Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Cute chicks AmySG! I love your names too.

I was so foggy brained this morning from being tired I forgot to tell you all about my encounter last night. I went to Wichita to run to Sam's & do some shopping & then didn't get back down to Derby to stop at Walmart until about 9:00 last night. I just stopped there instead of coming all the way back here & then having to drive into town. Anyway, I was turning onto the street that goes to Walmart & just got barely around the corner when I saw something in the street in front of me. At first I thought it was a small dog, but as I got closer & had to slow down I saw that it actually was a red fox. When I came up close it ran back up onto the curb & headed back into the trees, but not before looking back. There was a car right behind me & I was looking in my mirror & saw that they had stopped completely to look at it. This is right in town with houses all around it. There is a small area there on the corner with quite a few trees that they have not taken out yet for development & that's where it came out of & went back into. It's not something you see every day, I'm glad it wasn't at my house after my chickens, but interesting to see right in town. I knew that we had them when I lived outside Derby for so many years. It's funny though because when I had chickens there I lost very few to predators & we had them all there too. We had a creek running through that had water in places & wooded areas, so we had about every predator you could have there. I had families of raccoons that ate my cat food. Maybe they were fed too well with cat food to eat my chickens, I don't know. I saw coyotes on a regular basis around there too.

I'm sorry for those of you having so many problems with neighbors & your chickens. I sure think some people's dogs are much more irritating than chickens could ever be.

 

[HEChicken]

Today I went to check on birds and noticed one of my duck’s eggs was beside her instead of under her. I picked it up to put it back under, thinking she had just lost it while turning them, and got a faint whiff of a somewhat unpleasant odor. So I decided to candle it before returning it to her – just in case. To my surprise, while candling, I couldn’t find the air cell. I tried and tried, turning it this way and that, but no. It was completely dark though, definitely not a “clear”.

To be on the safe side, I placed it in a grocery sack, tied a knot in the top, and then – outside – tapped it very, very lightly against a corner, to try to break a small hole in the air cell end so I could figure out what was going on. The grocery sack was one of my most brilliant ideas today. The egg eggsploded like it was under pressure and even through the plastic, and with the contents contained, the smell was, well, every bit as bad as y’all have said.

I guess I am curious though – does anyone know why this happened? Is this a chick that started to develop, died and rotted? Or was this never a developing egg? For reference, this was a Muscovy egg on day 28 – about a week to go.

Danz, those are cool pics of the egret - I hope it stays around for you.

Trish, when we lived in Wichita, DD and I used to occasionally see foxes running across streets right in the heart of the city, so they are definitely around.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I am so sorry to hear about all of you having problems with neighbors and sick/hurt birds! I am so glad that I don't have any close neighbors!

Today, I took my horse for a ride to get the mail. After I got back, before putting my saddle away, I checked the duck run for eggs and found one. I put it in my pocket and then went to get my saddle. In the past, I've read about "pocket omelettes" and can thank all of you for saving me from one. After reading of your experiences, I was very careful to carry my saddle away from the pocket with the egg and then to take the egg out of my pocket ASAP. Every time I stick an egg in my pocket, I giggle to myself and thank you ladies for saving me because I know I would be one of those that would do such a thing at least once.

Also, some of you may remember me asking about ways to keep my birds out of their water. My 9 ducks and 3 geese tend to take baths in their drinking water bowls, which means that they run out of water MUCH quicker than they should. This isn't a big deal when I am home to check and re-fill, but it turns into a big problem when we are gone and having the neighbor's kids take care of everything for us. Recently, I decided to put a cage around the water bowls. Yesterday, my DH cut two pieces of stock fencing (one for each water bowl) and created a little circular cage for the water bowls. They look very similar to tomato cages. Today has been my "test run" to see how the "water cages" work. So far, the birds (probably the geese) have knocked one over. The other one is still going strong and tjat water bowl has more water in it than I've seen at this time of day in a long time. I'm going to call this a huge success with one modification... I think I'm going to create a "hook" that I can use to keep the water cages upright and in place by hooking them to the chicken wire walls of the duck run. My DH and I are planning on going out of town soon, so I am so glad to get this problem figured out!

 

[Frizzled Pink]

Man oh man, why do some people have to be so rotten??? So sorry that you have to deal with these issues Medawink and MaidenW

Hello to all the new people. I love all the shares of chicky babies. Those lil fluff balls work their way right to your heart!

I had a rather exciting day for a chicken newbie. I went down to the poultry show in Sedalia today. Fascinating getting to see all the birds and different breeds firsthand. I even got a lesson on how to do AI, which before today i would have said no way can i do that, but turned out to be not so bad. I think there is one coming up soon in Hutch. Anyone been to that one before or have any info on it as far as time/date?

