Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Danz, I'm so envious you got a pig. I've had home-raised pork and you're right - there is nothing better. I thought they were social animals that needed to be raised in at least pairs though - will it be okay to raise just one? I'm sorry to hear he is nasty. The thing that has kept me from jumping into getting pigs is the ability to keep them contained. From what I've read, they are hard to keep in because they are so strong and will tear through most attempts to contain them. How did you contain them in the past?

Josie, glad to see Lucie looking so good. Well, you know what I mean. Kudos to you for all the hard work you are doing with her.

Karen, I just bet you are exhausted, but glad you had a good day with the rellies.

We got some much needed rain here and it is nice to see our pond looking a little fuller. I so wish I'd had the rain barrel installed. As it was, I caught as much water as I could in 5-gallon buckets and then used it in some much needed areas - like the compost piles, that have been too dry all year to really take off. The gutters on the coop are working GREAT. I wish I could say the same for the gutters on our house. The one in front started to spill over so I was up on a ladder in an absolute deluge of rain, trying to clear the leaves and debris from the gutter and downspout so it would drain properly. I haven't been that soaked in a long time.

My little game hen is officially broody so is sitting on 3 Aloha eggs. She may be a tiny little hen but she has a full-sized growl. I thought her pretty smart today, to be broody in her dry, safe, warm little corner of the coop, versus being out in the pouring rain getting soaked to the skin like the rest of her flock.

 

[mommahen10]

Hi all. I hope to not repeat, I had so much trouble posting yesterday I don't remember what went through and what didn't.

Danz, thanks so much for sharing all of your pics. Your brooder house looks amazing. Your entire set up looks so neat and organized, you're a hard worker. Your feed mix is soooo pretty. I don't think I'd have seen the chicks in there had you not mentioned it, they blend in. What are you going to do with chipmonks?

Thanks Kansas Prairie, I did disk clean up even though my computer said it didn't need it, defragmented even though it didn't need it, and I deleted cookies. Would you believe it still gave me trouble? It seems to be fine right now, go figure?

Feeling better yet Trish?

medawinks, I'm pretty sure I saw peacock feathers on Oriental Trading. Looks like you have much better sources on here.

Josie, I'm glad Lucie is home and doing so well. It's sad to see here like that.

The sale from the hatchery that I posted about a while back was today, I actually forgot about it until it was too late for us to go. Luckily, I called a friend who lives in Pittsburg and she went and picked up 11 Americaunas for me. I know nothing about them, they look quite different than anything I've had. I will get a pic, they're adorable and way more active than the chicks we've had. They can't be very old, eating well, one has a messed up eye. We've been getting tons of rain too, coops are all messy of course. I did take some pictures yesterday evening, I will get them on here sometime. Why are there so many different colors? None of them look the same.

Have a great night.

 

[ChicknBaron]

Me and Dad started constructing the chicken tractor around 7ish last night and worked till around 9:30 or so. We got pretty much the main frame constructed, then came back to work on it at around 7:30 to work on it again this morning. We worked on it all day (we were so involved in the construction we forgot about lunch) and then finished it and put the hens in it around 4 pm. So pretty much it took us around 11 or 12 hours... pretty good timing if you ask me

. We have this 2 yr old EE that is constantly picked on by the 4 one year old Barred rocks We put them all in there today and they were happy and started eating grass and such but then the poor hen just kept getting pecked at every corner of the pen and chased off, but with the lack of space to run for cover, she just kept getting pecked, and pecked, and chased, and pecked... so i took her out and just put her in the big coop so she could be without the constant pecking. I'm kinda at a minor crisis point because i want to her to get her fresh leafy greens all day like the other ones but i'm afraid if i leave her in the tractor all day with the others, then she might be killed! So i need some advice, out of the 3 choices i have, which one to choose: 1: put her in the tractor with the others (where she can get pecked) BTW, will the other hens peck her to the extent of killing her??? 2: Leave her out to free range with the risk of being killed by a hawk(like the other two hens, recently) or 3: leave her in the coop all alone, all day, all unhealthy like??? Please post your opinions because i'm really in a pickle! I will work on posting some up to date picks on the 3 chicks, and also on the new tractor! It came out very nice i think for not even having a plan drawn out but simply "flying by the seat of our pants" (i think that's how the old saying goes...) Since my dads in construction work we had all sorts of nice staple guns (EXTREMELY crucial to the tacking down of the chicken wire) and drills and other nice (and convenient) powertools like table saws and a mitre saw... that was very nice to have and very much a blessing welps... i'll work on getting up some photos of the new tractor and if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions... feel free to reply And don't forget to help me with the pickle i'm in with where to put my dear (wimpy) EE!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Me and Dad started constructing the chicken tractor around 7ish last night and worked till around 9:30 or so. We got pretty much the main frame constructed, then came back to work on it at around 7:30 to work on it again this morning. We worked on it all day (we were so involved in the construction we forgot about lunch) and then finished it and put the hens in it around 4 pm. So pretty much it took us around 11 or 12 hours... pretty good timing if you ask me

