Homestead update

Our good son turned 12 on Dec 1st... he is, by far the oldest person in the house now at 84. In fact, he's now older than either Grandma!!

Officially 12 years old now

This side he gets from his father :D

Chilling with the kiddos ( Brad & I ) watching TV

So you may recall that I like gadgets. Well, I have a gadget in the chicken coop/rabbitry so that I can monitor the temperature out there (keep in mind this is our first time raising chickens and rabbits).

During that super cold (polar vortex) spell we just had, this is the result. Now, I do have a heat lamp in the chicken coop which comes on about 6am-8am and again 6pm-9pm. Overnight however, they are on their own for body heat so I wanted to make sure I wasn't killing them....

We were getting about 10-11 eggs a day until I found the hiding spot which held 22 eggs... we are now getting the full monty of 14 eggs for 14 chickens.

Note: the red is -20C or colder.

December

Outside temperatures & RH

December

Coop temperatures & RH

The backyard is beautiful with all the snow. The paths are to the coop/rabbitry and also heads to the right for the cats in the pump house (pump house is heated so the farm cats live in there).

Some seeds are in...

These seeds (and many more) I ordered from Wildrose Heritage Seed Co. here in Alberta. They are heirloom (non-gmo), local and they send them in a zipper mylar so that you can save your own seeds at the end of the season, which I absolutely love. Unfortunately, they didn't have every seed we wanted so I also ordered from Heirloom Seed Vault also in Alberta, but those seeds have not arrived yet.

Meanwhile, though.... the shelving and grow lights have arrived and I managed to get it all set up in the basement. I put my St John's Wort. and a brand new ginger plant under the lights hoping to give them a little extra boost. 

St John's Wort above, ginger below

My SJW is essentially on its last legs and I desperately want to save it. I'm not sure if its an easily accessible plant, not that I ever looked for one before but as soon as I saw one I bought it and do not want it to die on me.

 

RIP 15

I ran into town to get the mail as a parcel had been delivered. When I returned home I went straight out to the chicken coop to collect the eggs.... as I was walking up the hens didn't run over as they usually do, only 2 were outside and they were kind of 'talking' weird. When I reached the gate I saw a hen laying there without a head. 

I broadcast a message into the house on our Google Home app to tell Brad to come out (as I wasn't sure what kind of predator I was dealing with or if it was still around) and as I was opening the gate a cat started meowing from the corner of the building (outside the run). 

This is not one of  'our' cats... but a new stray which I had tried to carry into the pump house just 2 nights ago before the blizzard started but it wouldn't have anything to do with it.... Brad had seen it previously on the other end of the property and felt it was 'stalking' the birds but I figured the birds were too big as the other two hadn't bothered them.... I was wrong.

I didn't take any graphic pics as I wouldn't have posted them anyway but here she is packaged up... we can't even eat it - who knows what that cat has. I am so upset with myself, but its a valuable lesson and affords us the opportunity to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Our first loss

Because the bird was not frozen or rigid, I assume it happened just before I arrived home and the cat ran off when it heard the car.

The remaining chicks are all a bit ruffled and so I have put them in the coop for the rest of the night to help give them a sense of security.

Coop humidity woes

I gave the ladies a roost in their run and strung a cabbage on it too.

I can only assume they couldn't crack it even though I'd started the pull for them so eventually I just chopped it up into teeny pieces for them and now they love me.

Before

The heat lamp was hanging quite low because we didn't have a second one for balance.

Because chickens don't need much, if any, heat (we will give them heat in Dec/Jan temperatures) I revamped the heat lamp situation in the coop. It is now very securely strapped, tied and looped to the ceiling where they can't get at it or bump into it.

After

I have it tied up 3 ways to secure it to the ceiling, so it won't fall, be knocked or otherwise cause havoc.

I hope.

Currently, I have a dehumidifier in the coop because I have been trying to lower the humidity in there for ages without any luck. 77% humidity this am and that won't go over in the winters we have here so it must come down! I'm hoping that using the dehumidifier will set the baseline and it will manage itself from there. 

I think I've stated before, we've put holes in it, a window, a fan, a heater.... nothing is working. I have put mesh over the window today and hope that by having the window completely open all the time (except in severe cold) that will help.

Nov 5th. Guy Fawkes Night

(He tried to blow up the House of Lords (UK))

Anyhow.... its a damn fine day today for Nov 5th outside of Edmonton, AB! No snow (4 ft to come, I'm sure) yet, sun is shining and its +10C (50F). I'll buy that for a $ -- :D

Ladies come home to roost

As they are laying hens (and thereby all girls), we will call them Ladies - seems fitting.

FYI, for anyone interested

The Chicken Coop, with new window. There are vents at the roof line and we'll be putting more in on the side roof line also.

The ladies are happy

It was also my birthday on Saturday, and I wanted Chinese food, so... a good gut bash was had!

We barely had the ladies home and it started snowing

A good sprinkling

The girls didn't know what to make of it

Robbie helping to herd them. Literally, 4 escaped through a week spot in the fence and Robbie rounded them up into a group behind the coop where Brad was able to put them back in the fence and we added logs around the edges.

Left: Blondie

All birds are Brown pullets... but Blondie must be the milkman's kid as she is much whiter than the rest.

Day 2: 5 eggs. Subsequently today, we got 6.

If you know me at all.... here is the camera in the coop.

We are able to monitor them coming in and out, using the roosts and making sure the lights and heater are working appropriately.... this will make me more comfortable that they have all they need, ie heat and light. (too hot still for the heater, but.... its there for when the temperatures drop)

Chickens need a minimum of 12 hours light per day in order to lay eggs. 14+ is better, so having a light in the coop to supplement their light is essential.