Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Well the rabbits are gone finally, yay! This young guy was really nice, he's wanting them to breed for meat rabbits & he probably will be coming back next spring to get chicks from me too, so that's a plus. He's wanting to get into raising his own meat. It's nice to see young people getting into being more self-sufficient. I think there is a trend right now for people to go back to that more & I think it's great.

 

[ChicknBaron]

I'm from Northeastern Kansas (marysville), currently have 8 hens, and 5 eggs in the bator!!! This thread looks pretty neat!!!, glad i found it.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

We're kind of at a point with the coop now we're getting almost stuck until I can find out if I can get the windows like Sunflowerparrot has for the sides of my coop. I would love to have some of those crank out windows, that would be wonderful. I wouldn't mind having them all the way around the front too, but I don't know how many she has or what she wants for them. The gal that has them is on vacation, so I have to wait until she gets back to call her. I would be so happy if that would all work out, it would be so much better than what I had planned for windows. I need to call Lowe's too today to see if I have to order the roofing in person or can do it on the phone. I hope I don't have to drive up there just for that, but we'll see.

I will try to get a hold of her tomorrow and let you know what I find out - I can actually get her work schedule too. (Might be able to get her phone number if I talk to the right person!)

Sorry we couldn't stay long at all this evening - Stephen didn't realize how late it was when we were heading over to your place and he had to get back home (Derby) to get cleaned up and be at church by 6.

I'm feeling so "when it rains it pours" today... the last thing I needed was my hot water heater to go out on me and leak everywhere.. I hope I can get someone out here tomorrow to put a new on in for me and not pay an arm and a leg! I've turned the water off at the main valve and can always go down to the barn where the pump is and fill gallon containers for coffee/water for the animals/washing face/brushing teeth/etc. I hope to have had a nice hot shower by this time tomorrow!

 

[chicken danz]

Another busy day here. Medawinks and family were here this afternoon and I got a couple of her girls and she picked up chicks for her son plus one bonus sussex baby. I just love her and her kids!
Oh no! The only thing worse than loosing a hot water heater is loosing a washing machine. Every hot water heater that ever went out on me did so on a holiday! I'm serious.After I bought this place I bought one that has a plastic casing and is guaranteed for life. The only thing that can go wrong is a heating element can go out, but that is much cheaper than replacing the whole thing and having to do the plumbing. I decided to spend the money while I had some and very happy I did so.
I am totally worn out after a long day yesterday and another early morning today. I have a few trips I need to make this week to get things done too. Why is fall so busy??

 

[HEChicken]

HEChicken, what kind of chicks are you hatching? I guess I didn't remember that you had a home-made foam incubator, I know lots of people have made them.

They are some of my own eggs so just "barnyard mutts". Hoping to get some olive eggers, I set three Marans eggs. Since I only have the one hen and she lays only 3-4 eggs a week, I didn't want to keep them too long before setting and didn't want to run the incubator with so few eggs, so I also threw in some of my Easter Egger hen's eggs. Since both parents are EE's, I guess the offspring will be too. Last, I added a Speckled Sussex egg. Those eggs are still so tiny as they are pullet eggs but I was curious to see whether the genes from the parents being large would mean the chick would grow too large for the egg and be unable to hatch, or whether the egg size determines the chick size and if it has genes to be big, it does its growing after it hatches. Well, that little embryo was always the most active, flipping somersaults whenever I candled, and that chick was the second to hatch this morning. I'm curious to see how it will ultimately feather out. I'd love if it got the mottling gene from its mother. So far all have hatched but one of the EE's. That one is pipped and I can see it breathing but it apparently is not ready to zip yet. If it hatches successfully it will be the first time I've had a 100% hatch.

I had planned on this being the last time I hatched this year but when I learned last week that a blue egg gene over a white egg layer will produce a hen who lays blue eggs, I'm a little tempted to run one more small batch with only my Sultan eggs in it. I don't think Cyrus favors her because she's so small so he may not be mating her at all, but if they're all infertile I'll know by the 7-day candling so don't have to continue it beyond that.

