Consolidated Kansas

[pikeman94]

Thanks, Teresa! I love pallets. I just discovered them this year and I have all kinds of ideas for them. Ideas yes, energy, no! I haven't felt worth a flip since yesterday. I feel headachy and a little queasy. I better not be catching strep from DD. Don't have time for that.

I'm really sorry about your turkeys. That's so sad. It's really hard when you nurse them along to no avail.

Hey Pikeman, how are you feeling by now?

KarenS - I am feeling great! I have a few ouch moments, but those are becoming few and far between. I saw the surgeon again today and I have been cleared for regular activity! So let all my projects begin....again. I have a project ahead of the coop rebuild/expansion.

Another positive note from the surgeon was that the pathology on the gall bladder showed that it had been occurring for quite some time. This is somewhat of a panacea. In one month I begin stepping down off of my reflux med as the Dr. thinks it may have been a symptom of the GB. Also, I will need to talk to my cardiologist (long story there) about the possibility of coming off of my BP meds! So for 10 years this may have been the root of all my health issues.

On a different note, Saffron and the other little girls are living in the coop outside now. They are fine the older birds are ******! They only laid 1 egg between the 5 of them the other day. Talk about cranky!

It is late and I need to grab some shuteye. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Pikeman94

 

[sapphireblu76]

Ok, so over on the EE braggers thread, I have heard that Midge is definitely going to end up being a roo. Which means I will have to find a home for him as well, which makes me sad because he /she is just so pretty! I wish I could keep my boys! I do love hearing the crow these days I am going to miss it.

Well you know what that means, if Midge is really a Mitch!!! That means I have room for one more and I can bring back a BCM from texas, I found some that I like in grapevine and we are going next week to visit my parents anyway!

Oh man! You keep getting roos when you want pullets, and I can't get an accidental roo if I tried! If you are interested, I could trade you a 'Midge' EE for 'Mitch' when we meet on the 13th. Let me know, and I'll take pics of the girls I have. They are a little over a month, by not even a week, so almost the same age.

I didn't get much done today. I barely had the energy to go out to feed, water, and collect eggs today. I did 'suffer' through a little, so my boys could sit with the chicks and give them some treats. My oldest is still a little chicken shy. He does well at holding and being gentle, but if they wiggle at all he flinches and freaks them out and they fly off. My youngest had a blast and was doing really well. The chicks would eat the BOSS out of his hand, and he didn't even flinch. Now, I know those buggers can get to grabbing pretty roughly with those sharp beaks; they do it to me all the time. But, they were as gentle as could be with him. I put Daphne on his lap and he petted her very gently. She 'sang' to him and gently pecked seeds out of his hand. I really wish I would've had my camera. Watching my kids with the chickens today was such a precious moment, it was worth pushing the fatigue back and just being there.

 

[averytds]

Musta missed somethin'.....

Lots of ways to get sexed LF EEs. Buy sexed from the feed store, sexed from the hatchery, sexed from a breeder (older birds) and if all else fails, make your own EE sexlinks. Most of that applies to bantams too.


Oh! Oh!

I vote for make your own.

 

[HEChicken]

Avery, what do you cross over what to get sexlink EE's? (Inquiring minds want to know......)

 

[Trish44]

Avery, I would like to know the answer to the sexlink EE's also, that sounds interesting.

pikeman, I'm glad you're doing better & have been released for regular activities, now you have your work cut out for you.

Well all I'm off on my trip today, hopefully we won't have a cranky, miserable child all the way back, wish me luck. I hope you all have a great day today!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ivy, sounds like a neat set up to have the feed on the outside. Yeah, I bet it would mess up the crests though on my silkies. I have feeders attached to there pens up high off the floor, so I do have something that's working. I am using bunny equipment!

Danz, I hope your babies don't escape. Funny story about Ivy's bird that thought he was a turkey! Oops! hehe! Hope you got rested up last night, sounds like you are wearing yourself out.

Avery, oh good call! I didn't even consider being a tester myself. That was never on my radar. I still don't know if I want to do that. Wouldn't it be easier to just have someone else do my birds?? LOL Yeah, I may have to look into that! I would still have to be shown anyway, from the sounds of the video. I learn much better with hands on.

Medawinks-- I just use a dog clipper (the kind that looks like a guillotine) and take off the very tip of their nails. Well, it depends on how well you can see into the nail and if you can see the quick. I still ended up drawing blood when I did my rooster. I just held it tighly and it bled for about 5 minutes!!! A LONG time!! But when it finally quit, all was well. So do be careful. I haven't done beak trimming, but I've been told to use a Dremmel tool with the rotating sand paper tip. Someone else said I could just use sandpaper... but that sounds like it would take forever.

Trish, sorry about those turkeys! WOW! Personally, I wouldn't buy from that same person again. Especially since Ivy's hatched fine and didn't have this issue. I'm really inclined to believe it's more of a genetic issue than an incubated one. Silkies get like that too-- but it's because of their brains and their vaulted skulls make them more susceptible. They can get wry neck easily, aong many other problems that lead to imbalance and falling down. It is believed to be genetic, and when a bird pops up with something like that, they don't use it to breed with. There have been many discussions about it and some people will breed them anyway, even when the general consensus is not to. But honestly, I know zero about turkey, so I wouldn't go so far as to advise on what you should do with them. This is a real PITA for you, and for that, I'm just really sorry that you are dealing with this. I'll be hatching out shipped eggs here in another week, and we'll see what kind of issues I wind up with. Mine are silkie, though.

rvRoman, sorry about your roo! You sure are winding up with a lot of them! Hope you can get him rehomed quickly!

