Consolidated Kansas

[michelleml]

you guys are awesome thank you for the encouragement I'm going to give it a try and pray it doesn't fall apart
Thanks

 

[Trish44]

I know what it's like to be in pain every day too, I have arthritis & fibromyalgia & possibly some other autoimmune things that I deal with all the time. You just have to do what you can on the bad days & when you have a good day you can do more. It's just hard on the good days to not go overboard & then pay for it. Any time I have had to have surgery it's harder for me to recover because the physical therapists can't push me like they can other people due to my fibromyalgia, if they push too hard I have a setback & have to start over, so it's frustrating. Hang in there & just do things at your own pace. I know for me stress is a big factor in my health so I try to keep my life as calm as I can. It doesn't always work, but I do try to fill my life with things that make me happy like my chickens & animals. They have a calming effect on me & being outside when the weather is decent also helps. There is just something about being out in the middle of nature to make you feel better.

My blue laced Barnevelder chicks just came in at the post office so I had to run over & get them. They're a little stressed from the trip, but they're doing OK. I just put them in a crate for now in the house so they would be warm after their trip. I'm sure it was warmer in Tennessee than it is here. I'm so excited to get them!

It's just nasty here today, I'm not looking forward to going back out there again to feed all the birds. I can't wait until this is over, surely this is the last blast. That's what I thought last time though.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I keep hearing that, that its only about $8 for a bag, but I've tried every store in the Wichita area and surrounds and none of them carry it. Most looked at me blankly when I even asked about it, like they'd never heard of it. I never had kitchen scraps to spare since they all go to the chooks, but I'm intrigued about the weeds. Which ones?

Are you going to stores that only sell bagged feed like the farm stores, or the mills/elevators that also mix feeds? I found it at places that mix feeds and once got a partial bag. They mix it into some of the feed mixes. It is available in Emporia and Osage City. Didn't ask at Lebo.

The weed that looks like MJ is the best. I don't know what its name is, has big notched leaves and yellow sprays of flowers and grows tall. The geese LOVE it and so does everything else that eats greens. Lambs quarter is so so. Any of the veggie type, dandylion, of course. Just try what ever is not toxic and see if they like it. If they like it it will be covered by little wiggly, skinny bodies almost instantly. Good way to "catch" them to give them to the birds.

 

[RoosterLew]

My blue laced Barnevelder chicks just came in at the post office so I had to run over & get them. They're a little stressed from the trip, but they're doing OK. I just put them in a crate for now in the house so they would be warm after their trip. I'm sure it was warmer in Tennessee than it is here. I'm so excited to get them!

Come on...who gets new chickys and doesn't post pics?
Let us see the lil dalls!

 

[RoosterLew]

I don't know why Rooster's multi isn't working but I thought they were great - and probably pretty accurate ways to get him to do it! It is nice the get a man's perspective on things.

I am the one and only !
UN-duplicable!

 

[chicken danz]

Well it was one nasty day outside. I did the minimum on feeding and didn't worry about water except for the sick pen. I mixed up some more medicated water for them and took it out in a big jug to put in their water bowls. I had lost 3 more pullets today. And I have one rooster and one pullet in the basement right now I doubt seriously will recover. I have a separate vaporizer and heat on them. I didn't really want to bring any sick birds in here but DH brought these two in. He hadn't been out and looked and had just "heard" how many I was loosing. His heart went out to the two worst ones. I don't think either of them will live but the rooster is one I kept expecting to die for the last two days and he has hung on.
I was actually encouraged today. It seems some of them are improving and less of them seem really really sick. Maybe it's just because there are less and less birds out there every day. I have one pullet bagged up to send to K-state tomorrow. Unless I loose another one before then.
My Olandsk rooster was sneezing today in the brooder house and that really worries me. I just can't loose those birds. Every bird in there is old enough to be outside but I just don't have pens and housing for them yet. And of course they are all expensive birds too. I hope it is something totally unrelated and just the change of weather bothering him.
I hope this weather passes quickly and it gets warm again so I can get all the houses wide open again. I think fresh air is the best medicine for the birds.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Well it was one nasty day outside. I did the minimum on feeding and didn't worry about water except for the sick pen. I mixed up some more medicated water for them and took it out in a big jug to put in their water bowls. I had lost 3 more pullets today. And I have one rooster and one pullet in the basement right now I doubt seriously will recover. I have a separate vaporizer and heat on them. I didn't really want to bring any sick birds in here but DH brought these two in. He hadn't been out and looked and had just "heard" how many I was loosing. His heart went out to the two worst ones. I don't think either of them will live but the rooster is one I kept expecting to die for the last two days and he has hung on.
I was actually encouraged today. It seems some of them are improving and less of them seem really really sick. Maybe it's just because there are less and less birds out there every day. I have one pullet bagged up to send to K-state tomorrow. Unless I loose another one before then.
My Olandsk rooster was sneezing today in the brooder house and that really worries me. I just can't loose those birds. Every bird in there is old enough to be outside but I just don't have pens and housing for them yet. And of course they are all expensive birds too. I hope it is something totally unrelated and just the change of weather bothering him.
I hope this weather passes quickly and it gets warm again so I can get all the houses wide open again. I think fresh air is the best medicine for the birds.

