Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz, one thing I've noticed on the feathering is that the Reece BR's feather in REALLY slowly. I have one hatch that consists of both NH and BR's, that all hatched on the same day. They are now a little over a week old and the NH has well developed wing feathers while the BR's have not begun to develop feathers at all yet - they still just have the baby fluff they hatched in.

I just learned I am to "rescue" approximately 7 laying hens this evening. DD works for some people who are going through some hard times right now and she just texted me to say they are out of chicken feed and will I come and get their hens. I decided rather than move them in the heat of the day, if they can hold on for a few more hours, I'd rather transport them in the cool of the evening. I feel bad for them so I will take them some food to eat on their way home, if they aren't too stressed by then to eat. I have no idea what breeds or how old - I don't need any more chickens so I am really just doing this to help out these people.

This, just as I was congratulating myself on reducing my feed bill slightly last night. I sold a pair of turkeys and feel really good about the home they went to. Originally the woman just wanted a tom to go with her two Bourbon Red hens but when she saw mine, she kept exclaiming about how healthy they look and in the end she decided to take a hen as well, because she thought it would help the tom's transition to his new home, to have a companion he knows. I had originally hatched the turkeys to grace our table but at the end of the day, I'd rather see them in a good home.

If anyone is looking for some Royal Palms, send me a PM. I hatched a bunch this year, and while I do plan to keep some as my breeders for next year, any I don't rehome, will have to be dinner since I can't keep this number over the winter. They hatched in Spring so are about 5 months old now and very easy to distinguish the hens from the jakes/toms. The jakes are all displaying and gobbling, and all of them are getting close to their adult size. They are REALLY healthy as in addition to feeding them a quality feed, they free-range most of the day and eat a ton of greens and every grasshopper they find (which is a lot). The result of the natural, high protein diet is beautiful, healthy birds with wonderful feather quality. They are also really friendly as I raised them in the brooder. They come running when I call them, and flock around my feet - very easy to pick up and handle. I need to go out and get some pictures of them. When they display, they are really beautiful as their snoods and flaps turn a very bright shade of red, while their heads turn a bright shade of blue, and those colors against the white/black of their feathers is really stunning.

The woman who bought the pair last night talked me into keeping two toms over the winter. I had originally planned to only keep one as I didn't want to deal with the fighting but she pointed out they probably won't fight until spring, and if I only keep one and something happens to him, I have no way to breed next year. That makes sense. So I've decided to keep two toms, 2 hens and one that I believe to be asexual. If, in the spring, both toms are still healthy, I will probably rehome or eat one of the toms, in order to keep the peace around here.

I'm glad you found a good home for a couple of your turkeys. My two I got from you are doing great & are just about as big as the two hens I already had here. You know what's funny though is that Bandaid still isn't gobbling, I can't figure out why. His head is pretty bright red most of the time & his snood is getting bigger, but he just doesn't gobble yet & really hasn't displayed either. I agree about keeping two toms, look what happened to me when I lost my tom. I was just dead in the water with being able to raise any turkeys this year, it was pretty sad.

 

[cherwill]

So I posted my 2 cockerals on a local Facebook page for animals to give,sale or trade. The guy who wants them I bet will be wanting to feed them to his snakes.....thats no different than someone using them for meat right?? Somehow it makes me sad......but I do like snakes as well and understand that they need to eat as well.

That's a good way to look at it. It's the natural cycle of things, too. Everything has to eat.

I just learned I am to "rescue" approximately 7 laying hens this evening. DD works for some people who are going through some hard times right now and she just texted me to say they are out of chicken feed and will I come and get their hens. I decided rather than move them in the heat of the day, if they can hold on for a few more hours, I'd rather transport them in the cool of the evening. I feel bad for them so I will take them some food to eat on their way home, if they aren't too stressed by then to eat. I have no idea what breeds or how old - I don't need any more chickens so I am really just doing this to help out these people.

It's a nice thing to do. I'm sure they're very thankful that someone can help.

Hi, I was born in LA, lived my grade school years in Redondo Beach, and a couple of years in Manitou Springs, CO. Then we moved to Santa Ana near Edinger and Euclid, by Fountain Valley and Mile Square Park.

