Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Well it's official, I've gone chick crazy. I went back to Orschelyn's this evening to get the chicks I went for yesterday that hadn't come in. I ended up with a lot more than I went for. What I did find though in addition to the ones I went for was some California White chicks. I have been wanting some of those because I read that they're even better layers than the leghorns. I have never seen anybody have them in the stores, so that to me was worth the extra drive. I'm figuring nobody around here will even know what they are unless they're like me & read about them. I did find the breeds I went for & also found hidden in the rainbow bin one lone little Welsummer pullet, so I grabbed her too. Those are just random breeds they have extra, so they put them in there & call them something fancy so people will buy them. I was kind of pleasantly surprised though to find that little pullet in there. I've got enough new chicks now in my brooder in the house to have a whole new flock. I got a little carried away, but I figure some of my hens are aging & the way I've been losing them this winter with the illnesses & earlier on the predator I will need some to fill in with. Who can have too many little fuzzy butts anyway? If I decide later I have too many I can always sell them. I went by my grand daughter's house on the way back to drop off some money my son had sent & everybody had to go out & see the baby chicks before I left.

My grand daughter is having some heart issues that the Drs. are trying to figure out right now. She just went to see a pediatric Cardiologist & they have her on a heart monitor. Those new monitors are really fancy these days. The one she has not only transmits to the Dr's office, but has a phone that calls her mom's cell & the Dr's office if she has a problem. How cool is that! I sure hope they find out what her problem is. She had a strange virus & had fluid around her heart & some pleurisy type pain in her lung & this heart thing started. She first had some irregular heartbeat issues & now is having tachycardia. It even beats too fast when she's sleeping. My heart issues also started after having a virus, but I was an adult then. I hate it that she has to deal with this at the age of 8.

Sorry about your granddaughter Trish. It could possibly be something she outgrows. Keep the faith. Does she have asthma? Just a question in general. I had heart issues and they discovered that it was occurring when my asthma was starting to act up before the signs were obvious. My heart was trying to compensate for lower blood oxygen level. It could be any number of things. My prayers are with you.

Originally Posted by RoosterLew

Trish44, Man that's a hard thing to deal with at 8. Prayers for all of you coming your way.

Okay. I have a cautionary tale for you all. I'm brooding the latest batch of 16 Aloha chicks that HEChicken incubated in her new R-Com bator. I went out to visit with the babies and decided their paper towels should be switched out. So I rolled up the paper towels, tossed them and then spread out the new paper towels. I was just enjoying watching them hustle around and peeping back at them when I thought I heard a peep from across the room. First, I thought something may have hatched in the Sportsman, although it's not time, still I checked. Nope, so I decided I was hearing things so I went back to the chicks and did a count. AAAAAaaaaahHHhhhhhh! Only 15 chicks! DD and I began frantically searching for the chick but we couldn't get it to peep at us so we looked under everything in the craft room with no luck. I recounted and sure enough, still only 15 chicks! I was standing by the brooder completely dumbfounded when I had a thought. What if the little chick had gotten rolled up in the paper towels? I told DD to check the paper towels that she had tossed for me. Sure enough! The little chick was wrapped up in the towels none the worse for wear! My stars! What next?

So funny! I've done that exact things before .....more times than I care to admit!!
Quote:

If by chance I wanted to butcher the hens that are sick, would that be a bad idea? Wouldn't cooking kill bacteria that are harmful to us? I'm gonna guess probably not, though.

I think you'd probably be alright butchering the hens because most bird diseases haven't transformed into human diseases but why take a chance? I've butchered a couple that got over heated or something non-disease related but that isn't quite as risky.
Quote:

I think I would trade out the printed paper for paper towels or a plain towel. Leg problems can result (or so I've read here) from slippery paper underfoot, and if newspaper is too slippery.... I got a couple of plain white towels from the dollar store and traded them out as they got soiled. it seemed cheaper to wash them than use paper towels. You will need larger quarters for them soon. You won't believe how fast they will grow and learn to escape.
Very cute. I have a buff orp, and as my daughter says, they look like chickens are supposed to look -- all fluffy and fat (mostly feathers in Marlena's case, though). Mine lays pinkish eggs.

X2. That paper is too slick and they could spraddle really easily. I use old towels as well. They look pretty ugly after many bins of chicks but they do well. Also the rubbery shelf liner with the holes in it works well and can be washed.

