Consolidated Kansas

[checoukan]

sharol~~yes it is safe to use ivomec for worms during the summer, but not for mites. Ivomec has a different chemical make up and really does not work all that well for mites. I use "Boss, or Saber" you can fine either one in the cattle sections of your local farm store.

Well had a brief shower here this evening, but nothing to measure. All birds are doing fine and no loss to heat as of yet

danz~~ yes the excitement is there!! The reason I started showing, was my daughter showed in 4H, when she lost interest in showing, I started showing.. I brought some of my birds in and the kids that were showing just went wild over my birds.. They started asking me all kinds of questions about my birds, and showing. Our extention agent heard, me working with the kids, and gave me the position. Then the fair board placed me as superintendent of the fair. Now we have a super bunch of kids, and I have 3 people under me for support. our numbers of entries are still holding good, and I hope a bunch of kids will be able to take birds to state fair!

 

[HEChicken]

Hawkeye thank you for posting those pics of the testing and explaining the process - its always good to learn something new about how some of this stuff works.

Tweety - LOVE the new patio set up. You guys are amazing - you detail a plan and then just get it done. When I start a project it seems like I always run into snags that make it take four times as long as I originally thought it would. Your patio looks like a lovely cool oasis for them. Isn't that wild that all the stores are sold out of wading pools at the moment? I guess they didn't plan ahead that they would sell more of them during a heat wave.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

sharol~~yes it is safe to use ivomec for worms during the summer, but not for mites. Ivomec has a different chemical make up and really does not work all that well for mites. I use "Boss, or Saber" you can fine either one in the cattle sections of your local farm store.

Well had a brief shower here this evening, but nothing to measure. All birds are doing fine and no loss to heat as of yet

danz~~ yes the excitement is there!! The reason I started showing, was my daughter showed in 4H, when she lost interest in showing, I started showing.. I brought some of my birds in and the kids that were showing just went wild over my birds.. They started asking me all kinds of questions about my birds, and showing. Our extention agent heard, me working with the kids, and gave me the position. Then the fair board placed me as superintendent of the fair. Now we have a super bunch of kids, and I have 3 people under me for support. our numbers of entries are still holding good, and I hope a bunch of kids will be able to take birds to state fair!

Is Boss or Saber safe for egg-layers? How do you know how much to use for poultry?

Thanks

 

[HEChicken]

When I was reading about the chicken attack, I new before I finished reading that she had a fox attack. I am so sorry you lost that many birds. Just makes a person sick thinking about the destruction native wildlife can do to your tame livestock. When it happens, it fast and deadly. Hope you recover, and I hope you do get a dog. If you figure what you lost in your birds, time, feed, and everything involved with you birds, and tally it up, That fox cost you more than a dog.

Checoukan, good to see you back.

You know, I feel kind of dumb because growing up in Australia and keeping poultry there, foxes were our ONLY predator. We don't have raccoons or coyotes or skunks or opossum. Our neighbor's either didn't have dogs or didn't have dogs that were a threat. Our chooks and ducks free-ranged our property and it was the kids' job to lock them in their coop at night. If we forgot, we woke the next morning to find the flock had been obliterated. Being kids, we did sometimes forget and I've woken to that devastation more than once.

However here, perhaps because raccoons and coyotes are more of an unknown element for me, and because hardly anyone around here ever mentions foxes, I really didn't consider them a threat. Even when I noticed the large ears and thought "that looks like a fox", I dismissed the thought because I "knew" we only had coyotes around here.

Anyway, question for ya since it sounds like you know a little about fox attacks: my sense is that they are loners - they work alone, hunt alone, live alone. I had concerns this was a female with a nest of young to carry her kills back to, but it turned out to be a male. How likely is it there is another fox in close proximity? I.e. is his territory so large that the next fox is some distance away? Now that this one is no longer, how likely is it that another will move in and take over his territory? Do you know?

