Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by igz on June 14, 2011 at 2:23am

the ones i have to offer are sprouts, no taller than 4 inches at the moment.

H3N3 said:

Sunflowers have deep tap roots and don't transplant well. Some chance they'll recover if you manage to get a big enough dirt clump.

I have Mexican sunflower (Tithonia)  to pass along and no room for anything else large, but thanks.

Permalink Reply by Allison M. down Ogden 7.9 mi on June 17, 2011 at 4:19am

chickens are finally outside....soo happy!

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 18, 2011 at 3:10pm

Finally got around to take some pictures.

Our herb garden. Basil, cilantro, garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary, mint, chives, and garlic chives.

Three vegetable beds. Bottom left: Pole beans, peas, onions, and garlic. Top left: pattipan squash, lettuces (gone), radishes, spinach (gone), soon more radish, cilantro, and parsley.

 

Large bed: Tomatoes (roma, yugo, and cherry), shallots, and my personal favorite: celeriac. Can't wait to make split pea soup with it this winter.

Permalink Reply by Allison M. down Ogden 7.9 mi on June 19, 2011 at 9:46am

That's a great idea! Maybe we could take turns showing our gardens and hosting a potluck..

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on June 19, 2011 at 8:37pm

Or considering this is the chainlink, how about a garden bike tour?  We could pick a date and time and then have people volunteer their places as stops on a tour.  If we have places covering too large an area we might need to break it up into a series of tours, ie southside, west side, north side but we ought to be able to work t out easily enough,

 

The potluck idea sounds fun too,   Could combine it with the tour or perhaps some folks will want to host parties while others might prefer to just be a stop on a tour.

 

I'd likely offer up our place as a tour stop, though I'd have to clear it with my wife Sara first.  Of concern to us is we regularly let our chickens free range on our property and we have read it is possible to transmit poultry diseases by walking through their living spaces.  Not sure what the appropriate hygiene practice is, but it might require something like putting out a shallow pan of bleach water and asking everyone to walk through it on entrance/exit.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 20, 2011 at 3:41am

Todd,

If you are concerned about your chickens wellbeing, consider asking these questions on http://groups.google.com/group/chicago-chicken-enthusiasts?pli=1

It is a very active and knowledgeable group of local chicken owners.

 

FWIW, we've been chicken owners for 3 years now and have never worried about it. We were even a stop on Chicken Coop tour and got plenty of other chicken owners to visit.

 

 

Todd Allen said:

Or considering this is the chainlink, how about a garden bike tour?  We could pick a date and time and then have people volunteer their places as stops on a tour.  If we have places covering too large an area we might need to break it up into a series of tours, ie southside, west side, north side but we ought to be able to work t out easily enough,

 

The potluck idea sounds fun too,   Could combine it with the tour or perhaps some folks will want to host parties while others might prefer to just be a stop on a tour.

 

I'd likely offer up our place as a tour stop, though I'd have to clear it with my wife Sara first.  Of concern to us is we regularly let our chickens free range on our property and we have read it is possible to transmit poultry diseases by walking through their living spaces.  Not sure what the appropriate hygiene practice is, but it might require something like putting out a shallow pan of bleach water and asking everyone to walk through it on entrance/exit.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 20, 2011 at 3:49am

If Ginger turns out to be a rooster, a live butcher (I know there is one on Lawrence near the river) will turn Ginger into a nice fryer for around 2 bucks.

 

Todd Allen said:

Same chickens in both shots, from left to right: Ginger, Swan, Henrietta and Freckles.  First was taken last week of February at age of 1 week and second was taken a week ago.  They should reach maturity in July.

We acquired them as day old female chicks.  But we are starting to suspect Ginger is not quite as female as the others.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 20, 2011 at 3:00pm

Since there appear to be numerous hosta lovers in this thread, two shots from our hostas. The first where they frame the roses, the second one a close up from the ones on the leftAlso, a picture of the pole beans doing their thing. They are about 2.5 feet high already

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 20, 2011 at 3:05pm

A little video that shows what chickens do when left to their own devices. Which is really not much at all...

 

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on June 20, 2011 at 5:26pm

Duppie, thanks for the info.  I just applied to the Google group.

I'm sure the transmission of serious disease is fairly rare but I don't want in my inexperience to do anything inappropriate and increase risks for ourselves or anyone else.  We got a dog from a shelter just over a week ago.  Her initial exam with our vet included a positive test for Giardia.  We are treating her for it and she'll be retested for it in 4 weeks to know if the treatment was effective.  And then we'll retest again in 6 months to find out if she has recontracted it.  That is possible because lots of other potential hosts could have been exposed to it.

 

We have a dog, chickens, turtle and garter snake free ranging the yard together along with visits from squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, cats, rats, pigeons, etc.  I'm sure other folks who might participate in the tour have risk factors both known and unknown as well.

 

Other than the dog none of the other animals is likely to ever receive professional medical care.  We don't use herbicides, pesticides or fungicides in our garden and the potential risks go beyond the animals and includes the plants as well.

 

 

 

Duppie said:

Todd,

If you are concerned about your chickens wellbeing, consider asking these questions on http://groups.google.com/group/chicago-chicken-enthusiasts?pli=1

It is a very active and knowledgeable group of local chicken owners.

 

FWIW, we've been chicken owners for 3 years now and have never worried about it. We were even a stop on Chicken Coop tour and got plenty of other chicken owners to visit.

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on June 20, 2011 at 5:45pm

Ginger most definitely turned out to be a rooster.  We were contemplating just such a solution and had renamed him Ginger Baker, but the store we got our chicks from, Belmont Feed & Seed, offered to exchange two 5 week old pullets, another easter egger and a golden laced wyandotte for our 4 month old rooster.

Duppie said:

If Ginger turns out to be a rooster, a live butcher (I know there is one on Lawrence near the river) will turn Ginger into a nice fryer for around 2 bucks.

Permalink Reply by igz on June 21, 2011 at 4:42am

thats a decent deal

Todd Allen said:

Ginger most definitely turned out to be a rooster.  We were contemplating just such a solution and had renamed him Ginger Baker, but the store we got our chicks from, Belmont Feed & Seed, offered to exchange two 5 week old pullets, another easter egger and a golden laced wyandotte for our 4 month old rooster.

Duppie said:

If Ginger turns out to be a rooster, a live butcher (I know there is one on Lawrence near the river) will turn Ginger into a nice fryer for around 2 bucks.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next ›
• Page