Well you guys aren't going to believe this. My feeding buddy whom I've always said was a homorphrodite cause he had rooster feathers, pointed hackle and saddle feathers, but never crowed, ever got bred by a rooster, never bred a hen, and never laid an egg surprised the heck out of me. It stood up and all this yellow fluid came out. I cleaned it up and sure enough it was egg. I called Josie in a panic and when she called me back I rushed around trying to do some makeshift vetting.
I had a huge syringe which I attached a piece of silicone tubing to, and flushed the vent with some salt water I boiled to get purified. I did three syringes full before the yellow stuff was clear. There was no egg shell at all. Just egg.
Unfortunately my precious bird passed last evening and I cried like a baby. I can't believe how attached I got to that bird. I know it will be weeks before I don't think about him/her when I am out feeding. It totally broke my heart.
During the day yesterday while I was trying to feed and water. I noticed the new Orp boys have just torn the heads of the new orp girl to pieces. So I decided to move one of the two new roos to the batchelor pad. I checked back not 15 minutes later and it looked like someone had thrown a bucket of blood in there. The New Orp and Big Mr. Spotty had shredded each other. Both of them had blood all over them head to feet and were missing feathers and bleeding badly. I had already had to remove the hamp cockerel I got from Frank Reese because they were picking on him. So I rushed around and had to fix up three cages with feed and water for three roosters. I left Spotty and his New Hamp buddy from Karen's in the rooster pen. I got DH to make up some quick nipple waterers to hang on the cages. I hope they figure out how to drink from them. I put my new barred rock in a cage as well just so he wouldn't get beaten up.
My roosters have always gotten along with each other and very rarely have I ever had a big rooster battle around here. But all of a sudden with the new breeders here they are trying to kill each other. It's just crazy. Even if I had my breeder pens done I still need a place to keep back up roosters. How do people do that?
I have multiple roosters in several pens without conflict. I just don't understand why these guys have to be such butt heads. You'd think just a bunch of guys with no girls would get along okay. I don't want to have to keep a bunch of separate cages for each back up rooster I have. That would be ridiculous!
I got DH to go pick up the load of feed but I had to shovel it off. I wasn't very happy. He was busy moving cars around and I needed to get it done so it didn't get wet.
I wish the forecast weren't so bad. I really wanted to put in an add and get these excess hens sold. I thought they had slowed way down on laying but the nest boxes were full yesterday. I guess the weather had them off for a few days.
My new girls aren't laying much yet but I really need to get some shuffled here and there.
I want to work on the hoop coop but I'm not going to stand out in the snow to do it. We are forecast to get 4-7 inches.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

RoosterLew, love those chicks! Sharols right about the newspaper. Old towels are great. I like to start mine on paper towels until they are eating really well. I just spread the feed over the paper towels and they get started pecking at it. Then I switch to old towels and wash and reuse.

Danz, so sorry about your birdie.

What is up with those dumb roosters? For heaven's sake, it's always something, isn't it?

It's snowing here. I didn't want to know how much we were gonna get -- I'm glad for the moisture, but... what a mess!

My children are having a great time teasing me about throwing away that poor little chick. It must have been nice and warm in those paper towels cause it sure wasn't peeping much about the situation.

I finally broke down and bought rubber feed bowls from TSC. With the fermented feed I was using regular plastic bowls but I go through them so fast that I finally decided it was ridiculous to buy more when I knew what was going to happen. I have to go to TSC for my Sweet PDZ so I picked up the bowls while I was there. Atwoods seems very lackadaisical about keeping it in stock and they don't have the rubber bowls.

Yesterday, while we were at Atwoods a lady was asking an employee about what to get for new chickens. The employee didn't know so DD piped up and explained to the lady what all was needed and some of the less expensive options. The lady asked her several questions and DD answered them confidently. Then the employee said, "You should work here." DD told her she planned to when she was old enough. She's quite the chicken lady already!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye~~~ I really makes me sad that you guys cannot find something there in Wichita!! I know things are tight, and jobs are being cut, or not replacing when people retire, but with your DH and his knowledge, that is just insane. Hey did you get the enevelope I mailed? I just cant hardly stand the thought of you moving.

I love the exibition barred rocks, but they kinda make me dizzy looking at them for some reason, so I don't want any.

