Consolidated Kansas

[Grain Gypsy]

It is SO refreshing to be back here to read what's been happening on the Consolidated KS forum! We've been in school up to our ears this week, on top of my youngest son getting a mysterious and nasty case of the hives Monday. I joked with him that, since Monday was his first day of school, that it must just mean he's allergic to school!

Joking aside, though, we think maybe a bagged, white cheddar popcorn he ate (the ONLY new thing he ate last weekend) was the culprit. The Dr. prescribed steroids and two antihistamines, and my little guy is on the mend.

First of all, thank you SO MUCH for the helpful suggestions about how to get a handle on the food wasting. I was so frustrated at nearly 1/2 a bag of food being shoveled out on the ground last week, that I just didn't refill their feeder and let them eat their spilled mess before giving them more. I then adjusted the feeder so that less sits in the pan at any one time through the gravity feed. I have yet to find another pile of food on the floor. I am crossing my fingers that this simple adjustment fixed it.

My net came in and the kids and I got out there right away and at least put it in place and positioned it. We haven't yet fastened it tightly with anything (I'm planning on zip ties for this), but it is keeping the chickens in now.

@venymae I started raising chickens last fall, actually. We have a motley crew flock, as in they are all pure breeds, but we have many different breeds. I bought most of the chickens in the flock by mail order from mypetchicken.com. I chose this method, because you can buy sexed chickens from M of My Pet Chicken. They will also refund you the cost of any chick that you ordered as a hen, but turns out as a chicken. We've purchased over 30 chicks from them and have only had one sexing error. I also have a few beautiful birds in my flock that I bought from Danz. I think there are benefits to getting hatchery chicks and chicks from a breeder. If you are wanting a great backyard flock of layers, and don't plan on showing chickens or being a breeder of show stock, then hatchery chickens are just fine. There are plenty of backyard chicken keepers, including me, that are completely happy having hatchery birds for eggs, joy and entertainment. If you're going to show or breed for profit, then you'll want to seek out reputable breeders with good breeding stock. My personal flock serves multiple purposes for us. The kids are learning about chickens and their care, we count on eggs to feed our family, AND the kids will enter birds in the fair when the AI ban is lifted. I will say that the hens we got from Danz are show quality birds, however there are a few in our flock from My Pet Chicken have grown to appear to meet American Standard of Perfection breed standards. I am particularly happy with how regularly the fair/poor laying breeds that we have gotten from My Pet Chicken lay. Obviously, when I allow my girls to sit on eggs next spring, we will have a whole bunch of little mutt chickens. This is perfectly fine with us! We've got a few show-quality birds for 4-H show still, and that's all we need

 

[sharol]

Quote:
Cute chicks. I grew up in Galesburg, so SEK is my home territory. I've lived in and near Emporia for 30 years, though (has it really been that long?) Welcome to the group.

 

[girlsnammo]

Yes danz its a cooler climate but its not too cold. The elevation makes it pretty even year round. I'm not much for cold myself but I can handle it better if its not extremes like it gets here sometimes. Plus with the way it is zoned I would be able to have my animals as well as crops. The property I like the best so far even has a stream that goes through it that runs all year. Its really nice. Plenty of pastures but also close to the Forrest with trees and a few rock formations. Its pretty perfect and would be something my children would have should something happen to me.

 

[chicken danz]

Lol @girlsnammo I guess I show my age with my opinions. When I was young something like that sounded amazing. Now I think in terms of my arthritis and my dislike for cold weather, wild animals, etc. I don't particularly like Kansas either cause of the temperature extremes, but I've been a lot of places that are worse. If it weren't for family I would gladly relocate to a nice climate but family ties are enough to keep me here.
I had a hatch day yesterday that was a bit too successful. I had added some extra eggs to make sure I had enough for a custom hatch and ended up with a lot more chicks than I planned. I also hatched several for myself. I really just needed a few more pullets to add to my breeders but of course you have to hatch all those cockerels and the pullets you decide aren't what you want etc. I really don't want to raise a lot of chicks this winter. I have a ton of birds left to sell as it is.
Fall is normally a big hatch season for me. I prefer to raise chicks in fall because they are laying when spring arrives for the most part. But I still have plenty of my spring hatch to sell yet. So this fall is going to be pretty quiet on the chick front. I have way too much to care for as it is.
It seemed like I worked hard yesterday without accomplishing much of anything. I did get a good deal of the roofing torn off the building we are revamping. But managed to break my pitch fork handle using it to lift shingles. It's a great pitch fork but made in such a way it would be near impossible to replace the handle. Plus I can't figure out how to get the very top torn off because the building isn't strong enough to support my weight at this point. I guess I'll need to buy a new pitchfork before spring.
Got another busy week stacking up. I sure wish I could hire a lot of things done.

 

[WichitaKSClucks]

Ok Kansans, I'm going to need your help a bit. I'm getting ready to go into my first fall and winter with my 10 pullets and 2 goslings. You guys know how cold it gets here around Wichita. Should I get heat lamps or do I need anything? Also, I'm getting frustrated, I can find lots about chickens and some on ducks but nothing on geese for the most part. I know they fly south for the winter in the wild so I know they will need some heat of some sort I would think? Right?

Here's my coop. The windows all close to prevent drafts in the winter.

 

[chicken danz]

Ok Kansans, I'm going to need your help a bit. I'm getting ready to go into my first fall and winter with my 10 pullets and 2 goslings. You guys know how cold it gets here around Wichita. Should I get heat lamps or do I need anything? Also, I'm getting frustrated, I can find lots about chickens and some on ducks but nothing on geese for the most part. I know they fly south for the winter in the wild so I know they will need some heat of some sort I would think? Right?

