Consolidated Kansas

[pikeman94]

A good weekend! Super tired here, but I got a lot done this weekend. I will post again in the morning when I am rested. I will also add some photos. Good night everyone!

 

[JosieChick]

Howdy all,

Glad everyone is doing well. I am dead tired, overdid it big time this weekend but got a ton done! Have a good night.

 

[prairie]

I would make cherry sauce only because I don't particularly care for cherry jelly. p.s. my oldest son still teases me about chopping down a cherry tree about 30 years ago because there were always so many chiggers around it and also because I didn't like to pit the cherries.

 

[prairie]

Medawinks, I keep forgetting to tell you I love the photo of your son with the little chicken -- so cute!! Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the swap.

 

[medawinks]

Thanks Prairie He is in love with his new pet, that is for sure! So are the rest of us. She really is a people friendly pet bird! Fits my neighborhood restrictions perfectly!. He was so hoping that she would grace him with another egg so he could have an omelette, but he understood when i explained why it might be a few more weeks for that. He has been so attentive to her, putting fresh ice in their water, getting them all fresh grass, collecting watermelon rinds for them. This has really been good for him. Thanks HEchicken for explaining why there might be a pretty big delay in further eggs! I knew how to answer him

Danz, I wish I had a cherry tree! Planted an apple tree, but after reading I need two and not knowing where to put another.... I guess it will be ornamental too :-(. We vote jelly though! Jelly is good with everyday things like hot biscuits and butter, PB and J, crepes, waffles etc...
Mmmm..... That sounds good now! Must take the little guy out for his run though- he runs a 5k every morning by choice!!

 

[prairie]

Don't know why I was worried abut the little guinea, Ivy! I take out a scrambled egg each morn and the other bigger guineas and 2 little ducks stay in the back of the carrier when I set it in but the little one just runs right out and starts to eat! It is so funny! I put them in my hubbys shop last night, where it is nice and warm. It got down in the mid 50's last night! Guess I can turn off the AC today. Best get a move on cause I got to clean out the carrier for them -- those two baby ducks always have the water spilled all over!

 

[chicken danz]

Cherwill, male ducks don't fight. I just don't see it happen. I had 5 males in a pen with my ancona girls and never saw a single argument. There will probably be one that takes the lead but that is just their nature. The other will follow. A duck will nip at another duck but that is just to establish territory. I have had that happen to me and it doesn't hurt.
To imprint a duck usually bonds to the first thing it sees. I would think it would be a little more difficult with two of them rather than one. The ducks see you as their mother. Your niece is going to have to spend a lot of time holding and playing with her ducklings.
And since it is falling in your lap after that, you are going to have to dedicate some of your time. With Chopper, any time I sat down like to be on the computer or to watch TV I would put a towel on my lap and sit him on me and pet him. If you've read KarenS posts you can tell he still loves to be petted. I always rubbed the top of his head and his beak and that seems to be his favorite thing. I don't know if that is a duck thing or if it's just because I used to do that to him. It always seemed to calm him.
It's a shame your niece is going to be gone because I think the early weeks are pretty crucial to them bonding. I still think it is adorable to have a duck follow you and do that desperate "Mama!" squawk if they loose sight of you.
I can't believe it got that cool last night. When I shut up the brooder last night it was still 90. I had the door and windows open all day and the heat lamps off. Sure glad I turned them back on.
I've got a load of chicks in the incubator to move out today. I need to clean out a couple more bins out there I emptied over the weekend. I really could use a break.

 

[cherwill]

Cherwill, male ducks don't fight. I just don't see it happen. I had 5 males in a pen with my ancona girls and never saw a single argument. There will probably be one that takes the lead but that is just their nature. The other will follow. A duck will nip at another duck but that is just to establish territory. I have had that happen to me and it doesn't hurt.
To imprint a duck usually bonds to the first thing it sees. I would think it would be a little more difficult with two of them rather than one. The ducks see you as their mother. Your niece is going to have to spend a lot of time holding and playing with her ducklings.
And since it is falling in your lap after that, you are going to have to dedicate some of your time. With Chopper, any time I sat down like to be on the computer or to watch TV I would put a towel on my lap and sit him on me and pet him. If you've read KarenS posts you can tell he still loves to be petted. I always rubbed the top of his head and his beak and that seems to be his favorite thing. I don't know if that is a duck thing or if it's just because I used to do that to him. It always seemed to calm him.
It's a shame your niece is going to be gone because I think the early weeks are pretty crucial to them bonding. I still think it is adorable to have a duck follow you and do that desperate "Mama!" squawk if they loose sight of you.
I can't believe it got that cool last night. When I shut up the brooder last night it was still 90. I had the door and windows open all day and the heat lamps off. Sure glad I turned them back on.
I've got a load of chicks in the incubator to move out today. I need to clean out a couple more bins out there I emptied over the weekend. I really could use a break.

I'm glad they don't fight; that could be a nightmare. I wonder if they will imprint on each other during shipping. The sad thing is that I will spend what time I can with them while they're here, but I won't be able to spend the amount of time I think they'll be used to. Also, I have two house dogs so the ducks will have to be in a separate room a lot of the time. I will make sure there are times I can set them on my lap while I'm at the computer, though, because that would be the perfect time to give them a little attention and let them be out.

DH closed up the coop last night. We always check the door to the laying boxes because the young hens have been trying to roost there when the older hens push them off the roosts. He came in last night and said everyone was on a roost and he saw no birds in the laying boxes. This morning he came in laughing. Dorothy, the black EE, had somehow gotten stuck in the window. It had to have happened before the coop was shut for the night because it's on the outside of the coop, and DH didn't notice when he locked it up. She had to have jumped up on the window ledge towards evening and knocked the stick out that holds the plexiglass up. She was wedged between the chicken wire and the plexiglass, standing on the window sill, all night. Poor girl!

 

[pikeman94]

Ok. I am mostly rested! Here goes.

I got the sprinkler system repaired and turned on for the summer. I got the rest of my planting completed. I got the riding mower fixed and the yard mowed. I got the weed eater repaired only to break the **** throttle control (sigh). At least I can start the weed eater and it is useable. I did some maintenance on the hops. I need to get some fertilizer on them save for two of them that have already started burring!

Onto Coop v2.0! I got the rest of the framing done: upper, access door and nesting box. Then I got the front and back siding on. I have added new pics to the album.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/album/view/id/6215133/user_id/66378

I am still trying to decide how to best handle the side doors and then I am wondering if I should make some narrow windows for the front and back. Decisions, decisions. All in all the coop is coming together nicely.

I will start on the roof this evening as we are expected to get rain this week. I will add more photos soon.

 

[chicken danz]

Poor chicken! That was probably an uncomfortable sleeping position!
I'm just sitting here dreaming of what birds I can breed in the future. I swear I am a total bird hoarder. Every time I think I've decided on what I want to keep I find some other beautiful creature I just have to have. My work load is huge right now. But I can't seem to learn. If only I could start over and just build a very nice poultry facility it would make things so much easier.
I think the internet and all the information out there works as an enabler for me!