1. Prepare your brooder and decide how many chicks you need.
Sanitize your brooder before bringing in any new chicks. Even if you had chicks and it's been a whole year, clean! Clean out old chips and debris, clean waterer and feeder thoroughly using soap or disinfectant.
You will need aprox. 1/2 square foot per bird to start with, but that will increase quickly to 2-3 square ft. as they grow (adult chickens need 10 square feet of area per bird). There should be room for your chicks to move freely away from the heat zone if they are too warm.
Fill your brooder with 1-2 inches of large pine shavings or hay. DO NOT use fine sawdust or cedar chips in your brooder as this can cause respiratory issues with your chicks. Clean brooder regularly by removing soiled or wet chips and layering new ones. 
Do you have a heat lamp, and is it adequately secured? Make sure your chicks have a warm area and a cool area. Chicks need to be able to move back and forth freely to encourage strong development. It's a good idea to place your feeder partway into the 'cool zone' and your water entirely in the 'cool zone' to keep them moving back and forth.
Check upcoming weather, are you prepared for heat or cold? Chicks can get too hot as well as too cold. Under your heat lamp should not be warmer than 96 degrees and should stay that warm for the first 2 weeks. Use a thermometer in your brooder so you don't have to guess. Please note that Bantam chicks require aprox. 5 degrees warmer than standard breeds.
Start chicks strong with a complete starter-grower feed. Chicks require 38 unique nutrients from day one. To provide all of these nutrients, choose a complete starter-grower feed. You will need to keep your chicks on that feed until you see your first egg.
Adding a Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar per gallon of water is a great way to boost natural immunity in your chicks. After the first week go down to 1 Teaspoon per gallon. To much ACV can discourage enough drinking.

2. What breeds are you going to buy?
Are you looking for fancy birds, good layers, colorful layers, crazy chickens, meat birds, friends? Do a little research or give us a call at 406-788-0436, we'd love to help you pick your breeds! We're also glad to special order any breeds we don't carry, as long as we have availability.
There are definitely different personalities within chicken breeds, and the options are endless, but don't let the choices be overwhelming.

3. Your chicks arrive!
If you've ordered your chicks then the post office will call you when they arrive. Pick up your chicks AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Sitting in the post office doesn't help them at all.
If you choose to hand pick your chicks somewhere, be careful when handling them. Make sure you have a secure box (most feed and farm supply stores will provide boxes) and that they have proper ventilation.
Either way you get them, take them straight home and put them right into your brooder. It is NOT a good idea to have chicks sitting in your vehicle, whether hot or cold outside.
When introducing chicks to your brooder, take a few moments to dip each ones' beak into the water so they get a drink right away, and also so they know right where to go for water.
Watch your chicks closely for the first couple days. If they're huddled under the heat lamp, they're cold. If they're spread out and panting, its to hot! Happy chicks should be going in and out of the heat area, eating, scratching, exploring and peeping happily.
If you observe any sneezing chicks or weaker chicks laying down and being trampled remove them immediately and quarantine them until they are better or strong enough to return to the group.
Your chicks have poop stuck on their butt? Starting life can be stressful and sometimes shipping stress or changing locations can trigger pasty butt in chicks. Wet the poop and remove it carefully (it's always a good idea to use gloves or paper towels, and wash hands afterwards!). Treat sore chick butts with mineral oil or cooking oil. Adding oatmeal to their diet can help with this. It's also a great idea to add probiotics and/or electrolytes to their water. Watch them carefully, untreated pasty butt can cause death.
Don't handle chicks to much! Yes they're cute and fuzzy, but constant touching and handling can spread germs to your chicks. Always wash your hands before and after handling poultry, and please don't kiss them.

4. Your chicks are growing.
As your chicks grow they will begin to get bored in the brooder. If possible let them run outside for a period each day, just make sure you have a secure area where predators cannot get to them. If you can't let them run, try giving them grass clippings  or chunks of grass in sod to peck and scratch at. Installing a low roost in the pen will also give them some entertainment. Gradually raise the roost as they grow so they can roost at higher levels.
During weeks 5-6 chicks will go through visible growth changes, including new primary feathers and a developing pecking order. Growing birds are now referred to differently. Pullet is the term for a teenage female, while a young male is called a cockerel. They may pick at each other and you will begin to notice who are the dominant chickens. Picking is not a problem as long as they don't gang up on one chicken. If they do it might be a good idea to remove that chicken until it's healed from the pecking.
It's a good idea to keep nesting boxes OUT of the coop until you see your first egg. If chickens get started pooping and playing in them it's hard to get them to stop once they are laying.
Until your chickens begin laying you should keep them on a starter/grower feed with at least 18% protein. This will prepare them with all the nutrients they need to start laying those good healthy eggs!
Around 16 weeks is the time to add free range oyster shells to the coop. Try a small, separate feeder or someplace they can't scratch it out and waste it. Your pullets will need to start getting that calcium to prepare to lay good, solid eggs. And don't worry, they can't overeat Oyster Shells.