. We have this 2 yr old EE that is constantly picked on by the 4 one year old Barred rocks We put them all in there today and they were happy and started eating grass and such but then the poor hen just kept getting pecked at every corner of the pen and chased off, but with the lack of space to run for cover, she just kept getting pecked, and pecked, and chased, and pecked... so i took her out and just put her in the big coop so she could be without the constant pecking. I'm kinda at a minor crisis point because i want to her to get her fresh leafy greens all day like the other ones but i'm afraid if i leave her in the tractor all day with the others, then she might be killed! So i need some advice, out of the 3 choices i have, which one to choose: 1: put her in the tractor with the others (where she can get pecked) BTW, will the other hens peck her to the extent of killing her??? 2: Leave her out to free range with the risk of being killed by a hawk(like the other two hens, recently) or 3: leave her in the coop all alone, all day, all unhealthy like??? Please post your opinions because i'm really in a pickle! I will work on posting some up to date picks on the 3 chicks, and also on the new tractor! It came out very nice i think for not even having a plan drawn out but simply "flying by the seat of our pants" (i think that's how the old saying goes...) Since my dads in construction work we had all sorts of nice staple guns (EXTREMELY crucial to the tacking down of the chicken wire) and drills and other nice (and convenient) powertools like table saws and a mitre saw... that was very nice to have and very much a blessing welps... i'll work on getting up some photos of the new tractor and if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions... feel free to reply And don't forget to help me with the pickle i'm in with where to put my dear (wimpy) EE!

If your EE is an underling, she is being pushed to the end of the line. The other girls are at the top and always will be so yes they will continue to peck at her to make her go away which in this case she cannot because it sounds as though there is not a hiding spot for her or maybe the tractor is small. They will kick her off food because they want to eat first, making her weaker and weaker but this is how the pecking order works. I say if this is possible for you, you have another option, build a small seperate tractor just for her maybe abit bigger just in case you get more hens and some may need to be seperated as well. If this is not an option for you maybe you can giver her a few hours in the tractor before or after the others so she gets time too.
Congrats on getting the tractor done and I cant wait to see pics soon.

 

[ChicknBaron]

If your EE is an underling, she is being pushed to the end of the line. The other girls are at the top and always will be so yes they will continue to peck at her to make her go away which in this case she cannot because it sounds as though there is not a hiding spot for her or maybe the tractor is small. They will kick her off food because they want to eat first, making her weaker and weaker but this is how the pecking order works. I say if this is possible for you, you have another option, build a small seperate tractor just for her maybe abit bigger just in case you get more hens and some may need to be seperated as well. If this is not an option for you maybe you can giver her a few hours in the tractor before or after the others so she gets time too.
Congrats on getting the tractor done and I cant wait to see pics soon.

I heard that its not "good" for them to be lonely tho??? SInce they are more like pets to us I just wanted her to be happy... we'll figure something out...

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I heard that its not "good" for them to be lonely tho??? SInce they are more like pets to us I just wanted her to be happy... we'll figure something out...

