Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

Tweety-So sorry to hear how ill you have been. I hope you are feeling better soon!

I'm sorry I haven't been on in the last few weeks. I was sicker than a dog all last week and in the hospital all this past week, just got out this morning. They have finally determined what is wrong with me and it's one of my worse nightmares. I have gastroparesis, which is basically a paralysed stomach. I can't eat anything without getting super bloated and in major pain because my stomach doesn't push the food out. It just sits there and ferments. I am on a liquid diet for now and in a month or so am allowed to graduate to pureed food. I love food, so this really freaking sucks. I might not be posting as much until I can get this under control and get my meds regulated. I just wanted to check in with everyone and tell ya'll that I've been thinking about you.
P.S. Chickens and ducks are doing fine - looks like i'll be selling more eggs than eating them though.. sigh...

HEchicken- Everytime I hear you talk about your muscovies it makes me want some but I don't need more ducks!!! I read about them and they sound so sweet.

I am a huge fan of muscovies. I got my first this Spring and they are now about 3 1/2 months old. DD always wanted ducks but I didn't want to deal with the mess and the noise even though I love duck eggs, so when I heard about muscovies they seemed too good to be true. However now that I've had them a few months, everything I read before getting them seems to have been spot on.

I started with 4 ducks, 2 drakes, but the fox got two of the ducks so now I have two pairs. I have wondered if I should add a couple more ducks but wasn't sure how accepting they are of newcomers. Do muscovies reject newcomers out of hand, accept them after some bullying (like chickens), or just welcome them with open wings?

Lizzy- Yikes! I would not let the goose and ducks out when the dog has his food. It is his and he will defend it and some dogs will kill in defense of their food. I would teach him to eat "meals." Put his food down for 15 minutes and then pick it up after that. Give him another serving in 8-10 hours so he gets two meals a day and again give him 15 minutes to eat. He will learn in a couple days and a few grumbling tummies that he best eat when the food is down. All our dogs including the pyrs eat two meals a day and no food is left down to prevent this very problem. I personally would stop giving your birds dog food. It is not healthy for them and has too much animal protein in it for a goose. It can cause angel wing in a growing goose or duck and is also teaching them to have a "taste or preference" for dog food which you don't want. They need to eat their own feed made for them specifically.

I nearly had a poultry catastrophe this morning. I have been feeding my birds a little less than recommended in an attempt to encourage them to free range. My ducks seem to be fine with this, but my goose acts hungry. So, I started feeding her separately and giving her more. My birds recently discovered dog food and seem to really like it so I have been putting some in with their poultry food when I feed them. Since my goose discovered dog food, it seems as though she doesn't want the poultry food. When I gave her extra this morning, she ate the dog food and ignored the poultry food. Then, she led the flock to trying to steal the dog's food (he's a chocolate lab and weighs roughly 100 pounds) from him WHILE he was eating. Yesterday, they tried this same stunt, and the dog just growled before I stepped out and saved him from the birds. Today, I wasn't there and he tackled my goose. He can't get much more aggressive towards her without using his teeth. I think she might leave his food alone if she were getting enough herself, but I don't know what to do. She didn't eat all the (poultry) food I gave her this morning. Plus, she loves dandelions, and we have plenty, but since the rest of the flock doesn't hang out in the area where the dandelions are, she doesn't eat those either. In fact, I don't see my flock free ranging much at all (which is why I decreased their food rations). She is roughly 3 months old, and is still growing, but she is the only goose I have and therefore hangs out with the ducks, and the ducks don't seem to spend much time grazing or chasing bugs. At least for now, I think I'm gonna have to lock the birds up until the dog has eaten his food, but he doesn't always eat his food immediately, and I can't keep the birds locked up all day, so I guess I'm stuck between a rock and hard place here... Any thoughts/suggestions/hints would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: I thought I should add that I don't blame the dog for trying to protect his food. I just worry that my goose won't get the hint and back down before the dog has to do something more drastic (like use his teeth).

