Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

It's supposed to be 72 today & tomorrow, wow I will take that, it's about 57 here right now. It's supposed to rain Sat. & then be back to the 40s for two days, ugh that is going to be hard after 70s. I have to go pick up some pallets today in Arkansas City. I'm going to use them for building my goat shelter. It's just going to have 3 sides & I have some of that corrugated roofing left from my new coop I thought I would use for the top if I have enough. The shelter is only going to be 4 ft tall, so surely they won't tax me since I can't stand up in it.

You may want to keep track of your expenses so you can give them the value if there is a problem.

I received a letter from the county telling me they have exempted my coop due to value! The letter I wrote paid off - literally. They just cannot put a value on it more than what you spent to build the structure.

 

[chicken danz]

So far the chicks are doing good from what I can tell. I'm using the ecogrow 20 this time around and they are quite. They come out and go back under they are so cute. Are they usually this quite in the beginning?

Chicks are fairly quiet as long as they are fed, watered and at the right temperature. You should just hear happy cheeps now and then.
Chickies Duckies I hope your hen is doing okay. I almost hate to post advice right now since it seems I've been on a roll of being wrong!

I must be loosing my mind.
Anyway you might try giving her some oil and see if that helps it work it's way through her system. I had a duck with something stuck and Josie recommended that and it worked. I thought I was going to loose her. Other than that I'd get on line and learn to do a crop surgery. Not a fun thing to do I am sure. It goes back to what I was saying about strings and twine though. Those are the things that have caused problems in my birds. Having an old farm stead here there are tons of things in the ground that resurface after a rain or something. There just isn't any way to get it all picked up. Luckily to my knowledge I haven't lost any birds to ingesting stuff. It's a wonder.
I have so much to do the next couple of weeks. I really need to get myself in gear. I guess the weather is going down hill again for a couple days this weekend. I need every day to be good dry and warm so I can get things done.
I am going to be on the go so much.
Thanks Deerfield. I am glad all is well. I love the laundry soap by the way. I corrected my oversight by warming mine up again and it is great now. It seems to do a nice job of cleaning. My next step is to make the castile soap. I found a recipe to do it in a crock pot which seems really simple. I like things that cut some of the labor process and my time and attention. If it helps my dry skin it would be worth a mint to me. I could buy stock in lotion companies.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Oh I found a couple sites on DIY things and I remember someone saying they have a HE washer and wasnt sure about the laundry soap,, well the site said you add the powder directly to the drum. Hope this helps..
I am being stalked by an owl, a coyote and hawks. Yesterday morning I was late getting the birds out and happened to look out and see a coyote sniffing the coops. The coop is maybe75 feet from the house

This was taken from my front porch. The coyote was on the back side and the far side and came up along the tree line to the back and escaped into the woods. The day before that , just before roost time my daughter ran in and told me that there was an owl. Sure enough he was sitting in a tree to the left of the coop watching. We sat out there and waited for them to all get in and of course the hawks are always there... UGH!!! what does everyone do to control this problem???

 

[pikeman94]

Oh I found a couple sites on DIY things and I remember someone saying they have a HE washer and wasnt sure about the laundry soap,, well the site said you add the powder directly to the drum. Hope this helps..
I am being stalked by an owl, a coyote and hawks. Yesterday morning I was late getting the birds out and happened to look out and see a coyote sniffing the coops. The coop is maybe75 feet from the house

This was taken from my front porch. The coyote was on the back side and the far side and came up along the tree line to the back and escaped into the woods. The day before that , just before roost time my daughter ran in and told me that there was an owl. Sure enough he was sitting in a tree to the left of the coop watching. We sat out there and waited for them to all get in and of course the hawks are always there... UGH!!! what does everyone do to control this problem???

Since I have no love for coyotes, click <BOOM>. A .223 or a .243 would do nicely. Just enough to humanely remove the antagonist from the gene pool. The owl is a different story as I know most are Federally protected. The hawks I am not too sure about.

