Consolidated Kansas

[PrairieChickens]

Sorry I've been away, I've been ill and haven't been able to keep up with this thread so good... Threads with pictures aren't so bad, but heavy reading is just more than I can handle right now.

I wanted to share my latest creation with you guys, since I know my fellow chicken enthusiasts will appreciate it more than anyone else I talk to. I spent all day putting together a calendar of my chickens:
http://www.zazzle.com/obsessive_chicken_disorder_calendar-158760892423561905

 

[HEChicken]

Keep us posted on the compost project. We stopped putting some stuff in our compost but we use so many onions I couldn't throw the skin and peels in the trash. It eventually went away in there but we had a HUGE mound that would heat up like crazy and I just kept dumping into it and turning it. We do make mashed potatoes with the peels sometimes but I like them without too. We were having so much trouble with skunks here getting into the pallet compost pile and I wasn't good enough about our trash can composters so we sort of fell off the bandwagon.

My dad always talks about when he was a kid and they lived in Massachusetts the city had compost bins in the sidewalk and you would dump your compostables into the "bin" in the side walk and keep it covered with a metal lid. He always talks about how bad it would smell in the summer because they only came and sucked it out twice a month!

Well I feel like a giant tool. I was gone on Wednesday all day and when I got home there was a post it on the door that read "Your horse is out." SO I freaked and ran out to the pasture and they were all there. I figured that maybe Sprinkles, the naughty pony, got out the gate and let himself back in because if I don't latch it just right he can squeeze out or in! When I was out walking Lucie one of the neighbors stopped by on her way to town to let me know my big walker was loose and that the guy across the street from her caught him and put him back in the pasture. Oops! How embarassing. She said he walked right out into the road when she stopped her car and stuck his head in her car for a pat. She thought he was just the sweetest thing but I was mortified that he was in the road and her car!!! So I thanked her profusely and baked some cookies and thanked the guy across the street for catching him and putting him back. Silly horse.

I have a pallet compost system here too. It aint pretty but it seems to be doing the job. We've had skunks around here but so far no critters have tried to get into it. I was originally afraid my neighbor's chickens, who used to free-range over here before we moved in, might get in and scratch it out so I put a spare pallet on the front to block it. Its not attached so can be moved when I need to access it, and so far it seems to have prevented anything getting into it. I can't wait until Spring when I will be able to add a bunch of compost to my garden.

I have never heard of a composting system like your dad talks about. In Australia every household is issued with both a trash bin and a recycling bin. The trash is picked up weekly and the recycle bin bi-weekly. The recycle bin is divided in two - one half for paper and the other for everything else. Trash/recycling are not a private enterprise like they seem to be here in KS, but are covered in the property taxes, so every household has the same bins. It seems like most people participate since they already have the bin, so I think it does increase the amount of stuff that is recycled. I've continued to recycle here but I have to say it is more of a hassle since I have to separate out the different things - paper, tin cans, aluminum, plastic and so on, and then load them up and take them to the drop off point. Still, I've never heard of a composting system added into the mix.

That was nice of your neighbor to catch your horse for you, before he got himself into trouble.

10 am and I hear a tap tap tap tap on the door. We have visitors! Turkeys are so much fun!! The hen was interested in the cat food, the jakes were interested in the hen. When my son gets home from school he honks the horn and they gobble, fun for the whole family.

I wouldn't put compost in the coop. I do put compost in the compost pile and they stir it up. I put BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) in the coop, keeps them busy.

I love that picture of the turkeys. I'm enjoying mine so much I wouldn't mind branching out to different breeds. I love that red coloration - are they Bourbon Reds?

I throw scratch or whole corn into the coop when I want the bedding turned over and that works really well too. I will probably continue to do that as the small coffee can of compost wasn't enough to spread out to encourage them to scratch through all of the bedding.

I wanted to share my latest creation with you guys, since I know my fellow chicken enthusiasts will appreciate it more than anyone else I talk to. I spent all day putting together a calendar of my chickens:
http://www.zazzle.com/obsessive_chicken_disorder_calendar-158760892423561905

I've been working on a calendar all day today too, although mine is not chicken themed - funny thing is, I just hit submit on the order prior to coming over here to check the forum. I give them as a gift each year to family members and love the customizable options. A few years ago, it got to the point everyone had everything they needed, and it was getting hard to think of something to give at Christmas. Then I hit on the idea of the calendars, since everyone needs a new calendar each year. Being able to customize with birthday and anniversaries, and add in photos of all the grandkids, really made it a hit and now everyone looks forward each year to seeing the new calendar.