That is what we've run into-- with the economy the way it is, and Wichita has been losing industry for a while and the other aerospace companies are not getting contracts AND if they are working military contracts-- those have been suspended because of the Sequester. So that means, more people that were guaranteed a job (even in OKC) could be laid off during the sequester. I DID get the envelope! I'm so sorry, I should have mentioned it last week when I got it! I love those rocks too-- that's funny about them making you feel dizzy, they are quite amazing looking! When these grow up, I'm ditching my hatchery birds!

Aw I am so sorry Hawkeye! Praying it will all work out! I have always lived here and couldn't imagine moving either.

Thanks! I actually haven't lived here all my life, but I was sure hoping I would live here the rest of it. My dad was military and so before I hit highschool, we moved 14 times. I've lived all over the country from coast to coast -- like Maryland, CA and Louisana. I'm SICK of moving. I was wanting to be done, and here I am moving to another state again. Sigh. I'm just hoping THIS move will really, really be the LAST one. I'm sooooo done with moving. But I am a native Kansan-- I was born in the KC area.

Hawkeye I would really hate you to leave but after living in OKC for some time and having my sons there I still consider myself an Okie. People really are warm and friendly there. I had the greatest neighborhood of people that came from all over the U.S. We used to have great get togethers. When I moved back to Kansas I couldn't believe how distant people were. I lived in the same house in Council Grove for over 20 years and never went to a neighbor's house for coffee. But in OKC it was at least a weekly thing. We used to have cookouts and celebrate each others' birthdays etc etc. I am sure things are different now but I loved that city. There were areas near me within the city limits that were still farmed and even though we had the best convenience of every thing around it was like living in small town America the way it used to be. The only criticism I had for the area is the school systems lacked a lot. Anyone who could afford it had their kids in private schools. Maybe over time that has improved some.
I was going to buy a young turkey Tom but Frank sold me one that was about 18 months because he was an experienced breeder. He is a really pretty boy. He is out there showing his stuff right now. He must have not liked the camera!!! I should sneak out and catch him while he is courting.
Okay just did.

WOW-- those bourbons are gorgeous!!! Makes me rethink the whole Royal Palm idea! I might like the look of these better! Thanks for the good info about OKC. We've visited it many times since it's a close get away and makes a fun weekend jaunt. But otherwise, had never in a million considered living there. There are so much bigger than Wichita and the traffic is NUTS. I keep hearing over and over again about how poor the schools are. That's not good news at all. We have some friends that transferred down there early this year and they are unhappy with the schools and say they are behind and that they are worried about the education their kids are getting. One more worry for me!

Hawkeye, I hate that you have to move, it's just a really tough job market out there right now. Since your DH has been in the aircraft industry & they're not doing well it makes it hard. I know other people whose hubbys were laid off last year. I know what you mean about not being able to wrap your head around moving. I have been in Kansas all my life, I have moved towns a couple times, but never left the state to live. I would feel strange doing that too. My son really likes it in OKC, he says there is so much more to do there than here & he likes the nightlife too. He always wanted to leave Kansas & was glad when he did, but I don't feel that way. His daughter is here though.

One thing I know, is that after a while, most places end up feeling like home. But I don't know if I could ever get used to the traffic when I'm really such a country girl. I'm just not a city lover. Glad your son loves it there. How is his girlfriend doing?

Completely off topic:

On my way to Topeka a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a bridge in the middle of a pasture just east of the turnpike at about the Osage county line (just north of the county line, I think). The picture was taken from the turnpike. Does anyone know anything about it? It appears to be on pilings out in the middle of nowhere. If you click on the picture it will get bigger (but not clearer).

That is just the oddest thing ever! I have no clue what a bridge is doing out in the middle of no where,,?? Perhaps this drought was much worse than we thought?! LOL!!! Okay, all kidding aside, I wonder if you can call the extension office for that county and ask them what it's about. They are bound to know about it. BTW-- your birds are just gorgeous. I'm so glad your girl has healed her leg and her bumblefoot and your EE has her feathers back.

Well it's official, I've gone chick crazy. I went back to Orschelyn's this evening to get the chicks I went for yesterday that hadn't come in.

My grand daughter is having some heart issues that the Drs. are trying to figure out right now. She just went to see a pediatric Cardiologist & they have her on a heart monitor. Those new monitors are really fancy these days. The one she has not only transmits to the Dr's office, but has a phone that calls her mom's cell & the Dr's office if she has a problem. How cool is that! I sure hope they find out what her problem is. She had a strange virus & had fluid around her heart & some pleurisy type pain in her lung & this heart thing started. She first had some irregular heartbeat issues & now is having tachycardia. It even beats too fast when she's sleeping. My heart issues also started after having a virus, but I was an adult then. I hate it that she has to deal with this at the age of 8.