5. You found the first egg!
That first egg will show up anywhere from ages 18 to 24 weeks, depending on the breed. Once you find your first egg, it's time to switch your girls to a good layer feed (after you finish your happy dance!). It’s best to transition over time rather than all at once. Mix the starter and layer feed evenly for four or five days. If birds are used to crumbles, start with a crumble layer feed. The same goes with pellets. The more similar the two feeds are, the smoother the transition will go. If you start having any trouble with soft eggs or funny looking eggs, try a high protein layer feed.
Now is the time to install those nesting boxes. It really doesn't take much, one box per 6 chickens is plenty. Once you do install nesting boxes, try placing a few golf balls or wooden eggs in the nest, it won't take your girls long to figure it out! Want to make them cozy? Try adding carpet or fake grass to the bottom of your boxes (It's also a super easy cleaning trick, pull them out and shake them once in awhile for clean nests!). Straw and shavings also work, they're just more work to change and keep clean.
And now, enjoy fresh eggs!!

6. Sick Birds?
Nobody likes to have sick birds, but here a few preventatives and natural treatments if you do encounter sickness with your flock.
Always be clean when entering your coop/chicken area. If you've visited other farms, feed stores, anywhere poultry or poultry owners roam, then it's a good idea to change shoes or sanitize the ones you have on. Shoes and hands are the top ways to spread diseases to your chickens. Always wash your hands before and after handling poultry.
Oregano and other essential oils are a great way to naturally boost immunity in your birds, as well as Apple Cider Vinegar. It's super easy to add 1/3c. of ACV and 10 drops of Oregano oil to your water once a month to give them a SUPER boost. Don't use Oregano for more than 3 days out of the month. ACV can be used continuously without any problem to your birds, but to much in the water will discourage drinking so be cautious.
If you start seeing runny noses or having sneezing hens, try treating them with VetRX poultry remedy.
Keeping your coop dry and well ventilated prevents a lot of disease problems before they ever start.

7. Molting chickens
Once the first egg has been laid, it’s business as usual for a while. Around 18 months, feathers will likely begin to cover the coop floor. Welcome to the season of molting chickens!
The first molt usually occurs in the fall when days become shorter. Your flock will take a break from egg laying and shed feathers for a few weeks. This is a completely natural annual occurrence, the shorter daylight hours automatically signal your hens to decrease egg production. Sometimes you can put this off a bit by giving them extra light hours in the coop with a heat lamp or regular light bulb turned on a few hours morning and evening. 
Protein is the key nutrient in a flock’s diet to keep them strong during molt. This is because feathers are made of 80-85 percent protein, whereas eggshells are primarily calcium. When molt begins, switch to a complete feed with 20% protein. A high-protein complete feed can help hens channel nutrients into feather regrowth. Once birds begin producing eggs again, switch back to a layer feed to match their energy needs.

For more variety in your pollinator garden, see 10 Perennials for Pollinators, Top 10 Shrubs for Pollinators and 10 Annuals for Pollinators from Proven Winners.