 

[tazcat70]

Karen, I found a dry laundry soap recipe that I am gathering supplies for. I just don't have the space to store the liquid. I am getting so excited about it. How crazy is that.

I am so glad you all had fun on the trip to Good Shepard. I loved seeing the pictures.

In fact I am loving everyone's pictures, barns, birds, etc. They are great.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Since I have no love for coyotes, click <BOOM>. A .223 or a .243 would do nicely. Just enough to humanely remove the antagonist from the gene pool. The owl is a different story as I know most are Federally protected. The hawks I am not too sure about.

Yes sir, I always carry a couple different guns when I walk out. I just worry about when I am not outside.. This was very close to the house and I have inside dogs that I am sure the coyote could smell.. Anyway yes I would have no reserves protecting what is mine from ANYTHING ...S.S.S. is a very well known term around here. But what about deterring while you are not out there???? My DS suggested hanging the culprit in a tree so his friends could see that this place does not welcome his kind,, kinda like they do in pirate movies lol...

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Yes sir, I always carry a couple different guns when I walk out. I just worry about when I am not outside.. This was very close to the house and I have inside dogs that I am sure the coyote could smell.. Anyway yes I would have no reserves protecting what is mine from ANYTHING ...S.S.S. is a very well known term around here. But what about deterring while you are not out there???? My DS suggested hanging the culprit in a tree so his friends could see that this place does not welcome his kind,, kinda like they do in pirate movies lol...

I don't know what to tell you to do when you're away. I have the same problem because I like for them to get out and run around in an area larger than I care to enclose. I have an electric fence but that doesn't stop anything from the air and won't stop a starving coyote or fox. I read somewhere that having a couple of geese are great deterrents to hawks. The problem with that is that geese are really Big birds and do I really want a big substantial noisy gaggle of geese? Another suggestion I've read is to get some large black chickens like Jersey Giants and they mimic the look of crows, which are a natural predator of hawks. I don't know, then I'll have a giant black rooster trying to mate my basic flock members and a big bird like that might be a lot of wear and tear on my hens. I'm still trying to figure it out. Suggestions of string crisscrossed over the top of the chicken yard with shiny CD's dangling from them and other things have been made but, gosh, if I'm going to have to do all that, I might as well build a gigantic enclosure and DH is not going to go for that look in this lifetime. So, let me know what you decide.

I wish a simple sign would do: Owls, Hawks, Foxes, Coyotes, Bob Cats, Dogs, Rats, Weasels and Consistently Annoying People not welcome here! LOL! Then we wouldn't have to worry about things that just turn it all into one hot mess, i.e., dead, smelly carcasses, shiny CD dangly things, etc. Let me know what you figure out, I could use some tips for things that don't look horrid or smell bad!

 

[Trish44]

Since I have no love for coyotes, click <BOOM>. A .223 or a .243 would do nicely. Just enough to humanely remove the antagonist from the gene pool. The owl is a different story as I know most are Federally protected. The hawks I am not too sure about.

Yep hawks are also protected.

I don't know what to tell you to do when you're away. I have the same problem because I like for them to get out and run around in an area larger than I care to enclose. I have an electric fence but that doesn't stop anything from the air and won't stop a starving coyote or fox. I read somewhere that having a couple of geese are great deterrents to hawks. The problem with that is that geese are really Big birds and do I really want a big substantial noisy gaggle of geese? Another suggestion I've read is to get some large black chickens like Jersey Giants and they mimic the look of crows, which are a natural predator of hawks. I don't know, then I'll have a giant black rooster trying to mate my basic flock members and a big bird like that might be a lot of wear and tear on my hens. I'm still trying to figure it out. Suggestions of string crisscrossed over the top of the chicken yard with shiny CD's dangling from them and other things have been made but, gosh, if I'm going to have to do all that, I might as well build a gigantic enclosure and DH is not going to go for that look in this lifetime. So, let me know what you decide.

