Consolidated Kansas

[msjfrizzle]

Quote: TOO CUTE!!!! I WANT SOME!!

 

[averytds]

I don't know if it's a better way to do a strawberry pallet or not, I just knew following the standard directions wasn't going to work for me. I'd love to post a pic & get opinions, but my phone camera decided to go on the fritz. Will try to Dr it, but not until I get a backup phone. Basically I sewed weed fabric sacks. About pillowcase size. I slipped them in between from the top of my already standing pallets & staple gunned around top. I cut slits where I wanted the strawberry plants and slipped them in. The bags are filled with a straw, compost, potted plant mixture. I also need to get about 10 more plants to finish. I didn't have to try and wrestle heavy filled pallets into position though and soil loss was/is minimal. I thought the same could be done maybe with old feed sacks or pillowcases.

Awwww Tammy.

Adorable! I have successfully moved some broodies and unsuccessfully moved others. Honestly, I probably wouldn't do anything with her, but would offer an alternative for the others. When the others are done laying if they do take her spot, she'll go back and sit and it's easy enough for you to only take the new eggs each day. At the end, she'll likely stay put for hatch. The real problem I would have is protecting the chicks from the other hens, so better if you block them and they use alternative. Don't know your setup, but those wire cube shelf panels and some zip ties can be used to make a custom cage around an area you want to separate.

Hawkeye- I think the silver gene discussion may have been about Ameraucanas. I get kind of lost in the genetics discussions at times, but I knew gold leakage in blacks was better than silver and not necessarily something to exclude a bird because of. I just didn't want you ruling out a bird for breeding that you might very well have a good use for. As to the other stuff, I've seen and heard about stuff going on in both 4H and open competitions and not just in poultry. So I know it's out there, but anytime advice is given along with a "just don't get caught" disclaimer....well I'm cosmically unlucky so I find it best to just avoid. With my luck, getting past the judges could also result in a brain fart at breeding time. Then I'd have all kinds of stuff popping up and I'd be at a loss to pinpoint the culprit because of my own doing.

 

[Trish44]

IVY, those quail are the cutest little things! We have bobwhite quail in the wild here at times. I don't know if we will have them now with the GP pups here or the wild turkeys either, because the other day the turkeys were on the other side of the fence in the neighbor's field & I heard them barking at them. I guess they know they don't belong here. Speaking of my GP pups, my DH said last night he went out to take the trash out & he saw them heading down the path going into the wooded area in front like they were on a mission. They're definitely starting to get with their jobs here & settling down, I'm so glad to see them settling into what they're here for. It makes me feel so much better about having my rabbits out there in cages & my chickens free-ranging.

Well my chicks didn't get here today, so hopefully tomorrow. I have my brooder finished, but I just didn't get it put in place yet. I decided it was just too daunting of a task to start on tonight moving things in the garage, so I just finished putting the hinges on the door to the brooder & the latch & the stand for the light. At least it's all ready to set in place now. I figure I will get a call from the post office tomorrow telling me to come get the peeping chicks.

My car is supposed to be ready for us to pick up Thurs., I sure hope it is since I have to pick up chicks at the CO-OP on Friday & meet people with almost 50 chicks in my car. Can you imagine what that's going to sound like? I probably will be driving to Wichita with them all in the backseat, fun, fun!

 

[HEChicken]

HEChicken, I like your compost bin set up. I need to do one like that and then fence it so the dreadful coyotes don't get into it. Last night we had foxes running all over and screaching. They're weird sounding creatures. I don't know what is with so many of these beasts lately. Creeps me out.

You know, I never thought about the possibility of coyotes getting into it - I was just trying to keep the chooks out. There do seem to be more foxes this year don't there? DD and I had one cross a road right in front of our car in almost downtown Wichita a few weeks ago!

 

[ChooksChick]

Well - you're right. I tried it while I was away from the computer. Shoulda just stayed put, cause that's what Nellie did. She just went back to the empty box. So ... she can have it. The other girls can just use the test nests! We'll see what happens.

