Green Daily

Five ways to reuse nail polish

Kelly Leahy — 2008-05-11T15:44:00 00:00

The nail polish in your collection might be outdated or perhaps you've decided that you no longer want to wear the stuff. Whatever the reason, instead of just throwing it in the trash, keep it around the house for some quick fixes and when the clear bottle is empty, recycle that bad boy.

Here are five ways that nail polish can save your life (or at least be re-purposed)!

Keys. Use nail polish to mark the keys on your key ring different colors so you can tell them apart in a jiffy.
Frayed ends. Every woman knows that nail polish will stop a run in her pantyhose, but did you know that it will end shoe lace fraying? Just dip the ends into a bottle of polish and allow to dry.
Carpentry. Painting nail polish on the threads of a screw before inserting will provide you with a tight finish.
Wart remover. I won't vouch for whether this is a good idea for your health, but supposedly painting nail polish over a wart will cause it to go away in a week's time.
Fill. Nail polish can be used to fill in small chips or cracks in ceramics, wood floors and plastics. However, for holes in your walls, reach for the toothpaste.

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What to do with plastics #3, #6 and good old #7?

Sea Stachura — 2008-05-11T13:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Health, Home, Tips

One of our readers recently posted a reply to Plastic Recycling by the Numbers. She'd heard that plastics labeled 3, 6 and 7 were not only toxic but bad for the environment if you recycled them. We've posted a couple of times on plastics and their numbers. Let's go over what we know.

If you throw your #3s and 4s and 5s into your recycling bin, and your city doesn't recycle them, you jeopardize the whole lot of plastics. If a group of plastics has too many types that can't be recycled as #1 and #2 can then there is a chance that plastic will be landfilled or shipped overseas. It's a matter of sorting. You'll also sabotage your own recycling efforts if you don't remove labels, caps and food matter. Your plastic water bottle may be a #1 but the cap is not. Throw it away.

That said, while some of these other plastics can release toxins like phthalates and Bisphenol A, that doesn't meanthey can't be recycled. Certain cities have recycling programs for the aforementioned numbers. In Davis, Calif. a free drop-off at the Waste Center recycles #3, 5, 6 and 7. At Stanford University the usual #1 and #2 can be recycled, but #3, 4, 5, 6, 7 are recyclable. That is if they are in bottle form. Not a bottle, they won't recycle it.

I want to emphasize that most of these plastics are recyclable, but each plastic requires a different process for recycling. Our recycling programs tend to be pretty basic, hence the relatively few plastics we can recycle. Check your local recycling program and those in your region for places that do accept the offending numbers.

And if you can't find them check out our "Five Ways" posts (typically filed under Tips) to learn how you might safely reuse your plastic containers.

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Theme Week: Chemical free pet treats

Sea Stachura — 2008-05-11T09:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Food, Home, Shopping Guide

Every week we pick a theme to explore in more depth, and this week that theme is eco-friendly pets. To read all our posts related to this theme, click here.

I once bought a bag of cat food that touted its all-natural, all-organic ingredients. It had raisins and bananas and other items I had never seen in a list of ingredients for cat food. My cats refused to eat it. And I thank them for it.

Cats and raisins don't agree. Raisins cause kidney damage in cats, though at the time I didn't know it.

Advertisements told me my boys would love Greenies. You may recall the 2006 news stories of dogs dying from indigestible Greenies. The cat treats are supposedly very different. Nonetheless, my cats refuse to eat them.

So I've done a little digging for natural pet treats. I can't testify that these treats will clean your dog's teeth or that your cat will even want to eat them. I can't promise anything. You could stick with tins of tuna or sardines, but be careful of the mercury.

This is what I found:

Only Natural Pet Store sells its own variety of cat and dog treats. They include Poultry Crispies, oven-baked chicken crackers. The chicken is cage-free organic.
Whole Life Pet Products sell freeze dried meat treats. Cod, lamb, venison, salmon, chicken and beef. The treats are made with just one ingredient, the meat or fish, it's human grade food made from free range animals.
Sojourner's Farm features a wide range of natural dog treats, including the doggie fortune cookie. Most of the treats are wheat and corn free. Chicken pot pie and blueberry cobbler are a couple of the flavors.
Cherbey's All Natural Pet Treats are for cats and dogs. The only difference is the size of the treat. A couple of chefs make these free-range, antibiotic-free tilapia jerky treats.

