Consolidated Kansas

[lizzyGSR]

Tweety - I'm sorry to hear about your dogs. Hopefully, they just got out and will come back on their own.

An update on my birds. I have been giving them the sulfa-based drug that Josie recommended since Thursday evening. The swelling in both of their feet has started to go down, but after several days, hasn't gone down as much as I had hoped. The vet said that this is the last prescription that she will give me without seeing the animals. However, she herself admitted that she doesn't know much about birds, so it seems to me like a waste of money to take them to her. GRRR!!!! This is the third anitbiotic I've tried on these birds, though. If this doesn't clear it up, I think I'm going to give them a break from meds for a while and see how they do. It is really tiring having to give them meds so often.

I have been trying to continue wrapping my gander's foot, but he won't leave the wrapping in place. IF I wrap the whole foot, he moves it around enough that it causes sores, though it still covers the scab from the bumble surgery. If i just wrap the "heal" of the foot, where the bumble scab is, then he managed to wiggle the bandage so it is up around his leg and NOT on his foot at all. GRRR!!!!

Today is the day that my husband's coworkers are putting on a Baby Shower + BBQ (BabyQ

) for us. I am excited! It will give me a chance to learn more names!

I have been trying the Parelli method of training for my horses now for almost a year. I had my first video coaching session with a Parelli instructor earlier this week, and I have been making lots of progress ever since. Playing with my horses has almost become addictive! It is so much fun to see the progress made, and getting them to do new things is almost as good as getting a new toy! I can't wait to be able to get back in the saddle after Baby comes but for the meantime, I am thoroughly enjoying my time on the ground! Now, if only I could keep my feet underneath me... I seem to have had a big-time clumsy streak recently. About a week ago, I went out to the pasture to bring the horses down for the evening (we don't have enough grass in the pasture to leave them out 24/7 so we bring them in at night and let them out during the day). My project horse, Montana, started coming towards me, and I backed away, playing the "catch me" game with him. He had almost caught up to me when I tripped over a yucca plant behind me, did a backwards somersault down the hill and picked myself up. You should've seen the look he gave me when I picked myself up! The picture of a pregnant lady doing acrobatics like that has GOT to be funny, but I had to laugh at him for the look he gave me! Silly horse!

I've been more careful of yucca plants recently. They seem to jump out of nowhere when you least expect them!

 

[HEChicken]

Tweety, I'm so sorry to hear about your dogs - could they have got the door open by themselves? If so, perhaps in bursting out, they pushed the door over the block of wood so it looked like it had been wedged open? It seems unlikely to me that someone would have come and stolen them, especially since if they were in the garage, people likely wouldn't have known they were there. Perhaps they are off chasing a predator and will return soon.

DH and I went to a farm auction this morning and got a few good buys. Unfortunately I missed out on a couple of things I wanted, because we thought they were going to go a different route, so took a break to get a snack and came back just in time to see the things we wanted going for less than we would have been willing to pay. Grrr. Still, I got a bunch more livestock panels, and I'm excited about that. They're in kind of sorry shape but for hoop coops they will be fine. I don't even know how many there are - I just bid on the "lot" and will find out how many when we go back to pick them up later. I also was the only bidder on a huge pile of lumber. He said I don't have to take it all - just pick out the bits I want - but I only paid $20 and saw a ton of 2x lumber in there, most of them 2x4 or 2x6's. I know to buy it new would have been a small fortune, so I'm excited to start picking through it.

Our goats have become like little dogs. They can squeeze out of gaps so small the chickens can't even get through, so we've given up trying to keep them in the pasture since they seem to prefer being closer to us. Despite the fact they were raised on their mama and were kind of skittish when we got them - and I haven't really tried to tame them - they've become very tame, and seem to love attention. They sleep on either the front or back porch, and come to investigate when we go outside. So far they haven't eaten any of the flowers, but stay in the grass grazing, and love to munch on the fallen leaves from storms, or the few that have already turned yellow and fallen. I know they won't be able to keep up with the leaves when Fall starts in earnest but for now they're serving a pretty good use as leaf mulchers LOL. The only downside is I have to sweep the porches of poop daily now, but they poop the little round balls that aren't that bad to sweep up once they're dry, so I decided its not that big a deal to me.

Yesterday I was approached by someone with two does, who would like to use my buck for his stud services. She is going to call me within the next couple of weeks to discuss the details. I've never done something like this before - does anyone know what the "standard" arrangement is for something like this?

