Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye- Here's a tip if you haven't already done this. I notice you are using a rabbit feeder in the new run. Generally, the chickens will scratch in those and waste a lot of feed. To prevent this, take the feeder and the lid from a plastic bucket, such as what comes on a gallon of ice cream. Cut a piece of plastic the size of the front of the feeder with the plastic extending down into the front of the feeder to totally close the bin part from the pan part. Then cut a little bit out of the middle of the bottom of the plastic so that it is just big enough to let a little bit of food through. Glue the plastic to the front of the feeder. They will peck enough to let some food down, but not enough comes down to fill the pan or that they can scratch it out and waste it.

Thank you for the tip! I'm actually using the rabbit feeder for the Oyster shell. I didn't want to put in another feeder. But I sure do like those rabbit feeders, I'd never thought of using it for their feed. I may try it now that you have a solution! Do you have a picture of that set up, so I can get a better feel for it? I think I understand... maybe. LOL! I bought the smallest rabbit feeder for the oyster shell... but I may go buy the really large one for their feed!

 

[HEChicken]

I thought I'd see if I could find any pics since it is hard to describe. I have a couple that were taken during construction and then apparently I didn't take any afterward. I'm not going to now because its a mess and I'm not even going to try to clean it up until after we move and we just dismantle it altogether. The first pic is from the side and you can see one of the basement windows of the wall of the house that makes up a wall of the coop as well. Since we laid the straw bales like bricks, each one overlapping the other by a half-bale, when we turned the corner, we had to have two of the bales at the corner encroach into the coop. So we turned those into nestboxes. I was worried about how I'd train them to use those spaces to lay eggs but didn't need to. Even before we had finished the coop, they spotted them and decided they were perfect places to lay.


The next pic is from the front of the coop, showing the roof. We used lag bolts to slant it down so the rain would run off the front.


Anyway, as I said, these were all I took and they were taken before it was finished. It now has a full-size people door, with a pop door in it and of course the walls were all finished too. It is really kind of cozy in there in the winter. The ceiling of the coop can move up and down in front, so in the summer, we can pull the ceiling up and hook it open to let more air in. If you look to the far left of the above pic, and you see the bale that extends up into the rafters of the deck? Well, guess where my little broody Sultan is brooding? Yep, up in there. There is no access to it from either side due to the rafters. I had to pull up a deck board right above her, just to gain access to her.

 

[sharol]

He could be. The breeder has both I think. I didn't ask her about his heritage when I got him. When we met to make the transfer, he was riding on the front seat beside her just as if he were the co-pilot. I wanted a gentle, mature guy who would protect my girls and become a part of the community, and he has done all that and more. The other morning they were all out in the net-covered run, and a small red-tail was making dives at the netting. He was standing on a straw bale screeching and leaping feet first toward it every time it dived. Right now, they are all out in the yard, and he is keeping an "eye on the sky" for preditors. He is SUCH a good boy.

Sharol

Sharol-That is a nice looking rooster.Looks like a cross between a silver ameraucana and a blue orp or something along those lines.

Hawkeye-Nice job on the run.

Cherwill-Hopefully someone will come along that knows something about ducks. I've never raised any.

I just had a friend drop off 78 coturnix quail eggs, and another friend drop off 36 bantam partridge wyandotte eggs. Out of my first bach of BPW's I got one pullet and the rest are cockerells.

Hopefully I will get more pullets out of this batch.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Karen, sorry about your turkey. I've been telling DH about all the turkey stuff going on here and how different they are from chickens. Now we both wish we had room for some turkeys. About your new chicks, of course you're crazy. Good crazy, like the rest of us!

I don't know how she managed it, but my niece has convinced her dad to let her have a couple of ducks. What does she need to know right away about raising ducks, that's different than raising chickens? She works for a vet so you'd think she would be able to find out, but last time I had a bird question, no vet in town could answer it. Anyway, I seem to remember something about not letting them have access to water for a certain period of time, or I might have dreamed it?

Thanks cherwill! Good crazy can't be a bad thing.

Danz is a duck expert but I will chime in on the basics. Ducks are very messy. Their hobby is pooping and splashing water. That's the main difference.They need access to drinking water but shouldn't have access to enough water they can soak themselves. When they are beyond the baby stage, they really need access to water deep enough to completely dunk their head for cleaning nostrils and eyes. Ducklings shouldn't be allowed to swim because they don't know when to get out of the water. They'll get hypothermia. That being said, I let my little ones swim, with supervision, in warmish water so that they can bathe, clear their nostrils and clean their eyes. I wash them with a tiny bit of dawn and then blow them dry. They seem to really like the blow dryer. I just give them non-medicated chick starter and supplement with mealworms for extra protein after they are about a week old. They need a heat lamp but not as much heat as a chick and they grow and put on weight much faster while their little wings seem to come in slower. That's all I can think of.

The kids just reported that the ducks heard thunder and came trooping up out of the pond, waddled to the pen and waited politely to be let in. How cute is that? They are going in the hen house with the chickens.

For some reason, I can't see any of the pics. Poor me.

