Consolidated Kansas

[spree56]

I've been concerned about mice too, though I've seen no sign of them. And then I read something about rats and that really concerns me. Yikes!

Today for fun, I made an apron out of a chicken feed sack. I thought it'd be good when I have to check my chickens or dust them. Turned out kind of cute.

 

[JaneAusthen]

I don't know if you saw this on the Ameraucanas club. They have silver bantam Ameraucanas.
Carrie Hill, Hill Farms
1115 Quail Road, Hope KS 67451
(785)257-
3266
[email protected]

I did. I've already emailed her, but haven't heard anything back. I'm still hopeful, but we shall see.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
My foster fail kitten Daisy brought the current 10 week old fosters a rat a few days ago. She is just a tiny little thing, herself, so I don't know how she got it over the kitten containment door (dog door + cardboard). It was almost as big as they were. (shudder) Then yesterday morning, she had a small mouse on the patio playing with it. The dog dispatched it rather quickly, and boy was she ticked at him. 2 down 83,000,000 to go.

 

[chicken danz]

I've been concerned about mice too, though I've seen no sign of them. And then I read something about rats and that really concerns me. Yikes!

Today for fun, I made an apron out of a chicken feed sack. I thought it'd be good when I have to check my chickens or dust them. Turned out kind of cute.

Anytime you have feed around you'll have mice around eventually. That's a fun idea. I just get covered in whatever on a daily basis. I have no decent clothes any more because they've all be used for bird tending. I did buy a few aprons when I first got chickens again because I had read that you could use the pockets to carry eggs. Well I don't think there's been many days you could fit my eggs in an apron pocket. Obviously that was meant for someone who had a handful of birds only.

I did. I've already emailed her, but haven't heard anything back. I'm still hopeful, but we shall see.

Why don't you call her since the number is listed? So many times unfamiliar emails end up in the spam folder. I don't open any emails with a name either unless it's someone I know or the title shows me it's a customer.
Quote:

My foster fail kitten Daisy brought the current 10 week old fosters a rat a few days ago. She is just a tiny little thing, herself, so I don't know how she got it over the kitten containment door (dog door + cardboard). It was almost as big as they were. (shudder)

Then yesterday morning, she had a small mouse on the patio playing with it. The dog dispatched it rather quickly, and boy was she ticked at him. 2 down 83,000,000 to go.

I opened the trailer a couple days ago hoping the cats would go in there and clean up. I haven't seen any of them in there though. They wouldn't be hanging around the back door meowing for food non stop if they'd go over there. I have seen some of the youngest chickens with a mouse though so I know they do hunt. And of course the older ones hunt all the time.
I need to rehome a couple young kittens. We are at the point where there are way too many. Our one feral acting cat had brought her two kittens up to the shop I assume to eat. We had just got them somewhat used to us and she moved them again. I have no idea where she moved them. They were both girls so now we'll have three feral females out there. I don't like that one bit. I want to get all the girls fixed some way and just deal with what we have around here. We have plenty for mouse control. It's amazing how one in tact female can cause a cat explosion.

 

[Trish44]

danz yeah the cat population can explode really quick. Even if we don't think we have a male around at the time one will come from neighbors places when the females are in heat. The males don't usually stay around for long but we end up with a lot of females here. I would love to get some spayed but it's not happening right now. I have one male Siamese mix I got neutered so he would stay around, he is the sweetest cat.

I get phone calls at intervals from people wanting Ameraucanas so you might try that JaneAusthen. I agree, your email might end up in the junk folder. The Ameraucana Breeder's Club split in two over a disagreement awhile back so there are two factions of it now. I'm a member right now of both but I don't know if that will continue or not. I may have to pick a side eventually.

I've been working on things outside as much as I can & boy am I paying for it with my arthritis flaring up. I could barely walk last night I hurt so bad & my hands are killing me too. I hope to get finished up with what I'm going to do out there today if I can or tomorrow. I need to get some more straw for my pens. I put straw in the sheep shelter yesterday only to have them go in there & eat it. I wouldn't think straw would taste all that good but there isn't a lot out there now to eat any more. I will have to start feeding hay in a week or so. I have all of my birds moved to their permanent pens except for the young ones in one pen now. I'm waiting for a bit yet to winterize most of the pens. I got this reinforced tarp to cut up & put underneath the window frames on my breeder coop this year. I was going to get pieces of plexiglass but it's just way too pricey. I think this will stop the wind & still let some light through. I would love to find some old windows to put hinges on & use on there but I would need 4 of the same size & that's hard to find just the right size.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

These are some of my Salmon Faverolles. The top photo is of a breeder group. The second photo is of some Samon Faverolles chicks with a Black Langshan hen. The bottom is of a group of 6 month old Faverolles. I got a starter pair from Rosie, who used to comment on here, last year. The rooster and the older hen are in the top photo. I would like to find someone who may like to trade or sell a Faverolles rooster.

