Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

That's IT!!!!!! I'M DONE!!!!!!!

The dog is going.!!!!!! She killed one of my precious frizzled seramas tonight. It was a beautiful chocolate and white boy and I had just gone through and culled out birds to sell and decided he was my keeper. He was just like his mom, spunky and beautiful. Poor little thing to die like that and she just came running over with it in her mouth like it was a grand prize. This after she just chewed open a box of clothes to donate and chewed the wiring off the trailer hitch that I was suppose to take down to Wichita with me. I am done with this dog.

I am so sorry but completely understand. There does come a time when enough is enough.
By the way, I LOVE the icon of you banging your head against the wall!

 

[medawinks]

Medawinks, what a sweetie that Sera looks at it as being an adventure and getting to eat smoothies. You've obviously been (and still are!) a fantastic mom to her! Love her attitude, and what a remarkable personality. I love hearing her stories.

Okay, so I tried a couple of times to "multi" several posts and then in the middle of typing lost it. I don't even know what happened. I was literally in the middle of typing and it just blinked away-- in fact, my entire browser just shut down. I was so angry I had to get up and get away from the computer. UGH.

Love the talk about the chickens eating mice. Never seen mine do that, but I would hope they would eat them! Trish, I would think that $50 would be reasonable for a year old peacock... but what do I know? I just know that a semi decent Silkie (not even show quality!!) will go for $50. Heck, if you want a much nicer quality silkie, you'll be in the $100's pretty quickly.... so I'm thinking a peacock would surely run the same??? Or is my thinking totally crazy now that I've been silkie-fyied? Wouldn't it be nicer if these birds only ran about $30. Sigh. Oh dare to dream!!! hahaha!

So it has been a crazy Monday already! My oldest went to his first day of school today! Rode the bus as usual. Then I took my middle child in for kindergarten assessments today from 10:30-2:45pm. Then, ran some errands, picked up chick feed for the little guys. Then when the bus came, it was enough time to have my oldest get another practice in for piano and then we were off to piano lessons, and then after that-- we had a 4-H gathering at a flower shop in Mulvane because we are working on putting up a window display for Old Settlers Days. If you all drive downtown-- check out our window near the train depot, in the flower shop. Since the kids are really supposed to be doing most of the window building, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good for a group of young kids.

Sera is my miracle, and often my link to sanity She has faced such ridicule and downright hostility and cruelty due to her facial deformity prior to adoption that simple taunts from kids roll right off her back. She is actually very grateful for her surgeries that help minimize the taunts, but more importantly to her, make her outside look more like she feels on the inside. Her words, not mine She feels beautiful despite all things- and her doctor sees that.... Honestly, most people who know her see it too, and rarely notice her differences, but see them as her beauty instead. I am always in awe of her. Your day sounds much like the insanity of our day!! So glad the house is quiet now

 

[medawinks]

Danz, my little Mille Fleur Bantam was making a huge racket today... Sounded almost like a parrot. She was hopping in and out of the nest boxes, but if course no egg. In any case, she will have to start laying soon. That has to be what she is building up to... That or she is a parrot.... ? You are more than welcome to have her to keep your Mille Fleur D'uccles company and to keep from having to buy more eggs.

 

[HEChicken]

I hope I remember everything I've just read.

Josie, so, so, so sorry about Lucie. I think you've done everything you can with her and been WAY more patient than most of us would have been. From her parentage and upbringing I would have expected her to be good with poultry but sometimes despite everything it doesn't work out. It sounds like she would be an awesome LGD for goats/sheep/cattle/horses, but isn't going to work out when it comes to poultry. Since that is what you primarily got her for, I don't blame you a bit for feeling the need to rehome her.

Hawkeye, I have a great memories of home-made play dough, both as a kid when Mum used to make it for us, and then making it for my kids too. I guess summer is over and its back to "school routine" huh? My kids start tomorrow and in some ways it seems like the summer went by super fast and in other ways it feels like its been ages since I walked DS to school at his old school.

