Consolidated Kansas - Page 1114

I'm so sorry about Arnie, Checoucan.

It's a sad day for Danz, too. I can't imagine losing my mother.

Tweety, I'm glad your DH is feeling better. 600 is scary; it's good he got to the hospital in time.

HEChicken, my chickens peck at anything the least bit shiny. It must really attract their attention and apparently it looks quite tasty as well. Mine also peck at my freckles and paint spots on my clothes, so I guess they'll try anything.

Such sad news

So sorry to hear about your dog, Checoucan and Verna's mom, too.

Scary about the blood sugar! I have been diabetic for several years now, and have just recently gotten it under control. I can't imagine having a sugar that high!

We had to make a trip to the ER last night. We were out to dinner and my 3 yr old tipped his chair back and fell. He was crying so hard that he couldn't get a breath and was grabbing his throat, I though he was choking! He finally got a breath and let out another cry, so that was a relief. Then...I noticed the blood aaalllllll over my hand! He had a gash in the back of his head! I grabbed a napkin and put pressure on it, and it stopped pretty quickly. I'm glad I'm not one to panic, 'cause all this sure would have done it! He was fine, except for the gash, so we went to the ER. He had to get one skin staple in said 3mm gash. How do parents survive their children's childhoods!!!!

Today, I was able to get outside and get some more frame work done on the coop...and pictures. Then put a bigger water pan in the duck pen and cuddled them (kind of against their will )...and pictures. Then, spent some time with the garage chicks and fed them some BOSS...and got some pictures, lol. They sure didn't take long to learn that seeing me meant goodies!!! The BR roos even let me pet them. They are friendly enough, they just never really cared for being handled until now.

And now for pictures!!!

Front frame

Back frame

Foundation blocks...yes, they aren't level, lol. I think we're going to just pour a floor. Hubby doesn't want to help me level them again :P

Sarge giving me a talking to, because I was ignoring him XD

"It looks like water...it tastes like water...

Yup, it's water!"

Rub-a-dub dub, three ducks in a tub

I have TONS more pictures to share, but I'll save some for later. Otherwise this will be a two page long post, lol.

Sapphire and Tweety - sorry about your trips to the ER - both sound scary. 

And Sapphire, your coop progress looks great.  It looks like its going to be a big coop - are your studs on 16 or 24" centers?  I hope to make a start with mine soon.  I guess I need to try and remember to take the camera so I can take progress pics.

I went ahead and took some pics of my silkies last night - will welcome any thoughts regarding what color they would "officially" be called, and any guesses on gender.  They are about 16 weeks old.

This is June-Bug - always the first to run and greet me when I go out to see them:

And this is Mildred:

And then, because I was out there with the camera, I thought I'd take pics of my 4 spring chicks for the year.  They are now 7-8 weeks old.  From left to right, they are:

• Bantam Cochin (I got them before I got the Silkies and was thinking "living incubator".  Harrummph.  Don't think this little guy will be doing a lot of brooding.  He does have the most awesome cheek muffs though, although they don't show up that great in this pic.
• Sultan.  I already have a Sultan who finally started laying a couple of weeks ago as an 11-month-old, so I really didn't want another Sultan.  I picked this one out of the bin thinking it was another Cochin.  I realized my mistake the very next day but by then it was too late.  To compound my error, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this turns out to be a boy.  The crest is usually wild and unruly, which in my limited experience means boy. On the other hand, I took a good look at the comb last night and its looking pretty yellow so maybe I'll get lucky.
• Game Hen.  DD picked this one out and she did so well.  She is a gorgeous color (although this isn't the best pic of her) and definitely a girl.  She's tiny, tiny.  Even next to the other bantams, she looks petite.
• LF Black Minorca.  This was the only sexed pullet from the four and for a little while I was afraid they got that wrong as she developed wattles at only about 3 weeks old.  Now at 8 weeks I feel much better that they were right.  I can't wait for her white ear lobes to start to show through more.

Cherwill, I've had pretty good success with most varieties, but the Knock Outs are by far the easiest, and of course disease resistant, which makes it even easier to care for.  I have a bush that produces Hips every few years and during that time, it does seem to be more susceptible to bugs, etc and does require some feeding and extra care.  I've spent a lot of time talking to our Rose Society people and we have a nursery called "Dutch's" that is the best in the entire city for their selection and knowledge of roses.  They know me in there, I spend quite a bit of time in the during the summer.

