Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Just checking in to let you know I'm still kicking. Getting sick at this time of year was seriously poor timing. I'm not anywhere near normal yet, but will be. As my doctor explained it to me what happened was the equivalent of a stroke, only it happened in the colon. No cancer, no horrible diagnosis, just having a very slow recovery. My energy level is very, very slowly returning but things that used to be nothing are monumental. Just walking out to see the birds is exhausting. Not in an "oh, I'm fatigued." sort of way but a "my body is going to sleep whether I like it or not" sort of way. Very frustrating but the doctor says it is just going to take quite some time to get my energy back. I had to give up caffeine also, so that's complicating things considerably. I'll be back with you all as soon as I can. My eyes are fine for reading now but with the kids, Christmas coming, and John working more hours since the layoffs, I'm stretched really thin. I've had two kids with pneumonia as well. Sheesh. Miss ya'll!

I've been wondering about you, I hope you get back to your normal self soon. I have never heard of having a stroke in your colon. Take it easy & slow so you don't overdo it, your body is telling you that you have to slow down to recover. I'm sorry about your kids being sick too, how awful when you're not up to par. We miss you here!

I had a busy day and ran out of time to do have of what I wanted.
I got the netting up on the new double pen I sat up for the blue slate turkeys. I had to piece two sections together and overlap here and there to make it work. I installed a pole across one section and tied the two types of netting to it and tied them here and there where they overlapped. I had just installed another gate panel on the front. So maybe tomorrow I will have time to get the blue slates carried to the pen. Then I can take one panel off their current pen and replace the extra gate panel I had to use to complete it. I don't worry about them getting out nearly as much as I did the wild ones. They will have so much more room and more shelter now if they decide to use it. After reading your post Trish I am kind of worried about moving my birds. I know they are heavy. I may have to catch them one by one and put them in a dog transport kennel and haul them by wagon to the new pen.
I talked to my duck buyer today finally and he hadn't found my message until today. It looks like it is going to be next weekend before he can come get these ducks. He said he would take my excess cockerels as well so that will help a lot. I still hate to get rid of some of these nice boys for meat. I have one pure bred sussex cockerel, several black copper marans, and several barred rock boys. Mammahen I am saving you a barred rock boy.
Any of the rest of you, please let me know if any of you are interested in any of these boys. They are all old enough to be outside, at least a couple months old if not older.
I got the box that was packed of my Mom's craft things out today. I spent way too much time going through it deciding what I could use and what I couldn't. Between her stuff and mine I have enough embroidery thread to last a lifetime. She had a lot of plastic canvas project and some of them already cut and started but I threw those away cause I have no interest in that. I found a few kits that I may try to sell or donate. There were knitting needles and a few crochet hooks. I don't knit or crochet. I think I may send those to my oldest daughter. She is knitting hats to sell so she may like them. I felt really guilty throwing things away that she had worked on. I did save a bunch of little projects. I think I am going to do what I can to finish them so they can be used for tree ornaments. When I take my Dad a Christmas tree I will put them on it. He can do what he wants with them after that. Of course I had to take some time to cry in the middle of all that. I wasted
way too much time but I will have days of work sorting the threads and getting them organized by number. Cold day activities. It sure would be nice to find the time to do those things.
I sure miss a lot of people here. It's been days since several of them have posted. Tweety I am sorry you are sick again.
I heard from Karen a few days ago and she is still not doing well.
Where is Mammahen, checoukan, sharol, etc?
Oh man Danz be careful moving those birds with your neck & back problems. I'm so sore tonight from all I did the last few days. My neck & shoulders are killing me from reaching up above my head this morning stretching netting & putting up tarps in the wind. Boy I didn't realize how heavy that tom turkey was until I went to pick him up & of course he was fighting me too, so that didn't help. My DH was standing there & I told him to run over & get the gate for me because I couldn't open it with that big bird in my arms. I was seriously doubting I was going to make it in there with him, he was starting to slide by the time I got there. I wish you were closer, if the Sussex roo is a nice one with lots of spots I might be interested in him, but I don't know right now how I would get him & what I would do with the one I have.

