Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

I really prefer the adults. Babies are cute to watch but their personalities haven't emerged yet. As they grow, I can get to know them as individuals and love to see their unique personalities come out.

 

[JosieChick]

WELCOME new people! Hop right in to the conversation. I am so far behind...you guys have been chatting!

I looked the VetRX up, and it doesn't look like it's an antibiotic. It looks like it's a home remedy whose base is corn syrup... I also called around to the local farm supply store and the vet, and they don't have any in stock. It is EXPENSIVE stuff online.

I like buying locally because it is cheaper and dont have to pay for shipping

I really like ameracaunas and brahmas and speckled sussex to name a few, these are the ones I am looking for at the moment. I know when some breeders hit the end of their season they discount some so I hunt around. I like buying from individuals because I like to puurchase from the smaller breeders, their birds are normally better quality and true. Of course there are those certain ones that are slimy breeders but I always try my hardest to chat with the person and see pics and possibly visit their place if possible so I try to not support those kind, but you get... I am looking for a couple for my daughter for her bday (yea she wanted chickens) old english game but havent found any and for the amount of money I can afford.
I currently have RIR, new hampshire, d'uccle, bantam brahma, bantam and standard EE, phoenix, Barred/columbian rock, welsummer, sebrite,

Keep in mind that breeders with nice stock often have to charge more for their birds because their stock is more expensive. If you are getting too good a deal then there is probably something fishy with their birds genetics. AND sometimes you pay a fortune for birds from someone that is supposed to have really nice birds and get rubbish instead. I am just speaking from experience and don't want you to have to learn from the same mistakes I have.

Thank you!

One more duck/goose question. I have been looking for a female goose as a friend for Lucy, the goose I currently have (who isn't quite old enough to decide for sure on her gender). My husband wants a female for the eggs, and I'm okay with that. We've also decided on a pilgrim because of their temprament and lower noise level than the chinese. However, I like the size of the chinese. Anyway, I am concerned about bringing a goose into the flock and having it go after my ducks, especially the khakis, which are smaller birds in the first place. I know that pilgrims tend to be very calm birds, but I still worry. What do you guys think?

Also, I'm wanting a bird that won't pressure Lucy into being more unfriendly (i.e. running away when I walk out the door). Do you think a Pilgrim would fit that description?

I think if you get a young gosling it will learn to be good with the ducks but it is hard to say. My sebastopols used to chase my ducks when they were all younger and now the ducks chase the geese! That is quite the sight, a small black duck chasing a giant white curly goose! I think if you bring an adult goose in it will most likely be aloof and teach your other goose to be as well. All my geese are kind of stand offish and don't necessarily want me to pet them or hand feed them but they greet me in the morning and I enjoy them for their antics. I wish they wanted to be petted but alas it is just the way they are.


HEchicken- It was sooo nice to meet you the other day! Hope the babies are doing well and getting lots of loving from your DD. Anytime is good for me for a chicken party so just keep us posted. I would love to bring my friend too. She isn't on here but she is a crazy chicken lady and would love to meet everyone!

Well I went on a craigslist adventure today and bought 10 huge plastic chicken feeders for $50! I was stoked with my prize. They are even bigger than I thought and they adjust with a bar inside to increase or decrease the flow of food.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ok,
Columbus day starts Friday October 5th with the ballon glow. If you have never seen one, it is totally awesome!! With the balloon, it is all weather permitting.
Saturday morning they have the 5k run/walk. About 8:20 or so they have the big parade, car show, venders, entertainment around the square downtown Columbus.

This is the first year for the Ole Timers day down at the fair grounds.
Down there we will have the horse demonstrations, teams whatever, poultry swap,antique tractors, and implements. Even have a pedal tractor show in the "band stand"
We will have food venders, things to drink, and restrooms. If the day is not so nice we are going to move everything over to the covers fair barns, so Ole timers day will go on.

Now, I was reading averytds post wondering what you guys are talking about?

Don't know what I was thinking about, I meant Sedelia show.

