HELLO & Welcome to Garden Daddy here at the urban farm! I just thought I would take a moment and mention to you that one of the two Standard Cochin pullets FINALLY laid yesterday, Sunday. I have been waiting on these spring pullets to get started and one finally got down to business. It was a nice, pinkish color, rather small, like a little pullet should be with a very rounded small end. It was not large enough to think of eating, having just one. So I fed it to the dog in his food. Now, I wait on the other Cochin, one Ameraucana pullet and the remaining 6-Welsummers to start laying I will be happy.
By the way, I still have the 3-Cuckoo Marans hens I reared from day old chicks last year. They have stopped laying for a bit as one is in molt and the other two just stopped after it got so terribly hot this summer. Those 3 hens are being donated to the St. Jude Chicken Chase that will take place the end of this month on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011, in Alamo, TN. Small kids will chase some chickens and they keep all they catch. It is for a good cause of course as well as a good way to move some birds out of your flock you might like to cull and NOT harvest!
URBAN FARM UPDATE ON VEGETABLES: Just about gone. Getting some few small tomatoes from this garden home and still getting a little okra from the community garden. Hoping to clear off the urban farm next week one day, then add some lime, triple 13 then till up, water in good then maybe plant something cool weather tolerant...either some turnips or go ahead and start some more sugar peas I think. My luffa gourds NEVER did even bloom to date and I think I held them in their starter pots too long and they just got messed up is really what happened. I plan to make sure I have some next year and start them really early. I want to get some luffa sponges out of them at some point. It takes over 100 days for them to even bloom I hear and start making a pod so we will hopefully see next year.
I leave you today with our ongoing urban farming affirmation in mind and hoping for more eggs very soon: "URBAN FARMING: ONE EGG AT A TIME!"
Paint, By Numbers!
13 years ago
The chicken chase sounds like a cruel event! Chickens are fragile and little children will be grabbing wings and tails. This is sad. I saw a greased pig event. Children under eight almost killed the pig by piling on it and pulling on legs unmercifully. I would not even allow my children to watch the rest of the Greased Pig Contest. I was taller and watch from afar as the poor little piglet lay there for ten minutes, barely able to breathe or make a sound. I can only imagine the horror and pain to chickens. Maybe a lottery would be kinder. Or, have chickens as prizes in a three-legged race.
ReplyDeleteIt is not that kind of "chase"...but where they are mostly "shooed" down a small course by little kids, then the kids win whatever chicken was in their course. It is not like a greased pig thing you are concerned about, PP. It is for St. Jude Children's Cancer Hospital...I would not be participating in something that would be harmful to animals and St. Jude would not condone such an event either.
ReplyDeleteThanks for explaining that. I am greatly relieved.
ReplyDeleteHi Mike
ReplyDeleteSo it is cooler again. My babys kept getting too hot so I had to move them. When do you move yours out side? Mine are too young, only a little over a week. But so cute. How are your babys doing? Do you keep them inside or outside? As much as I wanted a broody hen when these guys were being incubated no dice....within the last couple days...of course!!!!!
Do you know any way to safely get rid of bermuda grass? I so want to have a garden, which I used to do yearly, both spring and fall, but since I moved here the bermuda keeps winning.....HELP....
I am trying to ramp up for another week...how bout you? What do you have for the week? "talk with you later" Peace and love.... C
Cindy, First, I keep my babies outside this year. Last year I had a few inside in a spare room in a few totes. Then fixed a spot outside. I also built a smaller coop this summer just for these new babies. It is 6ft long, with three feet open wire on the sides and bottom and a solid lid on top and on one end. They other half is closed in with an opening large enough for even a grown hen to move in and out of. I keep a heat lamp, around 60w bulb in a large brooder hood covering it in the enclosed part. It has a wire bottom as well but I cover it with paper then many inches of wood shavings where they care have their food and water and heat then retreat to the open end when they get too hot. I keep wheat straw in the open end for them to rustle around in and peck at the little seed heads, etc. They have spent one night or two in the open end this past week but mostly stay in the mild heat. They will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and about to get feathered out. I will keep the 60w bulb in there as long as night time temps are in the 60's and lower for a bit more, probably till they are around 7 or 8 weeks old. Just what I do is all...it might not be right but have never lost a chick yet...knock on wood!
ReplyDeleteAs far as Bermuda grass...keep the chickens off of it in the spring when it first starts coming out, spray heavy ROUNDUP on it, wait two weeks for it to really work, then hit it again with another heavy dose of ROUNDUP then wait about two weeks again, then till and go have a nice garden! Once I plant my garden, and since it is in my backyard in its own area that I keep a picket fence around, I add wheat straw around EVERYTHING I plant to keep grass and weeds from at least growing up close to the individual plants themselves. You can use newspaper or cardboard as well. Also, if you give up on the ROUNDUP idea and prefer more organic methods, you could do a "lasagna garden" site. I will put a post up about it maybe this week if time allows, etc. or send it to you via email or even USPS as it is about two pages really I think I remember from the Master Gardener class. But it is basically pretty easy but does not allow much room and is more for raised bed gardening but works very well. I also keep my paper feed bags and have given some to others that work as well around plants like black plastic but allows air and water to soak through better than plastic. Does any of this help?
Yes, another busy week for me. Seems like the fall gets busier ever year for some reason. Getting ready for winter I guess!
its cool.
ReplyDelete