I installed a new feeder in my coop this afternoon. I saw an idea for using a piece of guttering as a feeder because it is deep enough and the sides steep enough that it is hard for them to bill feed out. I had a piece of guttering left over from when I put the gutters on the coop, so I decided to try it. I installed it on a wall of my coop where it is really out of the way, and installed it at the height of the LF backs. So far it seems to be working great. It was super easy to install - only took minutes. What I need now is a way to fill it semi-automatically. Right now I still have to scoop feed into it but if I could find a way to send food down to it via a pipe, I'd be a happy camper.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Yeah, if I had the money, I'd buy a calendar or something similar for everyone on my list. As it is, I just got one for myself and my aunt who loves chickens but can't have them in her town.

 

[tweetysvoice]

On the quail pictures... Like I said before, the quail aren't truly wild, but they are also not exactly tame. The only reason I was able to catch these birds was because they put themselves in my duck pen, and I was able to corner them. Then, I held them for a few minutes, and when I opened my hands, they didn't fly away immediately. They waited maybe 15-30 seconds. That little bit of time is when my husband took the pictures I posted. The quail were back again today and this time they brought a friend, a rooster pheasant. The pheasant was on the outside of the pen, on the side. He was trying to walk THROUGH

the side of the run and just couldn't figure out why the other birds were getting to eat and why he couldn't get to the food. Silly bird!

That is so hilarious!! What a fun thing to watch!!

Congrats on the silkie baby!!!! I can NOT wait to get started breeding my own silkies. They are all ready now, for the most part. But I don't want to have chicks over winter. One or two would be fine, though!! But I'm going to be incubating tons when I start back up! LOL I need my new pens ASAP!! I hope that botox works this time around. I'm so sorry you've been so sick and have missed so much work! I hope your work is understanding. That rooster has a Buttercup comb... but other than that, no idea. Beautiful boy! You could try looking up breeds with Buttercup combs. He might be a mix, and if that is the case, you'll just never know.

Thanks! I"m really enjoying the silkies, I think that I might have a full pen of just silkies when it comes that time. They are just so cute!

I totally encourage everyone to get the flu shot that can.

I am required to get the flu shot cuz I work at the hospital. If you don't get one, you can't work there. I've never had issues with the shots anyways.

I have been wanting to get the flu shot and I found out that my little pharmacy here is town does them. I will have to check into it. I have never gotten one but with all my issues and meds I am on I am sure I could get it easily. Does it make you sick at all? Or is that just a silly myth?

No, It's really a silly myth. Check this out from Web MD's site: http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/top-13-flu-myths


"Flu Myth #3: The flu vaccine can give you the flu.

This is the flu myth most likely to drive experts bonkers. “There is simply no way that the flu vaccine can give you the flu,” says Hay. “It’s impossible.”
Why? For one, injected flu vaccines only contain dead virus, and a dead virus is, well, dead: it can’t infect you. There is one type of live virus flu vaccine, the nasal vaccine, FluMist. But in this case, the virus is specially engineered to remove the parts of the virus that make people sick.
Despite the scientific impossibility of getting the flu from the flu vaccines, this widespread flu myth won’t die. Experts suspect two reasons for its persistence. One, people mistake the side effects of the vaccine for flu. While side effects to the vaccine these days tend to be a sore arm, in the past, side effects often felt like mild symptoms of the flu. Two, flu season coincides with a time of year when bugs causing colds and other respiratory illnesses are in the air. Many people get the vaccine and then, within a few days, get sick with an unrelated cold virus. However, they blame the innocent flu vaccine, rather than their co-worker with a runny nose and cough."

Good point. I do have a concrete floor for my coop so I don't have to worry about rotting. I went ahead and dumped a half a coffee can in there. It consisted of some cut up avocado peels, banana peels, coffee grounds, tea leaves and the stem of a living lettuce. Oh - and some cut up turkey I had been going to give them anyway. They looked at me like I was nuts and exited the coop. Several hours later, I had to go and do some work on the coop and, as they always do, they followed me in, discovered this "treasure" pile and went to town on it. Having the turkey mixed in helped to get their interest, but in a short time, you couldn't even tell where I had put the compost. I'm sure they didn't eat it all, but what didn't get eaten got scratched in, in the efforts to find things that were edible. So, I might try it again.

I've always left anything to do with onions out of the compost because I always heard they don't compost so well, since even the bacteria don't like their strong flavor too much, so I will probably continue to leave them out, since I know the chickens won't eat them. We also never have potato peels in our compost because I'm too lazy to peel my potatoes LOL. We just eat them skin on, and even when I'm making mashed potatoes, I leave the skin on. My family has grown to prefer them that way and this Thanksgiving when I was tasked with making mashed potatoes, my mother-in-law was a little uncertain about the idea, but afterwards told us how much she had enjoyed the mashed potatoes with the skins.

