Consolidated Kansas

[sapphireblu76]

Oh my gosh JosieChick, don't tell me that. Do you sell hatching eggs? (Say no, please say no.

) But really, do you?
Oh dear. We chicken ladies do get ourselves into some predicaments. He'll be fine, I'm sure, maybe. Just tell him to be thankful it isn't 8 kids, 4 dogs, 2 cats, 6 ducks, 2 bunnies and 100+ chickens and a huge garden that needs to be maintained. That'll make him count his blessings and lucky stars!

LOL! I look at it this way, while I'm gone, he'll get a taste of what I have to do everyday

then, when I get back, maybe he will appreciate me a little more. Naw, I can't complain too much. He's a great guy, just doesn't know how good he's got it.

Anyone know how to get rid of voles? I thought I had this problem stopped, but the little bastards are back and eating the chicken feed. I can't be sure, but it looks like they are leaving turds in the girls water dispenser. Grrrrrrrrrrr.........

Our barn cat eats them

Oh this is great! I was just browsin' Craigslist and came across this ad:
http://wichita.craigslist.org/grd/3006740429.html
Naturally, I was wondering how it could be converted to a chicken coop but then laughed out loud about the part

Aww, the post was gone, but that's funny.

I had to look very closely to find the dog, but it's there.

Funny, how everything looks like a chicken coop to us, but I bet it would make a nice one.

I candled the Lav Orp eggs last night and out of 23, 9 are growing. That's better than 0. Hope they hatch!

Another Dr. appt for DD this a.m. Tomorrow I'm helping watch little kids for a MOPS group, you know where the moms of preschoolers get to do something fun without worrying about their kids. I would have loved something like this when I had littles! It's fun to help out. The poor moms come in a bit frazzled and then leave happy.

Oh, I'm envious! I want some Lavender Orpingtons so badly.
That's so great that you do that for the parents. I know I really appreciate the ladies that volunteer here to watch the kids during Parents Night Out for Early Headstart.

Medawinks, How old are your Mille's. Maybe Renee could explain that better or someone who raises them. I know the sussex get more speckles as they get older.I went back and looked at this guys pictures and even found one of some of his chicks which showed some lighter color influences. How old are the chicks? The white should be at the tips of the black. OK chicken experts jump in here. My understanding is that the porcelains have a very recessive lavender gene which makes them a very pale lavender toned white.
Here's a couple pics I got of this guys birds he had taken.
I am assuming that white comes in as the feathers develop.
I was too tired to post last evening. I worked way too hard and by early evening I couldn't walk. I had my back messed up and my sciatic nerve was going nuts all the way down to my foot. It seems every day I have some unexpected project to take care of that keeps me from getting much else done. Then I ended up spending a few hours pulling weeds out of my iris bed. I never even got that done last year. It was so dry I couldn't get them out of the ground. It was just moist enough that some of them came out. I have this huge pile of volunteer brome that I pulled out. I have to load it up this morning and I'm going to put it in the ducks' pen. They will love me for it. It might make it smell a little better for a day or two also.
The pump I bought for my Mandarin pond quit yesterday. The bearings are shot on it. I paid $10 for a 2 year warranty on it. Boy am I glad. Now I have to find my papers and make a trip to Topeka to get it replaced some time. I have a very expensive pond pump I retrofitted to make work until I can get a new pump. But that leaves me without one to pump the pond dry to change the water. Just one more thing to take a chunk out of my day.
Hawkeye I never knew those trees were called Catalpa trees. I looked them up after I read your post and those things were all over when I was a kid. I always thought they were beautiful too. I used to grab the pods and pretend they were big beans from my garden. I'd put them on the little toy plates for a "tea party." Okay don't judge, Some people like having beans with their tea!