Hawk-- this man is breeding on his own, something he wanted to try to develope his-self. As you can see they are babies, and I have to get my books out and study a little bit.
I think it would be cool to have silky with a saddle! I really didn't want the whites, but he made me a good deal. We will see how they turn out, I may just have to pick your knowledge!!
Welcome to all the newbies!!
I am so proud of this bunch of rosecombs. I was tickled to find the new baby this afternoon. Been letting some of the older girls that went broody to hatch babies. Show careers are over so motherhood here we go. Besides, they are cheaper than running the incubator!

This litttle girl is just tops!


This guy just needs to get his greater sickles back in.


Hawk, this chick looks like what that man wanted to breed, you think it will stay like this?

Oh-- I bet you were confused with Avery and I'd discussion! LOL We were just talking about the run around at the Kansas State Fair this year. They were moving sick birds out of cages and moving healthy birds into the cages without changing water, food or bedding. One of her silkies died and there are many other birds sick now. They have the whole barn on a medication in their water. I had been asking Avery if she knew which drug they were using, I was curious. We were also speculating about the conditions at the Eastern Nationals in Sedalia for the end of October. If I can get the green light-- which I think I can-- I'm going! I think I'll only bring two or three birds, though. I need to get a new 90 day certificate. That's a bummer, I need someone to test my birds again and sign off on it. BUT, I need to get them all into bands before the testing so they can be identified correctly on the form. Sigh. What kind of bands do you use? I was thinking of just ordering the plastic kind??

Your rosecombs-- WOW. I mean, that little hen is amazing and her tail is just perfect!! Her wings-- her back, her white, white earlobes! What's not to love on that bird!? Your little boy has an amazing comb on him-- it looks perfect! His tail is pretty darned spectacular even missing some sickles.

Have to say, you know what you are doing!

The silkie-- wow, I see it! I can't figure out what he's done-- but there looks to be some barring in the grey/blue on her wings. To me, this looks almost like a Grey with exceptional silver leakage in the breast and hackles... but how did he get the wings and tail to color like that and with barring? (maybe Cuckoo?) Sort of looks like a Columbian gone wild-- except that would be black and not blue. Maybe crossed with a Grey. I don't know, it's a really neat color! Unfortunately, the ASBC is now cracking down on AOV colors (or at least, they are writing articles on this subject stating their stand)-- they must be an existing color already standard on another breed, or you can't show it. Just because they must have some kind of standard to judge the color by, which makes sense. BUT, if you got enough people to jump on board with your new color and could get them to breed true and had a population that was growing, you could have it added. I'm sure you already know all of this, but it seems like silkie people are always trying to create new colors or get existing colors onto silkies. We have a very small range of standard colors... or maybe it would be large if you think that most breeds only have one or two colors for them. It will be interesting to see how she changes in color. My guess is she might not change a whole lot. I've started out with a partridge hatch and of course-- they don't look anything like their adult colors. But my Splash and Blues-- they tend to not change much, but they do either deepen in color, or gain more spots as they age. Well, this is funny, frankly. I think you're going to be addicted to the little fluff balls and next thing you know, you'll be breeding them and showing them too! LOL! Things to look for on your whites-- make sure that their skin is all black, sometimes they get off colored (white pigment) on their toes, that's not good. They need good separation on the two extra toes, and they should be shaped like a V off the leg. Any extra toenails, toes or missing toes should not be bred. UNLESS... they just have fantastic type and you can't pass them up. Combs and wings then become more important as they are growing out and you can start to access the texture of the comb-- should be nice and dark-- no red. Should have a smooth texture, no horns. Wings should have no obvious gaps, but an immature wing can't be judged until they hit around 4-5 months and then you can start to guess how their wings will turn out. But even then, they can fill in, unless you can spot an obvious fault, like being slipped or stacking wrong. It gets to be challenging, and I see you as a person who likes a good challenge. Oh yes, by next year, you'll be up to 40 of the little beauties!

Oh and of course, I'm not an enabler or anything, but they are super sweet and awesome to cuddle!

OH-- just wanted to add that Type trumps all faults, BUT, wings trump Type. No matter how stunning the bird-- if the wings are bad, that gene is too strong. It just won't go away easily.

