Consolidated Kansas

[Blkpwdernut]

I never in a million years would have thought chickens could have personalities too! I am amazed with each new chick that joins our family.. I'm very attached to my chickens and love watching their antics! I have one little EE girl that jumps in my car - without fail - every single time I open the door... I just go ahead and let her and then put her on the ground and she's off on her way

I was doing well not getting attached, was viewing them as 2 sources of food and maybe enough income to pay for feed, like I say I dont even know how many roos or hens I have, but it is great fun watching them chase each other for the earthworms I throw over the fence from the garden.

 

[HEChicken]

Does anyone know of or have any Jersey Giants Pullets for sale?

What color are you looking for?

Sorry Casper I don't have contact Checoukan. She would probably know if anyone does in your area.
I went out to feed the geese and saw one of the broodies picking on an egg. I thought perhaps it broke and she was eating it. To my surpise she only had the one egg under her and she had hatched a little sebbie. It was all out of the shell except it's middle part. It is another gray saddleback. I have it drying in the hatcher right now. The other broody sebbie had 3 eggs under her. All three are fertile and look close to hatching. I put them in the incubator. I gave the girls some duck eggs but I think they have both gotten off their nests now. I suppose it would be too much to wish they'd lay some more.
I also got my second peafowl egg today. I love spring!!

I love spring too! Congrats on the sebbie baby and peafowl egg.

I spent the afternoon mowing and although I'm not done, I knocked out a huge portion of it. It will be nice to look out tomorrow morning and see if looking neat again.

My silkie has been broody about 3 weeks but not sitting on anything in particular, so last night I gave her a couple of the chicks to see if she would adopt them. I was really nervous to check on her this morning but she is doing great and so are they. I was really impressed with her, that I had put in a feeder and waterer and she moved much closer to it so her chicks wouldn't have to go so far from her to eat and drink - the intuition these birds have is just amazing.

 

[cherwill]

I went out in the field.... I sat in the grass on the ground... the 2 dogs came over and laid down right at my legs and feet... cats were running around and chasing/playing with each other.. about 20 chickens were foraging and picking bugs and grass... ducks and geese were right beside me in their fenced area picking at weeds.. the guineas were running around being crazy guineas... what a great peaceful time that was. I sat out there about 30 minutes and just enjoyed everything I've worked to maintain. Loving this life and glad I remember to stop and enjoy it on a regular basis!

Sounds like paradise to me.

Sorry Casper I don't have contact Checoukan. She would probably know if anyone does in your area.
I went out to feed the geese and saw one of the broodies picking on an egg. I thought perhaps it broke and she was eating it. To my surpise she only had the one egg under her and she had hatched a little sebbie. It was all out of the shell except it's middle part. It is another gray saddleback. I have it drying in the hatcher right now. The other broody sebbie had 3 eggs under her. All three are fertile and look close to hatching. I put them in the incubator. I gave the girls some duck eggs but I think they have both gotten off their nests now. I suppose it would be too much to wish they'd lay some more.
I also got my second peafowl egg today. I love spring!!

Finally some good things going on with your birds.

We did some yard cleanup today. Got my pots filled with compost and dirt even though I don't have plants for them yet. DH wanted to get that done so he could take the rest of that batch of compost out to our garden this week. We loaded the back of the pickup with a bunch of stuff to take to the dump and recycle center. Then we put sealer on the fence, but ran out before we were done. We were using sealer left over from two years ago and it has a slight tint to it so we have to get more of the same stuff. Naturally it's not sold here in town; we have to get to a Lowe's to buy more. We watered our seeds at the community garden because I don't trust it to actually rain tonight. Our peas are coming up and look good. The radishes, beets and rutabagas were coming up, and then we had the ice storm. I think most of the radishes are OK, and some of the rutabagas, but it looks like the beets may have been killed. And now there's below freezing temps expected again Thursday.

We also managed to find a good amount of time to sit on the deck and watch our dogs wander around the yard (separately, of course, because they will never get along again). At about 6:30 we turned the chickens loose and watched them wander around for a while. They're really tilling up my raised beds; that should be some good, loose soil when I get around to planting them! My tarragon has already started growing and they seem to be enjoying it a lot. I don't care if they're eating now because it grows quickly and I always get way more tarragon that I can use.

