Consolidated Kansas

[ChooksChick]

Quote: You guys are having such troubles!! I'm so sorry! I've gotten itchy just thinking about all the stuff that breeds up in the spring when it's wet out and after a winter of tight spaces and little time for good cleaning, I'm feeling claustrophobic. I just added Oxine and Denagard to my stamped leg band order...and disposable booties.

I wonder if anyone makes little hazmat suits for poultry...

Just checking back in . The last few weeks have been very busy. I'm halfway through worming my girls (wazine 2 weeks ago), and my Welsumer laid another egg (the first one in months). Of course we can't eat it because I just Ivermectined everyone YESTERDAY. Sheesh. Today it was 43 degrees and snowing outside. Criminy.

Butch (the roo) is getting a foot treated again. He is limping on it. There was a tiny scab on the bottom with what looked like a grain of sand on the inside, but no puss or drainage. We cleaned off the scab and the kernal and then used iodine and triple antibiotic ointment on it and wrapped it. He is less than impressed with the vet wrap, but I don't want to get crud (literally) in the sore spot. I don't really want to take him to the vet, but I will if I have to. He is very special.

Pikeman, Sorry to hear about the hawk attack. That was one stubborn bird. Usually they fly off if you go out and wave at them. He must have been VERY hungry (or completely crazy). Go Mamma Bear.

Trish -- Hope the chickies get to feeling better. Those respiratory things are nasty and hard to beat.

Sorry about Butch. Glad you still have him. I have his twin now! Same fabulous attitude, manners and appearance. I don't need him for any breeding, but it's the same as with Butch- a special bird. If you need to go to the vet, I use Gentle Care Animal Hospital here in Lawrence. They have 2 chicken doctors there.

Hey there Jay Hawkers!
Thought I'd wave a wing and say Cocka Doodle Groovy!
I'm New - Live in Coffeyville - Names Rooster - hope to learn lots from you all!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/756636/new-rooster-in-se-kansas


BTW - Anyone know where I can get Some Wellies or Buff Orphs around here? I need some Chickys!

Nice to have you here! There are lots of us in here and on FB swap group. I haven't any of what you're looking for, but good luck, just the same!

 

[chicken danz]

Roosterlew sorry I failed to welcome you. It's that time of year where I feel like I run non-stop and my brain does stop due to overload. I know several people that raise what you want but not close to you.
I about froze while I was out feeding. I did take the camera though. My silly Bourbon Red boy would not show off for me. I took some pictures anyway. He is so impressive when he is all puffed out but you can see what pretty colors he has anyway. Click to enlarge pics.

Here he is with the two hens. Look at the difference in color!!!

Here is one of my new Barred rock pullets. Look at the definition of those lines.

And here is my new boy! He's in the bachelor pad right now.


And here is a pick of my exhibition orps. This hen these guys are standing by is huge. So you can imagine how tall these guys are ..and they aren't done growing yet.

And my blue slate Tom said he would show off even if Mr. Red wouldn't. I still think he is an awesome and beautiful boy!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Pikeman-- first and foremost-- keep all of that snow to yourself! I have just about had it.. actually I'm past "having it". My stress level has already gone above what I thought i could handle and to add more snow onto our home renovation and everything we are doing now... ARGH! We are actively selling off a bunch of stuff from the house and barn. I need nice weather to sell this stuff! I don't want to move it all!

So does that mean you'll be building another coop?

I have so many ideas for projects floating around in this little head of mine that I scarcely know what to do first. I love Frank's birds and am so happy with my BR cockerel and hen and two NH hens I got from him. I find myself having to hold back from getting more because I don't have the space to adequately care for too many more right now but my ultimate goal is to have a chicken yard full of really quality birds like these. Plus, I'm getting involved in the Aloha project so that is more birds coming. Then there are the turkeys and the ducks. I moved Miss Broody Duck to her own little broody quarters this morning with a couple dozen eggs. She wasn't happy with me but I'm hoping she'll settle down soon and accept the new place. She is low in the pecking order so kept getting kicked out of the nest she had chosen so the other ducks and chickens can lay in there, so it wasn't working out to let her stay in her preferred spot.