I'm so sorry to hear that Lucie's check up results weren't as good as you were hoping. I am certain no one would have done as well with her over the past 8 weeks as you have so it is just plain bad luck that it isn't healing as it should. Hopefully the next four weeks will see a turn around.

We through just about everything we have to compost in our coop and they usually eat it all. LOL! The only thing that I don't are the coffee grounds. I was afraid the caffine might hurt them.

So sweet!!!! Such a good mommy.

Thanks. She really is a great mommy! I couldn't have asked for a better first experience!

Tweety,
Cute chicks! When I first looked at the picture I thought the hen was a cat, very fluffy!

LOL.. she's not as fluffy as she was.. Her hair is quite messy from not having the time to groom herself. LOL

Sorry I've been away, I've been ill and haven't been able to keep up with this thread so good... Threads with pictures aren't so bad, but heavy reading is just more than I can handle right now.

I wanted to share my latest creation with you guys, since I know my fellow chicken enthusiasts will appreciate it more than anyone else I talk to. I spent all day putting together a calendar of my chickens:
http://www.zazzle.com/obsessive_chicken_disorder_calendar-158760892423561905

I"m so sorry you are ill I hope you get to feeling better soon!
I love that calendar btw! I was thinking about doing one like that on shutterfly.

I installed a new feeder in my coop this afternoon. I saw an idea for using a piece of guttering as a feeder because it is deep enough and the sides steep enough that it is hard for them to bill feed out. I had a piece of guttering left over from when I put the gutters on the coop, so I decided to try it. I installed it on a wall of my coop where it is really out of the way, and installed it at the height of the LF backs. So far it seems to be working great. It was super easy to install - only took minutes. What I need now is a way to fill it semi-automatically. Right now I still have to scoop feed into it but if I could find a way to send food down to it via a pipe, I'd be a happy camper.

Have you thought about hanging a sewer pipe over it? You can buy them cheap and add caps, but you can fill those up pretty far and cap it off.
I use a Y pipe to put in my oyster shell and egg shells in for the girls since they kept knocking over the bowl I had it in.

 

[PrairieChickens]

I've always had a bad reaction to vaccines. It's not the virus that makes me sick--it's all the extra little bits and pieces they put into the vaccine to hold it all together. Although I don't remember it, my mom likes to tell a story about when I was a toddler getting a series of routine vaccines, and with each vaccine they gave me I had a more and more severe reaction, to the point that I apparently couldn't walk after the third. I don't know what it was I had a reaction to or what the vaccine was even for, but it was apparently bad news for me. For normal folks, it isn't a problem, but I'm apparently allergic to whatever it is they put in those things.

By the time I was in Highschool, my parents had stopped taking me to get any non-essential vaccines. It just wasn't worth avoiding the flu if I was going to be sick for a week and a half from the vaccine itself.

 

[HEChicken]

Have you thought about hanging a sewer pipe over it? You can buy them cheap and add caps, but you can fill those up pretty far and cap it off.
I use a Y pipe to put in my oyster shell and egg shells in for the girls since they kept knocking over the bowl I had it in.

I'm thinking something along those lines - I like the idea of a "Y" on the end so that the feed doesn't all dump into the same few inches of gutter. Right now, the gutter feeder is installed on the internal partition wall of my coop. The bottom 4' of the partition is solid OSB and the top half is chicken wire. I'll probably need to cut a hole in the chicken wire in order to add the down-pipe to add feed directly from the feed room. I'm really ready to do it though because right now I have to carry feed around to dump it in and I am at real risk of stepping on them as they are all so convinced they're starving that they stay as close to my feet as they can for the whole trip around from the feed room to the feeder.

I can't wait until I have a silkie mama!!! The two silkies I got from Hawkeye, are already showing great potential as mama's, even though they have yet to lay their first eggs. When I got them, I put them in with a group of 10 chicks, and they lived with those chicks until the chicks were ready to be integrated with the main flock. After the chicks were booted out to the main coop, I added in two more younger chicks, and the silkies took the two new chicks under their wings as if they'd always been there. Last night I heard one of the silkies doing that special little chick call sound, to alert the chicks that she had found treats for them. I guess motherhood just comes so naturally to them they're ready and willing to mother chicks they didn't even hatch!

