Consolidated Kansas

[Prairie Fleur]

Well I hope everyone is well, I have to trust my birds in the hands of my city aunt and dad, (Oh dear) while I am off to OKC for Morgan Grand Nationals. It's this big horse show that all us Morgan people go too and its huge, I have never missed a year and this year I am helping both of my trainers out being a bucket girl and working for them, sounds like they pay good but I don't really care. It's not like I need money but I'm just happy to be able to spend a whole week with my people. I don't get to show but I am still looking foreword to helping out and working with the horses. I'll get them ready before classes and all that jazz, and I get to do this all week. Can't wait! Mom and I leave to go down there in about an hour, we will go meet up with my aunt who has a booth down there. I'm going to help her get set up tonight and my mom will head back Sunday morning. I hope everyone is well and I hope my city folks learn the routine pretty quick.

Have fun!!! And take some pics if you get a chance! hopefully your relatives will get the hang of doing your chores for you.

 

[zigzag45]

Chicken math isn't good here either... the first four eggs I gave my broody buff orp weren't developing. I'm just shy of 100% sure... even cracked them and put them down the drain to confirm and didn't see anything (except for odor!).

So, I tracked down new eggs for her. Two weeks in and her timer starts over. This time I bought a dozen and I put all but one under her. That's going from 4 to 11 eggs - good thing the hen didn't seem to notice. I was sad, this beautiful dark brown egg was cracked so I put it in the bowl to cook up for the birds. I think I'm crazy to try for that many, but I'm hoping for only 3-4 to hatch. And, she said she'd take back any roos which makes it easier for me.

 

[Trish44]

Chicken math isn't good here either... the first four eggs I gave my broody buff orp weren't developing. I'm just shy of 100% sure... even cracked them and put them down the drain to confirm and didn't see anything (except for odor!).

So, I tracked down new eggs for her. Two weeks in and her timer starts over. This time I bought a dozen and I put all but one under her. That's going from 4 to 11 eggs - good thing the hen didn't seem to notice. I was sad, this beautiful dark brown egg was cracked so I put it in the bowl to cook up for the birds. I think I'm crazy to try for that many, but I'm hoping for only 3-4 to hatch. And, she said she'd take back any roos which makes it easier for me.

I always start with more eggs than I really need chicks from since not all develop or hatch & then there is a chance of losing one or two even afterward, so it balances out usually. That's great you have an outlet to give back extra cockerels. I never know what to do with them all.

HEChicken you're sure reaping benefits from your garden this year, I'm surprised you still are getting things from it. My poor lone tomato plant got half eaten by the goats & I probably am not going to get a thing from it before it freezes. Oh well, now that I have the goats confined maybe next spring I can put in some new raised beds & try again at having a few things.

 

[cherwill]

Good morning.....well almost afternoon now!
i got a delightful surprise this morning. I thought Rebel Dottie looked a bit more tense than usual this morning......

When I lifted her to gather the unmarked eggs I was greeted by this little fellow!

I am off today and got to spend some more time with the flock and let them range the garden again. I had to share this funny sight
(I love the confusion on the roo's face

)


The coop kittens I got a couple of months ago are working out perfectly. I got 3 males and couldn't be happier with them. They don't mess with the chickens and my mice are gone from the coop! The only downside is that they are friendlier than expected and the kids won't leave them alone. They take the torture in stride and are great cats!

Great pictures!

Quote:

There are lots of people with fancy Orp’s. Nice to know I don’t have to ship them for England myself. LOL..

My kids got there first green/blue egg from the EE’s last night. It’s been 27 weeks, and it’s been killing them.

Awww. That first egg is so exciting.

Lost my gorgeous BLR Wyandotte roo today. He was lying near the coop door bloodied and dead. He'd been there for a while already when I found him because he was thoroughly wet and bedraggled from the drizzle all afternoon. I'm horribly disappointed as he was exceptionally tame and sweet.

RIP Blue. I can't figure out what killed him. He was a nice sized bird so I don't think the cats got him. London, my GP, has so far been very well behaved around all my animals. Any chance my peas could have done him in? Maybe a hawk that got scared off? I honestly can't figure out what happened. All my other birds are fine.

