box, I improvised a nesting box out of a five-gallon bucket.  The first few days, we had some issues with that, and ended up wiring two buckets together so that it looks like there are two nesting boxes for them, and they are much happier. The first few days involved a lot of broken eggs and eggs being laid outside of the buckets.  Now they seem much more content with the set up and no more broken eggs.  

Next Friday, the chicks that we already have presold will arrive and we will raise them until June, in time for them to be picked up by their new owners and transported to their new homes. So fingers crossed, all will go well.  A component is that with the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, a lot of people want to try to raise some of their own food, but we all know how hard it is to raise chicks successfully.  So we will do that and make a little money on the side, in the process. Not a lot, but mostly to help people out in this middle of these crazy times who want chickens but don't want the mess and fuss of trying to raise chicks. 

Garden business here.  Most of the broccoli (11) and cauliflower (5) starts came up.  We put them into the new garden bed and have them covered to keep pests away.  The cover worked really well with starting the onions and garlic while it was still super cold and rainy outside.  Hoping it works just as well on the broccoli and cauli. The surviving tomato and pepper plants are starting to get their "real leaves" on them, so that's good.  I also picked up some clones that will at least start producing before my starts will.  So hopefully, between the mixed groups of starts, we will have an abundance of plants.  We can chop up the bell peppers and freeze them for use in stews, sauces and pizzas. Tomatoes can be pureed for sauces and paste in the freezer.  We really should have plenty of tomatoes this year for storage into the winter and spring of next year. That's the plan. 

Also, we are going to start a mini plant startup so that we can have more selection without having to wait and then go looking for the plants we want. We have ordered a grow tent that we can use to start our veggies and herbs indoors, then sell them from our driveway in the spring. We can advertise on the weekends and sell them to folks who need a few starts in the spring.  We're looking around to figure out which are the best and most popular for our area.  Thinking tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, and a good variety of herbs that are our favorites to grow and use in cooking. We can see how this goes in conjunction with the eggs that we already sell. 

No photos today.  Later in the week, maybe. 

Meaties Went to Process and Stuff Happening

The eight meat chickens have been processed (yesterday) and they are in the refrigerator "resting" for a couple days before we cut them apart and freeze them.  I have not yet weighed them so I'm not exactly certain how many pounds we ended up with. I will be surprised (based on lifting them) if any are eight pounds.  I'm guessing they will be six and seven pounds. I'll weigh them tomorrow just before we start cutting.

I also made up a huge batch of soap to help us while we are washing our hands so much with the COVID-19 Pandemic thing. This is the largest batch I have ever made, with three pounds of coconut oil, shea butter, palm oil and lard. 

Plus, we have been busy with the chicks.  They are quite playful now. A cute little flock. 

Last, we are finishing up on the new garden space.  Trying this spot with concrete blocks (not cinder blocks but like cinder blocks). While it may look like quite the hodge podge of various sized blocks, that's because I didn't order enough.  And in this quarantine of C-19 Virus, we had to find a different supplier that was open and willing to deliver. We got the blocks but they were much wider than the original blocks.  So, we made do, and will live with the outcome.  It will always be a reminder of building a garden spot in the middle of a pandemic.

👾

So far, the garlic and onions are up.  Some lettuce and peas are sprouting.  No potato sprouts yet. Usually takes several weeks before they are up, plus it was particularly cool and wet for two weeks shortly after I planted them. The tomato seeds and most of the bell pepper seeds sprouted, but again, a big delay due to the cool temps.  I am guessing I will need to purchase some plants from the nursery if I can find any in a few weeks. 

One pound of soap	Same pound of soap
The New Flock 4 weeks	Start of the Garden
Uh-oh - It's not big enough.	Garden is now Long Enough
It needs a lot more dirt!	Some of the blocks are wider than others.

Shavings Transition for Chicks 2020

Now the chicks are big enough to know the difference between shavings and food. So they are adapting to the new environment.  They didn't like the feel of it at first and they all huddled on the warmer. It is still plenty cold in the garage, so we kept the heater in there, turned down, but enough to keep it at about 70F in their pen.  We added another layer of wire panels up top so that they won't try to fly in and get hurt. They are certainly bright-eyed, playful and energetic. They are practicing their flying abilities so the pen has been opened up more for them to explore. 

Should I stay or should I go?	Peep Peek
A front and a back	SaftyHeater Guard

Better Pix of 2 week Chicks 2020

So yesterday, the 15 watt light I had in the pen was pretty dim.  I have a better light in there now to help encourage them to run and play and feel more like "day light" in there. Since our days are pretty drab right now, I have to rely on artificial lights to simulate sunshine.

And of course, there is also more pooh in there too. It doesn't take long. Hah!

2+ week old Rhode Island Reds	Two More Chicks
Chicks like their warmer	Should I jump on top?

Rhode Island Chicks @ 2 weeks 2020

The chicks are doing quite well.  They play and jump around some of the time, then sleep, eat and pooh the rest of the time. Today was clean out day. All "sh!t sheets" get pulled out and fresh ones laid down.  Warmer raised up a couple of clicks as the chicks will be getting bigger this week.  The little cloth under the warmer gets changed every other day.  Food has been moved away (to the edge) of the pen to give them sufficient running and playing room. They don't grow half as fast as the Cornish Cross, but they do grow pretty fast, considering.  They should just about be ready to go out in about four more weeks, weather permitting. 