No wonder my sisters always told me I was weird.
I 've always like more sun and big open spaces but in the last few years I've come to wanting more and more trees. I hate to admit how much I've spent on trees that just didn't make it. Last year I bought a magnolia and watered it faithfully all summer when nothing else got water and the darned thing died this winter. I have no idea why. I also had two japanese maples and two spruce that died last summer. The spruce I understand. It was just too hot. The maples however had been established and were about 4 years old. They just burnt up in the sun regardless of water. My soil is such thick awful clay it's a wonder that anything grows here.
Cherwill there will be no looking back when you get out in the country. There are times I wish I didn't have to drive so far to get to town to get something, but the benefits out weigh any of the bad. I love just sitting on my porch and looking out. I can sit and stare and enjoy the peace and quiet for hours. Unfortunately my quiet has been interrupted because I always end up with three big white dogs that want to be in my face each time I sit down. But just the same it's still wonderful out here. I don't have neighbors bothering me or watching me. I can watch wildlife and dress like I want to go outside. It's just a wonderful thing to be near nature.

Those are some beautiful birds!
I hope your back is feeling better, that's an awful sensation.
I love trees, we have a BUNCH of evergreens out here. They serve their purpose as a wind break, but there are just too many. Hubby can't do anything with them, because he's allergic to anything in the evergreen family...pine, spruce, cypress, etc. Our soil is almost all sand, so we're pretty limited on what we can plant. We have an ornamental pear, mimosa, some unknown tree, and a mulberry that were all here when we moved in. The mimosa was beautiful, but it was just so hot last year, it died. I kept hoping it would come back this year, but nothing so far. Fortunately we have some saplings growing that we can replace it with, but it is so big and they are so small; it will take YEARS for them to get that big. I agree, nothing like the peacefulness of the country ^_^

On the trees - My husband and I just bought a house and moved to the country this winter (November). The house came with a well-established wind break that surrounds the yard with a gap for the plumbing on the East side. I have to say that I love the shade the trees provide in the yard, but it greatly reduces the options I have for planting other trees (too much shade - who would've thought!!). We do have some pasture with the house, but it is very long and narrow and most of it is off limits for planting trees because of the distance from a water source. However, we chose a corner of the yard that gets less shade than the rest and planted a cherry tree, a peach tree, and a blackberry bush. I am so excited and looking forward to fruit in a couple of years! Also, we discovered that we've got some currant bushes growing in the fence line in our pasture. I plan to dig a bush or two up and bring them closer to the house! In the future, I would love to get another cherry tree, another peach tree, and maybe some other trees. Oh, and we've got a whole row of mulberry trees in the wind break. It will be a lot of work to pick them thanks to the height of the trees (probably 30 feet tall), but I am already looking forward to all of the things I can do with a plethora of mulberries!

All of the chick/duck pictures are adorable! Thanks for sharing, everyone!

I started off the day this morning by putting my ducks out in their temporary pen, like I always do. I put the first one out and then went to get the second one. I headed for the door with the 2nd duck in my hands, only to discover the first duck running across the yard toward the house! I don't doubt that our dog would not hesitate to kill a duck given the chance, so I hurriedly set the 2nd duck down and ran outside to save the first one, just as the dog noticed that a duck was loose. I called the dog off and cornered the loose duck and put it back in the pen. Apparently, I hadn't fastened the "gate" well enough and the duck just walked right through it and proceeded to go looking for his/her "friend". Both ducks are safely in their outside pen now. What a way to start the day!

Whew, lucky duck! Lucky dog, too. I can only imagine if he had gotten the duck. I know I'd be ready to throttle a dog!

lizzyGSR, regardnig the mulberries, I read somewhere that you can put a tarp down under the tree to catch the fruit when it falls. Then you just pick what you want off the tarp. Much safer than climbing a ladder up the tree! Our mulberries are already falling, I showed them to the hens and was surprised when they didn't show any interest at all.

My main pen right now encloses our mulberry tree. Every time a fruit falls, the chickens all run to grab it before the others get it. Hilarious to watch. I picked some and put them in the new pen for the month olds, some for the ducks, and some for the garage chicks. They all looked at them, then looked at me as if to say "What the heck are these???? Where's our BOSS?!"