Maybe we'll get a couple new babies right before I get my new knees - 20 days! Counting down!!!!!

I have had good success using a piece of cardboard to slide unter the whole works and haul them away as one at night. So long as she can't get back to the previous location (like HEchicken said) she should be good to go- but if she can get back, she may mistakenly do so after a potty break, even if she stays right after the move, so keep an eye on her.

Alternatively, you can hang a cloth across the front of her nestbox to cover all but the bottom few inches to keep the others at bay. This works very well for me. I leave it loose on the sides, so it's really only a partial cover, but it does give a bit of privacy and keep others away better.

Chooks, I'd like to learn more about how your family eats for diabetes. My aunt is diabetic, took the nutrition class her doctor sent her to, and still doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on some of the information. If you can steer me towards the right research or books or whatever, I'd appreciate it.

Bottom line: all white carbs are horrible. Complex foods are best. Corn syrup is used by researchers to CREATE diabetic animals to study: give an animal corn syrup for a few days to weeks and it becomes diabetic. I had friends who worked at Bayer and Iams and they did it all the time. Avoid at all costs!! No refined sugars if you can help it- Stevia soda, stevia in coffee, stevia to cook. NO FAKE SWEETENERS: splenda, equal, etc. are very unhealthy for a plethora of reasons. Agave and honey are good.

Grains, in general, are fine, if whole. Quinoa instead of rice. Whole grain breads, or avoid, if possible. COMPLEX carbs are best.

The rule of the plate: protein the size of your palm in 1/3 of the plate. This can be meat, beans, etc. WHOLE, COMPLEX CARBS, preferably vegetables with low or no sugar content in the other 2/3 of the plate. Lots of leafy greens.

Makes a huge difference.

PRIMARY RULE: Eat some sort of combo food, containing protein, every 2-2 1/2 hours. Our favorite is a hard-boiled egg with the yolk popped out and filled with hummus. Roasted red pepper hummus is my fave. This is an energy bomb and gives you a great pick-me-up in the afternoon with lasting energy from the protein. Stops cravings. Cheap and portable! This keeps your blood sugar on an even keel so you don't have swings. If you eat refined sugars or white foods (rice, potatoes, breads) your body has a hard time pinpointing how much insulin to release to manage the sugars. It releases too much with those foods and you end up with extra insulin in the blood which makes you crave food, even if you're full, then your liver has to release its own sugar to clean up the mess (glycogen) and you have a vicious circle. Insulin is an aging hormone. It does damage when you have too much in the bloodstream. Having swings increases your lifetime risk of strokes and cardiovascular disease, and it's no coincidence these are the 2 main causes of death of diabetics.

Bottom line: if we all ate like the food comes from nature, we'd be far better off. I have learned to avoid things with more than 5 ingredients on the label and try to eat fresh and from my own production, my friends' production, or from the produce department! We also eat gluten-free, and that makes a huge difference. It's difficult, but being sick is pretty difficult, too!

YAY!!! Silkie chicks!!! I have read that more often than not, that when a chick is born with a vaulted skull-- those usually turn out to be pullets. Mine has a vaulted skull, but who knows, because now it's becoming much easier to pass on that genetic trait to males, too. I think you'll like your Blues, they are the color that got me started into this whole thing! LOL I just loved the Blue color. Post pics when you get them!!

Some of my Silkies have vaulted skulls, but I prefer not to have that risk- it does give them a portion of the brain unprotected. I think that's freaky, and it doesn't appear to improve the crests as adults, so I'm no steering in that direction.

Hey all, I'm MUCH better today. The nausea has finally let up this evening and the eye feels just a little dry but I'm seeing clearly again and the contact bandaid is out. I think I should be good as new tomorrow. Danz, I think it did have more to do with the eye than the meds because it didn't improve even after 24 hours off the meds. So sorry about Dirty Girl. Just seems like life would take into consideration when one is seriously grieving. Just doesn't seem to work that way. Hawkeye and Danz, thought I'd tell on myself when I went through a "mad" stage when my Mom was in her last days.