My chickens came out of their coop at 7am this morning - they're nuts. I'm getting ready to go get them all back in for the night (Holly is going to sleep with them in the coop tonight since she just got home from being fixed/hernia repair). I hear a lot about sick chickens and I've wondered why I've not been hit with anything last year or this year? I'm wondering if it because my chickens are rarely in their coop... would that be part of the reason? I have 30some chickens in the coop and 22 more out in the brooder that will be joining the main coop flock in about 2 more weeks.

What causes the sneezing and sickness?

 

[chicken danz]

Normally it is brought in by wild birds.

 

[HEChicken]

Are you going to stores that only sell bagged feed like the farm stores, or the mills/elevators that also mix feeds? I found it at places that mix feeds and once got a partial bag. They mix it into some of the feed mixes. It is available in Emporia and Osage City. Didn't ask at Lebo.

The weed that looks like MJ is the best. I don't know what its name is, has big notched leaves and yellow sprays of flowers and grows tall. The geese LOVE it and so does everything else that eats greens. Lambs quarter is so so. Any of the veggie type, dandylion, of course. Just try what ever is not toxic and see if they like it. If they like it it will be covered by little wiggly, skinny bodies almost instantly. Good way to "catch" them to give them to the birds.

Ahhh...I tried all the feed stores but I've never been to a mill/elevator - maybe that's the ticket. The closest one to me isn't that close so its always been more convenient to go to the feed store that I pass several times a week going other places. Good tip on catching them!

Well it was one nasty day outside. I did the minimum on feeding and didn't worry about water except for the sick pen. I mixed up some more medicated water for them and took it out in a big jug to put in their water bowls. I had lost 3 more pullets today. And I have one rooster and one pullet in the basement right now I doubt seriously will recover. I have a separate vaporizer and heat on them. I didn't really want to bring any sick birds in here but DH brought these two in. He hadn't been out and looked and had just "heard" how many I was loosing. His heart went out to the two worst ones. I don't think either of them will live but the rooster is one I kept expecting to die for the last two days and he has hung on.
I was actually encouraged today. It seems some of them are improving and less of them seem really really sick. Maybe it's just because there are less and less birds out there every day. I have one pullet bagged up to send to K-state tomorrow. Unless I loose another one before then.
My Olandsk rooster was sneezing today in the brooder house and that really worries me. I just can't loose those birds. Every bird in there is old enough to be outside but I just don't have pens and housing for them yet. And of course they are all expensive birds too. I hope it is something totally unrelated and just the change of weather bothering him.
I hope this weather passes quickly and it gets warm again so I can get all the houses wide open again. I think fresh air is the best medicine for the birds.

I'm so sorry for your losses. I agree the fresh air will be good for them - hopefully this is the last winter blast and then they can get back outside.

I had a scare last night. I had 3 chicks hatch before I went to bed, with several others pipped. At midnight I woke to find the house unnaturally quiet...and dark. Power outage. My first thought was of the incubator and those newly hatched chicks, along with the ones trying to hatch. I covered it with a blanket, and went back to bed but lay there fretting about the situation, willing the power to come back on. I even thought about getting up and pulling them all out - eggs and chicks, to put them against my body to stay warm, but worried that wouldn't be good for the hatching chicks. Eventually I drifted off to sleep and woke several hours later because the power had come back on. I didn't even dare go and check on the incubator, as I figured if it was too late there was nothing I could do, and if it wasn't....well, I had heard the incubator fire back up so I knew it was doing its best to get back up to temp. I finally got up at 5:30 to check on them and found 3 more chicks had hatched and several more had pipped - the power outage didn't seem to slow them down at all. Ahhhh....relief.

I'm just in from doing my last check on them, which included being viciously attacked. My little Serama was, I thought, sleeping in the nest box. I went to lift her out and that's when I found out she wasn't just sleeping, and that a broody Serama is a PISTOL. She attacked me first with her wings, flapping them hard against my hands, and then pecked me mercilessly. And, to whoever it was that was wondering how they can cover so many eggs....she was so flattened out she was sitting on 8-10 full-sized eggs and seemed to be covering them easily. I pulled out my little broody coop that is perfect for a hen her size and moved her to it. If this is what she's like after dark, I don't even want to go near her during the daytime.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Come on...who gets new chickys and doesn't post pics?
Let us see the lil dalls!

You are crackin' me up!