Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

That's good to hear as I was leaning more towards a Chevy than a Ford anyway....I may have to drive down and check that place out. There is one I am looking at up near Park City that I like because it has both a 5th wheel hitch and a regular ball hitch so then I wouldn't be limited on looking at trailers. If I can get a good deal on it I'm still inclined to go back for a second look but without my car I wasn't able to get up there and look. Maybe this week....

The guy down by us has LOTS of trucks. I noticed that half of them have 5th wheel hitches on them too. He has a big selection. I don't know what all he has in gas and diesel engines, though. Not from just driving by it every day. I will say that with a diesel engine, if you aren't going to drive it more than once a week, you do need to hook both batteries up to a charger to keep the glow plugs from killing the batteries. The glow plugs keep a constant draw on the batteries, but it's VERY low... so even if you don't turn it over but once a week, you're fine. But we will go 2 and 3 weeks without starting up the truck, so to insure that it starts up, we have it on the charger. We bought a very cheap charger that is so small, it fits under the hood of the truck and sits in there and has two sets of cables that go to either battery and you can plug it into a wall outlet. We bought it especially for the truck. It's cheap and works perfect! Easy to move, because it's so small. SO there is a downside to diesel, but if you don't mind that part, it's really a whole lot nice than a gas engine. I love stick shifts in my trucks, so that's the other down side. I don't think you can get a diesel with an automatic transmission. Never heard of one, anyway. It doesn't bother me, but if you can't drive stick, that might be the killing factor for a diesel. On the UP side.... it prevents all of your friends and neighbors from wanting to borrow your truck! LOL I had one friend in particular that kept asking to borrow it and I finally said, sure come and get it. She didn't know it was diesel and freaked out when she saw it was a stick shift and then I explained that you have to let the glow plugs run for a minute before turning the engine over. hehehehe (sometimes I feel so evil)

 

[Hawkeye95]

I just ran out to gather eggs and found one of my old Marns hens sitting in a nest. She is near death. Can't find anything but a cut on her foot. It is kind of sad cause I know she is one of my old originals and has served me well. I brought her in and gave her a good warm water bath, wrapped her in a towel and sat her on a heat vent. I should just butcher her but I know I would feel guilty about it. She should die soon and that will be that. Even these birds I don't have a particular attachment to ...it breaks my heart to see them die. I suspect she is just old and weak and the cold was too much for her.

Oh wow, I'm so sorry Danz! I would do the same thing. I couldn't butcher her either at this stage since she was an original. Poor girl. At least she will die well. Better than freezing out there. I basically did the same for my poor silkie that died. I figured if I couldn't do anything else, at least he was wrapped in a towel and in a warm house. You are doing well by her.

 

[HEChicken]

That's what the quote looks like but its what you wrote about Braums and I just wanted to say I agree whole-heartedly. Years ago when I started looking for better products, I watched a video that I think I found on the Braum's website about how they handle their products, animals, by-products etc., and I also remember that part about they won't truck it further than 300 miles, so every Braum's store is within a 300-mile radius of the plant. I was pretty impressed at that time with the quality of their products and have stuck with them ever since. Since we moved our closest one is quite a bit further away than where we used to live so I've sometimes had to break down and get milk elsewhere as it wasn't worth the drive just for a gallon of milk. But I do try to plan ahead and get milk when I'm passing one if I know we're getting somewhat low.

As for meat, I buy that directly from local farmers - they drop it off at the processor and I pick it up from there. I really like doing it that way and buying a quarter to a half at a time.

 

[HEChicken]

The guy down by us has LOTS of trucks. I noticed that half of them have 5th wheel hitches on them too. He has a big selection. I don't know what all he has in gas and diesel engines, though. Not from just driving by it every day. I will say that with a diesel engine, if you aren't going to drive it more than once a week, you do need to hook both batteries up to a charger to keep the glow plugs from killing the batteries. The glow plugs keep a constant draw on the batteries, but it's VERY low... so even if you don't turn it over but once a week, you're fine. But we will go 2 and 3 weeks without starting up the truck, so to insure that it starts up, we have it on the charger. We bought a very cheap charger that is so small, it fits under the hood of the truck and sits in there and has two sets of cables that go to either battery and you can plug it into a wall outlet. We bought it especially for the truck. It's cheap and works perfect! Easy to move, because it's so small. SO there is a downside to diesel, but if you don't mind that part, it's really a whole lot nice than a gas engine. I love stick shifts in my trucks, so that's the other down side. I don't think you can get a diesel with an automatic transmission. Never heard of one, anyway. It doesn't bother me, but if you can't drive stick, that might be the killing factor for a diesel. On the UP side.... it prevents all of your friends and neighbors from wanting to borrow your truck! LOL I had one friend in particular that kept asking to borrow it and I finally said, sure come and get it. She didn't know it was diesel and freaked out when she saw it was a stick shift and then I explained that you have to let the glow plugs run for a minute before turning the engine over. hehehehe (sometimes I feel so evil)

LOL - that is too funny. I only drive a stick too and don't really care if the new truck is stick or auto. Next time you drive by, would you mind noting the name of this place? I might be able to find a website where I can let my fingers do the walking before I actually go down there and look in person.