I think everyone is just really busy this time of year & have less time to get on the computer. You have to take advantage of the warmer weather while you can too & get things done outside. I plan to get some more things done this week while it's still decent out.

Josie, that is one monster turkey, wow no wonder he can hardly walk. I don't think I have ever seen a turkey that big before. Are you going to try to process him? I don't see how you could find a pot big enough to scald him if you tried.

I got the Wheaten Ameraucana Rooster & hen home from Josie's DH's office this evening. They were really talking about it all when we got them into my carrier, but by the time we got here they were tired & I put them right in on the roost. My Black Ameraucana rooster I took up there & left to be transported also talked a lot about being moved to another carrier. I almost hated to get rid of him because he's getting some really nice color now, but I didn't need two of them & decided I would rather keep the other one I have for breeding because I like his body type better. I sure hope I can light a fire under my DH's rear to get him in gear to get this coop finished, he's dragging his feet again & it's really aggravating me. He had told me that after he got done with his marathon he would focus just on the coop, but that's not what has happened & he's just messing around with it again. I told him yesterday that I need to get that done so the birds that go in there can be moved. He just doesn't get that I need to have them all acclimated to their new coop & pens before spring so I can have them laying & I can hatch chicks. That was the whole purpose of building this coop so I could separate breeds & hatch more types of chicks next year. I also have about 12 or 13 birds still in my grow-out pen that could use more room. I have slowly moved some out to different places or gotten rid of a couple, but that's how many are still in there waiting for the new coop to be done. Those are my Swedish Flower Hens, Cream Legbars, & Salmon Faverolles. The other thing is that I need that pen for my other trio of Ameraucanas because right now my new roo & his hen are in a small temporary pen. I would like to get them in the pen they're supposed to go in. I need to switch out roosters with the lavender hens & my big black one, the daddy to the new one, needs to have the black hens this year.

I'm trying to figure out something that is puzzling me. The old turkey pen, the one I just put the Wheaten Ameraucanas in always has stayed dry, but the pen right next to it, the grow-out pen seems to always be soggy. I clean it out often with my pitchfork, digging down to get as much of the muck out as I can & put in new dry bedding. I just did that right after I got back from vacation & now today it's soggy in there again. I just can't figure out why it's so wet in there. It gets to the point that I start sliding when I come in the door to go feed the chickens in there. Does anybody have any ideas about what's going on? It's just strange & it's the only pen I have that's like that. I have the hoop coop down from there & it's not wet, nor is the Ameraucana pen next to my main coop. It's just weird.

I forgot to say good job Hawkeye, it looks fine to me. I will take some pics of my new turkey digs when I get done tomorrow. I still have a few things to do to it yet, but I had to move them anyway.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Just checking in to let you know I'm still kicking. Getting sick at this time of year was seriously poor timing. I'm not anywhere near normal yet, but will be. As my doctor explained it to me what happened was the equivalent of a stroke, only it happened in the colon. No cancer, no horrible diagnosis, just having a very slow recovery. My energy level is very, very slowly returning but things that used to be nothing are monumental. Just walking out to see the birds is exhausting. Not in an "oh, I'm fatigued." sort of way but a "my body is going to sleep whether I like it or not" sort of way. Very frustrating but the doctor says it is just going to take quite some time to get my energy back. I had to give up caffeine also, so that's complicating things considerably. I'll be back with you all as soon as I can. My eyes are fine for reading now but with the kids, Christmas coming, and John working more hours since the layoffs, I'm stretched really thin. I've had two kids with pneumonia as well. Sheesh. Miss ya'll!

Karen! I'm so sorry to hear this! I do hope you get to feeling back to normal soon! I can imagine exactly what you are going through, since it sounds a lot like what's going on with my stomach. Hugs!!!