 

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye, what kind of chicken is that in the green shirt? It's an adorable breed!!!
On the ducks. I always start them on non medicated game bird starter. It is very high protein and has more of the vitamins they need. They need some heat for about three weeks but I raise so many that I have a box type house with a heat lamp they can go into if they are cold. They do fine. You always need more than one. Ducks need access to water deep enough to cover their beaks. They have to be able to wash the feed out of their nose holes in order to breath. After the initial 4 weeks or so I let them have access to open water. As long as they can get in and out they should be fine. I use those big black feed pans and put a brick outside and one inside so they can get over the edge. One thing about ducks is that no mater how much water they have they will play in it until it is all gone. Rarely do they leave any. Or if outside they'll make a mud hole and dig in the mud with their beaks. They are actually pretty clean animals if they have space. They keep themselves clean but can make a real mess if they are confined in a small area. I try to move my ducks ever so often so they have access to fresh grass and it keeps it much tidier. When I'm raising babies there is no place to keep moving them so it gets kind of nasty in the pens.
What you might be thinking of on giving ducklings water is giving them too much water or food if they have been without for a while. They will consume so much it will run out of their beaks and nose holes. I have heard that they can water log themselves and die but that has never happened to any of mine. The best advise is to give them a little at a time when you first get them home and then after they have their initial thirst and hunger met go ahead and keep food and water for them all the time. It's the periods without water that hurt them.
I had a very busy day. I actually got my entire garden planted although it took all day. I need to buy some pepper plants and maybe a couple of larger tomato plants and I will be done. I even got 5 of the grape vines planted. Now it had better rain like predicted or I will have to water tomorrow for sure.
I want to plant sweet potatoes but I'm trying to start my own and so far it hasn't done well. I may have to order some plants even though it is kind of late. I saved just a little room for them.
DH wanted me to plant sweet corn but I said no. I just think it takes too much space and then the worms get in it and it draws in coons and stuff to eat it. He knows zero naughta nothing about gardening so this is 100% my project. Silly City boy from New York. I'll buy some if I need any.
Prairie I don't know if I'll go to Premier Saturday or not. I guess it will depend on how much stuff I sell this weekend. I still have lots of chicks to move but it won't pay for my trip up there to sell them. I really like going to that one. I am thinking of putting an add in for some of my pullets and would like to stay home if I do. I don't know how well they would sell there.
I have baked beans in the oven for a church dinner tomorrow. so I'd better got check on them and close this for now.

 

[WichitaKidd]

David and others. You open a chicken's mouth like any other animal. Just put slight pressure on each side of the mouth or beak. The trick is to get those muscles that open and close the mouth. And of course like Loralee said you can use a fingernail to open them. I have no fingernails to speak of so using the jaw muscles works well for me. If you set them on a solid surface where they have footing it makes it much easier. Just drop it in their mouth. They should tilt their own heads back and swallow it. If a little runs out it is no problem. The chick I have been treating is on day three of vitamin E and is only tilting it's head and acting weird when I pick it up. He is making a really quick recovery. Faster than most. It normally takes a couple weeks of treatment. David I would definitely recommend the Vitamin E more so than the other vitamins. It is a wonder vitamin when it comes to brains. I would mix the other vitamins in her water and add sugar or honey to improve the taste. When she starts improving you can just squirt the Vitamin E on the top of her food if you no longer want to wrestle a chicken mouth.

OK. Gave it a shot. Haven't found the right place to squeeze to get her beak to open up. Had to pry it open with my finger (I don't have finger nails either) to get the dropper in. It was frustrating & amusing at the same time as she wasn't too thrilled with what I was doing. I know I got at least a couple of drops of PVS in her at least which leads me to another question. Where I can find liquid vitamin E? I've checked a few places today & all i've been able to find are these little gel tab things. Pretty sure I can't just pop a gel tab down her throat. Any suggestions?

I also decided to take all the little chicks outside today for a while. First time out in the sun. The bigger chicks were curious about them for about a minute, then went about their business roaming the back yard. I kept the little kids inside a pen just so there wouldn't be any conflicts. Here's a pic of my 6 little ones (7 weeks). I have 3 wyandottes: a silver laced (Laverne), a gold laced (Shirley) & a red laced blue (Betty); a golden buff comet (Roxanne), buff orphington (Buffy) & an another black australorp (yet to be named).



Here's a funny shot of Buffy. I think being out in the sun today did her some good. She was fairly active & was able to hold her head up most of the time to a more "normal" position.

 

[medawinks]

Ivy!! That little pup and her momma are precious!! So much fun! We have some papi poo mixes that look very much like you havanese They can go anywhere with us almost. One of mine is a classroom therapy dog. He puts up with ANYTHING. Even being carried around upside down

RVRoman, I am glad you were able to get your son out of that pool!! Don't sweat your phone. Buy a bag of rice and put the phone in it and seal the bag back up. It will draw out the moisture. You might not need a new phone if you can go without it for a week Just one BCM? My two are inseparable very sweet birds and are very protective of my bantam d'uccle pullets.

