Consolidated Kansas

[tweetysvoice]

Well, so far so good, but I don't want to jinx it. We let quackers out of the kennel and she started off by just stretching and running and non stop quacking. Took a long bath in the pond (Ducky went with her, but the other two are still ignoring the pond other than drinking). She ate peas and all sorts of stuff right next to Goose, and so far no nipping or chasing. I was out there for over an hour (in the rain). Came inside and keep peeking out. So far we might be ok, but it's only been a couple hours.

The chicks were funny when it started to pour. They had all decided to finally venture out into the outer pen on their own for the first time. Nestled up and was taking a nap near the grass bush thing and the skies let loose. They started running in circles and acting as all hell had broke loose. I herded them into the inner coop and they all ran into the duck house where they stayed until the rain had let up a little. It was hilarious cuz the ducks were all enjoying and playing in the rain, beaks up trying to drink the drops, and here are the chickens acting like something evil was coming to get them!

Guess everyone has to have the first time for rain.

 

[sapphireblu76]

Tweety, that's so funny! I hope Quackers has learned her lesson

Danz, hope your mom is okay

Thanks for the input on the eggs, everyone. I ended up tossing two; the clear one and the one with the blood ring (there was nothing good looking in there anyway) The other 12 have quite a bit of movement and veining, so I will leave them alone for awhile now.

Someone was talking about thermometers and hygrometers...I know it's not fancy, but I was able to get them fairly inexpensive at Petco the other day. They are for reptiles, but they seem to be working really well in the 'bator. You can get just a therm or just an hygrometer for about $5 and a combo for about $11.

I have chick pictures to share today. I went out to the garage and took pics of the more interesting ones. I would love some feed back, I have no idea what some of them are, or what their color pattern would be called:
This one is a Bantam, and that's all I know. I LOVE the color pattern, though
This one, I got out of the Banty bin, but it's bigger than the other Banties. White Cochin???
Here's another Banty. Is this a Frizzle? A Cochin?
This one is a Banty, too. She is so much tinier than the other Banties I have. OEG?
Here's another shot of her.
This is one of my EE's. I love her coloring, not sure what it's called.
Here's another EE. Buff? Is that the color?
One of my fryers. He has black fronts on his legs. No idea what he might be.
Another fryer. Not sure what he is, either.
Another EE (with her head down) LOVE this color! Looks blue and red?
My darkest EE. Don't know what the color is called.

Any comments or input appreciated. I've learned/am learning so much from this group ^_^

 

[chicken danz]

One two and three look like cochins to me. The top chick looks like a silver laced cochin to me. Of course it is hard to judge size by pictures. The fryer looks like a New Hamp or RIR to me. That one banty looks like it could be a female duck winged pheonix.
I met Rob today (in the rain). What a wild trip. Nice to meet you. I stopped 2 places on the way home looking for meds for the pullets and couldn't find what I wanted. I checked in on the others and they seem to be fine. I'll recheck in the morning when I have more light.

 

[WichitaKidd]

My little coop got it's first real weather test today. Heavy rains & wind really put it to the test. For the most part everything stayed dry. Except for the nest box...it was soaked on the inside.

Hope that we have a break in the rain so things can dry out. Haven't decided whether or not I should worry about it. Thinking about drilling some holes in the bottom of the box for drainage. Then again, this could also create possible draft issues. Anyone else have this problem? Do I try to fix it or not? Might just be one of those things when you have nest boxes on the outside of the coop.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I'm off to bed-- but it looks like I have 3 eggs developing!! One of them already has a big bean in it-- but the other two are 2 days behind... so I'm not surprised. Wow... who knew a good thermometer was really the trick to all of this. (yeah, that's sarcasm)

 

[Hawkeye95]

My little coop got it's first real weather test today. Heavy rains & wind really put it to the test. For the most part everything stayed dry. Except for the nest box...it was soaked on the inside.

Hope that we have a break in the rain so things can dry out. Haven't decided whether or not I should worry about it. Thinking about drilling some holes in the bottom of the box for drainage. Then again, this could also create possible draft issues. Anyone else have this problem? Do I try to fix it or not? Might just be one of those things when you have nest boxes on the outside of the coop.

My box is completely dry-- I just checked it again today. But I don't have a lid on top-- I didn't want to deal with trying to figure out how to keep water out of it. I have seen a lot of people use a rubber inner tube to help seal up the top where the hinges are. I think you could also maybe caulk around it?? I'm not sure. But I don't think a wet nest is a good idea. For one, I'd think it would rot out pretty quick at that rate. If you check out the Coop section-- other people have used your type of design with the lift up top and they had water issues, but they figured out really ingenious ways to solve it! Might want to start there. If you can't find anything, tomorrow I may help you dig up a couple of solutions. They are buried in the coop design pictures. I'm sure you can figure out a great way to keep the water out.

 

[pikeman94]

Danz,

It was nice to meet you too! I will have to bring DD and DS out to your farm sometime.

Life is going to get interesting in the next two weeks as I will have surgery to get my gall bladder removed. No stones, but it has decided to just quit. Eating anything now is painful so I am hoping the removal makes life a tad better.

I got the Speckleds home and have them separated from the other pullets. I am running some Duramycin through them now. I will give it 24-48 hours and see how that one pullet is doing. Thanks again KarenS for the birdies and Danz for playing foster mom.

Now, on to the rest of the evening duties and then bed.

One two and three look like cochins to me. The top chick looks like a silver laced cochin to me. Of course it is hard to judge size by pictures. The fryer looks like a New Hamp or RIR to me. That one banty looks like it could be a female duck winged pheonix.
I met Rob today (in the rain). What a wild trip. Nice to meet you. I stopped 2 places on the way home looking for meds for the pullets and couldn't find what I wanted. I checked in on the others and they seem to be fine. I'll recheck in the morning when I have more light.

 

[Kansaseq]

Hi Pikeman, are you in South Olathe? I didn't know Olathe allowed chickens.

 

[pikeman94]

I live on the western end of known civilization next to a farm. I am off of K-10.

Olathe's Animal control laws say nothing about chickens. So as far as I know they are ok. Plus, all of my surround neighbors like them and like the eggs too! The family that owns the farm are obviously okay with the hens as I got some from them They have told me if it every becomes a problem I could move my ark over the fence into their pasture next to my house. However, I know of other people that have backyard chickens in Olathe. If it is a problem, I would work to get that changed as long as I had some help.

Where are you located?

Hi Pikeman, are you in South Olathe? I didn't know Olathe allowed chickens.

 

[Trish44]

Pikeman, if you're having Gallbladder trouble, get it out, you will feel so much better after you do. I had problems for years & put off doing anything about it until finally I couldn't take it any more. When I went in the Dr. asked me why I waited so long to do it & I said I don't know. My DH & I have both had ours out, his common bile duct was almost plugged with stones & mine was just angry & inflamed. We can't handle a lot of fat now without the gallbladder, but we couldn't handle it the way it was either. We both were having gallbladder attacks & a lot of pain. Just get it done! The way they do them these days it's in & out surgery the same day & you have a few days of being sore & that's it, nothing like they used to be.