Consolidated Kansas

[pikeman94]

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!

We had rain last night, which I totally slept through even though there was thunder and lightning. Yay, me! Today, I've been out and about and we've had lots of rain! I love it! Right now, we're having some lightning again, some of it really close and LOUD! I'd almost forgotten what a real thunderstorm was like. Not to worry, I'm running the computer wireless.

HEChicken, sorry I didn't get you replied to but my Alohas have begun laying as well. By my calculations they are about 20 weeks old so they're right on time! One of the eggs I got was white and a really large one. How odd is that? A few are really small pullet eggs too and are more the color of the Sussex eggs a kind of pink color.

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.

Sorry to hear about your DD. She will bounce back in no time. Kids have an amazing ability to heal, unlike us

That is a good looking Aloha! Congrats on her!

The SSX you gave me are doing really well. They are the first to greet me every day when I open the coop. In fact they get mad at me if I don't have any scratch to give them. Sheesh!

 

[pikeman94]

LOL, I just can't keep up with the posts!

Sunflower- Yep, Pyrs are kleptos. Sarge ran off with my son's brand new scooter on his birthday when we weren't looking. Stole it right off the front porch. Now there are teeth marks in the foam handles -_-. We have to keep anything we don't want him taking off with out of sight or out of reach. We have to feed the barn cat on top of a plastic shelving unit and still have to put our metal bistro chairs in such a way that the dog can't get to the shelves, or he will put his big ol' paws up there and eat all the cat food! He used to eat all the chicken feed when we had him penned with the chickens, and they would eat his food. So, we started feeding him after the chickens went to roost. Fortunately, he stopped eating the chicken feed, that was EXPENSIVE! We have him out of the chicken pasture now, so everyone gets their own food and we don't have any more "accidents" with dead chickens.

So glad to have had all that rain! I hate when it's hot and muggy, but I'll take it!

I got my new Facebook page set up for Two Chicks hatching egg and chick delivery service. Check it out! https://www.facebook.com/TwoChicksKansas . The darn phone company hasn't got my phone turned on yet, so hopefully no one shies away because they can't get through.

Keep cool, everyone!

Good lookin' page! I liked to help spread the word.

 

[chicken danz]

I wrote a long post last night and my server crashed. Lost it all so now I am drawing a blank on all I said.
Hawkeye, did you get your little silkie chick fixed?
Josie if you check in I am sending you a PM. As usual I need some advise. Don't know what I would do without you!
Speaking of the klepto pyrs, I am wondering when the sheriff will show up doing an investigation into buried bodies or something. My dogs have gone out and collected a huge pile of deer bones. I have no idea where they come up with them cause some are fairly fresh; unless someone is poaching deer out of season nearby. Then Cloud covets them and piles them all in the front yard. You combine those bones with every plastic container she can get her teeth on, every rag she can find, any tool or anything under about 20 pounds that she can drag to her piles. Between that and the fact that we haven't mowed all summer and there is no grass but a few 2 foot tall spragly weeds out there, it looks like a real dump here. I used to try to pick up the piles but she is a master of finding her stuff again and taking it back.
I just kind of gave up. If I am missing something I know where to find it.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I wrote a long post last night and my server crashed. Lost it all so now I am drawing a blank on all I said.
Hawkeye, did you get your little silkie chick fixed?
Josie if you check in I am sending you a PM. As usual I need some advise. Don't know what I would do without you!
Speaking of the klepto pyrs, I am wondering when the sheriff will show up doing an investigation into buried bodies or something. My dogs have gone out and collected a huge pile of deer bones. I have no idea where they come up with them cause some are fairly fresh; unless someone is poaching deer out of season nearby. Then Cloud covets them and piles them all in the front yard. You combine those bones with every plastic container she can get her teeth on, every rag she can find, any tool or anything under about 20 pounds that she can drag to her piles. Between that and the fact that we haven't mowed all summer and there is no grass but a few 2 foot tall spragly weeds out there, it looks like a real dump here. I used to try to pick up the piles but she is a master of finding her stuff again and taking it back.
I just kind of gave up. If I am missing something I know where to find it.

You better hope those are just deer bones

 

[JosieChick]

Thank you for the input! The goose I have (Lucy) came from my husband's grandmother. My DH's grandma doesn't know what breed of goose they are, but with a little research, I have determined (and am pretty sure) that they are white chinese geese. I know that white chinese geese CAN become aggressive, but I have been handling Lucy every day in hopes that it will keep her from getting aggressive. So far, so good. My DH won't allow mean birds, so if I do end up with a mean bird, that bird will find himself in hot water (literally). However, I was thinking that it would probably be good for Lucy if I got another goose for her to hang out and graze with. The reason I was wanting to get a goose from my DH's grandmother is because it would be free/cheap. I'm not likely to get that from anywhere else. I know that limits my choices, but i don't know of anywhere within 2-3 hours drive that has geese for sale (not even at orschelns) so I guess I take what I can get.

