Consolidated Kansas

[pikeman94]

Pikeman94, so glad Sumac is settling in so well. She is one sweetheart of a hen and definitely one of our family's favorites. I think you and your daughter will enjoy her as long as she stays healthy. These Sussex are a real trick but hope the 68 soluble solution helps her make the transition without too much difficulty.

So far so good. She is integrating well with the others. She seems very healthy thus far.

 

[pikeman94]

Coop v2.0 Update - I got the inside painted this evening along with the roost and nesting boxes. Hopefully by tomorrow it should all be dry. Also, I got all the tar paper on the coop roof and the nesting box lid. If all goes well I will begin moving the girls to their new home in a day or two. I have heard that you want to move them in at night so that in the morning they wake up in their new home. Is there any truth to that?

 

[HEChicken]

I have heard that you want to move them in at night so that in the morning they wake up in their new home. Is there any truth to that?

I dunno.....When I moved my laying flock last week I did do it at night but that was mostly because it was easier to wrangle them off the roosts at the old coop at night, than to try to run them all down and catch them during the day. Also, with it being so hot, and we had to transport them by car for 45 minutes, I thought the cooler night time air was a better time to be crammed into a box. Your situation is a little different since there isn't a car trip involved. It can't hurt anything to wait until night time though.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I finally caved and brought the marans inside from the garage. They were looking a bit listless. As soon as I put them in the basement they perked right back up. I think I will keep them there while the 100+ degree heat continues.

Last summer, my turkey barely made it. She spent 2 months inside my house! I had a wire dog kennel, and I put the cage up on a buffet cabinet in the living room. Then I taped a couple of trash sacks to the wall to keep the wall clean. Her kennel sat on a towel with a trash sack over that-- so there was no way to destroy my wood or walls. It wasn't the most ideal situation, but she kept trying to die on me. She actually loved all the attention she got in the house and she talked to us all day long. I think you did the right thing, if they were getting too hot.

I'm wondering if birds of the same breed "recognize" one another?

I think they do! My example is that in my layer pen, my barred rocks, and Wyandottes all stick to themselves-- the rocks don't mix with the Wyandottes. They hang out in pairs of their own breed. The Polish know each other too, and they stick together. They are more skittish and flighty, but good girls. I don't think they'd do that if they didn't recognize the others as their "own kind".

I just feel sick. I went out to spray some more cold water for the birds, and found 3 of my beautiful Bantam polish hens dead.

Danz, I am soooo sorry!! What a terrible thing-- THREE birds! Wow! That is just awful. The heat yesterday was just insane. We got up to 109 here. I really feel lucky that I don't have too many pens to watch after. I had the mister in the layer pen that has my Polish in there and they were all getting into the water it was blowing out. Even my silkies under the deck were doing that! Now, they look terrible when they do that, they all looked like drowned rats with all their fluff soaked. I was worried it was too much water on them, but when I moved the mister back a ways, they all crowded the fence and continued to try to be in the mist as much as possible. They were just all so terribly hot.

There are many out there that don't have anyone going to extra measures to keep them cool.

Indeed! Think of all the people that don't care one bit! Think of all the idiots that have large dogs outside and they don't even think to refill their water bowls!! There are so many people out there that don't deserve to have any animals. And here we are spending so much time and energy and worry over our birds. This is a fantastic group we have here!

Hawkeye, thanks for the reminder about the salt museum. I haven't been there yet myself and I think it is something my dad would enjoy.

I am happy to just putter around here all day every day, and have a to-do list a mile long to keep me busy but while they would be happy to help with some projects, for the most part they don't have the investment in getting stuff done that we do, and I don't want to work them too hard, especially due to the heat.

This might be a bit of a drive, but last year, my DH and I took our kids to Colorado Springs and we drove it in ONE day with plenty of time to run around once we got there. It didn't really take too long. Then once you're there, we went up Pikes Peak and there are SO MANY things to do in that town and area! There is that amazing state park right across the highway from Pikes Peak, with hiking and all the neat rock formations. Plus, just being close to the mountains-- it's fun. We just spent a weekend, and it was enough to see everything. It was a fast trip, but oh, so fun! That might be worth a 2-3 day jaunt?

Hawkeye, did you get your brother's coop finished and delivered to him yet? How is he liking it?

No, I haven't I'm soooooo bad. We've had VBS every morning and I've had to leave the house by 8am for the last week. That hasn't helped. Now that that is over I need to get my butt back out there. Bleah.