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No, really, you might want to get rid of that old refrigerator

Patricia Mayville-Cox — 2008-05-10T12:07:00 00:00

Filed under: Home

So when is it worth it to replace your refrigerator with a more-energy efficient model?

Lots of different opinions out there on this one, and here's another one. Alina Tugend sought the advice of Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the National Resources Defense Council about when to chuck that older appliance. And here's what Horowitz had to say, "If it's avocado or brown-colored, it's time to retire it." In other words, if it came from the 70s, it's time for it to go, as those use three to four times as much energy as today's models.

According to the EPA, any appliance over 15 years old should be retired. And here's the clincher, when you do decide to retire it, according to Horowitz, do not resell it; recycle it (call your town or city for information). Also, don't move it to the basement as a second refrigerator.

And when the day finally comes that you and that avocado energy hog have to part ways, make sure you buy an Energy Star-certified model with a top-freezer design. And skip the ice maker and water dispenser.

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Five ways to reuse bathroom tile

Kelly Leahy — 2008-05-10T08:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Home, Tips

I watch a lot of home improvement shows and nearly every episode includes a bathroom demo and rebuild. Sometimes I watch in horror as beautiful sixty-year-old tiles are pried from walls and rain in clumps onto the tub and bathroom floor. The tiles are then shoveled out to a dumpster. It always strikes me as a big wast of potential. This is what sparked today's "five ways."

Pieces of broken tile can be placed in the bottom of flower pots to improve drainage.
You can also put then on top of the soil in your planters to create "pot toppings," giving your greenery a "finished look."
Glue a piece of cork to the back for a new coaster.
It will be difficult to get the grout off in most cases to tile another bathroom. However, the tiles can be pressed into fresh cement to dress up pavers and sidewalks.
Chunks of slate tile can make fun mini chalkboards.

Other ideas can be found over at Ellen's post, "Five ways to reuse: Broken dishes."

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The Suburban Farmer: Chicken Companions

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-09T16:29:00 00:00

Filed under: Food, Home

This marks the final installment of The Suburban Farmer's chicken series, but don't fret! The Suburban Farmer will be back with many more topics to come in the near future.

So for this last piece, I'm going to talk a bit about what other animals can get along with chickens, typically. Now remember, as with any animal, they all have their own personalities and traits. Cats and dogs are said to traditionally not get along, yet many pet owners know this isn't the case.

The most obvious companion choice for chickens is other chickens. Even though they may peck at each other sometimes, they're a social animal who thrives in numbers. Also, there's rabbits. Technically, rabbits are considered poultry, so it only makes sense. Rabbits are sometimes messy eaters, getting their feed all over the ground, and the chickens are more-than-happy to come along and finish up the crumbs!
Another obvious choice for chicken companionship is ducks. They're very similar in nature, and they tend to treat each other as equals. Sheep, goats and pigs are also common friends for chickens, as they mostly tend to nonchalantly ignore each other.

Larger animals like horses and cows shouldn't really be a concern for a suburban farmer, but rest assured that for the most part, these animals can get along with chickens. Horses tend to be a bit skittish, but if introduced slowly over time, they can adapt.

As for unfriendly animals, turkeys and geese are the biggest offenders here. In general, both of these animals tend to be aggressive towards anything, so keep any eye on your chickens when they get around either of these.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chicken series, and please feel free to leave any comments or questions for me.

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5 ways to reuse Ziploc bags

Kelly Leahy — 2008-05-09T15:25:00 00:00

Filed under: Home, Tips

Yesterday a commenter asked about whether Ziploc bags could be recycled. I know that aren't recycled in my city and I'm going to take a stab and say that one of the reasons why is because they are made from more than one type of plastic which would make separation of the actual bag from the "ziploc" difficult and expensive. These bags also fall under plastic type number 4 which in general, is rarely recycled.