Lizzy- Geese really love their buddies. It is weird that they know the difference but I had a young gander in with two ducks and when I introduced four new goslings to him he was sooo excited so I bet Lucy will love a new friend! You may end up with a nasty gander as that is pretty common but the geese are usually friendlier.

My muscovies are really great foragers and grazers. They are out there when none of the other birds are. I've also noticed they are first out in the morning and last in in the evening.

HEchicken- Stop making me want muscovies! I don't need anymore ducks! My ducks must be fat, lazy bums. They come out but don't go far, of course there is not much to eat out here right now anyway so why bother wandering around expending energy.

Hechicken sorry to hear about Tory some dogs are just that stubborn. As far as the clothes line you mention i use Birdseye cloth old fashion cloth diapers and they are very large some are 30x30 would that give me enough room to hang at least a 12-20 diaper at once?

My neighbor came over last night to visit and her German shepherd followed and he doesn't like little things he kills cats, squirrels everything and of course he went after my chickens but they stopped him in time. My concern is that he roams our property daily and I've been lucky that he hasn't seen my chickens till yesterday. I really like these people and don't want to cause problems but i also want my chickens to free range so do i take the chance and let them free range or build a safe area for them to roam? she told me to call her and she will put the dog up in the garage but that's not fair to him either that he has to stay in the garage. I would hate for him to kill them my kids would be devastated

The neighbors should just keep their dog at home in a fenced yard if it kills animals. It is not your responsibility to control their dog when you want to you let your birds out on your property. You could always put up a fence and also make that shepherd feel really unwelcome on your property. We had a beagle that came around here and every time it showed up I chased it away and chucked sticks in its direction. It doesn't come here anymore, we are no fun.

I debated on getting a paint ball gun to scare it away too but just chasing it seems to have done the trick.

My buyers who were supposed to be here at 1:30 didn't make it until 6:30. Needless to say I was pretty unhappy with them. It wasted my entire day. And then they were here late so my evening was gone as well. I guess the best thing was that they took every hen, pullet, and chick I would sell them. They also bought a pair of melanistic mutant pheasants from me. However I had pheasant for dinner. The female I sold them jumped up in the cage and broke her neck. I had never eaten pheasant before. It was a little on the tough side but very tasty. She was young and it breaks my heart to see a female die. That makes 3 I have lost over the last couple years when people were here buying. And of course all three were female. I think I need to warn any buyers from now on once I remove them from their pen they buy them. One guy last year, let his female get out and didn't offer to pay for it. That was the worst one because ultimately I found her body a week later. I didn't charge them but if people are going to keep pheasant they need to learn how to safely transport them first. After that, they paid me for two of them and are coming back next week to get them. They also want to buy my beautiful Lady Amhurst roo. I really need to sell him because I have a second one but hate to. He is so pretty. He was interested in buying my eastern turkey male but I don't think he wanted to pay my asking price.
They wanted to buy my albino turkey as well but I didn't ever say yes or no. I feel very protective of her. This gal says she wants to buy some of every breed I have out here. They could be good customers but they will have to do better being on time.
Now that I've sold all these girls I have got to start moving roosters. If I want them to be eaten I can sell them without a second thought. But most are pure bred breeders and I don't want good blood to be in a pot. I have no way of controlling that other than just advertising and hoping for the best. I just don't want all the girls to be bare backed and broken down. I hate this part. Some of my roosters are awesome and they are all easy going.

Danz- Is that common for pheasant to freak out when caged? I think I have heard you say this before.

That is the problem. No one will pay that much for a rooster if it isn't something very rare. And the Asian people in the city area will pay at least $8 for a roo to eat. I would be lucky to get $5 and most people won't drive here for a breeder rooster unless they are needing that particular one and can't find one.

Wow! $8 for a roo to eat! Can I bring you some of my boys to sell to the asian people?? Darn, I can't get rid of roos to save my life! I am tired of processing them and I have several that need to go. We are going to process birds again in September but I don't want to wait another month to get rid of all these boys.