I have a friend who had never seen a chick hatch and is actually quite afraid of birds, but when I talked to her last week and told her how much fun it is to watch them hatching, she showed enough interest that I invited her over today to watch the hatch. She wasn't able to stay for very long but we were lucky that while she was here, a chick started to zip so she stayed to watch it hatch. I have told her that chick is hers (I will raise it though) so she has gone off to think of a name for it and is quite tickled to have watched "her" chick hatch. I guess if its a girl I will have to save all of that hen's eggs for her

Well the rabbits are gone finally, yay! This young guy was really nice, he's wanting them to breed for meat rabbits & he probably will be coming back next spring to get chicks from me too, so that's a plus. He's wanting to get into raising his own meat. It's nice to see young people getting into being more self-sufficient. I think there is a trend right now for people to go back to that more & I think it's great.

Yay!

I'm from Northeastern Kansas (marysville), currently have 8 hens, and 5 eggs in the bator!!! This thread looks pretty neat!!!, glad i found it.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Well I managed barely to get the livestock panel up over the top of the turkey pen this afternoon by myself, boy was it a chore. After doing all of that I had to go get cleaned up because it was so muddy in that pen & I was standing in poopy mud, so I was a mess. Then I went over & helped Sunflowerparrot catch her young guineas & move them from the rabbit hutch they have been in to the little small coop where they will stay until they're big enough to let free-range. It went better than either of us expected I think, I was thinking they were going to really be hard to catch, but it wasn't too bad since they were in a small space. We even managed to get them from the crate to the coop without losing any. Wow, I couldn't believe how fast those Cornish Cross chicks are growing, like little weeds!

Sounds like quite the day you had! I would have been tied if I had to try to bend the roof myself. Glad you got it on, but it didn't sound easy!

I am so happy that this is such an active thread. I am going to learn a lot here.

Sounds like chicken math eventually turns into livestock math.

Indeed!

Some of my eggs still have a few days so I went ahead and added more water, it's full and added a bowl of water too but it's too high for them to get into. I like your wet towel idea better. What's a Brinsea? I will likely find a hydrometer online because I'm 2 hours from any Petsmart or big city for that matter. Right now I have 3 alive that I know of in the incubator. One has the unabsorbed yolk again but is dry and active but I can't take him out because there are too many and they will surely notice it and peck, it's more obvious than the other one. It's a big chick. The other two are stil in shells and struggling I can tell but it's too soon to help. I have a few duck eggs in there incubating too, I'm not even sure if they are fertile. I've got in the habit of not candling because I can't see through the dark shells but I could with the duck eggs.

I love my Brinsea incubator! It's super easy, because it has no internal turner on it. It turns from the OUTside. And it's shape is really conducive for holding in heat and humidity well. You can lift the lid and still regain your temp and humidity pretty fast. Not many incubators can do that once the lid is lifted.

I am proud to say that I didn't buy a thing yesterday. I had money in my pocket but anything I wanted went way too high.
I did bring home a blue copper Maran rooster. He is gorgeous. He was actually given to me by an acquaintance who lives in Missouri.
When I checked him later I realize he has a terrible cold and congestion. I think I am going to quarantine him in my greenhouse and give him denagard for a few days to see if he gets cleared. I have eggs in the incubator but nothing to go with him right now. But he is just gorgeous.
There was one set of giant gold laced Brahmas there I was going to bid on but got busy transferring birds and missed the sale. As it was Jen (Revolution Mama) bought them and her man friend told me she just put her card up and never put her arm down. That pair went for $160. Sure glad I have Dan Powell eggs in my incubator. If they produce those giant birds I will be thrilled.

Cute about your goat! I hope your new roo gets healthy soon! Jen REALLY loves heritage and rare breeds!! I like what she is doing, and it sure looks like she has a lot of fun. I saw where she recently got goats and they are adorable! Crazy she spent that much, but understandable. I'm glad you have your eggs, too!

Well the rabbits are gone finally, yay! This young guy was really nice, he's wanting them to breed for meat rabbits & he probably will be coming back next spring to get chicks from me too, so that's a plus. He's wanting to get into raising his own meat. It's nice to see young people getting into being more self-sufficient. I think there is a trend right now for people to go back to that more & I think it's great.