Well, it means I am already dreaming up my own Checoukan chicken barn for our new property... where ever that may be! But yes, they will be by themselves! ha! I wasn't looking for another breeding project, but I think at this point, I need to get rid of all of the layers I have and just do the nice heritage barred rocks and keep it easy. How is your barred rock cockerel doing? Is he pretty easy going and laid back like Frank's were?? They didn't seem the type to go flogging or jumping people. I liked that!

Okay all I really need some ideas. I have been loosing chicks cause they get pasty butt. It's the ones in the house. I have the bins cleaned out and disinfected. I have been disinfecting the waterers and everything. I used an thermometer and checked the temp and it is excellent.. right on 90 degrees under the light and they can move around. I tried bird grit that Josie recommended. I am feeding purina chick starter. I even stopped feeding FF to this group because I thought it might be a problem. I am still feeding it in the outside brooder though and they are doing great.

Hawkeye I have some great barred rocks I got from Eileen and they are the right size and body form. It's just that they don't have the fine barring that Franks do. I figured I could take Frank's roo and try to breed better bars into them. I am sure I have several boys in my chicks but I'm not wanting to wait that long for breeding. Since I only had him hold two pullets for me I don't want them to take up a special coop pen space.

I think I read just recently you shouldn't mix Corid with medicated feed. I believe you just do the Corid and use regular starter. I think the reason was that it made both ineffective??? I may have to go hunt up that article I read! I just don't recall what it was now. But I wonder if that is what you are getting?? That seems odd though... but hey, who knows!?

Ahhhh.... yeah, your other barred rocks are a lot nicer than mine. I have two of the hatchery quality rocks and they are small and look NOTHING like what is in my brooder in the garage! Are they even the same bird??? hahaha What a shock for me to go see Frank's farm and get a real education on Heritage breeds and what they SHOULD look like! It was soooooo fun! Don't you just want his set-up? It was amazing! Everything was automated!

Working on installing invisible fence for the dogs. Thought it was supposed to rain all day today but the sun is out? Burned a huge pile of brush yesterday that was in the horse pasture and have determined that my horses are terrified of my in laws! I think it is because they brought their dumb lab out with them and he chased them. He was immediately banned from visiting again unless he goes directly from the car to the fenced backyard. I have zero tolerance for horse chasing dogs. I had a mare that had been chased through barbed wire fencing as a young horse by dogs and her hind leg was always a mess and she had tendon issues.

Still have lots of work to do on chicken pens but they are working well so far. Need to build platforms for goose pools, finish installing fencing to separate birds etc. Never ending work!

We have been stripping wall paper in the nursery so it can get painted and set up. I am dying to get everything set up. We are moving the last of our stuff this weekend down to the house here and I can't wait to have our good mattress!! The one here is a full size and is getting older. It isn't terrible but I sleep soooo much better on the memory foam one. Not that either of them save me from midnight bathroom breaks!!! I am glad this little one only spent a few days last week with her head jammed into my bladder and she has moved a bit!

We did have a sonogram the other day because the Dr. was concerned because I am on the small side of normal and wanted to rule out low amniotic fluid. Everything looked great and all our measurements were right in the middle of normal! Yeah! Was so incredible to see this 4-5 pound baby in there. She stuck out her tongue and grabbed her foot during the sono. The ultrasound tech was having a grand time with us, she said she was quite the little show off baby!

A lot of your post didn't come through! Huh. But anyway, we should get in one of those dinner dates in the "city" soon! I think our move will be pretty fast. It looks like we're wrapping things up here. On the other hand, we'll be up in Wichita a LOT. Simply because my DH's parents are here and his brother and his family are here and we hang out with them a lot. So we have "free" places to stay, so that will encourage us to come visit more often.

In which case, I can still arrange to meet people. What about my little silkie hen? She was on Denagard for about 7 days and then I pulled her and put her back with the flock. A few days went by and her symptoms either came back... OR they never really fully went away and have come back again. She's back on Denagard. I was thinking about switching to TetrOxy, but I was gone all day and didn't have a chance to switch her. Thoughts???

VERY cool about your sonogram! That is really exciting! I hope you got a lot of pictures! She's really getting big! Have you narrowed down your names yet??

Sorry for the yucky picture, but one of the quarantined chickens poo'd this...blood? Normal? Treatments? I am about to take them back to the guy I bought them from! I wonder if he'd give me my money back? I am certain at least the sneezing one was sick when I got it. I got it Saturday night and noticed the sneezing the next day. What do yall think?