My DH and I went to the tire store in Andover but when we got there the service guy wasn't up front so we just stepped back to wait. Gazing out the window in boredom I watch this guy pull up in a brand new Corvette and swagger into the store and straight up to the counter in front of us. About the time he got to the counter the service guy reappeared and Rude Guy asked his question. I could have let that go but then he smuggly turns to us with a pseudo-apologetic tone of voice and said "Oh, were you here before me, I didn't see you there" I couldn't believe my dear sweet mother was at home fighting for her life and losing while this rude loser walked the planet without a care for anyone but himself. I caustically replied "Yes, my 6'3" husband and his EXTRA LARGE wife are easy to miss, being the only living beings in this one room with you". His smug demeanor slid off his face and fell on the floor. Then he said, like the evil snake he was, "Well, excuse me for living" in a real sarcastic voice. If he thought that was going to cow me, he thought wrong. I took a step toward him and said in a low tone of voice, enunciating each word perfectly "NOT GOOD ENOUGH" all the while wondering where I had gone and praying whoever was using my mouth to do all this talking would just shut up. The guy finished up quickly and took off. I burst into tears and apologized to my husband. I said "I don't even recognize myself anymore" he reassured me it was okay and to not worry about it. Then I turned to the service guy and apologized for being so awful and explained my mother was dying of cancer and I'd become very unpredictable. He looked at me and said "THAT guy's been in here before. Believe me, you had nothing to apologize for." Oh well, he must have been glad I came at the guy like a pit bull since he certainly couldn't. So there you go. My mad story. Sometimes, the not fairness of it all is just too much.
Have a good evening everyone and if that's not possible, just hang in there.

I had one of those moments last week. A car drove down the road outside where I have my breeding facility REALLY fast, like 70, on gravel. Just ridiculous for so many reasons, but there are kids in the area, dogs, guineas, and a HUGE stable with tons of horses whose riders often walk that road, and they could have been just over a crest of one of the hills. I was HOT!!

So I waited for them to come back, as it's a dead end, and I stood out there waving my arms like I'd escaped a rapist. It took the lady a LONG time to stop, skidding as she did (I was shocked to find it was a 50-something normal-looking lady!) and I said, "Did you see how long it took you to stop??" and she immediately knew she was busted and yelled, "Do you CARE??" and hit the gas, nearly running over my foot. Of course on gravel, hitting the gas leaves you sitting still, so I had the opportunity to yell, "There are CHILDREN!!" with my arms up in the air, like a madwoman...a bit like a John Brown moment. Not a thoughtful thing to shout, but pertinent.

I'm going to get a couple of toys and a trike or something to leave in the area so folks are more thoughtful about the way they drive.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye- I think the silver gene discussion may have been about Ameraucanas. I get kind of lost in the genetics discussions at times, but I knew gold leakage in blacks was better than silver and not necessarily something to exclude a bird because of. I just didn't want you ruling out a bird for breeding that you might very well have a good use for. As to the other stuff, I've seen and heard about stuff going on in both 4H and open competitions and not just in poultry. So I know it's out there, but anytime advice is given along with a "just don't get caught" disclaimer....well I'm cosmically unlucky so I find it best to just avoid. With my luck, getting past the judges could also result in a brain fart at breeding time. Then I'd have all kinds of stuff popping up and I'd be at a loss to pinpoint the culprit because of my own doing.

We recently had the silver gene discussion on the silkie thread and in some PM's back and forth. There is an amazing silkie expert over there called Silver Silkie. ANY genetic questions and he is the guru-- he's in Belgium, and works with Silver based birds himself. He can just about sex chicks at hatch depending on what kinds of markings they have-- something like eye penciling, the kind of leakage that shows thru, etc.. So interesting to hear his feed back. But yeah, that is where I discovered that my pullet might not be so bad since all her other qualities are fine. I will definitely not be misrepresenting my birds though in a show. Just passing on what I had heard and was told to do, and asking if it was legal. I totally understand it is not.

