Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Candace, I've been telling my DH that we need to fill in that old well for years & he says yeah one of these days & it never gets done. We need to just start going out & collecting rocks from places & throwing them down there, every little bit would help & eventually it would be filled up. I'm going to tell him your story & see what his reaction is. There is just a piece of old roofing tin with rocks holding it on & that is all that is between the hole & something falling in there. When the newest neighbor had asked me if his boys could come over the fence to our place I told him no that we had this old well there & we know where it is but nobody else does & for their safety I told him I didn't want them there. So far I haven't seen any of them over there thank goodness, they have 6 kids that are there part of the time. Anyway, I'm so glad you found your dog before she had to stay there long.

You all have talked about your birds making honking noises in this heat, I hadn't heard that with mine until today & when I went out to try to cool them all off I heard one of my lavender Ameraucanas honking like that. I made sure they all got sprayed down & they seemed to feel a little better after that. I let the other 3 Speckled Sussex out of the pen this morning to roam with the other young ones I got this spring. They're getting pretty big now & are starting to get some nice color, one is smaller than the other two, so I'll probably just use her for laying & the two bigger ones for breeding purposes.

Danz, I was looking over the little Welsummer chicks that I hatched out & it looks like to me that there are just two roos in there that I know for sure, the rest really look like pullets to me. The pullets are darker & the markings are just a lot more defined than the roos. I don't know that I will keep all of these, I'll decide later on when I see how everything goes. So far the lavender Orps I hatched out are doing very well & I'm ready I think to take a couple of the biggest out to the grow-out pen, they're starting to get a little ornery in that brooder. I have 5 more coming the 14th of July, I can't wait. I don't know the sexes of the 4 I have yet, they're still too little. Maybe Chooks could tell since she has them all the time, but I can't yet. My little Swedish Flowers out in the pen are really starting to get their color, they're going to be really pretty, I can't wait to see them all feathered out, it's so exciting! I have more eggs due to hatch the 12th of July, I hope I have a good hatch this time. I still can't tell sexes on those either. Wouldn't it be nice if all of the breeds were autosexing types like the Cream Legbars are? I think that would be great, then you would know exactly what you have & could sell what you don't need a lot sooner.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Trish, yeah, it was one with the rock sides, hand dug. We've filled in ones in this area as we find them. It was down by the blackberry bushes, we went to look for her again....I got out to unlock the gate and told Kelsey (i was at the house when he was picking, the dogs came out with me saw him up the road and ran to him)...BUt I told him..THIS is where I last saw her, bouncing in the grass....right here...then...I saw a hole, about 12-18" in diameter, I said "Tess?" and I saw a shadow....I stepped closer, and she looked up at me...I couldn't reach her and hse couldn't jump out.....She was bouncing and trying but was just a little too high at a very narrow weird angle...So Kelsey got out and came over, laid down, and reached in, grabbed her by the scruff as she jumped...I was SO elated!
She is my baby, been a huge help since the hospital. My heart was just so torn.

Candace, I couldn't be happier for you! That's just awesome!!!! I have a little dog I got when I learned my mom had pancreatic cancer, so I know how a dog can become such a huge part of you. He's a special guy for sure and I know your Tess is a very special girl also. Congrats!!!!!!!

. My little Swedish Flowers out in the pen are really starting to get their color, they're going to be really pretty, I can't wait to see them all feathered out, it's so exciting! I have more eggs due to hatch the 12th of July, I hope I have a good hatch this time. I still can't tell sexes on those either. Wouldn't it be nice if all of the breeds were autosexing types like the Cream Legbars are? I think that would be great, then you would know exactly what you have & could sell what you don't need a lot sooner.

I can't wait to see how your SF feather out too! So fun! I think the Cream Legbars are really pretty too. My one little lav orp and its sibling, a splash orp, are doing great. They have the split feathers that were an issue with earlier strains but they're really very pretty anyway.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I just had my last two Ameraucana eggs hatch & the chicks are down there cheeping away in the hatcher. The only ones left to hatch now are under the broody hen & we'll see how that goes. This is my first time to use a broody hen, so this is new for me. I just put the 4 Cream Legbar eggs that went all the way to Dodge City in the incubator awhile ago. Surprisingly I didn't see that the air cells were detached, which was the case with the previous ones, so that's good. We'll see if anything develops after their long trip & being in the heat though.

