Whats "growing on" during the last week of May....

We began this week remembering those who had lost their lives fighting for our freedoms.  Emily and I both, come from families that have had many fighting men and women who have served in various branches of the armed forces and we are very grateful for them......  

Author Kevin McGrath circa:1997

I myself "did a little time" as a Marine and can relate to how much sacrifice is necessary to keep our beloved country free.  As a matter of fact, on this date (June 2nd) almost 20 years ago, I placed my feet on the ground where so many have before me and swore an oath and committed to those sacrifices. 

Most of us know of, or have had someone close to them who have lost their life in battle.  

As the saying goes about all service men and women: 

"All gave some - but some gave all".

Some of the brave men I had the privilege of knowing.

Most families and friends spent this past week barbecuing, partying or just enjoying the time off of work. Memorial Day does "earmark" the beginning of summer. I can only hope you have, as my family has, taken the time to remember those who have been lost and reflected a little bit on your own life and the privileges you have. 

Emily & Beckman 

(left to right) Autumn, Devin & Me

One of the greatest privileges I have, is being with my family and having the time to garden.  See for me being in the garden is more than just growing beautiful flowers or the biggest of vegetables.  It is more like therapy and a place where I can escape to and leave all my worries behind.  

Autumn Grace

There is nothing I enjoy more than to walk our very small piece of earth and witness the beauty of the plants we have growing.  This is my time to reflect on life and the decisions I have made.  

I hope you enjoy our walk... 

Sage

Coreopsis

5 color swiss chard

"Autumn Joy" sedum

Burning bush

Celery

Raspberry bushes

Potted tea rose

Iris

Tomato plants

Raspberry blossoms

Pansies in window box

Pansy and coleus flowers in window box

Herb Sage flowers in bloom

Zebra ornamental grass

Our Front Porch

                         

storm clouds

Beckman enjoying his bubbles.

Cheers ~ Kevin

 

Confusion about using misters on chickens

Hi all. With the recent bouts of extreme temperatures, the concept of using a mister to keep your chickens cool has been a hot topic.

**Just so you don't think this is coming from someone who has chickens, has a blog and a Facebook page and knows nothing about "evaporative cooling", I own and operate a heating and air conditioning company and have also graduated with a degree in thermodynamics.

CHICKENS DON'T LIKE TO BE WET. This is obvious by reading everyone's comments about how their chickens have reacted to their misters.

The most simplest form and example of evaporative cooling is perspiration, or the sweat secreted by our bodies. The constant evaporation occurring on the skin helps to cool the bodies temperature down. The amount of heat transfer depends on how quickly the evaporation occurs but on a typical 95 deg day is about 890 BTU per pound of water. The rate of evaporation depends on the temperature and humidity of the air (wet bulb temperature), which is why on those super hot, humid days our bodies are soaking wet because that perspiration does not evaporate fast enough.

What is a real mister? Well a real mister is not one you purchase for 7$ from an amazon link or big box store. Also those are not true evaporative coolers, and are not designed to be used in such a manner. Those are intended to be used on delicate plantings that benefit from light droplets of water. A mister or evaporative cooler, in the professional world, consists of a pure water supply, properly sized tubing, a compressor, filters and multiple appropriate sized nozzles. They are designed to cool the air without the targeted area or subjects ever getting wet. If you would rather invest in this type, get ready to spend some money because the entry level systems begin at around $1500.00-2000.00.

My bottom line to this discussion is use common sense. Do not try to force something on anything that clearly doesn't like it. If it is hot out, make sure to provide your birds with cold fresh water, plenty of shade, a fan and leave them alone. If you say your chickens dig your mister setup, please show me pictures of them in action. I love to be proven wrong. Peace out. ~ Kevin

Photo credits: Advancedmistingsystems.com

If you can't take the heat... neither can your peeps!

As summer begins to settle in,  Our Little Coop is typically missing its man of the house.  As many of you know, I work for myself as an HVAC service provider.  For those of you that are new here, the name of my company is Thermo Green, Inc. HVAC. I usually find myself away from home on average of anywhere between 8-16 hours a day, leaving our free-range chickens and dogs to fend for themselves.

The few precautions I usually take to make sure everyone will be ok during the day always pay off.  The most critical of all, is to ensure everyone has access to plenty of fresh water and shade from the sun.  Every morning I rinse/ refill 3 drinking containers and a large dog bowl with a combo of water and Kent VITA-PAK.  The VITA-PAK can be found at most feed stores or online.  I do not worry about the dogs drinking the chicken water or visa versa because they all get this combination.  The Kent is nothing more than extra vitamins and electrolytes which are critical as the mercury climbs.

To provide shade,  we have 2 large silver maples on our property as well as many ornamental grasses that are alone our property line.  At least half of our yard at any given time is shaded.  Additional shade can be provided with the use of anything that would totally block out the sun, like a piece of plywood or even a bed sheet draped over a clothes line. STAY COOL! ~ Kevin

Update ***** How to make the waterer pictured:

Kevin has fallen behind but is going to post a more detailed version. Basically what you do is take a clean 5 gallon bucket and drill a few 1/4" holes around the top (opening) of the bucket about 2 inches down. Find a pan that has sides that are at least 3-4 inches high. Fill up the bucket, place the pan over the top, and carefully flip the whole thing upside down. The water will fill the pan up to the holes that you drilled, and will maintain a constant height there. Hope this helps!? Stay tuned for the more detailed version. :-)