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I'm thinking something along those lines - I like the idea of a "Y" on the end so that the feed doesn't all dump into the same few inches of gutter. Right now, the gutter feeder is installed on the internal partition wall of my coop. The bottom 4' of the partition is solid OSB and the top half is chicken wire. I'll probably need to cut a hole in the chicken wire in order to add the down-pipe to add feed directly from the feed room. I'm really ready to do it though because right now I have to carry feed around to dump it in and I am at real risk of stepping on them as they are all so convinced they're starving that they stay as close to my feet as they can for the whole trip around from the feed room to the feeder.

I can't wait until I have a silkie mama!!! The two silkies I got from Hawkeye, are already showing great potential as mama's, even though they have yet to lay their first eggs. When I got them, I put them in with a group of 10 chicks, and they lived with those chicks until the chicks were ready to be integrated with the main flock. After the chicks were booted out to the main coop, I added in two more younger chicks, and the silkies took the two new chicks under their wings as if they'd always been there. Last night I heard one of the silkies doing that special little chick call sound, to alert the chicks that she had found treats for them. I guess motherhood just comes so naturally to them they're ready and willing to mother chicks they didn't even hatch!

Would it work to put the gutter at a slope so the feed will move down the length as the chickens peck at it? I have seen feeders made of pipe that has been cut so it is open on top for the feeder and the verticle pipe feeds it. It seems to work well.

I found these pics that are generally what I am thinking, but I know you are using the gutter. Just a thought.http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/Homemade_automatic_chicken_feeder/

 

[HEChicken]

Would it work to put the gutter at a slope so the feed will move down the length as the chickens peck at it? I have seen feeders made of pipe that has been cut so it is open on top for the feeder and the verticle pipe feeds it. It seems to work well.

I found these pics that are generally what I am thinking, but I know you are using the gutter. Just a thought.http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/Homemade_automatic_chicken_feeder/

I did consider doing that, but decided against it. My gutter length is considerably longer than the one in the picture, so to get enough slope where feed would really move down to the other end, one end would have to be place way too high for the birds to even reach. And, I didn't want one end to be so low that they would easily bill the feed out of it. So, although I didn't use a level (just eye-balled it), I left it mostly on one level. I did think this morning I might be able to do a "Y" up top, leading down to two more "Y"'s, for a total of 4 pipes spilling out into the feeder and that would probably fill it pretty well. It would be quite a complex little arrangement of PVC pipes though.

 

[chicken danz]

When I was a kid my parents always just dug holes in the garden and put all the garbage in them and covered them up. They naturally composted and you never had to stir or attend it any way. when he tilled in the spring it had all just become dirt.
Josie I think the community your Dad came from had a great idea other than the smell. Did he live near one of the fishing communities? That would have made some really gross smells.

How nice your neighbors are to put your horses up. That is so sweet your boy is so spoiled he would put his nose in someone's car. I can imagine your horror though.


HeChicken where do you have your calenders made. That is an awesome idea. I don't think I'd have time to get one done this year but I could compile stuff next year for one. I am always looking for something my kids won't think is an unnecessary gift.

I have a feeder made out of guttering as well. Mine is plastic. I had it mounted to a wall but the chickens started roosting on it and it was not faring well. So we made feet for it. I still have it but don't really use it much.

Sorry I've been away, I've been ill and haven't been able to keep up with this thread so good... Threads with pictures aren't so bad, but heavy reading is just more than I can handle right now.

I wanted to share my latest creation with you guys, since I know my fellow chicken enthusiasts will appreciate it more than anyone else I talk to. I spent all day putting together a calendar of my chickens:
http://www.zazzle.com/obsessive_chicken_disorder_calendar-158760892423561905
Adorable!!

10 am and I hear a tap tap tap tap on the door. We have visitors! Turkeys are so much fun!! The hen was interested in the cat food, the jakes were interested in the hen. When my son gets home from school he honks the horn and they gobble, fun for the whole family.
I hope KarenS looks in. She loves bourbon reds. Great picture.

I wouldn't put compost in the coop. I do put compost in the compost pile and they stir it up. I put BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) in the coop, keeps them busy.
I wouldn't either. There are too many toxic things and a chance of mold.