 

[HEChicken]

We did some yard cleanup today. Got my pots filled with compost and dirt even though I don't have plants for them yet. DH wanted to get that done so he could take the rest of that batch of compost out to our garden this week. We loaded the back of the pickup with a bunch of stuff to take to the dump and recycle center. Then we put sealer on the fence, but ran out before we were done. We were using sealer left over from two years ago and it has a slight tint to it so we have to get more of the same stuff. Naturally it's not sold here in town; we have to get to a Lowe's to buy more. We watered our seeds at the community garden because I don't trust it to actually rain tonight. Our peas are coming up and look good. The radishes, beets and rutabagas were coming up, and then we had the ice storm. I think most of the radishes are OK, and some of the rutabagas, but it looks like the beets may have been killed. And now there's below freezing temps expected again Thursday.

We also managed to find a good amount of time to sit on the deck and watch our dogs wander around the yard (separately, of course, because they will never get along again). At about 6:30 we turned the chickens loose and watched them wander around for a while. They're really tilling up my raised beds; that should be some good, loose soil when I get around to planting them! My tarragon has already started growing and they seem to be enjoying it a lot. I don't care if they're eating now because it grows quickly and I always get way more tarragon that I can use.

It sounds like you got a lot done. I'm really dismayed to hear about the freezing temps again later this week (hey, can someone tell the weather April 15th is the frost date for this area? Please?) because I just bought a bunch of seedlings today that I was planning on planting tomorrow. Grrr. I don't normally do seedlings but didn't get seeds started this year so thought I'd get a jump start on them and get the seedlings. I guess I can either wait to plant them until after the freeze, or put 2-liter bottles over the top of them to protect them. At least they are still small enough for that.

 

[pikeman94]

So I go to close up the coop for the night and as always I stick my head in to make sure all the birds are accounted for. Panic ensued as I counted 3 fewer than normal!!!! Then I saw this:



Panic averted! Pictured starting from the left are Sesame (Amerucana), Ginger (Prod Red) and Curry (Buff Brahma Bantam). I swear they do the craziest things!

In other news I have a hen one her last leg, literally! She is still eating and drinking, but she has lost significant muscle mass. All I can fee is bones in her chest. Her breast muscle is all but gone. My vet neighbor is coming over tomorrow night to put her down. I just can't bring myself to wring the birds neck. Such is the life of a chicken owner.

Finally, chick math has kicked in again. I went to the Orschlen's in Basehor this afternoon. I must say I am really impressed! BIG store. They had a nice selection of chicks and an employee there named Amy was awesome in her chicken knowledge! I must say I will go back in the coming years. Heck it is even 6 or 7 miles closer than the Lawrence store. Anyways, back to the math. I picked an Australorp, DD pick a light tan Amerucana and DS pick a black and brown Amerucana. Spicy names are inbound as well as pictures.

Have a good night all!

 

[sunflowerparrot]

So I go to close up the coop for the night and as always I stick my head in to make sure all the birds are accounted for. Panic ensued as I counted 3 fewer than normal!!!! Then I saw this:



Panic averted! Pictured starting from the left are Sesame (Amerucana), Ginger (Prod Red) and Curry (Buff Brahma Bantam). I swear they do the craziest things!

In other news I have a hen one her last leg, literally! She is still eating and drinking, but she has lost significant muscle mass. All I can fee is bones in her chest. Her breast muscle is all but gone. My vet neighbor is coming over tomorrow night to put her down. I just can't bring myself to wring the birds neck. Such is the life of a chicken owner.

Finally, chick math has kicked in again. I went to the Orschlen's in Basehor this afternoon. I must say I am really impressed! BIG store. They had a nice selection of chicks and an employee there named Amy was awesome in her chicken knowledge! I must say I will go back in the coming years. Heck it is even 6 or 7 miles closer than the Lawrence store. Anyways, back to the math. I picked an Australorp, DD pick a light tan Amerucana and DS pick a black and brown Amerucana. Spicy names are inbound as well as pictures.

Have a good night all!

Love your picture... how cute I count every night too.. I just moved 9 new little babies into my main coop the other day so my numbers have once again increased! My chicken farmer friend (true farmer, not just hobby) came over yesterday and we were walking around and looking at all the cute chickens around here. I had mentioned how I was surprised that nobody is really picking on the new 9 babies like they have in the past when I added new babies. She was telling me that when the flock gets larger and larger, that new babies aren't as noticed as when first starting out.