Yesterday, I pushed it, being out there for 3 hours building a chicken tractor with DH and, boy, I paid for it. I had to come in a few times because I was getting too over-heated, having a hard time breathing. I was actually getting the chills and not feeling well at all. Dangerous stuff, this heat. Be careful all!

Sounds like you need to be careful! Another chicken tractor, hu? You'll probably get it done before I get my little coop done. Sigh. If you are on tetracycline or any other "cycline" those will make you more likely to burn and make it harder for you in the heat, for sure. Be careful, and don't push yourself, especially if you don't have your DH or another adult around to dial 911 for you!

I have my own limitations myself, and I've had to learn that it doesn't pay to be sick and lying on the floor for hours until someone can find you.

I wish all my $3 testing turned into a $100 extra without having to leave home.
I still have a guy that is wanting 50 guineas but he lives clear out in Abilene. I can't imagine someone driving that far but he emailed and said he could come tomorrow evening. I am waiting to hear back from him to confirm if he is coming or not. Sure hope so! That would help buy some chick feed.

That is awesome that they bought so many birds!! YAY! I hope the Abilene guy makes it out!

We're just running the water constantly, filling and refilling pools, waterers, and watering the orchard and garden. Then at night I run water into the pond to keep it decent for the ducks! Sheesh. I don't know what we'd do without a well. I would have a desert wasteland, I'm afraid.


I had some people call today wanting to buy 2 hens so I sold a couple of the Alohas that weren't necessary for the program. I hated to sell them. I incubated them and raised them with tons of TLC and I'm glad I didn't have too much time to think it over.

Yeah, we'd be the same way out here. We are on well water, and I water all of my trees trying to keep them alive. So far, so good, but it takes a lot of water to make a dent, and I'm glad I don't have to pay for it! Sold a couple of Alohas, hu? All of your birds are special! I'd hate to get rid of anything either. I think it will be hard to get rid of the silkies I will be needing to get rid of, too.

Hawkeye- How is your mare doing? I think I will pass on the catalpa trees, I hate those nasty buggers! The house I grew up in was surrounded by them and they were a mess year round! They dropped sticky flowers in the spring, giant beans and gross black waxy stuff during the summer and branches broke under the ice in the winter! I have no fond memories of them at all! I am glad someone likes them though! Maybe if they were far away and I could look at them and not have to go near them.

The maples sound much better.

Well, I have done it. I have officially lost my mind. I have 8 peafowl eggs coming in the mail. What was I thinking?? DH is going to die when we have to build a pen for these!! Danz, how big is your pen for your peas?

My mare is doing much better, thank you! She is still limping, but less so than before. She's hanging in there. Darned horse. Ha! I love those trees! I don't mind all the beans that fall off. I also LOVE the big flowers in the spring and don't mind them falling off. They won't be planted right up next to the house. Thinking of using them as a line break or along the fence line. But they are SUPER fast growing and I need something that will offer plenty of shade in very little time. Good luck on those pea eggs!! I hope they all hatch for you!

The silkies are acclimating pretty well.
The biggest issue i'm running into is that they can't fly up to get to the water that i have seperated for the chickens, so I have to let them drink out of the same waterer that the ducks have right now until I can figure something out. The ducks make such a huge mess with their water (even though they have the pond AND another tub they can play in). I'm thinking about making a box with a small opening that only the silkies can get into and put a waterer in there.

Stay cool everyone!!!

Glad your silkies are doing well! They aren't really flyers. And they won't roost like normal chickens, either. Mine just pile up on the floor. So don't expect them to jump or fly up onto a roost... unless it's really low to the floor, then they might! Hope you figure out their water situation. Sounds like a creative solution is in need.

Just candled my lavender orps and I have a few going but not as many as I hoped for.Good news is NO detached air cells!!

Every time I get shipped eggs they all have detached air cells and I asked both breeders to leave the boxes unmarked other than to hold and call for pick up at the PO as an experiment to see if they came in better shape than boxes marked fragile/hatching eggs etc and it WORKED!! Both boxes were in significantly better shape and so are the eggs. My last batch of eggs that came from a breeder in Texas and was marked as hatching eggs was all bashed in on the side and I had a couple broken even when they were wrapped, in cartons and double boxed!

YES!! The last batch of eggs I had shipped came from California and she didn't mark it Fragile or anything! Nothing! And they arrived in great condition. Every one of them had detached air sacks, though. BUT--- still, I got 7 eggs out of 12 to hatch! And 3 of them were starters and had blood rings. I'd say that is pretty good for shipped eggs. I hope yours do really well. Isn't that interesting that the PO will purposely mess up "Fragile" boxes but the ones that are unmarked will be left alone? Sick.

