Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

Few things:

1) Anyone know any akbash pups/breeders? Would really like to consider checking them out as well as the GP. I don't mind traveling a bit.
2) I came home from work and noticed I only have 4 guineas.. had 5! I don't know what happened (or when).. they are in a secure rabbit hutch.. no signs of any break in, damage, etc. No signs of the keet anywhere outside the hutch - what could have happened???

 

[chicken danz]

Congrats on your first duck egg. My anconas quit laying a few weeks ago. My Cayugas are laying pretty well and my pekins are just about to the age to begin. Duck eggs are delicious by the way. Very rich.
Yesterday I stepped out the back door and took a shot of the dogs and chickens laying in the shade. I guess this shows why I love these GPs. This is Cloud, the baby and Fluff, daddy dog. Marshmallow was in the house cooling down. As you can see these chickens love the dogs and visa versa. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see it better.

 

[sharol]

That is just too cute. There are even some of them sleeping ON the dogs aren't there? Very sweet dogs.

Congrats on your first duck egg. My anconas quit laying a few weeks ago. My Cayugas are laying pretty well and my pekins are just about to the age to begin. Duck eggs are delicious by the way. Very rich.
Yesterday I stepped out the back door and took a shot of the dogs and chickens laying in the shade. I guess this shows why I love these GPs. This is Cloud, the baby and Fluff, daddy dog. Marshmallow was in the house cooling down. As you can see these chickens love the dogs and visa versa. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see it better.

 

[chicken danz]

They cuddle even more when it is cold. I have seen Fluff with his entire back loaded with chickens keeping warm on him.
Not much chance of a predator getting those chicks!

 

[Hawkeye95]

My grandbaby was born on the 24th! She was 7lbs 11oz and 21 inches long. We are in love!

Congratulations, TNTBlake!!! She's beautiful!!

Yeah, tarps would've been good, but we didn't even consider that it'd actually RAIN ON US until it was too late to do anything about it. We did toss a couple of jackets over the saddle to try to keep it dry, but they wouldn't stay when I was trying to load the horse into the trailer so they had to go. After tonight's rodeo, we'll probably just make sure to clean the saddle up real good, apply some neatsfoot oil to it, and then just keep an eye on it to make sure there aren't any lasting effects from getting drenched! The good news is that the rodeo was relatively pleasant (cooler) and dust-free after the rain passed. Hopefully, it'll be similar tonight.

Sounds like you are having so much fun out there! Ahhhh... the good 'ole days. I wish I can ride as much as I want to. With small kids, I am extremely limited.

This is awesome!! I've never had horses, so I had to look up the "breaking over", but after reading about it - I see why you are so excited! I'm assuming that it's been a while since she's been trimmed correctly?


OKay, so I'm sure ya'll are tired of hearing about me and my eggs.. LOL, but I GOT A DUCK EGG TODAY!!

I went out after work to do my normal feeding, watering, cleaning routine - noticed two eggs in the nest box, but left them there until i was finished (i'm in the process of making an apron to wear so I can collect eggs and veges without using my shorts pockets - today I didn't have any pockets). And as I was dumping and refilling the duck pool, DH told me to check out Ducky (my Pekin). She was coming out of the chicken coop. I laughed and mentioned to him that I'd seen her in there before and I was surprised she was using the ramp. We chatted about it and I finished up what I was doing. Went to collect the eggs and there were THREE in the nest box! (actually only two, because she'd kicked on of the others out, but I know it had been in there before and looked nothing like this new one!)




(compared to the other two that were in the box!)

Thanks Tweety! This mare quickly looses the ability to break over fairly fast. She is trimmed every 6 weeks-- BUT, my farrier has flaked out on me for two appts! So she is probably about 13 weeks since her last trim. No bueno, because her feet grow FAST and her toe likes to flatten out quick. The farrier actually had to do corrective trimming this time, instead of regular trimming because of how long it had been. I am never neglectful of their feet, but I can't force my farrier not to cancel on me. It's been VERY frustrating. But I'm glad I have a backup now and I will never let her go that long again. My farrier still has not called me back to reschedule the other two horses. So I may have the new guy come out next week again to get them in. They don't have these issues, they are just long, but not bad.

Congrats on the duck egg! That is one big egg!!! So exciting!!! AND, I find it amazing that she went in to use the nest box instead of just laying it on the ground!! What a smart bird, you have there!!

Congrats on your first duck egg. My anconas quit laying a few weeks ago. My Cayugas are laying pretty well and my pekins are just about to the age to begin. Duck eggs are delicious by the way. Very rich.
Yesterday I stepped out the back door and took a shot of the dogs and chickens laying in the shade. I guess this shows why I love these GPs. This is Cloud, the baby and Fluff, daddy dog. Marshmallow was in the house cooling down. As you can see these chickens love the dogs and visa versa. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see it better.

OH Danz, they look soooooo happy! Look at those smiles on their faces! I LOVE the little chicken in the tree trunk in her hole. So cute!!! Obviously those birds like your dogs... and other way around. Those are some good dogs, you have there.