10 TIPS FOR STARTING A POLLINATOR GARDEN

1. Plant native plants: Native plants are more attractive to local pollinators than imported or hybridized plants because because the plants and native pollinators have evolved together. Native plants are also easier to establish and will not require the use of pesticides. If you can only find a cultivated variety, choose one closest to the natural form of the native plant. Learn more: Native Plants: How & Why to Grow a Native Plant Garden.
2. Choose plants with varying bloom times: Use a combination of plants that will bloom from early spring to fall. Providing a consistent food source will keep pollinators returning to your garden all season long.
3. Include a variety of plants: Include a diverse array of flower colors, fragrances, heights, and shapes to attract different pollinator species. Flowers in shades of blue, purple, white, and yellow are better to attract bees. Red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple blooms are better for attracting butterflies. (See: Flowers for a Bee-Friendly Garden, and 25 Butterfly Garden Plants)
4. Avoid double-flowered varieties: Double-flowered plant species make it difficult for pollinators to reach the nectar.
5. Plant multiples of each plant: Arrange your plants into groups. Flowers planted in masses will lure in more pollinators than a scattering of individual plants throughout the garden.
6. Make room for larval host plants: This can be difficult, because you have to accept that these plants will be eaten by butterfly caterpillars. Plant them in an area that is out of direct sight so the damaged plants won't affect the overall look of the garden. (See: Butterfly Larval Host Plant List from Penn State Extension Service)
7. Choose a sunny spot: Collecting nectar and spreading pollen is arduous work. Locate your pollinator patch in a spot that gets ample sunlight, since many pollinators are energized by the warmth of the sun. Also provide rocks to serve as warming and resting spots.
8. Create safe watering areas: Place rocks in shallow water to provide a spot for pollinators to land and drink water safely. A plant saucer or shallow bird bath work well.
9. Provide safe havens: Encourage pollinators to visit your garden by providing natural or man-made nesting sites. Bumblebees and many solitary bees nest in the ground and need open patches of bare soil. Dead wood, such as hollow logs and tree stumps, provide nesting areas and shelter for bees, wasps, and beetles. Bee and insect houses also provide nesting sites and can be purchased; or you can build your own by drilling holes approximately ¼ inch in diameter and 3 inches deep into blocks of untreated wood or using pre-made nesting tubes.
10. Avoid pesticides: Any use of pesticides should be avoided as much as possible. If you must use one, choose the least toxic and spray at night when pollinators are less active.
    

Original article shared from Garden Design.
www.gardendesign.com/perennials/pollinators.html

Raking leaves this weekend? Look at every leaf as gardener’s gold! Here are awesome ways to make the most of this abundant annual windfall—from protecting plants to making leaf mold and mulching. Nature builds soil this way—and so can you! 

LEAVES ARE FALL’S MOST ABUNDANT CROPYes, LEAVES are this season’s most abundant crop. What amazing organic matter! And free, too. The trees have mined minerals from deep in the subsoil and bought them to the surface. Leaves are a rich source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and more. The leaves of one large tree can be worth as much as $50 worth of plant food and humus. Pound for pound, leaves contain twice the mineral content of manure. The huge amount of organic matter they offer can be used to improve soil structure.

• Leaf humus can lighten heavy clay soils. 
• They feed earthworms and beneficial microbes.
• Leaves increase the moisture retention of dry, sandy soils.
• They make an attractive mulch in the flower garden. 
• They are a fabulous source of carbon to balance the nitrogen in your compost pile.
• They insulate tender plants from cold.

No gardener should pass up this annual opportunity.

