Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

My neighbor recently told me, after learning we'd had to get rid of our 2 roos, that he thought the crow was the best part of having chickens in the neighborhood.

I had a similar experience. My first batch was straight run and contained some roos that had to go. Much, much later I ran into a neighbor from over the back fence and when I told her I am the "crazy chicken lady" who lives behind her, she perked up and started asking questions. She also said how much they had enjoyed hearing the crowing and hoped I got another roo in the future (which isn't allowed in city limits). My neighbor to my east is also very tolerant and enjoys the eggs I occasionally give him so it is only our neighbor to our west that had a problem with the roo, it seems.

I can hear it cheeping... but the pip isn't really a pip, just a crack.

Hope the chick has made some progress by the time you return from church.

***************************

I checked last night, after being gone ALL day long and had to read 5-6 pages just to get caught up! I was too tired to reply and now can't remember all of what I read - you guys are a chatty bunch.

Hawkeye - your brother's coop is coming along nicely - I'm sure he'll be very happy with it.

Ivy - you crack me up with your story-telling. I can just picture the quail hunt!

RVRoman, your DH is making amazingly fast progress on your coop. Yeah, if the chicks are 6-7 weeks old, I'd want them outside pronto too. I hope the rain doesn't slow his building down too much today.....

Trish, that's amazing that the shipped turkey eggs are doing so much better than the locally obtained eggs. I guess you just never can tell, can you?

Yesterday morning I stopped at Lowes on the way to the new place, and purchased the lumber to start my coop

While driving to get it, with DD in tow, I was glad it had worked out that she was there to help me load and unload it to the roof rack but when Lowes offered to have someone load it for me, I thought "even better" and let the young guy load it, gave him my cargo straps and he tied down the load. Off we set, and I kept telling DD I was hearing noises I didn't like. She did the teenage roll-eyes and "You worry too much, Mum" thing, so I almost felt vindicated when I braked slightly and a 2x4 flew over the hood and onto the road in front of me. Grrrrr. I pulled into a parking lot as the rest of the load, now really loose since a board was missing, threatened to do the same. Grrrr. Grrrr. Luckily the guy in the truck behind me was nice enough to stop and grab the 2x4 out of the road and drive it up to me, and then he offered to help me re-load. He was a super nice guy and between the two of us, we were able to get the load secured to where I felt confident the same thing wouldn't happen again. So I guess from now on, I may still let them load but I'm going to secure the load my own self, so I don't have to worry about THAT happening again. All's well that ends well, and we got my lumber neatly stacked in my workshop at the new house.

Then I had to come home and spend the afternoon at a baseball tournament. I was looking forward to starting to build today until we won a game in tournament, guaranteeing we would have to return to a play off game this morning. The rain has canceled baseball but also makes it harder to work on any projects. We need the rain and I really am glad we're getting it, although I'm disappointed I won't make any progress today. Now that I'm not working, I'll be able to get out there mid-week to get started as soon as the weather clears. But it is so funny to see those silly chooks when they get wet. Since I am the pied piper, even the rain didn't stop them following me all around the yard this morning but when I turned around and saw my troop, it cracked me up. I looked at them thinking "Hey, who replaced all my nice fluffy hens with this bedraggled bunch of chicks". Its amazing how small they look once those feathers are wet and no longer fluffy.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I had a similar experience. My first batch was straight run and contained some roos that had to go. Much, much later I ran into a neighbor from over the back fence and when I told her I am the "crazy chicken lady" who lives behind her, she perked up and started asking questions. She also said how much they had enjoyed hearing the crowing and hoped I got another roo in the future (which isn't allowed in city limits). My neighbor to my east is also very tolerant and enjoys the eggs I occasionally give him so it is only our neighbor to our west that had a problem with the roo, it seems.


Hope the chick has made some progress by the time you return from church.

Hawkeye - your brother's coop is coming along nicely - I'm sure he'll be very happy with it.