I wish a simple sign would do: Owls, Hawks, Foxes, Coyotes, Bob Cats, Dogs, Rats, Weasels and Consistently Annoying People not welcome here! LOL! Then we wouldn't have to worry about things that just turn it all into one hot mess, i.e., dead, smelly carcasses, shiny CD dangly things, etc. Let me know what you figure out, I could use some tips for things that don't look horrid or smell bad!

Wouldn't that be nice if we all could just put up a sign & the animals could read it, lol. I know we have most of the predators to chickens right here at our place & a lot of them are out at night because my GPs are working all night long. When it comes morning they're just pooped out & sleeping in the yard. If they heard something though they would get up.

Well I have to go run the errands I couldn't run yesterday due to not knowing where the truck keys were. I can't blame anyone for that but myself either, I'm the one that mis-placed them, arrgghhh. It's cloudy & windy here today too & not as warm because of that. It's supposed to rain all weekend.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Here's a really good video about some birds on a remote island eating plastic stuff and other trash. It's so sad. Really makes you think about what people are doing to the world.....and makes me wonder whether I should even put chickens into my backyard!! Blah, I have a big job ahead of me. Link:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=377714522327361

^ all above people: Is it harmful for chickens to eat dog poo? Because my dog leaves bombs around our yard regularly
I hope it all turns out all right I would be super sad if that happened to one of my chickens!!

Ugh. It is sad. I would do the best I could to remove plastic, shiny things and any string. String is the worst -- you don't want to have a bag of feed with a loose string on it anywhere near the chickens cause they just don't have good sense and will go right for that string. I had to pull it out of a chickens mouth before, but it did come easily, unlike Maidenwolf's ill fortune with yarn.

Chickens will graze through horse and goat manure and that's considered just normal chicken behavior. Lots of people have LGD's (Livestock Guardian Dogs) that live with their chickens and I'm sure they aren't out there scooping poop or, worse, diapering their dogs, so I don't think you have any worries with the dog poo. Go for it girl!

You may want to keep track of your expenses so you can give them the value if there is a problem.

I received a letter from the county telling me they have exempted my coop due to value! The letter I wrote paid off - literally. They just cannot put a value on it more than what you spent to build the structure.

Good job, sunflowerparrot!!!!

Chicks are fairly quiet as long as they are fed, watered and at the right temperature. You should just hear happy cheeps now and then.
Chickies Duckies I hope your hen is doing okay. I almost hate to post advice right now since it seems I've been on a roll of being wrong!

I must be loosing my mind.
Anyway you might try giving her some oil and see if that helps it work it's way through her system. I had a duck with something stuck and Josie recommended that and it worked. I thought I was going to loose her. Other than that I'd get on line and learn to do a crop surgery. Not a fun thing to do I am sure. It goes back to what I was saying about strings and twine though. Those are the things that have caused problems in my birds. Having an old farm stead here there are tons of things in the ground that resurface after a rain or something. There just isn't any way to get it all picked up. Luckily to my knowledge I haven't lost any birds to ingesting stuff. It's a wonder.
I have so much to do the next couple of weeks. I really need to get myself in gear. I guess the weather is going down hill again for a couple days this weekend. I need every day to be good dry and warm so I can get things done.
I am going to be on the go so much.
Thanks Deerfield. I am glad all is well. I love the laundry soap by the way. I corrected my oversight by warming mine up again and it is great now. It seems to do a nice job of cleaning. My next step is to make the castile soap. I found a recipe to do it in a crock pot which seems really simple. I like things that cut some of the labor process and my time and attention. If it helps my dry skin it would be worth a mint to me. I could buy stock in lotion companies.

Danz, what kind of oil do you think? Mineral oil? I'm going to file this away just in case something like this comes up later. Oh, I'm glad you found a crock pot method. That's the way I make mine and I really like being able to watch it do it's thing!