My last hatch had 6 eggs go into hatch but only 4 hatched. I did an eggtopsy on the remaining two yesterday. One was fully formed and had even absorbed all the yolk, but never untucked its head to pip. I guess it just wasn't that motivated to live. The other I had never expected to hatch as it looked like it stopped development around day 14. I was fascinated to look at it closely and see that my guess was about right on development. It was fully formed - including all toenails and feathers - it was just tiny compared to a full term chick. I couldn't see anything wrong with it - nothing malformed anyway - but I figure there had to be something going wrong with it for it to just die in utero like that so it was probably not developing right internally.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Tweety, I'm so sorry to hear about your dogs - could they have got the door open by themselves? If so, perhaps in bursting out, they pushed the door over the block of wood so it looked like it had been wedged open? It seems unlikely to me that someone would have come and stolen them, especially since if they were in the garage, people likely wouldn't have known they were there. Perhaps they are off chasing a predator and will return soon.

DH and I went to a farm auction this morning and got a few good buys. Unfortunately I missed out on a couple of things I wanted, because we thought they were going to go a different route, so took a break to get a snack and came back just in time to see the things we wanted going for less than we would have been willing to pay. Grrr. Still, I got a bunch more livestock panels, and I'm excited about that. They're in kind of sorry shape but for hoop coops they will be fine. I don't even know how many there are - I just bid on the "lot" and will find out how many when we go back to pick them up later. I also was the only bidder on a huge pile of lumber. He said I don't have to take it all - just pick out the bits I want - but I only paid $20 and saw a ton of 2x lumber in there, most of them 2x4 or 2x6's. I know to buy it new would have been a small fortune, so I'm excited to start picking through it.

Our goats have become like little dogs. They can squeeze out of gaps so small the chickens can't even get through, so we've given up trying to keep them in the pasture since they seem to prefer being closer to us. Despite the fact they were raised on their mama and were kind of skittish when we got them - and I haven't really tried to tame them - they've become very tame, and seem to love attention. They sleep on either the front or back porch, and come to investigate when we go outside. So far they haven't eaten any of the flowers, but stay in the grass grazing, and love to munch on the fallen leaves from storms, or the few that have already turned yellow and fallen. I know they won't be able to keep up with the leaves when Fall starts in earnest but for now they're serving a pretty good use as leaf mulchers LOL. The only downside is I have to sweep the porches of poop daily now, but they poop the little round balls that aren't that bad to sweep up once they're dry, so I decided its not that big a deal to me.

Yesterday I was approached by someone with two does, who would like to use my buck for his stud services. She is going to call me within the next couple of weeks to discuss the details. I've never done something like this before - does anyone know what the "standard" arrangement is for something like this?

My last hatch had 6 eggs go into hatch but only 4 hatched. I did an eggtopsy on the remaining two yesterday. One was fully formed and had even absorbed all the yolk, but never untucked its head to pip. I guess it just wasn't that motivated to live. The other I had never expected to hatch as it looked like it stopped development around day 14. I was fascinated to look at it closely and see that my guess was about right on development. It was fully formed - including all toenails and feathers - it was just tiny compared to a full term chick. I couldn't see anything wrong with it - nothing malformed anyway - but I figure there had to be something going wrong with it for it to just die in utero like that so it was probably not developing right internally.

I Have raised Nubian goats for many years and when I started raising them, someone told me that a fence that won't hold water; won't hold a goat. I have an older doe that will stretch woven wire fences by rubbing her body back and forth against the fence, so it loosen just enough for her and the other goats can craw under. In her younger days, she was a jumper and could clear a 5 foot fence with two strands of barbed wire with ease.

 

[sharol]

I saw some of my young Muscovy ducks catching some early morning sun. I thought it made a nice group photo.

 

[JosieChick]

I have never used wood chips. Several years ago I bought 60 bales of straw and built a straw bale coop (closing in the deck at our old house). It worked great for a long time, as the straw provided a wonderful wind break against the cold winter winds. When we moved to the country, I built a more traditional building and that left me with a ton of straw that was still good, so we dismantled the straw bale coop, put it under our pole barn to keep it dry, and now use it as the bedding in the coop. For me it has worked great because I am able to keep it dry. If you are in a situation where the straw is getting wet, it will mold and will turn into a stinky mess. But as long as its dry, it works fine. I find that the birds "cut" it up into small pieces, so by the time I need to empty the coop, the bedding is wonderful mulch on my veggie garden.