 

[JosieChick]

Hawkeye-Glad you got your girl squared away. I have started doing my own horses because I can't stand waiting on farriers to show up or not. I use nippers and an angle grinder and so far it has gone well. I used to trim my quarter horse mare and actually went to several trimming clinics to be taught but with three of them now I just can't had rasp all those feet. Fortunately they have adjusted pretty well to the grinder noise!

Danz- I don't know what to tell you about your granddaughter. I think it is up to you how you handle it with her. Its a tough decision, I am afraid she would be heart broken over them and might be worth sparing her the pain. I lost that little polish chick I got from you. It and a silkie chick both in the same day. It was so weird, they were fine running around and eating and the garage wasn't hot, window was open. Came out that evening to change out food and water and they were both gone. All I can think is that maybe they had a reaction to their mareks vaccine that I gave them a few days earlier. Nothing else has changed. I vaccinate all my chicks for mareks after I lost a very special hen a couple years ago to it. I have never had a problem vaccinating them before but I can't think of anything else it would be?

Tweety-Congrats on the duck egg! You can always tell the duck egg because they have to smear mud all over it right?! My geese are the same darn way.

tntblake- Congrats on the granddaughter, she is a doll!!!

Howdy everyone else, can't remember what all I read before this! Got to get outside and get some chores done here while it isn't terribly hot. Thought it was supposed to be cooler today but it was so darn muggy it didn't feel it at all! At least it poured rain last night finally, we needed it! My mom and her guy left early this am, we had a really nice visit but I overdid it and got heat exhaustion which was awesome!

 

[HEChicken]

Heather, it's okay, don't give your farrier a hard time. It's all worked out and I'm back into my Zen mode again. LOL!! This new farrier came out and I LOVE HIM!!! I've been thru a lot of farriers and I don't often like them at all. But this guy was younger, and was clean cut, was very gentle, knew what he was talking about (I was worried he wouldn't know how to cut her) and complimented me on how great my 39 yr old horse looked. Didn't hurt that he was buttering me up. He took a TON of toe off of her and reangled her and she is breaking over!!!!!! Can I shout out Praise the Lord!!!!!? hehe!! So I told him, if he didn't mind, I was going to keep using him and rotate him in to my crazy schedule-- my old mare is every 6 weeks and my others are all at every 8 weeks. So I told him he'd be doing one or the others, and that I'd keep my farrier, but he could possibly wind up with all 3 of them if my farrier keeps flaking out on me. He said he was totally cool with that.

So glad you got her squared away!

My grandbaby was born on the 24th! She was 7lbs 11oz and 21 inches long. We are in love!

Congratulations!!!

OKay, so I'm sure ya'll are tired of hearing about me and my eggs.. LOL, but I GOT A DUCK EGG TODAY!!

I went out after work to do my normal feeding, watering, cleaning routine - noticed two eggs in the nest box, but left them there until i was finished (i'm in the process of making an apron to wear so I can collect eggs and veges without using my shorts pockets - today I didn't have any pockets). And as I was dumping and refilling the duck pool, DH told me to check out Ducky (my Pekin). She was coming out of the chicken coop. I laughed and mentioned to him that I'd seen her in there before and I was surprised she was using the ramp. We chatted about it and I finished up what I was doing. Went to collect the eggs and there were THREE in the nest box! (actually only two, because she'd kicked on of the others out, but I know it had been in there before and looked nothing like this new one!)

Congratulations on the duck egg. I can't wait until mine start to lay but I've still got quite a few weeks to go.

Yesterday I stepped out the back door and took a shot of the dogs and chickens laying in the shade. I guess this shows why I love these GPs. This is Cloud, the baby and Fluff, daddy dog. Marshmallow was in the house cooling down. As you can see these chickens love the dogs and visa versa. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see it better.

That is an awesome picture. I would love it if Tory were one day as good as that with them. I trust my other two dogs with the chickens but one has too much energy to ever lay there and let them sleep on her! Right now I wouldn't trust Tory around them but we'll see, as time goes on.

Howdy everyone else, can't remember what all I read before this! Got to get outside and get some chores done here while it isn't terribly hot. Thought it was supposed to be cooler today but it was so darn muggy it didn't feel it at all! At least it poured rain last night finally, we needed it! My mom and her guy left early this am, we had a really nice visit but I overdid it and got heat exhaustion which was awesome!