Been busy all day and finally back home. It has been pretty active here. IMO VetRx is the greatest stuff on the market. Hechicken I'm sorry you had bad luck with Vetrx. I'd have to say most people I've heard swear by it. It's done wonders for my flock many times over. Normally if I have one or two sick birds I will put it in their nostrils but if there is a whole group like last winter, then I put it in the water. Yes it floats on the water, but that is how it gets stuck on their beaks and does them some good. Times like last winter when I had tons of birds with colds it saved a bunch of them. It just opens them up to breath.
No, things like vicks or vetRX won't help if you have a bacterial infection but it will help with the effects of a virus. Pneumonia is in fact an infection not a viral thing. And no amount of non -antibiotic treatment would help. ( other than some natural herbal remedies which can do wonders at times) These things are simply made from natural oils and their effects won't harm you.
I just don't like to use antibiotics unless it is necessary. Why kill healthy bacteria and further weaken the immune system by giving antibiotics when they aren't warranted?
Here I go shooting off my mouth again!!!
Anyway Lizzy you do seem to worry about your birds and that is a good thing. It just shows you are caring and responsible. I like that!
Tomorrow will be a long busy day. I still need to get presents wrapped tonight.

I used VetRX a couple times last winter. I could tell a difference right away. But my birds were yawning and when I rubbed it into their beaks, they were able to breathe easier. But depending on what you are dealing with, not always going to be effective.

Its just so easy to get attached when you love animals. I know how you feel I am momma to my kids and all my animals and everybody is special to me. It isnt dumb it just means you have emotion and care and concern.

X2

Do you like the baby stages or the adult stages with your animals?

Babies are a lot of work. I enjoy the chicks, sure. But I sure like them better as adults! They have more personality and require less work. Brings me more joy to see them all grown up. Same way with horses-- I'm DONE foaling. Never ever again. We did it for a few years and while I love foals, and they are sweet... ugh, all the training and hands on work that goes into it. We did Imprinting, so we had to be out there every single day for a couple hours a day. (or more) Same with dogs--- I'm not into the puppy stage. I have adopted all of my dogs as adults because I am just not a fan of puppies! LOL I mean, I LIKE them, of course! But I don't want a chewing, pooping, non-house-broke puppy that is going to cry all night. I like to skip right to the point where they want to lay around, cuddle and do their business outside. LOL! But not to say I don't appreciate babies....

Danz, I sure wish you were closer so I could have you come do my testing! I need either an NPIP or a 90 day cert. There was a vet that did it for our show last month, so maybe I need to see if he can come do it. I'm guessing he lives right here in Wichita. I don't know, though. I should become a tester myself and save a lot of trouble. Just seems like a lot of work?

 

[cherwill]

More new people! Welcome!

OK, followed the thread, Consolidated KS, not sure if I'm doing this right - there's SO many buttons. I live about 10 miles south of kcks. If you live in this part of the country you know that nothing grew here this summer in the awful heat. Chickens are birds, birds were still here.
I guess my first questions are:: did the chickens do all right this summer in the terrific heat?
which chicken do best in this area,
where do you go to buy them?

I have bought most of my chickens from Orscheln. We have one who was a stray (seriously) and one who given to us by a friend. My only complaint about the Orscheln chickens is that 40% of the chickens we got out of pullet bins turned out to be roos and we can't have roos in my town. All the chicks from there have been very healthy. We have three buff orpingtons, two black australorps, a silver-laced wyandotte, and four EEs. We just wanted a nice mix of pretty chickens and eggs. All our chickens survived the heat this summer, and all the ones we had last year survived that summer as well. Their pen has a lot of shade because there are three lilac bushes in it. They look like lilac trees because the birds keep the lower branches pretty well stripped of leaves. We have a microwatering system set up for our plants, including the lilacs. Last summer we changed the heads on those so they sprayed above ground level and this summer we added a mister in an more open area of the pen. The birds were very suspicious at first, but soon learned to stand right in the spray; it hits their legs. They like to lay in the mud puddles created by the misters under the lilacs. We keep a fan going in the coop at night, and will run it during the day if someone gets broody. When it's in the 100s, I take ice out a couple of times a day. I put some in their water and throw some around the lilacs to create cool spots. We're fortunate to have a nice, shady spot for the pen, and that I'm home most of the time to keep an eye on things. It was a rough year for a lot of people.

