Consolidated Kansas

[Silkie Chick]

I love all those chicken photos! My favorite chickens almost always seem to have a beard or a top hat.

Cherwill- I wish our garden looked like that, but most of the stuff we have planted hasn't come up yet.

 

[prairie]

I love goat milk! I don't like the taste and smell of cow's milk but then cow's milk doesn't like me either. Wish I had a goat but believe I have enough on my plate for now -- maybe if I ever retire!

 

[prairie]

Cherwill your garden looks great! I do love tomatillo's because I love making salsa verde and hot sauce. Forgot to plant any this year though.

 

[prairie]

You all will get a kick out of this but when I am in this small town in Guatemala (I do volunteer work there 3-4 times a year) there is a man that walks around with his herd of goats and stops and milks the goats and hands a glass of fresh milk to a customer. I think he must have many regulars cause I see him stop at some houses and businesss but he always just hands them a glass of milk.

 

[chicken danz]

Silkie chick. Yes I will have some. I have at least one batch a week if not more. I would have to look in the incubator to give you a better date but there will definitely be some. How many were you thinking? I have lavenders and cross whites with pearl and lavender. I live about 50 miles south of Topeka.
Sharol, I use Wazine on my turkeys but got afraid to use them on hens because I sell the eggs. And my ducks often drink out of the chicken water. I called the company and they said it was poisoness to ducks.
I have tried to figure out the danger several times. I would think the only danger would be trace amounts in the eggs. I just can't see that it would hurt you in minute amounts unless you had an allergy to the medication. I use diatomaceous earth and hope they inject enough to clean them out. I planted pumpkins so I would have some natural wormer here this fall.
Ivermectin pour on kills mites. I bought a huge bottle for that use but haven't had any outbreaks. I've wondered if I used some on my dogs if it would help with ticks any. I use frontline and the preventic collars but maybe it would keep help keep the bugs off.
Trish I've been bitten twice by a brown recluse. Your very best and first defense is to take benedril. It will take the swelling out and might prevent it from spreading so far. And go to the doctor! I got some kind of shots when I got bitten the first time. Not sure what they were. The second bite healed in no time and no noticeable scar. The first one took all summer and left holes. I also was told to soak in hot epson salt water to pull the poison out. Let me tell you now that hurts but it worked. You need to get on it or you will have a bad chunk fall out. Also with all the staph infection these days that presents another danger.
My little turkey I thought sure was going to die last night is up running around today. I gave him a dose of vitamin E and some nutridrench last night and left him. Go figure. He must have needed a boost. I may just put a little Nutri-drench in their water although they won't like it and hope all goes well. They were all yelling this morning for more food. They had some...... I guess they just wanted fresh.

 

[Ivywoods]

Ivywoods - We are right around the Topeka area. Do you know what kind your friend has? We only need a couple, to grow up with and defend a bunch of chicks that are going to be coming in. Our guineas have either not started laying yet or are hiding them somewhere on the five acres (we let all our chickens free range too).

I think she might be going to a swap meet there the next time there is one. She has pearl, lavender and pied, that I know of. She might have others, too. The guineas won't really defend the chickens, but they will sure set off the alarm.

karenS - Goat's milk tastes exactly like cow's milk when it is fresh. If it tastes funny then it most likely had bacteria of some sort in it. The duck (her name is Drip) is a fawn and white runner. We have a drake too, and his name is Dunk.

I like goats milk best when it is really cold. I think one thing that affects the taste probably as much as not being fresh is where the does are. They seem to absorb their surroundings into their milk. If they are in a dirty barn the milk doesn't taste as good, and if they are with a buck you can DEFINITELY taste that in the milk.

You all will get a kick out of this but when I am in this small town in Guatemala (I do volunteer work there 3-4 times a year) there is a man that walks around with his herd of goats and stops and milks the goats and hands a glass of fresh milk to a customer. I think he must have many regulars cause I see him stop at some houses and businesss but he always just hands them a glass of milk.

Awesome.... but I really do prefer mine cold!

 

[Silkie Chick]

chickendanz - We would love to have a couple (2-3) from whatever hatch is closest to the eighteenth. Lavenders/crosses are great, but we really don't like the pearls much.

 

[Silkie Chick]

Prarie - I could only imagine what people would think if someone went around the cities with goats, passing out milk to customers. Enough people looked at us strangely when we told them we bought a milking doe so we would be closer to our food supply.

 

[prairie]

I know! And the Health Dept would have a fit with a walking goat salesman!

 

[chicken danz]

Silkie I will certainly have them. They are dependable hatchers for sure. I hatched another 29 yesterday.
That reminds me. I hope I didn't post this before. I have one hen with about 5 barnyard chicks she hatched. They go all over the yard feeding every day. There is a male guinea who acts as their rooster. Wherever you see the hen and her chicks you see the guinea. DH was laughing last night. He said he was watching him and he'd get busy eating a bug or something and the hen and chicks would get several feet away from him. He'd look up with panic and run to them as fast as he could. Kind of like "Oh my God! I forgot to watch the family!" This is one of the guineas that lived in the garage and was raised with the chickens. He doesn't even know he's a guinea. He also protects the hen from other roosters trying to breed her. He will peck at them to get them away. It's so funny to watch.
I meant to mention that when I took Cloud to the vet yesterday he said she was weighed around 60 pounds now. She sure doesn't look that big already. I think she is going to be big like her daddy. I've got to get Marshmallow ready to go to the vet in the morning. That will be a chore. I will have to cage her tonight and I know she'll be miserable. She really likes to work all night. I wonder how on earth I'll keep her calm the next couple of weeks. That will be a trip.
I've come to a realization. When I worked full time, the weeks passed so slowly. It would take forever to get from the start to the finish of a week. But now it's like not weeks but months just fly by. I am so behind on doing things. I guess time passes faster when you enjoy what you are doing.
I envy those of you who have already harvested their gardens. Especially since mine is just coming up. I planted some spinach and some radishes that aren't up. I planted them a little deeper than normal in hopes of keeping the roots a little cooler. Might have been a mistake. They were more fill ins any way since I know it is late to be planting them. It seems like most of my stuff is coming up though. It would be nice if we have a late fall and frost date so I can actually get the produce out. I'm concerned about the cooler temps these next few days slowing some of it down. Hopefully the ground is warm enough that germination will occur anyway. I did notice the weeds and grass are starting to do quite well. I need to be getting some mulch out soon.