 

[Hawkeye95]

I'm working on my 3rd 55 gal barrel for water storage out there...I have 6, and an 85 gallon that goes in the truck to fill the others. I have to get moe parts for the valves and that will have to wait until tomorrow. I should have a battery of them ready to go by Wednesday, and so all full, I'll be able to go a week without hauling: 335 gallons. I have those foil reflective emergency blankets for wrapping around them, and they are back in the tree-line, so the barrels will get warm from exposure to hot air, but won't be in sunlight at all, so they shouldn't be too bad for water temp.
coming in from Colorado...please???

OH my gosh!! I would be dying if I had to haul that much water! You totally ROCK girl! What you won't do for your birds. You're such a good bird mama!

Hawkeye-LOVE the pics of the testing. The best part is your little is right in there in the midst of it all. That's the way to learn!

Mike-I've had a number of 10 year old birds. None of them were hatchery stock. I usually don't keep them that long. Productivity is pretty much zilch by then. It's only the ones I have that are pets or sentimental that I keep that long. Certainly not all my birds live to be 10 years old. Actually, most of them have been sold or eaten long before that. I recently lost a 10 year old rooster. I don't think he would have died even then except I moved him to a different pen and I just don't think he was eating like he should. Guess old birds are set in their ways.

I'd never seen the testing before! I've heard it explained, but there is nothing like pictures to set it in your mind on how it's done. My son is LOVING this whole chicken business! He was right up there in the action and the vet and his tech were soooo nice about it-- and they invited him to stand between them when they were finding the vein, and poking and collecting the blood. We have amazing poultry people that are so helpful and willing to teach. I can't tell you how happy I've been with our club and local avian officials. That darned rooster! Died because he was set in his ways! I tell you, I see that in my favorite rooster, too! He is just barely a year old now and already I can tell he will be one of those you just described. I won't eat him though-- I'm not digging the silkie black meat! LOL Maybe someone else could eat him!

It is a real testament, Mike. It is a true testament that a new hen would hike 15 miles or so to get back to a flock that doesn't feel the heat, has zero susceptibility to disease in 10 years except for those pesky diseases of coons, dogs, foxes, and where hens live to 10 years old easily. It is a true testament and heaven knows those are hard to come by. You ought to write a book about your experience to help those of us who struggle with real issues, as we would surely love to learn as much as possible so that we can avoid common pitfalls. Here's more certain evidence of my vast ignorance, but I won't learn if I don't ask so here goes: What is the difference between State CITES and CETIES breederes. Are breederes a kind of title or did you mean breeders? Thanks for all your help and your beautiful prayer!

Ivywoods, I'm remembering your post about bad roosters and your advice with how to deal with them and it made me LOL! Now here's a good old rooster who made it to a ripe old age yet was done in by simply being set in his ways. Sheesh. I wonder why roosters have so many issues? I'm dealing with some very young roosters who just keep ripping my sweet little hen's neck feathers out, just because they can, so instead of lopping off their heads, I penned them all together to let them see how they liked it. Suddenly, some of them started acting like they'd found treats for the other boys. Others just continued to focus on pulling out neck feathers and a few just ganged up to beat up one. I saved his butt but didn't feel real sorry for him as he had been one of the rudest feather pullers. When one finds a well mannered, intelligent, and kind rooster who has the experience to crow instead of croak, you KNOW he's a keeper!

OH yeah, I was stumped on the ceties, I figured it must be something to do with rabbits. I love rabbits!!
So funny what you did with all of your roosters! I know you are eating a lot of them too! Are you going to pick thru the real meanies and dress those out, too? I got rid of two roosters last Wednesday!! WHOOT!! They were over breeding my layer flock and my girls were losing neck feathers left and right. I think I want to get another rooster-- but next year. I want a nice WCB polish boy. Something breeder or show quality. I want to slowly phase out my polish girls and replace them with better blood lines so that they will be showable. Right now, these Polish I have are hatchery stock and a very poor, poor excuse for Polish. It's such a shame. They have white leakage in their tails and wings. Their crests are misshapen and a couple of them hold their tails wrong. But they are good layers, so I can't fault them that and they are less flightly than they were (we've been handling them a lot). Poor Cocoa-- who was attacked by my turkey, she will have a life time of ease with me forever-- her beak is so messed up, I would not trust anyone to care for her like I do.

sharol~~yes it is safe to use ivomec for worms during the summer, but not for mites. Ivomec has a different chemical make up and really does not work all that well for mites. I use "Boss, or Saber" you can fine either one in the cattle sections of your local farm store.