Yesterday morning I stopped at Lowes on the way to the new place, and purchased the lumber to start my coop

While driving to get it, with DD in tow, I was glad it had worked out that she was there to help me load and unload it to the roof rack but when Lowes offered to have someone load it for me, I thought "even better" and let the young guy load it, gave him my cargo straps and he tied down the load. Off we set, and I kept telling DD I was hearing noises I didn't like. She did the teenage roll-eyes and "You worry too much, Mum" thing, so I almost felt vindicated when I braked slightly and a 2x4 flew over the hood and onto the road in front of me. Grrrrr. I pulled into a parking lot as the rest of the load, now really loose since a board was missing, threatened to do the same. Grrrr. Grrrr. Luckily the guy in the truck behind me was nice enough to stop and grab the 2x4 out of the road and drive it up to me, and then he offered to help me re-load. He was a super nice guy and between the two of us, we were able to get the load secured to where I felt confident the same thing wouldn't happen again. So I guess from now on, I may still let them load but I'm going to secure the load my own self, so I don't have to worry about THAT happening again. All's well that ends well, and we got my lumber neatly stacked in my workshop at the new house.

Then I had to come home and spend the afternoon at a baseball tournament. I was looking forward to starting to build today until we won a game in tournament, guaranteeing we would have to return to a play off game this morning. The rain has canceled baseball but also makes it harder to work on any projects. We need the rain and I really am glad we're getting it, although I'm disappointed I won't make any progress today. Now that I'm not working, I'll be able to get out there mid-week to get started as soon as the weather clears. But it is so funny to see those silly chooks when they get wet. Since I am the pied piper, even the rain didn't stop them following me all around the yard this morning but when I turned around and saw my troop, it cracked me up. I looked at them thinking "Hey, who replaced all my nice fluffy hens with this bedraggled bunch of chicks". Its amazing how small they look once those feathers are wet and no longer fluffy.

NO more progress on the egg! It made that crack in it last night and still nothing since then. I figured it might have died in there, but just now I hear it cheeping again. Sigh. There is no pip in the crack-- just a bump up of the egg. I did notice my humidity was down to 57% when I got home from church! Ack! Unfortunately, I had to OPEN the top, and take out the egg tray and fill up the water channels again and I soaked the paper towel next to it. I did it as fast as I could and only opened it up when I had everything at hand and I was ready. I don't know, not looking good.

That is CRAZY that you had lumber slide off on the road!! Yikes!! That could have worked out to be a disaster, so I'm really glad it didn't cause an accident and a guy stopped to help you. I always have them load for me when I pick up at Lowes, but they can't mess it up-- it just goes in the back of my pick-up, and I have a long bed, so even 8ft lengths fit fine down in there. Sounds like your birds really love you! Mine love to see me coming too! Isn't it the best feeling?

 

[tweetysvoice]

Wow.. Lots to catch up on! I was down for a couple days with muscle spams in my neck that didn't allow me to move it at all. Got me some muscle relaxers and pain meds which are working great.

HEChicken, I'm so glad no-one got hurt! I've had a few accidents come into the ER with lumber that's gone thru someone's windshield after it's come loose from someone's truck! It's scary stuff! There are such nice people out there when you find them, wonderful that he stopped to help you!!

So the other night we decided to put a tarp over the inner run because it was SOAKING wet inside and I wanted an area that the chickens could run around in without having to deal with the rain (The ducks love the rain..lol) Well, last night it rained so hard and so long that the tarp was completely sagged in the middle holding water. We put up our ladder with a bucket in the middle to try to "tent effect" it so the rain would roll off, but it wasn't enough. We are still getting serious sagging in the corners. I guess this means we have a trip to Home Depot to make to try to come up with something to tent that tarp so it doesn't collect rain. It hasn't stopped raining here now since yesterday evening - which is great for the newly planted grass! And the tarp is at least making the inner run fairly dry.

Today, other than fixing the tarp, i'm gearing up for a new session in school. Got my grade back from the last class and I'm still rocking a 4.0! My next class is the study of diseases. Might be interesting. I got my syllabus the other day and it looks like i have to do a research paper for this class. I'm going to do it on Diabetes since we are dealing with that right now. DH's sugar levels have finally evened out. They aren't as low as he'd like, but they aren't at scary levels anymore either.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. I took more pics of the silkies that I'll post up later. Amber is still doing great after removing the hobble!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Wow.. Lots to catch up on! I was down for a couple days with muscle spams in my neck that didn't allow me to move it at all. Got me some muscle relaxers and pain meds which are working great.