I lived all over OC when I was an adult, and for a few years in Visalia, on the road to Sequoia Park.

Finally, in '99, when all my kids had moved and I was by myself, I started moving to see where I'd like to live. I found my husband in Seattle (we had gone to High School together in Westminster, CA - La Quinta, if you know it.) He was born in Wellington, KS and we came here to retire. I'm not there yet, though!

We used to go to Mile Square Park all the time. My favorite memory is the time we saw a guy walking around the water while his otter swarm near the shore. He told us it never got far from the edge because it was afraid of deep water. My brother's least favorite memory is the time I hooked his nose when we were fishing. Yanked on the line, too, just like I was taught, to set the hook.

Well, another hen besides Dorothy finally decided to lay an egg, but now Dorothy seems to have quit. She's already molted, so there's no excuse for her to slack off.

 

[chicken danz]

Yep HeChicken the Reece barred rocks keep the essential areas bare forever it seems. But boy are they worth it when they feather in. Sure would be tempting to get some of your RPs. I love my turkeys. But I have too many already. My biggest midget is a boy. It's finally apparent. I've been watching all of their snoods. I am still hatching though. The girls just keep laying. I sold two bourbons and two midgets yesterday. They were well started. It's so hard to let them go cause I love them all. Anyway I know this biggest boy will be dinner some day unless someone needs a breeder before he gets full grown. I wish they would all mature so I could pick out some girls for next years breeding.
Darn it if I didn't have to feed all these birds I would probably have thousands of them.
I kept two boys in my midgets. They got pretty mean with each other before I butchered the other boys. Once I got down to two of them they seem to do okay. Rarely do those two fight. But they sure like to argue with my bourbon red Tom between the fence. I have read it is best to have two boys and rotate them out. Breed with one for a couple weeks then switch out to the other. It improves fertility and is easier on the Toms. Of course that requires another pen for the second Tom. Nothing is ever simple.
I still have a couple of blue slate poults as well. I probably need to sell those.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Well, found another chick that was hurt, similar to the one I culled. I'm quite sure the injury was caused by the broody mama. I took all the eggs from her because I know she will just kill them once they are born. I'm mad at her... argh... I'll never let her hatch again.

The injured baby is now in the brooder in the house. I put a few chicks in with her/him to keep it company. I use bluekote so other chicks won't pick on it. I have been spraying Vetrerycin wound care on it and hand feed diluted pedialyte to her. She seems to be in good spirit. Her injury isn't as bad so I'm hoping she will make it. I named her Iamstrong.

It sure is hot outside. The pool pump quite on us so DH just got a sump pump to move the water around until the replacement part arrives next week.

Stay cool.

 

[HEChicken]

Well, found another chick that was hurt, similar to the one I culled. I'm quite sure the injury was caused by the broody mama. I took all the eggs from her because I know she will just kill them once they are born. I'm mad at her... argh... I'll never let her hatch again.

The injured baby is now in the brooder in the house. I put a few chicks in with her/him to keep it company. I use bluekote so other chicks won't pick on it. I have been spraying Vetrerycin wound care on it and hand feed diluted pedialyte to her. She seems to be in good spirit. Her injury isn't as bad so I'm hoping she will make it. I named her Iamstrong.

I'm sorry about your hen. Sometimes they can learn. I've only had one hen that did this, and she hurt a chick quite badly the first time I gave it to her. I took it away and gave it to another hen, who cared for it very well but when it was a few days old, the original hen decided she wanted it back. The chick went with her again and this time she took really good care of it. I don't know what was in her head that first time, but over time she has learned to be a good mother. She is really not a "natural" maternal hen, though. She is now co-parenting a batch of 8 chicks with another hen. They are in a small "nursery" pen, and every night this hen leaves the 8 chicks with the other hen to go to bed in the nursery, while she returns to the coop to roost. First thing next morning she heads straight to the nursery and waits for them to come out. She then spends all day long with them, but deserts them come nightfall again. Its like she just doesn't "get" that parenting is a 24/7 occupation. Fortunately the other hen, a Cochin, is taking really good care of them at night although now that the chicks are growing up, she has trouble fitting all 8 of them under her...