Fortunately there are not only plenty of alternatives to Ziploc and other sandwich bags but there are several ways to reuse them.

Sandwich bags can easily be washed to hold foods once again. You can even make your own drying rack. If you are uncomfortable reusing them to contain foods, they are great for containing your marble collection, toenail clippings or dryer lint.
By cutting a small hole in the corner of a baggie, you have an instant icing bag. I've done this before with great results.
You can clean them and save them up to make a wreath ... if you're into that sort of thing.
Cut the baggies into strips and crochet them into ocean critters.
Place a recipe card inside them while cooking to protect the paper from any splatters.

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Oh lord, won't you buy me a Neuton lawn mower?

Kelly Leahy — 2008-05-09T11:44:00 00:00

Filed under: Home, Shopping Guide

My yard is too small to even be measured as a fraction of an acre. My city lot is 30' by 150' and there is only grass in the back. I do have a lawnmower and it's one of those lovely gas powered monsters desperate for a tune up. It takes an hour to mow the law because it stalls all the time and admittedly, we let the grass grow too high.

But this isn't what turned me on to electric mowers, it was that according to the Environmental Protection Agency, a push mower emits as much hourly pollution as 11 cars; E-LEV-EN.

Enter the Neuton battery powered lawn mower. I'm salivating just thinking of it.
I must admit that initially I wanted a Neuton for the following completely superficial reasons:

It looks really cool.
They have a newt as their logo.
They are manufactured in Vermont, where I hail from.

But then I started reading reviews and more information about the product and realized that it is exactly what I need for my small lot.

The Neuton is battery operated which means that unlike other electric mowers, there is no cord. The only maintenance that it requires is a fully charged battery and some annual blade sharpening. A new battery will eventually be required after a few years of service. There are no spark plugs, air filters, or hazardous liquids.

The Neuton can mow for up to an hour on a single charge which is enough time for me to mow my lawn, that of my neighbor and still have enough charge for the next week. It is also much quieter than a conventional gas mower which means that when I yell directions at my husband as he mows, he can't say that he didn't hear me.

So what's holding me back? The price tag. I'd have to start my own mowing service just to save up for one. The mowers come in two sizes and two prices: $399 and $499. It's not completely unreasonable but slightly higher than what I'm comfortable with for an impulse purchase. There is a sale going on, however, and prices have dipped $20 and shipping is free so that might be enough to push me over the edge.

In the meantime, I'll be channeling Janis Joplin.

[via: Wallet Pop]

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Get mom a greeting card without the attached eco-guilt

Ellen Slattery — 2008-05-09T10:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Home, Shopping Guide

Like getting greeting cards, but don't like the waste they generate?

ReProduct has come up with a solution. It's easy:

Buy a card and sent it to a worthy recipient (you can choose from pre-made cards, or custom-design your own)
Once the lucky recipient receives the card, enjoys the sentiment (and removes the cash, if applicable), they simply drop it in a mailbox (it comes with an prepaid envelope)
The card is sent to Shaw Industries, where it is combined with tons of others and used to make carpet tiles

...pretty cool, eh? Mom will appreciate your sentiments as well as your attention to the environment. Go grab one quickly - there are special Mother's Day design options for your perusal.

re [feelgood style]

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Stop unwanted mail to former residents

Kelly Leahy — 2008-05-09T07:49:00 00:00

Filed under: Home, Tips

I've owned my home for over five years and I still get mail addressed to several previous occupants as this house was once a rental. It's rather annoying inscribing, "return to sender," on every piece of mail and if the sender didn't pay for first class postage, they will never know about the bad address.

There are ways, however, to stop the mail from even crossing your threshold. We've covered how to stop excessive junk mail addressed to you, but there are special steps that need to be taken to end service for previous occupants.

To put an end to bulk mail arriving at your address, send a postcard to Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 15012-0643 and write "please activate the mail preference service" above the name and address.
For first class mail, a change of address form needs to be filled out. These are only good for a few months so it's very likely that the one that the previous occupant filled out has expired. A fresh change of address card needs to be filled out for each person and under the "new address" portion, write "Moved, left no forwarding address." Finally, sign your name at the bottom and write, "Form filled in by current resident of the house, [Your Name], agent for the above." You can also do this online for a dollar fee.

