Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Michelleml the bantams could be cochin but they look pretty d'uccle to me. You never know. I could probably identify them for sure if I had them in my hands but I a just judging from pictures.
I've had quite the day. I sold my two extra Mandarin boys and sure hope I got the right ones. I would feel awful if I took one of the hens mates. They are normally monogamous. I had to take them to Garnett this evening.
Before I went I was trying to carry a waterer to the basement for the baby sabastopols, tripped and fell. I hit my head which knocked me backwards and so I only fell half way down the flight of stairs, but now I have a big goose egg on my head and a head ache. I am a danger to myself!!!
Tweety I've got nearly as many chicks due to hatch the 22nd as I did yesterday. I started setting some more today but ran out of time so I'll get them done tomorrow. I am so overrun by chicks I've absolutely got to get some sold this weekend.
It really hasn't been a good day. Cool and sprinkling off and on. Plus I had a hawk trying to get birds all day today. Every time I'd go get the rifle he would fly into the trees where I coudln't see him. My best chance was when he got tangled in the netting on one of the pens but he got out too fast.

 

[cherwill]

Awww Michelle, those fuzzy butts are so cute.

Danz, I hope tomorrow's better. Or maybe you should just stay in bed!

What happened to the weather? When I checked first thing in the morning, we were supposed to have a high in the 60s. When it was still only 39 at 11, DH looked and the high had changed to 56 or something. I'm not sure it ever got there.

 

[sharol]

I let my mama hen, Copper, out with her 3 babies yesterday afternoon. They are living in the hoop and she was getting stir crazy. Getting a really good look at them is difficult. At 3 weeks they are really changing fast. My granddaughter wants to name them. The one closest to the camera is now named Liam (not sure where she got that one). Molly for one of the others, and I can't remember the third name. I could be in trouble on that. When Copper came out of the hoop run, she was absolutely delighted.

 

[chicken danz]

Sharol I must say Copper is absolutely gorgeous. don't you love watching the hens with their chicks? I'm sure there'll be some around here later. I am still taking every ones eggs that tried to sit.
Cherwill I was dressed for winter yesterday all day. I just couldn't get warm. It's really cold out this morning but they say it's going to get really warm so I am counting on it. I need a much better day than yesterday was.

 

[sharol]

Sharol I must say Copper is absolutely gorgeous. don't you love watching the hens with their chicks? I'm sure there'll be some around here later. I am still taking every ones eggs that tried to sit.
Cherwill I was dressed for winter yesterday all day. I just couldn't get warm. It's really cold out this morning but they say it's going to get really warm so I am counting on it. I need a much better day than yesterday was.

I agree. She is really pretty. Now one of the Marans girls is trying to go broody. If she sticks for another day or two, I'll give her some eggs. I just hope Copper will bring her babies into the flock by the time the next ones are hatched. If Graycie gets started this weekend, Copper's babies will be about 5 weeks. I'll have to go back to last year and see how old Marlena's babies were when they moved into the coop.

 

[Trish44]

sharol, your hen Copper is really pretty & what a cute pic of her with the chicks. I usually don't have anywhere to let hens keep their babies after they hatch, although I'm thinking about letting my Swedish Flower Hen live in one of the temporary pens with hers if she hatches some. She's very serious about sitting, she hardly comes off that nest.

It's 61 here now & supposed to get to 72 today, that will be an improvement over yesterday for sure. It's supposed to be fairly warm this week, so I'm hoping I can move some bigger chicks out to the breeder coop till they can go in the growout pen. The one brooder is really crowded with growing chicks, a lot of which are Barnevelders that I have to let grow out before I decide which I'm keeping. I need to stop hatching for myself, but I'm trying to build up my breeding stock for some breeds. It sure would help if it would stay warm so I can get more chicks outside.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Michelleml the bantams could be cochin but they look pretty d'uccle to me. You never know. I could probably identify them for sure if I had them in my hands but I a just judging from pictures.
I've had quite the day. I sold my two extra Mandarin boys and sure hope I got the right ones. I would feel awful if I took one of the hens mates. They are normally monogamous. I had to take them to Garnett this evening.
Before I went I was trying to carry a waterer to the basement for the baby sabastopols, tripped and fell. I hit my head which knocked me backwards and so I only fell half way down the flight of stairs, but now I have a big goose egg on my head and a head ache. I am a danger to myself!!!
Tweety I've got nearly as many chicks due to hatch the 22nd as I did yesterday. I started setting some more today but ran out of time so I'll get them done tomorrow. I am so overrun by chicks I've absolutely got to get some sold this weekend.
It really hasn't been a good day. Cool and sprinkling off and on. Plus I had a hawk trying to get birds all day today. Every time I'd go get the rifle he would fly into the trees where I coudln't see him. My best chance was when he got tangled in the netting on one of the pens but he got out too fast.