I think we will be going to see the worlds largest ball of twine and big brutus this summer.

OH! I used to live only a few miles away from Big Brutus when I was a kid! We lived in the country, but our address was McCune, KS. I've been out to Big Brutus several times-- that is so fun!

Coop v2.0 Update - I got the inside painted this evening along with the roost and nesting boxes. Hopefully by tomorrow it should all be dry. Also, I got all the tar paper on the coop roof and the nesting box lid. If all goes well I will begin moving the girls to their new home in a day or two. I have heard that you want to move them in at night so that in the morning they wake up in their new home. Is there any truth to that?

YAY!! Good job, Pikeman!! No idea about the night time deal. It's what everyone says and I've read it and heard it more times than I can count. Perhaps there is something to it, but I bet it wouldn't matter a whole lot. And I think the night time thing is really just for adding new birds to an existing flock-- not moving an entire flock to new digs. I moved my birds into the large coop first thing in the morning last year when I got it done. Everyone was fine.

 

[chicken danz]

Are some of my chickens "honking" because of the heat? I was out watching them all jockey for space on the roost and they were not peeping or clucking at rack other. I swear it sounded like they were honking!!! I have never heard this out there before. Many of the older crew clucks, but they never honked in between the peep stage and clucking. It really sounded like I had geese out there!
I am going out tomorrow to buy a mister! We changed their water several times today, added ice and put a fan in the run. It was still miserably hot....
I am so sorry about the losses this week of cats and birds.... My son does not handle death well, or worse than most. I really want to keep from losing any animals if possible. I know it is so hard to prevent. :-( None of the birds we have are exceptionally hardy...
Sera's new little Silkie, Topaz, has buddied with our tiniest silkie They both chose to sleep in a cage next to each other- 2 diff cages, so I put them together. So far so good She has already decided that it is OK for Sera to pick her up and cuddle her. She was doused by the hose.... Looks fluffier
Hope tomorrow is cooler!!!

The honking that your chickens and others are doing is respiratory distress. They cool themselves through their mouth and they are getting too hot. If they are honking it is a good idea to see if you can cool them further.
that lack of wind yesterday was the killer. It just made it that much hotter on the birds. I just remembered I forgot to turn off one one of the misters last night. We should have a nice mud puddle this morning for them to roll around in! Duh!
Originally Posted by JosieChick

Coop v2.0 Update - I got the inside painted this evening along with the roost and nesting boxes. Hopefully by tomorrow it should all be dry. Also, I got all the tar paper on the coop roof and the nesting box lid. If all goes well I will begin moving the girls to their new home in a day or two. I have heard that you want to move them in at night so that in the morning they wake up in their new home. Is there any truth to that?

The only reason people say to move birds at night would be to integrate new and young together. In my experience that doesn't work well any way. But if they are hard to catch it is easier to catch them if they have gone to roost. And in the heat they won't get as stressed if you do have to chase them any. Otherwise just move them when you want. Personally I would put food and water in the new coop instead of their normal feeding routine. And then put them in. They'll be more interested in the food. It may take them a day or two to figure out who is going to roost where and your hens may stop laying for a couple weeks.

Karen I can't imagine you selling one of your Alohas! Your chickens are like children.
I'm so glad the new ducks have joined the group. The pond will make all the difference in the world for them in this heat. My duck pens for the babies are lakes. They just keep splashing water out all over the place.

On a sad note not weather related I think I forgot to post I lost one of my lavender Orpington chicks yesterday. It was strange. It looked like he had pasty butt but it is far too early for that. I think maybe he hadn't gotten the yolk all absorbed or something. I have them in the house so I can watch them very carefully. I've lost a few of my Wellsummer chicks as well. They just don't seem real hardy at this point. I have them separated into my "special" brooder box where I can watch them carefully in the brooder. But they have gotten weak and no matter what I do to them after that they just don't make it. I think I might have lost four of them. Hard to remember at this point.
That heat is just a killer. Even the baby chicks in the brooder are panting and laying around. I have no heat in there and running a fan but it is way too hot. Maybe with a little breeze today it will be better.