Good luck!

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The Suburban Farmer: What to do with all those eggs

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-08T16:58:00 00:00

Filed under: Food, Home

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May's Green Challenge: Failing grade

Kelly Leahy — 2008-05-08T14:28:00 00:00

Filed under: Home, Tips

The other day I returned from the convenience store, put my newly purchased items away and headed to the back of the house to add two fresh plastic bags to the collection. It was then that it hit me that I had not one, but TWO contraband plastic bags in my hand. I turned my husband, let out an explicative and declared myself a failure early in the challenge.

Last week I invited everyone to join me in using reusable bags exclusively for purchases and saying, "goodbye" to the plastic bag. It's a habit that I have yet to acquire and I'm working hard to do so.

This week hasn't been a total bust. My grocery store trip was perfectly executed and the cashier seemed to know the drill. I forgot to bring a bag with me to Sam's club but they don't give out bags anyway so I was in the clear. Twice I've gone into a store with a cloth bag and forgot to give it to the cashier which resulted in an awkward relinquishing of the plastic bag at the counter. I only hope that they got reused.

For next week I vow to do better!

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More ways to love your compact fluorescent

Sea Stachura — 2008-05-08T11:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Gadgets and Tech, Home, Shopping Guide

If you bought your CFL from someplace like Ikea's $1 bin, you might be regretting it. In fact, you may hate every moment you have to spend reading or watching tv or scanning Green Daily by the light of that antiseptic light bulb.

I have two solutions for you. One option is to get a new type of bulb. There are several out there that put out better light--not to pick on Ikea. Your second option is to burn through your long-lived pack with a Lunet light cover. I'll start there.

These are basically plastic covers that fit into your ceiling fixture. Four styles are available: frosted, Roman, antique glass and Art Deco. Of course, if the offending bulb happens to be in a lamp, I've got no Lunet light cover to help you. You could perhaps design your own and market it at home expos as Lunet has done.

Or, you could put that bulb into your recessed light fixture, add the cover then purchase different CFLs. Last year Popular Mechanics ran a lab test for the best compact fluorescent. Researchers found that all the CFLs they tested beat the Sylvan Double Life Soft White. That is, the quality, color and brightness of the light as well as the life of the bulbs were better. N:Vision tested the best, and the MaxLite Micro Max wasn't great for reading but it offered color like,"the sun at the beach." How can you go wrong with that?

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The Suburban Farmer: Acting like a chicken

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-07T19:02:00 00:00

Filed under: Food, Home

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

The behavior of chickens is a fascinating and peculiar thing. They're unlike dogs or cats or your "normal" household pet, but they also share many of the same behaviors of these animals. Chickens are trainable to a certain extent, and of course their personalities are primarily dictated by their upbringing and surroundings.

I covered the most common behavioral "issue" with hens in yesterday's article about brooding, so in this article I will cover a few more common behaviors you may discover with your chickens.

Aggression - You'll find this most often in roosters (male chickens), and rarely in hens unless they are brooding. When chickens display aggressiveness, it simply means they're trying to dominate another chicken or another human. This is a very important social structure for chickens. The best way to curb aggression is to show them that you're the boss by picking them up and holding them regularly, and feed them from your hands. As the old saying goes, they will rarely bite the hand that feeds them. As with any animal though, chickens can still show unprovoked aggressiveness. This is why I advise against letting your children play with chickens unsupervised.

Wandering - As a general rule of thumb, chickens will not wander more than 50 meters away from their coop. This is a natural instinct for them, but of course sometimes there are exceptions. In a suburban yard, this becomes more of a problem than in large acreage. I've had chickens fly over a 6-foot wooden fence into the neighbor's yard simply because the coop was placed only 10 feet from that fence. The best advice I have for this problem is to place your coop in the middle of the yard, or closer to your house than the neighbor's yard.

Digging - Again, perfectly natural for them to do. If you want to have free range chickens and a perfectly-manicured lawn, you're dreaming. They will pick a spot, dig a hole about 4 inches deep and use that as their very own personal dust bath. The reason they bathe in the dust is to prevent mites and other parasitic insects from making a home in their feathers and skin.