Never heard of that breed either? Are they a layer or a dual..? I'm so sorry about your granddaughter. That sounds pretty worrisome, for sure.

Hopefully they will have some idea of what they are dealing with soon when they are able to gather enough data from the monitor. Sounds like it's come a LONG way from those Holt Monitors they used to strap on you. I hated them-- you had to PRESS the button when you felt an event happening, but only if you remembered or caught it in time and even then, it wouldn't catch the entire event. It was nearly worthless.

Trish44, Man that's a hard thing to deal with at 8. Prayers for all of you coming your way.

Okay. I have a cautionary tale for you all. What if the little chick had gotten rolled up in the paper towels? I told DD to check the paper towels that she had tossed for me. Sure enough! The little chick was wrapped up in the towels none the worse for wear! My stars! What next?

WOW. I wouldn't have thought you could lose a chick in the paper.. but I will always double check from now on!

I had a nice visit today with Hawkeye, who came over to help with (aka DO) a bumblefoot surgery on one of my hens. I have been putting it off because I dislike dealing with these so much and because travel and the weather made it easy to procrastinate. Anyway, thanks to Hawkeye, the foot is cleaned out - we hope - of any staph infection. So much triple antibiotic was packed in that it was oozing out the sides of the vet wrap when we put her back in the coop but she was so glad to get back there - I'm sure she thought she was never going to see her familiar surroundings again. We went in to have lunch and chat and as Hawkeye was leaving, we could see that hen running around looking completely happy. Well, she was still limping for sure, but that has a lot to do with having a cotton ball vet wrapped to the bottom of her foot. I'll check it again in a day or two and re-wrap as necessary but I'm really hoping the swelling will go down (it was pretty bad) and she will feel better from here on out. Now that I've seen Hawkeye's method, hopefully I'll be able to deal with it myself a little sooner next time.

All I heard last night was when are we going back and the boys loved your game room! ha! Lacey told the boys about the snakes and the boys were super bummed out they missed it. So funny! I hope your girl will be okay! After finding more than one plug, I'm crossing my fingers she will heal well now. I have a bird I need to work on too-- BUT, not when it's snowing and I'll wait for a day when it's not so crazy around here. Ugh.

Lol did you notice the size of the brooder? It's barely bigger than the light! Lol
Thanks for the reply! I guess I'll just keep an eye on their behavior for the next couple of days and build a more appropriate brooder where they have options. They'll probably out grow it by Sunday any ways! Lol
Now that we have our Orps, hoping to add some welsummers & GLW's to our first set.

You don't need to build a brooder!! I raise my chicks in tupperware bins! I just buy a really long and tall bin. I like the clear ones, but it doesn't matter. You can cut out the top of the lid and tape in chicken wire for venting. Or what I did-- we threw out an old old BBQ, and I cleaned up the metal grills and use them to cover the top. The brooder is now super easy to clean because it's plastic and I toss in wood chips from the farm store and use bricks to set the water and feed on. Easy-peasy! Right now I have 4 barred rock chicks in my brooder.

Well you guys aren't going to believe this. My feeding buddy whom I've always said was a homorphrodite cause he had rooster feathers, pointed hackle and saddle feathers, but never crowed, ever got bred by a rooster, never bred a hen, and never laid an egg surprised the heck out of me. It stood up and all this yellow fluid came out.