It is true that they do enjoy to be with other birds, is there a hen that she gets along with that you could put her sperate with? Or even get a couple 2-3 month old new pullets to put with her? That is my suggestion because you dont want her to be constantly attacked she can get serious injuries and go down hill fast. It would be better for her to be seperated before she gets beat to a pulp

 

[mommahen10]

ChicknBaron, that's great news that you got the tractor done. I can't wait to see pics. I had one little chicken that was so scared of being with the bigger chickens he kept getting stuck in corners, I put him with the younger chickens and he did fine. We did determine that the others were picking on him and chasing him into the corners. I wouldn't just let her get picked on if it's that bad. Looks like you already got some great ideas about that.

Speaking of them pecking, my chicks are pecking at each other. One pecked another's foot and wouldn't let go. They're a rowdy bunch. They're already jumping on top of the waterer, they don't even have feathers. I'm going to put them in something taller, I may just wake to chicks all over the place.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

We had a storm last night, we're thankful for the rain, we've been in drought for two years. I tried to put the turkeys in the barn before sun set, I gave up, goofy turkeys! They looked tattered after the storm, we got 2.50 inches of hard rain and some hail. One of my young turkeys was no where to be found this morning.

WARNIING: Don't read the rest of this post if you have a weak stomach...it's a gross....
I didn't get to do what I had planned today because my DH decided today was a good day to boil the stuff out of an elk skull, he got it started and then had some projects he needed to go do, I agreed to help with this elk skull boil, that ended up being a gross job, putrid stench doesn't even begin to describe it, when the water heated up and the maggots started crawling out and floating to the top I realized this was going to be grosser and take longer than I had expected. Rubber gloves, a knife scrapping slime tissue.....disgusting! After several hours the wind got up, I decided it was not be safe, I shut off the propane burner put the elk rack up where the coyotes couldn't drag it off and I showered, I also decided that was my last skull boiling, I will say NO next time.

I don't know which was worse, the smell of an egg in my incubator that exploded on me or that elk skull......At least the elk skull is outside, the egg was in my house.

 

[Trish44]

ChicknBaron, congrats on getting the tractor done, can't wait to see it. Chickens can seem cruel to us in the way they treat each other, it's just their way. The strongest, most dominate ones get the top of the pecking order & the others are below them. We all see that with our hens as far as who is the most dominate & who is not. I would try her in the tractor for short periods of time when you can be there to watch them & see how they do. It may just be too small of a space for them & I agree you may have to build another tractor & add a friend for this one if you can.

Danz, congrats on getting the feeder pig, I raised hogs one year, 3 of them when I lived in Derby. We got one for us, one for my late husband's parents, & one for his aunt. I just had them in a pen by the barn & they never did try to get out of there. They were pretty entertaining to have around until time to take them to butcher. That was the best pork I ever had too. It's too bad the little thing is so mean. I think all the ones I had were females, I'm pretty sure they were & they were really nice & each had a personality. I had told my son who was young at the time not to name them, but being a kid he did anyway.

Josie, I'm glad Lucie is doing pretty well. It must be exhausting for you right now when you're tired anyway being pregnant in the first trimester. It will get better as you go along, you're the most tired I think at first as your body adjusts & then the middle isn't that bad. Then you get to the end when you're big & tired again & ready to have the baby so you can see your feet again. I definitely wouldn't recommend this dog for you that Danz put the info up for. If she is able to be an LGD it would take a lot of work on someone's part to train her with animals & birds. She could not be trusted for a long time if ever since nobody knows how she reacts to them. I'm not saying she couldn't be trained, because it's possible she could, but someone would have to be really devoted to doing it & spend the time. She has been a pet only & has mostly been inside until recently obviously since the lady is now getting tickets for dog at large. It's not the dog's fault at all, it's the owner's fault for not researching the dog breed before getting her & trying to make her something she isn't. I feel bad that the dog has had to be so unhappy for over a year due to poor judgement, but it happens a lot, way too much in fact.

KarenS, I'm glad you had a good visit with your relatives.

Well back to bed for me, I've been there most of the day other than going out twice to do chores. My nose is still streaming & now my eyes are starting to run & I've been coughing too. I hope I can get some sleep tonight. My DH is going with some other guys who are running in the marathon tomorrow since I'm not going & he has to get up at 4 a.m. I know he will wake me up too, he just can't be quiet for anything.

 

[mommahen10]

Kansas Prairie, that is sooooooo eeeeeeewwwwww!!!!! I can't even image. So??????? Why do you boil the skull?