Sunflower, so sorry the missing duo didn't show up yet - I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Danz, ugh for cleaning. I've been doing it at the old house so we can get it on the market and I know just what you mean. There is the routine upkeep and then there are the deep cleaning items that don't get done as often, and when you get started on them, they can take a whole bunch of time. I can't believe the time I've spent in the old house in the past couple of weeks doing that deep clean. When I'm there I just keep reminding myself why we decided on a "no pets inside" policy here at the new house. The majority of the cleaning we've had to do is a direct result of pets. I actually spend less time keeping the new place looking nice than I did at the other house - and never was able to keep up with it there.

Well, update on Cyrus - he learned his lesson last night when I made him retreat from me over and over, and today he kept a respectful distance. I'm really not concerned about him becoming a mean rooster - I think he just got carried away last night with doing his job to keep his hens safe. I walked towards him several times again today and made him retreat from me and he seems to have got the message that I am "alpha roo". The other Cyrus news is that he became a daddy tonight!!! I decided to incubate some of my eggs a few weeks ago as I like raising fall chicks even more than spring chicks. With fall chicks, I grow them out and feed them over the winter when no one is laying much anyway, and by spring they are mature and ready to start laying. With spring chicks, it feels like I'm growing them out during the longest days of the year and missing out on all that prime egg-laying time. I wasn't going to incubate quite as early as this but it occurred to me it might be a neat experience for my parents to watch them hatch so I timed it so the eggs would be due to hatch before they left. The timing worked great and egg number 1 (which will be an olive egger) hatched an hour ago. I have a bunch more pipped so it will be fun to see what I wake up to in the morning.

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

YAY HECHICKEN!!!!!

 

[JosieChick]

I hope I remember everything I've just read.

Josie, so, so, so sorry about Lucie. I think you've done everything you can with her and been WAY more patient than most of us would have been. From her parentage and upbringing I would have expected her to be good with poultry but sometimes despite everything it doesn't work out. It sounds like she would be an awesome LGD for goats/sheep/cattle/horses, but isn't going to work out when it comes to poultry. Since that is what you primarily got her for, I don't blame you a bit for feeling the need to rehome her.
Thanks, I am pretty sore about it all. She is a 1/4 rough collie but I thought since both parents were so good with chickens that I would be safe but I have learned my lesson and will stick with the guardian breeds and no mixes in the future. She is great with everything else on the farm but I need her to guard the chickens and she kills them. I read a long article last night about working livestock dogs written by Oregon State University and it had a troubleshooting section for problems that arise with livestock guardian dogs. The only thing that they felt could not be remediated was stalking behavior which is an inborn trait in herding dogs and can not be retrained. It said "replace the dog." Here is the article if you are ever bored, it was a good read. http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/18914/ec1238.pdf
Well, update on Cyrus - he learned his lesson last night when I made him retreat from me over and over, and today he kept a respectful distance. I'm really not concerned about him becoming a mean rooster - I think he just got carried away last night with doing his job to keep his hens safe. I walked towards him several times again today and made him retreat from me and he seems to have got the message that I am "alpha roo". The other Cyrus news is that he became a daddy tonight!!! I decided to incubate some of my eggs a few weeks ago as I like raising fall chicks even more than spring chicks. With fall chicks, I grow them out and feed them over the winter when no one is laying much anyway, and by spring they are mature and ready to start laying. With spring chicks, it feels like I'm growing them out during the longest days of the year and missing out on all that prime egg-laying time. I wasn't going to incubate quite as early as this but it occurred to me it might be a neat experience for my parents to watch them hatch so I timed it so the eggs would be due to hatch before they left. The timing worked great and egg number 1 (which will be an olive egger) hatched an hour ago. I have a bunch more pipped so it will be fun to see what I wake up to in the morning.

Oh how fun! I bet your parents will enjoy seeing the babies. I had ducklings hatch when my mom was here and she was just enamored with them!

 

[cherwill]

Old Sophia is pretty solid, so I'm pretty sure she's just fat. I guess she's just very good at getting her share (and then some) of the food, unless someone can think of other reasons she may have gained so much weight? I'll try to get a picture of her tomorrow. Should I just put a bowl of food out for her and not let her have any of the veggie and fruit scraps? A small or medium dog bowl of food?