I noticed the new Orp boys have just torn the heads of the new orp girl to pieces. So I decided to move one of the two new roos to the batchelor pad. I checked back not 15 minutes later and it looked like someone had thrown a bucket of blood in there. The New Orp and Big Mr. Spotty had shredded each other. Both of them had blood all over them head to feet and were missing feathers and bleeding badly. I had already had to remove the hamp cockerel I got from Frank Reese because they were picking on him. So I rushed around and had to fix up three cages with feed and water for three roosters. I left Spotty and his New Hamp buddy from Karen's in the rooster pen. I got DH to make up some quick nipple waterers to hang on the cages. I hope they figure out how to drink from them. I put my new barred rock in a cage as well just so he wouldn't get beaten up.
My roosters have always gotten along with each other and very rarely have I ever had a big rooster battle around here. But all of a sudden with the new breeders here they are trying to kill each other. It's just crazy. Even if I had my breeder pens done I still need a place to keep back up roosters. How do people do that?
I have multiple roosters in several pens without conflict. I just don't understand why these guys have to be such butt heads. You'd think just a bunch of guys with no girls would get along okay. I don't want to have to keep a bunch of separate cages for each back up rooster I have. That would be ridiculous!
I got DH to go pick up the load of feed but I had to shovel it off. I wasn't very happy. He was busy moving cars around and I needed to get it done so it didn't get wet.
I wish the forecast weren't so bad. I really wanted to put in an add and get these excess hens sold. I thought they had slowed way down on laying but the nest boxes were full yesterday. I guess the weather had them off for a few days.
My new girls aren't laying much yet but I really need to get some shuffled here and there.
I want to work on the hoop coop but I'm not going to stand out in the snow to do it. We are forecast to get 4-7 inches.

I'm so sorry about your feeding buddy. Poor thing. You did all you could, and there was just no way to know what was going on! I'm sorry about the blood bath with the roosters! I had that happen over the winter with three of my boys. I left one in the pen and the other two-- as you saw are in "time out" in my garage. I need to get them sold so they can have their own flocks and be free!

 

[chicken danz]

That is what we've run into-- with the economy the way it is, and Wichita has been losing industry for a while and the other aerospace companies are not getting contracts AND if they are working military contracts-- those have been suspended because of the Sequester. So that means, more people that were guaranteed a job (even in OKC) could be laid off during the sequester. I DID get the envelope! I'm so sorry, I should have mentioned it last week when I got it! I love those rocks too-- that's funny about them making you feel dizzy, they are quite amazing looking! When these grow up, I'm ditching my hatchery birds!
I had no intention of raising barred rocks. I was so into these blue barred rocks and have a trio of nice pullets that are regular barred rock girls. But the barring on these is so amazing I think I may have to go ahead and give them some special quarters of their own as breeders and not just egg layers. I have extra boys or will have when the chicks get grown so I think I will work on a project to get better barring on these pullets I have. I have the right size and body form I just need better barring. So I'll let this boy do his magic and see if I can improve on the girls I have. He'd probably over breed just the two pullets I bought from Frank anyway.

WOW-- those bourbons are gorgeous!!! Makes me rethink the whole Royal Palm idea! These are very easy going turkeys too. One of the girls squats for me every time I go out there. Sure hope she'll do the same for the pretty boy!! I might like the look of these better! Thanks for the good info about OKC. We've visited it many times since it's a close get away and makes a fun weekend jaunt. But otherwise, had never in a million considered living there. There are so much bigger than Wichita and the traffic is NUTS. I keep hearing over and over again about how poor the schools are. That's not good news at all. We have some friends that transferred down there early this year and they are unhappy with the schools and say they are behind and that they are worried about the education their kids are getting. One more worry for me!
My sons were behind in their education when we moved back to Kansas and they were quite young. People I worked with said that they purposely just caused trouble when they were kids because the teachers would pass them to the next grade just to get rid of them. I am serious. Many of the guys I worked with could not spell or write and had trouble reading. It's very sad. I hope that some has improved since then. I wish I could have afforded a private school. I think there are magnet schools and the like now which would be a nice option.
The traffic isn't that bad if you aren't on the major hwys. Never ever go on I-40 during rush hour. Nothing moves. Avoid Broadway extention and I-35. There are lots of other ways to get around and it isn't crazy on those. I think driving in Kansas City is miserable but I never minded OKC except on those particular roads. People drive really fast in OKC and then move and talk really slow once they get where they are going. I honestly had to learn to slow down when I came to Kansas. You learn even as a police officer to drive way over the speed limit because if you don't, you'll cause an accident. But then it drove me nuts to go to a store and stand in the check out forever while the clerk and the person in front of you talked about their life history and never rushed at anything. As a woman you have an advantage. Men will always let a woman into heavy traffic. You just wave a thank you and all is good.
But regardless of the other problems, OKC was truely home. The climate is so much nicer than here and the people are wonderful. I wouldn't hesitate to live there again in one of the more rural areas. The taxes are wonderful. You don't pay those ridiculous property taxes on your cars or your home that you do in Kansas. The schools although poor are truely fee public schools. None of that major expense to get kids in school. One thing I was always proud of was that the school system is funded by the money collected from traffic tickets. I loved telling people where their money for breaking the law was going.
One thing I know, is that after a while, most places end up feeling like home. But I don't know if I could ever get used to the traffic when I'm really such a country girl. I'm just not a city lover. Glad your son loves it there. How is his girlfriend doing?