YAY! I agree.

I'm from Northeastern Kansas (marysville), currently have 8 hens, and 5 eggs in the bator!!! This thread looks pretty neat!!!, glad i found it.

glad you found the thread here! Jump in!

I'm feeling so "when it rains it pours" today... the last thing I needed was my hot water heater to go out on me and leak everywhere.. I hope I can get someone out here tomorrow to put a new on in for me and not pay an arm and a leg! I've turned the water off at the main valve and can always go down to the barn where the pump is and fill gallon containers for coffee/water for the animals/washing face/brushing teeth/etc. I hope to have had a nice hot shower by this time tomorrow!

Oh no! So sorry about that! We put in a tank-less water heater a couple years back when our water heater went out.

Another busy day here. Medawinks and family were here this afternoon and I got a couple of her girls and she picked up chicks for her son plus one bonus sussex baby. I just love her and her kids!
Oh no! The only thing worse than loosing a hot water heater is loosing a washing machine. Every hot water heater that ever went out on me did so on a holiday! I'm serious.After I bought this place I bought one that has a plastic casing and is guaranteed for life. The only thing that can go wrong is a heating element can go out, but that is much cheaper than replacing the whole thing and having to do the plumbing. I decided to spend the money while I had some and very happy I did so.
I am totally worn out after a long day yesterday and another early morning today. I have a few trips I need to make this week to get things done too. Why is fall so busy??

Sounds like a fun day visiting! That's kind of like our tank-less water heater. We LOVE it. Not only does it not take up much room anymore (it's a small box on the wall where the huge tank used to be)-- but if it goes bad, supposedly, you just replace a part inside and you're back up and running again.

.

I have a friend who had never seen a chick hatch and is actually quite afraid of birds, but when I talked to her last week and told her how much fun it is to watch them hatching, she showed enough interest that I invited her over today to watch the hatch. She wasn't able to stay for very long but we were lucky that while she was here, a chick started to zip so she stayed to watch it hatch. I have told her that chick is hers (I will raise it though) so she has gone off to think of a name for it and is quite tickled to have watched "her" chick hatch. I guess if its a girl I will have to save all of that hen's eggs for her

I have found most of my friends are definitely not thrilled with my chickens. They don't understand how I can enjoy the crowing, either. We've had people over and they thought it was "quaint" that my roosters were crowing, but then said that if they had to hear that in someone's yard near them, they'd go nuts. I just don't understand that at all. Sheesh. Glad that your friend go to see a chick hatch. It is very exciting if you ask me! I love watching it!!

 

[HEChicken]

I'm feeling so "when it rains it pours" today... the last thing I needed was my hot water heater to go out on me and leak everywhere.. I hope I can get someone out here tomorrow to put a new on in for me and not pay an arm and a leg! I've turned the water off at the main valve and can always go down to the barn where the pump is and fill gallon containers for coffee/water for the animals/washing face/brushing teeth/etc. I hope to have had a nice hot shower by this time tomorrow!

Ouch. I know you said you had to do the lagoon etc. brand new when you moved there this summer, but is the house new too? If so, the water heater should still be covered under a warranty....

They don't understand how I can enjoy the crowing, either. We've had people over and they thought it was "quaint" that my roosters were crowing, but then said that if they had to hear that in someone's yard near them, they'd go nuts. I just don't understand that at all. Sheesh.

I don't either! I was thrilled when I moved in and had neighbors with roosters I could hear crowing. I love hearing mine (except when I'm in my lawn chair reading my Kindle and he lets off inches from my ear and deafens me). I don't understand people who don't want to hear it. I would far rather hear a rooster crowing off and on throughout the day, than listen to a dog barking non-stop around the clock.

 

[Trish44]

ChicknBaron, glad you found us also, feel free to jump in any time, we have some other new people who just joined in the last few days.

