Okies in the BYC The Original

[poultryand bees]

I went back and found the post about the start time for the next couple of Blanchard auctions. Here is what it said:

I want to clarify one thing that was announced Saturday night on the start time. Since it is very hot outside we be starting our sale at 4pm. Some of things we do at 2pm will now be at 4pm. We are going to hold that portion down so that the poultry portion will still start at 5pm. May sell odd items for 30 mintues then sell goats. (alot will depend how many goats showup).Hope this will help you understand what is being done. This will be only effective for the next three auctions Aug 11,Aug 25, and Sept 11.

Jerry was obviously looking at the wrong month's calendar since the auction is Aug 14 instead of the 11th but he did mention that the heat is frying his brain

I think it is frying mine too

 

[poultryand bees]

Quote:
Although I like the concept, you may find that some predators dig beneath the concrete blocks. I have tried putting flat limestone rocks around the perimeter of pens and had rats dig tunnels under the rocks to get into the pen and eat the feed and steal the eggs. I don't know whether possums or skunks would dig under them.

 

[Kwartel]

Another long hot day. The satellite is on the fritz and the company is making up lame excuses as to why they can't replace my receiver. Looks like I'll be either stocking up on little kid dvds or doing battle with the Loyalty Department for a new box.

Started construction on my new project, a chicken pen designed and built without outside help. Couldn't even get the boys at Lowes to help me load the lumber.

Kids these days...

I am hoping to finish it tomorrow. I'd put up pictures, but Bil (bfrancis) took my camera with him to Ft Hood so I'd have an excuse to get a new one. He was a little put out that I have already reclaimed his pickup as my own, but is doing fine and says hi to everyone.

 

[Sooner]

Thanks for the info P&B, I will plan to dress confortable! I will also have my large go cut to have pleanty to drink.

As for the fencing, I originally put my wire down in the ground (turned inside the pen), since that time the dirt had erroded away leaving my wire showing. I do have railroad tyes around the outside of one of my pens & the inside of the other. So far I have been lucky & nothing had dug in but my dogs are penned close to my chickens & bark loudly when anything comes around.

I'm off to bed!

 

[nnbreeder]

Quote:
A good hot wire will teach the dogs to respect the fence and your birds. We train our dogs using a charger that pulses. The Airedales will not cross a fence unless instructed to.

 

[Buckguy20]

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[nnbreeder]

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Yes it sure was. The shop was unbearable so I worked outside today.

I was able to lay under a trailer rebuilding a suspension so I was at least in the shade!

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

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Me and the wife will be there, I'm bringing about 13 rabbits, Don't have any chickens to sell yet but may be looking to buy a few

 

[muesky]

Quote:
At the place used to live there were tons of trees in the way so I could not dig either. What I did was lay 3ft chicken wire around the perimeter. Two feet on the outside, one on the inside and used garden cloth stakes to keep it tight to the ground. This is much cheaper than the concrete and is not so permanent. Right now I have some old chainlink that I lay around the perimeter of the grow-out pens and transition pen. It is heavy and seems to deter snakes as well. Also I have some old corrigated tin pieces placed around the main chicken yard. So far nothing has tried to get past it.
As for rats, that is not a problem here because I have 10 cats so we do not have any rodents in the area, to include squirrels since one of my 18lb cats will hunt them. There are people on craigslist who give away barn cats/kittens, which if you provide them a place to get out of the weather, well keep the smaller critters away. My cats are all indoor/outdoor pets but still love to hunt.
Like Les suggested a line or two of hotwire will discourage raccoons and opossums. Having a good dog helps too, even small dogs as long as they walk around the coop. I recently got a minature dachshund and even though she is really small (fearless though) the opossum/s living under our trailer left. Matter of fact since getting Stella we have lost none of our birds to predation.
Hope this information helps, I know how bad it is to lose birds to predators.
Good luck!
Rebecca

 

[QueenPeaches]

Good Evening,

How has my Chicken Family been?

I know it has been a while since I have been online for very long.

As some may know, Doc and I were approved to be Foster Parents about a month before He left for Afghanistan.

I received 3 SF into my home Yesterday. All Three boys. Guess What? They like Chickens, So I will be Bringing them to Blanchard with me tomorrow.

So there will be a total of 5 of us coming.

Hope everyone is staying cool. 106 Degrees here today.

Love Ya

Peaches and Hotdog!