Consolidated Kansas

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy I would guess your sickness as being changing weather and the stress it causes.

I'm not so sure it was a sneeze I heard last night. No signs of sneezes or anything this morning. The two embden geese I got from the neighbors have taught the rest of my flock to hiss. My ducks sound like they are hyperventilating when they try to hiss at me. When I heard the "sneeze", it was right after I'd grabbed a duck to doctor her foot (minor case of bumblefoot) so it's possible that it was a failed attempt at a hiss. I honestly don't know what to think about it because everyone was acting fine this morning.

I did, however, make sure that all the water buckets were full this morning (like I do every morning), and the pool has fresh water in it so they SHOULD have enough water. I'll check their water before I leave for church and again as soon as I get home. My DH will be home today, so I'm gonna let the birds free range even though I won't be home.

 

[chicken danz]

We got a nice gentle rain last night. Not enough to really wet anything down but it came down at a nice pace without tons of wind. Wish it would do that at least about every 4 days just like that. I had the sun roof open a little on my car and it didn't even get wet inside. I lost a bag of seed packets I was looking for yesterday to plant some more stuff. Didn't find them. It would have been a perfect time to plant some things. I am hoping for a fall garden since I didn't get the spring garden in until way late.
I forgot to tell a story a day or so ago. Milomac was here with a friend to buy some of my Sabastopol babies.

. Anyway we were walking to the duck pen and one of the ladies saw a snake. I ran and grabbed a shovel but just caught the end of his tail. He crawled toward the Mandarin pen under a rock and was starting down a hole. I grabbed him and pulled him out by my hands and then trapped him with the shovel again. I didn't get up close enough to the head so I just put my foot on his head. Hey Rooster, I actually had tennis shoes on instead of flip flops because I was chasing birds.
Any way Milomac didn't see me pull the snake out of the hole but one of the ladies did. I told him this would be perfect proof of me and my snake wrangling. After I got it killed Milomac took the dead snake to one of the guinea pens. He was very disappointed they ignored it. I figure it was because it was already dead. Would have made a good video I am sure. It wasn't a very big snake though.

 

[Trish44]

Geez Danz you're much braver with snakes than I am, I hate those things! I'm glad you got it though before it had some of your birds or eggs for dinner. We got a little bit of rain yesterday also, but not really even enough to wet the ground. We were out working on the goat shelter putting on the siding & it actually felt pretty nice. We got maybe 3/4 of the siding put on the shelter & had to quit so I could feed the birds & animals. I don't know if we will get to work on it today or not because my granddaughter is coming over for the afternoon & evening. We haven't gotten to see her much lately so it will be nice to have her here again.

I hope all the 4th of July fireworks are done, my GPs have just been freaked out for days, they hate all that noise. One of the neighbors down the hill in front of us had a big party Friday night & had a live band. They were playing so loud I'll bet people could hear them for miles & then they did fireworks as well. The dogs just hid the whole night & I had to wait until about 1 a.m. to feed them because they wouldn't come out.

Well everyone have a good day & try to stay cool, it's supposed to heat up again the next few days.

 

[chicken danz]

Well the people that were supposed to be here at 2:00 just called and said it would be 3:00 before they get here. I should have run to town to check on my Dad while I was waiting but it would have been such a quick trip. If they don't take too long I'll go in after that.
I had to take a shower while ago and hope I don't need another one after wrangling guineas.
I sexed geese without a lot of success but at least got them banded. Then I sexed ducks and pulled out the ones I have spoken for. I think my DH would be fine having all the ducks. I agreed they were easy to care for and really weren't much of a problem but particularly in winter when there isn't many bugs or greens they can go through a lot of feed. This is all my expense and not his so I have to get them moved. Anyway I look like I've been crawling through barb wire. I have cuts and scratches all over me. Those little claws can get you good. I need to get in gear and find a place to put a bunch of babies that are in the hatcher.
Guess I'd better get to it.

 

[cherwill]

While feeding I looked up and saw two turkey poults on the wrong side of my chicken yard fence. Only thing is, they weren't MY poults - they were wild turkey poults! I guess they were drawn in by the sound of my turkeys. They hung there, just feet away from me while I fed and watered and then wandered away. Way cool.

How fun.

All sheep accounted for this morning. Its a good morning.

Good news!

So the only thing we had planned was a short trip to Danz to get some birds, but that got detailed by my step father ending up in the hospital. At one point the doctor was talking a few hours if things did not get better quick. But I just found out he is going home today. He is a tough, mean old man so I guess he's gonna stick around awhile longer.

I'm glad he's well enough to go home so quickly.

My sister and her sons are visiting in a month. I'm quite excited because I haven't seem them for over 3 years. My kids will have a blast playing with their cousins.

There are some issues going on with my family right now. I'm not sure how this impacts me and the chickens yet. I'll know soon enough.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it all turns out well.

Just for fun. 6 reasons to love ducks:

Cute!

We've been chopping and hauling wood for days. I'm so glad to be done! It was just two trees that came down in the wind storm, but it's at least two winters' worth of firewood.

 

[sapphireblu76]

Sapphire, good to see you here again. I can't tell you what that is. Is there any chance she is a cross? Looks like of something crossed with an orpington.

Thanks! Been pretty busy I think she is a mix. The lady I got her from tried to tell me she was a Marans...She had no clue what birds she had. Anyway, I took her for egg laying, but I have a few of her progeny. They are darker than her and are laying some nice eggs.

maybe Basque?

Hmm...perhaps part. It's driving me nuts because I swear I've seen birds that look just like this, but can't find names on pictures or pictures with names.

 

[chicken danz]

Well Sapphire she could be at least part Wheaten Marans. The color would be right.
I got 10 guineas sold as scheduled an catching them was pretty darned easy. I've never had an easy time of catching guineas before. Then the person decided to take 4 ducks as well. An extra bit of money in my pocket.
I got the ducks sexed and pulled out of the pen that are spoken for this morning as well. Now just a hundred or two more to move! I got bins cleaned and chicks moved and the brooder house disinfected. I have one pen empty now. It's one of the two guinea pens I had. I plan to add some sand and some fresh soil and till it up and move some older chicks in there.
In a couple days I am going to start selling more chicks. The feed bill doesn't seem to be going down.
I did get a 55 gallon barrel of wheat from my neighbor. He had had a flat tire on his grain wagon and I went over a couple times and helped him cover the load to keep rain off of it. The wheat was a gift for helping him out. I'll mix it in with my other feed and the chickens will be thrilled.

 

[lizzyGSR]

It just started to sprinkle here. Gosh, I hope it keeps up for a while. It's so dry out here. We need the rain desperately. It's wheat harvest time here, so I'm not sure the farmers are thrilled about the rain at this particular instance, but I, for one, am definitely not going to complain. Bring on the rain!

 

[tweetybaby2005]

We had some rain last night from the storm. Got a watermelon while at the store getting grocery. Came back and while trying to move it out of the way to get the feeds off of the back of the car,promptly dropped it and split it open 3 ways. What's worse was it landed next to a mud puddle thanks to last night's rain. So I just picked up the pieces and let the birds had a feast. They were thrill to get a treat. Even the ducks had some.

Danz, glad you are selling some birds.

Lizzy - I'm with you. Bring on more rain, as long as I don't drop the watermelon next to the mud puddle.

 

[dwink2]

Hello all! I am new to BYC and to my poultry friends. I live in NC Kansas and have 12 chickens, 3 turkeys, and 2 geese. I never realized that poultry could be so relaxing to watch. My new feathered friends and I are learning as we go. It has been an exciting journey so far.