Trish- Sorry you have sick babies. I just finished a batch of sneezing and wheezing juveniles so there must be something in the air. I did four days of denagard and then finally got sick of it and caught them all (and there were a lot of them!) and gave them all a shot of tylan and that cleared it right up. The denagard is not very broad spectrum in birds so it may or may not actually clear up your bug.

I went out last night to check on my chicks in the grow-out pen & they're all sneezing & everything now, not good. This just seemed to happen overnight that they got sick. This is where all of my Cream Legbars & Swedish Flower Hen chicks are, Salmon Favorelles, & young Ameraucanas. So I got out the Tylan, that's all I have on hand & got them started on it last night. I ordered some Denagard too just in case the Tylan doesn't take care of it. The stuff is not cheap, but then the Tylan isn't either, but I did already have that. At least they have the Tylan until the Denagard gets here. I sure hope they ship fast. I know it won't ship till Monday, but I paid for faster shipping, so it should be here by Weds. at least. I don't know if the change in weather has started this off after such a horrible hot summer or what. The poor birds immune systems probably have about had it after having to go through that heat like that. It's not even fall yet & they already getting sick, not good. So now I will have to watch the other birds that free-range to see if they all get it too. Their pens are aways away, but since they come around this pen all the time I figure they still could get it. Ugh, I hate it when birds get sick! Wish me luck that this Tylan kicks in fast. I'm kind of glad that I hadn't moved my peahens over to their new coop yet because it's close to the grow-out pen. Danz, are peacocks subject to the same diseases as chickens?

Whoa, that sounded like a nasty bumblefoot case! Glad you caught it before it killed her. My Polish has had her 3rd shot of Penicillin (today) and is hanging in there. I was so worried about what Josie said, I went two days between shots instead of every other day. I hope she'll be okay. I haven't pulled off her vet wrap yet to check. I'll do that another day. Your bird sounds WAY worse than my Polish. I hope your bird will be okay. I think so long as you get that core/plug out and then squeeze out as much as you can, it's about all you can do. The antibiotic then has a chance of working once it's washed out. My other birds did really well after the surgeries.





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Okay, I'm back to being obsessed with greenhouses again lately. There's no way I have time to build one, but I want one soooo much and some of these DIY houses are so cute!! Here's a few of my favorites!

okay.... sorry about the Greenhouse overload!! But-- aren't they adorable?!?!

Karen- So sorry you have been sick! So sorry about your daughter, poor thing! That aloha hen is gorgeous.

Just finished reading up on everyone. It's nice to get caught up again. So, after the kids got in school they quickly brought germs home and I've been sick also. What a bummer. I'm over it now and trying to get caught up on everything that went to heck while I was lounging around the house. Sheesh!

I have a couple Swedish pipping and zipping. They're due to hatch tomorrow so I can't wait to see how they come out.

Today was wild. One of my daughters went to a sleepover birthday party yesterday. While I was shopping at Sam's I got a call that she had fallen and hurt her wrist badly enough that one of the medical parents thought it needed x-rays. It took me forever to get from the north side of Wichita to the south to pick her up. I couldn't get hold of DH, even though he was home to go pick her up and take her to the E.R. so away I flew! Poor kid. Finally got her picked up and off to the E.R. for xrays and turns out it's a bad sprain so it's going to make it a little painful to play the flute for awhile, but she didn't have to be casted.

I'll throw in a pic just for fun. Up front is my spottiest Aloha girl. Isn't she a cutey? I think she's the one who laid the white egg, but don't know for certain.

So what do other people do on a Saturday night. I've been out in the dark trying to catch chickens. It works for one or two and then the others get wise and take off. I feel so mean. They aren't going to be eaten. They are just going to some one else's house to lay eggs......... Well, the girls are. The boys are going to be put in a separate pen so as they grow they can become part of a Chinese cuisine. The wild ones are something else. I can't get within 10 feet of them even in the pitch black dark. I came back in so they would settle down so I could catch some more of them.
It feels good to lighten the load but it sure seems like there's a lot less chickens out there. I realize as I am accounting for them I have had many disappear. About 8 of my red stars are gone. I've got some polish and pheonix that have disappeared from the breeder group. Makes you wonder why you never find a body or feathers or anything. I suspect that some of them got out far searching for food and got overheated or eaten by a predator. Sometimes they wander pretty far into the field looking for bugs. Hopefully soon I'll have my breeders all penned and just the layers will be out ranging.
My next step is to start selling off some of the big breeder roos I won't be using. Now that will be hard! I love my big ole roosters.

