Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions about the DE. I will return what I have now and get a little of the right kind. I do get to Topeka or Wichita every so often so I will look up those feed stores that were suggested and be all set. I want it to help keep the coop dry and control flies. Anything to make it more comfortable for my friends.

I started acquiring my flock the first part of May and my husband tells me that I am done now but that is yet to be determined. LOL My current flock consits of 2 Rhode Island Red hens, 2 Barred Rock Hens, 1 white rock hen, 3 Ameraucana hens, 1 black austalorp hen, 1 white rock roo, and 1 Ameraucana roo. I also have 1 blue slate hen turkey, 1 royal palm tom turkey, 1 black spanish tom turkey, and a pair of white Embden geese. I am not so sure that the Ameraucana's are not Easter Eggers instead. I bought them as Ameraucana's but they don't look pure to me. They are really pretty though and I just wanted the different colored eggs so I really do not care.

I had an old chicken house that had not been used in over 25 years and intended on fixing it up. My loving husband decided that it might be more eye appealing to just go ahead and get a new shed for my friends. Their new home was just delivered this week and we are planning on getting it all fixed up this weekend and getting them all settled in. I am wanting to put poop boards under their roosts and also put linoleum down on the floor to help keep it nice and make clean up easier. I am thinking that the turkeys will try to roost in the loft so we will fix something for them up there. It is a learning process for me but they are being very patient with me. I have learned so much from all of the posts that I have read on here and am hoping to add a few more chicks this fall so I may be contacting some of you to purchase.

I don't know what kind of shed you got for your birds, but if it's a regular storage shed you will need to add lots of ventilation. I converted my storage shed I had here to my main coop when I got chickens again & have had to keep adding more vents & more windows because it has been very hot in there. There is no shade where that coop is so it's just a heat magnet. Some of us on here will be hatching chicks for fall, but I don't plan to this year. I will however be hatching lots in the spring if you decide you want anything I have then.

Welcome dwinks2.

So here is a question, my mom ordered the Cornish cross so I could raise them up and we could butcher them. She got the vaccs for mareks and cocci. If I would have known I would have told her not to. I cant feed medicated feed and I have my new hatchlings in with them. Iam wondering if feeding the new ones non medicated for a week is going to be ok. I have never done anything but medicated so I am kind of nervous. We plan on splitting them up once we have the shelter finished.

I had to stop feeding the medicated chick starter to my chicks because I have found the imported breeds of birds don't handle it well & I was losing more chicks feeding it just from the amprolium in it. They have done much better on the non-medicated feed, so I have stuck with that. I certainly haven't had any problems with feeding the non-medicated. The only thing that is for is to prevent cocci & that's it.

My silly turkey hen reappeared today soaking wet. She was out in that rain last night & she was soaked through, so I put her in the pen & she as usual was very hungry. I have no idea where she disappears to for two or three days at a time, but her pen mates got to go out to range today & she's confined in her pen.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

I don't know what kind of shed you got for your birds, but if it's a regular storage shed you will need to add lots of ventilation. I converted my storage shed I had here to my main coop when I got chickens again & have had to keep adding more vents & more windows because it has been very hot in there. There is no shade where that coop is so it's just a heat magnet. Some of us on here will be hatching chicks for fall, but I don't plan to this year. I will however be hatching lots in the spring if you decide you want anything I have then.
I had to stop feeding the medicated chick starter to my chicks because I have found the imported breeds of birds don't handle it well & I was losing more chicks feeding it just from the amprolium in it. They have done much better on the non-medicated feed, so I have stuck with that. I certainly haven't had any problems with feeding the non-medicated. The only thing that is for is to prevent cocci & that's it.

My silly turkey hen reappeared today soaking wet. She was out in that rain last night & she was soaked through, so I put her in the pen & she as usual was very hungry. I have no idea where she disappears to for two or three days at a time, but her pen mates got to go out to range today & she's confined in her pen.

I have a turkey hen setting on 5 eggs. She is in a patch of weeds and has set tight through two soaking rains. Your hen probably has a nest and only returned for food.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I am originally from (grew up in) North Central Kansas, which apparently got quite a bit of rain last night. I heard of rainfall reports ranging from 3.2" - 5+" (rain gauge overflowed). While I realize that flooding is also detrimental, it is almost disgusting to think of all the rain they've gotten that we so desperately need. Very frustrating! I've almost forgotten what rain/mud is! And, I've definitely had PLENTY of time to forgot how much of a nuisance/headache deep mud can be

I've got to make a trip to the vet this afternoon. I've got an appointment for both horses to get their teeth floated and for both dogs to get rabies shots. I almost thought about taking the one duck that I've been doctoring for a while now, just to see what the doctor says about her, but I'm not sure dogs + duck in the same vehicle is a very good idea.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I don't know what kind of shed you got for your birds, but if it's a regular storage shed you will need to add lots of ventilation. I converted my storage shed I had here to my main coop when I got chickens again & have had to keep adding more vents & more windows because it has been very hot in there. There is no shade where that coop is so it's just a heat magnet. Some of us on here will be hatching chicks for fall, but I don't plan to this year. I will however be hatching lots in the spring if you decide you want anything I have then.
I had to stop feeding the medicated chick starter to my chicks because I have found the imported breeds of birds don't handle it well & I was losing more chicks feeding it just from the amprolium in it. They have done much better on the non-medicated feed, so I have stuck with that. I certainly haven't had any problems with feeding the non-medicated. The only thing that is for is to prevent cocci & that's it.

