Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I've got four large rubbermaid bins in the house full of chicks...plus the turkey. It stinks in here. Maybe with luck I can make some more progress today. I haven't been out to see what DH has done yet. He said he got the lights done and another piece of wood on the ceiling. I guess I'm going to have to go hang insulation as much as I really don't want to. I hate that stuff!
I really need to do some more building to separate my brooding area from my hatching area but can't put the wall in until DH gets the ceiling done. I hate waiting on someone else to do things. Patience has never been my virtue.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Hope everyone endured the snow alright!
How is the knee healing @Trish44 ?

LOL I feel your pain with the smell @chicken danz ! I have 12 mix-breed week olds that I am afraid to put out in the brooder (I lost power once out there and although I didn't lose any, it makes me nervous with little ones). I keep the litter fresh but they still get a smell and they are only separated by a wall from my bedroom so a noisy baby wakes me up every time! I will be moving them out this weekend, and then I have more due to hatch in 14 days!

Anyone have any tips on keeping a foam incubator a steadier temp? It is in a enclosed draft free area and I still have more fluctuations than I am comfortable with. It is the Farm Innovators Pro series 4200 (doesn't everyone start with this one LOL)!

I FINALLY received confirmation from SandHill for my Scots Dumpys! They should be here mid-July!

I can't wait!!! I have 10 Dumpys, 12 Assorted English Orps, and 3 Assorted Crested (don't need them but couldn't resist!)

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I keep saying I'm going to use that uninsulated side of the shop for breeder pens but I haven't done one thing to make it happen. It would be perfect since it is well ventilated at the top. My younger boys are almost 13 and 14 now -- can you believe it -- so I may have to have them help me get that thing put together this summer. It would be so much easier to handle the birds in the winter and less stress during storms in the spring.

Coyotes came howling and screaming through our property last night. There don't seem to be as many of them as there were but when they do pay a visit, they just make my skin crawl.

Danz, were you able to get some of that insulation done? That will be heaven once it's done.

Trish44, how are your hoop coops doing? Are they still working well? I am going to modify my little houses and pens with some permanent roofing material on the sides and top. I'm really sick of trying to keep the tarps down in this straight Kansas wind. I like being able to move the birds around in the summer. Gives the area around the house a rest.

 

[chicken danz]

Hope everyone endured the snow alright!
How is the knee healing @Trish44 ?

LOL I feel your pain with the smell @chicken danz ! I have 12 mix-breed week olds that I am afraid to put out in the brooder (I lost power once out there and although I didn't lose any, it makes me nervous with little ones). I keep the litter fresh but they still get a smell and they are only separated by a wall from my bedroom so a noisy baby wakes me up every time! I will be moving them out this weekend, and then I have more due to hatch in 14 days!

Anyone have any tips on keeping a foam incubator a steadier temp? It is in a enclosed draft free area and I still have more fluctuations than I am comfortable with. It is the Farm Innovators Pro series 4200 (doesn't everyone start with this one LOL)!

I FINALLY received confirmation from SandHill for my Scots Dumpys! They should be here mid-July!

I can't wait!!! I have 10 Dumpys, 12 Assorted English Orps, and 3 Assorted Crested (don't need them but couldn't resist!)

LOL I wish I only had 12 chicks in here. A couple hundred is much closer. I keep a regular lamp on in my brooder house just so I can be sure I have power out there. I've had the ground fault trip a few times to that building. I can see the light from inside so I just make a habit of looking out when I walk past the window at night.
I'm very anxious just to get the birds moved to the building and not worry about it so much. I want to stop using this brooder house all together. I might use it for a coop of some kind eventually but my hopes are to be able to house all the babies in a controlled environment.
Quote:

I keep saying I'm going to use that uninsulated side of the shop for breeder pens but I haven't done one thing to make it happen. It would be perfect since it is well ventilated at the top. My younger boys are almost 13 and 14 now -- can you believe it -- so I may have to have them help me get that thing put together this summer. It would be so much easier to handle the birds in the winter and less stress during storms in the spring.

Coyotes came howling and screaming through our property last night. There don't seem to be as many of them as there were but when they do pay a visit, they just make my skin crawl.

Danz, were you able to get some of that insulation done? That will be heaven once it's done.

Trish44, how are your hoop coops doing? Are they still working well? I am going to modify my little houses and pens with some permanent roofing material on the sides and top. I'm really sick of trying to keep the tarps down in this straight Kansas wind. I like being able to move the birds around in the summer. Gives the area around the house a rest.

