Consolidated Kansas

[cleansquared]

We are getting lots of rain in wichita! Another rainy day in the garage for the girls.. Im glad we are getting rain though still in a defecient drought i think even with all the rain...

 

[cleansquared]

Ohh to whom ever wanted it the lady in ark city who had easter eggers not pure bred arcauna crosses here is her number 620-4

42-1607

 

[lizzyGSR]

Gosh, all of this talk of rain is making me jealous! We got 0.30" of rain on Friday while areas not far from us got way more (over an inch, nearly two in some areas). The rain has been consistently going around a 2 or 3 county section here in NW KS, and it is so frustrating! It is so dry out here that the grass looks like its December and not July! I took a trip to north central KS this weekend and ran into some rain on the way there. Those who live in NCK say it is dry there, but it looks so lush and green compared to NW KS. If you look closely, you can see some good-sized cracks in the ground in NCK to prove that it really is dry, but gosh it would be nice to have that much grass. Right now, the only green in our pasture is yuccas and prickly pear, as well as a bit of kochia that's in a low spot. Our forecast has a 50% chance of rain for Thursday. I'm praying that we actually get a decent rainfall, and that it doesn't go around us again like it has so many times recently. We are on track, yet again, to receive half of the yearly rainfall considered "normal" for this area.

 

[chicken danz]

Well they still dont like to be held but when they go in the garage at night they dont mind being petted the little ees have even started hanging out with the big girls the last few days before the two groups would just stay away from each other.. Also danz my brother in ok offered to give me all the organic wheat i can use i see him next weekend if he has it ready do you want some for our roos?

I actually got some wheat from a neighbor so I do have some right now. When you come to get the roost you could bring some if you have plenty.
Originally Posted by tntblake

Welcome DUDLEYSPINNER ,keep us posted I love seeing how people re-use stuff
POLISHPAL , are you done hatching or are there more to come still?congratulations ! Baby chicks and the fair, should keep you busy.
DANZ thanks for the explanation, I've had this fantasy where I could have two runs next to each other and use one for a garden and one for the chickens and then rotate them every year. (maybe someday) I've been seeing a lot of oxine being used too, sounds like a good thing to have around in this hot and humid part of the country.

Oxine is amazing stuff. I use just as much of it in my household chores as I do for chicken stuff. Seems pricey when you buy it but a little goes a long ways. Lots of people rotate chicken yards a couple months at a time. If you don't have a huge flock that works great. You could also have your chickens in the garden area in the fall to clean up what is left until spring and then move them back to their other pen as well. Let them do the work.

We just started raising chickens this year and even though I live in a small farming and ranching community there are not that many people raising chickens. I would love to find someone that could share some chicken wisdom and experience.

Welcome new people. Glad to have you. Join in and talk about yourself and ask as many questions as you would like.

Gosh, all of this talk of rain is making me jealous! We got 0.30" of rain on Friday while areas not far from us got way more (over an inch, nearly two in some areas). The rain has been consistently going around a 2 or 3 county section here in NW KS, and it is so frustrating! It is so dry out here that the grass looks like its December and not July! I took a trip to north central KS this weekend and ran into some rain on the way there. Those who live in NCK say it is dry there, but it looks so lush and green compared to NW KS. If you look closely, you can see some good-sized cracks in the ground in NCK to prove that it really is dry, but gosh it would be nice to have that much grass. Right now, the only green in our pasture is yuccas and prickly pear, as well as a bit of kochia that's in a low spot. Our forecast has a 50% chance of rain for Thursday. I'm praying that we actually get a decent rainfall, and that it doesn't go around us again like it has so many times recently. We are on track, yet again, to receive half of the yearly rainfall considered "normal" for this area.

I know what you mean,Lizzy. We aren't as bad off as you cause we did get some rain this spring but the big cracks are back. I hate having the mess rain makes but I am learning to welcome it however little or rare it is. We got that storm the other day but it didn't do much except make the top layer of clay slimy. We need a slow rain for a long period of time. The temps are going to be so high today we will just be dying from the humidity and what little we got will evaporate off.
I went to breakfast with an old coworker this morning and have a class to attend later this afternoon. I have some people coming to get chicks early evening so I need to get myself in gear. I've got some new ducklings that hatched and need to get them a pen ready. They are still in the incubator.

 

[Trish44]

So, I'm positing a message I'll be putting on other threads, too- it's really hard to post this, but I'm just stretched tooo thin, and it has to happen for a bit. I'll be keeping my favorite hens in my backyard, and I'm keeping the R-Com and the Sportsman...for those who know about my home-made incubator, I'm keeping that (the FarmGirl NQB8R), too.

It's tough, but temporary.


"Well, folks, at long last, I'm back...but I have rotten news.

My job has whipped me up and down the block for the last year or so, and that's in addition to having relatives here, being a caregiver, and home-schooling teen daughters. I'm strung out.

I have to liquidate. I've said it before, but this is really it. I have to get rid of everything that isn't legal within city limits, because the farm at which I have my breeding facility is also closing down. I have a deadline now.