Well had a brief shower here this evening, but nothing to measure. All birds are doing fine and no loss to heat as of yet

danz~~ yes the excitement is there!! The reason I started showing, was my daughter showed in 4H, when she lost interest in showing, I started showing.. I brought some of my birds in and the kids that were showing just went wild over my birds.. They started asking me all kinds of questions about my birds, and showing. Our extention agent heard, me working with the kids, and gave me the position. Then the fair board placed me as superintendent of the fair. Now we have a super bunch of kids, and I have 3 people under me for support. our numbers of entries are still holding good, and I hope a bunch of kids will be able to take birds to state fair!

Good to know about the stuff for mites-- I'm assuming this is a liquid you put on their backs? Or does this go down their beaks? I need to treat my layers with something. I already used the Sevin, but wondering if I need to do more. Which one do you like better-- the Boss or Saber? Also, perhaps you will know!! My girls have gotten bald bottoms! I've not seen a mite on them!? I have looked in the day time, and late at night I went out with a flashlight to see if there were mites. Nothing! I'm stumped. Could it have been from over breeding of the two roosters that were in there with them? I'll get a picture today later on. You have fantastic birds, it's no wonder that the kids went nuts over them! That is so neat that you are so involved in your 4-H and fairs, etc.

Hawkeye thank you for posting those pics of the testing and explaining the process - its always good to learn something new about how some of this stuff works.

Tweety - LOVE the new patio set up. You guys are amazing - you detail a plan and then just get it done. When I start a project it seems like I always run into snags that make it take four times as long as I originally thought it would. Your patio looks like a lovely cool oasis for them. Isn't that wild that all the stores are sold out of wading pools at the moment? I guess they didn't plan ahead that they would sell more of them during a heat wave.

Thank you! I'm really enjoying learning all of this!

Tweety-- I know I had clicked "multi" on your post and I don't think it showed up. I love your new mist patio! What a great set up! I really like the hose with all the nozzles to really give them a full on mist. Those misters don't really use a lot of water. I think when we build a bigger run, I'd like to set up the hose/nozzle like you did so I can run several misters all along the top of their run. That would make it really nice for them. You gave me a great idea!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Checoukan, good to see you back.

You know, I feel kind of dumb because growing up in Australia and keeping poultry there, foxes were our ONLY predator. We don't have raccoons or coyotes or skunks or opossum. Our neighbor's either didn't have dogs or didn't have dogs that were a threat. Our chooks and ducks free-ranged our property and it was the kids' job to lock them in their coop at night. If we forgot, we woke the next morning to find the flock had been obliterated. Being kids, we did sometimes forget and I've woken to that devastation more than once.

However here, perhaps because raccoons and coyotes are more of an unknown element for me, and because hardly anyone around here ever mentions foxes, I really didn't consider them a threat. Even when I noticed the large ears and thought "that looks like a fox", I dismissed the thought because I "knew" we only had coyotes around here.

Anyway, question for ya since it sounds like you know a little about fox attacks: my sense is that they are loners - they work alone, hunt alone, live alone. I had concerns this was a female with a nest of young to carry her kills back to, but it turned out to be a male. How likely is it there is another fox in close proximity? I.e. is his territory so large that the next fox is some distance away? Now that this one is no longer, how likely is it that another will move in and take over his territory? Do you know?

I didn't immediately think fox either! We rarely see them here. It seems like that would be the last predator I'd expect out here, but I'll be more on guard now. But I wonder if a fox would really be a threat to me when I know those two coyotes are living in my tree line out there. I guess I'd rather have coyotes than fox.