My husband and I just went to Restore KC in Overland Park this week to buy supplies for the chicken coop he is building. Bought three windows, about 8 brand new door jams, hinges and a fancy light fixture for the chicken coop he is building. Cost us $35! The place is hit or miss, but I highly recommend it.

We have something similar here, but I think it's more expensive. We paid $24 for a sink and that was 40% off! I'd love to check out the Restore places.

Well I'm really disgusted now, my lady that put me off yesterday didn't show up today either, I'm so done with her. I wish people would just do what they say they're going to. Danz, I know you can relate. If people say they're going to be somewhere then darnit they need to be there unless someone died, that's how I feel about it, but that's me. So now I have to hope that the guy who emailed me will come through instead. He just sent me a couple of texts, so hopefully he will come.

Why can't people make a simple, quick phone call? Why do they think your time isn't valuable? There is a group on Facebook that is only for people in the McPherson area to buy, sell and trade whatever they want. My mom listed several things on it, and one lady did the same thing to her -- made two appointments to come and look at the item and then never showed up. A woman who wanted first dibs on it if that fell through never answered Mom's message that it was still available and she could come look at it. At least she didn't make an appointment ...

I am so proud of this bunch of rosecombs. I was tickled to find the new baby this afternoon. Been letting some of the older girls that went broody to hatch babies. Show careers are over so motherhood here we go. Besides, they are cheaper than running the incubator!

This litttle girl is just tops!


This guy just needs to get his greater sickles back in.


Hawk, this chick looks like what that man wanted to breed, you think it will stay like this?

Such pretty birds. I love the fanned out tail in the first picture.

Anyway Lizzy you do seem to worry about your birds and that is a good thing. It just shows you are caring and responsible. I like that!
Tomorrow will be a long busy day. I still need to get presents wrapped tonight.

Lizzy, I agree. There's nothing wrong with caring about the creatures you've brought into your life.

I love wrapping presents! Years ago a friend signed me up for a bow-making class at a local store, Cook's Nook, to learn how to make the big bows they put on their packages. I've been making those bows ever since. I get to buy ribbon in all kinds of pretty colors.

What happens when you have kids? I think I was insane for 30 some years when I had kids at home. I kind of think now I didn't let them just be kids cause I worried too much about they getting hurt and bacteria and germs etc etc. I am sure they all grew up thinking when they had kids they would treat them differently. I over obsess about the animals to the point if I get something in my mind like worrying about them catching a cold or something, I'll have bad dreams about it. And as many birds as I have I still cry when I loose one that was special to me. Sometimes I feel so dumb that way.

I dream about stuff like that, too. I'm afraid there's no cure for us worry-worts.

Do you like the baby stages or the adult stages with your animals?

Both have their good points. My chickens were such cute little fluffballs, and there's nothing, NOTHING, cuter than a puppy.

They're all so messy, though, and a lot of work. Then the chicks hit their awkward teenage phase, where they're half fuzz and half tiny feathers, and all leggy and gangly. Cute! I can't keep roos, but I get a kick out of their pathetic, hoarse attempts to crow. I'm still thrilled when my hens are older and start laying. When they're adults, it's fun to see their different personalities and, with dogs, it's a relief to be finished with the potty training and chewing.

 

[mommahen10]

Welcome to all the newbies, I'm new too.

I left for a day and there is so much going on here that I missed. Today we tried to go to the state fair and we blew a tire half way there so we decided to turn around because I didn't want to be driving back home in the dark without a spare. Bummer.