Reading about the incubator woes .... I don't think I will ever be brave enough to try that. I kill houseplants too easily. I do fine with things that make noise when they are hungry though! Trish, I hope your eggs are OK!

What is the premier swap? Would it be something my kids might enjoy?

 

[Trish44]

David, you have to buy the vitamin E capsules & puncture them so you can squirt the liquid in the chicken's mouth. I keep a nail or something by the bottle to use. I just buy the lowest dose they have at Wal Mart. I sure learned with those little turkeys what good stuff it is. The two I have would not have made it if I hadn't kept giving it until they were stable. As you know they both have escaped the brooder now & run around my garage. Today when the Royal Palm was out that little Black Spanish turkey stood in the brooder & called & called to it, it was so cute.

Well I have 6 Ameraucanas & an Easter Egger hatched so far. I wonder if the other 5 eggs are bad. I will leave them in till tomorrow, but usually if they haven't hatched by now they're not going to. The ones in the hatcher sure are peeping away though.

To finish my story about the tablet, we went to Best Buy this afternoon & picked it up, yay! I haven't gotten to play with it yet because of the storm & having to shut down our computers, it has to have a wi-fi connection.

 

[HEChicken]

David, love the names Laverne and Shirley! Wow, you sure do spoil them, keeping them inside until they are 6 weeks old! Mine usually get the boot by 3-4 weeks. Around 3 weeks they start spending days outside and by 4 weeks it is nights as well. My first batch of chicks hatched Jan 29th, and I still had them outside by 4 weeks old - they did fine. They are really pretty hardy.

Medawinks/rvroman, I second the bag of rice idea. My niece dropped her phone in the ocean, and after 48 hours in rice it was working again. Then she went to the mountains, dropped it in a river and it was swept away.

Trish, so glad you got your tablet after all the hassles. Congrats on the new chickies - hope some of the remaining eggs hatch as well.

My turkeys are on day 20, about 36 hours since I went into lockdown and nothing yet. I'm not expecting anything to happen but will give them the full 21 days before I check on them.

 

[Hawkeye95]

The next pic is from the front of the coop, showing the roof. We used lag bolts to slant it down so the rain would run off the front.

Oh that is a great idea! Except that now the price of hay has gone thru the roof, so I think it would be cheaper to buy the hardware cloth!

Maybe that's only funny to ME since I'm stuck spending a fortune on hay. Sigh.

Hawkeye, what kind of chicken is that in the green shirt? It's an adorable breed!!!

I had a very busy day. I actually got my entire garden planted although it took all day. I need to buy some pepper plants and maybe a couple of larger tomato plants and I will be done. I even got 5 of the grape vines planted. Now it had better rain like predicted or I will have to water tomorrow for sure.
I want to plant sweet potatoes but I'm trying to start my own and so far it hasn't done well. I may have to order some plants even though it is kind of late. I saved just a little room for them.
DH wanted me to plant sweet corn but I said no. I just think it takes too much space and then the worms get in it and it draws in coons and stuff to eat it. He knows zero naughta nothing about gardening so this is 100% my project. Silly City boy from New York. I'll buy some if I need any.
Prairie I don't know if I'll go to Premier Saturday or not. I guess it will depend on how much stuff I sell this weekend. I still have lots of chicks to move but it won't pay for my trip up there to sell them. I really like going to that one. I am thinking of putting an add in for some of my pullets and would like to stay home if I do. I don't know how well they would sell there.
I have baked beans in the oven for a church dinner tomorrow. so I'd better got check on them and close this for now.

Thanks, the big chicken in the green shirt is a hybrid breed we've been working on. We gave up on planting corn back when I was living at home as a kid. We lived on some acreage that butted up against fields in the sticks and the corn would be an attractant for everything-- deer, raccoons, etc. My parents only did it a few times and decided never again. So we just buy it from the local stands around here. I'm with you on that one. The field to the south of us that runs the length of my property always puts in corn, but it's feeder corn for their cows. They put in about 80 acres of it right next to us and that draws in a lot of animals as it is. Good luck on your sweet potatoes! If we don't move next year, I want to plant another garden and do more fun veggies! I need to get my raddishs in-- still don't have them in yet. But my strawberries are blooming and everything else is growing (tomatoes and peppers). I'll have to take another picture of what my garden looks like now that it's getting more mature.

Here's a funny shot of Buffy. I think being out in the sun today did her some good. She was fairly active & was able to hold her head up most of the time to a more "normal" position.

Awww, she's pretty!!!! Looks like she's hanging in there okay. I bet she'll come out of it with your Vit E dosing. If you buy the powdered probiotics I told you about, that has Vit E in it, too. You can put that in the water and everyone can drink it, it's fine. That might help when you get her on her feet. I regularly use the probiotics -- I'm trying to use it about once a month now in their water. It was $11 at TSC for the tub that said 'for goats'.

My turkeys are on day 20, about 36 hours since I went into lockdown and nothing yet. I'm not expecting anything to happen but will give them the full 21 days before I check on them.

I hope they hatch!!! Blessings on your eggs!