Consolidated Kansas

[rvroman]

No problem!! You will really like these, she makes them with denim on the side that faces the hen and a pretty cotton print that you pick out on the face. She has a website and I picked out fabric from there. Ask her for the link to her website-- because then you have a better selection.
I know, right?! But there is a BIG difference. I've had my 3 in one apple tree for probably around 6 years now. I bought it from a really nice nursery here for a lot of money because I bought it on the "large" side, I wanted to have fruit right away and not wait. Well, it produced the first year I had it, and then each year since. But it's pathetic compared to my other apple trees. My other apples trees are LOADED down with apples and this one is healthy and vital and a beautiful tree, but it just does not have the yield the others have. I don't know why. My SIL bought the same tree at the exact same time I bought mine-- and hers is the same way.

But hey, it does produce apples! But if you have the space for two trees, I'd skip the 3 in one varieties because you'll get more out of them.

How long until you plant fruit trees does it take to fruit? I am thinking about getting a couple dwarf cherry trees and maybe a couple dwarf apples (or real sized apples), but I really don't want to wait forever for fruit!

 

[Marty1876]

Dwarfs fruit in 3-4 years, standards take longer.

 

[rvroman]

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.

, Everybody here is super helpful!

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.

What kind of chicks? I could maybe be interested in one or two, depending on the breed!

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!

Congrats on the babies, good luck with the pips! Skunks are the worst!!!

Dwarfs fruit in 3-4 years, standards take longer.

Well shoot, I was hoping there was a way I could get them and have fruit later the first year or at least into the second year.

 

[sapphireblu76]

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.

This is an awesome group. Glad to have you here!

How long until you plant fruit trees does it take to fruit? I am thinking about getting a couple dwarf cherry trees and maybe a couple dwarf apples (or real sized apples), but I really don't want to wait forever for fruit!

I've been told about 5 years for standard fruit trees.

 

[averytds]

ginnylea

oh NO!!! oh, that's terrible! I bet you might be able to find an apple tree that would be a pollinator at Lowes? I have the really common varieties, yellow delicious, red delicious, granny smith, and two others... forget what they are called. I've managed to have them all pollinate each other in some way. Fuji apple is on my list for next year! Tell your DH that HE is the one that is crazy, not you! hehehe!!

(we'll see how that goes over) And you would think that a store would get in two kinds that work together, but you would be surprised how many people have no idea that you have to buy two trees and that they have to be able to pollinate each other-- and may not be able to have the same variety. Anyway, it's not uncommon for them to have apples the first year, because they are in bloom at the store with a ton of other apples next to them. Impossible NOT to be pollinated there.

Ya know, I kind of thought the same about the Orscheln's order. I helped her look through them all to be sure too. Weird, but I guess if the person ordering doesn't know or understand. I checked out their cherry trees too and same thing. One kind that's a self pollinator (sour), other 2 varieties listed pollinators they didn't have.

As to my DH, I just

&

anymore. This is the 2nd property he's done this at too. A 12 year odyssey at this point. He's always got some off the wall reason as to why they don't produce. "The self-pollinating plum and peach trees scattered around with the apple trees are loaded with fruit, but yeah the spray I used on the weeds in the front ditch 2 months ago stopped the apple trees on the other side of the house from putting on. Your right DH, couldn't be because you don't have a pollinator." I guess I could make the effort to figure out what kind of apple trees he has and locate a pollinator but where's the fun in that?

 

[rvroman]

As to my DH, I just

&

anymore. This is the 2nd property he's done this at too. A 12 year odyssey at this point. He's always got some off the wall reason as to why they don't produce. "The self-pollinating plum and peach trees scattered around with the apple trees are loaded with fruit, but yeah the spray I used on the weeds in the front ditch 2 months ago stopped the apple trees on the other side of the house from putting on. Your right DH, couldn't be because you don't have a pollinator." I guess I could make the effort to figure out what kind of apple trees he has and locate a pollinator but where's the fun in that?

That sounds A LOT like something my father would say, maybe my husband too if he was into the whole outside thing!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Ginnylea! It's a good group of people, though some of us are a bit accident prone! Just jump in and we'd love pics!

Today was a bust! Another DD came down with strep so I got the basics covered along with running chicken errands and picking up another 'scrip'. Tomorrow is going to be very busy but hopefully I'll get something done in the afternoon. I did take the ducks to the pond again today. They are so darn cute but the silly things came squawking and flapping up out of the pond when a noisy trash truck came by. The mesh is graduated from smaller to larger from the bottom to top on the poultry net fencing but the ducks dove up about midway right through the electric fence (not on at the time) to get back to the coop. I was outside so didn't feel the necessity to have the fence on and sure was glad it wasn't. Silly ducks, but it was so cute because they always seem to move as one unit and that unit was on the hustle!

The bunnies come out of their cage and run around for about an hour every day while we tend to the chickens, ducks and their cage. Dottie has overcome her nervousness about being pecked and is back at her old tricks of chasing the poor chickens. She's such a tiny little rabbit but the chooks sure scatter when she comes running and kicking her little feet. She's got attitude!