Panting/Flapping wings - Both of these behaviors mean that the chicken is too hot. They flap their wings to cool their bodies, and their temperature-regulators are located in their beaks. This is also why they fill their beaks with water, hold their heads back and let the water run down their throats. It cools them off better in hot weather than simply gulping up the water.

Pecking Order - This is one of the most important structures in a chicken's life, besides dinner time. Don't fret if you see one chicken pecking the back of another. It's a disciplinary action from the pecking chicken to let the other know who's boss. It's natural in most pack/social animals and will work itself out eventually. If it doesn't, or the pecked chicken begins bleeding, separate them for a few days. If you're ever curious as to which chicken is the supreme boss, check them out while they sleep. Whichever chicken (male or female) is highest on the perch, even if it's only a centimeter higher, is the boss. This is why it's important to make the perch at a very slight angle in the coop. If the boss can't be higher on the perch than the rest, it will sleep on top of the coop or up in a tree.

Flying - Yes, chickens can fly, and quite high, too! As I mentioned, you will find them up in your trees eventually, if there are branches lower than 12-15 feet from the ground. Once they discover that they can get up there, you may have trouble getting them down and back into the coop unless you cut that branch.

Communicating - Chickens are said to be capable of making over 30 distinct sounds. These vary according to mood, but it is believed that chickens have a complete vocabulary all their own. Not only that, baby chicks can recognize their mother's unique sound in a group of hens.

Sickness - Generally, if your chicken is laying on its side, or has its head down, it is not feeling well. They tend to stay on their feet at all times, with their heads up, even when sleeping. So when this isn't happening, you may want to research the symptoms more thoroughly or seek professional veterinary help.

Again, these are basic signals to look for, but more research is certainly needed if any of these behaviors become problematic. It is important to realize that while you can keep chickens as unique pets with wonderful personalities, your neighbors might not think so. If you own roosters who crow loudly, or your chickens insist on jumping the fence and hanging out in the neighbor's hedges all day, you may have some complaints. In my experiences, people are much more forgiving of behavioral problems in dogs or cats than chickens.

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Beachfront battles

Leslie Wolcott — 2008-05-07T15:35:00 00:00

Filed under: Home, Local, Activism

This post is part of a series about environmental justice, or EJ for short. The easiest way to understand EJ is to ask: Broadly speaking, are the costs of environmental degradation distributed consistently with the benefits? For instance, are the countries who are creating the most CO2 emissions suffering the lowest air standards? For a more in-depth definition, visit the EPA, Justice Net, or the Sierra Club.

This New York Times article about the Gullah/ Geechee people's fight to keep their land in Sapelo Island, Georgia, brings up some of the more difficult aspects of environmental justice. Who doesn't think it would be wonderful to live in a beautiful place? Sometimes in our quest to do that we over look those who already live there, whether they are human or more-than-human.

The members of the Hog Hammock community on Sapelo Island are fighting a battle familiar to anyone who has lived in a coastal area: rising property values based on second home and vacation property prospecting. Sapelo, accessible only by limited ferryboat shuttle, has maintained its salt marsh ecosystem, anthropologically valuable shell middens, and its cultural heritage more than most islands. Nearby Hilton Head, Tybee, and St. Simon's islands have all been nearly razed over in builders' attempts to get the most vacation homes possible on the desirable island real estate.

The problem is that as we develop real estate on islands like this, we take away just what makes them attractive. Building too close to the water endangers very delicate sand dune ecosystems. Bright lights along the coast scare away sea turtles, who come ashore to lay their eggs. For the Gullahs on Sapelo, development also endangers the way that they have always lived.

These islands, though, have a history that has been both well-documented and, according to some, unfairly appropriated by outsiders. The Gullah / Geechee people, descendants in part of West African slaves, have preserved some unique language and cultural practices -- one of which is the beautiful basket weaving famous also in Charleston's downtown market. This cultural preservation has come in the face of a number of challenges, not the least of which is higher and higher real estate prices.

