Consolidated Kansas

[cherwill]

I do it if I haven't worn the shoes in a while. Don't want to be surprised by a brown recluse. My ex was bitten by one once, on the knee, and didn't go to a doctor until he had a good-sized, nasty black hole in his knee.

 

[Trish44]

Me too.

This evening, once the sun was behind the house, it wasn't too bad sitting on the deck watching the birds.

Sharol, that article is interesting, but I almost laughed out loud when I saw the drawings on how to tell a poisonous from a non-poisonous snake. If I'm close enough to look at its nostrils and pupils, it's too darn late!

I agree, I don't want to be that close to be able to identify the nostrils & pupils. I do look for the shape of the head though.

SO I guess misters are that common, lol!
I have never used them , but might try that this summer.

A dead snake is easy to identify

,
They only come in 2 types;
1: Headless
2: I need practice aiming

You're a funny guy!

Atta boy Ralph!
I killed another snake this morning. I don't particularly dislike snakes if they would just eat the rodents and leave it like that. But when you see the hole they crawl into to get the eggs, and watch the eggs disappear, or watch them crawl in under the hens that is an entirely different matter. Snakes have gotten all but like two of my red golden pheasant eggs this year!!! I've had to fight them every year. The pheasants usually lay late evening and it is hard to catch the egg just as it is laid before the snakes get a chance to go in and eat them. I have caught the snakes with its mouth around the egg. Amazing how big they can make their mouth!!! Or seen them with the bulge of an egg sliding down their insides.
I have been chased by a bull snake and a black snake both, so if it is going to be that aggressive as well it doesn't belong here. That goes along the same line as catching a live mouse and rehoming it outside. I don't kill anything normally. I do not hunt. I love nature but when things become nuisances or becoming costly they must go. I have a couple of very young granddaughters and I certainly don't want them to encounter one of these when they come here. That's my take on it.
I am not afraid of snakes in general. In fact I am rather fascinated by the way their skin feels. But I don't want to own one or encourage one to live here.
I have to chuckle at your post, Hechicken. You come from an area where there are more deadly creatures than anywhere else on earth and you still like snakes. Amazing!
If I had more trees I wouldn't bother with misters. I do wish I could afford to have some big trees brought in and planted for some quick shade.
They do an amazing job of cooling but unfortunately there's lots of pens that don't have access to shade. Speaking of shade it is getting late. I was gone for a few hours in town so I need to get out and take care of some birds.

Ugh, every since you started talking about all of these snakes I am really paranoid now walking down to my goat pen & to my bird pens in the woods. I have to pass two toppers on my way to the goat pen & the first one is where I saw the snake awhile back on top of the hay. I still don't know what kind it was, but I'm sure it's bigger by now.

I never thought of it like that. I do think that is where my fascination of them comes from, and also my lack of fear of them. I don't *want* to get bitten by a rattlesnake, but compared to the number of deadly species in Australia and Africa, a rattler is not even close to dangerous. I think I heard once that 18 of the top 20 most venomous snakes all come from Australia. We also have one that is very aggressive and will actively chase someone who never threatened it. As a teenager I came within inches of a King Brown snake (highly venomous) that was at least 12' long. All I know is it was stretched across a dirt road where I was walking, and I couldn't even see the end of it. I came to a dead halt, well within striking distance and we eyed each other for over 2 minutes. It finally decided I wasn't a threat, and slithered off into the brush. I was far enough away from the nearest campsite that I wouldn't have made it back if it had bitten me so the fact that I am here today is only because that snake "let me go" so to speak.

I have never yearned to keep venomous snakes because there is always the chance they will escape and with kids in the house, I wasn't about to take that risk. But they have grown up handling and watching me handle my snakes and have no fear of them.

You'll be stunned to know I feel the same way about spiders. They are welcome in my home since they eat the mosquitoes and flies that make there way in and are pests. We also have deadly spiders in Australia - not just venomous, but deadly. When I was a kid, there was a spate of deaths caused by bites of the Sydney Funnelweb spider. That variety is so lethal that in one case a little 4-year-old boy stuck his foot in his wellies, howled with pain, and came out with the spider still clinging to his foot. His parents rushed him to the ER but he was dead by the time they got there.

I think when you grow up knowing everything around you is poisonous or venomous (heck, even the rocks are poisonous there) you just develop a healthy respect for other creatures and keep right on trucking. Its either that or curl up in a little ball and never leave your house, and I didn't consider that a reasonable option.

I can't imagine living in the middle of that many poisonous things. Well we're glad that huge snake let you go so you're here now.

You mean everyone doesn't do that????

That's actually how I got bitten by the brown recluse spider last summer, it was in my garden shoe. Now I do tend to move my shoes around before putting them on. That one was actually inside my house in the foyer area.