Here's my coop. The windows all close to prevent drafts in the winter.

No you need no heat at all. The geese have plenty of down and they will do just fine, even better than the chickens. You can add some heat but it really isn't necessary. fowl do much better with cold than heat. I would recommend some way to keep your water from freezing. I simply use heated dog water bowls that run about $20 each for winter. example: http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/655354-allied-precision-plastic-heated-pet-bowl.html
You can buy these or something similar in about any farm store or pet store. Check locally and save the shipping costs. There are several brands but I like these because the heat element can be taken out so it can be used year round. There's also heated chicken waterers and heated bases but these items tend to be higher. Or the other option is to make a cookie tin water heater to set your water on. Do a search on these and you'll find all kinds of tutorials on how to make them. Cheapest if you have stuff laying around to make it with without spending much. my own preference is the heated dog bowls. The geese will make a mess of any water so I suggest you give them theirs outside.
Be sure to leave a vent open in the chicken house. The worst problem with winter is being closed up too tight. The moisture will cause frost bite if you don't have a vent open. the higher the better.
I'd avoid heat lamps all together if I were you. They can cause fires. The chickens put out a fair amount of heat on their own and will help warm the coop. I think you'll find they prefer to be outside even in severe cold other than when there is snow and ice on the ground

 

[squirtsmomma]

My husband told me I couldn't name the chickens because it will be that much harder to get rid of some later. That being said, this is Blondie, the lightest of our bunch. I think she'll end up white unlike the rest of the gang. Somehow we got a different egg with the bunch. She already follows my hand around the brooder.


This is our dog Squirt, the only one in the house who has never had chickens before. We're easing him into it.

He looks ferocious, but he's really sweet, not sweet enough to be left alone with the chicks, but still sweet.

The other 21 are settling in okay, trying to socialize them as much as possible. I had a bad roo chasing experience when I was little. Working on doing whatever I can to minimize the terror these little darlins can invoke when they are older so my nieces can enjoy them.

 

[Trish44]

WichitaKSClucks I have read that geese actually have special circulation in their feet to keep them warm in winter plus like danz said they have plenty of down. You know how warm a down comforter or coat is so imagine that all packed together on a goose. Chickens really do put off a lot of heat & keep each other warm. I keep windows open in my main coop all winter for air circulation & I have some vents as well. My breeder coop is open at the top for air circulation. I also have chickens in pens that are out there all winter. I put tarps up on the north sides to stop the wind but they seem to do fine with tarps over the top & north. Last year I didn't close in the south sides of my hoop coops & the birds did great. Chickens are tougher than we give them credit for. Mine don't like the snow & ice but other than that my laying flock is out all winter running around during the day. I also use the heated dog bowls in my outside pens & have heated water bases for a couple places up close to the house. They work great & keep the water from freezing. If you check around at times you can find them on sale. I know Orscheln's has a sale on them usually around Black Friday & sometimes other times. I try to get a couple then for extras.

I'm still working on my painting projects. I painted rabbit hutches all afternoon yesterday with primer & my goat kept coming over & chewing the paint back off the corners of the legs. I was about to strangle that goat. I would put the paint back on & while I was busy she would sneak back over & do it again. You wouldn't think Kilz would taste that good but she seemed to like it. Dumb goats!

My New Hamp hen hatched 5 little NH chicks the other day & I have them in the brooder now. They wouldn't have lived long out there with all of the farm cats I have. HEChicken, who has been too busy with farm life to post in a long time is going to take them since she needs some replacements. They are from her birds originally anyway. I just don't want any more tiny chicks to raise right now, it's not working into my fall plans so I'm glad she's taking them. I would much rather someone take them & raise them than have the cats have a meal out of them. They're such cute little things. They're the quietest chicks I think I have ever had, they hardly make any noise at all.

 

[TakenBackBre]

Ok Kansans, I'm going to need your help a bit. I'm getting ready to go into my first fall and winter with my 10 pullets and 2 goslings. You guys know how cold it gets here around Wichita. Should I get heat lamps or do I need anything? Also, I'm getting frustrated, I can find lots about chickens and some on ducks but nothing on geese for the most part. I know they fly south for the winter in the wild so I know they will need some heat of some sort I would think? Right?

Here's my coop. The windows all close to prevent drafts in the winter.

We don't use heat and my coops are just simple structures. One is an old grain bin that we keep free ranging layers in normally and the others are small coops made out of pallets. I wrap the pallet coops in plastic minus a small amount around the very top for ventilation. Ventilation is much more important than adding heat. If the coop is too closed up they chickens risk getting frost bite from all the warm damp air they produce while cooped up. I'm originally from MN and we had a big old fashioned coop with 20 or so hens and they didn't need heat there. Just like everyone else is saying cold is easier on the birds than hot. I still can't get over how cold everyone thinks it is here lol. I love it here because the winters are so mild.

 

[chicken danz]

I had a busy day today. Tarabellabirds was here and it was a pleasure to meet her. I drug her around on a quick tour. She got some chicks I hatched for her and a few of my project brahma boys to do her magic on. But I accidentally overcharged her and now I feel like an ultimate jerk.
While she was here TakenBackBre arrived. As usual we had a great visit.
Then I came in the house; about that time a local friend showed up to get a pullet I saved for her. Kind of payment for use of her skid loader and some straw. Then while she was her another local person showed up to get hatching eggs for a school class to set.
Full day and I didn't get my house cleaning done. I did manage to get the birds watered and some of them fed. Had to come in for a cup of coffee to boost myself up a little before I finish feeding.
it was a great day all in all but now I'm tired.
I had some stragler chicks hatch and got those put in a bin in the house. There's an awful lot of cheeping going on right now. First day out of the egg!