Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

I swear we have Gremlins in our house that steal things. They just disappear never to be found again.

 

[cherwill]

I grew up here in kansas. And still not used to this weather we have. Hot one day. Cold the next. And man these winds are terrible. I keep waiting for the house to blow away! Anyways it's got me thinking about preparing for my first summer with chickens. And any input from you more experienced ppl would be greatly appreciated.
My yard has tons of trees, it is hard to grow grass! Anyways I have plenty of morning shade for the chickens. But when the sun is on the west side, there is little shade. I have ordered some grape vines and lilac and such. But I am unsure if I need to get tarps? With this wind I think the tarp would be shredded in a matter of minutes!! I saw someone made a shelter thing out of willow branches, which looks neat and I would love to try that but I don't know where to find any willow branches. And if I order it it'll be years before I have anything that is useful. So, what have you guys done to help your chickens stay cool in the summer??

I have three lilacs in the chicken pen. The chickens eat the leaves as far as they can reach (DH & I get a lot of entertainment out of watching them jump and grab a leaf), but the top part still provides quite a bit of shade most times of the day. Since we are in town, and since we already had a drip/mister system set up, we just added a stake to the pen that sprays out about six inches. The chickens will sometimes stand around it, but they're more likely to lay in the damp ground right under the lilacs where the drippers have been at work. I agree with others that water is the most important thing. I check the water several times a day. If it's very hot, I'll dump a few ice cubes in the waterer to cool things down. If it's very, very hot, I sometimes dump a tray of ice cubes in the pen. It cools things off a little, and makes a damp patch for them to lay in if they want.

I planted all my tomato plants out over the weekend and the wind has just about killed all of them when I went to water them late yesterday. I was sick to my stomach when I saw how their little leaves have wilted and got pounded by the strong wind. The concrete wire tomato cages (they are very sturdy because I built them with the right materials!) all fell down and some laid on top of my poor plants. I can just about cry when I saw that.

Oh no! I guess I'm glad I haven't felt like going out to plant mine yet. I'm so sorry for your setback.


I have lived here over 20 years and I seriously don't remember the last time it was this windy and lasted this long (weeks). For 1 thing... I don't remember they ever cancelled flights due to the strong wind here @ the airport but they did yesterday. I was driving to working this morning and saw a tree down... I'm pretty sure it was the wind because it was a tree on the other side of the side walk and I certainly don't see any damage by a car driving up there. The duck pool is constantly dirty not because of my ducks but it was from the sand, dust, leaves, etc. that got blown into it while I was filling it.

I asked my parents if they ever remember so much constant wind, and they don't, either. I don't know what's up, but I don't like it!

A little funny story from this weekend... Apparently the wind was so strong over Saturday night that the main gate was blown open. So my chickens and ducks were all happy to find their new "freedom". The birds were out and about, grazing happily and I have not a clue of this happening until I looked outside the window. Our pond is just outside the bedroom window and I saw a few ducks swimming (no glasses but I could made out some white moving objects in the pond so I knew they were ducks). So I holler at my husband to tell him to see the "wild" ducks swimming in our pond. He came over while I went to fetch my glasses. He then calmly said "Ummm... I think that's our ducks". I turned around and told him to quit joking because those peking ducks can't fly over the fence to reach the pond. By then I was already standing next to him in front of the window. Lo and behold... I counted and recognized all of them to be OUR ducks! So I quickly ran to the other window where I could see the coop and realized that the chickens were out and the gate was wide open! I was afraid the snapping turtles would grab and drown my ducks so DH went to shoosh them back into the pen from the pond. I could tell they were having a blast in the pond though.

That's funny!

Hold on to your hat! It is going to be another windy day.

I dunno Lizzy but I use 90% of my time trying to find things that have disappeared. I swear sometimes I think an invisible force takes things or moves them around just to keep me stressed out!!!

I do that a little, but the bigger problem for me is when I walk in a room, or open the refrigerator door, and I have no idea why. It was in my head two seconds before, so why do I forget so quickly???

My chickens are fluffed way up today trying to stay warm. I think they got used to the nice weather, just like I did. Today is a cruel joke on all of us.

 

[chicken danz]

Cherwill I do that all the time. I will get up and walk into another room specifically and have no idea why I went there. I often wonder if I don't have something wrong with my brain. I just can't seem to stay on task.
Wow! It's so cold wet and windy out there. I went out and fed the birds and they all were huddled in their huts but seemed like they were starved. I didn't water cause it was just miserable out there. They all have some water anyway. I just normally wash out their containers and give them fresh.