Since I have no love for coyotes, click <BOOM>. A .223 or a .243 would do nicely. Just enough to humanely remove the antagonist from the gene pool. The owl is a different story as I know most are Federally protected. The hawks I am not too sure about.

My understanding is that hawks are protected too.

Karen, I found a dry laundry soap recipe that I am gathering supplies for. I just don't have the space to store the liquid. I am getting so excited about it. How crazy is that.

I am so glad you all had fun on the trip to Good Shepard. I loved seeing the pictures.

In fact I am loving everyone's pictures, barns, birds, etc. They are great.

Taz, I get it! I enjoy doing laundry with my homemade soap far more than I ever did with the old name brands! It does save me a substantial amount with all these people in the house. I mean, I'm not going to get rich from the endeavor but every little savings adds up. I'm sure the powder works just as well as the liquid. It's good stuff! So you can probably make your own powdered automatic dishwashing soap from that base as well. I make a liquid for my dishwasher from the laundry soap, just add a bit of citric acid and salt and it is awesome. A little diluted white vinegar for the rinsing agent works like a charm on the spots!

We'll have to make a trip up in the van, everyone can book a seat space plus space to bring back birds and we'll go. I took DH's car for better gas mileage this trip and it was a good thing since I over shot the turn off by 30 minutes! LOL! Life.

Yes sir, I always carry a couple different guns when I walk out. I just worry about when I am not outside.. This was very close to the house and I have inside dogs that I am sure the coyote could smell.. Anyway yes I would have no reserves protecting what is mine from ANYTHING ...S.S.S. is a very well known term around here. But what about deterring while you are not out there???? My DS suggested hanging the culprit in a tree so his friends could see that this place does not welcome his kind,, kinda like they do in pirate movies lol...

Maybe what we need is an automated scarecrow that comes to life from any airborne approaches. It can yell, shake it's fist and let go with a thunderous fart. Wouldn't be our fault if the hawk/owl mistook it for a gunshot, would it.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I don't know what to tell you to do when you're away. I have the same problem because I like for them to get out and run around in an area larger than I care to enclose. I have an electric fence but that doesn't stop anything from the air and won't stop a starving coyote or fox. I read somewhere that having a couple of geese are great deterrents to hawks. The problem with that is that geese are really Big birds and do I really want a big substantial noisy gaggle of geese? Another suggestion I've read is to get some large black chickens like Jersey Giants and they mimic the look of crows, which are a natural predator of hawks. I don't know, then I'll have a giant black rooster trying to mate my basic flock members and a big bird like that might be a lot of wear and tear on my hens. I'm still trying to figure it out. Suggestions of string crisscrossed over the top of the chicken yard with shiny CD's dangling from them and other things have been made but, gosh, if I'm going to have to do all that, I might as well build a gigantic enclosure and DH is not going to go for that look in this lifetime. So, let me know what you decide.

I wish a simple sign would do: Owls, Hawks, Foxes, Coyotes, Bob Cats, Dogs, Rats, Weasels and Consistently Annoying People not welcome here! LOL! Then we wouldn't have to worry about things that just turn it all into one hot mess, i.e., dead, smelly carcasses, shiny CD dangly things, etc. Let me know what you figure out, I could use some tips for things that don't look horrid or smell bad!

Wouldnt that be perfect lol. A sign!!!
I do have a black cochin, he is the biggest in the yard, and other big boys like my RIR and welsummer but they are not black. Maybe I should hatch out a few more black cochins even the hens will be huge with those. I do have black langshans and and they will be tall.. I will have to try some things and see how they react. I dont have an LGD. My dogs are inside dogs all of hunting genes so I wouldnt trust them out there alone. That instinct in dogs is just too strong. I have been wanting a herder or watcher type dog but with 3 already I just cant do that.. I will let you all know what I find to try..