Ducks Ragtag 2019 gardening

[ducks4you]

@Prairie Rose, I'm not that upset, but THANKS for the well wishes. and, Yes, fewer chores.
I will spend the winter researching eXACTLY how to equip the coop to prevent this. It's much easier to buy layers in the Spring, anyway.

 

[flowerbug]

aww! sorry @ducks4you...

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks! Can't get more birds until I fix the coop better, so next Spring.

 

[ducks4you]

I went over to BYC for advice. Yowser!! Can't find MUCH to help, but one member wrote back. I guess I'll have to figure it out myself. I WON'T post the gruesome pictures here...maybe when I figure it out I'll post them on BYC with a better coop and run--can't guarantee that I won't post grisly pictures of dead PLANTS!
UPDATE: Overwatered and killed the tender tuberous begonia that made it through the year upstairs. Dunno if I want to start again, but they are SO PRETTY. Guess some plants are like bad boyfriends/bad girlfriends. You keep making up excuses for their bad behavior, but you keep going back for more abuse.

 

[ducks4you]

DH Now says we bought this for HIM, not me!! He wanted our tractor to have a cover, so I found a new and unused moving blanket, and a clean truck seat cover to protect it. Here is it with it's Dust Cover.

Btw, if you look right behind the back wheel there is a 2 x 6 on the floor. When you drive backwards you can feel where you want to stop and Right Behind It is the bush hogger. It is a snug fit bc we also have a table there, also came with the property, so not much extra room. I try ALWAYS to put my toys away and out of the weather.
When we moved here there was a cement parking lot car stop, Kinda like this one:

6 ft yellow commercial parking block with 12 inch galvanized steel spikes | PBCYS | Traffic Safety Store

www.trafficsafetystore.com

I use mine to keep our Dodge 3500 from hitting things in the 4-car garage.
I put down another 2 x 6 for our Toyota Avalon, so that we wouldn't hit other things in the garage...
like the SNOWBLOWER!!
If you are a sensitive driver they really help, and they pretty much stay put.
One more thing, I give my tractor one FULL HOUR to cool down before I close the garage door here in the barn. I have ~380 bales hay, 45 bales straw, and 20 packages of pine shavings in the other part of the barn and loft and I want no fire! HowEVER, I DID use to park my Dodge 250 in here, and it was the original garage on this property.

 

[Prairie Rose]

I miss having a garage...the old barn on the property here was juuust big enough to wiggle two cars in, end to end, with about three inches of clearance off the side mirrors. It makes me happy to see the dust cover on your tractor....and good idea with the boards!

I'm sorry you didn't get much help with your coop...is that one of those EZ coops they sell at farm and home? I have been eyeballing the one they have at the local one here for years. It's a pretty penny, but for someone with no building skills....also it is the only one that hasn't collapsed due to rain or wind in the years they have had it on display.

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks!! I bought my coop at Rural King (local farm/hardware chain) about 5 years ago. It was a prefab and ran about $1,000
I have been VERY happy with it. The only thing I don't like is that the nestboxes have a 1/2 inch lip and you cannot keep bedding in them. My solution was to buy a couple of those cheap rugs that you put right inside your door to wipe your feet with, measure the next boxes--2 outside ones, same measurement, next 2 inside, same measurement, one in the middle measured differently--then used a razor to cut to fit. It made them softer for the hens.
Now that the hens are GONE, I will probably take them outside to let the weather clean them for a few weeks.
Did you see the link for the car block?!?!? It is recycled plastic, comes in 7 different colors, runs $40 + tax and shipping which would make it under $45
I am getting one for DD's for when they take the truck, which will be parked inside a 1 car garage.
I decided to start a thread on BYC, where I posted the "crime photos" of my dead birds. I have had a few replies, but I am Begging for links of "how to" to weasel proof my run!
NOBODY has any links yet, just advice that "dog fencing doesn't work", "what time of day did this happen?", "did you close up your pop door to the coop?"
It is a Captain Obvious moment.
I guess if I couldn't find any advice--there is a "Predator Proof Your Chicken Coop" Book...that I'm not gonna buy!!--my only real issue is the door.
I am brainstorming building an additional door that is weasel proof, and make the gate the Inside door.
So...we'll see.

 

[Prairie Rose]

The coop farm & home has that looks like that is about $800...online they go for about a thousand. I have looked at it many many times and dreamed.

I did check out the link to the plastic block! Those things look like they are dead useful...we could use some at work to keep people from parking in the grass. For here at home I don't think I have any kind of level ground to pin them to.

As for predator proofing, I was under the impression that the ultimate in predator proofing runs was half inch hardware cloth, a deep apron dug beneath the ground to deter digging predators, and maybe even a hot wire for the climbers. I did some research back when I decided I first wanted chickens because I am in a good spot to have all the common predators except for bears. After doing all that reading, I decided I had best save my money to protect my investment the right way, instead of just giving it to the raccoons!

 

[ducks4you]

You are right about the hardware cloth. Don't think we have many bears around her, BUT cougars have spotted further south. Some idiot reintroduced them to IL, thinking that we needed more predators. Mostly they catch deer, but they will take the occasional small dog or cat. I figured that most local predators couldn't get to my birds. So wrong!!
I think the deal with keeping chickens is:
1) Don't break the bank!!
2) Don't build ANYTHING that takes your $300 coop and sends your to the ER for a $3,000 deductable!!
I got this dog fencing Free from a crazy neighbor. He asked if I liked it (while I was walking my dog), then said I had to take it TODAY if I wanted it.
Still, I am NOT discouraged!! DH and I had to repair old cattle fencing for a decade. I still have the tools and I know how to hammer and twist wire.
I am spending part of my vacation time researching. Once I get back, it will be back to mucking stalls, finishing Christmas, and making money to buy:
dog food
cat food
horse food/bedding
payment for tractor
YA know...the list goes on and on...

 

[flowerbug]

instead of a car block the dangling string with a tennis ball on it works well enough. i do have a homemade 2x4 piece of wood with a cross brace nailed to it to keep it standing on it's edge down in the garage so that it stands upright between the two cement curbs we have in there as bumpers for the car (to keep us from hitting the wall). the curbs did no good at all when some people were trying to break in and rammed the garage door while Mom's car was in there, but that was not her fault...