Shipped broiler chickens early this morning. Renters started chopping alfalfa this evening.

So-I have MANY loads of chicken manure to fork out and haul before the second crop alfalfa starts coming. I'm tired of hitting my head in the rafters of the hen house. Also a few loads from the broiler barn and brooder house.

I can fill four spreaders at diffent barn doors or pens and then spread. Then refill.

Anyone want to come visit? Exercise, sinus clearing, sunning and good home cooked food.

Thanks for the offer, but I think I will pass. I spent pretty much all day yesterday cleaning out cow barns.

'tis a pity that I am so far away on the east coast heh , heh , heh.I'm sure it would be a grand time spreadin'& shootin' the manure.Y'all have a wonderful time.
Kirk...

I would love to help but you are a little far away. Good luck

I realize my outfit is small, but I changed my coop to an open floor plan and put down sawdust. I push the litter out with a scraper that's pulled by one of the kids on a garden tractor. I use an ordinary plastic barn scraper and a hunk of 1/2" rope. Works fine.

I've shoveled enough chicken manure in my younger years to last me a lifetime. My grandma always sold eggs and fryers so had lot's of chicken manure. I never did like it much, but hate hog manure worse still. I'm basically covered in cow manure all fall preg testing and all spring calving and breeding so it doesn't even bother me any more.
We are going to knock down our first cut of alfalfa this coming week. Not a bloom on it yet, but it looks pretty good. I'd like to get a decent second cutting for a change. We never get three.

John, only 180 miles, but then I would have to drive suffolks while you pitched. Doesn't seem fair for you to do ALL the work!! Sounds like fun except I am starting to hay up here.

Don-don't I remember a manure pitching challenge you made me a couple years ago???

jwaller, it wouldn't be fair to you now. You are at least another year older than when we were talking about it. I haven't aged a bit!!! Besides I hate getting whipped. haven't used a pitch fork for over 2 months. I would be pathetic. I wouldn't last near as long as the minnesota senate election.

I just finished helping my amish friends clean theirs out.Around 45 loads from 2000 birds in around 8 hours.I wore my raincoat to keep it all off of me when spreading.I don't like the pequea spreaders compared to the old John Deere horse drawn spreaders.The Pequea's make the stuff fly all over the place.real messy

What's a pequea spreader?

A spreader made by Pequea.

http://www.mastlepley.com/pages/newvehicles/viewmodel/1831/1104/22284/2008/pequea-110-gd.aspx

The Peaqua may make it fly all over but that's because it's doing a better job than the JD. The JD spreaders were just manure unloaders, 'cuz they sure never shredded anything!

Looked at the Peaqua site. That machine sure DOES spread and shred.

Neighbor used to have a side unloading spreader. Spread manure with chains that rotated around the center of the large barrel shaped spreader that was completely open on one side. Took a good sized tractor but you could put on thick by driving slower or thin by driving faster.

Don't know that I've seen one for many years. No aprons to break. Could take liquid or solids and only really one moving part-the shaft down the center with the lengths of chain swinging from it.

Those chains would wear out fast and you'd have broken chains all over your place.

Gehl made a chain spreader. 1 was sold up in this country, guy claimed if you lost a calf just throw it in the load. No body parts came out whole. He also used a bit of the wacky weed so I don't know if it is the truth.

Don't know why he got rid of it. It was a Gehl.

Later got a spreader that was a V shaped wagon-like an auger wagon. Auger in the bottom moved the manure (solid or liquid) to the front and then a big fan blew it out the side. Don't think it worked too well blowing uphill.

Putting new bolts in the hanger bearing of the rear shaft of the apron (drive shaft) wasn't exactly the best way to spend an afternoon, but the Minnesota spreader this happened to has to be even older than me.

Takes many years to wear out an apron. Have never tried the new quick link apron chains.

Need to find a couple more 8.25x20 truck tires to replace the rear tires on the other Minnesota spreader. Tubes are about showing threw.

Taking off those old tires will not be a fun time for the guys at the tire shop. Changed rear tires a few years ago on the other Minn. Thought they were going to have to burn off the old ones, but finally broke the bead. Took a fair amount of beer for motivation/payment.