 

[pikeman94]

On a sad note not weather related I think I forgot to post I lost one of my lavender Orpington chicks yesterday. It was strange. It looked like he had pasty butt but it is far too early for that. I think maybe he hadn't gotten the yolk all absorbed or something. I have them in the house so I can watch them very carefully. I've lost a few of my Wellsummer chicks as well. They just don't seem real hardy at this point. I have them separated into my "special" brooder box where I can watch them carefully in the brooder. But they have gotten weak and no matter what I do to them after that they just don't make it. I think I might have lost four of them. Hard to remember at this point.
That heat is just a killer. Even the baby chicks in the brooder are panting and laying around. I have no heat in there and running a fan but it is way too hot. Maybe with a little breeze today it will be better.

Danz - That is why I moved my babies into the basement yesterday. They were listless and falling asleep. After a few hours inside they were back to the happy cheeping I am used to hearing from my brooder tub. In fact the part of the basement they are in is next to my office and I can hear them cheeping away in there. I wonder if you could put a big block of ice behind a fan in that brooder house to help cool them down? Of course there is the humidity concern, but the cooling is becoming critical at this point.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

HeChicken, I've been to Colorado Springs also and I agree with Hawkeye, it's a great place for a weekend visit. Cave of the Winds is in the area and in my slim and trim days I took the back tour of the cave, off the beaten path. It was fantastic but you do have to squeeze through tight spaces and fall out on the other side, on occasion, and belly crawl through some tunnels so not ideal for your parents. The regular tour is really nice and it would also be out of the heat. They have tons of things to do around Colorado Springs so a weekend trip might be just the ticket.

Hawkeye, I love Catalpa trees too. They are so pretty in the spring and I don't really mind their mess. I'll just mow over it with all the cotton from the cottonwood trees! I'd forgotten about those trees but they are fast growing and I need some more shade around here. Silver maples grow really fast too but I've been hesitant about planting any since I've never had good luck with those. Not here, though, so I ought to try one or two just to see. About rehoming the silkies, that will be tough. At least we really loved them while we had the opportunity. I can't believe how attached I am to these birds. Owning them is different than a dog or cat but they are no less important, are they?

JosieChick, that's just crazy about shipping hatching eggs unmarked to get a better result. I can't imagine doing something deliberately to a package when it's marked fragile. I'll have to remember that in the future.

Trish44, I'm glad your mail lady has straightened up. That's the same darned thing as deliberately knocking a fragile box around. I can't imagine what possessed her to put that box in the sun!

Thanks, Danz, for the info re: honking. I thought it must be distress and put her feet in the water but don't know if that really took care of it. I'm thinking about spraying down the basement with Oxine to ride it of any bacteria or fungal nastiness and putting the birds back in the basement. It would definitely be cooler. You are so right about me and my chickens -- I love them all, they are such a joy to have! It was really tough but these two were going to a family as pets and for eggs, so that made it a little easier. Sigh. I'm so sorry to hear you lost one of your LO's. That's the pits on top of the others.

I'm really worried about getting the birds through the next week with this horrible heat. They say the humidity is supposed to rise also and that is certainly not helpful. At least in the basement I've got a dehumidifier. I'll have to get crackin' on that project.

My DH has been working on 3 more small coops for my birds but I told him it's just too hot to mess with right now. He looked the picture of misery but assured me he likes the heat and he wanted to finish them. Hope he doesn't get heat exhaustion, then I would feel guilty for life. I think I'm going to have to get ill humored and convince him it can wait. It's just too darn hot.

Pikeman94, yay for progress on the coop! I don't think it makes any difference whether you move them at night or not. It probably would be less stressful for them to go to sleep in familiar surroundings. Just a guess, but I don't know. I dance my birds all over the yard at whatever time of day strikes my fancy and they don't seem to mind at all. Of course, I do avoid the heat of the day for all concerned! Glad to hear Sumac is doing well!

Okay, I'm back out to do battle with the heat. Stay cool everyone! Sorry to all I missed commenting on with my feeble memory and short attention span. I really enjoy reading up on all of you!

 

[chicken danz]

Medawinks, I forgot to say how glad I am the silkie calmed down for Sera. It just needed someone to give it attention.
Karens I don't think I could do that cave tour you did, aside from the fact I couldn't do it physically at this point. Just crawling through skinny passages would be too much for me. I am so claustrophobic! Once we took the kids to Silver Dollar city and got on this water ride. It was in little boats that went in the water kind of like a roller coaster. What I didn't see was that the boat thing went through a tube like thing at one point during the ride. I assume it was to keep it from becoming air borne. However being inside that tube was too much for me. It took DH and two of my DS to keep me in there. I was determined to get out of that tube one way or another. I love exploring caves but I like the ones that are big open places and well lighted so I don't have to think about being inside of anything.
I found a catalpa tree a couple miles from my place here. It is where an old homestead used to be. They put in a newer home a little ways from it. I've been thinking about going up to see if there are any seed pods or volunteer trees up there. Hawkeye do you know when the pods are fresh and ready to be planted. Do they require being chilled before they germinate?