 

[Trish44]

Ralph Moyer those are some nice looking birds. I really liked the Salmon Faverolles but they didn't sell well enough for me to keep them. They were such friendly birds, I could just walk up to them & pick them up. I just have to keep what sells the best here or I can't afford to keep feeding them. I don't know anybody presently who raises those. Have you put a wanted ad out on the swaps on FB?

 

[chicken danz]

Ralph I am the same as Trish. I had salmons and I loved them. The roosters were so gorgeous and the birds were the calmest ever. I just never had any one want to buy chicks. I'll keep you in mind though cause every now and then someone asks me for some. I wish I had one of my old roosters here. They were so calm I never got rid of my extras.
Just taking a short break from working in the basement. Time for a coffee boost.
I had an interesting day earlier. I have a lavender pullet who has had her share of troubles. First she broke her neck and can't lift her head up normally. Then because she was different the other birds have picked on her relentlessly. I have treated her with blue kote so many times because she was bloody from being picked on. I thought she was finally holding her own. But today when I went out I noticed she was down and couldn't stand. When I picked her up I noticed a huge growth on her leg. Apparently she had gotten something in it and it grew a hard tissue around it or it is a tumor. She was not doing well at all and I thought about just culling her instead of waiting for her to die a slow death.
Instead I decided I wasn't going to make matters worse. I gave her a dose of metacam. I don't even know if it works as a pain killer on chickens. Then I wrapped her in a towel and washed down her leg with betadine. Then I used a new exacto knife Because I don't have any scalpels. I cut this huge chunk of hard tissue out of her leg. I was trying to figure out a way to save the skin but there was no way to get it separated from the growth. I cut out this thing that is at least 2 inches long by an inch and half wide by as much as a half inch thick. I didn't remove the entire growth because I was afraid of taking muscle tissue she needs to get around. Surprisingly she didn't bleed all that much. I dosed her down in Betadine again when I was done and bandaged her leg. She has bled some more since then but it's hard to tell what is blood and what is medicine. She won't eat or drink but she wouldn't before I operated on her. I did give her some electrolytes and some sulfa drug with a dropper before I put her in a bin to recover. So far she seems okay otherwise. I had DH hang onto her while I operated and he was making all kinds of noises. I think it was kind of sickening to him.
I will feel bad if she dies but whatever I do has got to be better for her than laying down starving and getting picked to death.
If she makes it a day or tow then I'll change dressings and start using essential oils on her to try to get her leg to heal.
Got to get back to work.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
Looking into my crystal ball, I see a friend for your little one winged Breda girl. LOL It is always hard to know what is best in those sorts of cases. At least you know you have done the best you can for her.

 

[sharol]

This is the reason I've not been on the list lately.





Mark II Lumber here in Emporia build the basic building for me (they even roughed in the windows). I also had my handyman install the windows (so they would be done right) and the pop-door. I did the rest of the finish work. The walls are insulated with stuff left over when we renovated the house 10 years ago mostly. There is a ridge vent and a soffit vent, and 4 huge windows I got off of Craigs list and refurbished (the glazing STILL isn't dry enough to paint, and it has been a month since I reglazed them.) There should be lots of ventilation and solar heat in the winter. The two windows in the picture face south.

The Orps will be living here. Last night my DH and I caught them one at a time and stuffed them through the pop door (I caught, he blocked them in). Silly birds hate change. Once they were inside, they were fine with it and slept on the roost to the right of the last picture. I figured if they don't like the roost, they can sleep on the table. This morning they were eating and drinking and stalling coming out. I'm planning to add a couple more bales of shavings. It took more than I planned on, and the floor level is lower than I planned.

If the windows are too cold in the winter, I have the cut out pieces from the walls of the coop, and I'll figure a way to put them back up temporarily -- maybe between the window and the hardware wire -- not sure yet.

I still have to put up the netting (arriving today in theory) and put smaller wire around the base of the fence, but mostly we are done. It has consumed every minute for the last 2 weeks.