That is just the oddest thing ever! I have no clue what a bridge is doing out in the middle of no where,,?? Perhaps this drought was much worse than we thought?! LOL!!!

I think I've seen that bridge or another one in a similar situation. Once the old bridges are removed a person can buy them for scrap metal or whatever. I always thought it would be neat to have a Bridge!



Never heard of that breed either? Are they a layer or a dual..? I'm so sorry about your granddaughter. That sounds pretty worrisome, for sure.

Hopefully they will have some idea of what they are dealing with soon when they are able to gather enough data from the monitor. Sounds like it's come a LONG way from those Holt Monitors they used to strap on you. I hated them-- you had to PRESS the button when you felt an event happening, but only if you remembered or caught it in time and even then, it wouldn't catch the entire event. It was nearly worthless.
heard last night was when are we going back and the boys loved your game room! ha! Lacey told the boys about the snakes and the boys were super bummed out they missed it. So funny! I hope your girl will be okay! After finding more than one plug, I'm crossing my fingers she will heal well now. I have a bird I need to work on too-- BUT, not when it's snowing and I'll wait California whites are a leghorn cross. They are bred by taking a California gray (barred rock/ leghorn cross) rooster and breeding it to a leghorn. It makes an auto sexing chicken that lays good. Very much like any of your other sex links. It's a little larger than a leghorn. They are really fairly common but people sell their offspring as California whites because they don't understand they aren't a true breed.

 

[RoosterLew]

Ok played around last night with moving the mini brooder around. Finally situated where light is over one corner where they could "self regulate" the temp.
Cleaned out today and replaced paper with paper towels. The mini brooder got more crowded when I checked it today? Pretty sure there wasn't a RIR there last night?
Sent Shannon, I guess I'm supposed to call her the D? Lol? Anyway had to send her to Orschelns for oil and apparently the young man who works there raises chicks and hatched these! Soooo she had to have one! Did I mention I am the chicken lover? So she " got it for me"...
I know the mini brooder is inadequate, have to go into work tomorrow and will come home with much better play ground for my fluffs!

Shannon, my DIC(it's complicated...lol) letting her grand baby listen to the chicks. What performers they are, went straight to phone and chirped loudly!!

 

[lizzyGSR]

Well, it looks like I'm getting what I asked for weather-wise. As of 8AM, we got 9" of heavy, wet snow (the forecast was only calling for 2-4" during the overnight hours). They're calling for up to 8 more inches of snow today, plus quite a bit of wind. We've REALLY needed this moisture so I hope it doesn't blow away. However, with as badly as we needed it, it is causing problems already. I went out to do my chores this morning to discover that my duck run had collapsed. The boards supporting the chicken wire roof had twisted and were badly bending. One of them had fallen in. In the process of trying to remove the snow from the roof, another support board broke. We've cleaned the snow off the best we could and propped t-posts up under the boards as extra support until we can find a more permanent fix after the weather warms up. Now, I'm worried about our tree rows also. We've got a row of 40' tall cedar trees all the way around the house and another row of 20' tall trees. The trees are bending badly under the weight of the snow and a couple branches have already broken. I'm scared to leave my birds in the run because of the makeshift way it's situated right now with the roof. I'm afraid to let them out, though for fear that they'll get hit by a falling branch... For now, I'm leaving them in the run and am just going to check on them regularly.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Well, it looks like I'm getting what I asked for weather-wise. As of 8AM, we got 9" of heavy, wet snow (the forecast was only calling for 2-4" during the overnight hours). They're calling for up to 8 more inches of snow today, plus quite a bit of wind. We've REALLY needed this moisture so I hope it doesn't blow away. However, with as badly as we needed it, it is causing problems already. I went out to do my chores this morning to discover that my duck run had collapsed. The boards supporting the chicken wire roof had twisted and were badly bending. One of them had fallen in. In the process of trying to remove the snow from the roof, another support board broke. We've cleaned the snow off the best we could and propped t-posts up under the boards as extra support until we can find a more permanent fix after the weather warms up. Now, I'm worried about our tree rows also. We've got a row of 40' tall cedar trees all the way around the house and another row of 20' tall trees. The trees are bending badly under the weight of the snow and a couple branches have already broken. I'm scared to leave my birds in the run because of the makeshift way it's situated right now with the roof. I'm afraid to let them out, though for fear that they'll get hit by a falling branch... For now, I'm leaving them in the run and am just going to check on them regularly.