However, when I do run out of straw, I will probably switch to swift pick shavings, as I can just buy a couple of bales at a time as I need them and don't need to store them as I would straw. These are really fine shavings that are sold in a "bale" at the feed store. It isn't really a bale but is pressure packed into plastic so it expands way beyond what it originally looks like. They are called swift pick because it is easy to sift horse manure out of them, but I like them because the particles are small and soft and I think it would make really good bedding for the coop as well.

OH NO!!!! Are you sure they didn't get out on their own? Pyrs have a way of doing that once they settle into a place. You might be surprised, they may show back up at dinner time! Put posters up on the corners. When I first got Molly she disappeared and didn't come home one night and I put posters up on the corner electric posts and a guy called because he saw her in a cattle pen. She had gone in with the cows probably in the evening and the farmer closed his gate behind them not knowing she was there and she was hotwired into the enclosure and couldn't get back out. Don't give up hope looking for them!

Tragedy strikes at our house this morning. We went to have breakfast and when we came home, we noticed the chickens were all hiding in the coop. Upon further inspection, we noticed that the garage door was wedged open and the 2 GPs were gone. Someone either took the dogs or let the dogs out. DH found a wood block wedged under the garage door and created a big gap. We are absolutely devastated. We holler and drove around but didn't find the dogs. It's especially heart broken for DS because he was very close to the dogs.

I just don't know who would have done it.

I'm not even sure the dogs know their way back if they were still around the area here some where.

Well darn, I just told DH if we ever get goats again ( we had pygmy mixes) that I would get nubians because they seem less inclined to escape!!! There goes that theory!

I Have raised Nubian goats for many years and when I started raising them, someone told me that a fence that won't hold water; won't hold a goat. I have an older doe that will stretch woven wire fences by rubbing her body back and forth against the fence, so it loosen just enough for her and the other goats can craw under. In her younger days, she was a jumper and could clear a 5 foot fence with two strands of barbed wire with ease.

Well we had a good morning at the TSC farm swap, sold a bunch of birds, made a little cash and the baby got to see lots of people and pet some little goats which she just cracked up over!

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Well, good news! The dogs are back. I went over to the neighbor's to alert them of what happened so they can look out for the dog. Just as I was going north of our property to see if I can find them, there they were, trotting along the fence line. They recognized my voice but won't get near me. Then my neighbor saw me trying to get the dogs back into our property so he helped. DH was out working but I called him anyway and he was on his way home to help corral the dogs. It took us at least an hour to catch Rosie and put the leash on her. She refused to walk and we had to pull hard to get her going. She finally decided to walk along and went back to the garage. By then Skylette was running back to the garage because she heard Rosie in there.

I talked to DH about the situation and thinking maybe they did get out by themselves. DH insisted that even if the wood got wedged there for whatever reason, the dogs could not have gotten out by themselves because the garage railing was not straight and it had to be pulled up hard to open it. But I saw the door wasn't open, just had a big gap. He said someone had to have opened it then closed it down with the wood block wedged in. Maybe thinking the dogs would go back by themselves? I don't know. But DH was really ticked off. He wants to install cameras around the house and the barn and put an electronic gate opener on the gate. It could be someone trying to steal the pull behind air compressor in the garage because it is an expensive piece of equipment.

Our neighbor is awesome. I'm grateful he was there to help until DH got home. I'm just glad that the dogs hang around the property and didn't stray far. As for the chickens, some lost feathers and a couple have minor lacerations on the back. Plenty lost feathers on their bottom for some reason. Not sure if that was the dog's doing or like some of you had said, predator... hence the dogs got out and chased it off. Lots of possibilities but I'm just glad that the dogs are back, the birds are fine albeit lacking some feathers, have some minor lacerations and scared. Oh, all 5 babies are fine as well.

For now, the garage doors are locked shut from the inside. Hopefully the dogs will be safe.

Thanks for all the well wishes. With the adrenaline slowing down, I now feel the aches in every fiber of my muscles. Guess trying to run, chase, climb through the hedge wood fences and get a hold of the dog under the cedar tree really used all those muscles and all the energy I had.

 

[JosieChick]

Well, good news! The dogs are back. I went over to the neighbor's to alert them of what happened so they can look out for the dog. Just as I was going north of our property to see if I can find them, there they were, trotting along the fence line. They recognized my voice but won't get near me. Then my neighbor saw me trying to get the dogs back into our property so he helped. DH was out working but I called him anyway and he was on his way home to help corral the dogs. It took us at least an hour to catch Rosie and put the leash on her. She refused to walk and we had to pull hard to get her going. She finally decided to walk along and went back to the garage. By then Skylette was running back to the garage because she heard Rosie in there.

