Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

I'm gearing up for hatching as well. Some of my breeds are laying now & I'm going to put some eggs from some of them in the incubator today. Some that I really would like to get to laying aren't yet, so figure. My laying flock laid a few more eggs today, I don't know if it was a coincidence that I put cayenne in the FF yesterday & had more eggs today or not. Those of you that use the cayenne, how often do you give it to them? I went ahead & put it in the feed again today hoping to spur them on to laying a bit more. It can't hurt them I don't think & I guess it's good for worming as well, so it has more than one purpose. We had the discussion about buying the cayenne awhile back & we had the chance to stop into the Spice Merchant the other day & theirs was twice as expensive by the pound than at Sam's, so I ended up just getting a 1 lb. cannister of it there for now. I will get a bigger one later on, but this will last awhile.

I got a nest box put in the pen for the ducks today, we'll see if they use it or not. They had made a small nest right in the front right corner of the pen beside their food bowl, so that's where I put the nest box. I made it out of the bottom of the water softener tank that I kept from when we had to buy a new tank. I just cut off the bottom up about 4-5 inches or so & put straw in the bottom of it. I think I may cut the rest of what is left in half & use one half for the guineas, they seem to like places that are in a depression, so maybe if I kind of dig out the floor a bit & lay that in there & put straw in maybe they will use it instead of digging up the floor like they have been. They're crazy birds!

 

[cailynne]

• cailynne
• 
• 

• Location: wichita ks
• Joined: 11/2013
• Posts: 16
• offline

Hi All,

I decided to expand my 3 silkie's outside run today...they had a smaller 5' x 5' x 3' run built out of pvc. I built them a 10' x10' x 10' pvc run and added the old one to make a door and sort of a holding type area. One side is part of the chain link fence. I still have to finish the covering on the top and to figure out some way to anchor the pipe securely to the ground...it is zip tied to the chain link fence. I have an old swing set in it to hang feed and water containers and they have a old dog house to take shelter in when outside. The dogs were a big help too.







I also mix my own grains...along with their regular pellets. I had to go buy a new batch of ingredients. They got cracked wheat,wheat berries,flax seeds,pearled barley,white buckwheat, red lentils, raw sunflower seeds and rolled oats all mixed together..with dried meal worms. I kinda just get what I think they may like that sounds healthy.They also get overripe fruits..leftover scrambled / hard boiled eggs,greens... etc. They also got to pick the remnants of fried chicken...the cannibals!!

I think they may be a little spoiled!!
Lisa

 

[chicken danz]

Yep it does sound like they are spoiled. I wish sometimes I had time to spoil mine again. Just too many mouths to feed.
I spent the day moving birds again. What a chore. No wonder I have such a high feed bill. I'm just hoping to get some sold soon. I really need all the pen space these extras are taking to separate all my breeders.
I'm going to have to spend some time making a few chicken saddles. Since I've made some groups the girls are getting thread bare. I'm really not wanting to sew right now but I guess it beats having a hen beat up. I had to rescue one today that the roosters about killed. It seems they know it's spring.

 

[sharol]

I went into Orshlen's (sp?) in Topeka today, and they have all the display cases ready to go for baby chicks and the signs up about breeds available. I swear they were playing cheeping noises through the PA system. There didn't appear to be a chick in sight, but you could hear cheeping. There was another lady in there walking all around the chick displays looking for the source of the sound.

You suppose the babies were in the back? Maybe? Oh well, I can't have ANY MORE chickens. The coop is full and it took me 2 months to rehome the 3 extra roos. NO MORE BABIES THIS YEAR.

We have been getting from 3-8 eggs a day from the 12 hens/pullets. Of course most of them (4 a day) are coming from the marans/marans cross chicks I hatched last summer, but some of the EE's are laying as is my Delaware (she is going on 4). A friend I gave a dozen to a couple of weeks ago said that the "yolks just stood up in the pan" when she went to fry them.

Marlena (the broody BO that hatched the two Marans pullets) has been what my ex-mother-in-law would call "dumpy" for a week. She hangs out in the coop on the roost most of the day. She was out for a while today, but her comb isn't dark and she just doesn't look quite right to me. She is still mothering those pullets, too. Today I w her take on another hen that was pushing one of them around. She is such a good mother. She laid a few eggs when they all joined the flock, but not much from her since. I'm afraid she might be egg bound, but I can't feel any swelling below her vent.

