Well, the chicken coop is finally done, except for a few small items. We need a latch for the main door and need to install the porch lights (when they get here tomorrow) and light switches. I also need to get feed and feeder and waterer and shavings/bedding stuff. Since I have to go into the city tomorrow morning for my dr. appt, I will also stop and get all that stuff at the feed supply store.
Trying to "budget" my time to get all this and my dr. appt and pick up time for groceries. I also need/want to go to Lowes. That is where we need get the door latch and DH needs new leather work gloves. He's worn through the finger tips of his pair. Lowes also supposedly has hanging flower baskets on sale half price for $7. - at select stores. My store shows they have them. So, did DD's and she went to get some Saturday evening, after I told her about them, and they didn't have any that she could find. I'd like to get at least 4 and then just replant them in my own hanging baskets. I also want to pick up some veggies to grow in pots.
I want to go to the feed store and Lowes before my dr appt, so I need to make sure I allow myself enough time to get to my dr office by 9:45 to check in for my 10am appointment. The feed store's first hour is only for those over 60 or at risk, so I can't go in there until 8:30. I pretty much know what I need, and it's probably all going to to be in one aisle, so I should be able to get in and out by 9am at the latest. I'm pushing for 8:50 LOL. Lowes is less than 5 minutes away. I know where the latches are (we already bought 2 for the inside coop doors) but not sure where the work gloves are. Their online doesn't say what aisle/bay, so I'll have to ask, rather than spend time looking for them. Then I want to go out to the garden center and look and get stuff. That will probably take the longest. The dr. office is 10 minutes from there, so I need to be out of Lowes by 9:35.
Not knowing if I'll have a wait at the dr office, I set up my grocery pickup for 11am. If I get out early and have time to kill I'll probably either stop in at Target or go inside Walmart - still looking for that elusive brand of TP we like. I'm not counting on that case I ordered online last week to actually ship. it hasn't yet.
Or I may have to go get prescriptions filled. My mail order pharmacy shipped out my refills last Tuesday, the 5th. Usually they take 3-4 days to get here. I checked tracking on Saturday and they were supposed to be here today. Good thing, because I am out of pills after Monday. I checked again this morning and now it says estimated delivery NEXT Saturday, the 16th. They were even sent "expedited delivery" via DHL (then on to the post office). They are showing they left the PO from the city this morning...40 minutes away. It's going to take another week to get to my town PO and then out to me? Ridiculous. I can't go more than a day or so without my heart medication, so I will have to have the dr. give me a week to 10 days refill and go to Walgreens to refill until the rest gets here.
I texted my friend (old neighbor), who has the chickens, to see if she still had the extra ones. It was apparent over that last many weeks she's been annoyed that I wasn't able to take them. When she got them, she texted me a video of the tiny baby chicks she just got in the mail. I went over to visit/look at them. DH was supposed to start building our coop/shed the next weekend. We thought it would take 3-4 weeks. Friend said she had a few extras, because they always ship extra chicks, and I could have them if I wanted, so I said sure, but can't take them until DH is done building the coop. Then DH got a 2 week late start building because the guy he hired to help didn't show up and he had to find someone else. Then the whole thing just took twice as long (of course) to build as he estimated. She texted me like over a month ago asking if I was ready yet, because they were all getting big and she didn't have room. I apologized and said if I had known it was going to take so long I wouldn't have said I'd take the chicks and that if she needs to get rid of them and has someone else who wants them, it won't hurt my feelings, I completely understand. She never replied back. Then about 2 weeks ago she texted again. I apologized again and basically said the same thing again. No reply. Geez at least acknowledge one way or the other, right?