Tweety I know what all the books say but I am a bit of an anomaly. And my doctor, as well as the two before, have confirmed this does happen and that is exactly what happens to me. I don't get out in public so it's not like I get exposed normally. Even when I went to the doctors office for the flu shot I made sure to keep my hands disinfected and wash very thoroughly when I got home. I did get a flu last winter that wasn't covered in the shot but caught it cause DH transferred some home from work on something. I got sick and he didn't. Well he didn't until after I had the flu and slept in the same bed. I hadn't been out of the house at all prior to getting it for weeks.
I worked at the hospital as well for a few years and we were required to get the flu shot. One year almost everyone I worked for ended up with the flu immediately after getting the shot and a couple of the people I worked with were even hospitalized. They said somehow they believed that all the virus hadn't all been killed. I get sick every year in varying degrees but I still get the shot because it saves me getting really sick if I do get the flu later and usually prevents it all together.
And in a person without other major health issues I don't think any one ever gets sick.
Like I said I am different. It's all due to some medical errors made when I was a baby and nearly died.
I totally agree it shouldn't happen and rarely does. But in the event it does happen the flu shot still works to keep you well and lessons the severity of flu that it doesn't vaccinate for. In Stormont Vail where I go for medical procedures quite often anyone who doesn't have the flu shot has to wear a mask full time. They laugh at that because that isn't going to prevent it. They'd be better off to wear gloves and change them often. Some of them can't take the shot due to allergies to eggs etc.

So here is something that has me very upset. Somewhat related. I just learned my 3 year old granddaughter has Whooping cough. It makes me angry to be quite frank. She just started pre-school in September. I am sure she must have picked it up from another child there. What makes me angry is I know that they were vaccinating her as a baby. But this son and his wife aren't very responsible people sometimes. I can't help but wonder if they didn't complete her shots. I thought that this would have been something they would be on top of because my son is adamant about following every single rule they give them, like no nuts until age whatever and none of this and none of that. I am just feeling so upset that that sweet little girl has to go through this and it is so dangerous. I hadn't even heard of any outbreaks on the news about it.

 

[HEChicken]

When I was a kid my parents always just dug holes in the garden and put all the garbage in them and covered them up. They naturally composted and you never had to stir or attend it any way. when he tilled in the spring it had all just become dirt.
Josie I think the community your Dad came from had a great idea other than the smell. Did he live near one of the fishing communities? That would have made some really gross smells.

HeChicken where do you have your calenders made. That is an awesome idea. I don't think I'd have time to get one done this year but I could compile stuff next year for one. I am always looking for something my kids won't think is an unnecessary gift.

I have a feeder made out of guttering as well. Mine is plastic. I had it mounted to a wall but the chickens started roosting on it and it was not faring well. So we made feet for it. I still have it but don't really use it much.

So here is something that has me very upset. Somewhat related. I just learned my 3 year old granddaughter has Whooping cough. It makes me angry to be quite frank. She just started pre-school in September. I am sure she must have picked it up from another child there. What makes me angry is I know that they were vaccinating her as a baby. But this son and his wife aren't very responsible people sometimes. I can't help but wonder if they didn't complete her shots. I thought that this would have been something they would be on top of because my son is adamant about following every single rule they give them, like no nuts until age whatever and none of this and none of that. I am just feeling so upset that that sweet little girl has to go through this and it is so dangerous. I hadn't even heard of any outbreaks on the news about it.

So sorry to hear about your granddaughter. I had whooping cough as a kid. I don't remember it being that bad although my parents now tell me I ran temps of over 104 and they were really worried. I guess that was before the vaccine was even available. I hope your granddaughter recovers quickly from it.

Uh oh - my guttering is the vinyl/plastic too - hopefully they won't try to roost on it. Since it is attached to the wall, only the very little ones would have room to roost.

I used to do the bury the compost thing at my old house too, and it did work great. However in the winter when the ground is frozen, it is harder to dig the holes, so if the chooks will scratch it into their bedding to where I can't see it, I'm hoping it will compost along with the straw and poop.

I've used several sites to do the calendars but the past few years I've used MyPublisher and been very happy with them. The print quality is awesome and they are printed on nice, thick cardstock so they don't feel flimsy. The spiral binding is high quality and the holes punched all the way through are able to hold up to the calendar being on the wall a whole year. I took a look at the Zazzle site last night and though their calendars also get good reviews, I thought they were pretty pricey. They are $27 for the 81/2 by 11 size, whereas on MyPublisher that size is $19.99 and you can get the larger 10x13 for $29.99. Plus, they almost always offer some kind of discount, especially around this time of year. In past years, I would order and save 30% and a couple weeks closer to Christmas they would come out with a sale offering 40% off. So this year I decided to wait and not order at the first sale, and wait for that 40% offer. I could have ordered over the Thanksgiving weekend and saved 35% but I held off, being very smart (I thought), waiting for the 40% offer. It never came and last night I placed the order for the 30% off. Kicking myself I didn't just order 2 weeks ago and then I'd already have them wrapped and under the tree by now. AND I would have saved an extra 5%. Sigh. Still, since I have to order 10 of them for all of the family members I buy for, saving 30% is still a significant savings.