Today was a busy day, I ended up running more errands than I originally planned & thanks to HEChicken I didn't have to drive around in my car to keep two little baby rabbits cool. I know the rabbits appreciated it too. Thanks for the nice visit, it's always good to visit with you & see your birds. Those little turkeys are just adorable HEChicken, I can't believe the way they run across the yard when you come out there, so cute! I didn't get home till right before dark, so my guineas were already roosting in the trees, so keep your fingers crossed they will stay up there so they will be safe. I just couldn't get home in time to get them in with all the stops I had to make this evening, way too much to do. The two little goats met me in the driveway looking for me, two dogs, & a bunch of cats all looking for their supper when I got there. I got my new little baby rabbit & chicks settled in & got what I could done before dark settled in. I'll do the rest in the morning. We're actually planning to work on the goat shelter more tomorrow since my DH is off work the first Sat. he has had off in forever.

 

[RoosterLew]

I almost lost an eye to a brown recluse in 1994.
Can we go back to talking about chickens now!?!?!?!!!

Took the 2 australorp and 2 SLW and 2 Mallards to the farm tonight. We put the brooder box in the coop. I'm hoping the big girls will get used to them over the next few weeks that way before they come out of brooder. Those yucky duckies were making WAY to much a mess in the house!

We finally have a move in date! July 1st is so long city, welcome fresh air and peaceful serenity! One fence to put up and the girls will be able to spend all day outside!

Hay bailer will be there this week to start Rollin up the meadow, with all the rain were estimating our part at $800-$1000!!
If the heat comes on good & a bit more rain at the right times the Bermuda will come on and we will cut again later.

 

[chicken danz]

It's rare to get two good hay cuttings. The last couple years however people have been cutting the second time just to have filler hay regardless of it's lack of protein. I really thought hay was hay until I learned that there is a an appropriate time to cut it for maximum protein and nutrition. To me I just thought they cut it once they got the beans planted. Duh! But I do hope you have a good cutting. I don't get anything for my hay per say. I used to get some of it and use it for my goats when I had goats. Instead now I trade for straw to use for bedding for the birds. I am sure I end up on the short end but I don't have to fork out money for those things later on. I got a bonus this year because the combine was set wrong and missed a lot of the wheat heads so the chickens got wheat to eat with their straw and it cost me nothing.
I just hatched an enormous batch of chicks. I still have several more to go. I had all kinds of chicken chicks, some guineas, some turkey, and a peachick. I'm trying to figure out where on earth to put them all and how to mark them all so I know what I have. Normally it's pretty simple but this time there are way too many that are similar. Unless I loose a ton more birds I should be set for just about as many birds as I want to choose from. The harder I work the more easily it becomes to sell another breed. Right now my problem is finding a place to put the grow outs. I need a really big area and I just don't have one. I need to start culling some and or marking them for future sale that I don't need for breeding purposes.

 

[ChickieWickies]

Totally off topic, but has anyone here in Kansas used sand in their coops or pens? How does it do with our weather? Someone told me they thought the sand would burn the chickens' feet in the summer. Would it?

 

[Trish44]

Totally off topic, but has anyone here in Kansas used sand in their coops or pens? How does it do with our weather? Someone told me they thought the sand would burn the chickens' feet in the summer. Would it?

I brought in a load of sand last year that I got from my neighbor when they had excess from leveling their ground for the pool for their kids. I put it in my chicken run outside of my main coop & it was great for awhile, but they just dug & scratched it all out the sides & the door & it's all gone now, so I'm back to just dirt. I wouldn't pay what I would have to pay to have another load delivered here, so I guess we'll just deal with the dirt. The neighbor told me it cost them $70 to have that one load brought out & they didn't even need that much. I saw that they had a pile of excess sand sitting in their yard & asked if they wanted to sell me some of it. I got about two pickup loads full & paid them about half of what they paid so at least they got some money back.

It's not nearly as hot here today, but the humidity will just melt you when you're out there very long. That's the hardest on me that humidity, if we could do without that it would be a lot better. We never had the kind of humidity when I was growing up that we have now. It's like we have changed over to a southern climate here the last few years. I noticed we also are getting some of the weird bugs they have there too that we never had before.

Speaking of snakes we saw a preview of a show on the nature channel that they were going to have on & it was about the Florida Everglades & how people have let Boa Constrictor pets loose there & now they're populating & threatening all the natural wildlife & birds. They're growing just huge & it gave me the willies to see them. Ugh, I hate snakes!

 

[ChickieWickies]

We're just 20 minutes north and west of you!

Anyway, I was hoping to fill their pen with sand so they wouldn't have a muddy mess when it rains. They LOVE getting in our son's old sandbox even though there isn't much sand left in it from years of dump-a-bucket-here-and-there. Did the sand burn their feet last year? Also, how deep and how large of a space did two pickup loads fill? And did they winter well on it?