Hawkeye - The wrap looks great! Looks like what we wound up doing only with tarps

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I know I can always count on you girls to cheer me up
Two more days and the silkies are due hehe.. I checked on her again today. I'm not making her get up and potty outside anymore as she's picked a corner and gone just about every day in it. She's great at eating what I put in front of her too. I agree, Silkies are some of the best mamma's! Since she's taken residence in the duck house, i'm going to put up a dog kennel (the one I used to grow the silkies out in in the inner coop) and just butt it right up to the door of the duck house, so they have access to "outside" and are still safe from the other birds picking on them.

I got home after sunset tonight, but tomorrow I'm going to dig out a lot of the hay and search for pinkies to help keep the mouse population down. I might also create a bucket trap with peanut butter to catch them in as well. Won't hurt to try.

 

[cherwill]

Checoukan, that turkey is gorgeous.

I am so tickled to report that I did finally capture my Tom this morning. He was around early yesterday morning but would take off if I tried to get near him. I sat up a net and divided the pen the hens were in so they couldn't escape. I got more worried about it and went out last night and did some more work so they couldn't get out for sure. I heard him calling them before day light this morning. So I went out and tied the gate open and put a pan of his favorite food in the pen. I stood and watch for an hour and 15 minutes until he finally made his way into the pen and started eating. Then I snuck out the back door and closed the door on him. He was not happy! Anyway I went out and took my divider down and put a caribbeaner through the latch so it can't be opened without a conscious effort. If it gets opened it is going to have to be on purpose.

So glad you caught him.

Oh wouldnt it be nice to have a double of yourself. I am going to wait and keep looking,

I have a strange sense of humor. I read these two sentences together and had to laugh!

This is my recycled coop and run. It isnt pretty but it works. the back part were the green tarp is starts the coop area. The rest is a run. It is made out of an old privacy fence. I cut holes and put chicken wire for windows and put wire over the top and then added a tarp because it was getting too wet inside. I think now Iwill convert the run. I have to move my turkey before I can move my goddess chicks to the flock. Which wont be for awhile yet they are 2 months old now. Maybe when they are 3 months.

I like it. I wish I had room enough for something bigger like that. I'm also a big fan of recycling and reusing stuff.

When you give it a try, let us know. I, for one, would be interested in making my own as well!

Me too.

HI all!
I know I haven't posted in a while, but I peeked in a few times just to see what's going on.
Last week was a pretty bad week for me (yes, again). Went into the hospital Turkeyday night and got out on Sunday, then was in and out of the Er many times since then. They did do another botox injection last tuesday. This time it was a different doctor, but I couldn't reach my current doc, so I hope I wasn't letting him step on her toes by allowing him to do it, but today I'm starting to notice a difference again. I only hope this time the "feel good days" last more than a week.

I'm sorry you're having problems again so soon. Hopefully it will work longer this time.

Just checking in to let you know I'm still kicking. Getting sick at this time of year was seriously poor timing. I'm not anywhere near normal yet, but will be. As my doctor explained it to me what happened was the equivalent of a stroke, only it happened in the colon. No cancer, no horrible diagnosis, just having a very slow recovery. My energy level is very, very slowly returning but things that used to be nothing are monumental. Just walking out to see the birds is exhausting. Not in an "oh, I'm fatigued." sort of way but a "my body is going to sleep whether I like it or not" sort of way. Very frustrating but the doctor says it is just going to take quite some time to get my energy back. I had to give up caffeine also, so that's complicating things considerably. I'll be back with you all as soon as I can. My eyes are fine for reading now but with the kids, Christmas coming, and John working more hours since the layoffs, I'm stretched really thin. I've had two kids with pneumonia as well. Sheesh. Miss ya'll!

Wow, I've never heard of that. I'm glad it's not a horrible diagnosis, but it sounds miserable enough. We've missed you!