Coccidiosis--classic symptom. (see below)

Looks like you have a coccidia infection. Do you have any corid to mix in the water for them?

MrsDanaMiller: X2. Agreed, Corid is your answer. BTW-- this is something a LOT of chickens get. Even if you raise them yourself, this is something they can get anyway. Using medicated chick starter helps them fight it off when they are babies. But not always.

We're supposed to get snow today too. It looks like it, but it just hasn't come down yet. Very dark and gloomy and cold here.
I spent over an hour loading and unloading incubators. I am only hatching a few breeds right now and I can see I am going to have way too many eggs to hatch when I start hatching all the new ones. I honestly think I am going to have to buy more incubators. I only have capacity for about 800 chicken eggs right now plus whatever is in the hatcher. Sounds like a lot but when you get big eggs like Turkey, duck, peacock and goose eggs in there you loose space really quickly. I ordered a new hatching tray for the goose and peacock eggs but you sure can't get many eggs in them. You can hatch maybe 20 or so in the space you could hatch around 85 chicken eggs. When the guineas and the pheasant start laying that is a bunch more. I have one incubator completely full of duck eggs and it only took a week to gather that many.
DH is going to kill me if he sees me ordering another incubator. He thinks I have way to much to do as it is. But the point is to make some money on some quality birds. To do that means more hatching. I think I need one of those big commercial incubators and a building to put it in!!!

It sounds like a fine plan to me! hahaha! Did you ever get to see Frank's incubation set up? What about his brooders? That was pretty cool. I didn't see his incubators, though. I wonder how many he hatches at a time?? Did he say?

Hawkeye, it just makes me sick to think about you moving. I will PM you later with a little scrap of info from my DH. It's nothing to get too excited about, just someone in HR to contact directly.

Gotta run...

Thanks, Deerfield! I think we're past hoping anyway.

We've got people coming out to fix some of the siding on the house and the 'people door' on the garage and we need to get our barn cleaned out. We're going to be purging in a BIG way starting as soon as I can get things listed on CraigsList. What doesn't sell, we'll offer free at the end, and what doesn't go will be taken to the dump. Sigh. Just thinking of it all gives me a headache! I got rid of the kid's toys today-- dumped about half of their stuff at the Goodwill this morning! They had no idea! I don't think they will miss it either. Most of it was all stuff they had grown out of. (mostly....) <insert evil cackle>

I need to go through their closets and get rid of outgrown clothing and maybe even pare down on just what they have. We just have a ton of stuff. I can't imagine moving it all.

You guys are having such troubles!! I'm so sorry! I've gotten itchy just thinking about all the stuff that breeds up in the spring when it's wet out and after a winter of tight spaces and little time for good cleaning, I'm feeling claustrophobic. I just added Oxine and Denagard to my stamped leg band order...and disposable booties.

I wonder if anyone makes little hazmat suits for poultry...

Sorry about Butch. Glad you still have him. I have his twin now! Same fabulous attitude, manners and appearance. I don't need him for any breeding, but it's the same as with Butch- a special bird. If you need to go to the vet, I use Gentle Care Animal Hospital here in Lawrence. They have 2 chicken doctors there.
Nice to have you here! There are lots of us in here and on FB swap group. I haven't any of what you're looking for, but good luck, just the same!

Well, next time, I am going with all open air concept! I want a big chicken barn with big doors that open at either end for air flow and no closed up tight places. I really loved talking to you about your coop ideas! Hazmat suits for poultry-- you better register that idea quick! I can see that becoming a huge commodity! hahaha! I didn't think about adding Oxine to my water... I should do that!!

 

[HEChicken]

How is your barred rock cockerel doing? Is he pretty easy going and laid back like Frank's were?? They didn't seem the type to go flogging or jumping people. I liked that!

So far he seems very laid back, which I really like. All of Frank's birds are very wary of me - in that sense I think you guys made the right choice getting chicks so they won't be so afraid of people. But the cockerel seems to be warming to me and often comes to stand quite close to me, so I think he is learning that I'm not to be feared. The hens still don't come close but that's okay. I have a few other "no touches" too, included a couple I raised from chicks, and its only a problem if I need to treat them for something. Even then, if I plan ahead I can always wait until they are roosting and they're sleepy and then grab them. Bwahahaha.