Also, the humidity today is a KILLER!!! You can feel the water in the air!! And our ladies won't take any interest in the new watering system. One even drank the water from the AC drain instead of from the chicken nipple bucket!!!! UGH!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Hey guys! Remember me? I've been reading and reading trying to catch up and I'm finally throwing in the towel for now. I was over 600 messages behind and I'm down to 222 to go. I know I didn't have to but finally had the time and so what the heck?

Missed you guys but sure have enjoyed catching up on what's been going on around here. I've been very busy with a family crisis and lots of family stuff but things have calmed down and I'm so hoping to have more time in the upcoming weeks. My four oldest have been in Driver's Ed and what a pain that's been. Dropping them off at 8:30 and picking up at 11:30 really kind of messes up the start to the day. Then there are the usual orthodontic, dental and doctor appointments. Oh yeah, and my son is seriously considering the Navy when he graduates next year and has been testing and doing paperwork. Then, some of his legal documents had errors in them that have to be corrected in order for him to sign up so I went to work, and boy was it work, trying to get Kansas and Immigration to agree on his birth date. Sheesh.

We finally had our first swim party yesterday. I didn't learn to swim till I was 13 but all of my kids, except the youngest -- she's in the process of learning, swim and do all kinds of creative things off the diving board and slide. I had the deep end enlarged when we put the pool in to help prevent neck injuries from the rowdier sorts but I also keep an eye out for unnecessary craziness and put the kibosh right on it.

I've raised up some new Ancona ducklings from Danz and am incorporating them into the main flock today. Adorable ducks. Chopper had to go to time out since he hasn't figured out they're new "girls" yet! He'll most likely be fine tomorrow.

I'm growing out some beautiful Buff Sussex chicks I got from Walt'z Ark in Colorado. There are about 10 of them. They are great temperament-wise and really attractive birds. I'll have to get some pics going of them. I think they look like they're going to be pretty good sized birds also. There was a mix up on Speckled Sussex chicks coming from Tony Albritton but they finally arrived and I took one look and thought "What the heck?" You may be familiar with his name if you are into Speckled Sussex. He's a guy that does a lot of showing. He's from Idaho. Well, these are not your typical brown, chipmunk striped chicks. They are yellow!

I freaked out and went to the Sussex thread and sure enough there was a thing about Albritton's chicks and a progression of photos of a similar little yellow chick (not from him directly) that developed far enough along so you could see it was going to turn out looking like a Speckled Sussex should. Someone on there said they had a batch of his birds and they turned out to have beautiful color for a SSX, so it will be very interesting to watch them feather out. So here's a photo of them. Go ahead and chime in for those of you who know -- those do not look like SSX!



There were 5 of the typical brown colored ones like this:



That's a world of difference, isn't it? So there were some genetic explanations regarding the difference on the Sussex thread that my short attention span didn't exactly download properly. All I remember for sure was that the yellow chicks are likely a wheaten based bird as opposed to... uh, something else. My best guess would be brown!

Anyway, it worked out perfectly because Trish44 ordered 5 of these with me and there were only 5 brown ones, so I passed the brown ones on to her, since she will be breeding to sell and people will be expecting the brown ones, and I'm just planning to keep a small flock of them for my own enjoyment and to perhaps cross with some of my Buffs to create a Mille Fleur and then those may be possibly crossed with a new generation Aloha. Whatever, to all of that as we all know life is something that happens when you're busy making other plans. Anyway, I absolutely love these chicks, they are so laid back!

One of my bunnies passed unexpectedly so I just got a young mini-rex from Trish44 and I'm really enjoying that little thing. For those of you who are familiar with my craft room I now have 20 chicks in a brooder and two bunnies in their respective cages in the A/C'ed craft room. It makes it the perfect place for me to hang out -- will no doubt be a surprise when my scrapbooking group meets there this Thursday to find a menagerie! LOL! That should be fun!

So that's all that's going on here. You guys have sure been busy with gardens, sheep, goats, geese, peafowl, etc.! It's nice to get caught up, almost. Just 222 to go!

 

[sharol]

Is this stuff poisonous for chickens? (if they get into it)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuligo_septica

It is also known as "dog vomit mold" or "scrambled egg mold."

Of course there isn't anything about the affects on chickens anywhere. So, anybody know? I'm changing out the straw bales tomorrow anyway, but....

 

[sharol]

Never mind, I found more info. Supposedly in Mexico they cook it up like scrambled eggs. It is called "caca de luna." (chuckle) It isn't harmful to animals or humans unless you are sensitive to its spores.

Is this stuff poisonous for chickens? (if they get into it)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuligo_septica

It is also known as "dog vomit mold" or "scrambled egg mold."

Of course there isn't anything about the affects on chickens anywhere. So, anybody know? I'm changing out the straw bales tomorrow anyway, but....