Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

It rained all morning here. Then I spent the afternoon trying to do a little neglected cleaning. I also made bread but it isn't rising. The yeast should be good. I wonder if I activated some more yeast and knead it in the dough if it would rise? Or would I just be wasting yeast? I've never had that happen before. Just totally weird. We got quite a bit of rain and it's a muddy mess out there.
I ended up winning the auction for the other lot of English Orpington chicks and I think they'll be shipped on Monday. I'm getting very selective about these birds. DH says that people around here just want meat and eggs, but when people see some of these birds they want them and will buy them. Of course I've still got several that aren't laying yet and several more that haven't even made it out of the brooder yet.

I wonder if the weather had something to do with the bread not rising, it's just an idea.

It was really a mess here this evening too when I was trying to feed my birds. It was so muddy inside the peacock/guinea pen that I was sliding trying to get in the door & had to hold onto the livestock panel to keep from falling. It's so smelly in there that it would be awful to fall in that stinky mud, yuck. Those guineas just have to be the stinkiest birds ever. My chicken pens don't smell like that. I think even my next door neighbor can smell it clear over the hill at times because he mentioned something about a smell coming from this direction. He doesn't have any animals other than dogs, so he probably smells it more than I do. The neighbors across the road from him have cattle & horses & then I have the poultry on the other side of him. We also have a dairy farm right down the road that when the wind is just right you can definitely smell that too. I think it all smells worse when it's wet too, it just enhances the odor. Oh well, that's what you get when you live in the country.

Danz, I'm glad you got the other Orpingtons. What color are these going to be? You got me started liking the Orpingtons now so I may have to have more later, other colors than what I have of course. It's all your fault you know that I have all of these pens of chickens, you rubbed off on me, lol. See we need a chickens anonymous now for chicken addicts, ha.

I think my hairdresser keeps tossing around putting a few chickens in her backyard, she lives in Wichita. She grew up in Louisiana & they had chickens back then. I talk about mine & she keeps asking me questions about them.

 

[22qZoo]

Anybody else having gardening success ? Danz, I'm with you on mowing with the tractor. Visually it's so much more rewarding than say.. taking the dishes out of the dish washer.

 

[Frizzled Pink]

Anybody else having gardening success ? Danz, I'm with you on mowing with the tractor. Visually it's so much more rewarding than say.. taking the dishes out of the dish washer.

Depends on what you call gardening success this year. I have snitched a few small pickling cukes for snacks and we have baby size zucchini and eggplant and a few green tomatoes,but no not quite everything planted yet. I think everyone is behind because of that darn white "S" word, that i refuse to even put the word out in the universe until next Christmas. LOL

 

[cherwill]

Depends on what you call gardening success this year. I have snitched a few small pickling cukes for snacks and we have baby size zucchini and eggplant and a few green tomatoes,but no not quite everything planted yet. I think everyone is behind because of that darn white "S" word, that i refuse to even put the word out in the universe until next Christmas. LOL

I think you're right. I know we're behind because of that word. I haven't even planted squash yet. Everything else is in. We got about half of the first planting of regular radishes. That's our only harvest so far. The watermelon radishes my SIL wanted us to plant were all tops. They went to the chickens because they were going to seed and barely had any radish on them. We planted another row and hopefully they'll grow properly.

 

[chicken danz]

. So I was wondering , is it wrong to have just one goose? She is really sweet and very good at watching over the flock (she was a rescue her mate had been killed by something) I'm getting a little pressure from DD and my sister that she needs a friend. Right now she is laying an egg a day .I know they are cute and all but I really don't want to raise geese. And thought I would share this of the blue berries I can't wait !

Is the goose wandering around by itself or is it hanging out with the chickens? As long as it has companions it follows it will be fine alone. If not, you need to get it a companion. Just buy another female and you won't have to have baby geese.

I wonder if the weather had something to do with the bread not rising, it's just an idea.