Oh Danz... hope you didn't get a concussion when you hit your head. More chicks... ooi... Last year, I had 2 broody mamas, one of them is now back in the nest box again. She was the one who killed 1 of the chicks and severely injured another (this one survived!). DH took all the eggs out and she is still stubbornly sitting in the nest box. It has been almost a week sitting on nothing! I'm not sure I want her to hatch any for fear she will kill them again. Argh!!! but in order to get her out of the box, I either have to put some eggs under her or go to the store to pick up a couple of the chicks to put under her. But then I'm also afraid she will kill those chicks... what to do... what to do...

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I agree. She is really pretty. Now one of the Marans girls is trying to go broody. If she sticks for another day or two, I'll give her some eggs. I just hope Copper will bring her babies into the flock by the time the next ones are hatched. If Graycie gets started this weekend, Copper's babies will be about 5 weeks. I'll have to go back to last year and see how old Marlena's babies were when they moved into the coop.

Sharol, Copper looks very lovely with the chicks in the pics you posted. I do love to see the mama hen with chicks, teaching them how to scratch and look for food. I've a repeat broody right now whom I'm trying to discourage on sitting nothing. She killed and injured the newly hatched chicks so I'm not sure if she will be a better mama this go around. Trying not to take a chance here, especially when I had to cull the one she severely injured with no chance of surviving such horrific injury. I still shudder thinking about it...

 

[tweetybaby2005]

It is Friday!!! Yay! But the bad news is I have 2 sick staff out and 1 is the back up for the other to do the late night/early morning software update this coming Easter Sunday. So I will be doing it myself instead. Bummer...
My office is about 1/2 empty since tax season is over and people started taking time off after the heavy tax season. Parking lot sure looks a lot emptier and easier for me to find a parking spot. Granted, I almost always park far away since I enjoy the longish walk to the office.
My flock has gotten much smaller now that we have processed quite a few roosters. I think I'm all set for a while now. Tomorrow is supposed to be very warm (upper 70s) so I plan to do some major cleaning of the main chicken coop. Since I've converted from sand to DLM, it is time to get more shavings in there. I should have bought more from Atwoods last Saturday when they had their no sales tax event. I normally just dump 2 new bags in there and let the birds scratch it around. I also need to rip out the netted area where I usually keep the baby birds till they can hang out with the big birds because the net was torn and I don't want the big birds' claws got caught and hung upside down on it. Plus, I am thinking of putting hardware cloth over it vs. regular netting. It will certainly last longer. I need to reinforce my coop a bit more since I converted it from a horse stall to a coop and had no knowledge that chicken wire is useless against any predators. It is all a learning process for me.
Not sure about you guys but we sure didn't get but 2 drops of rain from this last "supposed" rain storm. We need the moisture desperately. The weatherman is now saying rain most likely on Easter Sunday afternoon. Hope the kids who are going Easter egg hunt get it done before the rain comes. With each "rain is coming" forecast, I get my hopes up and then dashed. My pear trees seem to have survived the freeze from 2 days ago but did suffer some blossom drops. Fingers crossed that I'll have some to eat this year. The 1st year we bought this house, I had so much of those pears that the chicken got pear treats daily! They sure enjoyed eating them. I didn't even have to slice them any more. Just tossed them in their pen and they went gaga with it.
Enjoy the warm day everyone!

 

[michelleml]

Danz I hope your okay

My Dh is in the hospital again I had to take him into ER last night I thought he had a stroke. Slurred speech, left side face droopy, drooling, couldn't move left arm. But neurologist said it was a seizure. Going to keep him one more day to increase seizure meds. Sense Feb he has been admitted 3 times

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Does anyone have Cochin for sale I would like to get 2 or 3 pullets but I know that will be hard to find. My poor buddy needs some friends