Consolidated Kansas

[thndrdancr]

It was so nice today! Got a little done outside. I need to plant this next couple days. I found some really cheap hyacinths couple weeks ago at Walmart and I just love the smell of them. Hoping if I plant them now they will come up this spring.
I prefer to be outside but do need to do a lot inside. Only have 1 bedroom available out of 3 so need to get something fixed up. The other two are full of "stuff" if you know what I mean. We downsized to this house after a divorce and its a 1/4 the size of the old one with about 1/10 of the storage room. And no coat close, no garage, no pantry, etc. it's a challenge finding room for normal ordinary things, let alone all the crap that has sentimental value!

I did get a little done! Hosed deck, but two of my 2014 hatch peas think the deck is their home and they cried the whole time! You would have thought I was hurting their best friend or something! I was moving stuff around and I guess that was a no-no. I put the cats igloo on top the doghouse and when I went to put it back, all 3 of my silly cats were in there so I left it. Was a funny picture but by time I got phone they had come out demanding dinner.

 

[chicken danz]

,

I can empathize with your downsize. I went from 2800 square feet to 1500 square feet and big rooms to tiny rooms. I sold tons but still have a storage building full and a basement full of stuff. The worst part is moving to the country we now have a ton of other things we didn't need before.

Horticulture was my big thing before I got birds. I still love it but I can't do much work thanks to having a bad back now. So I have to try to enjoy what I can that doesn't require a lot of care.

I've got a few late season peas as well. They are still pretty small. My india blues always hatch a group late in the year but this year was extra late. I still had some minor heat for them until last week. It was more to keep the water thawed than keep them warm though.
I've got 11 babies left that I don't have a pen for yet. I've got a couple girls I plan to keep and some whites I can't sex yet. I will for sure keep any white girls since I lost one of my hens last year.

 

[KsKingBee]

LOVE THIS WEATHER! So do the hens, they are up to two dozen eggs per day now. We have been evaluating and separating our BCM hens getting ready for breeding season. Yesterday Shana came over and we butchered 13 cocks and today pen building, yea.

Still thinking on a GP.



That is two in three weeks and I saw another at first light but at 350 yards in low light I didn't want to chance shooting a fawn by mistake. Shot this yote at 9:30PM.

OQB has me on a diet, down 12 lbs in two weeks. Maybe if I stay busy I won't notice I am starving to death...

 

[chicken danz]

LOL KKB. Dieting is hard work. I put on more weight this winter than I ever have. I need to get it under control. I suspect it's a medicine I started but the doctors say that wouldn't cause it. I'm different than most people. So my choice is to have a stroke or to get fat and die of a heart attack. Not great options. I've still got some medical tests to get done yet but am not rushing into paying new deductables for a new year.
I really need to get busy building pens as well. Just don't have the help I need getting posts set. I need to sell some birds so I can afford some more stuff!!
I'm still hoping to have a litter of pups later this spring. My new male is working out well right now so I hope it all pans out. It's been a couple years since I had a litter.
I need to do a count on excess roos myself. I have an order for as many as I can come up with about the 15th. I hate to feed them that long but I guess it's better than nothing.

 

[thndrdancr]

Chicken danz, thanks for the info on the hyacinths. I love gardening and flowers but I am a dunce when it comes to planting/growing for the most part. I have to nurse the little plant along and talk to it or it just doesn't wanna grow.

Kskingbee, I sympathize on the diet. Luckily il lost 20 lbs in the last month but I wouldn't recommend having a burst appendix as a way of doing it! .

I have also casually been looking at female pyrs on cl, but not sure I want to deal with the "training" a pup. I told my sis I think the only reason pups are so cute is so you won't kill them! I exaggerate a bit but geez. I made the mistake of getting two litter mates, and they bond to each other instead of listening to you. That is if a pyr ever listens.

I would say my boy really doesn't have any negatives at all now but it took a year a half getting there. His sister was a killer and I did lose birds to them til I rehomed her. I kept her for 11 months. To be honest, I don't think he would have ever messed with the birds at all if it hadn't been for her, but she didn't have a guardian bone in her body. When the coyotes howled she would keep snoozing while Bandit roared off to take care of them. He never hurt another bird after she left, but I did have to watch him for about 5 months after that to curb the 'playing with' behavior.