 

[Trish44]

KarenS, that's so cute about your bunny Dottie having attitude, lol! She sounds a lot like her other sisters that I kept as far as the kicking up her heels kind of thing. I don't have anything set up right now to take the bunnies outside to run around, but the two spotted ones run circles in their cages at night, it's pretty funny to watch. I moved one more bunny outside tonight so that fills up the outside hutches I have ready right now. I've got to get busy tomorrow on the one I plan to modify, but I need my DH to help me move it out where I can work on it first. I have been having a hard time getting him motivated to do much of anything since he ran that marathon. I'm going to have to light a fire under him to get him busy on my coop project.

 

[Hawkeye95]

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!

Tweety, oh they are sooo adorable!! And yeah, I did have to laugh-- they are a mess!! LOL!!! They must go bathing in their food. I'm sure when they get outside, they will get all cleaned up. They are too small to bathe. If you do want to give them a bath, wait until they are at least 3-4 months old. They have great color-- they are beautiful!

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 to the Kansas thread!!! and

There are a lot of us here in the Wichita area!

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.

Congrats on your keets!! I bet they are so stinkin' cute! So whoa... 1,000 of them, hu?? Too bad he doesn't want chicks!

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. Planted a burning bush towards the south side of the yard. They are pretty hardy.

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.

Dh's bobwhite quail are doing well. He got some coturnix quail eggs for free.

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.

Sounds like you have been doing quite a bit of planting too!! I sold something last night on Craigslist, so I have more tree money! LOL Going to go buy another shade tree. I like burning bush, they are so pretty in the Fall. You must have a lot nicer soil than we have down here, so hopefully your Co blue spruce will grow alright. Your quail sound adorable, and I think you're going to have a lot of fun seeing your son graduate! Ummmm.... Chicken Mary's?!?! Say it isn't true!!! Noooooo!! hehe! Okay, well, each to their own.

Of course, I've eaten chicken in there a lot, too.

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 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!

Oh no on the carpet! My DH would kill me if I did that!! ha! He needs to sharpen my blades anyway from all the other stuff I run over.... rocks... etc...

What do Welsummer look like? Sorry your pups got sprayed! But it sounds like they were doing their job, so that's great! Hope they didn't get too close, though and get bit. Probably not, though. I bet they got sprayed before they got on him. My equine vet told me last month that rabies has been REALLY bad this year already. He's had to put down a lot of dogs. My ferriar has his dog in quarantine for the next 6 months (or was it 6 weeks??!?) because his dog got bit by a skunk. His dog was UTD on shots, but apparently, it still doesn't matter. He had someone come out and make sure his dog was locked up in the kennel. And he has to do all this stuff to report about the health of his dog now. It's a mess and he's pretty upset about it, it is his hunting dog (bird).

 

[Hawkeye95]

How long until you plant fruit trees does it take to fruit? I am thinking about getting a couple dwarf cherry trees and maybe a couple dwarf apples (or real sized apples), but I really don't want to wait forever for fruit!

Every one of mine only took 2 years. And a lot of them even produced a fruit or two the very first year! Which was crazy. But with apples in particular, they have an "off" year. So they will produce every year (once they've been in the ground a couple of years) and then they will have tons of apples one year and the next, not so many. That is typical. It's a cycle and helps the tree recover from the year before. So you need a few apples trees so that you will always have an "on" cycle on one of them.

As to my DH, I just

&

anymore. This is the 2nd property he's done this at too. A 12 year odyssey at this point. He's always got some off the wall reason as to why they don't produce. "The self-pollinating plum and peach trees scattered around with the apple trees are loaded with fruit, but yeah the spray I used on the weeds in the front ditch 2 months ago stopped the apple trees on the other side of the house from putting on. Your right DH, couldn't be because you don't have a pollinator." I guess I could make the effort to figure out what kind of apple trees he has and locate a pollinator but where's the fun in that?

Oh that is SO FUNNY!!! Yep, I think you did indeed kill of those budding apples!! hehehehe! You know, if you just randomly buy two or three more apple trees, you're bound to hit on a pollinator for the one you have! LOL (be sure every one of them are different varieties)

Today was a bust! Another DD came down with strep so I got the basics covered along with running chicken errands and picking up another 'scrip'. Tomorrow is going to be very busy but hopefully I'll get something done in the afternoon. I did take the ducks to the pond again today. They are so darn cute but the silly things came squawking and flapping up out of the pond when a noisy trash truck came by. The mesh is graduated from smaller to larger from the bottom to top on the poultry net fencing but the ducks dove up about midway right through the electric fence (not on at the time) to get back to the coop. I was outside so didn't feel the necessity to have the fence on and sure was glad it wasn't. Silly ducks, but it was so cute because they always seem to move as one unit and that unit was on the hustle!

The bunnies come out of their cage and run around for about an hour every day while we tend to the chickens, ducks and their cage. Dottie has overcome her nervousness about being pecked and is back at her old tricks of chasing the poor chickens. She's such a tiny little rabbit but the chooks sure scatter when she comes running and kicking her little feet. She's got attitude!

So cute about the bunny!!! Awwww! I think we'll have to have a bunny before too long, too!! But I'm going to wait until my littlest chica is older and not so destructive! So sorry you are dealing with strep there at home with the kids! What a miserable thing to have! I had it twice this year! It wipes you out and makes you completely useless. Hope your kids recover fast, poor things. Loved your duck story, too. I can see them moving as a "herd".