All this talk about animal lovers. My 15 year old and I were walking out in our neighbors pasture, with permission of course, but we came across a calf that was unattended. There was no momma cow anywhere. We stood there for a while thinking it would get up because we were so close and it didn't move. We walked up and pet it and it didn't hardly pick up his head. There were blackberry branches poking his little face close to his eyes. We tried to get him up and he wouldn't get up. Finally, after 20 minutes or so I sent him to get the truck and I stayed with the calf. I was so scared it was almost dark and the coyotes were really going crazy and sounded so close. We put the calf in the back of the truck, and brought him to the little shed still on the same property. I didn't want anyone to think we were trying to steal him. He still wouldn't get up at this point. If we left him there the owner couldn't have got to him in the dark, it was way back in rough terrain. When we went to get him out of the truck, he tried to get up and fell and almost fell out of the truck and I caught him but he was half on the tailgate and I couldn't let go to have my big boy son lift him, if I would let go he would have fallen. I had no choice but to get him out myself. OMGosh, I've never picked up a calf before and he was so heavy. I was holding him and it took everything I had to get him safely in that shed, talking myself through those last steps. The calf wasn't even fighting me. Anyway, we went to our neighbor and told him, told him he was in the shed so he could tend to him. The momma cow could also get to him if she figured out he was there. We didn't want him to get eaten by the coyotes. My neighbor seemed less than concerned, I was so disappointed when he said he would check on him in the morning. It was 8pm and dark but he could get to him there. I am still beyond sore and I hope the little calf is okay but I'm afraid to go check for myself because he's not ours. I think most of us have done crazy things trying to help out animals, you just have to do whatever you can.

My little chick I posted about yesterday seems quite fine today. The yolk sac looks like a dried up deflated balloon, it's hard and flat and the part that is connected to him is very small. If it came off he would just have a tiny wound. I think he will be fine but that he would be more comfortable without the thing hanging there. The other chicks aren't noticing it, I think it hides in his fluff. He's holding his own just fine. I am still applying neosporin but I'm using a q-tip to apply it to where it is attached. Since it's dried out, I'm thinking it may be better to encourage drying at the base like you do a baby's umbilical cord.

Chicken danz, I wasn't the least bit offended, just so you know. I really don't have a clue what I'm doing, only doing the best I can with what I have. Anytime you take something out of what is natural you are going to have to do more to make things work. Hatching chicks in an incubator isn't natural, we have to artificially do everything to make sure all the conditions are right. Whenever you mess with what is natural, it's up to you to take it from start to finish but things are going to happen because it's just not as constant. I tend to relate everything to human babies because I have a lot more experience in that area but it's so evident. One interventions always leads to another. I don't like interventions, but I understand there is a time and a place for them. But once the interventions start, they seem to cascade into more and more of them. So we take the eggs and artificially hatch them in imperfect conditions and I can't expect for perfection to come from imperfection, although these little chicks seem so perfectly able to adapt which I take no credit for of course.

I don't know how I'm going to get any sleep with all the peeping in the next room but I have one chick that has been trying to hatch since this morning. He's getting louder and I know he's working hard but he's reached the end of my time limit in my head, I'm scared to go to sleep until I know he's safe. I will probably go help a little when I finish here. So far I have 3 chicks. One is perfect, one with the yolk issue, the 3rd was hatched last night but he looks like his fuzz is hairsprayed heavily to his body, he's crunchy but very active. He was very wet when he hatched. I didn't help any of these, but I'm about to help one now. I have another that just started this evening and I will let him work at it longer.

Sorry to write a book.

 

[chicken danz]

Wow! What a find Josie. I used to check CL every day but I just don't have time any more. I got my Dan Powell Brahma and Breda eggs today. They showed up in wonderful shape. I sure hope I get a good hatch. Just to let you know, the guy I got them from bought his stock directly from Dan Powell. (Lives near him.) He told me yesterday he is thinking about selling almost all of his brahmas which are great rare colors Dan developed. I haven't gotten a price or pictures from him yet. I'm just hoping for a great hatch. Just in case you were wanting to replace your brahma girl, he does have buff laced.
I have no idea what I will end up with. I think I got 6 Breda eggs and the rest were Brahma. Can't wait to see if and what I hatch.
Oh Hechicken, I never answered you either. I figure about any day you decide on I can usually work out coming unless I have a doctor appointment or something. I hated that you had to miss our last get together. I can't wait to meet you and anyone else I haven't met.
Sunflower, I normally like the adults the best. Mostly because I know how each of them is going to act. But there is no denying I love the baby animals. I tend to want to bond with them. I just don't have the emotional attachment with most of the babies because I have to sell so many. But when it comes to the special breeds and the special babies that is another matter. I totally love my white peachick and his buddy who is a lemon cuckoo pullet who chatters non-stop. I've never seen a chicken that "talks" as much as this little one does. It's kind of endearing. If she was a future rooster she would definitely become annoying. Right now she makes "love" sounds all the time.
I love baby puppies and kitties and goats and....... but I like animals that don't need constant care better.
When do you have to have the birds tested, Loralee? If we have our get together at Heather's and you bring your birds I could test them that day. I've been trying to get my book back from another tester for two months now. I need to fill out some forms for Josie and find out what happened to her flock number they never sent her. If I have to, I will physically go get it. But I could so do it for you. You probably would only have a few that you are taking right? Let me know if that will work. Of course that would be with Heather's permission to bring them on her place. If that doesn't work we might be able to work something else out. This is my big weekend for activity but I'm hoping I can slow down a little and work on my projects here instead of having to be gone a lot. I could certainly take a day to test if needed.
Send me a PM and we'll work it out. I doubt I'll be on here tomorrow at all but I'll check back in when I can.