Michelle-- you are using Flats??? WOW, you are one dedicated mama! No way would I ever use flats to diaper with. I own Prairie Tales, and this is what a blogger wrote about my diapers last year or the year before: http://www.justmommies.com/blog/201...s-cloth-diapers-review-and-giveaway-ends-820/ Even if you don't want my diapers-- check out BumGenius, Fuzzi Buns, and Kawaii-- they are all great! One of my "sinful" diapers are the Blueberry minki side snaps.
--wow, I had posted a picture of one of my diapers and the photo was HUGE!! nevermind! LOL

Hawkeye- What are flats???? What do you do with a diaper business? Excuse my ignorance, someday I am sure I will know a lot more about diapers!



Okay--- so hey, I have a question about what you all think! This is about one of my 3 month old silkie chicks. I don't think you need to be a silkie expert to have an opinion on what happened to my bird. But a few days ago, I just noticed one of my chicks had a big bump on her back (like a bone???) and it's sticking out and now her hip seems sort of "out". She is throwing out her leg to the side and even her tail is stuck to the side. Do you all think this is an injury or could this just be a genetic back curvature that suddenly just showed up?? She also has poop stuck to her rear (that's new) and seems a little frantic when I pick her up.... is she hurting?? Or just doesn't like to be picked up?? I've got no clue, I'd love some input. I took a video of her this morning and posted it to Youtube. I hope you all can look at it and let me know what you think is going on with her back/legs.

Hawkeye- I wonder if she hasn't dislocated her hip or has a spinal injury? I would try to get some antibiotics and anti inflammatories into her. You can use Metacam for dogs in chickens or banamine for horses is also safe in tiny doses. I would try keeping her quiet in a small cage because if it is a back injury of some kind her moving around is going to make it worse.

What a disappointment.

I finally made contact with the guy that had the peafowl. He had two of them drown in a stock tank so they decided to keep the other two chicks. I am waiting to see if he has some mixed color chicks and what he wants for them. I wish DH had never mentioned it now because I am so disappointed. If I can buy his other chicks I will though, just to have some companionship for my little white one. He is getting too big to be in this bin but I don't want him alone outside in a pen. He is such a sweet thing- I hate to see him grow up. It does hurt when he tastes my fingers though. His beak is much sharper than a chickens beak.
Josie if you get back on here later can you tell me how big that pen you bought for your peafowl is. It looks about right for some peachicks to grow out in. I might want to duplicate it. Does it have a wire bottom or a wood one? Aw just searched back through pictures and can see the wire bottom. But would still like to know the size. I have been so looking forward to this it just breaks my heart!!!

Danz- Bummer about the peas. I saw some peachicks for sale on the KC craigslist the other day that are this years hatch, not sure how old though? I think that cage is about 4 1/2 feet wide by 6 feet long. It is about 7 feet tall in the front and maybe 6 feet tall in the back?

I will send you a PM back in a bit, I need to find all the dosing stuff.

Trish- Hope your girls do well today with their big girl surgeries!



Well, the ducks in the Andover park have indeed been abandoned. My friend called animal control yesterday and they referred her back to the parks department who acknowledged that the birds were abandoned but that they seem to be doing fine out there.

So my friend kindly explained that flightless domestic ducks need food and shelter during the winter and that when the pond freezes over they will most likely perish to predators and the cold. So the guy told us we could move them once it gets cold because people enjoy seeing them which I guess is a start. It is aggravating though to have to wait so my friend is going to call him again in a couple weeks to see if we can come sooner so we don't have to be rounding up ducks in the cold or worrying about freezing weather. I don't understand people, it someone tied a dog up in the park and left it they wouldn't just leave it out there and say well its having fun and people like stopping and petting it!?!

I should go do something productive now. Lots to do and not much energy to do it all. Have a good day everyone!

 

[chicken danz]

Josie you know chickies,duckies,etc has a huge group of Muskovies she is selling dirt cheap!! She really needs to get them sold too! I believe the peachicks for sale were India blues. I have plenty of those. I am wanting whites or at least pied whites. I sure hope he gets back to me today with good news about his older chicks. What are you going to do with your peachicks when it gets cold. Are you going to put them elsewhere?
That is so disgusting that people would release domestic ducks in a park. Shows they used as much sense on disposing of them as they used when they originally got them.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy- Geese really love their buddies. It is weird that they know the difference but I had a young gander in with two ducks and when I introduced four new goslings to him he was sooo excited so I bet Lucy will love a new friend! You may end up with a nasty gander as that is pretty common but the geese are usually friendlier.

Danz-
Wow! $8 for a roo to eat! Can I bring you some of my boys to sell to the asian people?? Darn, I can't get rid of roos to save my life! I am tired of processing them and I have several that need to go. We are going to process birds again in September but I don't want to wait another month to get rid of all these boys.