But where you mentioned that you don't want mistakes popping up later in your breeding-- that is exactly what I was talking about why I wasn't so sure I wanted to use my broody who has the bit of Gold leakage under her beak. I just didn't want to chance it popping up later. But I think I'll note that with their papers/bands and be sure to keep track of them so I can get rid of them the first sign of leakage.

Some of my Silkies have vaulted skulls, but I prefer not to have that risk- it does give them a portion of the brain unprotected. I think that's freaky, and it doesn't appear to improve the crests as adults, so I'm no steering in that direction.


I had one of those moments last week. A car drove down the road outside where I have my breeding facility REALLY fast, like 70, on gravel. Just ridiculous for so many reasons, but there are kids in the area, dogs, guineas, and a HUGE stable with tons of horses whose riders often walk that road, and they could have been just over a crest of one of the hills. I was HOT!!

So I waited for them to come back, as it's a dead end, and I stood out there waving my arms like I'd escaped a rapist. It took the lady a LONG time to stop, skidding as she did (I was shocked to find it was a 50-something normal-looking lady!) and I said, "Did you see how long it took you to stop??" and she immediately knew she was busted and yelled, "Do you CARE??" and hit the gas, nearly running over my foot. Of course on gravel, hitting the gas leaves you sitting still, so I had the opportunity to yell, "There are CHILDREN!!" with my arms up in the air, like a madwoman...a bit like a John Brown moment. Not a thoughtful thing to shout, but pertinent.

I'm going to get a couple of toys and a trike or something to leave in the area so folks are more thoughtful about the way they drive.

Renee, that is just SICK that the woman was driving that fast on a dead end road with farms and animals and people around. I just don't know what people are thinking. There is nothing in life so important that you need to risk your life and everyone else's by driving that fast. I'm glad you flagged her down, perhaps she will think twice before doing that again. If everyone was held accountable for actions that endangered others, they would probably stop.

As for the vaulted skulls on silkies, it has been determined that they do not create larger crests, and instead often create "lobes" inside the crest for a sort of double tier look. There have been pictures posted in the ASBC so we can see what it looks like. Very interesting stuff. I do happen to have a parent bird with a vaulted skull and she did produce my chick with a vaulted skull as well, but her crest is very even. It's certainly not my intention to use them exclusively. I'm going to take the advice of Sonoran and only use birds that have nice even crests when they hit adulthood, regardless of their vaults (or non) and cull the ones that appear uneven or have lobes in them. But it was discussed that genetically, the vaulted skull was a gene that was most likely to pass down matrilineally, so it's a pretty good guess that when you get a chick with a vaulted skull (desirable or not), the chances of it being a pullet are greater than it being a cockerel! I just found that interesting and wanted to pass that info on to Tweety in case you gave her any that had them. But a lot of breeders are working with vaulted skulls now and do actually cull in favor for them. Personally, I believe they are misguided in thinking they are better, however, they have been able to successful pass on that trait to males as well, but so far, from what the genetic gurus are saying, it's still less likely, but possible. I'm just finding this whole thing fascinating! Unfortunately, I will probably be getting rid of my new chick in a couple of months (I want to see what it looks like) because one foot has the two inner toes partially fused together at the base, no separation. The other foot actually has good separation, but I will not be keeping it simply because it has a vaulted skull. But I absolutely appreciate any information you can pass on that will help me! You have so many more years working with chickens than I do, and I have found you to be a fount of wisdom.

 

[Ivywoods]

Hi Chooks

We have a similar problem. We are on a dirt road and almost all of our traffic is farm related. Some of the younger farmers (and some of the older ones!) drive their vehicles WAY too fast..pickups, service trucks, loaded and unloaded semi trucks and their cars. We have some pretty steep hills here, and one of them crests right in front of our barn. They come flying over the top of that hill, and if one of us were in the road or were just backing out of our drive or something there would be no way they could stop, especially on this gravel.

One time a couple years ago the people who farm the ground to the east of us were working out there. The mom came over the hill and stopped just a little ways past the hill, near where they turn into their field across from our house. A few seconds later here came the young son over the hill in a pickup. He was flying and didn't think about his mom stopping up ahead. He nearly hit her but skidded into the ditch. My DH and I were right there a few yards away. The mom saw it all, we saw it all, and boy did she get out and read him the riot act. He knew we were watching and was very embarrassed and sheepish about it. He has been a little more careful since then.