 

[Trish44]

Man oh man, why do some people have to be so rotten??? So sorry that you have to deal with these issues Medawink and MaidenW

Hello to all the new people. I love all the shares of chicky babies. Those lil fluff balls work their way right to your heart!

I had a rather exciting day for a chicken newbie. I went down to the poultry show in Sedalia today. Fascinating getting to see all the birds and different breeds firsthand. I even got a lesson on how to do AI, which before today i would have said no way can i do that, but turned out to be not so bad. I think there is one coming up soon in Hutch. Anyone been to that one before or have any info on it as far as time/date?

If you find out the details on that show will you let us all know? There had been mention of the Cream Legbar Club setting up there to get the word out about the breed, but I don't know when it is or if it's worth going to. Has anybody been to that show before?

tweetybaby2005, it was nice to meet you today! Maybe you can make it to one of our get togethers soon & meet more of us.

 

[chicken danz]

Thank you all for the welcome! This is a really fun site already.

Here are the babies, at just about a week, and now, right around three weeks. I can't be certain since they came from a bin-o-chicks. I have no idea what breeds/crosses, or sexes, I just hope they aren't all roos! I can have roos because I live in the country, but six roos may disagree that they can coexist peacefully.

Cute chicks AmySG! I love your names too.

I was so foggy brained this morning from being tired I forgot to tell you all about my encounter last night. I went to Wichita to run to Sam's & do some shopping & then didn't get back down to Derby to stop at Walmart until about 9:00 last night. I just stopped there instead of coming all the way back here & then having to drive into town. Anyway, I was turning onto the street that goes to Walmart & just got barely around the corner when I saw something in the street in front of me. At first I thought it was a small dog, but as I got closer & had to slow down I saw that it actually was a red fox. When I came up close it ran back up onto the curb & headed back into the trees, but not before looking back. There was a car right behind me & I was looking in my mirror & saw that they had stopped completely to look at it. This is right in town with houses all around it. There is a small area there on the corner with quite a few trees that they have not taken out yet for development & that's where it came out of & went back into. It's not something you see every day, I'm glad it wasn't at my house after my chickens, but interesting to see right in town. I knew that we had them when I lived outside Derby for so many years. It's funny though because when I had chickens there I lost very few to predators & we had them all there too. We had a creek running through that had water in places & wooded areas, so we had about every predator you could have there. I had families of raccoons that ate my cat food. Maybe they were fed too well with cat food to eat my chickens, I don't know. I saw coyotes on a regular basis around there too.

I'm sorry for those of you having so many problems with neighbors & your chickens. I sure think some people's dogs are much more irritating than chickens could ever be.

Here I go again sounding like know it all. I've mentioned before we had a fox that lived on the hill behind us in town. Foxes move to populated areas often to have their babies. The are smart enough to realize that the kits are safer around humans than out in the sticks someplace. I knew of two places in Council Grove where they went each year and I know of at least another two in Burlington where they go. It is usually heavily treed and often near a water source. I don't know if it is because there is often water where there is trees or if if they prefer both.

I am so sorry to hear about all of you having problems with neighbors and sick/hurt birds! I am so glad that I don't have any close neighbors!

Today, I took my horse for a ride to get the mail. After I got back, before putting my saddle away, I checked the duck run for eggs and found one. I put it in my pocket and then went to get my saddle. In the past, I've read about "pocket omelettes" and can thank all of you for saving me from one. After reading of your experiences, I was very careful to carry my saddle away from the pocket with the egg and then to take the egg out of my pocket ASAP. Every time I stick an egg in my pocket, I giggle to myself and thank you ladies for saving me because I know I would be one of those that would do such a thing at least once.

Also, some of you may remember me asking about ways to keep my birds out of their water. My 9 ducks and 3 geese tend to take baths in their drinking water bowls, which means that they run out of water MUCH quicker than they should. This isn't a big deal when I am home to check and re-fill, but it turns into a big problem when we are gone and having the neighbor's kids take care of everything for us. Recently, I decided to put a cage around the water bowls. Yesterday, my DH cut two pieces of stock fencing (one for each water bowl) and created a little circular cage for the water bowls. They look very similar to tomato cages. Today has been my "test run" to see how the "water cages" work. So far, the birds (probably the geese) have knocked one over. The other one is still going strong and tjat water bowl has more water in it than I've seen at this time of day in a long time. I'm going to call this a huge success with one modification... I think I'm going to create a "hook" that I can use to keep the water cages upright and in place by hooking them to the chicken wire walls of the duck run. My DH and I are planning on going out of town soon, so I am so glad to get this problem figured out!