HEChicken, I'm so glad no-one got hurt! I've had a few accidents come into the ER with lumber that's gone thru someone's windshield after it's come loose from someone's truck! It's scary stuff! There are such nice people out there when you find them, wonderful that he stopped to help you!!

So the other night we decided to put a tarp over the inner run because it was SOAKING wet inside and I wanted an area that the chickens could run around in without having to deal with the rain (The ducks love the rain..lol) Well, last night it rained so hard and so long that the tarp was completely sagged in the middle holding water. We put up our ladder with a bucket in the middle to try to "tent effect" it so the rain would roll off, but it wasn't enough. We are still getting serious sagging in the corners. I guess this means we have a trip to Home Depot to make to try to come up with something to tent that tarp so it doesn't collect rain. It hasn't stopped raining here now since yesterday evening - which is great for the newly planted grass! And the tarp is at least making the inner run fairly dry.

Today, other than fixing the tarp, i'm gearing up for a new session in school. Got my grade back from the last class and I'm still rocking a 4.0! My next class is the study of diseases. Might be interesting. I got my syllabus the other day and it looks like i have to do a research paper for this class. I'm going to do it on Diabetes since we are dealing with that right now. DH's sugar levels have finally evened out. They aren't as low as he'd like, but they aren't at scary levels anymore either.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. I took more pics of the silkies that I'll post up later. Amber is still doing great after removing the hobble!

A really cheap and effective way to tent your tarp would be to use PVC pipe and bend it into a half circle-- it can just be a low rise, doesn't have to have a high arc to it. I'll hunt down a pic where I've seen people do this..

ETA-- congrats on your grades!

 

[Hawkeye95]

OKay, I remember this one because when they built it, they got a lot of flack for the clear roofing panels they used on the coop. But in their situation it was perfect because they are practically in a forrest and have no sunlight, so it didn't matter. But the RUN is what is so cool! They just used PVC pipe and attached it to the dog run and put wire over it-- but I've seen people use this same technique to put tarps over too!

 

[pikeman94]

Hawkeye - One thought I have about my coop expansion is to go buy some 2x4x10s and replace the runners and handles with the 10' wood. This would get me an extra 2' on either end. Then, I replace the cap on the coop with a 2x10x10 and figure out a better way to attach the doors. The current method leaks as the doors open out and down so the seam is at the top. The other thing I would do with this coop is put a floor in and a ramp inside the run area. This would make the coop winterized for our area. This would also save me from having to wrap the coop each year in painters drop cloth. Ultimately, this would increase the run area to 10' x 3.6' for a total of 36 sq ft. In theory this should hold about 9 hens and since they roam the backyard, they only use the coop to lay eggs and roost in at night. Thoughts?

 

[Marty1876]

Hi everyone. Please excuse me just dropping in again, but have any of you ever had experience with a chickenn progressively weakening, musculer atrophy, isn't dead but (ugh) the owner just found maggets on her. Shes bathing her now, but I think this is a lost cause. If anyone is wise on this problem, please come to "the thread formerly known as hatch day is today", and help Quacker Jack

Here is a link.....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...nown-as-hatch-day-is-today/28490#post_8884462

Thanks, I know some of you work with lots of chickens, and vets, so please come over if you have a moment and some usefull knowledge or skill here.

