Consolidated Kansas

[Oatbucket]

Ok, so hope all had a wonderful Memorial Holiday, I wanted to show off my nearly complete new coop.......it is sooooo much nicer than my first one I built!

!

That is a beautiful coop!

 

[lizzyGSR]

Please do share your freezing recipe. I sure want to try it so we will have enough for baking in the winter when the hens' production is down.

I just put the egg in a bowl and whisk the egg. Then, I put it in an ice cube tray. For my duck eggs, I have found that, on average, one egg takes two cubes.

Lizzy, I got a bottle of brewer's yeast from walmart. It was pretty cheap. I just grind them up and added that to the feeds.

I might still have a bottle of brewer's yeast from when my gander was young and was having some major leg problems. I have a calcium supplement here, but it is calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate. I'll have to look for some of that when I get to town next.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Dang, dang, dang. One of my 9 week olds (the only one with feathered feet that I believed was a pullet) started crowing. He crowed yesterday, and I was kidding myself that it was the other cockerel. Nope. 2 for 3 are male. Anyone need a male that will grow into a pretty large bird -- Marans/EE, but he looks like a Blue Copper Marans? No? Oh well.

That said, does anyone know anyone around Emporia/Admire that will butcher a couple of chickens when they are bigger? If I'm goi need to find a way to make use of the offspring.

Oh, that's just a bummer, Sharol!

Now we need HE Chicken or someone else with experience to supervise us. I'm thinking these boys won't be ready to butcher for a while, but I really need to find a solution to the excess cockerel dilemma. Heather said something a while back about butchering that really hit home. She said that because she treats the birds gently and they trust her it is better for them than someone else doing the butchering. I'm working on adopting her point of view.

I agree with Hechicken. I know I have fed my birds well, treated them as humanely as possible. If I have to send them to someone else to be butchered, they will be traumatized.

LOL. My geese hate me because I keep bringing them more friends!! Actually I'm selling a few here and there. I need to advertise more but at this point I am just fed up with people. I need a break from dealing with them.
Oh Sharol, that is rotten luck. Butchering is easy. HEChicken skins her birds. I pluck mine. I just hate the killing part. The rest doesn't bother me at all. I normally use the home grown chickens for soups, casseroles etc where I like to make broth so I like having the skin and fat for more flavor. I buy skinless boneless chicken breasts for just eating chicken as chicken.
I need to butcher a couple around here.
Originally Posted by friendshipstar
It all depends on quality of the birds. If they are like hatchery quality I would think about $3 each. If they are nice show quality you could get $5 to $8 each as young chicks. Cream legbar pullets bring a really nice price. The boys not so much. It varies by where you are and what your local market is. Trish has cream legbars so she could tell you the Wichita area market price.
I had a just awful day yesterday. I had a guy I sold a number of birds to 2 weeks ago call and threaten me yesterday. He has been buying all kinds of birds from everyone. Just 5 days ago he was still trying to buy more birds from me. Well sometime in the last 3 days he has lost 42 chicks to coccidiosis. And he is trying to get me to give him money and pay some vet bills. What kind of chicken person has to contact a vet to treat coccidiosis?? Sounded to me like he went nuts buying birds without having a clue what to do. He certainly didn't get coccidiosis from me, due to the length of time, and the fact that I have never had a case of coccidiosis here. I feed medicated feed for a reason. I never want to chance getting it started. It has me very upset. He contacted me through a previous customer ..not because I had advertised chicks in his area or anything. I can't stand people who place the blame on everyone else for their lack of education. I had threats and yelling and everything else from him. He kept talking about his vet so I simply told him to have his vet call me then I would be willing to deal with him. But of course he refused and kept yelling.
I work so hard with my birds to keep them healthy. I don't spend 16 hour days caring for birds to have someone accuse me of stuff like this.
I just happened to have a recent customer contact me about buying some of my breeders yesterday after all this so I made a deal to sell them. I didn't plan to do it until later in the summer but I am feeling pretty soured right now. I guess that just gets me closer to my goal of going all English.

Danz, sorry you have to deal with people like that. Doesn't sound like he knows how to raise birds. I sure won't go to my regular vet to treat cocci, especially I know how to treat it. But I start mine with medicated feeds like you do, to make sure they don't get cocci to begin with.

Been very busy around here. Working on coop still. Right now we are hearding them to and from the run every day. Hubby is working on the door today. He's a welder so it'll be nice and strong. Hopefully get it put in and working well by the end of the week. All the kiddos are getting big...especially my Cornish xs. Two more weeks for them. The ducks and little guys are getting big enough to know the sexes. We have five hens and one roo named Yoshi. Then the ducks named Daisy and Drake. They have all been free ranging every evening and most of the day on weekends. Loving my babies!



Little Yoshi...Mr. Adorable himself



Daisy and Drake

We worried about the ducks and chicks growing up together. But no longer. The chicks won't leave the ducks and when the ducks get seperated they squack and squack till they are back together again. Such a good mama and daddy. Can't wait till they have their own babies.

Cute birds... love the ducks.

Ok, so hope all had a wonderful Memorial Holiday, I wanted to show off my nearly complete new coop.......it is sooooo much nicer than my first one I built!

!

Such a cute chicken coop!