Now that is just no good (about the heat exhaustion). We all have to be careful out in this heat. Glad you had a good visit with your folks but good to have you back again

 

[chicken danz]

TNT I tried to post congrats earlier but I don't think my post showed up. What an adorable baby. This thing is acting weird today.
Josie that's not fair! We need rain here in the hot hole of Kansas. See how much grass I have left in that picture. My whole yard is crispy. It actually crunches when you walk across it. The only reason there is green near there at all is because I dump a big water bin there every morning and put fresh water in it for the chickens to stand in.
Josie,That's also a shame about the chick. It was a pretty little thing. I don't think I"ll mention the ducks unless she asks. I am not a good liar. I just can't do it for some reason. I will think of something to say but not sure what.
I moved some young buff orps out to the pen from the brooder today and they won't come out of the house. I am afraid they will get over heated in there.
Dumb birds!
So horse people, if I buy a mini horse this fall how will I know when her feet need trimmed. I know nothing about horses. On average how often do you need to trim their feet and how much does it cost? Also how often do you worm a horse. If you have a mini would you use a whole syringe thing to worm them or would you have to dispose of some of it? I just keep thinking how awesome it would be to have a short little girl around here. I would rather have a Highlander heifer but they aren't cheap.
My Sabastopols can now run around an apple tree since I put up the electric netting. They've been under that tree all day. I love to see them happy. We don't have power to the fence yet. I hope they don't get hurt when we power up. I do worry about my little curly angels a lot.

 

[Trish44]

tntblake, what a cutie, congrats again!

danz, congrats to you on selling so many birds, that must be a relief. I can't even fathom having as many as you do, I have enough trouble keeping up with what I have. That's an adorable photo of your dogs & chickens!

Hawkeye, I'm so glad you got your mare taken care of, I'll bet she feels so much better.

tweety, congrats on the duck egg, I have heard they make wonderful cakes & brownies.

HEChicken, it was so nice to meet you today & visit & also to see your place. You really have a nice view there out your back windows. You did a great job on that coop, especially with no plan, wow! Good luck on getting your pen together, I'll bet you'll do better than I did if you can get some help with getting the fencing on. That was my main problem, that I didn't have anyone here when I needed to do it to help me.

Well I just got home a few minutes ago & I need to go feed & water & check on everyone, I hope they all survived the day without me here. I normally would have been here running out to wet them down, but we'll see how they did with the cooler day & the panels I put up on some of the pens to help with shade. I stopped on my way home at TSC hoping to get chick starter & game bird starter & they said the game bird starter had to be sent back due to a recall, so I couldn't get any, bummer. That means I will have to drive to Ark City in the next few days to get some there & they only have 40 pound bags vs 50 pound ones at TSC, that's why I like to get feed there whenever I'm up that way, it's a better deal for the price. I about choked when I looked at prices at Atwood's the last time I was there, they are so much higher priced on feed I think than Orschelyn's or TSC.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Howdy everyone else, can't remember what all I read before this! Got to get outside and get some chores done here while it isn't terribly hot. Thought it was supposed to be cooler today but it was so darn muggy it didn't feel it at all! At least it poured rain last night finally, we needed it! My mom and her guy left early this am, we had a really nice visit but I overdid it and got heat exhaustion which was awesome!

WOW... uh, I'm a little shocked you do your own horses! LOL That is not an easy job. I'm afraid that is a task I will never ever want to do on my own. Rotten about the heat exhaustion! Definitely be much more careful! This heat is serious!

I moved some young buff orps out to the pen from the brooder today and they won't come out of the house. I am afraid they will get over heated in there.
Dumb birds!
So horse people, if I buy a mini horse this fall how will I know when her feet need trimmed. I know nothing about horses. On average how often do you need to trim their feet and how much does it cost? Also how often do you worm a horse. If you have a mini would you use a whole syringe thing to worm them or would you have to dispose of some of it? I just keep thinking how awesome it would be to have a short little girl around here. I would rather have a Highlander heifer but they aren't cheap.
My Sabastopols can now run around an apple tree since I put up the electric netting. They've been under that tree all day. I love to see them happy. We don't have power to the fence yet. I hope they don't get hurt when we power up. I do worry about my little curly angels a lot.

I hope your birds get smart out there and come on out. I think typical horses need to be cut about every 8 weeks. But it will really depend on the horse and how fast their feet grow out. My mare HAS to be done at every 6 weeks... or she goes lame and it's all down hill from there. I know a lot of horses are on a 6 week cutting schedule, so I'm not the only one. My farrier charges $40 for a barefoot trim. You should always go barefoot if you can and have healthy feet. This new farrier charges $40 for correctional barefoot trimming and $25 for regular trimming. So he's cheaper! Well-- not for Cassie, but my other two horses would be cheaper. The master farriers are all going to charge right around $40-- it's going to depend on how up to date they are and what certifications they have done, etc. Most of them do a lot of clinics to stay up to date. I worm every 3 months. No need to do it any more often than that. The tubes are usually rated for 500-800 lbs. So once you figure out how much your pony weighs, then do it accordingly... OR what I would do, is call your large animal vet and ask him if the pony could have the whole thing, and discuss her weight. He may want to have her come in to be checked out and get her weight then. It feels like I am always worming horses, those 3 months go fast.

Glad your electric fencing is working out for your geese! Nice-- and apple tree!! Does it have fruit on it? My apple tree is nearly falling over with fruit. I've already plucked off about 5-6 apples early. It's a bit sour, but the kids like them anyway.