 

[chicken danz]

Pikeman on my chicken tractor I have the door open to the side instead of up and down and I haven't have rain leaks at all. That might fix your problem. I also have a door that is triangle shaped at one end as well. I would definitely go with the floor and a ramp as well.
Well this morning was tough. It was the first morning I went to church without my Mom, and just 8 days since her funeral was in the same church. I called my Dad and convinced him to go with me. I think both of use cried all the way through the service. I think this has been the worst day grieving yet. Just so many memories and the preacher kept talking about loosing loved ones and things along that line.
On the good side of things they had a dinner which Mom and I never stayed for because she always had to get home to rest. But Dad decided he wanted to stay so he wouldn't have to fix lunch. It was great food. I had them sign us up for a seniors dinner next Sunday. I hope Dad will want to go. Worst part is that means I will need to cook but that's OK.
I got home just in time for the chicken buying guy but he didn't take any birds today cause the ATM in Garnett where he lived was down.
So that means he'll show up again later this week. He wasn't going to take any ducks but when he saw them the $$ went off in his eyes. He told me he'd do some checking and see what kind of market he could get for them. I shot him a price for taking the whole group of babies I had out there. I have more in the bator so there'll be plenty if he does.He also asked about my doves and I told him I would sell him all of them. He is also considering that.
I figure the more I sell the easier it is going to be to get things organized around here.
I have to go get feed first thing in the morning. I am entirely out.
I was going to clean house but I am seriously thinking a nap sounds good now.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye - One thought I have about my coop expansion is to go buy some 2x4x10s and replace the runners and handles with the 10' wood. This would get me an extra 2' on either end. Then, I replace the cap on the coop with a 2x10x10 and figure out a better way to attach the doors. The current method leaks as the doors open out and down so the seam is at the top. The other thing I would do with this coop is put a floor in and a ramp inside the run area. This would make the coop winterized for our area. This would also save me from having to wrap the coop each year in painters drop cloth. Ultimately, this would increase the run area to 10' x 3.6' for a total of 36 sq ft. In theory this should hold about 9 hens and since they roam the backyard, they only use the coop to lay eggs and roost in at night. Thoughts?

I think the 10ft would give you a LOT more room, for sure. I doubt you will regret doing that. I think your leak issues are just because your side is also your roof and the way the water sheds off is just going to leak right in. You don't need to hinge at the top-- you can hinge at the bottom if you like that. BUT I would put some kind of a rain guard on-- like screw in a piece of wood or some kind of small guttering that might shed the water off to either side right above your doors. I'm picturing it in my mind, but it would take some searching to see what I could find there at Lowes that might work for that. But if you hinged them at the top, then you could use the rubber mats that are installed under shower pans-- they are thick and flexible and you could put that over your screws to prevent it from leaking. They come in sheets and are very reasonable in price. Definitely put in a floor, and the ramp inside the pen, that will make it so much easier on you.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Well this morning was tough. It was the first morning I went to church without my Mom, and just 8 days since her funeral was in the same church. I called my Dad and convinced him to go with me. I think both of use cried all the way through the service. I think this has been the worst day grieving yet. Just so many memories and the preacher kept talking about loosing loved ones and things along that line.
On the good side of things they had a dinner which Mom and I never stayed for because she always had to get home to rest. But Dad decided he wanted to stay so he wouldn't have to fix lunch. It was great food. I had them sign us up for a seniors dinner next Sunday. I hope Dad will want to go. Worst part is that means I will need to cook but that's OK.
I got home just in time for the chicken buying guy but he didn't take any birds today cause the ATM in Garnett where he lived was down.
So that means he'll show up again later this week. He wasn't going to take any ducks but when he saw them the $$ went off in his eyes. He told me he'd do some checking and see what kind of market he could get for them. I shot him a price for taking the whole group of babies I had out there. I have more in the bator so there'll be plenty if he does.He also asked about my doves and I told him I would sell him all of them. He is also considering that.
I figure the more I sell the easier it is going to be to get things organized around here.
I have to go get feed first thing in the morning. I am entirely out.
I was going to clean house but I am seriously thinking a nap sounds good now.

That does sound like a rough morning, and I'm so sorry you are missing your mom. It just breaks my heart you are hurting like this. I hope that guy comes back and buys up a lot of your birds! Sounds like you might be having a lot more space opening up if you down size a bit. That will be kind of nice and take less of a hit on the feed bill. It's a rainy day, if you aren't feeling well, take your nap.

I think my chick is finally starting to try to hatch. It put another crack in the shell lower down.... but still, the membrane hasn't been broke. Maybe it's too hard?? Maybe my humidity hasn't been high enough the last couple of days for him. Sigh. I'm just waiting it out.