I really like the old fashion milk containers you have in front of the coop.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I just put the egg in a bowl and whisk the egg. Then, I put it in an ice cube tray. For my duck eggs, I have found that, on average, one egg takes two cubes.

I might still have a bottle of brewer's yeast from when my gander was young and was having some major leg problems. I have a calcium supplement here, but it is calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate. I'll have to look for some of that when I get to town next.

Lizzy, thanks for the instruction on freezing the eggs. I'll definitely give it a go.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

I am starting to get over-run by Muscovy duck babies. I just kept too many hens this spring. It's mostly my fault because I made several nest for them out of cut down 15 gallon barrels. I also have been using them in my breeder pins, and when a hen goes broody I move her to my "hatching pen". They don't always get their own eggs. As I moved a Cuckoo Marians hen last night and gave her guinea eggs. I also took some photos.

 

[Trish44]

I'll offer up my place for the workshop if anyone is interested. I have lots if sharp knifes and tables. Shade trees and cold running water hoses. I think that I might be centrally located for our group.

HEChicken & I both have been very busy this spring, so if we do have a workshop it would have to be in the fall.

Anyone know what black copper marans chicks sell for in our area?
What about Cream Legbar chicks?
Just curious. If they sell for a pretty pretty good price I could always hatch more for myself and sell these.

I'm sending you a PM.

Wow Ralph, that's a bunch of ducks! I like your barrel idea for nests.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I am starting to get over-run by Muscovy duck babies. I just kept too many hens this spring. It's mostly my fault because I made several nest for them out of cut down 15 gallon barrels. I also have been using them in my breeder pins, and when a hen goes broody I move her to my "hatching pen". They don't always get their own eggs. As I moved a Cuckoo Marians hen last night and gave her guinea eggs. I also took some photos.

Nice pictures! You are definitely overrun by little ducklings there!

 

[JosieChick]

LOL. My geese hate me because I keep bringing them more friends!! Actually I'm selling a few here and there. I need to advertise more but at this point I am just fed up with people. I need a break from dealing with them.
Oh Sharol, that is rotten luck. Butchering is easy. HEChicken skins her birds. I pluck mine. I just hate the killing part. The rest doesn't bother me at all. I normally use the home grown chickens for soups, casseroles etc where I like to make broth so I like having the skin and fat for more flavor. I buy skinless boneless chicken breasts for just eating chicken as chicken.
I need to butcher a couple around here.
Originally Posted by friendshipstar
It all depends on quality of the birds. If they are like hatchery quality I would think about $3 each. If they are nice show quality you could get $5 to $8 each as young chicks. Cream legbar pullets bring a really nice price. The boys not so much. It varies by where you are and what your local market is. Trish has cream legbars so she could tell you the Wichita area market price.
I had a just awful day yesterday. I had a guy I sold a number of birds to 2 weeks ago call and threaten me yesterday. He has been buying all kinds of birds from everyone. Just 5 days ago he was still trying to buy more birds from me. Well sometime in the last 3 days he has lost 42 chicks to coccidiosis. And he is trying to get me to give him money and pay some vet bills. What kind of chicken person has to contact a vet to treat coccidiosis?? Sounded to me like he went nuts buying birds without having a clue what to do. He certainly didn't get coccidiosis from me, due to the length of time, and the fact that I have never had a case of coccidiosis here. I feed medicated feed for a reason. I never want to chance getting it started. It has me very upset. He contacted me through a previous customer ..not because I had advertised chicks in his area or anything. I can't stand people who place the blame on everyone else for their lack of education. I had threats and yelling and everything else from him. He kept talking about his vet so I simply told him to have his vet call me then I would be willing to deal with him. But of course he refused and kept yelling.
I work so hard with my birds to keep them healthy. I don't spend 16 hour days caring for birds to have someone accuse me of stuff like this.
I just happened to have a recent customer contact me about buying some of my breeders yesterday after all this so I made a deal to sell them. I didn't plan to do it until later in the summer but I am feeling pretty soured right now. I guess that just gets me closer to my goal of going all English.

Not sure where the pic went but those ducklings are ADORABLE!!

Nice pictures! You are definitely overrun by little ducklings there!

 

[chicken danz]

He was so nasty with me and wouldn't quit yelling and threatening. If my chicks had had cocci they would have died 10 days ago...not now. DH says he probably threatened everyone he bought chicks from the same way. I just take this very personal because the birds are my life...not just a handful that happened to hatch or a half dozen hens for eggs. I work at it very very hard, and feel guilty if I fail to keep them all healthy and alive.
I am just feeling so bummed out. I do pride myself on the health and quality of my chicks. I have things happen...like just had some mold in the brooder house near one of the water stands and lost some chicks to it. Makes me feel inefficient.
Oh well I'll get over it and go on. I think I am just so worn out from such a busy spring that every thing is bothering me a lot more.

 

[chicken danz]

Just got home a little while ago. I haven't even unpacked the car yet. I heard from my brother. He is flying back to N. Carolina tomorrow and won't be back until late Sunday. He did say he will be here the following weekend though and will bring the chicks with him. He said to tell you he is living at 1208 Elizabeth in Winfield so you would know where you would have to go. Will that work? I haven't taken chicks out of the incubator yet so I don't know what all I have yet. I may actually have enough older ones that you could have those instead.