Consolidated Kansas

[mommahen10]

I'm really sorry HEChicken, I feel so bad for not noticing. Where does it say that? Congrats!!!! It doesn't surprise me, you're always so helpful to everyone. YAY!!!! We need some streamers and confetti on here, that's got to be a big deal because this is a big place.

 

[HEChicken]

I accidentally bought pellet food and my chickens aren't eating it. Any suggestions on what i can do? We tried to crumble it up in my food processor but that didn't work maybe i had the wrong blade or something.

You might try turning it into a mash. You can use just plain water but I also use the juice I drain from cans of fruits or vegies. I try to only buy the sugar/salt-free varieties, and when I drain off the liquid, I save it, then add chicken food to it. They go ape over it! In winter, I make them a hot mash by heating the water and then adding the feed. I think they enjoy the warm mash on a particularly cold day. Warming the liquid a little also helps it to absorb faster too.

In past years I decorated outside for every holiday. Lots of lights and stuff. Of course I never had dogs that would steal things and I had porches to decorate, and of course lots of traffic. I have a fortune in decorations and it seems such a waste not to use them. I love putting on a light show of sorts for people. Dennis says no one will see it so why go to the trouble but I still love to decorate. I have some Halloween decorations I'd love to display. I am just so undecided what to do. I guess I could sell all this stuff but what fun would that be?

In a past life I moved so often I couldn't ever decorate so I settled down into my suburban neighborhood, I went all out and bought all kinds of Halloween and Christmas decorations. The first year I was really gung-ho about getting them all put up. Taking them down wasn't near so much fun. The following year any day I had free to decorate was freezing cold and it was just no fun to be out there with frostbitten fingers trying to put up the spiral Christmas trees and motion-activated reindeer. So the next year I kept finding reasons not to get out there and do it and eventually those boxes ended up gathering dust in my basement. When we moved, they were all donated to the local thrift store. I really admire the people who do such a great job of decorating because I love to go around and LOOK. But it turns out I'm not that good at the DOING part of it. If my mailbox gets a red bow on it this year, I'll be doing well

Oh my stars! I wish I had known! I was bidding against you!!!! Seriously!!! If it weren't for me you could have gotten them at the starting price!!!! I owe you! How about if you have too many roos hatch and choose which ones you want to keep I can buy a roo from you? I really only wanted one so I could breed my own redstars! From Springdale, AR right? I feel awful. I had never seen any go that cheap before. Maybe that could make up the extra $6 I cost you! Talk about crummy friends.

I wandered outside and I've misplaced; or the dog has taken two of my mousetraps. I swear I was missing one yesterday and today there is a second one gone. I am confused because I was sure I put them where Cloud couldn't get them. Maybe I am just totally loosing my mind and have no idea where I stuck them.

Karen I'm sorry but I really did LOL when I read this - too funny. But of course, how can you know? It seems like eBay used to give more visibility as to who was bidding but any more you can only see the last character of their user name so there is no way to know. It kind of reminds me of that ad eBay ran a few years back where a woman had this ugly old lamp and decided to sell it on eBay. Her husband, who was at the office, saw it listed and was bidding on it like crazy, so pleased to get a "matching" lamp for the one they already had at home....

Well if you didn't even know then I don't feel as badly about not noticing!!!

Nope - you can't feel bad at all. If Rosie hadn't noticed I probably still wouldn't have

Well, I was gone last evening until after dark and have been gone again all morning but I am getting ready to head out and take some pics of my new roosts. Trish, your DH would definitely NOT be happy to see these, so don't show him the pics, if he is a perfectionist. I reused the lumber I had used on my original roosts and it was lumber I recovered from a pile left by the original owner of the house. It is so warped that the boards definitely do not lay flat. I figure each bird is only sitting on 9-12" of roost so each bird can find a flat part to sit on. But you can see definite warp and lift from one end of each board to the other. They seemed to adapt well to the new roosts last night, although I think I might lower them as a few of the 7-week chicks didn't make it up onto the roosts. Like I said, that is a 5-minute job so will be easy to do.