Rosie, I'm so very sorry about your dog Arnie.  That is just terrible that he was hit.  I really don't see why people should drive so fast on a dirt road.  Back when I was in highschool, a couple of girls I knew were driving too fast and hit washboards and flipped their car.  One of them broke her back and the other died once they got her to the hospital.  I grew up on dirt roads myself and my parents were adament about the dangers of going too fast.  I nearly hit a cow one night, and i wasn't even going that fast.  So I just don't understand people's death wish when they drive like that down a dirt road.  So stupid, reckless and irresponsible for them to endanger themselves and other lives on that road.  When my DH and I got married, we got our first dog together and she just died two years ago.  I now fully understand the loss of such an incredible pet and I'm very sorry about your Arnie.  

Ivy, that's great about your hatch and the Toms bringing in the wilds!  Sounds like you are on a roll around there.  And no more worries about a little dog sneaking out, either.  Must be such a relief.  

Trish, congrats on your new incubator!  Sounds like you're really going to enjoy it!  

HEchicken, funny story about your birds.  That is really quite a story!  I can't imagine!  LOL

Tweety, wow, that is a scary high sugar level!!  Sorry about the metformin, I know a lot of women take it for PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrom)  The drug makes them insulin resistant which is the down side.  My friend just got an insulin pump and she really likes it.  Sorry about the shots, I hope he will adjust to it well.  

Karen, nice job with the eggs!  Sounds like you will have a good hatch!  :)

HEChicken, JuneBug is Blue.  Your other one is Splash.  Both are pretty!  :)  You have quite the assortment of birds there with the rest of your flock.  :)  --OH, and no idea on gender yet.  Maybe you can get a better picture of their head.  The Blue one looks like it's comb is really on the large side.  Right now, their crests are uneven and aren't shaped well enough to know if they have streamers or not.  I'd wait until they fill in evenly and you can see better.  The clues would be longer streamers coming off the crest.  A pullet will have a crest that is really nice and round and won't spilt in the front from her comb.  A cockerel's crest will usually be a bit split in the front from the comb and have longer hackles and a bit of harder feathers in his tail.  A pullet will have NO hard feathers in the tail with short hackels.  You might be able to tell now if you can really examine these things.  :)  But the picture doesn't show any of that well.  But they are pretty.  

SapphireBlue-- great pics!  Love the pic of your pup howling!  ha!  I would get out a level and tamp those block down or add sand under them to get them level for your foundation.  

Wow, Tweety!  600 Blood sugar.  That had to have been scary.  I sure hope they get him regulated soon.

Sapphire-I'm not one to freak out, either, but I'm sure it would have had me pretty concerned if my toddler hit his head and then didn't breathe like that!  Scarry stuff!

I just came up from the basement.  Of the eggs I took from the broodies after they left the nest, two eggs were pipped yesterday.  This morning I had two cute little yellow wheaten chicks.  I hope some more of them hatch.  I think there are about 5 of them left, but several of them were pretty questionable when I candled them.  I went ahead and put them in anyway.

Road trip again today.... tell ya'all about it later.

checoukan, tweety, sapphireblu, You guys have really been through it. My sympathies are with you all. Hugs to each one.

sapphireblu, with 8 kids I've had my share of horror stories, broken elbow that required surgery, appendicitis, asthma attacks that turned a kid's lips blue or the time 6 of 8 had the stomach flu. It's rough and many times I've wondered the same thing as you, how do people survive their kids childhoods? Thank the good Lord, I'm not one to panic, either. I get an instant "to do" list in my head like an IM. After all the drama is over I usually get sick, recover, and move on to the next crisis with more gray hair, which is easily covered. or not, as my mood dictates!  I wanted to thank you for your pics! Loved them all! Sure made me smile on an overcast day! I LOVED the pic of Sarge. What am I talking about? I LOVED them all -- nice job!

