Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz, if I let my dogs keep everything they bring home my whole yard would be filled with someone else's trash because they bring home new junk about every day. I let them keep a couple shoes & maybe a plastic bottle & throw the rest away. They love leather shoes, so I let them keep a couple of those to chew on. The other day they brought home a cowboy boot. Yeah, that's kind of strange about the deer bones, I would be wondering about that. There has been a disease going around among the deer & it's killing them, I hope this isn't what is happening to those they bring the bones home from.

We managed to get the GPs to the Vet this morning, as usual it wasn't a fun job getting them there. I made Jasmine stay in the garage last night & she didn't like that one bit. I went out this morning to find a big mess, she had knocked over things in front of the door so that I had to fight my way in to pick it all up. She moved the two barrels I had by the door that I keep feed in & carried things all over the place then knocked over more stuff on the other side of the garage. My DH was mad because she knocked the garage door sensors around & he had to adjust those. I put her in there thinking it would be easier to locate her this morning & keep her handy to load up, she is a little tricky to round up at times. I wasn't worried about Lily at all, she is pretty easy to deal with & in fact I just went out & put her on the leash & she followed me up to sit down & wait for my DH to load up Jas in the car. When we got there Lily was fairly easy to get in this time, but Jas had to be carried again. Whew, I'm glad they're not bigger & heavier yet! The Vet said he wouldn't call unless there was a problem, so I have to hope everything is OK. I pick them up tomorrow afternoon at 2.

 

[chicken danz]

The farmers market in Kansas City is where the roosters sell for $8 or even more a piece. My buyer would buy 50 -100 of them at a time and drive them to KC and sell them. If they were small she would feed them all they could eat and take them up when they got a little larger. Same way with ducks but they got more than that from the ducks. The Asian population likes these because they are so much more tender and are grown slower, thus more flavor than a commercially raised cornish cross.
Quote:

Danz, if I let my dogs keep everything they bring home my whole yard would be filled with someone else's trash because they bring home new junk about every day.
That's exactly right! That is the situation here!

They don't go to other people's yards to get things though. They dig through my burn pile or find whatever they can or steal it out of the barn, the garage, or off the back porch. Cloud has even gotten in the garbage can, pulled a bag out and pulled out what she wanted. That has only happened once and it is a darn good thing for her sake!
We managed to get the GPs to the Vet this morning, as usual it wasn't a fun job getting them there. I made Jasmine stay in the garage last night & she didn't like that one bit. I went out this morning to find a big mess, she had knocked over things in front of the door so that I had to fight my way in to pick it all up. She moved the two barrels I had by the door that I keep feed in & carried things all over the place then knocked over more stuff on the other side of the garage. My DH was mad because she knocked the garage door sensors around & he had to adjust those. I put her in there thinking it would be easier to locate her this morning & keep her handy to load up, she is a little tricky to round up at times. I wasn't worried about Lily at all, she is pretty easy to deal with & in fact I just went out & put her on the leash & she followed me up to sit down & wait for my DH to load up Jas in the car. When we got there Lily was fairly easy to get in this time, but Jas had to be carried again. Whew, I'm glad they're not bigger & heavier yet! The Vet said he wouldn't call unless there was a problem, so I have to hope everything is OK. I pick them up tomorrow afternoon at 2.
Hope your dogs do fine. I am sure they will though.

I'm still trying to make decisions about what to keep around here. It is so hard to give up some of my pretties. I really noticed a down size in eggs this morning. I was saying, "Come on ladies... I need your help!" I do wish I had more red stars to keep egg production up. My fancier breeders just don't pour out as many eggs as I like.
We are going to Topeka this evening. I really have quite a list of things to get. I really need shavings. I want to clean out and disinfect my entire brooder house but can't do so until I have a couple more bales of shavings. We're going to check out the new Manard's store while we are up there. I'm not sure what kind of inventory they have but I'm told they sell everything.

 

[michelleml]

Josie here is a link about flat diapers http://change-diapers.com/2012/04/diaper-rite-large-unbleached-flats-flat-cloth-diapers/

Flats are very easy to clean i don't have to worry about stinky issues you may get with other diapers and they dry super fast on a line.


About processing birds i don't think i could do it. But would like to get a flock for just meat but i have no one that could help or do the processing for me.