How many birds/nest boxes do you have? I have 6 nest boxes for about 20 laying hens; they all like the same few though.

 

[bbsnooks]

when you find out..Casper,... let me know.. I'd like to know who else is raising them..

I'll be picking up 6 chicks ( among others) this am.. from Hatchery. <merry christmas to me>
I heard Good Shepard Farms.. may be selling the Whites.. from Golda Millers lines. raised here in Kansas long ago..
I'm looking for black and Splash..
good luck searching.. and there is a JG thead here byc if you want to find some one to ship.
leaving now for post office.

 

[HEChicken]

So I go to close up the coop for the night and as always I stick my head in to make sure all the birds are accounted for. Panic ensued as I counted 3 fewer than normal!!!! Then I saw this:



Panic averted! Pictured starting from the left are Sesame (Amerucana), Ginger (Prod Red) and Curry (Buff Brahma Bantam). I swear they do the craziest things!

In other news I have a hen one her last leg, literally! She is still eating and drinking, but she has lost significant muscle mass. All I can fee is bones in her chest. Her breast muscle is all but gone. My vet neighbor is coming over tomorrow night to put her down. I just can't bring myself to wring the birds neck. Such is the life of a chicken owner.

Finally, chick math has kicked in again. I went to the Orschlen's in Basehor this afternoon. I must say I am really impressed! BIG store. They had a nice selection of chicks and an employee there named Amy was awesome in her chicken knowledge! I must say I will go back in the coming years. Heck it is even 6 or 7 miles closer than the Lawrence store. Anyways, back to the math. I picked an Australorp, DD pick a light tan Amerucana and DS pick a black and brown Amerucana. Spicy names are inbound as well as pictures.

I'm sorry about your hen who isn't doing well. It is amazingly hard to lose them once we get attached.

Congrats on the new chicks. I do like your spice theme....

I'll be picking up 6 chicks ( among others) this am.. from Hatchery. <merry christmas to me>
....
leaving now for post office.

Congratulations on the new chicks! What breeds did you get?

 

[Trish44]

Pikeman, I love your pic of the hens, that's really cute. I hope you're doing better with your health, I meant to respond to your earlier post & got busy & forgot. It does sound like chicken math struck you again, congrats on the new chickies.

bbsnooks, congrats on your new chicks also, post some pics when you get a chance after you get them all settled in.

Well we were busy yesterday, we went to Lowe's & got all the wood for the 2nd hoop coop & came home & got started on it. We got all the panels hooked on & got the frame all screwed on, but ran out of daylight. I'm hoping to be able to work on it again tomorrow to get some supports put in. I'm glad to be working on it at least & making progress. We're building it right next to the other one, so that will be convenient to get to it. The guineas were checking it out today to see what we were putting there.

I let all 3 of the little pullets that were in the small grow-out pen in the run out to run around & range with the rest of my laying flock & they're doing great. They're even learning about going into the coop at night, so I'm really pleased about that. My flock is doing great & they're really happy to have green grass & things to eat outside now. In fact they have really cut back on the feed they're eating due to finding more to eat out there. I put the 3 little blue blaced Barnevelders in the pen where the other pullets had been & they're doing well. I got some pics of them I'll post. I don't think you can really tell the blue lacing that well yet, they're pretty young still. I'm sure it will get more pronounced as they grow.

Finally here are the Barnevelder chicks:

They're kind of shy, so they ran to the other end of the pen when I tried to take their pic at first. You can see the rooster is the one in the middle, that's pretty apparent even at 6 weeks.


Here you can kind of see the lacing a little better.

 

[michelleml]

It sounds like you got a lot done.  I'm really dismayed to hear about the freezing temps again later this week (hey, can someone tell the weather April 15th is the frost date for this area?  Please?) because I just bought a bunch of seedlings today that I was planning on planting tomorrow.  Grrr.  I don't normally do seedlings but didn't get seeds started this year so thought I'd get a jump start on them and get the seedlings.  I guess I can either wait to plant them until after the freeze, or put 2-liter bottles over the top of them to protect them.  At least they are still small enough for that.

I ordered some veggie and fruit plants and they aren't due to ship till beginning of may