Note: If you do not have a yard of leaves: Many communities make compost from the leaves that residents drop off at dumps and transfer stations; the larger towns and cities hold leaf- and yard-waste collections! I’ve just finished spreading a pickup load of my town’s leaf compost in my vegetable garden.
Here’s how to use those fall leaves to feed your soil instead of stuffing nature’s leaves into plastic garbage bags to be dumped by the millions into landfills.
1. IMPROVE YOUR SOILMix shredded leaves right into your garden. Next spring, your soil will be teeming with earthworms and other beneficial organisms. Note: If you add shredded leaves right to the soil, add some slow-release nitrogen fertilizers to help the leaves decompose and to ensure that soil microbes don’t use all of the available nitrogen.
Join Ben and his furry friend who shows us all the ways to use fallen leaves in the yard and garden, putting all their goodness to use around the garden, from protecting plants to making leaf mold and mulching. Hang around to the end for a great way to supercharge all the leaves you do rake up! 
2. CREATE A COMPOST PILE
Make compost for a valuable soil amendment. If you are not already composting, now is a good time to start. Pile autumn leaves in the corner of your yard. Ideally, keep leaves from blowing away with chicken wire or some type of structure. To speed up composition, shred those leaves with a mulching lawnmower (or use a chipper or leaf shredder). 
Layer these carbon-rich “brown” leaves with high-nitrogen “green” material such a grass clippings, dead plant matter, and kitchen scraps. The “green” feeds the bacteria that will be doing all the work of breaking down the leaves. Layer three or four inches of old leaves with an inch of fresh grass clippings or other green, leafy yard waste. 
Then let the compost sit all winter, turning the pile occasionally to aerate it. If the compost pile starts to appear dry, spray it down with a garden hose and turn with pitch fork. By the time spring rolls around, you should have some nice compost to mix into your garden soil. 
3. MAKE LEAF MOLD
Composting sound like too much work? Then make leaf mold, much beloved by English gardeners. Simply rake the leaves into a big pile. If you shred them, they will decompose faster, but you can still make leaf mold without shredding. Keep the leaves moist let the fungi take over. After one to three years, the leaves will have disintegrated into a dark, sweet-smelling, soil conditioner that is high in calcium and magnesium and retains water. It’s exceptional as an amendment for veggie and flower gardens and a great addition for potting soils.
4. MAKE MULCHLeaves make an excellent protective mulch for vegetable crops, blueberries (and other berries), and ornamental shrubs. They not only suppress weeds and help retain soil moisture, but because they contain no weed seeds themselves, they won’t encourage the spread of new weeds.
We cover the beds in our vegetable garden with a layer of chopped leaves to keep the soil from washing away over the winter. Be sure to chop or shred leaves before using them as mulch. Whole leaves can form a mat that water can’t penetrate.
Leaves make a good insulating cover for overwintering tender perennials, too. The best time to mulch perennials is after the ground has frozen, so put aside shredded leaves in bags to use later in the fall. Leaf cover allows fall-planted garlic to root without sprouting, and prevents shallow-rooted strawberries from heaving during winter’s freeze-thaw cycles.
5. MOW INTO LAWNResearchers at Michigan State University have shown that lawns actually benefit from a thin layers of leaves. Leaf litter improves the soil, lessening the need for fertilizer in the spring. They recommend a mulching lawnmower with a blade 3 inches high and mowing once a week while the leaves are falling. This will break down the leaves into smaller pieces over the winter, providing your soil with nutrients. Older mowers can be converted to mulchers by installing a mulching blade. So, don’t be a perfectionist! Leave leaf litter to feed worms, fungi, and soil bacteria. Just don’t leave thick layers of matted leaves on your lawn, as this blocks oxygen to the soil and invites disease.
6. PROTECT AND STORE ROOT VEGETABLESLeaves make a good insulating layer for cold-hardy vegetables and root crops stored in the ground—such as carrots, kale, leeks and beets. Cover them and you’ll be able to harvest all winter.
If you have a cool, humid spot, you can also store carrots, beets, and other root vegetables between layers of crisp, freshly fallen leaves. Sprinkle each layer of leaves with water (don’t let them get soggy). If you don’t grow your own vegetables, visit a farmers’ market and try to find a vendor who will sell you half a bushel or more of your favorite root crops.

7. LEAVE LEAVES FOR WILDLIFELeaves aren’t just about being useful to us as humans. Fallen leaves also provide wildlife, especially pollinators, with some winter cover. Bees, moths, butterflies, snails, spiders, and dozens of arthropods and pollinators overwinter in dead plant material for protection from cold weather and predators. For example, the mated queen bumble bees burrow only an inch or two into the earth to hibernate for winter, relying on natural leaf litter to keep them insulated. Also, many butterflies overwinter as chrysalises or cocoons disguised as dry leaves. (Be careful when you throw away leaves!)
No need to rake, mow, and blow away a bit of nature that is essential to our natural web of life. Consider creating a leaf pile or two and allowing it to break down naturally. (Leave leaves whole; do not shred.) Leave leaves on your garden beds as mulch through the winter and don’t be in a rush to remove in the early spring. (Don’t worry; flowers have no trouble poking their heads through leaves.) Your butterflies and pollinators will thank you!
8. HAVE FUN! My siblings, friends, and I used to have tons of fun leaping around in the big leaf piles we’d rake from our lawns each fall. Back in those days, our dads touched off the leaf piles in the late afternoon, and we roasted potatoes and apples while the giant piles burned to ash. Most jurisdictions rightly prohibit open leaf-burning these days to reduce air pollution, but the smell of a burning leaf still triggers powerful memories of those idyllic days.
Original article from The Old Farmers Almanac https://www.almanac.com/what-do-fall-leaves#

How do you know when fruits and vegetables are at their peak ripeness?
Here's a great guide from the The Old Farmers Almanac to help you out.

Here is a listing of celestial events you might want to look for during these spring nights in May. All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time for the Northern Hemisphere.
Take note that we sometimes will use angular degrees to define the separation between two objects, such as (for example) the Moon and a bright planet. Keep in mind that the width of your clenched fist, held at arm’s length, measures roughly 10°.