But I don't mean just bird training, I mean potty/house training (I wanted them to be house trained in case), the not jumping on you, the socializing, the endless puppy chewing of my shoes, furniture, etc. big not to mention leash training so they can go to the vet. I have been knocked down several times and it ain't fun!

Bandit was a fun puppy though, very full of life and a very happy dog. Don't tell kskingbee they have a tendency to bring large branches home, (sometimes even cute little trees you have planted) their first year, shhh! So sometimes you get a bad egg, she was s lovely dog for a pet, she just wasn't suited to guarding livestock. They bored her to tears. And they were litter mates, go figure. My boy is 5 now and I can trust him 100 percent now. He even steps very carefully around baby chick and many times sleeps in the coop.

Man I wished I could sell my extra roosters here, I always end up giving them away. I guess there is a guy that buys them around Clay Center. I had a guy that I had just found up in Crete that would pay $10 for my extra orp/Cochin crosses cuz they were enormous birds. I haven't found anyone nearby yet!
Well I better get cracking on this cleanup. We went from a 2000 sq ft house to a 1100 sq ft. The other also had 2000 sq ft finished basement plus a garage. We have neither! Man not having a garage is tough. Makes me want to kill ex hubby for putting me in such a financial bind. Grrr

 

[zigzag45]

LOVE THIS WEATHER! So do the hens, they are up to two dozen eggs per day now. We have been evaluating and separating our BCM hens getting ready for breeding season. Yesterday Shana came over and we butchered 13 cocks and today pen building, yea.

Still thinking on a GP.



That is two in three weeks and I saw another at first light but at 350 yards in low light I didn't want to chance shooting a fawn by mistake. Shot this yote at 9:30PM.

OQB has me on a diet, down 12 lbs in two weeks. Maybe if I stay busy I won't notice I am starving to death...

Apparently, starvation hasn't given you the shakes yet. Nice work on the coyote.

 

[Trish44]

thundrdancr, I guess there are some GPs not suited for being an LGD, I have read about them on the forums. Mine have the good instincts but Jasmine is the lead LGD. She is much more serious than Lily is. Lily can be a big goofball & wants attention whenever I go out. I end up pushing her away a lot of the time when I'm trying to do something to get her to go on & get out of my face. I do give them both attention but Jas will go about her business if she sees you're busy or tell her to go on. Lily is the one that if she gets in trouble she gives you this big grin like see I'm so cute you can't be mad at me. But when it comes down to working she is right out there with Jas backing her up. They are headstrong dogs, they were bred that way to live out in the mountains practically by themselves watching the sheep. Mine sometimes test me if I tell them no, if I turn my back especially with food I put out for the chickens they will be right in it. They do know "leave it" but they figure I guess that if I leave it's fair game. If I'm standing there they will lay down a ways from the food. They're very food aggressive dogs & have to be fed separately. They did make mistakes when they were puppies, but they learned & now don't bother any of my birds. If it weren't for them I wouldn't have anything here due to how many predators we have. I was losing birds to all kinds of things before I got them. I have only lost a couple of birds in the last two years & that I think was due to the birds going through the fence line & something was waiting over there in the trees for them.

It was so warm here yesterday it really felt like spring. I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with the weather because I think mother nature is teasing us right now.

 

[KsKingBee]

Danz, let me know when your ***** is due.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Good afternoon. I got off of work early and have a few extra hours, but between the kids and my lack of motivation I am not using it very efficiently.

I just want to sit on my behind, which is rather unusual for me, especially considering the weather and readiness for Spring (my favorite season)!

I put in my order for my Scots Dumpys from Sandhill Preservation today.

Unfortunately I thought I had to wait for the catalog to order

........apparently everyone else knew where to find the elusive order form and the Scots Dumpys AND the Assorted Orps are gone until June!!!

So I have 5 months to wait for my much coveted birds. I also couldn't resist throwing in 3 Assorted Crested, I really can't wait.

 

[chicken danz]

Danz, let me know when your ***** is due.

Will do.
Tara Bella. If you get tired of waiting I am sure some of us could fix you up before that.