My silly turkey hen reappeared today soaking wet. She was out in that rain last night & she was soaked through, so I put her in the pen & she as usual was very hungry. I have no idea where she disappears to for two or three days at a time, but her pen mates got to go out to range today & she's confined in her pen.

Thank you. I knew I saw someone post something like that awhile back. Must have been you

There is no reason you can't use medicated feed. The vaccination is a just that. It forms antibodies so it isn't necessary to feed medicated feed. It won't hurt them.

Oh ok. there was a tag on the box they came in that said feeding medicated feed would nullify the vaccination

They are meat birds and will be on meat bird feed anyway. Can I start them on meat bird right away? I have never done them before. They are Cornish cross

 

[HEChicken]

Oh ok. there was a tag on the box they came in that said feeding medicated feed would nullify the vaccination

I've heard that before too. It probably wouldn't hurt to do a google search of it to find out for sure, so you can make an informed decision.

Ralph, Trish44's turkey eggs aren't fertile so even if she does have a nest somewhere, sitting on the eggs isn't going to do any good. And, it makes her vulnerable to predation to have her sitting who knows where - that is why Trish locks her up when she returns home - to ensure her safety.

My turkey hen is also sitting on a nest, containing 11 eggs. Her last experience turned out so badly that this time she decided to do it her way instead of my way. Instead of the hoop coop, her nest is out in our pasture. It certainly makes her more vulnerable but I'm really hoping that the fencing fix we did (which so far has prevented the loss of any more lambs) will also reduce the risk to the turkey sitting on her nest. Hopefully her eggs are fertile. Ned died on Monday after being lethargic for several weeks, so I don't know when is the last time he mated her. If just one egg is fertile and hatches, I'll be happy.

 

[Trish44]

Ralph, I lost my Royal Palm tom several months ago, so that's why HEChicken said my hen's eggs aren't fertile. I now have a young jake growing out as a mate, but he's too young yet. I have tried to keep this hen confined for a week at a time & she still takes off again when she gets the chance, so I guess I'm going to just have to keep her in. I just would hate to lose her to a predator if she is off in an unsafe place sitting on a useless nest. I'm in the process of building a new hoop coop for the turkeys so they will have more room.

 

[dwink2]

It is a lofted garden shed and we had it made with extra ventelation. We can always add more if needed and I plan on putting a fan in it. My birds are only in it at night so hopefully it will be fine. I just can't wait to get them in there but am a little concerned how I will teach them that this is their new home at night now. It might get interesting.... thanks for the suggestion though Trish.

 

[Trish44]

It is a lofted garden shed and we had it made with extra ventelation. We can always add more if needed and I plan on putting a fan in it. My birds are only in it at night so hopefully it will be fine. I just can't wait to get them in there but am a little concerned how I will teach them that this is their new home at night now. It might get interesting.... thanks for the suggestion though Trish.

I teach all my newly added young birds to go in the coop at night by getting them into the attached run for feeding time in the evening. It usually only takes a few days of letting them see that's where they get fed to get them to voluntarily come in at night. It takes a little effort on your part, but they usually learn pretty quickly.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I've heard that before too. It probably wouldn't hurt to do a google search of it to find out for sure, so you can make an informed decision.

Ralph, Trish44's turkey eggs aren't fertile so even if she does have a nest somewhere, sitting on the eggs isn't going to do any good. And, it makes her vulnerable to predation to have her sitting who knows where - that is why Trish locks her up when she returns home - to ensure her safety.

My turkey hen is also sitting on a nest, containing 11 eggs. Her last experience turned out so badly that this time she decided to do it her way instead of my way. Instead of the hoop coop, her nest is out in our pasture. It certainly makes her more vulnerable but I'm really hoping that the fencing fix we did (which so far has prevented the loss of any more lambs) will also reduce the risk to the turkey sitting on her nest. Hopefully her eggs are fertile. Ned died on Monday after being lethargic for several weeks, so I don't know when is the last time he mated her. If just one egg is fertile and hatches, I'll be happy.

Thank you. I will do some searches. I was concerned having my unvaccinated chicks in there with the Cornish x since they do poo a lot, I may need to separate them sooner than a week.

 

[HEChicken]

It is a lofted garden shed and we had it made with extra ventelation. We can always add more if needed and I plan on putting a fan in it. My birds are only in it at night so hopefully it will be fine. I just can't wait to get them in there but am a little concerned how I will teach them that this is their new home at night now. It might get interesting.... thanks for the suggestion though Trish.

You may be surprised how much they are in it during the day. You will likely want them to lay their eggs in nest boxes in the coop, and that takes up a surprising amount of time. The alternate is to have them free-range all day and then go on a daily egg hunt.