 

[mommahen10]

checoukan, what kind of chickens are those? They reminded me of our rooster, mainly that green on the black. Here's my rooster, anyone know what he is?





Here are some of our babies, they all look the same to me. Can ya'll tell the boys from the girls?



These are my older babies, I still can't tell the boys from girls. I pulled out one that looked just like his dad but he crowed so it was a no brainer.





This one we have referred to as the crazy chicken, it's scared of chickens and we are working on that. It flies up on people but is not in the least bit afraid of the dog, this concerns me. Girl or boy?????






What about this one? Boy or girl?


Night ya'll.

 

[Hawkeye95]

WELCOME new people! Hop right in to the conversation. I am so far behind...you guys have been chatting!
Keep in mind that breeders with nice stock often have to charge more for their birds because their stock is more expensive. If you are getting too good a deal then there is probably something fishy with their birds genetics. AND sometimes you pay a fortune for birds from someone that is supposed to have really nice birds and get rubbish instead. I am just speaking from experience and don't want you to have to learn from the same mistakes I have.

VERY true about paying more for better lines. Of course most of us know that first hand as the majority of us are breeding birds from very good lines, and lines that have names behind them, or our own lines we have worked with for years to meet Standard. I know I have paid $50 a bird and didn't even blink at it-- it was actually a good deal! It's hard to get started into good birds and you have to buy your way into it. So while you can save yourself a lot of trouble and expense by buying locally, if you are buying from someone that has invested a lot of money into good quality birds, they don't come cheap. But sometimes you can get really good deals on culls that they either don't have room for, or that don't fit into their breeding program. Often those will be the cheapest birds. Of course, the very cheapest birds would be to buy your chicks from a farm store!

Welcome to all the newbies, I'm new too.

I left for a day and there is so much going on here that I missed. Today we tried to go to the state fair and we blew a tire half way there so we decided to turn around because I didn't want to be driving back home in the dark without a spare. Bummer.

All this talk about animal lovers. My 15 year old and I were walking out in our neighbors pasture, with permission of course, but we came across a calf that was unattended. There was no momma cow anywhere. We stood there for a while thinking it would get up because we were so close and it didn't move. We walked up and pet it and it didn't hardly pick up his head. There were blackberry branches poking his little face close to his eyes.

My little chick I posted about yesterday seems quite fine today.

Chicken danz, I wasn't the least bit offended, just so you know. I really don't have a clue what I'm doing, only doing the best I can with what I have. Anytime you take something out of what is natural you are going to have to do more to make things work. Hatching chicks in an incubator isn't natural, we have to artificially do everything to make sure all the conditions are right. Whenever you mess with what is natural, it's up to you to take it from start to finish but things are going to happen because it's just not as constant. I tend to relate everything to human babies because I have a lot more experience in that area but it's so evident. One interventions always leads to another. I don't like interventions, but I understand there is a time and a place for them. But once the interventions start, they seem to cascade into more and more of them. So we take the eggs and artificially hatch them in imperfect conditions and I can't expect for perfection to come from imperfection, although these little chicks seem so perfectly able to adapt which I take no credit for of course.

I don't know how I'm going to get any sleep with all the peeping in the next room but I have one chick that has been trying to hatch since this morning.