I have been thinking about ducks would love to have some around but need to figure out what to do about the dog issue. I noticed someone posted about some Muscovy's but when i was younger i was attacked by one so im not crazy about them i would rather have some pekins and black indian runner ducks.
I think im going to wait til spring so i can at least see what winter is like around here

 

[chicken danz]

I am glad to see people going back to cloth diapers at least to some extent. I never wanted any of my kids to wear those other things. I can't even remember the brand of diapers I used to have but I loved them. They were soft and absorbent. They weren't the birdseye fabric though. I kept them around for years and used them for dust rags and mop rags and what have you until they all finally wore completely out.
Well DH is up and around so I'd better get off here.
Processing birds is easy. But for me it requires too much bending. I decided I would rather sell my birds to someone else or in the case of meaties pay to have them butchered. I never got that far this year. All of my meaties killed over our first really hot day. Having help makes a huge difference. My one rule of thumb is I don't butcher and eat the same meat on the same day. Something about that smell kind of gets in your nose and ruins it for me.

 

[Trish44]

We're thinking of getting some meat chickens next spring, my DH actually is showing an interest in doing that. We have somewhere we can go to process them that has all the equipment, a chicken plucker & all. I think when sunflowerparrot goes over to process her meaties if we're not on vacation then we'll go watch & see how it all works. It was back in the 80s when I processed chickens last & we had to pluck them all by hand, it was a mess. I wouldn't mind it so bad if I didn't have to pluck them.

Well the Vet said no news was good news, so I guess the surgeries went OK. I think I would have rather he called anyway, but he didn't seem to want to.

I sold one of my little bunnies today that I've been trying to sell all summer & someone else is coming for another one in a bit, so yay for that. That will leave me two more to sell, so if nobody buys those by the weekend I'll probably take them to the swap meet in Mulvane & hopefully find homes for them. I have 3 other rabbits I want to sell before winter too, but I'm not sure I want to lug all 5 to the swap meet by myself. 3 of them aren't very big, but the other two are. I'm trying to get down to mostly Mini Rex now with just one pair of Chinchillas for breeding.

I've been trying really hard to resist all the cute little ducks I've been seeing, they're so cute when they're little. I used to have ducks & geese, but haven't had any since I have lived here. I really don't want the mess, so I just have to keep telling myself I have no more pens & no pond for them. I have taken on enough new projects this year, I sure don't need any more. Where I went to get the baby guineas last night that guy just had ducks out the wazoo, all different kinds of them. If I ever decided I wanted any I know where to go get them.

Wow, it's been a busy day today, we took the dogs this morning to the Vet & left them & then my DH had a haircut appt. in Arkansas City & then more errands after that. We came back & I cooked lunch & then had to meet the gal wanting the rabbit & some more errands. I just got home again a few minutes ago & now the other person is coming for the other rabbit & chores come after that. I had hoped to work on my peacock coop today, but it's not happening.

 

[sharol]

Chickies, Duckies, Etc has some Muscovy ducklings, unless she has already sold them. Just sayin'. doing my part for chicken/duck math.

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.

 

[JosieChick]

Chickies, Duckies, Etc has some Muscovy ducklings, unless she has already sold them. Just sayin'. doing my part for chicken/duck math.

Alright girls! Enough with the muscovies! I can't afford anymore mouths this winter that need food and non frozen water. Maybe someday I will have some but I must restrain for now!


Trish- I ordered red broilers from Ideal and I hate them. They are the most awful little birds. I am seriously debating on processing them early even though they aren't very big because they are so darn mean to me and each other. They bite (hard!!) and they won't stop feather picking the daylights out of each other, it is infuriating. I will never buy them again. I wanted a hybrid broiler that wasn't going to get enormous and not be able to walk and these grow a tad slower so are ready to process at 12 weeks. I won't ever do it again though....I might try some freedom rangers someday for meat birds.

Glad to hear you are moving some bunnies. I am sure your pups are doing well and sleeping soundly.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I will say that muscovy ducklings are sooooo cute. They also make such sweet little trilling sounds. And to top it off, they are much more self contained and don't do as much of the wild running and shreaking (whatever you call that loud noise they make) as the domestic ducklings do.

Sorry I don't know of any cure for the stinky, mess making side of them though. That is a part of ducks, any breed. But when they are grown and out in a pen or free ranging that is not such a big deal. And boy, can they catch bugs. All sizes and kinds. I was outside earlier and a grasshopper made the fatal mistake of entering the area. Instantly two of the lounging scovy ducks were after it. It had the advantage as long as it stayed in the relative open area of the driveway, but it jumped under the van giving the ducks the advantage. Movement slowed on the other side of the van and I wondered which duck got it. When they came out from under the van the larger black and white had the grasshopper firmly in her bill heading for the water pan (big bugs go down better with water) and the smaller duck was looking at her like - "that's not fair".