Nasty gander - that is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I'm sure my DH's grandma would be happy to share a nasty mean gander with me, but I really enjoy spending time with my goose and would like to get her a friend that enjoys spending time with me, doing something other than chasing me.

I have a few drakes I need to process. These will be the first birds (ever) I've had to process. In fact, this is the first time I've had to make a choice to kill a living being, other than a rattlesnake. I've got a friend lined up to help me on Saturday, and I've been having a rough week because of the dread for Saturday to come. I've had a difficult time with the decision to process these birds - they're pets after all. Surely I'm not the only one that has a hard time (emotionally) processing birds... How does everyone else handle it?

 

[HEChicken]

I just kind of gave up. If I am missing something I know where to find it.

Wow! $8 for a roo to eat! Can I bring you some of my boys to sell to the asian people?? Darn, I can't get rid of roos to save my life! I am tired of processing them and I have several that need to go. We are going to process birds again in September but I don't want to wait another month to get rid of all these boys.

I had the same thought about the $8. I dislike processing enough it wouldn't be worth it to me to pay anything for a bird and then have to take it home and process it.

Well, the ducks in the Andover park have indeed been abandoned. My friend called animal control yesterday and they referred her back to the parks department who acknowledged that the birds were abandoned but that they seem to be doing fine out there.

So my friend kindly explained that flightless domestic ducks need food and shelter during the winter and that when the pond freezes over they will most likely perish to predators and the cold. So the guy told us we could move them once it gets cold because people enjoy seeing them which I guess is a start. It is aggravating though to have to wait so my friend is going to call him again in a couple weeks to see if we can come sooner so we don't have to be rounding up ducks in the cold or worrying about freezing weather. I don't understand people, it someone tied a dog up in the park and left it they wouldn't just leave it out there and say well its having fun and people like stopping and petting it!?!

Good call on the abandonment and thank you for following up with them. I'm so glad to know they will be taken care of. If I can be of any help the day you need to round them up, sing out!

Hawkeye- What are flats???? What do you do with a diaper business? Excuse my ignorance, someday I am sure I will know a lot more about diapers!

I'm not Hawkeye but I think I know what she meant by flats. My mother always cloth-diapered and the diapers back then were big squares of terry cloth. We folded them different ways according to the baby's age. For example, for a newborn, we folded corner to corner twice to make a small triangle. The baby was placed on the triangle so a corner came around each side and the third corner up through the legs and it was fastened by a pin in the center. As the baby got older, we folded in such a way as to make a diaper that needed two pins - one fastened on either side. Once the diaper was on, we put on a pair of "plastic pants" (sorry - don't know what terminology is used for that here) that looked roughly like a shower cap with leg holes. That would prevent wetness from the diaper leaking through to the clothes.

By the time my kids came along, no-one was using those big squares of cloth anymore, in favor of preformed cloth diapers, which is what I used for my kids.

Josie you know chickies,duckies,etc has a huge group of Muskovies she is selling dirt cheap!! She really needs to get them sold too!

Too funny you are helping me enable her on the Muscovies!

I have a few drakes I need to process. These will be the first birds (ever) I've had to process. In fact, this is the first time I've had to make a choice to kill a living being, other than a rattlesnake. I've got a friend lined up to help me on Saturday, and I've been having a rough week because of the dread for Saturday to come. I've had a difficult time with the decision to process these birds - they're pets after all. Surely I'm not the only one that has a hard time (emotionally) processing birds... How does everyone else handle it?

As stated above, processing is my least-favorite bird-related task. The first time I was very emotional and it was hard for me to see the life going out of the bird's eyes, knowing I did that to him. The way I get through it is this:

Chickens are killed by the millions every year around the world, so that people can eat them. That is just a fact. What is also a fact is that 99.9% of those chickens live horrible lives. They are bred specifically to be raised for meat and live in large warehouses, where they sit around and do nothing but eat for 6-8 weeks at which time they are killed without humanity.

Another fact: while 50% of chicks hatched are male, only a fraction of them ever have a purpose in life. For fertility you only need about 1 rooster for every 10 hens but many people either choose not to or unable to have roosters so that means even less available homes for roosters.

So....having excess males is part and parcel of this hobby/business. When I have them, they are raised in humane conditions. They not only have free access to good food and fresh water but to grass and bugs and sunshine. They can stretch their wings and fly (as well as their heavy little bodies will let them), and dust-bathe and enjoy the companionship of their flock-mates and their people. When the time comes that processing is inevitable, I do it quickly, humanely and with respect. They are treated kindly and gently right up to the last minute.