Hahaha! Chasin chickens on a Saturday night! If it makes you feel any better we drove to Blue Springs, MO last night to pick up some free wood dog houses off craigslist to use for chick grow out pens!

No luck for our Bloom girl.... She will be sorely missed here. Morning just won't be morning without her singing to us all.
Never put DriStall down while chickens are in the run.....
We learned the hardest way possible. My kids are a mess and my abilities to see life slip away in my arms really need to be stronger....

Meda- SO SORRY and a big

to you and your kiddos for your loss. I know it will be a while before you are ready and she is no replacement for Bloom but I do have that little splash silkie that I think with some children to love her would get super sweet and gentle.


Sorry to anyone I missed, I was way behind on posts! Phew! It has been raining here this morning which is nice. It is a mucky mess but I don't really care. We needed it so badly. I got my quad of wheaten ameraucanas yesterday and am so excited to have them. They are settling into their new breeding pen well. I also moved the brahma trio out to their breeding pen. It is so exciting to finally get birds moved into their own slots so I can collect and hatch eggs!

Lucie is going for a trial with the family with three kids next week! Their neighbors have horses and every one in their area kind of "share" dogs and all the dogs visit each other and the neighbors so I think she will be well tolerated if she goes and hangs with the horses next door. She loves our horses and spends most of her day with them. I was nervous about the people with the goats because they just moved to the country and just got three tiny baby nigerian dwarfs. I was afraid with their minimal experience with a LGD that a younger dog they could train or an older experienced dog might be a better fit for them. Those are tiny goats and I was afraid Lucie might try to play with them and injure one. I really hope this works out although I think Molly will be lonely for a bit. We are hoping to have a new GP pup to add to the LGD family right around Christmas!

 

[WesHoward]

I am riverside in wichita. Always looking for chicks and hens

 

[Trish44]

Josie, I'm glad you found someone to take Lucie, I hope it works out for them & you. It sounds like she will have a good home. I hope the next pup works out much better for you. If you're getting a full blood GP you will be better off I'm sure. Not that they don't still go through puppy stuff because they do, but they are very different than any other dog breed I've ever had. My really serious dog Jasmine once in awhile just gets an ornery streak, like the other night I had put the food all down for our outside cats & then I take the dogs out to feed them. I was standing there with Lily & Jasmine dividing up food between their bowls & Jasmine got that look in her eye & took off running back up to where the cats were eating & started eating their food really fast. She knew I was coming after her, but it was worth just that minute to be naughty & run up there. It's like a circus every night here to get the cats & dogs fed. I have to try to keep the cats occupied with their food so I can run the dogs down to where the rabbit pens are & feed them. Then as soon as I have them eating I come back up & sit at my little outside table & guard the cats & their food until they're done. If there is any left then the dogs can have it, but I have to hold them off until then. They will lay on opposite sides of the patio & growl & argue with each other over who is going to get the leftover food, it's a mess. Yeah I have the birds on Tylan right now, that's what I have, but I don't have the injectible, it's the powder that you mix in water. I can't imagine having to inject that many birds.

I went out this morning & let the free-range birds out & then put all fresh straw in the grow-out pen to soak up the wet. Then I went out & started catching birds to take them back out to their pen. It took me probably an hour I'll bet to catch them all & get them back out there. I still didn't get one young Welsummer & she is out running around outside, I hope she doesn't get lost because she's by herself & has never been out before. I tried to catch her with my net but she was pretty fast & smart & kept running under bushes & things where I couldn't get her. I put the 3 sickest chicks in a crate in the run & I will treat them in there until they're better. Two are Cream Legbars & one is a Swedish Flower Hen chick. I thought maybe with just the three of them in there I could watch them closer & make sure they drink the water. It's kind of hard with so many chicks in the other pen to watch them all that well. I sure hope they all survive this or I will be sick about it. I have babied these chicks for so long & tried so hard to take good care of them that it will be the pits if they don't. Some of my Swedish Flower Hen chicks are really getting pretty with all of the colors now. I will have to try to get some pics when they're all doing better.