The four young pullets are hanging around with Jake, my EE cockerel. They just adore him, following him everywhere he goes, and he really likes them (if you know what I mean) too. I may have to invest in a couple of aprons for them if he continues to favor them.

Our dog situation is simplified. The Blue dog was transferred to Wayside Waifs in KC, and adopted within 6 hours of being put on the list. The red dog (Red Rover) is much calmer without his brother here, and is getting along much better with the cats. We are working on STAY and COME.

So much for the update.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I'm obviously way behind on posts again. Saw that Hechicken got some new lambs... so cute. Makes me want to have a few.

Danz, so sorry you have to spend $$$$ on dental works. I'm glad your dentist appt went well though. My husband has lots of dental work done. He had bone graft on one side of his gum and it bled for a couple of days. He had to page the surgeon one night because it was bleeding bad. The surgeon told him to out ice in his mouth and it helped. It also help with the swelling as well. Congrats on the chicks. I need to gather some eggs to hatch since I lost some hens and some are old and not laying much any more.

Trish, glad you don't need surgery. Please do be careful so you don't re-injure it. Take it easy.

Lizzy, you guys sure put in some hard labor to get the cattles in the trailer. Glad it went well. Missing horses would give me a heart attack. I always scare myself unnecessarily. Glad they are safe and sound. How's the little one?

Calynne, welcome to the Kansas board. Your silkies look so fluffy and cute. Your dog seems to get along with the chicken. Tell us more about your chickens. I don't know if you are in the city or outside the city limit. Any plan to expand your flock? Your pvc run looks great. Glad your dog helps protect the flock. We do have a few chicken lovers around wichita and surrounding area. Mixing your own feeds is easier since you have a small flock. I've a big flock so it makes it too expensive and difficult to do so. I agree your birds are spoiled and I bet they love you!

I cleaned the coop today. I switched to DLM in the fall and I cleaned it all out today. That was a lot of work. I'm averaging 8 to 10 eggs a day so my customers are happy. The silly ducks decided to lay some where else today. I still haven't found the laying ground yet. They must not be happy that I put fresh shavings in there. The weather was so nice. Wish it's like this all year round.

I am getting ready to start my veggie seeds. DH put the horse manure and everything I cleaned out of the coop in a corner. He wants to get them all tilled into the veggie garden next week. I hope it's not too hot when I'm ready to plant the seedlings in May. I also started 20+ (gulped!!!!) Adenium seeds. My love for Adenium is really getting out of control these days. I'm running out of room for them in the house in the winter. Sigh!!

Stay warm everyone. The cooler weather is coming back!

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I went into Orshlen's (sp?) in Topeka today, and they have all the display cases ready to go for baby chicks and the signs up about breeds available.  I swear they were playing cheeping noises through the PA system.  There didn't appear to be a chick in sight, but you could hear cheeping.  There was another lady in there walking all around the chick displays looking for the source of the sound.

You suppose the babies were in the back?  Maybe?  Oh well, I can't have ANY MORE chickens.  The coop is full and it took me 2 months to rehome the 3 extra roos.  NO MORE BABIES THIS YEAR.

We have been getting from 3-8 eggs a day from the 12 hens/pullets.  Of course most of them (4 a day) are coming from the marans/marans cross chicks I hatched last summer, but some of the EE's are laying as is my Delaware (she is going on 4).  A friend I gave a dozen to a couple of weeks ago said that the "yolks just stood up in the pan" when she went to fry them.

Marlena (the broody BO that hatched the two Marans pullets) has been what my ex-mother-in-law would call "dumpy" for a week.  She hangs out in the coop on the roost most of the day.  She was out for a while today, but her comb isn't dark and she just doesn't look quite right to me.  She is still mothering those pullets, too.  Today I w her take on another hen that was pushing one of them around.  She is such a good mother.  She laid a few eggs when they all joined the flock, but not much from her since.  I'm afraid she might be egg bound, but I can't feel any swelling below her vent.

The four young pullets are hanging around with Jake, my EE cockerel.  They just adore him, following him everywhere he goes, and he really likes them (if you know what I mean) too.  I may have to invest in a couple of aprons for them if he continues to favor them.

Our dog situation is simplified.  The Blue dog was transferred to Wayside Waifs in KC, and adopted within 6 hours of being put on the list.  The red dog (Red Rover) is much calmer without his brother here, and is getting along much better with the cats.  We are working on STAY and COME.