Good luck with your eggs that went on a wild trip! I hope they surprise you and all hatch!

She is a Border Collie, and we found her! in a well!!!! Watch out for those wells in old homesteads! Luckily we had partially filled the well in, so it was only about 6 foot deep!

Sooooo glad you found her and she is okay! Down a well!! Sheesh! That is scary!! I keep having Lassie flash backs..

Trish44 & Hawkeye, we could form a club with our erratic hearts!

I suppose moving birds today with my Aspergerish son hasn't helped
I'm 54 with a 7 year old still, so the thought does weigh on me. I'm older than my teen's friend's parents, so for my 7 year old, I'm ancient!

Wow, we are a sorry mess, aren't we? LOL I'm worthless in the heat. You are so amazingly patient with your son! He won't know how lucky he is until he grows up, but he'll thank you for it. You look so young!! I never would have guessed in a million! Sounds like you all stay busy during the day with all your chicken adventures! ha! That will be nice to have the extra misters.

DH added a mister on a stake in the chicken pen. It's already set up with the tubing because of the lilacs, so he just uncovered a bit of the larger tubing and stuck a stake in it. Right now we've been running the microsystem twice a day for 20 minutes. That zone covers the planter beds and garden beds in back. Hopefully that will be enough to cool things down; we could always have it run more often but for a bit less time if necessary. Right now they want nothing to do with it, but I'm sure they'll learn to appreciate it.

What is a microsystem? Is this part of the mister? Sounds interesting. Hope the chickens appreciate all the trouble we all go to, to make them comfortable!

Candace, I've been telling my DH that we need to fill in that old well for years & he says yeah one of these days & it never gets done. We need to just start going out & collecting rocks from places & throwing them down there, every little bit would help & eventually it would be filled up.

You all have talked about your birds making honking noises in this heat, I hadn't heard that with mine until today & when I went out to try to cool them all off I heard one of my lavender Ameraucanas honking like that.

That would be scary to have kids falling down your well! Did the neighbors take it well and understand? Maybe you should put up a quick fence around it to keep anyone from accidentally stepping on it. The boys could still come over because they are BOYS! Little explorers and they act first and think second. That is scary about the chicken honking. I haven't heard it either--- and I don't want to! I sure hope all my birds will be okay this summer.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

One last update before I turn in. We got all our fencing moved, the new energizer in and working and all the birds happy and safe. Then my extra misters showed up so tomorrow I'm in great shape and don't have to worry. They have plenty of shade for the morning and lots of clean water so I may even get brave and sleep in! Yay!

Next up, I need to decide where to put the cornish, rocks and turkey. They really need to go outside but it's just so hot, I hate to send them. My craft room is almost cleaned up so I don't want them to continue to fly all over the darn place and dust everything the way they have been.

By the way, I haven't had any honking from any of my birds since using the mister. Today I had one honker and we just gently put her feet in the cool water pool and she cooled right down and was fine for the rest of the time I was out there (too long).

FOR SALE!!​

Anybody interested in some Stromberg's Buff Cornish? They are approx 4 or 5 weeks old and I would want $3.50 each. All pullets, no cockerels not even any mistake cockerels! That's pretty darn lucky! So I have approx 25 and only need 5. I could also part with 2 buff rock cockerels to go with them, 1 free with 2 or more pullets.

I have 18 Speckled Sussex pullets at the point of lay and I only need 10. Guys, I'm thinking these birds are just fine.I wouldn't even consider selling them if I thought they weren't anything but healthy. They've made it through all this heat without any problems and I begin to suspect the sneezing was probably from my excessive and obsessive dusting with Sevin. Poor things, but I don't know that for sure. The SX are either laying or within a couple weeks of laying. They lay a very light brown egg that looks pink next to the Easter Egger blue and green ones. Very pretty! If you want any of these ladies, I'll make you a very good deal. $5 each or $7.50 for two. I have one SX roo that I could part with free with any two hens.