 

[checoukan]

Ummmm....I did? *I* didn't even notice!!! Thanks Checoukan! (I wonder how long it would have taken me to notice......observant I am not).

It jumped right out at me~~!!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Maybe try putting it in a plastic bag and hitting it with a hammer? Or you could just moisten a little of it so they figure out it is food.

Oh my stars! I wish I had known! I was bidding against you!!!! Seriously!!! If it weren't for me you could have gotten them at the starting price!!!! I owe you! How about if you have too many roos hatch and choose which ones you want to keep I can buy a roo from you? I really only wanted one so I could breed my own redstars! From Springdale, AR right? I feel awful. I had never seen any go that cheap before. Maybe that could make up the extra $6 I cost you! Talk about crummy friends.
I have some awesome Halloween decorations I haven't even used yet. I had a 35 foot long porch that curved around the front of my old victorian house and another porch on the side of the house that was about 16 feet long. They had railings so they were wonderful to decorate. I guess that and my landscaping are the two things I miss the most about living in town.
DH suggested I talk to the Chinese restaurant owners that buy my eggs and ask to put my Halloween house display in their front window. I thought it was such an awesome idea but I don't have the nerve to ask. I think it might be good for their business to draw attention but it comes with some responsibility too. It takes a little electricity to run it and they would have to be sure that children didn't go in the window display and mess with it. I have a couple of pieces that have foggers and they have to have distilled water added now and then too. When I lived in town I had a big dining room and would set it up on my dining room table with a few extra leaves put in. We used the door to the dining room to enter the house. So when kids came to trick or treat they could look at it. Even there I had to watch the kids to make sure they didn't pick up stuff from it. I miss having the room to do things like that even if I would be the only one to see them.

I wandered outside and I've misplaced; or the dog has taken two of my mousetraps. I swear I was missing one yesterday and today there is a second one gone. I am confused because I was sure I put them where Cloud couldn't get them. Maybe I am just totally loosing my mind and have no idea where I stuck them.
Well I've done it. I have both peachicks and the chicken loose in the house. I am trying to get the peachicks to get used to each other little by little. They were scared of each other. I scrubbed down the wall behind my diamond dove cage and am letting them all clean up all the feed the doves threw on the floor. I am thinking of making a quick cover for the dove pen to keep some of that seed and dust inside the cage. I really think they are pretty birds but I need to sell a bunch of them. I'm not even sure I want to keep any since I have to keep them indoors. If I had an aviary that was closed off from the rest of the house they would be awesome. They are tiny and make very sweet sounds but I keep saying I am getting birds out of the house.

LOL! OMGosh! Danz, I burst out laughing! You had absolutely no way to know it was me, you don't owe me a penny! That's just the way ebay works and I will be happy to let you have one of the roos cause you know there will be plenty. That just cracks me up! He thinks he's going to Joplin this weekend for a swap meet so I'm going to pick them up there. He's got Wellies too. I've got the two hens so I thought I'd get a couple more birds so I can continue with my hatching addiction in late spring!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Yea so no chicks this morning but like you all said it will be tomorrow I was just over anticipating....

I am so unpatient.... All the info I have seen from people say they have always arrived on time as promised and if shipped a day early it was there in 2 days.. Oh well I really needed an extra day anyhow. I need to super clean my house beause once they come housework wont get done for awhile

 

[checoukan]

Well guess I had better go out and get band numbers for my girls going to Fayetteville. I need to get my entries sent off, and well I have been procrating a little bit. Ivy has been here every weekend, and I have bee spending time over there with them, and last weekend, our other sister was here from Garden City to help Ivy move stuff. So, I have not been doing things I need to do.

Don't forget this weekend is Columbus day! Sound like a lot of people will be here, should be a lots of fun. Chilly but nice I think.

hawkeye, where are you going to show at?

danz, slow down, you make me worry about you.

trish, my goodness you are so busy

Wish I could have come to the get-together, but not happening on a weekday for me. Maybe, over spring break or something like that?