I got the box that was packed of my Mom's craft things out today. I spent way too much time going through it deciding what I could use and what I couldn't. Between her stuff and mine I have enough embroidery thread to last a lifetime. She had a lot of plastic canvas project and some of them already cut and started but I threw those away cause I have no interest in that. I found a few kits that I may try to sell or donate. There were knitting needles and a few crochet hooks. I don't knit or crochet. I think I may send those to my oldest daughter. She is knitting hats to sell so she may like them. I felt really guilty throwing things away that she had worked on. I did save a bunch of little projects. I think I am going to do what I can to finish them so they can be used for tree ornaments. When I take my Dad a Christmas tree I will put them on it. He can do what he wants with them after that. Of course I had to take some time to cry in the middle of all that. I wasted
way too much time but I will have days of work sorting the threads and getting them organized by number. Cold day activities. It sure would be nice to find the time to do those things.

It wasn't really a waste of time, though. It sounds like a wonderful trip down memory lane, and I love the idea of making ornaments for your Dad's tree.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Cherwill-- LOL

That is so funny, Oh I needed a good laugh..
I am turning the whole run that is attached there to the coop into a coop. I need to seperate my turkeys they are getting so big and they are like 5 year olds " stop touching me" and will peck at and bite at the chickens,,,oooooo bad turkey boys...

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Didn't know about that other hole - thanks. At the end of today, it will be day 19! I'm already collecting eggs for next incubator batch

I am going to see if I can sell these barnyard mix chicks for $1 each. So, if anyone is interested, send me a PM.

When/If hatch, I will put up photos on facebook.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

The slider is there - but it is stuck and won't slide. Once this hatch is over, I am going to see if I can take those top screws off and see what is going on underneath the slider.

 

[michelleml]

It's been awhile sense I've been on. We've had a rough weekend our dogs got into the garage and killed 6 chicks. My 4 ye old kept telling me it's okay mama they are only sleeping. I'm still so upset. So we only have two chicks left . Dh built a temp pen for me so the chicks can see the older chickens going to give this a try for a while then put them together. The bigger chickens are very interested in the younger ones.

How will I know if they would be okay sense they are so much smaller? ( they are about 8 wis old)

I haven't figured out if I should keep our youngest dachshund or not he is the one that killed chicks. My chickens can't free range if he is out

 

[pikeman94]

Just checking in to let you know I'm still kicking. Getting sick at this time of year was seriously poor timing. I'm not anywhere near normal yet, but will be. As my doctor explained it to me what happened was the equivalent of a stroke, only it happened in the colon. No cancer, no horrible diagnosis, just having a very slow recovery. My energy level is very, very slowly returning but things that used to be nothing are monumental. Just walking out to see the birds is exhausting. Not in an "oh, I'm fatigued." sort of way but a "my body is going to sleep whether I like it or not" sort of way. Very frustrating but the doctor says it is just going to take quite some time to get my energy back. I had to give up caffeine also, so that's complicating things considerably. I'll be back with you all as soon as I can. My eyes are fine for reading now but with the kids, Christmas coming, and John working more hours since the layoffs, I'm stretched really thin. I've had two kids with pneumonia as well. Sheesh. Miss ya'll!

Hang in there Karen! Hopefully, you will be recovered by Christmas. Also, tell those little ones to hang in there too. Although, kids heal way faster than we do -- lucky devils!

 

[chicken danz]

So it must have been telepathy. I wrote about Karen and Checoukan as they were posting themselves. I hate it when that happens because then it makes me look like I haven't been paying attention to people's posts. I'm still wondering if Mammahen is okay. Maybe she has been out hunting with her son some more and has lots of deer to dress.
Trish I probably won't sell this sussex as a meat bird. He is young but is looking really nice so far. I had a nice pullet and I ended up selling her Sunday even though I was going to keep her. If I had more time I'd just make a trip down to the Wichita area and bring several birds down, go visit Karen, and look at Josie's new house. Nothing like inviting myself. I just don't know that I can work it into my already crazy schedule any time soon. I hate the holidays for that reason. Not that I have left the house to go shopping or put up any decorations yet.
I've done quite a bit of shopping on line. I am down to needing to buy something for DH, small gifts for my sisters, a couple small things for my oldest son and his wife, a gift card for my oldest daughter and my granddaughters, and a gift for one of my other granddaughters. It's the gifts I don't have a clue about that aren't done. I guess that is quite a bit; but my credit card looks like I should have been done along time ago.

