we got one bed all but finished. i decided to try a hukleculture bed (sorry not good at german words) threw a bunch of wood and leaves in and started cleaning out coops to fill it the rest of the way with compost. it will be a fun experiment.
the last pitbull i had killed a couple chickens. i whipped her with a dead chicken and she never touched one again. thats about all i know about dogs and chickens.
one of the new chicks died last night and another ia looking sickly. doesnt look good.
more chicks came in. no more losses in the brooder yet. we have had some heavy loses in the grow out pen. the 8 i put out there have dropped to two. seems our new dog and possibly a small wild animal are to blame. working with the dog and working in the grow out pen. its tough but im not gonna...
in other news there has been zero losses since we retired the old brooder and switch feed. the little guys in the rabbit cage dont even have direct heat on them and they seem to be doing well
we have been talking alot about garden expansion. i really want raised beds but the price of lumber is crazy.
just so happened that my kids boy scout troop is rebuilding a bunch of picnic tables for a park and they needed someone to haul off 2 truck loads of lumber.
tonight the boys...
learn new skills in the winter time when the homestead is slow. pick one and go. so far my winter skills have been axeman ship, rehandling wooden tools, leather work, reloading, and navigation. Im a tradesman so i get plenty of time fixin stuff at work but its a great skill. Im a homesteader...
ive not noticed much sign of anything. they seem fine until they dont. ive found 2 in the process of dying. low temps the last week have been really mild and highs are 70s and 80s. i dont think they are getting too cold.
painting it crossed my mind as well. wish i had more time.
me2. i got $200 tied up in the shipment of chicks. wood is just so porus. im thinking on building another, but it would be cost i dont need (lumber has gotten rediculous) and it would be tough to get done in time along with my regular obligations.
looks like tomorrow is gonna be a rainy day so...
To date i have hatched out and raised around 400 chicks and have never had this issue. In the past couple weeks i have lost around 30.
It all started when my daughter insisted i take a hatch of chicks from a friend of hers. The family was getting rid of all their chicks because of tickets from...
still early to comment on the garden. we are hopeful tho. the rabbits arent doing much. i need a new buck. down to about 3 hens. got some chicks in the brooder but they are dropping like flies for some unknown reason.
i have 50 more chicks coming in. hoping for the best