Consolidated Kansas

[spree56]

Raining off & on here in Manhattan. Rather dark.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Should I separate my broody hens from the rooster so he doesn't kill the baby chicks or will he be fine

I always separate mine but I'm no expert, just thought it was the safest thing to do. When the chicks are close to fully feathered I open the broody pen and let the momma take them out. Their broody pen is in the coop so all the birds are aware of them prior to release. I've only had 2 broody hatches but it went well doing it that way.

We had a really heavy rain here and even now it's still darkish. I managed to wage war with the weeds this morning before the rain started so I made another good dent in that mess. I'm so happy we had a really nice downpour. I would love to see the pond filled without my having to do it with the well. I'm sure this didn't fill it completely but every little bit helps.

 

[sharol]

This afternoon has been an adventure.First our powered gate shut off half open, and DH dug out the manual and fixed it. I swear he can fix anything if he sets his mind to it.

Then I was planning to move my two broodies that are due Wednesday to the hoop coop. The hoop is all ready, so it was supposed to be pretty routine. Warm the nest in the new coop, move the eggs, move the broody. Easy peasy right? Not so much. One of the broodies had a newly hatched chick under her wing. I heard it cheeping and got everyone moved ok, but it is day 17. Yikes. I don't know about the other eggs. I guess we are in a wait and see pattern. She has been staying on the nest really constantly (I've had to move her off it to get her to eat and drink), so maybe all of them will be a little early.

I didn't have any chick starter (just layer feed), so I made a quick run to Bluestem (20 minutes away) to get starter, and by the time I got home there was a huge thunderstorm moving in. I got the food out to the broodies and the baby before it hit, but man, it rained buckets in a short time. As soon as it stops raining (I got soaked earlier closing windows in the coop and hoop), I'll check to be sure no water got in with the new mommy.

I guess if the other eggs don't hatch and she abandons them for the baby I'll put them under the other broody. That baby is adorable -- lavender orp -- but then aren't they all.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

sharol, Crazy weather. You sound like me, flying in under the last minute before the downpour. What a chore too. I'm so lucky I have so many kids willing to help me out with the chickens, without any static. At this point, I couldn't do it without them.

Your DH sounds like mine -- he can fix anything he takes an interest in fixing. I really don't know how he manages it at times, but glad he is able to. It's saved us a lot of money over the years.

Someone is coming to pick up 5 of my White Rock pullets tomorrow morning, so that will be a little pocket change. Yay! Hope they show up.

 

[chicken danz]

We are in the middle of the storm. The yard looks like a lake. Seriously it's so wet the water just has no place to go. I think this is probably one of those three inches per hour storms. Of course we lost the tv signal so I can't get the weather. I'm looking out the window and watching a cooler and a heat lamp bulb float across the yard like boats on the water.
I had moved about 50 juvenile chicks outside today and I am feeling pretty cruel at this moment. I"m afraid I managed to just drown a bunch of birds. There is nothing I can do right now cause I'd probably need a boat to get out there.
josey8, I have had broodies raise chicks with roosters and never had a problem. I think the answer lies in how much room they have. I have had other hens kill chicks before though.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Danz, and all that work getting them set up outside.

Hope it works out okay. Sounds like you got a lot more rain than we did. I think we may have had 2 inches total, maybe. Hey, maybe it will drown the weeds in the garden! That's what I'm hoping for out there. If it drowns my weeds, it would save me a lot of work.

 

[chicken danz]

It's still pouring out even after all this time. I ran out earlier just before dark and I've never seen anything like it. It was just like a river flowing through here. Water rushing through the pens and sitting 3 inches deep in many parts of the yard. I had one dead bird already but there was no where or way to gather them up. I may loose some breeders as well. Half of my turkey pen was in rushing water and two of my breeder chicken pens were in rushing water. I'm seriously guessing we've gotten at least 6 inches of rain this evening if not more.
I feel sick. I could potentially loose thousands of dollars worth or stock tonight. It makes me want to puke. I pray the Lord has mercy on me.
Sadly I saw the broody hens gathering their chicks into the old garage for safety earlier. The water is high enough it has flooded the garage and the babies would have no dry safe place to go. Also had that duck who incidentally hatched 14 babies yesterday and I don't know where she or her babies are. I have a group of ducklings free ranging as well and don't know if they are old enough to protect themselves.
The other problem will be my basement. I don't think the sump pump can keep up with this amount of water.

 

[zigzag45]

@chicken danz - I hope things aren't as bad as they could be. Sounds like a crazy amount of water. We've had tons of rain around KC and I'm looking forward to my back yard drying out. However, I think when it does dry out I will get to enjoy the flies. So far they've not been bad.

I can fill a fly trap (one of those hanging/disposable bags) in about a week in the heart of summer. That's the one thing with chickens I wish I could avoid - the dumb flies!

I ended up buying a cheap wire-mesh rabbit cage today for my two broody's. I got them moved in and they are not happy. One had been broody for 5 days or so, the other for three. I assume I need to leave them in there for 3 days or so to ensure they are done with the whole "let's sit on eggs" thing. The one that had been going for 5 days had 14 eggs under her or so. I'm not sure how she got so many as no other bird had access to everyone's favorite nesting box - she was just camping there. Hasn't someone said they can carry eggs under their wings?