I just wish some of the others would have some "close calls" without real accidents so maybe they would think a little harder about the possible consequences of their speed.

Checked all of my DH's little teeny tiny quail babies this morning. All are doing well and not huddled up like they were last night. They must have just been scared. So far my DH hasn't been down to check on them. I think I see where this is going......LOL! I don't mind. I just love them all, anyway!

 

[averytds]

See, there's my problem. I am horribly unorganized and totally suck at paperwork. I'm about to the point I'm thrilled if I remember when I go into a room or call someone what it is I wanted to begin with.

There's a judge we know of that prefers vaulted skulls. Most of DD's aren't, so I pretty much resigned myself to her never placing well overall if he's judging. Still like him, but not worth the hassle to breed for. Those without have had less issues at least for us.

 

[chicken danz]

Karen I went through my angry stage when Mom was in the rest home. I think it was because my Mom and Dad had to be separated for the first time in over 65 years. But then that proved to be a good thing in the long run because my Dad got kind of used to being alone. I talked to him quite a while yesterday and am going in to spend some QT with him this afternoon. Not that I really have time but I know he needs it. We talked about my Mom's flower beds yesterday. He always complained that they were a pain to mow around, although everyone in the family took turns mowing last summer. I told him I would come in and weed them for him now and then this summer. He seemed very appreciative. Heaven's I can't do my own because it is so hard on my back and my fused wrist, but I did help her out last summer. I think he is happy I said I would take care of them because it will give him some comfort that her touches are still there.
Well my Klutz is going outside of hurting myself. I was cleaning out my hatcher day before yesterday and knocked my thermometer/hygrometer into a bucket of water. I thought it was working but the humidity is reading 21% non stop. I know it is at least 65% in there. I didn't realize how often I checked that until it stopped working. Makes me feel very insecure.
Dh wanted to go to Topeka last night. I stopped and bought a male Diamond dove and a 6 week old baby from a lady up there. She has already called checking on how he is doing. She was very attached to him. She told me she would sell the mated pair but then changed her mind and kept the female. I have 4 females so I am sure it won't be long before he picks a new mate. I hope the baby is a male as well but there is no way to tell until he is mature. My girls keep laying infertile eggs.
He said he wanted to buy the rest of the lumber for the new building. He bought all this stuff and a few things for himself and then when we got to the check out stand he stood back and had me pay. He could have warned me I think. I had just forked out $700 for a hospital bill during the day and this was another $500. That really hurt. A while back when I was buying kennel panels he threw in 4 more panels and I had to pay for those as well. He said he'd get it back to me. He purchased my feed the last time so I guess I'll just let him do it again. He forgets how limited my income is these days. I was always very tight fisted and saved all kinds of money when I worked. Then when I wanted to buy something major I just paid cash for it. I don't have those funds any more. I used the biggest chunk of my savings as a down payment on this place and money is tight. I had to vent somewhere. It's one of those things that just isn't worth causing a potential disagreement over.
I sure hope my fancy birds and game birds make me some big $$ in the future. I will definitely need to pay for this building some how.

 

[cherwill]

I don't know if it's a better way to do a strawberry pallet or not, I just knew following the standard directions wasn't going to work for me. I'd love to post a pic & get opinions, but my phone camera decided to go on the fritz. Will try to Dr it, but not until I get a backup phone. Basically I sewed weed fabric sacks. About pillowcase size. I slipped them in between from the top of my already standing pallets & staple gunned around top. I cut slits where I wanted the strawberry plants and slipped them in. The bags are filled with a straw, compost, potted plant mixture. I also need to get about 10 more plants to finish. I didn't have to try and wrestle heavy filled pallets into position though and soil loss was/is minimal. I thought the same could be done maybe with old feed sacks or pillowcases.

That sounds like it should work really well. If I'm not too discouraged by the end of this year, I may try it next year!