Hawkeye, I know what you mean about other people's reactions to chickens. I told an old friend from high school that I hadn't seen in 40 years at our reunion that I have chickens & she just turned her nose up like it was distasteful & then she had said we should meet for lunch some time & after she found out I have chickens I guess she is no longer interested. I have found my old city friends to be that way & even my own family turns their noses up at my chickens & what I do. I don't even care any more, I have just decided to surround myself with people who understand my passion for animals & chickens & other birds & forget the rest. I have no time for people who put down what I love to do, life is just too short to waste trying to explain yourself to people who don't care anyway. I plan to spend the rest of whatever time I have left on this earth doing what makes me happy for once. I spent way too many years taking care of others & trying to please them.

Well now it just seems like I have reached a sort of plateau with the sick chicks. They seemed to be getting better & now I just don't see much of anything happening with this one pullet especially. There are still some out in the grow-out pen that aren't well yet either. I'm not sure what to do for the next step. They have had 3 different antibiotics now. Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

[cherwill]

There is a ReStore in Wichita, so if you are ever down this way, you should check it out - I really enjoy browsing through there to see what they have.

Great! I will check it out next chance I get (which is not often, but I do get to Wichita a couple of times a year).

For those of you posting about calves. Now that I've mastered chickens (YEAH RIGHT) I'm starting bottle calves. I wanted to do goats but everyone seems to hate goats except me. Anywho - I have all the starter equipment - hutch, calf halter, milk replacement, tubing, meds. So if you find an orphan or hear of someone giving one up, pls PM me and I'll go get it.

My husband loves goats. He grow up with chickens and ducks and geese and bottle-fed calves and goats. Goats are his favorite; he says they're a lot of fun. If we ever get moved out of town and have enough room, we'd definitely have goats. Maybe after you've mastered calves, you'll be able to convince all those goat-haters to give goats a try.

What you're talking about in a later post, a somewhat self-sufficient hobby farm, is my dream as well. DH is a little more conflicted than I am about the possibilities and limitations of that kind of thing. He still wants us to be able to take off for a week or two on the motorcycle. I still enjoy riding, but really since the sciatic/back/pelvic problems of the last couple of years, it doesn't excite me as much as it once did. I've become ever more hermit-like over the years; DH not so much.

We do what we can with what we have. We have a 25' x 50' garden at a community garden. Interestingly enough, the titled Master Gardeners aren't that much help with plant and growing specifics, but there are some gardeners who've been at it for years and who love to share what they've learned. One in particular has been very patient with us and our incessant questions. If you and your wife can find some people like that, they seem to really enjoy sharing their experience and knowledge. They seem happy to find people interested in learning about gardening and I'm happy to talk with people who have similar interests and can teach me.

Hey all! Had a pretty rough week here, I'm still trying to gage what I can and can't eat, and apparently white rice isn't one of them. I only ate a few teaspoons full, but suffered and was off work for 3 1/2 days because of it. grr. I made my hubby take me to the deli today just so I could eat soup somewhere else other than my kitchen. I hate being cooped up (haha) and wanted to go somewhere else other than work, walmart, or home. I had a dr's appointment last Thurs with a GI doc and he's referring me to a gastroparesis specialist at KU Med Center. Yay! It's going to be a long wait for an appointment though, i'm sure. In the meantime, though, I get to have a colonoscopy on Monday. Not yay! LOL

Love the pictures! As for the colonoscopy, good luck with it. My mom says it's true what they say, that you really have no awareness or memory of it. I hope you can get some answers and help.

I'm from Northeastern Kansas (marysville), currently have 8 hens, and 5 eggs in the bator!!! This thread looks pretty neat!!!, glad i found it.

Welcome!

 

[sunflowerparrot]

My broilers (cornish cross) will be 2 weeks old on Wednesday... I would like to put them out in the hutch on that day (the lows for the first week will be between 57 and 71). They will have access to an enclosed boxed area within the coop that will have pine shavings and dried cattails. I would like to keep them in there for about 2 weeks before putting them in the grow-out pen for their last 2 weeks before harvest. Will they be ok going out Wednesday based on the lows? (I do not have a heat lamp - but there are 27 of them that can huddle.) They are so fat right now - not really growing persay, but getting fat - they can already barely not stand and most of them just lie down in front of the feeder and just eat - eat- eat... it's kind of sad to see them like that.