It was really a mess here this evening too when I was trying to feed my birds. It was so muddy inside the peacock/guinea pen that I was sliding trying to get in the door & had to hold onto the livestock panel to keep from falling. It's so smelly in there that it would be awful to fall in that stinky mud, yuck. Those guineas just have to be the stinkiest birds ever. My chicken pens don't smell like that. I think even my next door neighbor can smell it clear over the hill at times because he mentioned something about a smell coming from this direction. He doesn't have any animals other than dogs, so he probably smells it more than I do. The neighbors across the road from him have cattle & horses & then I have the poultry on the other side of him. We also have a dairy farm right down the road that when the wind is just right you can definitely smell that too. I think it all smells worse when it's wet too, it just enhances the odor. Oh well, that's what you get when you live in the country.
I agree! the guineas pens wreak! They are nasty and when it rains they are nastier. I like my free range guineas best cause they don't smell. But I can't make money on keets if they lay all over the place.
Danz, I'm glad you got the other Orpingtons. What color are these going to be? You got me started liking the Orpingtons now so I may have to have more later, other colors than what I have of course. It's all your fault you know that I have all of these pens of chickens, you rubbed off on me, lol. See we need a chickens anonymous now for chicken addicts, ha.
These will be a mix of colors as well. Blue, black, splash or blue cuckoo or black cuckoo. That means another breeding pen some day! Or maybe more than one. These huge ole fluffy butts will bring top dollar. Going price for a 100% English like that is $100 to $300 each at breeding age. I'll probably sell them younger just to keep from feeding tons of them. I am sure I have mentioned this before. I want the cuckoo to breed the crele orpingtons. I saw a pair of crele chicks sell for $1012 recently!
I think my hairdresser keeps tossing around putting a few chickens in her backyard, she lives in Wichita. She grew up in Louisiana & they had chickens back then. I talk about mine & she keeps asking me questions about them.
Keep on her Trish. I'll bet she gives in!

Anybody else having gardening success ? Danz, I'm with you on mowing with the tractor. Visually it's so much more rewarding than say.. taking the dishes out of the dish washer.

Taking the dishes out of the dishwasher. I only do that when I am going to use them most of the time!!!

I think you're right. I know we're behind because of that word. I haven't even planted squash yet. Everything else is in. We got about half of the first planting of regular radishes. That's our only harvest so far. The watermelon radishes my SIL wanted us to plant were all tops. They went to the chickens because they were going to seed and barely had any radish on them. We planted another row and hopefully they'll grow properly.

I haven't planted anything yet. It just keeps getting put on the back burner. My plans for a garden went south for sure. I still would like to try to get some beans in and some cukes, watermelon, and pumpkins. Since spring was so late I am going to guess that fall will be too. So maybe I will have time.

 

[JosieChick]

So sorry for your loss Sharol. What a wonderful DH you have to take such good care of her in her last days.

Rest in peace, Hermione.

My little EE that has been fighting egg peritonitis lost the battle overnight.



She was egg bound a couple of weeks ago, and the egg must have broken inside her. She has been weak, but while I was at my daughter's in Reno, she got to the point she couldn't stand. My VDH (Very dear husband) made sure she was in a safe place in the coop and gave her food and water 3 times a day for the whole week. (he didn't want her to be separate from the others because she would be lonely) She was still alive last night when I got home about 11 pm and raised her head a little when I petted her. She was dead this morning when I went out to take breakfast to them.

It is really hard to be a chicken. Maybe she will draw a better hand in her next life. Sleep well, sweet girl.

Weird. I would have a terrible time opening the windows during a down pour. The rain here just blows right into the house.

Back in the day, the common scientific thought was to open the windows so that the wind would blow through the house and not take the house with it. However, they now say that opening windows in the event of severe weather is a BAD THING to do. They now say that it is more likely to take the roof off of the house (or worse) if you leave the windows open. They also say that houses with an attached garage are more likely to have damage from strong straight-line winds or tornadoes because the garage door is the weakest link. Once it blows in, the wind can "grab hold" of the roof or any other part of the house and take it away.
There are many times that I have thought that it was too bad that I live so far from so many others on here. There are several on here that I would love to meet and spend the day with! I am sure our husbands would have a blast chatting about weather. I am born and raised in KS, but that doesn't keep me from being scared of the weather. Its sheer power scares me. Add to that the unpredictability, and I just prefer to hide. We had a small rain shower yesterday, and my DH was sitting in our sunroom watching it rain. It seems like he is always working when it storms, so it was nice to have him home, even if it wasn't a severe storm. I think he enjoyed actually getting to watch the storm, rather than watching it via the radar.

22qZoo- Awww, I am sending you a PM.

