Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

Soooo, I am freaking out. I have called three places looking for square bales of hay for this winter and everyone has sold the whole lot of hay to someone else. Yikes!!! I am thinking about driving down to Wichita tomorrow with my trailer because several folks still have prairie hay down there for less than $9 a bale!

Should have done this sooner, now its all gone and my horses are going to starve. I know, I know, I am being dramatic. But I truly do worry about feeding them this winter and our pasture is all gone so I have burned through what little hay was left from last winter. Ugh, thank heavens the extra horse is leaving next Saturday!

I don't know if mowed/dried cattail stalks are helpful or not - but I have all you can fit in a million trucks if you're interested. You may want to look it up and check. Let me know if you want to come out and get some. We have about 10 acres of it... (dried up since it has been mowed).

 

[chicken danz]

Popping back on after a long absence- I'm not enjoying my summer AT ALL, guys!!

Danz, you have Red Silkies?? Seriously?? You know how hard I've been looking for those!?!?!? Gah!!!!

I need a drink...

Sorry Chooks. The little red silkie I gave Sera was the last one I had. I sold all of my silkies in a group to some people up north a few weeks before that. My red breeders were both picked off by hawks so she was the only one left.
I'm glad to see you are back and hope you'll stick around a while this time.

By the time I got to town with the duck and the rooster last night the rooster was going down. He was freaking out in the cage and got way overheated. I sure hope they intended to butcher him last night because otherwise I don't think he would make it. I feel so guilty about things like that. I know he was going to become dinner but just the same I don't like to make them suffer.
I need to get some cleaning done today. This house is a total disaster. Since my brother came up from Texas I am sure they will be over here and his wife is a neat freak. She is the type that would say something about the mess as well.
Needless to say she doesn't care for my chickens.

 

[JosieChick]

I don't know if mowed/dried cattail stalks are helpful or not - but I have all you can fit in a million trucks if you're interested. You may want to look it up and check. Let me know if you want to come out and get some. We have about 10 acres of it... (dried up since it has been mowed).

Thank you for the offer, we are about 3 hours away from you and I don't think the horses would eat that. I bet cattle would happily but the horses are pickier, (especially mine!) I usually feed prairie hay but it is getting gobbled up so I am going to have to be more flexible. I have put in several more calls to folks and am hoping someone still has hay. It is a pain because we only have a small trailer and everyone is at least an hour or more away so to make 5 trips to pick up the hay we need is a pain. I will try to refrain from panicking! Last year our pasture lasted until November but it is just fried this year, I am so sad about the drought. If it is this hard for me I worry for other people with livestock and critters that are struggling.


Danz- Sorry about your roo, hope they butchered him last night. I am sure he settled down once he was out of the car. I feel your cleaning pain! My MIL is not a fan of all the animals and she always grumbles about all of them and my less than stellar house keeping. I just make short comments about how we are happy and that is what matters the most and that usually stops the complaining.

 

[chicken danz]

He! He! My sister in law even complained about my trash barrels out by the old garage last time she was here. I told her we don't have a trash service that comes by and picks up trash and can only burn when it isn't windy and it isn't too dry. She looked totally confused like she had never heard of such a thing. She is one of those people who has no tact.
I could go on and on complaining but I guess if I was tidy I wouldn't have to worry about it. She is totally grossed out by my chicken houses and the poo but she has a collection of fancy rooster statues in her home. Go figure!

Josie, have you considered buying Big round bales and having someone bring them to you. When I had goats we used a hog panel and made a holder for the bale to stand upright. It was just in the corner of the fence. To load it we just unclipped a couple of carribeaners and had the hay set upright. We removed the ties and the goats just pulled the hay from over the panel. We put a tarp on the top and it worked great. Just an idea.
I need to find some small bales myself for the Sebbies and the peacocks for winter. They won't eat a lot of it but will pick through it and hopefully will save some grain that way.

 

[JosieChick]

He! He! My sister in law even complained about my trash barrels out by the old garage last time she was here. I told her we don't have a trash service that comes by and picks up trash and can only burn when it isn't windy and it isn't too dry. She looked totally confused like she had never heard of such a thing. She is one of those people who has no tact.
I could go on and on complaining but I guess if I was tidy I wouldn't have to worry about it. She is totally grossed out by my chicken houses and the poo but she has a collection of fancy rooster statues in her home. Go figure!

Josie, have you considered buying Big round bales and having someone bring them to you. When I had goats we used a hog panel and made a holder for the bale to stand upright. It was just in the corner of the fence. To load it we just unclipped a couple of carribeaners and had the hay set upright. We removed the ties and the goats just pulled the hay from over the panel. We put a tarp on the top and it worked great. Just an idea.
I need to find some small bales myself for the Sebbies and the peacocks for winter. They won't eat a lot of it but will pick through it and hopefully will save some grain that way.

Rooster statues probably don't crap all over everything.

I have considered buying round bales but we have no way to move them once they are here. We don't have a tractor yet, it is on the docket in the next couple of years. I think we are going to rent a u haul and just drive the hour and a half to pick up enough hay in one trip for the winter. I just can't drive six trips to pick up enough of what we need. Sigh.

 

[chicken danz]

I guess you are right. I suppose all those rooster statues would do is collect dust. So with hay and grain in such low supply I probably won't be buying a mini pony this fall, but I'll bet I could get some really cheap prices.I'd probably spend more on a harness now than I would on a horse. Maybe I'll find a Highlander heifer instead which is what I'd rather have. At least there could be some return on that.
We didn't have a way to move the BR bales either so we just had them off load them into our corner. We didn't have a tractor back then either. I still don't have forks for it. I don't foresee needing them.

 

[MarximusMG]

Just stopping by again to give an update on the possible ordinance change in Rose Hill. The Council will be voting on whether or not to approve my request this Monday, August 6. Hoping that the outcome is positive!

 

[Trish44]

MarximusMG, good luck with the ordinance change, maybe if they change the one in Rose Hill then Derby will follow, who knows.

We actually got a tiny bit of rain this morning, not enough to help much, but we'll take whatever we can get. It did at least cool things off for a short time, so that much was definitely worth it.

sunflowerparrot, I don't think those cattails would be much good for food for animals, maybe bedding. I hope you have a good day getting your materials for your coop today.

Josie, it's a good thing you're thinking ahead & getting hay now instead of waiting, I'm sure it's going to be scarce & expensive again.

Everybody have a good day!

 

[chickmama1662]

sunflower parrot, what a great name for the puppy. Such a sweet story too. I'm sure you made "the original" Fern happy and I bet she enjoyed your conversations.

 

[chicken danz]

Good Luck Marximus! Hope it passes.
I had just read where cattails were an essential food for birds. Wild birds eat the seed and geese love eating it too. It has lots of nutrition in it and it's various parts although it is intrusive. I know people here have baled some and sent it south for bulk filler for cattle.