Today was one of those days that we have all had where you go to sleep thinking you have an easy day coming up tomorrow only to find out by noon you actually end up being busier than you can remember in recent history.
My only plan for today was to spin out the frames of honey I harvested yesterday, squeeze the cappings and then run into town and pick up some lumber to enclose the top of the stall that is going to become the chicken coop.
I had just gotten everything set up this morning when work called. They really needed me to run down to the Lake of the Ozarks area and get some signatures for them.
What should have been a pleasant three hour trip turned into almost a five hour adventure as I attempted to navigate the twisty little one lane roads that follow the waterline along the lake. Not that I am unfamiliar with this type of vacation home along a lake kinda thing but no matter how many different places you been to like that they are all different.
I have written about all parts of Missouri but not really about the Lake area. It certainly isn't the party spot I remember from my younger days. The last few times I been down there has been dealing with vehicle deliveries and it strikes me as a huge group of retirement communities more than anything else these days. Little retirement houses nestled in hidden communities with old people driving around all over.
Thinking through what will happen down there once the decline goes global collapse was an exercise that I quickly determined had no point once I envisioned 1000's of elderly stuck down in those hollows without transportation and unable to get out on foot. Even if they attempted to drive out somewhere my bet is they wouldn't get far as a single tree over a road would put an end to such things.
I finally decided to just leave it at that and possibly re-visit the exercise later.
On my way back I got a call that the building delivery guys wanted to put it in place this evening rather than Monday. I still had the honey frames to extract and I still needed to run by the store.
To make a long story short I managed to get it all done. I extracted about 4 gallons of honey, put the tub I carry the frames in out for the bees to clean up (Top Picture) got the lumber and got the building set in place.
As the sun was going down the two roosters ran passed the tree they been roosting in every night and straight into the stall I been slowly converting into a chicken coop. They hopped up on the roost pole I put in for them and settled in for the night.
So far this chicken thing seems to be a bit easier than I thought. I know many of you are saying to yourselves right now "Just wait you moron". I should get the top finished on Saturday and then perhaps I will add some Hens to the arrangement on Sunday if I can find any to buy.
Gotta work a 12 hour shift tomorrow so won't be back until late.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!
There may be some "bargain " chickens available soon as some people won't want to keep them thru the winter when egg production is down and they have to feed them. Either that or you can wait til spring when new peeps are plentiful. I'd get them now and then they may "set " and hatch out chicks in the spring. That way you would have egg producers and babies growing up to become producers as the others age. Remember they are SAVAGES so make sure you separate mom and eggs before they hatch from the rest of the flock. If not the others may peck them to death. It's the cutest thing to see those babies bunched in under mom's wings. You will see why we use the term "pecking order" and "take under her wing" and "hen pecked". A good Mom will shelter her chicks but some are not so smart. Bantams are excellent mothers if you can set fertile eggs from better egg producing breeds under them. We have had bantams who fought to the death and protected their babies. Don't mean to be bossy but we had to learn all this the hard way. You will love your chickens!!! Good luck. Peg in Florida
ReplyDeleteAnne - Chicken advice is always welcomed. We always had white hens and the standard brown and black rooster when I was a kid. MY job was to collect eggs and feed em. Other than that I never acquired much experience with them.
DeleteI must admit I enjoy the roosters running around the place and crowing now though.
Make sure nothing can dig under the walls to get into the chickens if you don't have a solid floor in the barn. Animals must really love chicken as they will go to a lot of trouble to break in and get one and kill others just for fun it seems. I shot a skunk that was trying to rip the chicken wire off the coop one night at 3am, sounded like a huge animal in there. Put a light bulb in there if you think that it might get to sub zero temps this winter. I keep feed in old milk cans, a can will hold a 50lb bag and critters can't get in them of course I already had some and wouldn't buy one for chickens.
ReplyDeleteWe have a lake here that is surrounded by retirees from typically NY, the roads aren't a problem but they might get a little hungry in time unless they can fish.
Sf - I don't have a solid floor but the edges are all set concrete on a concrete footing. If something got inside they would have to go under the stall door or plank wall and would be exposed to the outside dogs. I think the barn is safe though as there are not many predators that will enter the sheep pens which guards one side as well. I have seen the rams kill possum bu stomping on them, haven't seen a raccoon in quite some time. Last one I saw the dog had treed up a power pole.
DeleteThis set up might work. We have the proper guard dog and if I can keep him from attacking the chickens himself he might just keep them safe at night.
I honestly am surprised the two roosters have lasted like they have.
I will always remember when my Rhode Island Red rooster attacked me for the first time. It never struck me until that moment that a 6 pound bird could be so vicious. After that he and I had an interesting peace arrangement. He wouldn't attack me if I wouldn't kick him in the chest.
ReplyDeleteCarl in the UP.
Carl - I think the big Barred rock rooster that the girls named Rocky is still pretty young. I am keeping an eye on him to see if he gets aggressive. If he does I will put him down without a guilty thought.
DeleteMy Rhode Island Red rooster attacked my 3 year old son first. Then, 2 days later he attacked me, while my English Springer Spaniel fought defense for us both, before I got a boot on the rooster and sent him across the driveway. The bruises on my leg were harsh, but the rooster made a great chicken pot pie.
ReplyDeleteAnon - If one of these roosters gets aggressive he is going down. The women folk here would complain loudly if they made a move towards them and would tell me to put em down fast. I doubt they would let me clean em though they are already kinda attached to the guys as they call em.
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