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Medawinks, I forgot to say how glad I am the silkie calmed down for Sera. It just needed someone to give it attention.
Karens I don't think I could do that cave tour you did, aside from the fact I couldn't do it physically at this point. Just crawling through skinny passages would be too much for me. I am so claustrophobic! Once we took the kids to Silver Dollar city and got on this water ride. It was in little boats that went in the water kind of like a roller coaster. What I didn't see was that the boat thing went through a tube like thing at one point during the ride. I assume it was to keep it from becoming air borne. However being inside that tube was too much for me. It took DH and two of my DS to keep me in there. I was determined to get out of that tube one way or another. I love exploring caves but I like the ones that are big open places and well lighted so I don't have to think about being inside of anything.
I found a catalpa tree a couple miles from my place here. It is where an old homestead used to be. They put in a newer home a little ways from it. I've been thinking about going up to see if there are any seed pods or volunteer trees up there. Hawkeye do you know when the pods are fresh and ready to be planted. Do they require being chilled before they germinate?

You know what Danz. That would have been funny about you trying to get out of the ride, if I didn't understand why.

I'm really sorry. I guess the cave thing would be your worst nightmare for sure. The regular tour you would love -- big open spaces and well lit!

Time to ice up the waterers and change ice packs!

 

[Trish44]

Hawkeye, I like Catalpa trees too, we don't have any here but I wish we did. We have way too many darned hedge trees here for my liking, I hate the things. I wish we could permanently rid the place of them & plant something else. I have some redbud trees that were here when I came, about 5 were here & then I have moved a few around, they come up everywhere every year. We have some hackberry trees too that are just wild here. I don't mind those so bad, they grow fast, but they're not a particularly pretty tree. We have two Burr Oaks in the front yard that the people who built this house planted along with two Sycamores & they planted them all too close to the house not realizing they would grow out as well as up. I don't mind the Burr Oaks, but we have them all over the front yard every year too. I would never have planted Sycamores myself, I don't like them, but they're huge trees & it would be hard to take them down now. The leaves on those things are just huge & make a big mess in the fall. They drop their leaves first usually before the other trees. KarenS, I had Silver Maples at my house in Derby & they're pretty trees, but they're fragile & they break under any wind or ice. We have a red maple we planted in our backyard that is getting pretty good sized now & it's so pretty in the fall.

I went out at noon & watered everyone & went ahead & sprayed off the rabbits again, they were already super hot. I may have to do it again later in the afternoon. Rabbits are prone to heat more than anything else, so you have to keep them cooled down. My chickens were so hot out there, I sprayed a spot under the bush they like to hang out under so it would be cool for awhile. I let some more of my young chicks out of the pen so they wouldn't be so crowded in there, I figured that might help if they weren't piled on top of each other in the heat. Some of them were picking on my Swedish Flower Hen chicks too, so I got the offenders out of there. I can't have them picking on those expensive chicks. They were all piled up by the gate & when I opened it to feed & water they kept running out the gate & I was catching them & they were running right back out, it was a struggle for awhile to keep them in there. I'm thinking seriously of putting my little chicks from the brooder in a crate & bringing them in the house this afternoon. It's so darned hot in that garage I'm afraid I'm going to lose them & I have 4 lav Orps in there & 2 Welsummers besides all of my Ameraucanas that I have hatched. I have two fans going, but it's just blowing 110 degree air.

I put only about 8 Welsummer eggs in the hatcher today, that was all that had developed out of 20 eggs. It's just almost impossible to get shipped eggs & have very many make it. I'm trying to wait patiently to see if my 4 peacock eggs are going to hatch. I checked with the person I got them from & they are out of the India Blue eggs, they only have really expensive varieties left. At $15 an egg, I'm not sure I want to chance it. I may just wait & see how these do & then if they don't hatch try to find some more that aren't so pricey.

My DH is out digging dirt out from under the new coop. He is trying to get enough out to put some blocks under there for support. Fortunately it is very shady where he's working & the heat doesn't bother him like it does me. I came in from being out there about 30 minutes & was nauseated from the heat. I just can't take it at all, I get really sick fast. You all be careful out there & don't overheat!