Oh, hawkeye, you asked about ear mites in the chickens, just use the olive oil, and drop a couple of drops in the ear. Before you do, wrap the bird up in a towel. Get a BRIGHT flashlight, move the earflap, and look for red, or black pepper flakes, and treat if you see them. I have never had ear mites in my birds, I would think you should be mite free now, but If you have not broke the life cycle on the mites, I guess you could still have them, oooopps,

or your birds could still have them!!

 

[lizzyGSR]

HeChicken - Congrats!!!

We've been having problems with the door handle on our back door not working properly, so my husband decided to take advantage of one of the last nice days this year (snow in the forecast already for Friday night) to change the door knob. Apparently, I've done a little TOO good of a job making sure my goose (a 4 month old white chinese) is friendly.

When he had the door open so he could work on it, she kept trying to come in the door. He even positioned his 100 pound chocolate lab in the way, and she worked her way around the dog and still tried to get in the door!

I don't know what she thought was inside that was so good, but she was VERY persistent.

I finally had to pick her up and hold her so that he could work on the door without having to worry about having a goose in the house!

Previously, she's been coming to me when I step out the door, but she's always come to me, not the door. I don't know WHY she was wanting in the house so bad (she's only been in the house once since she was old enough to be outside, and that was only because I was holding her and the phone rang). However, I do know that she's gonna get me in trouble if she spends a lot of time on the back step. My husband doesn't mind the birds, but he REALLY dislikes bird poop on the sidewalk.

 

[HEChicken]

Apparently, I've done a little TOO good of a job making sure my goose (a 4 month old white chinese) is friendly.

When he had the door open so he could work on it, she kept trying to come in the door. He even positioned his 100 pound chocolate lab in the way, and she worked her way around the dog and still tried to get in the door!

I don't know what she thought was inside that was so good, but she was VERY persistent.

I finally had to pick her up and hold her so that he could work on the door without having to worry about having a goose in the house!

Previously, she's been coming to me when I step out the door, but she's always come to me, not the door. I don't know WHY she was wanting in the house so bad (she's only been in the house once since she was old enough to be outside, and that was only because I was holding her and the phone rang). However, I do know that she's gonna get me in trouble if she spends a lot of time on the back step. My husband doesn't mind the birds, but he REALLY dislikes bird poop on the sidewalk.

Too funny. I have a hen who used to try to come in every chance she got at our old house too. My DH and DD also didn't like all the bird poop on the back deck and that is why they are now contained in a large yard where their poop is contained.

I got some pics taken of my new roost. Here is what it looks like when its ready for roosting:


The bars that come out from the wall are attached to the vertical studs like this (one screw through the support bar into the stud):


That allows the supports to swivel upwards. I took a picture of it halfway up but because I was on my own trying to hold it up and take the picture at the same time, I don't know if it will be that easy to tell what you are looking at:

What this picture shows is the support bar swiveling up, and you are seeing the undersides of 3 of the roost bars. What I need to do yet is find a way to hold it up while I clean under it. I'm thinking something like a big eye hook that hooks into a chain that hangs down from the rafters or something like that. As I just cleaned it out yesterday and put in fresh straw, it will be awhile before I need to worry about that.

And now, just because I was out there with the camera, here are a few more pictures.
Here is Madge, sitting and enjoying being outside (she was talking to me the whole time I took her pictures too):

Then Ned Kelly stuck his head up to see who she was talking to:

Here is Cyrus:

And a better shot of Ned Kelly. You can see his trimmed beak in this picture - doesn't seem to bother him:

 

[mommahen10]

That's really funny Lizzy. Yeah, that wouldn't work for long having a messy pet on the door step.

 

[HEChicken]

My stupid mouse trap that I ordered last week finally killed a mouse. Meanwhile, Danz' traps have caught how many hundreds? Ah well....the way this trap works is a little rubber ring is threaded onto a tube. The mouse is tempted into a cone to get the bait, which triggers the trap, the ring is launched and lodged around the neck, strangling the mouse in seconds. I will say it worked as they said it would once it finally worked at all. The mouse was laying a few feet from the trap. I finagled the ring off the neck and threw the mouse out into the yard, where the chase was on. If only they got as excited about catching them live as they do eating them once they're already dead....