So, I texted her last night and said Happy Mother's Day. The coop is finally done, I just have to get some supplies on Tuesday morning picked up, so if she still has the hens I can take them Tuesday or after. She replied back she is busy Tuesday but Wednesday will be good and she has 4 to get rid of. We had originally discussed taking 3, so I guess I'll get 4 now, LOL. She wasn't very friendly or chatty with the texts like she used to be, either. Whatever. It's not like she couldn't have found someone to sell/give them too. She knows everybody in town and lots of people in this area want/have chickens. What would she have done with the extra ones she got, to begin with, if I had never even had any intentions to have chickens at some point? I'm sure a majority of her attitude isn't even related to this. Her DH is home now, LOL. He usually works out of state 2-3 weeks straight and then is home 2-3 weeks. Well, since this virus started he can't go back to his job. I guess he did take a local job (well, local for here - it's an hour drive each way) but he's home every evening/weekends now. She hasn't been used to that for 6 or 7 years and I'm sure he's annoying the hell out of her, not to mention I'm sure his pay at this new job isn't anything near what he was making. But, I'm sure they are find financial wise (or they should be). Their house has been paid for for years. They don't have any debt and she still is working.
Our paving of the driveway is on hold. The lady called last night and said with the rain expected starting Monday night or Tuesday they want to wait, otherwise if they spent today opening up the ground to get it ready for their gravel base, it'll just turn into a muddy mess and they need 2-3 days to do the job and need it dry the whole time. So, probably now not until next week or even later, since rain is predicted all week and even the next. Ugh. Always something delaying everything we try to do.
You need to know what size chickens you are getting in order to know what kind of feed and feeder and waterer. You may not want to, but I put pine straw or leaves, or grass from the grass catcher on a lawn mower. Sometimes, I just raked up a combination of all three. Chickens loves grass clippings and worked them over looking for insects which they did find. The chickens have amazing eyesight of things to eat and peck. Of course, one day Fancy decided she would get the lint off my pants, pecking me all over. She was gentle. However, one day a young hen took a chunk out of my little toe. I suppose she thought it was a grub. THAT hurt.
ReplyDeleteHmm... I think they are just your average backyard egg laying type hens she got. She told me she just uses chicken feed/pellets and she has homemade type water and feeders for hers, so I don't think she has anything specific to size of the chickens.
DeleteWell, you don't want to give layer feed to a chick. She just has not told you. I never gave chicken food to my hens. I made sure they got their nutrients in regular fruits and vegetables. I baked the egg shells, crushed them, and gave them for the calcium they need. My egg shells were hard and the yolks were dark gold. Green things help give the yolks the darkness.
DeleteFeed them only in their pen. That way, you have a means of getting in to lock them up. When I first got chicks, I said "Delilah in a high pitch as I gave them their food. Soon, all I had to say was Dee li lah in a high voice and they climbed all over each other trying to get to the corner of the box near me. Even Tommy could manage to get them inside this way. Also, I put oats, which I fed them, into a small Tupperware snack thing. I would shake it and they could hear it all over the yard and come running. They would run so hard they would fly for a few feet.
By the way, I passed along to a PhD in in Poultry at Auburn what I fed them, and he said as long as I fed them a diet that included what I did, they were probably healthier than chickens fed commercial food. They also love and need protein. Chicken skin and fat made them fight.
I use chick starter til they are about 14 weeks old, and then switch to layer food. I prefer the layer pellets because they waste less. I just have a big metal feeder and use a black rubber bowl for water. In the winter I use a heated water bowl. During the winter I give them grit, but if I am letting them out in the yard daily I figure they can find their own rocks. When I switch them to layer food is about when I start food scraps and mealworms as treats. And scratch. They only get mealworms when I want them back in their pen. I tell them it’s treat time and they run back in lol. I don’t much like herding chickens so training them to go back is important to me. I have also had to quick get them locked up when I see a fox, so it’s practical too.
ReplyDeleteok good to know. I think these are about 12 weeks old now. I'll text my friend to double check, so that I get the right stuff
DeleteThey don’t need layer food til they start laying, but with mixed ages I figure 12-14 weeks is ok. Depending on the breed they start laying between 16-24 weeks usually. I don’t think it makes a huge difference what they eat when. I just make sure they have grit if they are eating anything but starter feed, although not sure that makes a difference either lol. Chickens are hardy, in spite of us people lol. Although I did have one die today. She was about 8, and mean to the other chickens, so no great loss lol. She was fine yesterday, so she must have had a heart attack or something. It was weird, but like I said, not sorry she’s gone.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound as though your friend is not reacting well to being at home 24/7 with her husband doesn't it. It's not easy for many people.
ReplyDelete