Next up, I have one really beautiful EE roo who isn't dominate at all but he's mating with my teeny, tiny bantams and enough's, enough. He's a healthy guy, too, making it just like a trooper through all the dusting and heat. He's free to any takers.

If you want a photo of any of them, I'll be happy to oblige.

I'll post on Facebook swap later but wanted to give you a chance at anything you may want first.

 

[cherwill]

What is a microsystem? Is this part of the mister? Sounds interesting. Hope the chickens appreciate all the trouble we all go to, to make them comfortable!

The microsystem is a watering system for smaller areas like flower beds and pots. It's like an in-ground sprinkler system, but on a smaller scale. You run 1/2" tubing around to carry the water, then branch off it with 1/4" flexible tubing. There are all sorts of attachments for the ends of the smaller tubing, depending on what you need for that area. Sprayers, misters, drippers, that sort of thing, and there are stake attachments as well. You just add them where you need them, and there are "oops" plugs for mistakes or for plugging holes you no longer need. Anywhere you want to add on, you just poke a hole in the 1/2" tubing, attach the 1/4" and whatever type of waterer you need. We had a 360 mister, so DH put it on a stake and plugged it into some of the tubing running through the pen. I hope that all made sense!

 

[HEChicken]

Wow - so much has been going on.

Candace, glad you found your dog in the well - how scary.

I'm so sorry so many of you are dealing with heart issues. Sorry, but that is one club I don't want to join

Karen, I am *so* tempted by the Cornish and the Rocks. I have often thought of trying to make my own meaties but have never had the ability to separate them appropriately. I knew you had ordered those chicks and have been meaning to ask you how they are doing. I *still* don't have an easy way to separate them so I'm not going to jump in yet - the "to-do list" is already way too long and growing faster than we cross off items. Recently I was reading a thread on the meaties forum that seemed to suggest that the modern "Cornish Rocks" are no longer crosses between a Cornish and a Rock, which was news to me. Have you heard anything like that?

Trish,

that your Cream Legbars will develop after their trip around the state.

Well, I've been reading but haven't checked in much lately. Not much going on here - just plugging away doing the boring stuff like mowing and trimming trees and that sort of thing. Everything in chicken-land is going swimmingly. Well, other than one of my silkies is in puberty and a real jerk at the moment. I'm hoping he'll outgrow it soon or I might get a taste of dark meat. Ooops. That didn't sound quite right, did it?

 

[sapphireblu76]

YAY! I finally got caught up reading posts, lol!

Candace, I'm so glad you found Tess! Scary that she was in the well, but it could have been worse, huh?

Danz, Those geese are so pretty. Too bad they had to ruin your morning coffee!

I haven't been doing much around here with the heat as it is. Sounds like a common theme here lately for all of us. Do what has to be done, then get back in the AC.

I scored a huge dog run the other day for only $75! The lady I got it from had bought it at an auction, but never put it together and it was COMPLETELY disassembled. We got it home and it took an hour and a half of playing with it out in the driveway, trying different configurations and then 30 min of sitting and playing with the pieces in paper form to finally figure out how the darn thing went together. Instead of being made of kennel panels, it has a frame for the top, and one for the bottom and then poles that attach the top to the bottom. Then, the fencing wraps around the whole thing. We were all thinking it was a 6 x 6 x 6...noooooo, it's a 7 x 12 x 6! Hubby and I were finally able to get it together last night (yes in the dark...what? it was cooler then!). Now we have another pen to move the big chicks to, giving the other pen to the banties and new chicks (if this heat ever lets up). Now I just need a few more pens and I will be able to separate all the breeds I want to keep pure and have an extra pen or two to use for rotating the birds through to let the grass grow in the others, like a pasture system.

I have such high expectations for getting my 'to-do' list done, but I just had to give in and accept that some of it is not going to get done until cooler weather permits.