 

[tweetysvoice]

Here is a pic I took today of the silkies. - Hawkeye - see how dirty they are! LOL. I keep wanting to give them a bath! They get pine shavings stuck on their feathers and that's dried crumble all over their little faces! LOL. It's hilarious, but I cringe at showing pics of them cuz they are getting the awkward feathers and are messssssy!

 

[ginnylea]

Hi There all you Kansas people Iam pretty new with Chickens but I love all of them. Iam in Wichita. One of my Hens just hatched a Baby this morning just waiting on the rest. Glad too talk to you all.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Hi There all you Kansas people Iam pretty new with Chickens but I love all of them. Iam in Wichita. One of my Hens just hatched a Baby this morning just waiting on the rest. Glad too talk to you all.

Welcome!!! Glad to have you join us! We have several people from the Wichita area on this board. Feel free to jump right into the conversations or ask questions! We all help each other!. What kind of flock do you have? and just to note: we love love love pictures.. hehe

 

[chicken danz]

Welcome Ginnylea! There's a bunch of people on here from the Wichita area. Congrats on your new chick! Feel free to jump in and ramble with the rest of us.
Sunshinegirl, I have seen several patterns for chicken aprons but the price that gal has them I would definitely buy them and save my own time.
ChickiesDuckies, I use a fish net to get the chicks out of my incubator and to catch them in the brooder. I had purchased a butterfly net at the $ Tree store but left it too close to the turkey pens and they shredded it. Not a great loss. I was watering plants out there to day and it still seems we have one more chicken sitting on eggs under there. I only have maybe 5 inches to access under there where the eggs are. I guess the chickens know it is safe back there.
Thanks for the medicare information Tweety and Trish. I might be able to handle this now...Maybe.
I hauled a bunch of chicks to the brooder today. It was another one of my large groups that hatched. I started counting but lost interest when I had to lay on the floor and fish them out. I am up to around 30 guinea keets. Now if those people who wanted them will call me back I'll be one happy camper. I had one person say they'd take 1000. Can you believe that? They wanted them all at once though. This doesn't happen in my world. I am lucky if I get a dozen guineas eggs a day.
I got my eggs to town and started on another group of 10 dozen for Sunday. Then my sister asked me for 4 dozen tomorrow. It's a good thing the ladies are being cooperative.

 

[tweetysvoice]

. I am up to around 30 guinea keets. Now if those people who wanted them will call me back I'll be one happy camper. I had one person say they'd take 1000. Can you believe that? They wanted them all at once though. This doesn't happen in my world. I am lucky if I get a dozen guineas eggs a day.

1000????? what are they going to do with that many? That's crazy!

 

[chicken danz]

It's people who have game bird farms and have huge orders. It's cheaper to pay someone like me to hatch them or sell them eggs than it is for them to keep the breeding adults.
I just got a call back from the guy that was going to buy all the chicken chicks. He said his market dried up. Well poop! I guess I'd better be placing some adds and moving some birds fast.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Whew, lucky duck! Lucky dog, too. I can only imagine if he had gotten the duck. I know I'd be ready to throttle a dog!
My main pen right now encloses our mulberry tree. Every time a fruit falls, the chickens all run to grab it before the others get it. Hilarious to watch. I picked some and put them in the new pen for the month olds, some for the ducks, and some for the garage chicks. They all looked at them, then looked at me as if to say "What the heck are these???? Where's our BOSS?!"

Yes, lucky dog. He'd definitely have gotten in trouble if he'd gotten my duck. Thankfully, he listened when I called him off. However, I had to take my ducks to a friend's house today as we're going out of town for the weekend for my husband's graduation. I was running across the yard (running late) and the dog clipped my heel. I fell - hard. Thankfully, I fell in the grass, but I've still got "grass burns" (kinda like a carpet burn but from the grass) on my elbow, grass stains on my knee and hand, and sore wrists. GRRRR!!! Oh well, I guess you win some and you lose some. I'm just glad he got me and not my duck.