Yesterday was crazy busy! My husband went to pick up the calf hutches and the guy, an auctioneer by trade, let him load them in the truck before telling him the price was $225 each. Well, the ad certainly didn't say each and DH thought the guy was trying to pull a fast one and so did I. DH called me, explained the situation and asked me what I wanted him to do. I asked him if he had the feeling the "mistake" was deliberate and he said it seemed so. I said "Don't take either of them". DH says "Are you going to be disappointed not to have at least one"? I told him the only thing I felt badly about was that he'd made the hour trip for me for nothing. He said "Well, okay, because I wouldn't buy the one, either". So we didn't and I have to say my DH was so sympathetic over my loss, when the chickens aren't even his deal, I was really touched by the whole thing. He kept reassuring me that he would build me plenty of breeder pens. I truly was hoping to save him some work, but that's life. We need to use up the excess boards around here anyway!

I didn't get near the stuff done in the yard I had planned because I needed to take care of DH's errands since he was going to be off on a wild goose chase after the calf hutches. I did get the necessities done, weeding, feeding, mulching so that I'd be ready for rain if it comes today. While I was working on my projects after the kids were out of school, and with their help, a Canadian goose pair hung out with us. They kept their distance but were very close and curious about what we were doing. They swam in the pond for awhile, keeping an eye on us, and then went to the lagoon  to hang out for awhile. After we fertilized our baby fruit trees and checked the potatoes I have planted between them, we started gathering up our stuff and they slowly walked over to the fruit trees to see what we had been putting on the ground. Funny birds. I wonder if they haven't built a nest by the pond or lagoon somewhere. I ordinarily would just love the heck out of having them nearby but should I be concerned about them passing disease to my flock. The coop is very nearby and the fence will go right to the water's edge of the pond. Should I chase these two lovebirds off. I've seen huge flocks of Canadian geese all over the place and it doesn't fit my vision for my place! I don't want to disturb them unless I really should but if they're young ones would be compelled to return here, like barn swallows, that would not be good. Anyone know?

Danz, just in case you check in to read up, you're never far from my thoughts and prayers.

Karen, I think I missed a post about the calf hutches.  I've never heard of such a thing and would be interested to know more about them but yeah, that would make me mad too, to drive for an hour only to have them try to pull a swifty.  Its a good thing gas is practically free at the moment.  Oh wait, its not.  Grrrr....

I like the Canada geese too.  Last year a pair laid a clutch of eggs by my in-laws pond.  I've seen a variety of wild birds on our own pond already this year and enjoy having them there.  I'm not sure on the disease question though - will be interested to hear what others say.

OMGosh, HEChicken, I forgot about your funny birds! You know I'm coming around to the frou-frou birds and those first two are just hilarious. They look seriously like they just got out of bed! I have a couple Sultans too, as you know. They are too sweet for my huge flock, I fear. They always seem to be running away. Just a few more weeks and the flock will be much smaller so that should help. I'm hoping and praying we get our birds out on pasture this weekend and in their new coop. I can't wait to see them enjoying the great outdoors!

I worried about my Sultan last year.  DD picked her out at chick days but she was the only bantam among a flock of LF and I worried she wouldn't be included.  There was a time when she did seem to lead a quite solitary life and if I could have thought of a good way to rehome her, I would have done it.  Both DH and I noticed and worried about her.  But somehow she got herself included in the flock and is now right in there with them - doesn't seem to be picked on or anything.

There was one incident with her that I really wish I had videotaped.  It was back when I still had my roo and when I say he was big, he really was a monster.  I've never had such a big bird before and he wasn't even done growing.  Anyway, one day I watched as the Sultan was getting a drink out of the waterer, and the roo wandered over and wanted a drink too.  He bent his head to drink and the Sultan froze.  Then right as he thought it was going to be okay, she raised her head and gave him a look that apparently said "Just who do you think you are, young man?"  He cowered and turned his head away from her, looking as submissive as he possibly could.  She sniffed "well, that's better then" and went back to drinking.  She let him get one sip but as he went back for a second, she gave him another LOOK and again, he looked away submissively.  This went on for several minutes.  She seemed to really be enjoying her power over him and that she had the ultimate say in whether or not he took any particular sip.  Hilarious.  And made even funnier by the huge discrepancy in their sizes.  That was the day I realized she was going to be okay!  So I worry less about my second little sultan.  I guess if he turns out to be a boy, I can put them together and make some little sultan babies.