My DH made a suggestion to me this morning that I'm going to go with I think. He suggested that I take a piece of that livestock panel that I had already cut for a gate for the run & use it to bend over the top of the pens out there. I had not thought of using those for that, but it probably will work if we can get it bent & hooked on. That way the water will not stay on the top because it will be rounded. I told him he would have to help me do it. I'm going to have to run to the store after I get everything around here done & get groceries & more cable ties, a bunch more cable ties. I wish they had them in bigger packages besides the ones that have the tiny ones in it, those just aren't that useful. I use those bags of 100 like crazy.

It looks like we have gotten all the rain we're going to get for now, that's OK I would rather spread it out some than have it be a bog here. If it rains for too long at a time we just get big problems out on our road & when it rained for several days one time it washed out the road in about 3 places, one of which was right in front of our driveway. It became a huge bog there & I got the car stuck trying to get home & it took 4 big guys to push it out. They had to bring in rock & rebuild the road right there & in two other places, it was a big mess. We had to leave our car at the neighbor's house for a few days, we couldn't even get in or out of our driveway. The problem with these township road maintenance people any more is they don't know what a ditch is for. They come out & grade the road & just keep putting all the dirt & gravel in the ditches until there aren't any left. Then when it rains a bunch there is nowhere for the excess water to go but to stand on the road or run across it into the field & wash out the road. I can remember having ditches on the road I used to live on outside of Derby & we didn't have the road wash out since the water had a place to run off. These people that maintain our road here just don't care about it, they don't live on the road so they just grade it once in awhile & go on.

 

[HEChicken]

I am riverside in wichita. Always looking for chicks and hens

I know the Riverside area well, having lived there for the last 12 years. I just moved out of Wichita a couple of months ago but am back and forth quite a bit. Do you have the permit to have up to 12 hens, or are you limited to the 3 or 5 you can have without it?

 

[Trish44]

I am riverside in wichita. Always looking for chicks and hens

You were posting when I was, so I missed your post. What kinds of chicks & hens are you looking for? I will be hatching quite a few different breeds of chicks in the spring, so check with me then if you want. We also have a Kansas Poultry Swap page on FaceBook, here is the link for that if you want to join & browse there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/275183675880038/ & we also havve a Kansas Farm Animal Swap on there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/312601348787264/. You're welcome to join us on both sites, just ask to join after you get there & one of us will approve you. Feel free to jump in on any of the conversations on here at any time, we talk about a little of everything here.

 

[chicken danz]

I am riverside in wichita. Always looking for chicks and hens

Welcome! Stick around and talk awhile.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Andy did ask me why we couldn't make a tiny chicken mask . I just used a tiny bit of albuterol and mostly saline in the nebuluzer. She has some pink back in her comb and wattle, but is still gasping.... My kids are beside themselves. Our silkies really are very much their pets that they cuddle daily, like our little dogs. Bloom is very much at ease in all of our arms and seems to know that we are trying to help. She makes eye contact pleadingly....

What will be will be.... My Sera is named for that phrase and good things have come to us through it.

This is such a precious picture, and you went far beyond the call of duty to try your best with her. I was SO shocked when you wrote she didn't make it, I was just so surprised! I'm so very sorry for you and your kids. I would offer you a silkie, but I don't know what all I have right now. I need to go thru them. I may not have anything until I start hatching again. But I don't have any that are Buff (or gold).

Today was wild. One of my daughters went to a sleepover birthday party yesterday. While I was shopping at Sam's I got a call that she had fallen and hurt her wrist badly enough that one of the medical parents thought it needed x-rays. It took me forever to get from the north side of Wichita to the south to pick her up. I couldn't get hold of DH, even though he was home to go pick her up and take her to the E.R. so away I flew! Poor kid. Finally got her picked up and off to the E.R. for xrays and turns out it's a bad sprain so it's going to make it a little painful to play the flute for awhile, but she didn't have to be casted.