Among the posts I lost this afternoon was one about someone's friend whose son was being executed today. I felt physically sick when I read that. I don't even have children, but I can't imagine how you face something like that and then continue to live with it for the rest of your life. I'm very sorry for your friend.

That's IT!!!!!! I'M DONE!!!!!!!

The dog is going.!!!!!! She killed one of my precious frizzled seramas tonight. It was a beautiful chocolate and white boy and I had just gone through and culled out birds to sell and decided he was my keeper. He was just like his mom, spunky and beautiful. Poor little thing to die like that and she just came running over with it in her mouth like it was a grand prize. This after she just chewed open a box of clothes to donate and chewed the wiring off the trailer hitch that I was suppose to take down to Wichita with me. I am done with this dog.

I'm so sorry.

Sera is my miracle, and often my link to sanity She has faced such ridicule and downright hostility and cruelty due to her facial deformity prior to adoption that simple taunts from kids roll right off her back. She is actually very grateful for her surgeries that help minimize the taunts, but more importantly to her, make her outside look more like she feels on the inside. Her words, not mine She feels beautiful despite all things- and her doctor sees that.... Honestly, most people who know her see it too, and rarely notice her differences, but see them as her beauty instead. I am always in awe of her.
Your day sounds much like the insanity of our day!! So glad the house is quiet now

Sera's fabulous. She's so in touch with herself and her feelings, and she knows her true value. So many people don't. I'm in awe of her, as well.

No sign of them at all.. I'm accepting that they are gone. Everything was fine until it rained. I noticed at one point they were all in the coop - then I went back down to the barn and got some more painting done and it started raining harder. I remembered my car windows were down so I ran up to close my windows and noticed nobody was in the coop. I didn't think too much of it. About an hour later, it had kind of stopped raining so I decided to go find everyone out of curiosity of where they would go in the rain and why not stay in the coop. I found 2 in a tree - and that was it. Not a sighting of the other three - then when you came by, that one appeared - that was last night. No sign of the other 2. I think I will take you up on that offer of a rooster. Would you like more pallets? Stephen asked how many more you want...

That's too bad. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they show up anyway.

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

That sucks Josie. Some dogs just aren't cut out to be chicken dogs though, unfortunately. We had one rat terrier that killed chickens whenever we were gone. Now we have a corgi/collie, pit bull/lab and weimaraner/Chesapeake that love the chickens. Unfortunately, we did have to get rid of the rat terrier,even though he was a great cuddle dog. You gotta do what you gotta do though, even if it's not fun.

 

[Hawkeye95]

That's IT!!!!!! I'M DONE!!!!!!!

The dog is going.!!!!!! She killed one of my precious frizzled seramas tonight. It was a beautiful chocolate and white boy and I had just gone through and culled out birds to sell and decided he was my keeper. He was just like his mom, spunky and beautiful. Poor little thing to die like that and she just came running over with it in her mouth like it was a grand prize. This after she just chewed open a box of clothes to donate and chewed the wiring off the trailer hitch that I was suppose to take down to Wichita with me. I am done with this dog.

Oh Josie, I'm so sorry about your beautiful serama! Breaks my heart hearing how beautiful he was! I would be beyond furious, too!! I've been doing the same with my birds, trying to evaluating them and trying to decide who stays. I can't imagine how maddening it would be to have my own pet kill one. I think you have lasted a lot longer than the rest of us would have. I hope someone will really appreciate her for a different type of animal. Just this post alone-- the bird, the clothes, the wire--- I would have been tempted to get my gun! LOL

Sera is my miracle, and often my link to sanity She has faced such ridicule and downright hostility and cruelty due to her facial deformity prior to adoption that simple taunts from kids roll right off her back. She is actually very grateful for her surgeries that help minimize the taunts, but more importantly to her, make her outside look more like she feels on the inside. Her words, not mine She feels beautiful despite all things- and her doctor sees that.... Honestly, most people who know her see it too, and rarely notice her differences, but see them as her beauty instead. I am always in awe of her.
Your day sounds much like the insanity of our day!! So glad the house is quiet now

Amazing, amazing! And yes, I do appreciate the quiet of the house in the late evenings when the kids have gone to bed. I still have two little ones that run around and are always screaming or fighting. It's a real chore to keep them busy doing something.