Checoukan-- ideas on that one?? If I have coyotes that have set up camp right close to my house... would that keep fox away? They trot thru the back of my property. I was going to hunt them, and for now, I've sort of let it go. The last time we we went after coyote was when they attacked one of my horses a few years back. These guys seem more laid back, but they weren't above eating my turkey, of course. Maybe they are keeping all other predators away, though?? If that is the case, it's easier to guard against coyote than it is raccoon and fox, etc.

 

[chicken danz]

Checoukan, dang it. I used that ivermectin to treat possible mites. I kept reading that was good to rid them of them. Oh well they should be wormed now anyway. What kind of dosing do you use for the Boss or Saber? I just wormed them with wazine about a month ago so hey should certainly not have worms.
Tweety, I thought your misting system was awesome. I think I could plant my butt right in the middle of there myself.
Chekoukan, Ivy, and Hawkeye. If I decide to start this adventure next year of showing I will need tons of advice. I really do need to downsize at least 100 chickens or so in order to concentrate on and have time for a special project. I love my chickens but my turkeys, geese, pheasants, and Peafowl have stolen my heart as well. I've managed to get some awesome eggs hatched from some top quality show stock. I have some mentors who are watching development as the chicks grow to advise me what is good, what is not, and what needs culled. My projects are true cornish, mille fleur d'uccles, lavender orpingtons, and lemon cuckoo orpingtons. Of course I already have my bantam polish which have won in a couple states, and some of my cochins who are excellent birds. I am also doing some special breeding on the Seramas now to perfect white chicks. I have other breeds which may or may not be better quality, but have no idea what to look for.
Speaking of that, my beautiful little peachick is doing great. Eating, drinking, and very spoiled. I've been on the peafowl forum and every one says he will be a white peafowl which is beyond awesome. If nothing happens to him he will be well worth the price of all the non-fertile eggs I got. It makes me feel so much better about it.
Josie, don't give up on those eggs cause it took a long time to see development in this one good egg. I have two more eggs in the bator I haven't candled. I don't think I want to know if they are developing or not until I get ready to put them in the hatcher.
My granddaughter washed a chicken egg and put it in water for several minutes, then rubbed it dry and wanted to put it in the incubator to see what it hatched. I didn't have the heart to tell her she probably ruined it. She will be gone before it is due so I may just substitute a chick for her. Don't want to lie to her but I know it would break her heart if she thought she ruined the chance for it to hatch. I put another huge egg in she gathered for me to see if it would hatch. I thought maybe a second one she had something to do with might make her feel good.
She is learning about birds and really loves them. The biggest problem is she keeps wanting to open the incubators to see if anything has hatched. I just try to throw in here and there we need to close them as soon as possible so we don't let the heat out. Also when we hatched some pheasants yesterday she kept wanting to take them out before they were dry. I promised her she could take them out this morning.
One of my baby diamond doves just left the nest so she is spending lots of time holding it. She wants to make it tame. I would let her take it home but I don't know if it could go on the plane with her. It would never survive in the baggage department at this young age. Do any of you know if it is possible to carry on with her some way?
I've tried to convince my daughter to get a couple little hens for the girls so they can have eggs, but the fox are so bad in Colorado she doesn't think she could make a pen they would leave alone. Maybe next time I fly out I can bring some basic tools and build her a coop and pen. She has a hammer, a pair of pliers and maybe two screw drivers. I can't imagine not having tools. I'm rattling this morning. Sorry! Love you all!

 

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye, I don't think coyotes would deter a fox. Fox are very fearless and extremely curious. Actually they are pretty amazing little animals and at one point I considered trying to domesticate one. When I lived in Council Grove I lived at the base of a huge hill that led out to the lake. There was a female fox that came in and lived on the hill for years. She would come to town late winter and stay on the hill, have her babies there because she was safe, raise them, then move them back out to the country. She never threatened me, my kids, or my cats. As a matter of fact my cats and she would play and wrestle around just like normal cats would play with each other. I had a rock wall at the base of the hill. I would take any leftovers to the rock wall and leave them for her to eat. That is the only time she showed aggression. If one of the cats got near her food she would growl at them. We never had a mouse, a squirrel or a rabbit around while she lived on the hill. That was a blessing to me because they had invaded my gardens until she came along.
When she was ready to breed she would stand out by my car and scream. If you've never heard a fox yell it will make your skin crawl. It is on the top of my list for creepy sounds!