Danz, what a great set of pictures. Both of your tom turkeys are beautiful - I love the Blue Slate especially. I wish I had unlimited space and resources and then I'd probably have a trio of about 8 different breeds of turkey.

 

[sharol]

Today I changed the wrap on his foot. He is still favoring it and keeping it pulled up quite a bit. He let me clean it and pick at it and treat it with ointments and iodine and wrap it without fussing or squirming. He is such a sweetheart.

My vet is pretty knowledgeable about chickens, thank goodness. Other than protecting the foot, he seems fine, but chickens don't show that they are sick very much until they are REALLY sick.

I just don't know what is normal on a roosters foot. Compared to the hens, his are both very large and (for want of a better word) fatter. They pretty much look alike. I just wish I knew what to do.

Chooks said, "Sorry about Butch. Glad you still have him. I have his twin now! Same fabulous attitude, manners and appearance. I don't need him for any breeding, but it's the same as with Butch- a special bird. If you need to go to the vet, I use Gentle Care Animal Hospital here in Lawrence. They have 2 chicken doctors there."

 

[sharol]

Oh, I forgot, my occasional layer (Welsumer) actually laid 2 eggs this week. It figures. I just treated them with ivermectin, so we can't eat them, but they are sure pretty. She hasn't laid reliably since her best friend died when they were about a year old. These are the first dark brown eggs in several months.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh, I forgot, my occasional layer (Welsumer) actually laid 2 eggs this week. It figures. I just treated them with ivermectin, so we can't eat them, but they are sure pretty. She hasn't laid reliably since her best friend died when they were about a year old. These are the first dark brown eggs in several months.

You can always incubate them.....bwahahaha

 

[Trish44]

Danz, that is just a beautiful turkey! I can see the difference in the Barred Rocks you were talking about, the lines sure are more clear. The blue ones really are blurred, but you would expect them to be since they're crossed. They're still pretty though. I don't want to spend that much for birds just for my laying flock & in fact just have been collecting new chicks to add to my new birds for my main coop so I'll have new ones coming up in a few months. I have a couple of hens that I know aren't laying at all & haven't for quite awhile & I still don't know if the two that are still sick are going to make it. I'm going to stick with the Tylan & hope they all get better. Those two are the main ones that are showing really bad signs of being sick. There are others that are sneezing a bit, but nothing like the others. I've been keeping them isolated in the coop & they sure aren't happy with me about that. It's a fight every time I need to go in to collect eggs, feed, or whatever because they're crowded at the run door to get out. I have to throw snacks in really fast & distract them to even get in there.

I went down to Orschelyn's tonight to get the chicks I was wanting, but the shipment didn't come, so while I was there I ran into my friend & ended up going to her place & helping her load a pile of livestock panels onto her trailer to bring to my place. She had asked me last night if I wanted to buy them from her because she had bought them & then they didn't work out for her pigs, so she sold them to me so she could go buy some hog panels instead. So now I have enough panels to do my hoop house, another hoop house & additions to the goat pen besides maybe a couple of gates out of shorter pieces. It was just too good of a deal to pass up. I hope my DH feels that way when he sees what I paid for them, but he would have paid close to that if we had gone & bought them new for just enough to make my one hoop house. You have to jump on those kind of deals when you have the opportunity. Now I have to get him to buy the wood for the frame parts. It was so cold out there loading up those panels, the wind just goes right through you, but I figured it was going to be worse tomorrow with a good chance for rain & then snow the next day, so we had to go ahead & just do it. She was needing the money, so I figured what the heck we might as well get it done.

A friend of mine came over earlier this evening to get some eggs & had her little grandson with her. They were standing looking at the turkeys while I finished up feeding my birds & my tom was really showing off displaying for them. He really seems to like women a lot, he just displays & gobbles a bunch when any female is near, what a show off. I had her little grandson come over & watch me bottle feed the baby goat & picked her up & let him pet her, he seemed to enjoy that. My two GPs aren't used to small children & they weren't sure if they liked him or not, he's kind of a pistol.

 

[sharol]

You are an enabler, aren't you? I doubt they are fertile. She is pretty standoffish with Butch, and he doesn't get many opportunities with her.

You can always incubate them.....bwahahaha

 

[Trish44]

You are an enabler, aren't you? I doubt they are fertile. She is pretty standoffish with Butch, and he doesn't get many opportunities with her.

We're all enablers aren't we?