Oh wow! That was a real bummer. I imagine you will get some breakage with all that snow and more to come. It's a bit more difficult to love the moisture while also disliking the results. Hope all goes well with your ducks and trees!

 

[HEChicken]

Well you guys aren't going to believe this. My feeding buddy whom I've always said was a homorphrodite cause he had rooster feathers, pointed hackle and saddle feathers, but never crowed, ever got bred by a rooster, never bred a hen, and never laid an egg surprised the heck out of me. It stood up and all this yellow fluid came out. I cleaned it up and sure enough it was egg. I called Josie in a panic and when she called me back I rushed around trying to do some makeshift vetting.
I had a huge syringe which I attached a piece of silicone tubing to, and flushed the vent with some salt water I boiled to get purified. I did three syringes full before the yellow stuff was clear. There was no egg shell at all. Just egg.
Unfortunately my precious bird passed last evening and I cried like a baby. I can't believe how attached I got to that bird. I know it will be weeks before I don't think about him/her when I am out feeding. It totally broke my heart.

So sorry about the loss of your bird

That is wild about the egg after all this time though. I hope the roosters settle down for you!

I finally broke down and bought rubber feed bowls from TSC. With the fermented feed I was using regular plastic bowls but I go through them so fast that I finally decided it was ridiculous to buy more when I knew what was going to happen. I have to go to TSC for my Sweet PDZ so I picked up the bowls while I was there. Atwoods seems very lackadaisical about keeping it in stock and they don't have the rubber bowls.

Yesterday, while we were at Atwoods a lady was asking an employee about what to get for new chickens. The employee didn't know so DD piped up and explained to the lady what all was needed and some of the less expensive options. The lady asked her several questions and DD answered them confidently. Then the employee said, "You should work here." DD told her she planned to when she was old enough. She's quite the chicken lady already!

That is awesome about your DD - she is a sponge, learning right along with you! I've bought the rubber bowls at the Derby Atwoods - if you go to the back of the store, they are on the left-hand wall right in the back - or at least they were last Fall when I got them. Perhaps they no longer stock them or have just run out. TSC is a little cheaper anyway though. I really love the rubber bowls - I bought one four years ago that has been out in every kind of weather - hot and cold for the last four years straight and is still going strong. Last year I bought several more in different sizes. For the price, they are far better value than the plastic ones, for how much longer they last.

All I heard last night was when are we going back and the boys loved your game room! ha! Lacey told the boys about the snakes and the boys were super bummed out they missed it. So funny! I hope your girl will be okay! After finding more than one plug, I'm crossing my fingers she will heal well now. I have a bird I need to work on too-- BUT, not when it's snowing and I'll wait for a day when it's not so crazy around here. Ugh.

Awww....I'm glad they had a good time. With my kids being that bit older I wasn't sure how much we have that is still of interest to them so I'm really glad they enjoyed themselves. They are all welcome back anytime - Hawkeye's kids are just great - really polite and so good at entertaining themselves.

Miss Bumblefoot seems to be doing great today. I took some kitchen scraps out first thing and she was right in the mix making sure she got her fair share of the good stuff.

Well, it looks like I'm getting what I asked for weather-wise. As of 8AM, we got 9" of heavy, wet snow (the forecast was only calling for 2-4" during the overnight hours). They're calling for up to 8 more inches of snow today, plus quite a bit of wind. We've REALLY needed this moisture so I hope it doesn't blow away. However, with as badly as we needed it, it is causing problems already. I went out to do my chores this morning to discover that my duck run had collapsed. The boards supporting the chicken wire roof had twisted and were badly bending. One of them had fallen in. In the process of trying to remove the snow from the roof, another support board broke. We've cleaned the snow off the best we could and propped t-posts up under the boards as extra support until we can find a more permanent fix after the weather warms up. Now, I'm worried about our tree rows also. We've got a row of 40' tall cedar trees all the way around the house and another row of 20' tall trees. The trees are bending badly under the weight of the snow and a couple branches have already broken. I'm scared to leave my birds in the run because of the makeshift way it's situated right now with the roof. I'm afraid to let them out, though for fear that they'll get hit by a falling branch... For now, I'm leaving them in the run and am just going to check on them regularly.