In a world with limited land and a population that continues to grow exponentially, where do we find the balance between preserving culture and history and the "free market" property system? Is it possible that we don't place appropriate values on all the values a piece of land can contain?

Read more about the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society.

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The history of Mother's Day

Patricia Mayville-Cox — 2008-05-07T11:34:00 00:00

Filed under: Home

Mother's Day can sometimes feel like a made-up holiday, designed to make us buy more stuff, but Mother's Day actually has quite a weighty history. Mother's Day was started in the U.S. by Julia Ward Howe after the Civil War and was intended as a call to unite women against war. Howe was unable to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace and Howe's daughter, Ann Jarvis, took up the cause to found a memorial day for women. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, intended as a day for Americans to fly in the flag in honor of the mothers whose sons had died in war.

It only took nine years for the commercialization of Mother's Day to become so rampant that even Anna Jarvis became an major opponent of the holiday. And of course, as we all know, Mother's Day continues to be a highly commercialized day. While we can't deny what Mother's Day has become now, we can take a moment to remember its history.

Of course, it is always nice to honor our own mothers, whether it be through a simple visit, phone call or letter, because those are the best gifts. If you do feel inclined to buy mom a gift, keep it simple and check out Ellen's Top 10 Green Gift Ideas for Mom.

Gallery: 10 Green gifts for Mom

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Do you make these 6 common recycling mistakes?

Kelly Leahy — 2008-05-07T11:06:00 00:00

Filed under: Home

I was given few rules from the company that takes my recycling and didn't know how to avoid common mistakes. I knew that they take a bunch of my recyclable materials including plastics one through seven, cans, and paper products. When I ended up with a sheet of plastic with the number four stamped on it inside the recycle symbol, I plopped it in the bin. After two pickups, the workers seemed to be ignoring my plastic. When I asked during the following visit, the owner of the company told me, "we can take it but it'll just end up in the trash." Apparently, despite the markings, my number four piece of plastic was not recyclable in my area.

It's not just some plastics that end up in the trash after getting picked up from people's homes. Cardboard, metals and other items get tossed regularly. Small measures can be taken on your end to prevent your dutifully sorted recyclables from ending up in the landfill.

Broken glass is difficult to sort and will most likely end up in the trash so it's best to take care of it safely on your end or reuse it.
Food stained paper products are no good! This includes pizza boxes. If the bottom of the box is a greasy, soiled mess but the top cover is pristine, toss the bottom into the trash and recycle the remainder.
Other common paper products that can't be recycled are waxed paper and cardboard, oil soaked paper, carbon paper, sanitary products or tissues, thermal fax paper, stickers and plastic laminated paper, juice boxes, and pet food bags.
Unless told otherwise, you do not have to remove staples from paper or cardboard that is to be recycled.
Remove caps from bottles before recycling as they are often made from a different type of plastic and can contaminate the batch.
Don't bother peeling labels off from metals and glass. The recycling process will due this on its own ... but thanks for the effort!

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Do you give a crap about humanure?

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-06T18:03:00 00:00

Filed under: Home

Yes I went there. While the thought of using your own (or your family's) fecal matter in the compost pile might make you throw up a little in your mouth, it's becoming a popular topic among the self-sustainable community. It's certainly nothing new -- smaller countries have been doing it for generations -- but would it ever be something considered in the "civilized" western world?

The concept is fairly simple. Instead of using several gallons of water and an expensive sewage system to dispose of our feces, we go in a bucket and cover it with saw dust to eliminate odor. When the bucket is full, it goes into the compost pile right along with the yard clippings and food scraps. You'd be surprised at the ingenuity some people have come up with regarding these humanure systems. Of course, I don't think I need to tell you of the potential disease risks involved with handling raw feces, but once composted, it is harmless fertilizer for your garden.

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The Suburban Farmer: Preventing an Easter Egg hunt

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-06T17:32:00 00:00

Filed under: Food, Health, Home

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

While it may be fun to hunt Easter Eggs once a year, doing it several times a day can be daunting. As with any animal, you can train your chicken to perform a certain behavior just the way you'd like. In this case though, it's not fetching your slippers or going in a litter box, it's laying their eggs in their nests.