Oh heavens no..not yet. I'm still drinking coffee and haven't even thought about getting anything done yet today.
I had a few more stragglers hatch during the night and have two more eggs with live chicks that haven't pipped yet. I kind of give up when they don't hatch on time. That usually means there is some problem with them. But I make myself not intervene.
Not Trish, but I really like my hoop coops. The one without the coop actually built inside isn't as efficient as the other two but it has held birds all winter. I am looking forward to a break in weather so I can take one of the tarps off. I have the entire thing covered in tarps except a little on the end so it's kind of dark in there. I've just tried to keep it warm for younger birds. Right now I have the turkeys in there and they could really use some fresh air. I just prefer these snow storms to get over with first.

 

[Trish44]

Hope everyone endured the snow alright!
How is the knee healing @Trish44 ?

LOL I feel your pain with the smell @chicken danz ! I have 12 mix-breed week olds that I am afraid to put out in the brooder (I lost power once out there and although I didn't lose any, it makes me nervous with little ones). I keep the litter fresh but they still get a smell and they are only separated by a wall from my bedroom so a noisy baby wakes me up every time! I will be moving them out this weekend, and then I have more due to hatch in 14 days!

Anyone have any tips on keeping a foam incubator a steadier temp? It is in a enclosed draft free area and I still have more fluctuations than I am comfortable with. It is the Farm Innovators Pro series 4200 (doesn't everyone start with this one LOL)!

I FINALLY received confirmation from SandHill for my Scots Dumpys! They should be here mid-July!

I can't wait!!! I have 10 Dumpys, 12 Assorted English Orps, and 3 Assorted Crested (don't need them but couldn't resist!)

Tara you just have to dinker with it. I had one I used to hatch in till I got my GQF & I really had to rig it to get it where I wanted it with the temp & especially the humidity. It's hard to control those things for sure. Congrats on your babies. I will have chicks back in the house next month some time. I just got my incubator cleaned & fired up & put 7 Sebastabol goose eggs in. Wish me luck, I have never hatched goose eggs before. I've hatched about everything else but that. My goose has not laid yet, these I got from someone else. They're just huge eggs & I only have one tray that will even fit that size of eggs. I had it for turkey & peafowl eggs. I guess it's a good thing I had gotten it. I hadn't planned to get goose eggs but an opportunity came up & I went for it.

My knee is still sore & stiff, it's going to take awhile to get totally back to what can be normal for awhile. I have a badly arthritic knee so normal for that is kind of a subjective thing I guess. I'm still working on getting as much motion back as I can. I'm just doing exercises at home now since the Dr. said he thought I could just finish up on my own. It's not cheap going to PT. It seems like the insurance companies don't pay very well on those services for some reason. You would think they would want you to get as much function back as possible but I guess they only think of the money.

I keep saying I'm going to use that uninsulated side of the shop for breeder pens but I haven't done one thing to make it happen. It would be perfect since it is well ventilated at the top. My younger boys are almost 13 and 14 now -- can you believe it -- so I may have to have them help me get that thing put together this summer. It would be so much easier to handle the birds in the winter and less stress during storms in the spring.

Coyotes came howling and screaming through our property last night. There don't seem to be as many of them as there were but when they do pay a visit, they just make my skin crawl.

Danz, were you able to get some of that insulation done? That will be heaven once it's done.

Trish44, how are your hoop coops doing? Are they still working well? I am going to modify my little houses and pens with some permanent roofing material on the sides and top. I'm really sick of trying to keep the tarps down in this straight Kansas wind. I like being able to move the birds around in the summer. Gives the area around the house a rest.

Wow Deerfield your kids are growing up fast! That would be nice if you could make breeder pens in there. My hoop coops work really well actually. I have 4 of them now. The original one holds the goofy guineas, my breeding stock. There are others outside that are all males that are out there to eat ticks & other bugs for me, they're crazy. Then I have one that has the lavender orps on one end & buff orps on the other. One has SS & New Hamps & the other only has Swedish Flower Hens but they may have to share at some point later on with another breed if I can figure out how to access the other end of that pen. I hadn't planned for it to be a double pen when I built it but now I may have to figure out how to move it forward a bit so I could get to the end to put in a door there. Those things weigh a ton. I guess I could always hook it to the old truck & drag it a little, that might work. Of course that would require me to move the birds out of there temporarily. Speaking of roofing material, I have found that fiberglass corrugated roofing works nice for the tops of things. We used that on my breeder coop & it's easy to screw on & is pretty tough. It's not a lot of fun to cut but neither is tin. I have a new set of tools coming soon that should make things easier for me. I talked DH into ordering an angle grinder for me & while he was at it he got other tools that use the same battery. I can't believe I haven't had one of those before, it sure would have made my life easier. I also have used shade cloth on top of pens instead of tarps because it lets the water through instead of letting it pool on top. It's such a pain to have to push water off & it has bent poles on pens before with the weight. I have one pen right now that I need to get stuff that has fallen on it off but with my knee the way it is I just can't get up there to do it yet.