What a great idea Lizzy. I am dealing with the same thing with baby geese I am keeping in the house because it is too cold for them outside. No matter how much water I give them they either play in it or knock it over. I am so ready for warm weather. I also have a huge batch of ducks in the basement but they haven't learned to play yet...thank heavens.
Quote:

If you find out the details on that show will you let us all know? There had been mention of the Cream Legbar Club setting up there to get the word out about the breed, but I don't know when it is or if it's worth going to. Has anybody been to that show before?

tweetybaby2005, it was nice to meet you today! Maybe you can make it to one of our get togethers soon & meet more of us.

I wish there were a poultry show near here at a time I could go. I would like to go just once.
I am so tired. Seems all I could do today was get the feeding done. I am just without any energy for some reason. My fence guy called and was going to come by but when he called he had already past the turn off. He was pulling a 30 foot equipment trailer so he didn't want to turn around. (Wish he had called earlier.) I want to talk to him about the kind of wire to buy but I need to buy it before it goes off sale. He said he would probably call or come down the first of the week. I am ready. I want this stuff done.
I guess I wasn't real clear on the question about pinless peepers. All of my roosters that have been raised here get along just fine. But I have purchased some from three different breeders and those boys want to kill each other. I really don't want to keep them penned separately. That just adds to my work. I want back up roosters so I can do selective breeding and have a spare if something happens to one. It would sure simplify things if I could just house the backup boys together without any girls. I just don't know if the pinless peepers would make a difference.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

It's been rotten and stressful to say the least. Thank you all for the support. The sheriff has called my DH and wants him to come by the station monday night to have a man to man talk about things. Our news cast has reached tennessee and is blowing up bigger than I ever thought. People are outraged to learn that this happened and the sheriffs response was to simply saw that the seputy acted as he should have, which in alot of peoples opinion was incorrect. Leaving an animal to suffer is not protocol in any way. So hopefully to dave face he wants to give us what we ask for which all we want is a formal apology from the sheriff for trying to smear our name in the mud and a personal apology from the deputy for shooting our pet and making him suffer. Well we will see on monday though.

My phoenix is on alot of eggs. Every morning she gets off to eat and drink and someone pops on to lay an egg and she waits patiently to get back on her nest. she is covering all the eggs as of now and I know there are more than 20 eggs under her. Should I leave her to them all?

 

[Frizzled Pink]

If you find out the details on that show will you let us all know? There had been mention of the Cream Legbar Club setting up there to get the word out about the breed, but I don't know when it is or if it's worth going to. Has anybody been to that show before?

tweetybaby2005, it was nice to meet you today! Maybe you can make it to one of our get togethers soon & meet more of us.

http://www.cochinsint.com/show-calendar.html

I have this from the cochin websites. Look like May 4th for Hutch. Consolidated KS meetup anyone?

 

[chicken danz]

It's been rotten and stressful to say the least. Thank you all for the support. The sheriff has called my DH and wants him to come by the station monday night to have a man to man talk about things. Our news cast has reached tennessee and is blowing up bigger than I ever thought. People are outraged to learn that this happened and the sheriffs response was to simply saw that the seputy acted as he should have, which in alot of peoples opinion was incorrect. Leaving an animal to suffer is not protocol in any way. So hopefully to dave face he wants to give us what we ask for which all we want is a formal apology from the sheriff for trying to smear our name in the mud and a personal apology from the deputy for shooting our pet and making him suffer. Well we will see on monday though.

My phoenix is on alot of eggs. Every morning she gets off to eat and drink and someone pops on to lay an egg and she waits patiently to get back on her nest. she is covering all the eggs as of now and I know there are more than 20 eggs under her. Should I leave her to them all?

I think it should spread further and wider. Lets let the world see what an injustice it is!!!
I would let her set. Pheonix do an excellent job of incubating and being broody. Wait until she hatches some and leaves the nest then you can candle the others and hatch them yourself like I did last year.

 

[AmySG]

Chicken Danz, thank you for the reply. The top one, silver, has the cleanest legs of them all with a bluish cast, and is the smallest and leanest. The fuzziest is Gold, who looks to have feathers all over the legs and is a little chunk. I'm not sure about a ruff. I've tried to do some research and I do think at least three are Cochin. Cumulo might be a barred rock? It has clean legs, too.

I have been wrapping them gently in a tea towel and lying them on my chest. They zonk out in seconds and sleep for about 15 minutes like that. They seem to really like the heart beat, and I could be completely wishful thinking, but when I let them sleep like that they seem to grow like crazy and are very relaxed afterwards. They also like a freeze dried blood worm treat (fish food) now and then, and it is fun to see them get to act like real chickens. They are about the size of parakeets right now.