I'll throw in a pic just for fun. Up front is my spottiest Aloha girl. Isn't she a cutey? I think she's the one who laid the white egg, but don't know for certain.

Crazy about your daughters wrist, I bet that was pretty worrisome! I'm glad it wasn't any more serious than that. I LOVE that bird!! Very spotty! Beautiful!

Hawkeye, love those greenhouses! I can just see those on top of my basement!

Are you getting any rain over there Danz? Hope so!

Yes, I think one over your basement would be fabulous!

So what do other people do on a Saturday night. I've been out in the dark trying to catch chickens. It works for one or two and then the others get wise and take off. I feel so mean. They aren't going to be eaten. They are just going to some one else's house to lay eggs......... Well, the girls are. The boys are going to be put in a separate pen so as they grow they can become part of a Chinese cuisine.

Wow, that's not what I did on Saturday night, but we really didn't do a whole lot anyway. I think you had a much more interesting night! LOL

Well it's been a bad night here for me as well.

Hawkeye, I love the greenhouses, especially the very first one, that's adorable! I think you should build one, you could do it.

I will try to get some pics tomorrow of the breeder coop with the frame partially up, I haven't taken any since we did the floor

WHOA... that night was not fun! That was right up there with Danz's midnight fun. That would have been so scary to see all that water coming in the pens! Yikes! Can't wait to see how your coop is coming along!

Hawkeye, those greenhouses are gorgeous. I think it certainly helps that they are photographed in a field full of wildflowers but even without that they would be cute. DH has been talking a lot lately about wanting to set up a solarium/greenhouse. He can visualize things whereas I have approximately zero ability to visualize so I just kind of have to say "that sounds nice, Dear" and let him take the baton and run with it

We have actually had some rain here too, finally, and the last time I looked at the rain gauge it was homing in on 2". I won't have to refill waterers for quite awhile. My coop has a gabled roof with no gutters and after the first rain, I noticed that the rain dripping off the roof was creating a small trench on the side of the coop. So to prevent that, I lined up every water-catching bowl I could come up with including the duck's swimming pool, and they are now all very full of water. The ducks are in heaven!!! I am adding to the to-do list, to install gutters and a rainwater barrel after this. Our pond is looking better today than it did yesterday - yay!!!

So funny how you lined up all the containers and pools! Creative! I LOVE the idea of a rain barrel. I totally want to do that, too. It's just lower on my list right now. But I think it sounds like a great plan. Show your DH these really cute greenhouses! They are all made out of old windows that were recycled. Smart and more cost effective than buying new.

My brother (56 years old) came into town on Thursday and is here till Sept 4th - I must admit that 1) he is driving me completely insane - he.does.not.shut.up.for.one.minute.all.day.freaking.long! 2) he loves to debate and everything, no matter the topic, turns into a debate and he needs to analyze everything that is said, how it is said, who said it, etc. 3) he takes forever to do anything - he has been writing a list for Lowes since 7:30 this morning and is still going over it with me 4) he is like a bull in a china shop... he knocks things over just walking through the living room.. has spilled several drinks by knocking them over when reaching for something.. etc. 5) he doesn't turn lights off when he leaves a room! he doesn't put things back when he has used them..

Ok - done griping... must find way to not kill brother...

LOL!! I'm feeling your pain! I would be ready to run away! I can't stand strife or arguments and I don't really enjoy debates. I just don't worry about what other people think, and respect their views. I would be ready to kick him out if he kept knocking stuff over, though. I have little kids and they don't even do that kind of thing! I really don't like leaving lights on, either.

Andy was pretty devatated and slept on the floor in my room, but seems to be OK this morning. We will blow out some of our Bloom's eggs and save them in a display/ memory box to remember her by. He does want another Silkie hen at some point so he has a chicken of his own laying the eggs to find ( since the others he had never claimed as "his" ) so we will be looking for another silkie hen with lots of personality. We all loved that little bird's spunky talk and how friendly she was.

