Does anyone raise sheep for meat or milk? If so what breeds do you have or prefer? My aunt and next door neighbor growing up had a larger sheep farm with katahdins (around 100 head) so I am leaning towards those because I am very familiar with them. I also would like to raise sheep for milking...
This is Ronan. He is right around 5 months and came from one of Papa’s Poultry surprise Orpington boxes so he wasn’t exactly labeled. I thought he was a golden laced because he looked pretty close to a golden laced as a chick, but not exactly. I know Jeff has a lot of projects colors going on...
The expert gardeners have decided to help out today in the potato patch! The chickens are taking care of the bugs, Gimli is standing watch and well the cat gets an B for effort😂
We decided to make the duck pond a little nicer. Pictures were taken when we were first filling and adjusting the liner. The ducks decided that they couldn’t wait and wanted to try the new pond out before we had even finished filling it. I am still debating on what’s the best option for around...
I was at Tractor Supply on Sunday and decided to take my glasses off before going inside. I am waiting on contacts and my problem with glasses is that my ears are crooked so my glasses sit crooked on my face which is absolutely annoying. I’ll wear them when driving my car for obvious safety...
“Cupcake” (kids named her) the cat decided to have her kittens in my brooder room. Since it is the safest place for the kittens right now, I have my first batch of chicks of the year inside my office. Now I am not a chick handler unless I am cleaning the brooder or I need to check a chick for...
I know that there are spreadsheets for chicken feed, but has anyone made a spreadsheet for duck feed specifically? If not I was thinking about making one that is super simple for new duck owners. Basically it would have a list of duck feeds or duck compatible feeds for people without access to...
Anyone else who can’t open a window without your ducks running over to say hi?
Before I opened the window:
After I opened it and now they are all on their way over to say hi:
So this little lady showed up a couple months ago. She was scared to the point if we opened the front door she would take off and horridly skinny. She showed up one of the weeks we had subzero weather and I am assuming she came from huge feral cat colony nearby (they live in an abandoned feed...
Again this might be a stupid question, but I was looking at some old horse supplements I used to use and there is one called Tri-Amino that is only Lysine, Methionine and Threonine. I was thinking, could this potentially be added to feed to increase the amino content? If this isn’t a dumb...
I know that the GQF 1502 Sportsman cabinet incubator has great reviews for hatching chickens, but has anyone on here used it for duck eggs and liked it?
When does everyone direct sow beets outside and what zone are you in? It’s my first year trying my hand at beets and I have read everything from a couple of weeks before the last frost to a couple of weeks after.
This poll was created mainly out of curiosity. Many of the “I do this because the old farmer next door told me that he has always done this” tidbits of chicken raising information I don’t necessarily agree with unless there is science to back it up or I have tested the method myself. One of...
My chickens are currently in a large barn using an old wooden work bench as just one big communal nesting box. My current Orpington also uses the wood bench with the others so I don’t know how she would fit in a standard size nesting box. I am also switching over to pretty much all English...
I use a soil blocker to start my seedlings, but if there is any mulch or other objects in the soil it can cause the blocks to break. I used to like miracle grow, but these last few bags have been filled with mulch, acorns, rocks and even pieces of shredded plastic. So I am wondering if anyone...
27 Orpington chicks ordered for this spring (3 Isabel and the other 24 are surprise colors). I'm going to use my 6 year old son's response to everything "I don't know why I did it but, I did.". Anyone else relating with my 6 year old this chick season?...
How many tomato plants does everyone plants each year for canning sauce? Also if you want to include the type of tomatoes you use and how many jars of sauce you usually get that would be fantastic. I grew San Marzano's last year and they did very well so I am looking to expand my tomatoes in the...
What are everyone's favorite plastic wall mounted feeders or designs you have come up with? I like to have a lot of feeding stations so they do not need to be huge or bulky. We are moving the chickens to the newly converted lean-to and want some nicer long term feeders that are off the ground...
I know Papa's Poultry comes highly recommended on here for their Orpingtons (I have already placed an Orpington order for spring), but has anyone ordered Marans from them? I am thinking about going back to order more Orpingtons, but I also would like to add some quality Marans this year as well.
My husband says that I need to make up my mind soon so we can order the new fencing, but I keep going back and forth on the color. Anyone want to vote on if we should go with white or black? It will be a 4 rail fence and the same type as pictured below.
Option 1: White 4 rail fence
Option 2...