Trish I hear you on getting things done. I am still working on fall projects and haven't even gotten close to spring. I realize that I am down to a couple months max to have the breeds divided and I don't have any facilities at all for them. I haven't been out to work on my chicken trailer in months and even if I did DH hasn't done anything about getting a place ready to set it or start putting posts in for pens.
I just wish I could scrap all my projects and have a large building built for all my birds with pens running out from them. With a heated area where I could set up my incubators and my chick brooders. I think it would be awesome to have it all centralized with wiring and plumbing. It would probably being worth more than my house if I could do it.

It would be so awesome not to have to drag hoses or a mile of extension cords around.
Michelleml, so sorry about your dog killing your chicks. It seem Dachshunds are notorious for killing chickens. It must be something in their breeding. But then a lot of dogs are that way. I am so glad that mine live in harmony.
My daughter bought a trio of olandsk for me for Christmas. I think they are supposed to be shipped today and should be here Thursday. They are young so I hope they make the trip okay. I think my female is laying. I have my pair in with the d'uclles so I can't be sure but about a week ago I started getting some little white eggs so I assume it is theirs. I need to get the gate up to divide those guys. I don't worry about the d'uccles breeding the olandsk but I do worry about the Olandsk breeding the d'uccles. My little olandsk boy protects his lady to a T and she follows him and is right beside him all the time. I've been popping eggs in the incubator to check fertility and I guess I'll see what results. Just one more unfinished project.

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, I didn't for a second think you weren't paying attention - I realized right away that they were posting while you were writing. Happens to me all the time!

Michelleml, sorry about the dogs/chicks. Dachsunds are really bad as chicken killers since they are hounds designed to go after small critters. At my old house I used to dogsit for my neighbor's two mini-doxies and I got to the point I just couldn't let them go potty in the backyard and had to take them to front because the female would always go after my chickens. I had to discipline her for it one time and she still hasn't forgiven me - when I go to visit now, the male will want to be on my lap but the female keeps her distance. You have a tough decision to make. If it helps, here was my reasoning when we got the chickens. At that time we already had a couple of dogs and I figured we made the commitment to them first, so we would have to adapt the chickens to them. (Fortunately they were both really good with the chickens and never went after them, but if they had, we would have had to work around it.) After those two dogs passed, we did adopt two more but because we already had the chickens by then, we made "good with poultry" a criteria on any new dog we brought home. We worked with a rescue who allowed a trial period, and were able to adopt the first dog we tried since she was good with the chickens. The second not so good so he went back to the rescue and the third we tried is really great, so we adopted her, and I fully trust both of our current dogs, who have been with us now for a year and a year-and-a-half respectively. So I guess for us it boiled down to "who was here first?" and the "new" species had to adapt to the old.

Karen, it is nice to see you on here but so sorry again about your continuing fatigue and the kids suffering from pneumonia - you have certainly had a terrible time of it lately and I hope once you return to full health, that will be it for awhile.

Trish, great work on getting the turkeys moved - I can't wait to see pics of their new set up. I was a little dismayed though to hear that your tom was so heavy to move. I have to pick Ned Kelly up every night and move him from his perch outside, to the safety of the coop, and he is small enough still that I can tuck him under one arm and walk with ease across the yard, open the coop door with the other, and place him on the coop. He is larger than a chicken but not really that much heavier. That said, he is much bigger than Madge now, and looking really good at last, so I'm happy with him but hope he fills out a little more yet.

Cherwill - love the sense of humor!

Oh - Maidenwolf, I did mean to say I like your set up. I love recycling also - the metal on my coop is all recycled, as are the windows and doors.

Sunflower - can't wait to see pics of the new chicks.

I am excited this morning that my Welsummer roo crowed for the first time. He is five months old but with Cyrus around had showed no signs of crowing but this morning, he got up on a dog crate that is in their yard and crowed twice, so I think he is starting to get the hang of being the oldest boy around now. He is beautiful but not very big, and being so young, I think it will be awhile before the hens respect him but hopefully it will happen given time.