The fox pretty much stayed hidden during the day unless it was a cloudy and overcast day. Then she would be out in the yard a lot. I had a bridge over a stream between two decorative ponds in my front yard. Her favorite spot to sit was on that bridge. She'd sit there and scratch her fleas and just seem perfectly content. The babies are the cutest things ever.
Of course I had no chickens then or I wouldn't have enjoyed her. Fox seem to have a love for birds. I did see her walking with a dead wild bird in her mouth on more than one occasion. I assumed she was taking it to feed her babies.
Please don't misunderstand. I would shoot any fox that got near here now, but in that situation I enjoyed her and learned a ton about how fox live and act.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Ok. There's been a lot of talk about showing poultry at upcoming 4H fairs. I've been asked to show my ducks at the local 4H show because they don't get many poultry entries. However, I've never shown anything at a 4H show and could really use some advice on what to expect. Any input would be helpful!

We got .64" of rain on Sunday and .05" last night. It was desperately needed, but we could still use more. There were locations not too far from us that got almost nothing and others that got over 4 inches. Thankfully, the rain brought cooler temperatures. It had been over or around 100 so long, this weather almost feels cold.

Today's high is 78 according to the National Weather SErvice website. It's supposed to be back up in the 90's by the end of the week, but even that is a welcome relief from the heat we've been having recently. It has been so dry here that I have had to postpone bringing my horses out here. Our pasture is dry and crispy. There isn't really anything out there for any livestock. My parents are keeping my horses for me for now. They are farther east and their pasture is at least still green.

All this talk about local predators and such has made me kind of nervous. Today is day #2 of letting my flock free range in the yard. We do have a guard dog, but he is a lab and, as such, is a bird dog. However, he is a really smart dog, and we have been working really hard on teaching him that THESE birds are not to be hunted. So far, he has been doing really well. I even decided to not put his shock collar on him today, to see how he does without it. So far, he's been completely ignoring my birds.

I went to a garage sale on SAturday and found some really good deals. They had a table saw for sale there, and I walked away with it and the miter saw that came with it for $35. My husband was quite happy with my purchase. We are nearly finished building the duck house (just need to put in a couple more windows and finish painting the trim), but we still have to build the duck run and the loafing shed for my horses. He said that the saws would be very helpful for both projects. Now, we just need to make sure that they are both in good working order and get busy building! So far, my DH has been doing all of the work on the loafing shed himself. He's been digging holes about 2 feet in diameter and about 4 1/2 feet deep. It's a lot of work because of how dry it's been, but he hasn't complained at all. I'm so proud of him!

 

[checoukan]

Oh my goodness, I didn't realize how much I have missed talking to everyone!! Oh well, my choice.

Ok, the "Boss, or Sabre" is a topical. You place it on the back, I like to place mine topicals on the back right where the neck attaches.to the back. I never place topicals aroungthe vent, if they would injest some of it while they are preening them self, then you have chemical in the bird. These topicals dosage is 1CC/ 30 pounds. SSSSOOO, if you can figure your dosage from that. I usually use 1/4 cc on my standard birds. Now is you have some Jersey Giants, or some of the big buffs, you may want to weigh your bird and use more to cover their weight. Your bantams, since you have so many different types, may use a couple of drops, or you make use up to 20. Just depends on your type of chicken.

Since these are topicals, not meant to be injested, there is no withdraw on your eggs.

I was told that fox are solitary, but when they have families, they will stay together to feed the young. Since that was a male and did so much destruction, I would say, he was feeding the family, and you have a female around somewhere, with young. They might even had the young with him to teach them how to hunt and kill.
Usually fox avoid coyotes simply because of the size difference. If you have a lot of coyotes, you usually never see a fox. Its not because they are not there, they just have to stay hidden, coyotes will kill fox.