That is so heartbreaking. Poor kids I like the idea of saving her eggs. You can buy these neat little end cap thingies (don't know what they are called) to glue on the end of an egg and use them for x-mas ornaments or to just hang all year long somewhere. We used to do that, they are a pretty gold filigree with a loop that you can hang them with. Anyway, just a thought.

I am riverside in wichita. Always looking for chicks and hens

Hope you stick around! I'm not in Wichita, but our church is really close to Riverside. I also have a couple of friends who live right there in Riverside.

Trish- Sorry you have sick babies. I just finished a batch of sneezing and wheezing juveniles so there must be something in the air. I did four days of denagard and then finally got sick of it and caught them all (and there were a lot of them!) and gave them all a shot of tylan and that cleared it right up. The denagard is not very broad spectrum in birds so it may or may not actually clear up your bug.


Hahaha! Chasin chickens on a Saturday night! If it makes you feel any better we drove to Blue Springs, MO last night to pick up some free wood dog houses off craigslist to use for chick grow out pens!
Meda- SO SORRY and a big

to you and your kiddos for your loss. I know it will be a while before you are ready and she is no replacement for Bloom but I do have that little splash silkie that I think with some children to love her would get super sweet and gentle.

Do you inject Tylan in the breast? I found some Tylan injectible at Atwoods-- it's in the front in the fridge. I thought it was pretty cheap, too! But what a pain to have to shoot up a whole bunch of birds. How many did you treat and do you have to give more than one shot... or is it just the one dose, and you're done??? Hope those dog houses suit your needs.


Whew, been busy today! Church this morning, and then taking care of some property management stuff this afternoon. Finally home now and I'm DONE IN. But it's been a pretty good day, overall.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy- Yikes! I would not let the goose and ducks out when the dog has his food. It is his and he will defend it and some dogs will kill in defense of their food. I would teach him to eat "meals." Put his food down for 15 minutes and then pick it up after that. Give him another serving in 8-10 hours so he gets two meals a day and again give him 15 minutes to eat. He will learn in a couple days and a few grumbling tummies that he best eat when the food is down. All our dogs including the pyrs eat two meals a day and no food is left down to prevent this very problem. I personally would stop giving your birds dog food. It is not healthy for them and has too much animal protein in it for a goose. It can cause angel wing in a growing goose or duck and is also teaching them to have a "taste or preference" for dog food which you don't want. They need to eat their own feed made for them specifically.
Trish- Sorry you have sick babies. I just finished a batch of sneezing and wheezing juveniles so there must be something in the air. I did four days of denagard and then finally got sick of it and caught them all (and there were a lot of them!) and gave them all a shot of tylan and that cleared it right up. The denagard is not very broad spectrum in birds so it may or may not actually clear up your bug.

Thank you for the suggestion! I told my husband we'll have to start doing that. I think I'll have to keep the birds locked up while the dog eats and just make sure to pick up his bowl before I let them out. I didn't mind my birds eating a bit of dog food when, but now that it's become a problem, I think I'm going to put it to a stop. When I first got my birds, I was really worried that the dog (who is my husband's hunting dog) would hunt/kill my birds. I was wondering how I would train him that wouldn't sour him to hunting. I think it's worked, and the proof is that my goose has tried to take his food from him twice now (my original post on this topic was the 2nd time she'd tried it and definitely the most severe reaction from the dog) and he hasn't (YET) responded with his teeth. I am definitely going to put this new idea to a stop though...

