Consolidated Kansas

[ashncarson]

I hope everyone is doing great! I am been around, just reading and taking care of my new chickens! My chicks are now around 16 weeks (2 for sure) not sure the hatch date on the others.

I have not had a nesting box yet! We have the opening cut for the box (which will be on the outside of the coop)
Here is a old photo before it was covered, of where it will go.


I am wondering if the actual box can be larger than the hole, with 2 entrances, and after they enter they have to go to the sides.....so the actual "box" would go almost to the ends of this side of the coop


so this is kinda what it would look like. Will the chickens be willing to use one like that? and to figure it would with no problems?


Here is a photo of Honey

Here is Kick, the other one Twlight looks about the same
Here is one of my handsome roosters, who need to find a new home soon


I found out that a house 3 houses down have chickens, becuase there is now a crowing rooster (mine are not yet) but the sad part is that there are about 4 chickens, that I can see in this small dog kennel, like you keep a dog inside a house with breaks my heart to see that after putting all this work into trying to build my coop/run big enough!


Well, thanks for reading all this I have loved getting to know you all so far!

 

[ctrymama]

Well got an offer of help with the chicken coop, which is great since. I think I found a bunch of pallets and someone to pick them up, can't get much in a minivan. My mom was fine then they started feeling bad, so they are in the hospital waiting on tests and results, I really think they will be okay just a little banged up. I think that we are just going to take our chances with hatchery chickens this time around, since it will be out first year and we will be learning as we go. My daughter has her heart set on silkies but those are bantams; can you raise those with regular sized chickens and be okay?

 

[chicken danz]

Ash you had better get started on that nest box. Those birds could start laying soon. I had red stars laying at 17 weeks. Most don't start quite that early but they can.
I think your plan would work to make a bigger nest box but I think I would just cut the hole to size instead of having dark corners.
Ctrymama there is no reason not to start with hatchery chicks. But I really think by the time you buy the minimum and pay the shipping costs you'll spend more. Sometimes silkies will get picked on by other chicks. If you get a silkie you might want to get at least 2 of them so you can separate them from the rest of the group if they get picked on. Besides if you buy chicks you won't find a sexed silkie. The other option is to get the silkie(s) a week or two before the other chicks so they don't start out smaller. Once they are older they tend to hold their own.
When a person is in a wreck they don't realize how much they tighten up and strain those muscles. They also don't know how bad they were jerked. A little bit of something for pain and inflammation will probably help a lot. I do hope they are all okay.
We loaded several wheel barrel full of screenings to a couple of the pens today. Problem was the wheel barrel wouldn't fit through the gates. So I used a shovel, and a bucket to put it in the pens. We still need to put 3-4 more wheel barrels full in one of those two pens before it is built up enough to do much good. There was so much water sitting there that it takes a lot just not to sit soaking wet.
I moved a couple more peachicks into the big pen today. If those get along with the first two okay in another day or two I'll move the rest of the group. I'm just trying to make sure no one gets picked on. I am thinking of putting some tin on top of part of one of those roofs to give the birds at least a little more shelter. I nay be able to put some plastic or a tarp on the side to cut some of the north wind too. I don't want to do anything that requires buying more stuff but maybe I can come up with something to help beat some of the winter wind and snow.

 

[ashncarson]

Ash you had better get started on that nest box. Those birds could start laying soon. I had red stars laying at 17 weeks. Most don't start quite that early but they can.
I think your plan would work to make a bigger nest box but I think I would just cut the hole to size instead of having dark corners.

keep telling my husband we need to get to working on the box! If it does not get done this week, he will be home on vacation the week after! I am also getting some new chicks on the 16th. 2 bantam cochin, pure, but are mixed buff/black so the lady can't use them for show. They look younger than mine I currently have, but look close enough in age/size. Here is a photo of them!

any guess on age?

 

[Trish44]

Hi everyone! So far behind as usual! I have a really sweet lady coming today to pick up my minis so that is a relief to find them a good home. We have lots to do this weekend to get ready for winter so I am hoping we can get a lot accomplished. Hope everyone has a great day!

I'm so glad you found a home for your mini horses, I know you have been searching for the right person to take them, I hope it works out for them.

Danz, I don't envy you dealing with that darned clay, it's just the pits. I dealt with it for 23 years & I'm glad we have limestone here & it drains really well. It still gets muddy here if it rains a lot, but it's not as slick as the clay & at least it soaks in instead of just sitting there.