 

[KsKingBee]

I've got four large rubbermaid bins in the house full of chicks...plus the turkey. It stinks in here. Maybe with luck I can make some more progress today. I haven't been out to see what DH has done yet. He said he got the lights done and another piece of wood on the ceiling. I guess I'm going to have to go hang insulation as much as I really don't want to. I hate that stuff!
I really need to do some more building to separate my brooding area from my hatching area but can't put the wall in until DH gets the ceiling done. I hate waiting on someone else to do things. Patience has never been my virtue.

You could temporarily hang plastic sheeting to make a wall and to hold in the heat....

 

[chicken danz]

King bee I tried plastic but the wind just tore it off. And plastic would be the same as the tarps other than they would let me light in. I was thinking more of letting them get some sun and fresh air. I have netting over the whole thing. I was just afraid that they wouldn't have much shelter from the cold since it would be open to the west. The north is covered by the tarp.
I took the house turkey out and had him playing outside earlier. He and the other young turkeys heard each other and there was a yard full of gobbling going on. His feet are tender from being in the house. After an hour or so he came yelling for me. He had cut his toe and it was bleeding badly. DH helped me clean it and put a bandaid on it. Never seen a turkey wearing a bandaid before!! He fell asleep while I was holding him. He is now sacked out on the floor sound asleep. I guess playing outside exhausted him. Poor thing. I'm going to have to keep him in the building awhile to toughen his feet I guess.
I got some of the older chicks in here moved to the brooder house. I hope they do okay. At least that gave me a spare bin so I could split up this group of baby chicks. I tried to do a little color sorting.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

LOL I wish I only had 12 chicks in here. A couple hundred is much closer.

Oh no! Bless you! I couldn't handle that!

I am just starting breeding this year! I am liking the smaller batches, between 10 and 25 (max!) at a time.

I am hatching mostly orders for mix-breed/EE pullets at the moment. I hope to have lots of capons available by summer too!

I'm still waiting on my Lav Ameraucana to lay

But the EE's in with her and the Lav roo are laying like crazy, so I will have lots of EE babies soon! I am anxious to see what develops from my Buff Brahma/Wheaten Ameraucana crosses I set, 6 of the 7 are developing!!

 

[KsKingBee]

King bee I tried plastic but the wind just tore it off. And plastic would be the same as the tarps other than they would let me light in. I was thinking more of letting them get some sun and fresh air. I have netting over the whole thing. I was just afraid that they wouldn't have much shelter from the cold since it would be open to the west. The north is covered by the tarp.
I took the house turkey out and had him playing outside earlier. He and the other young turkeys heard each other and there was a yard full of gobbling going on. His feet are tender from being in the house. After an hour or so he came yelling for me. He had cut his toe and it was bleeding badly. DH helped me clean it and put a bandaid on it. Never seen a turkey wearing a bandaid before!! He fell asleep while I was holding him. He is now sacked out on the floor sound asleep. I guess playing outside exhausted him. Poor thing. I'm going to have to keep him in the building awhile to toughen his feet I guess.
I got some of the older chicks in here moved to the brooder house. I hope they do okay. At least that gave me a spare bin so I could split up this group of baby chicks. I tried to do a little color sorting.

No, not in the hoop house, inside your building where you are waiting for a wall.

 

[chicken danz]

So TaraBella have you grown up any of your capons yet? I was just wondering if they grow any faster or get any larger than a regular rooster does. Since I have some mixed colors, although pure bred orpingtons, I am trying to figure out an economical way to grow them up cheaper for butcher birds. I make no money, in fact I loose a lot on my birds I sell for butcher. I just wish I could find a way to do it cheaper.
I don't breed any mixed breeds unless I am trying to produce more layers. I am thinking from now on unless one of the layers goes broody and hatches chicks, that I will just use any purebred culls I have for the layers. Like if I have a pullet that is too small to be a good breeder or I have one that has crooked toes or something. It seems I never end up with any extras because someone is always wanting to buy a pullet that is near POL. I don't want to go back into the egg business any way. I have just enough customers and family I don't have to worry about having too many or too few eggs.
It was a beautiful day today but the cold front has arrived. We are getting high winds and the temp is falling. Poop! I was hoping they were wrong about that part of the forecast.
Oh Kingbee I see now. Yeah that might work.