Sorry I don't have better pix. They move too quick in low light to get a decent photo. The majority of the photos look like they are some form of ghost that you can see through.... LOL  

Rhode Island Red Chicks under Warmer

The Only One to stand still

The plan is to purchase more Rhode Island Reds and some Barred Rock Layers in about four weeks to raise them as pullets and sell them before they become layers this summer.  That should supplement our income to help pay for the other chickens that we raise. If that fails, we can use them as meat chickens for meals over the winter since we definitely won't need that many layers. All this COVID-19 scare has people freaked out, and I sense that they are going to want to be more self-sustaining as the summer wears on.  But we will see. 

Rhode Island Red Chicks - Week One - 2020

So the Cornish Cross (Meaties) are outside enjoying the grass and the sun.  We acclimated them to the coop, while still in the garage, last weekend (March 14) and moved them out while the spring temps were in the mid to high 50s (F). Today is probably the last warm day and most of next week will be rain and probably blustery. 

Cornish Cross in the Hoop Coop Pen (1 month)

The Rhode Island Red (RIR) chicks arrived on March 20.  We had been given a black Cochin by the store that was in critical condtion to see if we could save it.  But, it died on Saturday morning.  It would not eat or drink. The four RIR layers all seem to be quite healthy, eating and drinking well, along with many mini poops. I just switched out the "cloth" that we use under the brooder warmer so it is all super clean at this point. I use this method because helps them to stay cleaner while they are sleeping and snuggling under the warming plate.  

I took a few snaps of the brooder pen layout this morning.  For the meaties, I had used a piece of cardboard to keep them confined in the "front" of the pen for the first week.  I had the heater set up on a block in the corner and prayed that they did not knock the heater over on themselves during the first week.  (It is a safety heater that shuts off if it falls over.) I got to thinking about the small wire panels that I have and so we ziptied them together and clipped them to the opposite edges of the cage to do the exact same thing but, allows the heater to be on the other side, safely away from the chicks for a week or two.  These gals will grow a bit slower than the Cornish Cross.  For the first couple of weeks, as long as we can keep the ambient temp at about 80F, we are good, along with the use of the brooder warmer. 

So this is our new layer flock that will start laying in the fall. 

RIR at 5 days - Hatched 3-17-2020	Rhode Island Reds First Week Wings
Chick Pen with Safety Wall	Brooder Warmer in Chick Pen
(:  Just a little Peep  :)

Pre-Spring Planting 2020

Let the Early Spring Planting commence. 

So, as of this past weekend into today, Potatoes starts are in the ground. The garlic did not get planted last fall, so I planted some on Sunday (12 cloves) along with Walla Walla Sweet Onion starts (20 bulbs). If we get half of those to produce, I will be happy with that.  

The garden beds are covered with plastic tarp (up to the garlic and onions) to help kill the weeds over the next month or so. 

Yesterday, I planted 11 tomato seeds and 9 bell pepper seeds in the new greenhouse, in hopes they will be big enough to get into their respective planting pots in late April/early May. I planted Purple Cherokee and three colors of bell peppers left from plants we had last year. Fingers Crossed on those. 

This year, in barrels filled with sandy loam, we cut up two Red Pontiac potatoes (in one barrel), one Very Blue (in one barrel) and one California White (in one barrel).  So hopefully, we will end up with more than our usual amount from growing them in barrels.  If we only get five to eight pounds total again this year, we are giving up and starting potatoes in the garden next year.  According to everything I read, we should be getting close to 20 pounds worth of potatoes per barrel, and we just aren't, after several years of trying.  Allegedly, for every two pounds of seed potatoes, a return of 50 pounds is possible! We planted two pounds of seed potatoes in the three barrels.  A fifty-pound return would be a nice surprise!

Today, I also planted a few Peas (designed for Oregon weather) in two pots (next to the Potatoes). 

The "winter over" plants, have all done well.  Parsley (in green house), Strawberries, Oregano and Thyme (outside) all seem to be thriving. 

Last Friday, I planted a variety of lettuces in pots.  Then it snowed and froze and the wind howled across the back deck. Oy!  Will wait until next Sunday to see if the seeds took.  If nothing has popped up by that time, I will replant the lettuce. I'm not going to plant spinach this spring, to save space. 

With the Covid-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) taking hold in the US (and while the regular flu is still widespread), we are "isolating" and "social distancing" to protect ourselves (and others).  So my garden is likely to be a big source of my entertainment this spring. 

Oh, on the chick news.  The meat chicks we picked up last month, they are thriving, healthy and growing rapidly.  We moved them from the pen into the meat coop with a small heat lamp.  They adjusted quickly.  They love that they have low-lying roosting bars that they can sit on (they don't fly up to the tall roosting bar in the coop that was designed for turkeys). Outdoor temps are getting into the 50s during the daytime pretty consistantly and the meaties can tolerate that temp (with some protection) at about six weeks of age.  So we may be moving them out of the garage a week early and will keep a close eye on them until we are certain that they are hearty enough. 

Layer chicks should be here in a day or two.