I'm glad you are getting the moisture but sorry about the hassle with the duck run - I hope you are able to get it sorted out and that none of the big tree limbs break. It is scary where there is an early fall snow or a late spring snow and it falls on branches already weighted down with leaves.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I'm glad you are getting the moisture but sorry about the hassle with the duck run - I hope you are able to get it sorted out and that none of the big tree limbs break. It is scary where there is an early fall snow or a late spring snow and it falls on branches already weighted down with leaves.

Leaves? We don't have any leaves out yet. These are all cedar trees I'm worried about.

 

[Trish44]

RoosterLew, love those chicks! Sharols right about the newspaper. Old towels are great. I like to start mine on paper towels until they are eating really well. I just spread the feed over the paper towels and they get started pecking at it. Then I switch to old towels and wash and reuse.

Danz, so sorry about your birdie.

What is up with those dumb roosters? For heaven's sake, it's always something, isn't it?

It's snowing here. I didn't want to know how much we were gonna get -- I'm glad for the moisture, but... what a mess!

My children are having a great time teasing me about throwing away that poor little chick. It must have been nice and warm in those paper towels cause it sure wasn't peeping much about the situation.

I finally broke down and bought rubber feed bowls from TSC. With the fermented feed I was using regular plastic bowls but I go through them so fast that I finally decided it was ridiculous to buy more when I knew what was going to happen. I have to go to TSC for my Sweet PDZ so I picked up the bowls while I was there. Atwoods seems very lackadaisical about keeping it in stock and they don't have the rubber bowls.

Yesterday, while we were at Atwoods a lady was asking an employee about what to get for new chickens. The employee didn't know so DD piped up and explained to the lady what all was needed and some of the less expensive options. The lady asked her several questions and DD answered them confidently. Then the employee said, "You should work here." DD told her she planned to when she was old enough. She's quite the chicken lady already!

I use the rubber livestock bowls in some of my pens too for the FF. Some of my pens I have made troughs with pieces of guttering for bigger groups of birds, but if there are only a small group I use the rubber bowls. I plan to make more troughs when I can get out & work outside though. I have to tell you my story about the FF. I had seen that my birds weren't eating it as well in some of the pens, so I was low on feed & just thought well I'll just go back to feeding them dry feed & see if they like it better. Well guess what, they don't, not at all! I figured since I was low on feed & didn't have really enough to make the FF it was a good time to clean out my container really well, sanitize it & start a new batch so I did that last night. So today the birds will still get the dry stuff until tomorrow. They don't seem too happy about it, at least most of them. My layer flock I think would eat anything I threw in there pretty much, but some of my other birds are rather picky, the Ameraucanas for sure are.

That's so cute about your daughter giving that lady all that chicken info, she is sure getting an education isn't she! That's so great to have kids learning about livestock & how to care for them. My son just never was interested in any of my birds or animals growing up or learning about them, he to this day thinks I'm nuts. He did name the pigs we raised for meat, which I had told him not to, but he did it anyway.

Ok played around last night with moving the mini brooder around. Finally situated where light is over one corner where they could "self regulate" the temp.
Cleaned out today and replaced paper with paper towels. The mini brooder got more crowded when I checked it today? Pretty sure there wasn't a RIR there last night?
Sent Shannon, I guess I'm supposed to call her the D? Lol? Anyway had to send her to Orschelns for oil and apparently the young man who works there raises chicks and hatched these! Soooo she had to have one! Did I mention I am the chicken lover? So she " got it for me"...

I know the mini brooder is inadequate, have to go into work tomorrow and will come home with much better play ground for my fluffs!

Shannon, my DIC(it's complicated...lol) letting her grand baby listen to the chicks. What performers they are, went straight to phone and chirped loudly!!

That is so cute with the chicks & the phone, what a great pic! It looks like you got a little black sex link chick in there too, is that what it is? My DH keeps going over to my stock tank brooder in the sun room & looking at the chicks because my Yorkie loves looking at them & she will jump up & down until someone lifts her up so she can see them. He has not said anything about the growing number of chicks in that brooder, I have been waiting for him to say something, but he just seems to take it in stride any more. I guess that's a good thing since he has no control over it anyway, lol.

Danz, I had read about the California Whites on one of the hatchery sites that sells them. I knew they were a cross, but they said they're such good layers I wanted to try some for my laying flock.