So much for the update.

Oh I so hear you on the baby chicks front. Went to Atwoids and they have everything all setupnto have baby chicks. I must not go there too often starting next week. I think they got them the last week of February last year.

So glad your blue dog was adopted out so fast. Even better news that your red dog is getting along with the cat. A little bit of dog treats go a long way during training. I know mine did very well learning the commands once I showed tgem the "motivation". LOL.

I have 2 young roosters that none of my hens like. They have no ...ummmm... bedside manners. LOL. If they don't learn to treat the hens nicely, they will end up in the crockpot soon.

 

[ashncarson]

I went into Orshlen's (sp?) in Topeka today, and they have all the display cases ready to go for baby chicks and the signs up about breeds available. I swear they were playing cheeping noises through the PA system. There didn't appear to be a chick in sight, but you could hear cheeping. There was another lady in there walking all around the chick displays looking for the source of the sound.

Our dog situation is simplified. The Blue dog was transferred to Wayside Waifs in KC, and adopted within 6 hours of being put on the list. The red dog (Red Rover) is much calmer without his brother here, and is getting along much better with the cats. We are working on STAY and COME.
.

I know our TSC has birds that live up in the rafters...maybe that is what it was? I went in a few weeks ago and could hear them but thought it was way to early for chicks. I saw on facebook today, on a lady I follow that has chickens, she took her chick box with her "just in case!"

I am glad that Blue dog was able to quickly find a home, we are starting the process again of finding a new puppy. We lost Douglas, our yorkie on Valentine's day. Our 6 year old was playing in the backyard and forgot to latch the gate. He got hit by a car a block over. We only had 3 short years with him and even though we have another dog, nothing is the same without a little lap dog to hang out with you! Good luck with the training!

 

[sharol]

I know our TSC has birds that live up in the rafters...maybe that is what it was? I went in a few weeks ago and could hear them but thought it was way to early for chicks. I saw on facebook today, on a lady I follow that has chickens, she took her chick box with her "just in case!"

I am glad that Blue dog was able to quickly find a home, we are starting the process again of finding a new puppy. We lost Douglas, our yorkie on Valentine's day. Our 6 year old was playing in the backyard and forgot to latch the gate. He got hit by a car a block over. We only had 3 short years with him and even though we have another dog, nothing is the same without a little lap dog to hang out with you! Good luck with the training!

I was sitting in the Denver airport when I checked the Wayside Waif's Facebook page. They had posted pictures of the adoptions during the Valentine's day promotion, and there he was with a nice looking young couple. I started crying. The lady sitting next to me thought something was wrong. When I explained that I had fostered him and they were tears of happiness for him, she started sniffing too.

I'm so sorry about your Yorkie. I agree. I was never a small dog person until we rescued our doxy. I don't know how we got along without a small lapdog.

I don't know about birds in the rafters. It really sounded like a box of chicks in there. Oh, well.

 

[Trish44]

• cailynne
• 
• 

• Location: wichita ks
• Joined: 11/2013
• Posts: 16
• offline

Hi All,

I decided to expand my 3 silkie's outside run today...they had a smaller 5' x 5' x 3' run built out of pvc. I built them a 10' x10' x 10' pvc run and added the old one to make a door and sort of a holding type area. One side is part of the chain link fence. I still have to finish the covering on the top and to figure out some way to anchor the pipe securely to the ground...it is zip tied to the chain link fence. I have an old swing set in it to hang feed and water containers and they have a old dog house to take shelter in when outside. The dogs were a big help too.







I also mix my own grains...along with their regular pellets. I had to go buy a new batch of ingredients. They got cracked wheat,wheat berries,flax seeds,pearled barley,white buckwheat, red lentils, raw sunflower seeds and rolled oats all mixed together..with dried meal worms. I kinda just get what I think they may like that sounds healthy.They also get overripe fruits..leftover scrambled / hard boiled eggs,greens... etc. They also got to pick the remnants of fried chicken...the cannibals!!

I think they may be a little spoiled!!
Lisa


It does sound like you have spoiled chickens. I have way too many birds to feed them a mixture like that, I would love to, but I would be bankrupt trying to pay for all of that for mine.

I'm obviously way behind on posts again. Saw that Hechicken got some new lambs... so cute. Makes me want to have a few.