May 12—Venus is a rather difficult sight as May begins, setting only 45 minutes after the Sun for viewers at mid-northern latitudes. However, the planet’s visibility improves considerably during the month. By May 31st, Venus’s altitude at sunset has increased from 8° to 14° and the bright world doesn’t set until about 1 hour 25 minutes after sundown. Soon after sunset this evening, an exceptionally thin (1 percent illuminated) lunar crescent might be glimpsed about 1° to the lower left of Venus.
May 13 – This evening, it’s Mercury’s turn to be visited by the Moon. It’s still an extremely slender (4 percent illuminated) crescent when it appears about 3° to the left of Mercury. They’re low in the west-northwest at dusk, setting before the sky is fully dark.
May 15--This evening, Mars can be found at nightfall, sitting about 1¾-degrees to the upper left of the waxing crescent Moon. Mars is in Gemini, fairly high in the west at dusk, 11° below Pollux and Castor. It passes 5° south (lower left) of Pollux on May 31st. In a telescope, the Red Planet is a featureless little dot. It now glows only 1/53 as bright as it did last October!
May 17--Today Mercury reaches “greatest elongation,” 22° east of the Sun, and is visible in a completely dark sky. This rocky little world is now only half as bright as was at the start of the month, and its tiny disk is only 35 percent lit. The planet fades much more rapidly in the following days, becoming too faint to observe by May 25th. It will arrive at inferior conjunction with the Sun on June 10th.
May 19 – First Quarter Moon at 3:12 p.m. In this phase, the Moon looks like a half-Moon in the sky. One-half of the Moon is illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing, on its way to becoming a full Moon.
May 26 – May’s Flower Moon turns 100% full at 7:14 a.m. In this phase, the visible Moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. Though the Moon is only technically in this phase for a few seconds, it is considered “full” for the entire day of the event and appears full for three days. 

 Supermoon Alert! Because perigee (the closest the Moon comes in its orbit to Earth for the month) occurs the night before at 9:55 p.m., at a distance of 222,023 miles, we are calling this full Moon a “Supermoon,” the second and last for 2021 (April’s was the first). This will lead to an unusually large range of tides during the next few days.
There will also be a total lunar eclipse this morning, that will be best seen from the western half of the United States just before sunrise.
Lunar eclipses are known for turning the Moon a reddish color, which some refer to as a “Blood Moon.” The reddish color will be visible everywhere where the total phase will be visible (where the Moon is above the horizon during the total phase of the eclipse). That means the Western US will get a good sight of it. In the Eastern half of the country, unfortunately, the Moon will set prior to totality, so we miss out.

May 29—Mercury Retrograde begins (ends June 21). The term retrograde comes from the Latin word retrogradus, which literally means, “backward step.” 
May 31 –Set your alarms! Early risers will enjoy seeing the waning gibbous Moon just 5½° to the lower left of Saturn during the predawn hours.

​Our schedule is adapted from “Skylog,” a regular feature appearing in Natural History magazine, written by Mr. Rao since 1995.
This post was re-used from the farmers almanac. See full post HERE. 

Feral swine have become increasingly detrimental in Georgia, causing significant damage to agricultural crops and natural resources throughout the state. The economic impact of damage caused by feral swine in Georgia is estimated at $150 million. A group of agricultural and natural resource organizations are partnering to bring Georgia’s top experts on feral swine together in a series of educational workshops for farmers and landowners.
The partnering agencies will host two separate workshops and trapping demonstration opportunities on the following date:

May 20 at the Southeast Georgia Research and Education Center in Midville, GA
o   Morning Workshop at 8:45 am- 12:00 pm
o   Afternoon Workshop at 1:45 pm- 5:00 pm

Topics will include disease issues, swine biology, economics, water quality issues, effective control techniques, transport issues, and regulations to be followed by a question and answer panel of experts. Each workshop will also include a feral swine trapping demonstration.

Partnering agencies for this effort include the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA Wildlife Services, Georgia Association of Conservation Districts, Georgia Department of Natural Resources - Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Agriculture, University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources and Brier Creek Soil and Water Conservation District.
There is no cost to attend the workshops, but space is limited. Pre-registration is required. COVID precautions will be followed. Additional workshop opportunities will be announced soon. More details and registration information is available at www.GACD.us/events. 

Thanks to the UGA Extension service for this great life hack video. Got extra eggs? Keep watching...