Danz, I'm sorry about your old girl. I have one still from my original batch too, and she definitely has a home for life here as I wouldn't be able to bring myself to process her after she's been through it all with me - move, fox attack and so on. Although it is always sad to lose them, I think we have to remind ourselves how much better the lives of our birds than if they had lived in a commercial factory. I'm glad you are taking such good care of her and she will die knowing she was cherished to the end.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Chickies I dont see the sale you are talking about at ideal poultry

Hawkeye- yes I am just wanting pets.

Looks like they sold out. Go to their web site and sign up for their email. They send out specials that way. They have been having banties on sale almost every week, but this is the first time you could get just the cochins.

They still have the red or black broilers for 90 cents each.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I drive by a Braums Farm sign when I go into Emporia. Never have gone down that road, but I think they just have cattle there. It should be close to Sharol?

They have a second store in Emporia now.

 

[Trish44]

I used to buy from Braum's a lot when I lived in Derby, but haven't since I've been here. When they first opened stores their ice cream had no artificial ingredients, but now they have all kinds of artificial colors & flavors in them. We used to when my son was small only eat things that were natural with no artificial colors or flavors & as little preservatives as we could find. I was in a food CO-OP & we ordered through the health food store in Rose Hill, she is still there & has a very nice store now, but I'm too far away now to drive there much. Hawkeye, have you tried fresh goat's milk for your son? My son was allergic to cow's milk too when he was younger & I had to put him on goat's milk for awhile. We got fresh goat's milk from a lady down towards Haysville or Mulvane at the time, of course that was back in the 80s. It's really not bad when it's really fresh, the older it gets the stronger the taste becomes, so it's better to only get small quantities & use it up faster. He really didn't mind it at the time.

I think it's crazy now when the economy has been so bad for these towns to crack down on people with a few chickens. I agree, the trend is to go back to being more self-sufficient & I have seen more young people coming to buy fresh farm eggs & more of them getting interested in having their own chickens & other animals for meat. I was really surprised at the young guy that showed up at my house on his way back to Dallas who bought 7 dozen eggs from me to take back home with him. He found my ad on Craigslist & contacted me. He says he comes up every couple of months & will be contacting me when he comes for more eggs. Anyway, I think towns need to relax their laws about chickens & things like that rather than tightening them up. For some people that's about all the protein they get is those eggs, so I say let them have them.

HEChicken, yes a truck is pretty essential when you live outside town & have to haul things a lot. If you build things like we all seem to do with chickens & other animals it seems like we're always having to go to the lumber yard to get wood for this or that. It's pretty hard to get long pieces of wood inside a car, it can be done, but it's not easy. We have this old clunker we keep around here that we just use to haul & to get us out of here if it snows much & it has been a pretty handy thing. We bought it from an individual & you might consider that. The car lots price trucks really high & you can sometimes find a better deal if you buy from a person. You can always have it checked out by someone before you buy it, that's why my DH did when we got this one. He had a mechanic at the time who had his own shop & he just took it there & had him check it over first for major defects. We have had it for quite a few years now & knock on wood it has served us well. It has some things that the kid did to it before we got it that aren't great & he beat it up some, but it's an old truck & you would expect it to have some damage. We don't have to worry so much about it getting beat up more that way. It is a 4 wheel drive & eats gas so we don't drive it much unless we have to & not that far any more, but it will get us to the lumber yard & places locally to pick up things.

Danz, the little rooster is getting acquainted today, he's lowest on the pecking order right now, so he's getting picked on some, but he seems fine. He's hanging around in the coop today, which is OK by me. He will eventually go in the breeder coop with his two hens when he gets some size, so he will be happy.

My DH said he was going to pick up wood for me tomorrow for the inside walls on my new coop, yay! He knows how antsy I'm getting to get it done. We're on the same page now with the walls at least, I showed him my drawing last night so he could understand what I'm planning. Hopefully it will be a little warmer tomorrow so I can get in there & do some things. I still need the plexiglass for the front windows, but I will have to make a trip back to Wichita for that. I don't think anyone down this way has any & if they do it would probably be too expensive. I just need some for the 4 front windows to put in for the winter. I will take it out in the summer & just have hardware cloth in there. As soon as we get this inside work done then I have to start working on the outside pens. I can't wait to get this thing done!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Chickies- I am sighned up for their news letter. That is were I bought my last batch of pullets. I will keep looking. I really want seremas or bantam cochins and I have the money I just need to find the birds.

 

[mstng67]

We have a chest freezer too and I do like to keep it full but sometimes I worry about what happens if it quits working and we lose the freezer full of meat.....

I have a pressure canner ready at a moments notice if something like that happens. We just ran out of canned chicken and my daughters are asking when I will do more. It is so easy to use for almost instant meals.

 

[HEChicken]

Interesting idea. I have a pressure canner but never thought of using it for meat - just vegetables. How do you use the canned meat when the time comes? I'm guessing since it would already be cooked, you just throw it in a stew or pot of spaghetti or something?