Danz, so sorry you have to spend $$$$ on dental works. I'm glad your dentist appt went well though. My husband has lots of dental work done. He had bone graft on one side of his gum and it bled for a couple of days. He had to page the surgeon one night because it was bleeding bad. The surgeon told him to out ice in his mouth and it helped. It also help with the swelling as well. Congrats on the chicks. I need to gather some eggs to hatch since I lost some hens and some are old and not laying much any more.

Trish, glad you don't need surgery. Please do be careful so you don't re-injure it. Take it easy.

Lizzy, you guys sure put in some hard labor to get the cattles in the trailer. Glad it went well. Missing horses would give me a heart attack. I always scare myself unnecessarily. Glad they are safe and sound. How's the little one?

Calynne, welcome to the Kansas board. Your silkies look so fluffy and cute. Your dog seems to get along with the chicken. Tell us more about your chickens. I don't know if you are in the city or outside the city limit. Any plan to expand your flock? Your pvc run looks great. Glad your dog helps protect the flock. We do have a few chicken lovers around wichita and surrounding area. Mixing your own feeds is easier since you have a small flock. I've a big flock so it makes it too expensive and difficult to do so. I agree your birds are spoiled and I bet they love you!

I cleaned the coop today. I switched to DLM in the fall and I cleaned it all out today. That was a lot of work. I'm averaging 8 to 10 eggs a day so my customers are happy. The silly ducks decided to lay some where else today. I still haven't found the laying ground yet. They must not be happy that I put fresh shavings in there. The weather was so nice. Wish it's like this all year round.

I am getting ready to start my veggie seeds. DH put the horse manure and everything I cleaned out of the coop in a corner. He wants to get them all tilled into the veggie garden next week. I hope it's not too hot when I'm ready to plant the seedlings in May. I also started 20+ (gulped!!!!) Adenium seeds. My love for Adenium is really getting out of control these days. I'm running out of room for them in the house in the winter. Sigh!!

Stay warm everyone. The cooler weather is coming back!

tweety I'm glad you got to stop in, we miss you since you've been so busy with work. Yes I'm trying to be very careful when I go out, in fact I'm probably way more careful than I've ever been in my life these days. My leg still isn't totally healed yet, so there are things I just can't do yet, I'm not doing all of my chicken chores yet. I'm doing a few things but not the whole gamut yet. I kind of helped out with a few things today when my DH was out there. I will need to clean coops as soon as my leg is healed as well, that is quite a chore, especially cleaning out the main coop, that is a job for a day in itself, sometimes two. If you need any chicks let me know tweety, I'm starting to hatch some of the breeds I have laying now & am still waiting on some others to start.

I did put some eggs of about 4 different breeds in the incubator today. I wish more of them would get with it, but I guess they will in time. I have to keep remembering it's still February & we'll probably still have some cold days yet. It's been really nice lately but I heard it's supposed to get colder again, ugh.

Oh HEChicken how do the goats act when they're in their heat cycle, I haven't read up on that. Today I let the goats out & Penny wouldn't stop jumping up & butting my GPs. Jasmine ran off up the hill because she got upset about it & Lily just got mad. Those horns hurt! She would growl & bite at Penny & she would just turn around & come at her again. I finally had to put them back in their pen because she wouldn't behave herself.

 

[cailynne]

Hi All,

I got my silkie's on Thanksgiving Day they were 2 weeks old....so they are now 18 weeks old.
There is a blue and a splash that due to how they act and how they are feathering out I am hoping are going to be hens..but no eggs yet.
The black one is a cockerel..he started crowing last week...he sounds like a squeak toy!
He also has started getting his hackle feathers but the other two haven't...but it's difficult to tell with silkies until they crow or lay.
They are house chickens....but on nice days they will be outside.

I had silkies before and soaking wet birds are rather pathetic shivery things.

I have 3 shelties and they all get along with the chicks..we also have two cats..an old one with no interest in them and the younger cat will try stalking them and going chicken bowling on occasion. She had been pecked and chased by the birds..which is funny.
I live on the south side of Wichita just out of city limits...there are people with poultry all over my area.

I have liked birds but I didn't want the loudness and biting abilities of parrot type birds in a petbird since I have kids..so silkies were a good option for my family..not too loud..even the cockerels I have had were tolerable, they are friendly little birds, not as dusty as a cockatiel I once had either..and some free eggs would be cool too.
Lisa