My geese (all sebastopols) really love each other so I would think about getting her a friend. Geese behavior is very different than chicken behavior and I bet if you she had a friend they would hang out together all the time. One of those birds of a feather things. You don't have to raise geese, just keep collecting her eggs and don't let her sit on any and you won't have anymore.

. So I was wondering , is it wrong to have just one goose? She is really sweet and very good at watching over the flock (she was a rescue her mate had been killed by something) I'm getting a little pressure from DD and my sister that she needs a friend. Right now she is laying an egg a day .I know they are cute and all but I really don't want to raise geese. And thought I would share this of the blue berries I can't wait !

I wish we had time for a garden. Next year!!! DH has square foot gardening boxes and I want to get them in this fall and start piling compost and chicken poo etc in them in prep for next spring.

Anybody else having gardening success ? Danz, I'm with you on mowing with the tractor. Visually it's so much more rewarding than say.. taking the dishes out of the dish washer.

Sorry for pic overload but here are the newest additions on the farm!!!

Proud new momma and daddy with their clutch!



Little darlings!!



Don't mess with momma!!! She is fiercely protective of her new little peanuts! I almost got flogged twice while attempting these pics!
(Which is very uncharacteristic of her btw)

 

[chicken danz]

Aw Josie, they are adorable. My little babies are getting huge. I really hope the one sitting manages to hatch her clutch. I have trouble imagining a sebbie gone vicious. But I do remember how leary I was of your gander when I was out there at your old place. Time sure changed my attitude. When mine were all hissy I knew they were just big sissy's. If this girl hatches I may just let her raise them. I may find out how serious she can be.
I have one duck that goes all postal. She is sitting on maybe her third pile of duck eggs and hasn't hatched any yet. But there is no way she is going to let me have them. I just hope there are no explosions since she chose to nest in the hen house.

 

[lizzyGSR]

. So I was wondering , is it wrong to have just one goose? She is really sweet and very good at watching over the flock (she was a rescue her mate had been killed by something) I'm getting a little pressure from DD and my sister that she needs a friend. Right now she is laying an egg a day .I know they are cute and all but I really don't want to raise geese.

My white chinese goose, Lucy, was raised with a flock of ducks (Lucy was named long before I discovered that he is a boy). I felt bad about him being the only goose in my flock, so I eventually got 2 embden geese as friends for him. As it turns out, Lucy thinks he is a duck and hangs out almost exclusively with the ducks. The ducks follow him around. Both of the embdens I got are females. They hang out separate from the rest of the flock, but tend to stay relatively close. Even so, it appears as though I have 2 separate flocks. Honestly, I think it depends on the goose as to whether they need a goose friend or not. My goose would probably not have minded never seeing another goose, as long as he had his duck friends.

Proud new momma and daddy with their clutch!



Little darlings!!



Don't mess with momma!!! She is fiercely protective of her new little peanuts! I almost got flogged twice while attempting these pics!
(Which is very uncharacteristic of her btw)

My 2 embden geese lay eggs and sit on them until I take the eggs. They put on a good show, but when they actually "attack", they don't really hurt. They bite my arm, but it doesn't hurt and never leaves a mark. From your description, it sounds like I should be glad that I didn't have to get flogged to find out they really do hurt!

 

[Trish44]

Cute babies Josie!

I just found out my new hatcher was shipped today, so I should have it Tuesday, I'm so excited to get it! Now I will have it in time for my peafowl eggs to hatch in. Next year should be so much easier for hatching too.

I sold one of the remaining Mini Rex bunnies today to a 4H family, so that was nice. I have two more that I hope to sell soon as well from that litter. I have one more litter ready in about 2 more weeks & one litter of Chinchilla babies & then I'm done with baby bunnies for this year. The smallest ones are just beginning to hop all around & come out of the nest box now, they're so darned cute when they're that little.

My guineas decided to lay again, silly birds. The pen was so muddy though that they were covered in mud yesterday.

 

[sharol]

Does anyone in the Emporia area have a small incubator they would let me borrow for a single small hatch? I think my roo may not be doing too well (his feet again), and I'd like to preserve the strain, he is such a good rooster. The eggs may not be fertile, but I'd like to give it a try.

If you have one that isn't in use for the next month or so, could you pm me?

Sharol