I'm sorry you lost your roo.

It sure is brisk out there - cold, windy and wet. Not nearly as fun doing my morning chores as it was just yesterday.

Tarabellabirds, congrats on the chicks hatching from the duct-taped egg - good to know that it worked.

I love the discussion about chicken math and how there is no subtraction in it. No wonder its so challenging! I am trying to subtract slowly but surely - I have another drake duckling ready to be processed this morning, which will be the third this week. My goal was two a week so I'm a little ahead of the game

I did another harvest in my veggie garden last night and got quite a few pounds of tomatoes, peppers, onions and zucchini. Probably not enough for a whole canner batch of sauce but enough to make several pints so I think I'll just make it and we'll eat it fresh over the next few days. I had an interesting experience with squash bugs the other day. I went out and looked and had one zuke that was almost big enough to pick but it was absolutely swarming with squash bugs - way more than I could ever think of picking off. So I went back in the house and took a container that holds about 2 ½ cups of water, put ½ tsp of Dawn dish detergent in it, filled it with water and shook it all the way back to the garden. When I got there, I poured it over the zuke. Initially there wasn't much of a reaction but as I watched the bugs started to fall off the zucchini. I thought they were just stunned but when I picked a couple up to look at them closer, they appeared to be dead. I went back in and told DH and he was amazed, saying he can't imagine what is in dish soap that would have that affect so quickly. I expected to find next day they were back but after checking every day since then, there hasn't been a single bug on the zuke and last night it was big enough to pick. I am at a loss for why it worked but thrilled that it did, as that is something I don't mind using, since after all, I use it to wash our own dishes, and I can easily rinse it off the skin of the zuke as well.

Hmmm. I've tried the dish soap thing and it didn't work. Maybe the solution wasn't strong enough. I've read you need to wash the soap off the next day. Sounds like you didn't do that and the plant is just fine.

 

[HEChicken]

Hmmm. I've tried the dish soap thing and it didn't work. Maybe the solution wasn't strong enough. I've read you need to wash the soap off the next day. Sounds like you didn't do that and the plant is just fine.

Ooops, no, I didn't know to do that. However most of the soap was poured directly over the zuke and not the plant so maybe that is the reason it was okay. The rain today should be washing off any residue now anyway. Officially this is a zucchini but it is a variety that actually seems more like a pumpkin to me. It is called a Baby Round so the zukes, instead of being dark green and long, grow round, in the shape of a pumpkin, but the skin is white and green striped. It also sets the fruit out from the plant a little, more like a pumpkin, so I was able to pour the soap over the fruit without touching much of the plant, if that makes sense. A few days ago I tried roasting one, just as I would roast a pumpkin, and it was absolutely delicious done that way. I tried it that way after noticing that the skin is tough - much more like a pumpkin than a zucchini. I normally just cut up zukes and stir fry them with other veggies with the skin on. But when I tried that with one of these, the skin was tough and not good to eat. So although the seed packet label calls them zucchinis, I have started thinking of them more as a variety of pumpkin.

Zig, I'm sorry to hear those eggs weren't any good but I agree about putting more under her. When I am setting my own eggs under my hens, I'll do a small number like 3-4 because historically my fertility has been near 100%. But when acquiring eggs from elsewhere, I put more under, as even if the fertility stars at 100%, it seems like transporting them, even a short distance and no matter how careful we are, the fertility drops. Then, some may develop but not hatch, others hatch but not survive to adulthood, and last, half of what you hatch will be cockerels you won't be keeping anyway.

PrairieFleur, sorry to hear about the loss of your roo - I've no idea what could have done it but hope you are able to find a suitable replacement for him.