So: I'm listing in BYC threads initially because so many of you are like-minded and I'd love some of my projects to go on...I'd like to get back into them eventually! I mean, these kids will be going off to college, and perhaps someday I'll have my own farm! Having a farm on someone else's property kinda stinks, really...I'd like to be able to go outside to care for all of my birds...not have to get in the car!

Anyway...

I have a flock of banty Cochins, which were moving toward Chocolate. I have a Blue hen, a Mottled trio, a Chocolate pullet, three black cockerels split to Chocolate, and a Black trio.

I have a flock of d'Uccles that were moving toward Chocolate: 5 Chocolate pullets, a split cockerel, a Black Copper roo, a 6 pack of Isabel chicks and lots of Black and Chocolate chicks.

I have a flock of Marans: a trio of FBCM, 2 Chocolate Copper pullets, a Black roo, a Blue hen, a Splash hen...and tons of chicks, many of them split to or fully Chocolate.

I have a flock of Silkies: 3 Black hens, a Blue roo, a Splash hen, and a White hen. Tons of varied chicks.

The Konzas. Here my heart breaks. I have 5 roos and 10 pullets and a bunch of chicks. They are magnificent. I may just try to keep them locally somewhere if someone around here will foster the project for a bit. They are everything I wanted them to be.

I have a Chocolate Rock project, but need to inventory them...

I also have a trio of Bourbon Reds, a pair of Royal Palms, and 4 or 6 poults of varied lineage.

*sigh*

Message me if you're interested. I will ship."

I'm sorry to hear you're having to get rid of all of your birds, that's the pits. Hopefully at some point your will be able to get some again & start over. I wish I could help you out, but I'm pretty maxed out on birds here, no more pens & I need to build another hoop coop at this point already just to house what I have growing. I hope you can find some good homes for the ones you're selling.

Just a quick question that I know the answer too but want to double check. It has been several years since I have had young birds. I am pretty sure that that it is ok to switch them to layer feed now but want to make sure since they haven't started laying. I really don't want to buy another bag of starter because it is much more expensive than the layer pellets that I can get from a co-op here in town. They are 16 weeks and seem to be getting really red in the face in the last week or so, especially the sexlinks and the br's. I'm ready for eggs!

They should be fine, they're so close to laying, it shouldn't hurt them at all. I'll bet you're excited to have eggs again.

We just started raising chickens this year and even though I live in a small farming and ranching community there are not that many people raising chickens. I would love to find someone that could share some chicken wisdom and experience.

Welcome to BYC & the KS thread. Feel free to ask away with any questions you have, somebody can answer you. Whereabouts are you in KS?

Well we got 4 1/2 inches of rain the other day all at once, just a deluge & it wasn't a good thing to get that much at once. We had a flood here & I lost 9 chicks on my one hoop coop I'm using for a growout pen. Of course they were the ones I really valued, my lavender Ameraucanas, 2 of my Tony Albritton Speckled Sussex, the wheaten Ameraucana pullet I've been babying for a month, some lavender Orps & a Frank's BR chick. I was just sick about it. We also had a collapse in the turkey pen, the front pole on the run collapsed due to too much weight from the water in the tarp, so those who are thinking of putting tarp over their pens, make sure you have enough support for standing water, especially if it rains much. HEChicken also had this happen to her. We were able to get the water out yesterday & straighten the pole enough to get the door closed & use the pen for now, but I eventually will have to replace that pole because the pen is all messed up now. I pulled the tarp back to just covering half the pen so there is netting on half of it now so the rain will go through. I'm going to have to think of a better alternative before winter for that pen because the snow sits on top of it too & it's too heavy. The pen is 10 ft by 10 ft. so it's hard to deal with. When the pen collapsed all the turkeys, ducks, & chickens that shared that pen at night were all out running around, they were pretty shook up, but I think OK. I have since moved the 4 ducks to their own pen so they will have more room with their own pool. My DH & I worked on the rock wall yesterday afternoon until feeding time moving it to divert water away from my hoop coops to a degree & building another wall in front of my two pens that get flooded & filled with mud. Hopefully it will at least slow the water down & it won't push so much mud in front of my pen doors. I have had trouble even getting in now that the hillside is bare & just dirt it becomes a running mud field. It looks like rain again today & we're under a flood watch here, imagine that after such a drought. Anyway, it looks like I'll be starting over with some of my projects since I lost so many chicks, not what I was wanting to do. I thought I was done hatching for the year, but I guess not. What a mess, oh & I also lost a nest of wheaten Ameraucana eggs my hen was sitting on, they were floating in water.

 

[zigzag45]

Seeing some of you have to downsize your flock keeps me motivated to ensure I don't accumulate too many birds. That would be very hard.

Two questions -- first, what do you use for water? I'm still using the little bottle thing that came from Cackle in my starter kit and it's getting old changing water a few times a day. I know with the heat I'll continue to need to, but I would like something that holds more. I tried building something with PVC and the poultry cups, but it leaked something awful. I might try again, but I want something that is easy for a child to fill, something I can put a heater in to keep from freezing this winter, and something that stays pretty clean.