Muscovies will stand and beg for treats and wag their tails like a dog. They are super good at catching treats thrown for them and will thank you with a big tail wag.

I have heard of the mean muscovies and am sure they exist. Different lines do have different qualities. Mine have never been aggressive to me or to any of the other birds or critters. I was remembering earlier of an incident a couple of years ago. Some people came to buy some banties. They had a cute little 2 ish year old girl with them. She was, like a lot of little ones, flitting all over the place, excited about the birds. I turned and saw her holding a BIG drake, tummy to tummy bear hug style. that drake was almost as big as she was. For those that don't know, scovies have claws that can be weapons if they chose to use them for that. I held my breath, got the attention of the parents and they just said in an off handed way "oh, she likes everything" . I only started breathing again when she put the drake down to go to the next thing that caught her attention. I was sooooo glad that drake chose to act like a limp rag doll instead of trying to get away. He could have so easily done some serious damage to that little one.
.
Now, I am not trying to get anyone to buy something they are not interested in, just the facts, ma'm. Muscovies are some special ducks - for people that are set up for ducks. And those big eggs are super good to eat..

 

[HEChicken]

I will say that muscovy ducklings are sooooo cute. They also make such sweet little trilling sounds. And to top it off, they are much more self contained and don't do as much of the wild running and shreaking (whatever you call that loud noise they make) as the domestic ducklings do.

Sorry I don't know of any cure for the stinky, mess making side of them though. That is a part of ducks, any breed. But when they are grown and out in a pen or free ranging that is not such a big deal. And boy, can they catch bugs. All sizes and kinds. I was outside earlier and a grasshopper made the fatal mistake of entering the area. Instantly two of the lounging scovy ducks were after it. It had the advantage as long as it stayed in the relative open area of the driveway, but it jumped under the van giving the ducks the advantage. Movement slowed on the other side of the van and I wondered which duck got it. When they came out from under the van the larger black and white had the grasshopper firmly in her bill heading for the water pan (big bugs go down better with water) and the smaller duck was looking at her like - "that's not fair".

Muscovies will stand and beg for treats and wag their tails like a dog. They are super good at catching treats thrown for them and will thank you with a big tail wag.

I have heard of the mean muscovies and am sure they exist. Different lines do have different qualities. Mine have never been aggressive to me or to any of the other birds or critters. I was remembering earlier of an incident a couple of years ago. Some people came to buy some banties. They had a cute little 2 ish year old girl with them. She was, like a lot of little ones, flitting all over the place, excited about the birds. I turned and saw her holding a BIG drake, tummy to tummy bear hug style. that drake was almost as big as she was. For those that don't know, scovies have claws that can be weapons if they chose to use them for that. I held my breath, got the attention of the parents and they just said in an off handed way "oh, she likes everything" . I only started breathing again when she put the drake down to go to the next thing that caught her attention. I was sooooo glad that drake chose to act like a limp rag doll instead of trying to get away. He could have so easily done some serious damage to that little one.
.
Now, I am not trying to get anyone to buy something they are not interested in, just the facts, ma'm. Muscovies are some special ducks - for people that are set up for ducks. And those big eggs are super good to eat..

Love it! Everything you said has been my experience too. Mine are only 4 months old and haven't shown any signs of aggression but I suppose that could change when they get older and hormonal. I love how interested they are in everything. Like a toddler, anything new goes in the mouths to be thoroughly examined, and as you said, I've noticed they like to dunk their treats in the water bowl and swish it around before eating it.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

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!

LOL! They do feel entitled to their treats. Glad they are doing well.

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.

X2!

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?

I really enjoyed the well thought out responses you had to your question as to how others process birds. Having processed over 70 birds this past year I can tell you the first one is the most difficult. The very first time I wanted privacy to do it by myself and at my own pace.I learned by watching some of the same YouTube videos as HECHICKen. I used the towel in the lap method and it still took me 45 minutes to actually make that first cut. The first time was the most difficult but when you do it with respect and gratitude it is far better than how the factory birds are treated. I now use a cone after having one or two get away from me and I found the birds react very calmly to the cone and that is really important to me. I want to make it as stress free for the birds as possible. I use a utility knife, or box cutter, so that I can be sure I always have a very sharp edge. You'll get this, but I agree with Danz -- I learned quickly I couldn't eat chicken on processing day, even though it wasn't the same chicken. Good luck!