 

[HEChicken]

Where do you get your shavings? I have been looking for swift pick shavings for my poop boards and haven't found them since the place on the corner of Kellogg in Andover closed. I really liked those shavings.

When PrairieLand closed (the place at Kellogg & Andover), the Ace Hardware store at Andover & Central took over the Purina dealership. They carry the swift pick shavings and the woman who runs the feed department is both a horse and chicken person (and has become a friend of mine). They don't have the shavings out on display but if you ask her, she'll have someone bring them up for you.

I would recommend Boer goats. Although they do escape, they don't climb on stuff like other goats do (in fact, for goats they are anything but nimble - they seem to have to think hard about climbing two steps to get up to the front porch), and ours have been really good. They just wander around grazing, haven't eaten anything in the flower gardens, and haven't got into anything they shouldn't. They're kind of curious and like to know what I'm doing and will come and seek attention. We've only had them a couple of months but so far the experience has been far better than when we had dairy goats when I was a kid.

Tweety, so glad the dogs are back!

 

[chicken danz]

Tweety glad the dogs are back. I had my own dog heart attack today. Britt the newer one went out the gate when I went to put a letter in the mail box. I called and she ran. I had my darned flip flops on so I couldn't run and chase her. DH came around and just hollered once and she came trotting back. She was Ivywoods DH's dog so I guess she responds better to men. Dumb dog!
I rebuilt a brooder bin that just never worked right today. I think maybe I would have been better off just to build a new one from scratch. For one thing it is too big. Everything I ever put in the brooder bin died. I always suspected it was something in the plywood bottom. So I removed the bottom, put in some wood braces and put 1/4" hardware cloth as a bottom. Then I decided to make a top. It had never had one. First I made it too close of a clearance and didn't allow for the plastic mesh on the sides so it would only go down a tiny ways. So then I took it apart and rebuilt the top so it was just a tiny bit wider and longer. But then the top wouldn't allow the side door to open. It is going to just have to work though because I am tired of messing with it. I got it in the brooder house but haven't put any chicks in it.
I moved the biggest peachick out to the small peachick pen today and within a couple hours the other two in there had picked a bare spot on her back so she is back in the house. They can be so mean to other peachicks that aren't in their select little group. When I get the new turkey pen done and move the peachicks to the turkey pen I think I'll put the smaller ones in first, in hopes that the bigger ones won't be picking on them.
I've also got some chickens I need to integrate with older birds. I guess I need to just put them in cages inside the pens and hope they get along when I let them out.
DH has been working on the turkey pen today. I can't wait to get that thing finished.
Speaking of which, the Mama turkey is still caring for her chicken chicks. She does a great job with them.

 

[sharol]

Tweety, I'm so glad the brats are home. I was thinking about them every since you posted. When our 8 wk old kitten disappeard a couple of months ago, I was frantic. Turned out she was under a dresser in my computer room hiding from something or other. I even went to the neighbor's house (1/2 mile away) to alert them to look for her. That was the tiger kitten in my avatar about a week after the picture was take (2 days after getting the splint off her leg). She is now 16 weeks old or so and growing like a bad weed in August. We get attached in a hurry, don't we?

Tomorrow is the annual coop clean. I got a pressure washer (electric -- not fooling with gasoline engines on anything no matter how much more power they have) today, so I'm going to use it on everything that comes out of that coop. I'm literally taking it back to the walls and starting over (sort of). I have an additional ramp and roost for the additional birds, and I'm adding 2 nest boxes and shifting some stuff around to make it new for everyone. DH brought home the mule, so I can use it to cart off the old shavings and dump them (they don't have enough poo in them to compost very well since I pick up the fresh droppings every morning -- my own version of deep litter). I figure if I start early and get a quick coat of paint on the newly cleaned roost and ramp, I should have time to put it all back together before evening. The trick will be getting stuff to dry fast enough. I took before pictures today and I'll take after pictures when I'm done. We will see how it all turns out.

My Marans chicks are doing really well. 2 of them were on the lower roost tonight without my having to move them. The 2 little 12 week old cockerels had to be put on the roost again -- silly boys want to sleep on top of the nest boxes. One of the Marans chicks was up on the top roost (well actually the ramp up to the roost) behind his mother -- he is a real mama's boy. I'm going to try to convince the brooder chicks to move into the big coop tomorrow night while the new arrangements are a little unfamiliar to everyone.