Hawkeye, I have a great memories of home-made play dough, both as a kid when Mum used to make it for us, and then making it for my kids too. I guess summer is over and its back to "school routine" huh? My kids start tomorrow and in some ways it seems like the summer went by super fast and in other ways it feels like its been ages since I walked DS to school at his old school.

Well, update on Cyrus - he learned his lesson last night when I made him retreat from me over and over, and today he kept a respectful distance. I'm really not concerned about him becoming a mean rooster - I think he just got carried away last night with doing his job to keep his hens safe. I walked towards him several times again today and made him retreat from me and he seems to have got the message that I am "alpha roo". The other Cyrus news is that he became a daddy tonight!!! I decided to incubate some of my eggs a few weeks ago as I like raising fall chicks even more than spring chicks. With fall chicks, I grow them out and feed them over the winter when no one is laying much anyway, and by spring they are mature and ready to start laying. With spring chicks, it feels like I'm growing them out during the longest days of the year and missing out on all that prime egg-laying time. I wasn't going to incubate quite as early as this but it occurred to me it might be a neat experience for my parents to watch them hatch so I timed it so the eggs would be due to hatch before they left. The timing worked great and egg number 1 (which will be an olive egger) hatched an hour ago. I have a bunch more pipped so it will be fun to see what I wake up to in the morning.

So glad that Cyrus is going to be fine. His hormones must have just taken over his little pea brain there for a bit! LOL Yes we are in 'back to school' mode-- my oldest started on Monday. My middle child went to Kindergarten assessments and he will start on this coming Monday. My youngest starts Preschool TODAY!!! Yay!! That is so thoughtful to hatch some chicks for your parents to see while they are here! What a neat idea!! Really!! Happy birthday to the little cuties! Some time we need to get together for lunch or something for fun.

Sera's fabulous. She's so in touch with herself and her feelings, and she knows her true value. So many people don't. I'm in awe of her, as well.

X2!!!

 

[chicken danz]

Danz, my little Mille Fleur Bantam was making a huge racket today... Sounded almost like a parrot. She was hopping in and out of the nest boxes, but if course no egg. In any case, she will have to start laying soon. That has to be what she is building up to... That or she is a parrot.... ? You are more than welcome to have her to keep your Mille Fleur D'uccles company and to keep from having to buy more eggs.

Thank you so much for the offer. If we hatch some babies I'd be glad to return some to you. Hopefully this little buff laced polish will be female.
I can attest to what a jewel Sera is. She just shines! I told her she was beautiful the first time I met her and it is so true. She has an award winning smile for sure.
And while we are on that subject, Aubri is a total jewel too. She has a quiet gracefullness about her. Amazing teenager for sure!!! I have to think that your mothering skills are a huge part of this! Sera though is an inspiration. I think she could grow up to be a very successful motivation speaker or writer. I so wish I was more like her!!!

Josie I understand completely. I too would have given up. She needs a job herding or protecting larger animals. I'm so sorry she was a disappointment.
I went out this morning with my first cup of coffee and fed the chickens frozen peas. Needless to say they were really happy chickens. My hand hurts though from being pecked so much!! It was very pleasant out there. I so wish I had my back deck built and enclosed so I could go out and drink coffee on pleasant mornings. I used to go sit on my front porch but my dogs all have to come visit and be in my face so it takes the fun out. I really miss having nice porches and decks. Maybe some day!
So I understand we are supposed to have a cold front move in. That will be nice for the birds. Too bad they aren't predicting rain with it.
I cleaned some more last night but it sure doesn't look like it. I kind of tend to move everything to the center of the house when I clean and so the house looks worse rather than better.
HeChicken, I have to agree about pets. I keep saying when my old cats die there will be no more inside pets. But I have incubators and chick bins in here too and that is even worse. That bird dust covers every thing. Maybe some day I'll get a garage built and can keep that mess out there. That would be nice but I'm not sure it will ever happen.