FIELD TRIP!!!!!!!!! LOL Sounds like the place to visit is Karen's house. If everyone is going to go check out her gardens, I want to come!!

 

[HEChicken]

Oh wait, wait, I've got it! I just realized - a RIR roo over an Ameraucana hen will produce sex-linked babies right?

I'm figuring something out......last year when my BSL went broody I acquired some barnyard mutt eggs from a local guy for her to sit on. Of the chicks who hatched, two were yellow chicks who grew up white. I correctly guessed from the get go that they were boys, and at 9 weeks one crowed so they both had to go. The red chicks grew up to be hens, and two laid regular ol' brown eggs, but one laid green eggs. I was stunned because she didn't look like an EE at all - no green legs, no muffs, (no little puffy cheeks as a chick). Anyway, of the eggs the BSL sat on, 7 were brown and 5 were green. After the hatch, I had no idea who hatched out of what egg. Also, the guy I got these eggs from had multiple roos and hens free-ranging all over his extensive property. So the eggs could have been ANY combo. But I'm guessing he had a RIR roo who was pretty popular with the ladies and my little green egg layer came out of a green egg and had him for a father. Sound close?

 

[HEChicken]

Trish, sorry about those turkeys! WOW! Personally, I wouldn't buy from that same person again. Especially since Ivy's hatched fine and didn't have this issue. I'm really inclined to believe it's more of a genetic issue than an incubated one.

FIELD TRIP!!!!!!!!! LOL Sounds like the place to visit is Karen's house. If everyone is going to go check out her gardens, I want to come!!

Unfortunately, I think, (and Trish will correct me if I'm wrong) but those poults came from turkey eggs that were purchased from the same person as Ivy's so they are all the same genetic stock.

She and I also purchased eggs from a local guy here in Wichita and are both disappointed with the fertility. 70-80% of the eggs failed to develop and I just opened up the ones I pulled yesterday after two weeks of incubating and they just look like eggs that have been sitting for two weeks. At least if they had started to develop I'd know they were fertile and either had something genetically wrong or I did something wrong while incubating, but to have them not even start is very disappointing. I have a couple that are looking very good so will keep my fingers crossed they make it all the way to hatch AND that these guys don't have the same issues as the ones from that other lady.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Pikeman, I'm so glad you are feeling better! WOW, wouldn't that be amazing if this was really the root of your issues! That would be nice!

SapphireBlu, sorry you are feeling yucky now, too! Bummer! I think I'm still recovering. I am just sneezing and blowing my nose a millions times a day, but my sore throat and body aches are gone now. My ears feel like there is fluid in them, though... it's a bit harder to hear. I may have to see the Dr, but I am soooo busy!!! Dang it! LOL

Trish hope you have a great trip down there.

Last night, I candled all of my shipped eggs. I think I have pretty good results! 8 of them are growing!!! One of them was clear, and 3 had an early death with blood rings. So at least I know they were fertile. Little Crack is still hanging in there! SO I'm hoping out of these 8... most of those will hatch. I threw out a couple of my own eggs that were due on the 16th-- they died early on, too. Now there will only be one chick to hatch on the 16th... and I checked on the egg marked for the 10th-- (tomorrow) and it had pipped internally, so it should be pipping today sometime I guess. Here in a while, I plan on laying it down and spiking the humidity. I have a pretty good system worked out from hatching the others. Since I'm doing staggered hatches in there, I keep the humidity around 40-50% and then right before hatch, I spike it with sopping wet paper towels and it usually jumps to right around 70% or a bit higher for hatch. Then it's easy to take them out and resume back to 40-50% again. LOL I might have to look seriously into another incubator so I can just hatch in it. I know what I'm doing is not ideal, but seems to be working out well enough for now. Sigh.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Field Trip is fine with me! Just be forewarned, you'll be seeing me in my natural habitat with my Tilley hat on and some crazy looking clothes that I don't care if I ruin. I have absolutely no pride outside and it's where I am most happy. I may even be wearing some of the garden soil on my knees or have white paint sprinkled over me, depending on how windy it is while I'm painting those runs! I am happy to see anyone who wants to come for a visit! I love to talk gardens and chickens, ducks, bunnies, yappy lap dogs or whatever is your preference! I bet one of the kids would even bring us a glass of lemonade, if I ask really nicely.

I want some turkey poults, too. I really like the Bourbon Reds and hope T's (the lady I hatched for) hens have a good hatch. Maybe the poults could stay with the mama past the two week stage so they wouldn't be so fragile. I think I'll ask her. They are tons more work than the chicks just to keep them breathing otherwise. My little cayuga ducklings are doing great. The little turkey with the unabsorbed yolk is still doing well, surprisingly.

I'm feeling great this a.m. so I'm headed back outside to see what I can get done to the purpose! Have a good day all!