The method I use doesn't involve tying them up by their feet or putting them in a killing cone. Instead, I wrap them in an old towel to contain the wings from flapping, and tuck them under my arm. I sit in a lawnchair and hold them for a few minutes, talking to them until I feel them relax. While I am doing that, I stroke the neck area and tap gently over the artery in the neck. This gets them used to the sensation and also helps me to feel for it. My pre-sharpened knife is then used to slice very quickly and cleanly through the artery. You know when you're cutting vegies and you slice your finger and you see blood but don't feel any pain yet? Well, it does take a few seconds for the message that there is pain to be felt, to be sent to the brain. During those seconds, the life is draining out of the bird. About the time the message is sent back "Ouch, that hurt", they are already losing consciousness.

The freakiest part comes up to a minute later, when it will feel like they are struggling for their lives. Despite the towel holding their wings in, the death throes can be so violent that it can be hard to hold onto them so it is good to know it is coming and be ready to hold them tight. At this point, despite how it feels, they are gone and oblivious so don't let the thrashing around make you feel bad that they are still aware of what is going on, because they are not.

If you haven't already, I would really recommend looking on YouTube for some videos. Before I had to do the first, I looked at a bunch of videos and made my own cone out of an old plastic bottle. That worked fine. But then I came across this:

and I really liked her method, so adopted it. Every bird I've done since then has been done using this method. I have never processed a duck or goose but I would guess the anatomy is similar enough that the same process would work (although a goose might be too large to hold under one arm?) The only other hint I can give is to make sure the knife is super, super sharp. The only thing that makes a distasteful job worse is to try to do it with a dull knife and feel like you are hacking away at them causing them to suffer. Good luck and please, let us know how you get on?

 

[lizzyGSR]

As stated above, processing is my least-favorite bird-related task. The first time I was very emotional and it was hard for me to see the life going out of the bird's eyes, knowing I did that to him. The way I get through it is this:

Thank you for the information! My friend who is helping me processes lots of chickens every year (think 50+... her DH refuses to eat store-bought chicken so she raises all the chicken they eat and still has enough to give to their kids). My friend has also had ducks and geese in the past and has processed both, so I trust her to teach me a humane way to do it. She is processing some of her birds on Saturday, and so I'll just add my birds to the list.

 

[JosieChick]

Josie you know chickies,duckies,etc has a huge group of Muskovies she is selling dirt cheap!! She really needs to get them sold too! I believe the peachicks for sale were India blues. I have plenty of those. I am wanting whites or at least pied whites. I sure hope he gets back to me today with good news about his older chicks. What are you going to do with your peachicks when it gets cold. Are you going to put them elsewhere?
That is so disgusting that people would release domestic ducks in a park. Shows they used as much sense on disposing of them as they used when they originally got them.

Don't tempt me! I don't need more ducks, they eat a lot! Gotcha on the peas, forgot they were india blue. I haven't decided yet if I am going to move them or not. I was thinking about tarping or covering most of the cage with plastic when it gets chilly at night. I would like to get a flight pen built before it is too cold out and a hoop house but they are so small still that I am scared they would find somewhere to squeeze out or be able to get out of the welded wire.

Nasty gander - that is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I'm sure my DH's grandma would be happy to share a nasty mean gander with me, but I really enjoy spending time with my goose and would like to get her a friend that enjoys spending time with me, doing something other than chasing me.

I have a few drakes I need to process. These will be the first birds (ever) I've had to process. In fact, this is the first time I've had to make a choice to kill a living being, other than a rattlesnake. I've got a friend lined up to help me on Saturday, and I've been having a rough week because of the dread for Saturday to come. I've had a difficult time with the decision to process these birds - they're pets after all. Surely I'm not the only one that has a hard time (emotionally) processing birds... How does everyone else handle it?

Lizzy- It is a hard thing to process your own birds. It is good to have a friend to help, that makes it a lot easier. You will find that once you get started it is not nearly as bad as you think it is. You can only have so many males around and it is nice to be able to do them yourself and they are in a familiar place with people they know. I think of it as a final display of respect and gratitude for life and providing your family with a meal. Plus you know that the animal lived a good life, ate good food, was never confined to a small cage or frightened or mishandled.

It gets easier each time you do it and in fact I dreaded our first batch of roos but I accepted that in order to breed and have straight run chicks it was something I would have to do. I was actually relieved once we started doing it and it went very smoothly for us. I have since done a couple more batches and you get it down to a routine and it gets much easier. I would highly recommend using a cone and hanging them with their head outside of the cone over a bucket to collect the blood. We just bought an orange safety cone and cut the end off. It keeps them from flapping around or otherwise struggling after they are cut and it makes me feel a lot better.

Best of luck to you and don't stress too badly. It won't be nearly as bad as you think.