 

[Kansas Cluckers]

Fireworks here tonight, I hope everyone is safe.

 

[Grain Gypsy]

Wichita had 3-4 inches of rain today, and we are feeling it and experiencing it. It hasn't rained this much since we moved into our home a little over a year ago. And, with the rain came some learning today. Below is a story of our rainy day experience, along with a video. The video looks too dark at first, but once I corrected the camera lighting issue as best I could,you can see what's happening. Sounds like rain is causing an upset to many of our flocks. Prayers for everyone's flocks!

Chicken Poop Soup​

​

“Silly girls,” I thought to myself, as I looked out my bathroom window at our hens still walking around their run in the pouring rain and pecking the ground.

Then the thought occurred to me that, even though we are fairly new at this chicken-keeping bit, that there might be a reason they’re not in the coop (which is an old grain silo on our property). I mean, I’ve heard that chickens like enjoying rain shower now and then, but these girls were soaked to the bone.

A steady, heavy rain had been falling for two hours since we’d gotten hope from the swim meet, and it had probably rained another hour or two before we even got home. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to go and check on the coop and make sure everything was okay.

I slipped on my Croc flip-flops, anticipating walking through the standing water in the yard, and then put on a jacket with a hood. I’m not The Wicked Witch of the West, but a do get a little cranky if I get too wet.

I walked down the porch steps and stepped off into the yard, looking down so I could try to avoid stepping directly into muddy patches of bare earth that are just part of our country yard. I then looked up and noticed that there would be no way to get to the concrete pad in front of the silo, which appeared dry from where I coming, and that I’d have to wade through some low spots to get there.

I took a deep breath in and stepped quickly into the first low spot. The water only came up to my ankles, but it was unpleasantly cold. One, two, three BIG steps and I was standing on the concrete pad in front of the silo.

Then I heard it. I had been too distracted by the freezing cold water I had waded through to notice the rushing sound of water filling something. I turned around and faced the door of the silo coop and looked around. I listened to the direction of the sound of the rushing and then watched the flow of a small, but steady, stream of water under the door of the silo coop.

My mind quickly put two and two together, and I frantically opened the coop door. I gasped in horror at what I saw.

The silo was filling up, like a bathtub, with flood water. The chicken waterer was empty and floating, and I couldn’t even see the top of the feeder, which stands at least thigh-high on me. All I saw was a brew of disgusting chicken poop and pine shaving soup.

That’s when I noticed her. Sitting on the top roost alone, and huddled up against the silo wall farthest from the door, was Lady Gaga, our White-Crested Black Polish hen. Lord only knows why she wasn’t out with the rest of the girls getting wet. She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. Then again, maybe she was the only one smart enough to be in out of the pouring rain, despite the fact that the water was rising quickly below the roost she was huddled on. We never know with Gaga.

I then did what every woman whose chickens are in danger would do. I ran to enlist the help of my hero; my husband. He humored me and came out quickly to see what had become the silo chicken poop and pine shavings soup bowl.

We exchanged a few words of shock and reality. Accepting that there wasn’t much we could do to immediately stop the flow of the water into the coop or to immediately get the water out of the coop, we decided to get the chickens to a dry, safe place. Our oldest son, Justis, had wandered out to see what it was Mommy and Daddy were conferring over and, with big eyes and a big heart for the chickens’ welfare, he agreed to help me remove the chickens from their swampy run to the dry warmth of the chick brooder in the garage for temporary safety.
I waded into the chicken run and caught the chickens, one by one, handing them over the fence to my husband and my two boys, who all bravely and graciously decided to help me get the chickens to safety.

Then there was Gaga. She was still sitting firmly on the roost, just watching the water fill up the silo.

“I will go in and get her,” my husband said, matter-of-factly.
“Ewwww!” I said. You can’t go in and get her. That’s just a big ol’ silo full of water mixed with chicken poop, chicken feed, and pine shavings!”
“That’s the only way we’re gonna get her out,” my husband said. “If we try to get her to walk over to our side by using a long handle or broom, she’ll likely just fall or jump into the water. That would be a disaster.”

He put on his resolve of steel and slowly waded down, knee deep, into the chicken poop soup. He slowly went over and got frightened Gaga and brought her to the safety of our son’s arms.

All of the girls are now safely tucked in with the 22 chicks in the garage brooder. We weren’t planning on introducing the chicks to the hens until the chicks got a little older and bigger, so they could defend themselves better. However, “Necessity is the mother of taking chances,” as Mark Twain said. Necessity forced us to take a chance and put the big hens in with the chicks.

All of the chickens are still alive so far, and there doesn’t seem to be much squabbling amongst them. Come to think of it, maybe it was best to introduce them this way; out of the biggest hens’ home stomping ground and on the chicks’ home court. I guess I could say that the chicks just got the home court advantage with this integration of the different ages’ of chickens.

As for the silo coop, I guess it did need a thorough cleaning. This mess gives me a reason to get ‘er clean! When we get the water pumped out of it, we will have to make some design changes to prevent water from going under the door and pouring into the coop again. Until then, all 30 chickens will be safe, dry, and warm in the garage brooder!