Let's first get one thing straight. Hens don't need roosters to create and lay eggs. Many people don't realize this, but there's a simple distinction. If you want fertilized eggs and to continue the generations of backyard chickens, the roosters will be needed, but to just simply lay unfertilized eggs, a rooster is not needed. In fact, according to most suburban or city codes, roosters are actually illegal to own because of the constant noise they make. No, they don't just crow at dawn.

So at around 18-22 weeks old, your female chickens will begin to lay eggs. You'll want to provide comfortable nest boxes for the chickens to lay, with no threats or dangers to spook them. Right around the 18 week time, place a small ping pong ball in each of the nest boxes to let the chickens know that this is the place to lay the little white things.

If you find that your chickens are laying in various places around your yard, block those places off and continue the ping pong ball trick. They will catch on eventually. If they continue to ignore the nest boxes, you may want to look into the placement of the boxes in the coop. They may be too low to the ground, too close to the door or too drafty. In any of these situations, the chickens will opt for better laying grounds.

For the first year of egg production, the chicken is referred to as a pullet. This is from the time of the first egg-laying to the time when they begin moulting and their egg production slows. Pullets are the most economical chickens to possess, which is the reason most chicken farmers process their pullets after a year. If you're more interested in keeping your chickens as pets, this may not be a concern for you.

Another big concern for egg-laying chickens is broodiness. This happens when a chicken lays on her eggs and refuses to get up. It's a perfectly natural behavior, but it makes collecting the eggs a bit difficult with all the pecking and squaking they'll do. The best prevention for broodiness is to collect the eggs at least twice daily. When the hens see that there are no eggs in their nest, they'll work on laying another one. For this reason, if you go on vacation or are away from your chickens for a few days during the first year of egg production, you'll need to get a friend or family member to collect the eggs daily. Trust me, preventing broodiness is much easier than breaking their broody habit once it get established, which is accomplished by picking the hen up off the eggs, collecting the eggs, and trying your best to prevent her access to that broody spot. Of course, in the situation where you want your hen to raise her eggs until they hatch, brooding is a very good thing.

I hope this little guide helped you with your egg-layers. Be sure to join me for the next installment of this series where I'll cover other chicken behaviors, and common tricks to getting your birds to play nice!

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Birds v. Cats, who should I vote for?

Sea Stachura — 2008-05-06T15:45:00 00:00

Filed under: Health, Home, Polit-eco

I want to acknowledge something controversial about myself. I let my cats outside.

They are fairly unique creatures. They stick around my house, going a block away at most. They come when called, stay out for only an hour at a time. But they are cats. While one never kills a thing, and rarely tries, the other has given up synthetic feathers attached to polls in favor of the real thing: birds.

He also happens to like chipmunks, mice and the occasional baby bunny. I am constantly saving shocked creatures from the jaws of my cat.

The killing has ceased since I added bells to their collars, two in fact. And generally they aren't allowed outside during the early morning or dusk when birds are most active. But I know I'm contributing to a problem. I know that while I may slow for all crows and red winged blackbirds nearing my vehicle, my cats do not.The Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy launched a campaign called "Cats Indoors: The campaign for safer birds and cats." In a release the two organizations said, "Scientists estimate that free-roaming cats (owned, stray, and feral) kill hundreds of millions of birds and possibly more than a billion small mammals in the U.S. each year."

I am a lover of wildlife. I dislike animals in cages. I think all animals need more and better habitat. I think sprawl is hurting those creatures. But I'm also a lover of my cats. I know their brains get stimulus and joy from running from one lawn to the next, sniffing the bushes and hissing at the neighborhood dogs.

My dilemma shouldn't be a dilemma. I should lock up my cats. But instead I've gone back to another solution, one I tried when I had more fields around my apartment. I go out with my cats. Oddly, the follow me. So we slowly walk over to the field a few blocks over. They sniff and roam, and I chase after them while on the phone or reading. It looks absurd, and I don't always have the time. But it's my compromise. If I had kids maybe I wouldn't go to such lengths. But the neighbor kids love it. And we talk about birds and cats.

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