My duck is in the crockpot but I haven't started cutting up tomatoes yet for sauce. I guess I better hop to it.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

Ooops, no, I didn't know to do that.  However most of the soap was poured directly over the zuke and not the plant so maybe that is the reason it was okay.  The rain today should be washing off any residue now anyway.  Officially this is a zucchini but it is a variety that actually seems more like a pumpkin to me.  It is called a Baby Round so the zukes, instead of being dark green and long, grow round, in the shape of a pumpkin, but the skin is white and green striped.  It also sets the fruit out from the plant a little, more like a pumpkin, so I was able to pour the soap over the fruit without touching much of the plant, if that makes sense.  A few days ago I tried roasting one, just as I would roast a pumpkin, and it was absolutely delicious done that way.  I tried it that way after noticing that the skin is tough - much more like a pumpkin than a zucchini.  I normally just cut up zukes and stir fry them with other veggies with the skin on.  But when I tried that with one of these, the skin was tough and not good to eat.  So although the seed packet label calls them zucchinis, I have started thinking of them more as a variety of pumpkin.

Zig, I'm sorry to hear those eggs weren't any good but I agree about putting more under her.  When I am setting my own eggs under my hens, I'll do a small number like 3-4 because historically my fertility has been near 100%.  But when acquiring eggs from elsewhere, I put more under, as even if the fertility stars at 100%, it seems like transporting them, even a short distance and no matter how careful we are, the fertility drops.  Then, some may develop but not hatch, others hatch but not survive to adulthood, and last, half of what you hatch will be cockerels you won't be keeping anyway.

PrairieFleur, sorry to hear about the loss of your roo - I've no idea what could have done it but hope you are able to find a suitable replacement for him.  

My duck is in the crockpot but I haven't started cutting up tomatoes yet for sauce.  I guess I better hop to it.

The soap shouldn't hurt the plant unless you spray it when it's hot the way I remember. The heat combined with the soap can burn the plant. Evening is a good time to do it or whenever it's not really hot. I quite sure my SIL didn't wash her plants off and they were fine.
Thanks! I'm currently looking but haven't found what I want. Foley has some for sale but I truly can't justify spending $100 on a roo right now even tho I'd LOVE a roo from his stock.. Especially since I free range my birds a good deal of the time. I wish I could find a second generation Foley bird.

 

[chicken danz]

I've read to use the dishsoap with a little cooking oil to help it be more fluid and stick better. It actually suffocates the bugs. They breath through pores in their skin, not like lungs on mammals. The soap and oil plug the pores and they die.
I am so sick of the rain. The builders came by to get their check and they fixed a door that had an air gap in it. Then they stood around in the building talking for two hours. I need to get out and check on birds. I'm afraid I've lost some in all the water and mud. I had 4-5 chicks die during the night because they managed to unplug the heater. I taped it together today in hopes it will stay hooked. I can't wait to have my room done in the building so I have a constant warm temperature in there. It will be so nice not to have to worry about things being too cold.

 

[KsKingBee]

We use Dawn dish soap for 'cleaning up' stray bees when we do removals from buildings, a quarter cup to a quart of water. The reason it works on bugs is that bugs do not breathe through their mouths, they breathe through the pours in their exoskeleton. The soap coats those openings and the bugs suffocate.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Danz, sorry about your TV. Your only hope is to locate one not working with a good picture tube. Most failures in today's TV's are in the other components. Most repair work is fairly expensive, but any one with a little mechanical knowledge, could trade out component boards; as they usually just unplug from the chassis. Locating one that suited yours would be a mater of luck.
As for the local rain, I don't think we got much over 6 inches, because that was all my rain gauge held. I do have a lot of mud with this rain. I think the rocks must be dissolving.

There isn't much topsoil under the grass. That is why I call it Rocky Hill Farm. Hope you have good luck with your building. If I wasn't so old I might have another one built. I had a 60 by 100 building that burned about 10 years ago, when a grass fire got away from me. I wasn't near the building, but the wind came up and my rake broke, and I lost control of the fire. No one's fault but mine.. Lost a lot of equipment but no livestock was inside.

 

[StinkyChicken]

if hawk killed your r00 I wouldn,t expect it be bloody. Hawk ay be nnocent this time I would suspect a dog or coyote n the daytime

I don’t know about a coyote. If it had been a coyote there would have been a missing Roo. Coyotes don’t waste a meal. My guess is hawk or dog. A hawk can easily kill a chicken but couldn’t lift it. And dogs kill for fun not food.

But I am sorry to hear about Blue…..