 

[Hawkeye95]

The microsystem is a watering system for smaller areas like flower beds and pots. It's like an in-ground sprinkler system, but on a smaller scale. You run 1/2" tubing around to carry the water, then branch off it with 1/4" flexible tubing. There are all sorts of attachments for the ends of the smaller tubing, depending on what you need for that area. Sprayers, misters, drippers, that sort of thing, and there are stake attachments as well. You just add them where you need them, and there are "oops" plugs for mistakes or for plugging holes you no longer need. Anywhere you want to add on, you just poke a hole in the 1/2" tubing, attach the 1/4" and whatever type of waterer you need. We had a 360 mister, so DH put it on a stake and plugged it into some of the tubing running through the pen. I hope that all made sense!

Ah ha! That water system sounds like a really neat deal! I'm guessing the tubing lays on top of the ground, and not under?

One last update before I turn in. We got all our fencing moved, the new energizer in and working and all the birds happy and safe. Then my extra misters showed up so tomorrow I'm in great shape and don't have to worry. They have plenty of shade for the morning and lots of clean water so I may even get brave and sleep in! Yay!

Next up, I need to decide where to put the cornish, rocks and turkey. They really need to go outside but it's just so hot, I hate to send them. My craft room is almost cleaned up so I don't want them to continue to fly all over the darn place and dust everything the way they have been.

By the way, I haven't had any honking from any of my birds since using the mister. Today I had one honker and we just gently put her feet in the cool water pool and she cooled right down and was fine for the rest of the time I was out there (too long).

FOR SALE!!​

I don't need any more birds, but those are great deals!

Well, I've been reading but haven't checked in much lately. Not much going on here - just plugging away doing the boring stuff like mowing and trimming trees and that sort of thing. Everything in chicken-land is going swimmingly. Well, other than one of my silkies is in puberty and a real jerk at the moment. I'm hoping he'll outgrow it soon or I might get a taste of dark meat. Ooops. That didn't sound quite right, did it?

Well if you decide you like dark meat, then you can have my two boys!

I scored a huge dog run the other day for only $75!

That is amazing-- and it was so much larger than I would have guessed! Good score! And yeah, I love doing things at night, especially in the summer.

 

[JosieChick]

Candace- SO glad you found Tess!

Hawkeye- You let me know if that little pullet is parting ways with you this fall, she is lovely!!

Sapphire- Congrats on your huge dog run, so jealous!!

Trish- Glad you found your little leghorn, she is lucky to have survived in this weather!

Ummmm, I can't remember what all I read from everyone else!

Danz/anyone with ducks- I need advice on newly hatched call duck babies. I had the eggs under a broody cochin and they started hatching yesterday and she got OFF the nest!!

So I collected them and raced them into the house. Two had pipped so I opened them up and they were both shrink wrapped so I got them out and they looked pretty good considering. The other four I candled and two had pipped the air cell and two had not so I put them the incubator for a bit and ended up having to help the two that had pipped the air cells hatch, but didn't remove them all the way because they hadn't absorbed all their yolk sacs. I lost the other two, it was just too late to save them. One passed during the night but the other three have absorbed their yolks and are still in the bator but are very dizzy and off balance. Is there anything I should do? I will give them each a drop of vitamins but I don't want to take them out when they are weebling around still. They seem like they are stuck in the shape they were in the shell with their necks bent over? Any suggestions?

 

[cherwill]

Ah ha! That water system sounds like a really neat deal! I'm guessing the tubing lays on top of the ground, and not under?

We bury the tubing under the mulch, so it's down about 1/2" to 1" but still easy to get to. A lot of the tubing in the chicken pen is visible because you know how they dig ...

It costs a little money to set up the system in the first place, but it's not too bad to buy additional parts when you need to add on. It's nice because it can be customized for what you need watered, and it waters more efficiently so in theory, you'll save water and money. If anyone's interested, we like the system sold at Lowe's better than any other we've seen. It's a little more sturdy and has more options for customizing. I'm not sure how it compares to other systems, price-wise.

Got 2 eggs again today; what's up with my chickens suddenly deciding to lay eggs?!?!?! I thought they'd forgotten how!