 

[adamsheather123]

Minneapolis, KS here! More specifically across from Ottawa State Fishing Lake. Just got my first chicks and two ducklings this past Friday for my birthday which is this coming Friday. Going to be starting our coop and run this weekend. Trying to wait till it isn't raining so my concrete will actually set up. We had chickens when I was young but I never paid attention to the inner workings of the whole process so I'm sure I'll be asking lots of advice from you guys since you're local and understand the wonderful Kansas weather.

 

[chicken danz]

adamsheather123 Welcome to our forum. Feel free to join into all of our conversations and to ask any questions you have. We may occasionally come up with some different answers but that gives you options. Congrats on getting new chicks and Happy Birthday!

 

[friendshipstar]

Minneapolis, KS here! More specifically across from Ottawa State Fishing Lake. Just got my first chicks and two ducklings this past Friday for my birthday which is this coming Friday. Going to be starting our coop and run this weekend. Trying to wait till it isn't raining so my concrete will actually set up. We had chickens when I was young but I never paid attention to the inner workings of the whole process so I'm sure I'll be asking lots of advice from you guys since you're local and understand the wonderful Kansas weather.

Welcome! I have found everyone here to be kind and helpful. Congrats on the new chicks and ducklings. They are just so sweet, aren't they. And I hope that your upcoming birthday is super special.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I'm curious... has anyone ever tried freezing eggs? Right now, I have an overabundance of eggs, and I have been selling my extras, but then in the fall/winter, I have to buy eggs from the store. If I could save the extras for later use, it would seem to make more sense. However, I have learned that not everything I see on pinterest works. Anyone tried this before? Does it work or is it a waste of my time?

http://happymoneysaver.com/can-you-freeze-eggs/

 

[friendshipstar]

I've been receiving texts and emails about the coop that I've listed for sale since 2am this morning. Don't people know that some people sleep at 2am?
People are ridiculous!

 

[HEChicken]

I've been receiving texts and emails about the coop that I've listed for sale since 2am this morning. Don't people know that some people sleep at 2am?
People are ridiculous!

That is why I put my phone on airplane mode most nights before I go to sleep. I also have the "do not disturb" function turned on so even if I don't turn on airplane mode, it won't allow texts through at all between the hours of 10pm and 6:30am, and the only phone calls it will let through are from the people in my favorites list (kids and DH). So if DD goes out with friends, I don't put it in airplane mode but I can go to sleep knowing if her car breaks down she can reach me by phone but if anyone else tries to call or if anyone texts me, I won't be disturbed by it.

Lizzy I've heard differing reports on freezing eggs but I've never done it so you'll just have to try it and let us know

The other preservation method I'm considering is dehydrating, since that way it can be stored on a shelf and freezer space is always at a premium around here.

 

[Trish44]

Minneapolis, KS here! More specifically across from Ottawa State Fishing Lake. Just got my first chicks and two ducklings this past Friday for my birthday which is this coming Friday. Going to be starting our coop and run this weekend. Trying to wait till it isn't raining so my concrete will actually set up. We had chickens when I was young but I never paid attention to the inner workings of the whole process so I'm sure I'll be asking lots of advice from you guys since you're local and understand the wonderful Kansas weather.

Welcome, what kind of chicks & ducks did you get? Feel free to jump in any time, we talk about a little of everything here.

I'm curious... has anyone ever tried freezing eggs? Right now, I have an overabundance of eggs, and I have been selling my extras, but then in the fall/winter, I have to buy eggs from the store. If I could save the extras for later use, it would seem to make more sense. However, I have learned that not everything I see on pinterest works. Anyone tried this before? Does it work or is it a waste of my time?

http://happymoneysaver.com/can-you-freeze-eggs/

I do have some I froze in ice cube trays & then put in freezer bags, but I have not gotten them out to use them yet so I can't tell you how it works.

I've been receiving texts and emails about the coop that I've listed for sale since 2am this morning. Don't people know that some people sleep at 2am?
People are ridiculous!

I'm glad you're getting lots of inquiries, but yeah people will contact you at all hours. I turn my phone down at night so it doesn't disturb me because we're not early risers & I don't want to be awakened at 6 a.m. or earlier. I get stuff at all hours of the day & night.

It's still chilly here today, the high is supposed to only be 60 but I noticed it's going to be actually hot this coming weekend, we can't seem to win, it's either one extreme or the other. I'm sure not ready for hot weather yet myself.