Very sweet of you to take care of the calf. I'm surprised to hear that the owner wasn't too upset or interested, because they are a big investment and you don't want to go losing a calf. He sounded weak and yes you're right, coyotes will attack a baby calf, or horse, or anything that is a sitting duck out there. With all that you did-- standing next to it, petting it, picking it up and driving it back up to the barn-- IF the mama cow was interested, she would have let you know and would have given you a run for your money in doing any of that. It's too bad. I hope he'll be okay. It sounds like he needs supplements (milk). My neighbor next to me had something very similar happen like that last year. His cow birthed two calves and she took to one and kicked off the second. It's pretty rare for them to have two. But he picked it up and brought it up to his house. I happened to be driving the kids home when I saw him out in his front yard with the calf! I stopped and wanted to see it. (we're all pretty good friends down here) and he was already mixing up milk for it and they let the kids feed it. He didn't have a safe stall for it, so he was putting it in his stock trailer at night because he said the coyotes would take it down. He is a very responsible owner, though. Glad to hear your yolk-chick is doing well! How did it go with the hatching chick? When they start to zip, I leave them alone. I have helped also-- because they were shrink wrapped. We have one from earlier this Spring that we named "Sticky" because I had to give him a bath right after he hatched because he could not move, the gunk was so stuck to him and he was stuck in his shell. The only other one I helped died within a few hours. He just had something wrong with him.

When do you have to have the birds tested, Loralee? If we have our get together at Heather's and you bring your birds I could test them that day. I've been trying to get my book back from another tester for two months now. I need to fill out some forms for Josie and find out what happened to her flock number they never sent her. If I have to, I will physically go get it. But I could so do it for you. You probably would only have a few that you are taking right? Let me know if that will work. Of course that would be with Heather's permission to bring them on her place. If that doesn't work we might be able to work something else out. This is my big weekend for activity but I'm hoping I can slow down a little and work on my projects here instead of having to be gone a lot. I could certainly take a day to test if needed.
Send me a PM and we'll work it out. I doubt I'll be on here tomorrow at all but I'll check back in when I can.

Danz, that sounds great!!! Do you have the forms for the 90 Day cert? The ones I got from last month were a double copy-- where you wrote on the front and they send that in, and then I got to keep the copy under it to take to the show to prove I was tested clean. My only complaint is that the lady didn't press down hard enough for the second copy when she was writing it out and you could not read the band numbers or the gender, etc. They still accepted it, but it was NOT a good deal. And I'm guessing if I had to use that same copy for the Nationals they would not accept it. If we were to do the NPIP, we would want to test every single bird and that would take a lot longer. But I DO eventually want to get my NPIP so I can start shipping birds next year. I'm hoping that my culls from next year will be MUCH better quality than they were this year. (they had split wing this year-- which no one can use) If they only have minor faults, I could sell them as Breeders. Maybe... I'm getting ahead of myself here! LOL I'm hoping that I will run into no more problems. I may end up selling on CraigsList next year too to get rid of culls if they can't be bred.. Sigh.

We've had a mist or a sprinkle and I sure wish it would just turn into a downpour for a bit and get it over with. We need the rain! Those large cracks in my yard are starting to close, but they are clearly still visible. Just don't have 2 foot deep cracks now. My silkies keep falling into one in particular when I let them free range in the evenings.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Quote: I agree with that. I havent come across it yet thankfully. Thank you for the tips though. You cant be too careful when buying from someone you do not know. I can see how a prized stock can be more expensive. I would do the same. I guess you have to keep in mind that if it sounds to good to be true it probably is and maybe you ought to look at it closer..

 

[Hawkeye95]

checoukan, what kind of chickens are those? They reminded me of our rooster, mainly that green on the black. Here's my rooster, anyone know what he is?

I can't tell boy from girl. But we have other chicken experts here that may be able to do it.

Just wanted to say they are pretty! Love the dog and the barred rock. I don't know what your black birds are, but they aren't what Checoukan has. She has Black Rosecombs-- they are named after their comb, which is different, and they have white earlobes and they are bantams. You have a single comb and red earlobes. But yours are really pretty! Someone may have some idea of what they might be. Is your son holding the rooster? The chicken looks dead! LOL