I worked my butt off today & now I have to get cleaned up & go grocery shopping, I'm already tired, ugh. I carried out all of my stacked rabbit cages in the garage to the driveway in front of the garage & hosed them down & cleaned all the trays to get ready to move rabbits in. They were a mess really because I had just moved the rabbits out in the spring & hadn't done anything to get the cages cleaned up. I have 3 stacks of cages that are fixed together with legs bolted together so they stay stacked, so there are two stacks of 3 & one stack of 4 high. The tall one was a real pain to move. I also moved out the larger cages I used for the bigger rabbits & got those 3 all cleaned up too. I have decided it's not going back in there because I'm going to leave the two chinchilla rabbits out in their hutch. It is a really heavy duty hutch made out of a crate that we bought, it weighs a ton & I think I'm just going to put some plastic over the front & they will be snug as a bug out there. I just can't lift those big trays for the larger cages any more, they just get too heavy for me, I really hurt my back last winter trying to do that. Anyway, it took me from 11:30 till 6:00 to get all of the cages cleaned out & put back in place & I also cleaned the floor where they had been because that was a mess too. I have a lot more room around the cages now with those big ones out of there & I will be able to get to my chick brooders a lot easier too. That was quite a job, whew I'm glad it's done. Tomorrow I can move the other 6 rabbits into their cages in the garage now. The critter sitter felt sorry for the 3 that were outside without a nest box attached & she had moved them into the garage. I wasn't ready for them to be moved yet, so it made things a lot harder for me having to move the rabbits twice to clean cages. They're all happy now though in a nice clean cage. I'm still in the process of cleaning out the garage too & my DH wants to get the things taken to Goodwill Tues. that need to go so we can get his side of the garage cleaned for him to get his car back in there. I've been waiting on him for at least two months to help me lift things into the truck that I need help with. One of these days we'll have a nice clean garage again, we won't know how to act. It's just one of those things that happens over years, you collect things & things get piled somewhere & it just stays that way until you finally have to deal with it. It took me forever to get my son to come & go through his stuff & take what he wanted to keep & tell me what to get rid of. We have a two car garage with an added workshop space, so it's a pretty big building to have to clean out. I have made my way so far 3/4 of the way through it, I still have the back part behind where the rabbit cages are & the south wall area to do yet. When I get it all cleaned out where I want it to be I need to get some shelving put in there for my chicken equipment & extra rabbit stuff to store it. We don't have a storage shed any more since that became my main chicken coop, so everything has to be stored in the garage.

Well everyone have a good weekend. Mine I think is going to be taken up with getting things done that need to be done before winter & seeing my granddaughter tomorrow some time if that works out. I'm also picking up a new cat to add to our menagerie, a beautiful long haired calico tomorow afternoon, so I have to get things ready for her too.

 

[sharol]

I'm back after a week in Reno at my daughter's house. My grandkids are growing like weeds, and Ben took his first steps the night before his 1st birthday when I WAS BABYSITTING. I got it on video with my cell phone so they could see it.

I came home to 5 (of my 17) molting chickens, a coop that looks like a feather pillow exploded, and well cared for chickens thanks to my DH. Poor Scout (the Campine) has lost her tail and many of her other feathers. I put the heaters up over the roosts plugged into at thermo cube so that if the temp drops too far, she will have a warmer spot. Poor things are pretty helpless without the insulation.

Unfortunately I lost my 15 year old Golden Retriever mix this morning to kidney failure. We knew it was coming and that there was no treatment that would save her -- the kidney flush bought her a couple of weeks, but I didn't want to torture her with hours at the vet's if there was not a significant improvement in blood test results. It progressed really fast and I thought I might not get home before she died, but (as DH says) she waited for me. Our wonderful vet came out to help her over the line this morning and it took almost no meds. She was really ready to go.

This was taken about 6 years ago (the cocker is her friend Bonnie -- lost her to congestive heart failure 5 years ago - ironically while I was at my daughter's house then too).


You know, it doesn't help a bit that I knew she was failing. I can't stop crying at the drop of a hat. We are looking for a couple of larger-medium sized dogs to adopt (have been since we lost Charlie) and I'm going to meet a golden retriever this week sometime. If I pass muster with the rescue organization and it seems like a good fit, well, we will see.

Sorry, just needed to vent, I guess.

 

[ashncarson]

Unfortunately I lost my 15 year old Golden Retriever mix this morning to kidney failure. We knew it was coming and that there was no treatment that would save her -- the kidney flush bought her a couple of weeks, but I didn't want to torture her with hours at the vet's if there was not a significant improvement in blood test results. It progressed really fast and I thought I might not get home before she died, but (as DH says) she waited for me. Our wonderful vet came out to help her over the line this morning and it took almost no meds. She was really ready to go.

I don't think its ever easy, even if they are ready or not. We had to do that 2 1/2 years ago with my 15 year old. I had gotten her in 4th grade as a pup. They sure become a part of the family, like a child! I do have to say that going out and getting a new doggy a few months later was the best healing for me. Good luck with searching for a new companion! I hope you find the right fit!

 

[cherwill]

Sharol, I'm so sorry. No matter how prepared we think we are, it hurts.

 

[22qZoo]

Sharol- sorry about your dog, you obviously meant a great deal to her ,

Lots of chicken drama here today. Moved the geese and the duck together with two ornery yung cockerels . (Nice to see those two getting a taste of their own medicine) and moved the other chickens in with the rest of the flock . The Brahma roo that I got from Zigzag did a great job protecting "his flock" from some of the of the older bossy girls . I really like his attitude , there is another young big orange roo that's was allready in with the main group and they just checked each other out and then went about their business . I think the big orange one is at least part Brahma too they have such nice temperments. Hopefully with the other two "alpha's" out of there everyone will settle down . I wanted to get the waterfowl all together so they wouldn't keep messing up every waterer I had out there.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Is anyone driving east on interstate 70 through St. Louis Missouri on their way to the Ohio national poultry show?
It is in Columbus, OH on November 9-10.
I have a Black Penedesenca rooster that needs to go there.

ETA

http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Ohio_National.html