Also, what automatic door do you like. I've seen a few advertised, and aside from being more expensive than I wish, I can't seem to pick one.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Welcome to all the new members. This is a wonderful site filled with informative bright chicken addicts.

There are so many posts I have gotten behind. I see some have gotten rain and here in my neck of the woods I haven't gotten enough to ease the cracks in the earth at all. I am hoping for a good amount soon.

Danz the little cochin/polish is a roo but amazingly sweet and my daughter just loves him. He is nothing like he was when we brought him home. As soon as we go out under the tree he runs to you and looks up wanting to be held He will curl up in your lap and go to sleep.



He is so sweet.


Here is the sizzle looking like a girl yay,, I hope


and Ares she is really growing and so lovable.

 

[sharol]

http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/automatic-chicken-coop-door.html

This is the automatic door I use. It is also available in a solar powered model. It wasn't cheap, but it works really well (if the electricity doesn't go off. My only complaint was that the timer they sent was pretty cheesy and failed almost immediately. I had no luck getting a replacement. I finally just bought a good outdoor timer from Orshlen's. I've had it since the fall of 2011 with no problems. Also it uses a simple little motor that would be easy to replace if it did fail. It uses a lift system to raise the door so it doesn't exert pressure to lower it. That seems safer for the chickens to me.

I have separate summer and winter waterers. I like to use ACV in their water, so I can't use the galvanized ones, so I got a good heated waterer at the beginning of my first winter with the girls, and it is still working fine 3 years later. You have to flip it over, though, and in the ice and snow that can be a deal. In the summer, I use a 5 gallon version that you fill from the top and then unscrew a little cover over the outlet hole (and put it on a special screw on num) when you have it set in the coop.

You can't use galvanized waterers with ACV safely, so I had limited options.

Seeing some of you have to downsize your flock keeps me motivated to ensure I don't accumulate too many birds. That would be very hard.

Two questions -- first, what do you use for water? I'm still using the little bottle thing that came from Cackle in my starter kit and it's getting old changing water a few times a day. I know with the heat I'll continue to need to, but I would like something that holds more. I tried building something with PVC and the poultry cups, but it leaked something awful. I might try again, but I want something that is easy for a child to fill, something I can put a heater in to keep from freezing this winter, and something that stays pretty clean.

Also, what automatic door do you like. I've seen a few advertised, and aside from being more expensive than I wish, I can't seem to pick one.

 

[chicken danz]

Maidenwolf I think you and your daughter both have a magic touch with chickens. I had never even tried to pick up that bird before. Maybe with all the down sizing I will have time to spoil a few more.
I have someone coming to get chicks in a few hours.
I'm not going to the class I planned to cause the person I was going with had another appointment she forgot about. I could have gone alone but I really just like staying home.
Wish I had time to take a nap. It seems like a perfect day to do that. I need to plan something for dinner though without a trip to the grocery store and the cupboards are bare.
I use all kinds of waterers but mostly for adult chickens I use heated dog bowls. For little chicks I use plastic waterers. I am going to make one of Trish's style waterers as soon as my new bucket lids arrive.
To use the nipple water things the hole has to be the perfect size and they have to be screwed in completely square. They will still leak a little even so so they are best used outside.
I have an auto waterer system I plan to set up when I get my poultry building done that will run off a garden hose or direct line. It has bowls and covers and self fills.It was quite pricey though

 

[Trish44]

Seeing some of you have to downsize your flock keeps me motivated to ensure I don't accumulate too many birds. That would be very hard.

Two questions -- first, what do you use for water? I'm still using the little bottle thing that came from Cackle in my starter kit and it's getting old changing water a few times a day. I know with the heat I'll continue to need to, but I would like something that holds more. I tried building something with PVC and the poultry cups, but it leaked something awful. I might try again, but I want something that is easy for a child to fill, something I can put a heater in to keep from freezing this winter, and something that stays pretty clean.

Also, what automatic door do you like. I've seen a few advertised, and aside from being more expensive than I wish, I can't seem to pick one.

I use 5 gallon bucket wateres so I don't have to fill them so often & I can use the ACV in them in the summer. If you all are interested maybe I can find the link to the video again on Youtube & post the link. They have worked out very well for me in the summer. I used them last year & have made more this year. I use either heated dog water bowls in the winter or galvanized waterers with a heated base. The dog bowls really are much, much cheaper & you have to fill them more, but then they don't drink as much water in cold weather either.

I have the Fleming Outdoors auto door also, it's not cheap, but it is very reliable as long as you have electricity. I did get a better timer to use with mine also. They do have the solar option also for more money. The doors aren't cheap, but they do save a lot of time & energy. I only have mine on my main coop where the bulk of my chickens are. I open the doors on the breeder coop manually. I like the up & down motion of the Fleming door rather than the side opening one, it works for my setup better.