As far as eating mulberries go - I feed my ducks peas, ticks, and anything else I can think of that they might eat out of my hand. I bet they'd eat it if they liked it and if I offered it to them first from my hand.

Here is a pic I took today of the silkies. - Hawkeye - see how dirty they are! LOL. I keep wanting to give them a bath! They get pine shavings stuck on their feathers and that's dried crumble all over their little faces! LOL. It's hilarious, but I cringe at showing pics of them cuz they are getting the awkward feathers and are messssssy!

Those are adorable (dirt and all)!

 

[Ivywoods]

Ginnylea

Hop right in and join the rest of us chicken nuts.

Tweety-AW! So cute... dirty or not! Twist tie legband?

Danz-Not sure where you got the pictures of the millies, but those are pretty nice. It is so hard to get the coloring right on them.

Today I finished working on my walkway area. We got the rest of the mulch that I needed. I got the two colorado blue spruce trees planted. I put them in south of our driveway. We will see how they do. It has good drainage and the soil is good, so with any luck and a little care, they might be okay. DH had some old hay that wasn't any good for feed, so I used some of that for mulch. Pretty handy. Planted a burning bush towards the south side of the yard. They are pretty hardy. One thing I am very thankful for is we have excellent soil here. Iowa Loess soil. Stuff grows really well.... too well sometimes. It's hard for this ole gal to keep up with it all.

My DH gave me my Mother's day present early. He bought me a beautiful Earnest Markham climatis. I planted it on the little windmill my brother made for me. It's one of the things I took a picture of yesterday that I can't get the pictures off the camera. Duh. I still haven't figured it out yet. There's got to be a cable around here somewhere......

Dh's bobwhite quail are doing well. Some are quite a bit bigger than others. I wonder if the bigger ones are the males. I just don't know anything about quail. He got some coturnix quail eggs for free. One has hatched. It is SO TINY! I hope a bunch more hatch overnight. I also have another turkey hatched. It seems to be doing well. I'm going to leave it in the hatcher overnight. It still looked a little wet.

We are going to have a super busy weekend. I've got tons of stuff to get ready. We will be in Manhattan Saturday for my son's graduation and then Sunday we are making a whirlwind trip to Chanute and then on to Pittsburg to eat chicken..... at Chicken Mary's, not Chicken Annies.... and then on to my sister's at Columbus. It will be a full day and I'm sure we will both be beat by the time we get back Sunday.

 

[Trish44]

Well I got all the mowing done & at the last I got a piece of old carpet stuck in the blades that I didn't see in time. I was down by the topper that we have sitting in the woods for the chickens to get under if they need to & there used to be a dog house sitting there that I"m now using for the Ameraucanas & that's where that carpet came from. I had forgotten it was sitting out there until I got it sucked into the blades. I cut off most of it, but there is a good chunk really stuck in there, my DH isn't going to be happy with me, I just couldn't pull it out, so he's going to have to do it. At least it didn't happen until I was done.

I have 5 chicks in the hatcher right now, 4 of which I'm getting ready to take out to the brooder. I have about 4 more eggs that are either starting to pip or peeping in the shell, but there are still a lot to hatch yet. I'm looking for some more eggs to hatch since I have so much incubator room. I think I'm going to get some Welsummer eggs from my friend up by Newton. She has been wanting more Welsummer hens, so I told her if she will get me some eggs I'll try to hatch some for her & maybe one or two for me. I did have some Welsummer eggs shipped to me, but I think maybe only one out of 10 or 12 is going to hatch. I have two in the hatcher, but I'm not sure about one of them.

I went out to feed my pups this morning & I started smelling something. When I got them into the dog run where I feed them I figured out what it was, evidently one of them got sprayed by a skunk last night, phew! I'm sure glad they stay outside.

Oh & I forgot to say Welcome ginnylea!