 

[Trish44]

I have only had one hen hatch out chicks & let her keep them. It was pretty wet out there at the time & although she seemed to take good care of them they didn't make it. I think it was just too wet for them at the time & they got sick. That same hen is now sitting on eggs again, a wheaten Ameraucana in the igloo dog house in their pen. It's been so hot I'm not sure the eggs will hatch, but we'll see.

tweety, I'm sorry you're having these issues with your hen, I hope the chick heals & makes it OK.

I'm sitting here waiting on some people who are driving 3 hours to pick up some Swedish Flower Hen chicks from me. That's quite aways to drive for chicks, but I guess I've gone about that far before to pick up chickens myself. It depends on how bad you want them I guess if you can't find what you want locally. These chicks are just the prettiest ones I have hatched to date, there are several colors & I think they may have at least one or two mille fleur colored ones, my favorite.

 

[Aliaslucyvp]

Cherwill - I have to drive with the cruise control on at all times! As you probably remember, "55mph" is an average in CA - if you have to drive for 5 miles at 30 mph, then you can go 80 to catch up - hopefully, the average is around 55! Here there are far too few cars in front of me to keep me at the speed limit. )

 

[chicken danz]

Aliaslucyvp, that sounds like Oklahoma city. If you weren't going 20-30 mph over the speed limit you'd get run over...but at rush hour nothign moved. I was a police officer there and I had to learn to drive again when I moved to Kansas!

People used to call me the blue streak. ( I had a blue car.)
I've had way too many broodies hatch chicks successfully. The only problem I ever had was other hens pecking the babies if they were all in a pen together. And of course they always leave viable eggs in the nest when they think they are done hatching. I can't help but candle them and throw them in the incubator. Then we have to play guessing games as to when and what it will be.
I spent the balance of the afternoon laying in bed. I just couldn't get myself going. The tylenol wasn't getting completely rid of my fever and my eyes are swelling with the stupid allergies. I did get up to go put my turkeys up and I have another missing hen tonight. At this rate I am going to have to keep all the midget poults just to rebuild my girls. I just worry about them being penned all day in this heat. Their pen isn't in a cool spot. The new turkey coop is done except the roost but I still have to build the pen so I can't move them there yet. It's a shame. It's all under the trees.

 

[Aliaslucyvp]

Danz - how do you lose your chickens? We had a dog down the street kill ours a couple of times, and stray dog once, but mostly it is coyotes.

Here is off topic advice: I am the allergy queen, so I read everything about them that I can...this year year I read about stinging nettle soup (fresh nettles) for allergies. I can send you the link to the articles, if you like.

Next year I will absolutely find a patch and gather nettle to try it!

I smile about the Blue Streak - OK city must be like CA!
)

 

[Trish44]

Aliaslucyvp, that sounds like Oklahoma city. If you weren't going 20-30 mph over the speed limit you'd get run over...but at rush hour nothign moved. I was a police officer there and I had to learn to drive again when I moved to Kansas!

People used to call me the blue streak. ( I had a blue car.)
I've had way too many broodies hatch chicks successfully. The only problem I ever had was other hens pecking the babies if they were all in a pen together. And of course they always leave viable eggs in the nest when they think they are done hatching. I can't help but candle them and throw them in the incubator. Then we have to play guessing games as to when and what it will be.
I spent the balance of the afternoon laying in bed. I just couldn't get myself going. The tylenol wasn't getting completely rid of my fever and my eyes are swelling with the stupid allergies. I did get up to go put my turkeys up and I have another missing hen tonight. At this rate I am going to have to keep all the midget poults just to rebuild my girls. I just worry about them being penned all day in this heat. Their pen isn't in a cool spot. The new turkey coop is done except the roost but I still have to build the pen so I can't move them there yet. It's a shame. It's all under the trees.

When we go down to visit my son in OKC we have to be careful because people do drive like maniacs there. We couldn't even begin to keep up with my son when we had to follow him somewhere. He dodges in & out of lanes & they just drive like there is no tomorrow.

Danz, I hope you find your turkey hen, I know how that feels to be missing one. My hen that has done the disappearing act a few times now is acting broody again & it's not like there is a tom old enough to breed with for fertile eggs. She is squatting whenever someone gets near her so I'm going to have to keep her shut up again or she will disappear. I don't know why that one has such a tendency to go broody, the other one never has.