Someone mentioned that they had a gander with their ducks and that the gander didn't graze until they got another goose... I don't remember who said that, but I had a question for them. Did you get the 2nd goose as a gosling or full-grown? I have been seriously considering processing my drakes and then getting 1 or 2 more geese and 3-4 more ducks to round out my flock. The birds in my flock now are the only ones I've ever had, so it will be difficult to actually process them. I've got a friend who will help, but I still have to give the word. Anyway, assuming I can go through with it, I'd like to get 3-4 runner ducks or buff ducks (or a mix of the two) and 1-2 more geese as company for my current goose. However, if I get more geese, it would probably be from my husband's grandmother's flock. She gets goose eggs every spring. I could ask her to hatch a couple for me. I wouldn't want one of her adult geese. She doesn't handle them, and they have a tendency to be mean. I was just wondering if I got a couple more goslings and raised them with ducks, would they just know to graze themselves or would they grow up thinking they're a duck like Lucy (my goose) has done?

 

[chicken danz]

I finally have a minute to sit down. I was starting to get irritated after all my work last night outside when my buyer didn't show or call. She finally just called and said she was on her way. I was going to separate the boys and girls before she got here but now I'm being stubborn so it can wait. I hate wrestling chickens around. It looks pretty bad out here right now. I have a few sick and in treatment birds left where all of the sold hens were. Looks like I have only sick birds!!! Two with bad legs, two with brain injuries, etc etc. I just don't cull them if they aren't perfect. I'm not perfect and no one has culled me!
DH just found a box with a dozen or so red star hen eggs in it in the barn, so I guess they'll be going in the incubator. I found a couple of Orp eggs under the brooder house so they'll go in. There is never a shortage of chickens around here!!!
Sunflower I hate company unless it is short lived. Other people disrupt my routine!!
Medawinks, I blew out some peacocks eggs and used a hot glue gun and filled them with hot glue. It made the solid and they also felt about the right weight for a viable egg. You could do that to Blooms eggs. I also read you can fill them with plaster of Paris. That way they would be less likely to break.
I am tired and crabby today. I was up really late last night and then I couldn't sleep. I got up and cooked dinner for my Dad before I took him to church. But when I warmed it for him after church he acted like he was about to choke. I guess he didn't like it. I fixed him some "Kibble" and had chicken breast in it. He loves beans so I figured he would really like it. Oh well. I tried. His garbage disposal may be busy today.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, that would irritate me too if I had to go out & catch a bunch of chickens & then the person didn't show up to get them. I sure wish these people who keep contacting me about my little Mini Rex rabbits would just come & get them, it's getting on my nerves. People will send me a PM on FB & ask me if they're still available & then say they want one & then one of them said she's out of town until late tonight & another said she can't come until at least Monday. Why do they contact you if they can't come then, that's what irritates me. Just wait until you can come & then contact me. I still have 4 of the 5 babies I've been trying to sell for about all summer. People haven't wanted to buy rabbits due to the heat, but now they're starting to get interested again.

I haven't really gotten much done today except chores for the birds & rabbits. All of the young chicks in the grow-out pen seem to have weathered getting almost drowned last night except the 3 I have in the crate. They're all running around their pen & ate well, so that's good. I was worried that with them being sick they would get worse after getting so soaking wet. I'm just glad I was out there & saw what was happening before they were standing in water too long or worse drowned in it. It was all a pretty miserable ordeal for all of them & me & I'm glad for a dry day today so things can dry out some for them. It's pretty muddy here, something we have not seen all summer. Heather, your turkey hen is doing fine, at least they were smart enough to get up on their roost out of the water. The back of the pen is pretty soggy, but I put some dry straw in the front half & they have been hanging out there today. That's going to be so awesome when you get the tom to go with her. I have really enjoyed the turkeys, they're very entertaining & the one I hatched just loves to talk to me when I go over to the gate. I never knew I would like turkeys so much & I might not like other breeds as well as I do the Royal Palms either, I don't know since I have never had any other breed. But the Royal Palms just seem really calm & friendly for the most part. The tom doesn't like me to mess with him much, but the hens really kind of gather around me when I go into the pen. I think it might be nice to let them hatch some eggs next year & fun to see them with the babies. I have read that guineas & peacocks will mess with other birds eggs & nests, does anybody know anything about that? I plan to let the guineas go out to free-range as soon as they're old enough so they can start eating some of these darned ticks we have here. I got into a big bunch of ticks out there today close to my new coop, ick I just hate those critters!