Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I'm so sorry Lizzy. Since it was so small there could have been other problems as well. Unfortunately it takes very little to kill a baby chick. You can only do so much.
My last batch was so crowded in the bin that I've lost a ton of them. Obviously the weaker ones have been pushed from the feed and water and probably never got started eating. That happens too easily in large groups. They lived just 3-4 days which indicates they just didn't eat. I wasn't here when they were taken to the bin and I've been trying to make room. I just moved some chicks to the brooder yesterday to give them more room and I should have found time a day earlier.
I have another big hatch due the 26th so I've really got to get organized and make some better accommodations.
I've been looking at Brooders batteries but they are so expensive. I find used ones but they've used them for quail which I really am hesitant to mix even after disinfecting.
Wish I had some metal fabricating equipment. I'd just make my own.

 

[Trish44]

@lizzyGSR I'm sorry about your little chick, it sounds like it just wasn't thriving & like danz said it probably had other problems you just couldn't see. I'll try to take some pics later on today of the SS to show the different markings for the sexes.

This wind is insane! I think it's supposed to continue this way the rest of the week, ugh. You just feel like you're being sandblasted when you go outside.

 

[lizzyGSR]

@lizzyGSR I'm sorry about your little chick, it sounds like it just wasn't thriving & like danz said it probably had other problems you just couldn't see. I'll try to take some pics later on today of the SS to show the different markings for the sexes.

This wind is insane! I think it's supposed to continue this way the rest of the week, ugh. You just feel like you're being sandblasted when you go outside.

Thank you! I'd appreciate pics to show the difference between the SS sexes!

We're in a blizzard warning for today. The snow has started but the wind hasn't picked up yet. They're calling for some really nasty weather. It sounds like it just isn't here yet. We're supposed to get 2-4 inches, but there's areas not far away that are supposed to get up to 6. I'm not sure how we're supposed to measure snow with that much wind! Sounds like an awfully miserable day compared to yesterday's 80*F!

 

[HEChicken]

Lizzy, I'm sorry about your chick. Sometimes they just "fail to thrive" and we don't know why. It is always sad to lose one but I also figure that survival of the fittest is at play. The ones you have left that ARE thriving are the ones you want to keep and potentially save eggs for breeding in the future.

Well, I found my wooden egg. The mystery of how it got moved will probably always remain a mystery as I found it about 30' from where I had put it and in a different pen. However I'm glad to have it back as they are useful to have around.

I have my sheep and goats up grazing the front yard today. I'm aiming for about twice a week on that as we didn't get that rain that everyone else got so our pasture really isn't growing yet. The grasses up front a different varieties of grass so they are slowly growing even without the rain. I don't want to stress that grass too much by putting them on it every day but twice a week will mean I won't have to mow for awhile but hopefully it won't get over grazed.

At least parasites won't be such an issue for the stock if it doesn't rain. Last year we got so much rain in the spring that barber pole worm was a constant concern. As it is, it is going to be a bad year for ticks. I've already pulled two of one of my LGD pups and two of my companion dog as well. I've had to treat them all already and normally my goal is to put the first treatment off until May.

I sold a handful of chicks yesterday - yay! I hatched a bunch and these few were not what I was needing for my breeding programs. They will grow up to be nice layers and/or meat birds but I decided I'd rather not put the feed into raising them. They sold super fast after I listed them and were picked up quickly as well. That helps a little with the astronomical feed bill at least.

 

[chicken danz]

We are forecast to have the cold move in late this afternoon and snow by midnight. I've been out there sweating even with the wind blowing 40 mph. But I can feel it changing and cooling down within the last 20 minutes or so. I've been out trying to get everyone a big load of feed and water so if it's really nasty out they'll have plenty to get by till I get out there tomorrow. I have to go get a load of feed tomorrow as well.
DH is on his way to Tulsa to pick up a grain bin. We just decided it was time to shell out the money for the convenience of having one rather than loading our homemade feed box on to the pickup and then having to take it down when we needed it for something else. There were cheaper ones closer but this one has better suspension and tires, tail lights etc. It was more money but in the long run for safety reasons will be a better buy. My only problem with it is, I fill the trash cans with feed from the old feed box and can move some barrels to other parts of the yard and in the building to save a lot of hauling and steps every day. This will unload at the bottom end and it won't be high enough to load into the trash cans. Not sure what I am going to do to remedy that. I have this feeding pretty streamlined the way it is right now. The beauty of it is that I can leave the feed in there without having to off load all of it and fill my buckets from it. There's good and bad and I'm sure one of these days I'll have it all figured out.
HEChicken I spent a fortune having a pen built for my geese and they have it eaten down to the ground all ready. I keep thinking I need to build another pen to switch them back and forth. Last year I only had to mow a couple times thanks to the birds. But the point was to get the birds away from the house in hopes we don't have an influx of flies come in. I don't want to move them while they are laying either. I have thought about just buying several big round bales of hay or straw and laying it out on the ground. Maybe give the grass a chance to come up at least.

 

[HEChicken]

I have thought about just buying several big round bales of hay or straw and laying it out on the ground. Maybe give the grass a chance to come up at least.

Don't do it too thick or it will kill the grass. The method I use on my veggie garden to keep weeds at bay is a thick mulch layer of hay or straw Last year we got a load of mulch and put it east of the garage so we could distribute it from there to where we needed it. We were too slow and it killed the spot it was sitting on as well. So I would say don't spread it any thicker than about an inch or instead of letting grass come up, it will be more likely to kill it altogether.

 

[chicken danz]

I understand that. I had a small bale of hay I spread around and the grass is coming up under neath it. So I figured if it was just laying there like a thin layer it might give the grass a chance to grow. At any rate the geese seem to really love sitting on the hay rather than the bare ground.
I am so tired of this stupid wind. ..regardless of either way it blows.

 

[venymae]

Anybody have any idea where all this smoke is coming from!? I'm dying out here!

 

[Trish44]

There are fires right close to the OK/KS border, they have all kinds of fire departments fighting them. My DH works at Strother Field between Winfield & Arkansas City & he said it just reeks there. But with that wind blowing like it is it's no wonder. I smelled the smoke when I was out gathering eggs this afternoon.

@lizzyGSR I took a pic for you to show sexes on the SS chicks but it's not that great. The little buggers can already fly not even a week old so I had to finally put them in a plastic bucket to take the pic.



The chick on the left is the male, he has more blurry markings & his head is more reddish. The female on the right has much clearer, crisper markings down her back, the lighter lined by darker markings. She also has dark eyeliner beside her eyes. I'm sorry I couldn't get better pics.

Here is a pic of some of my chicks I hatched waiting to go to their new homes. I have another hatch coming up the 27th that I hope I can then match up some more of them & fill more orders. It gets kind of crazy trying to fill multiple breed orders.



There are more at the other end of the brooder, but you can get an idea. There are 50 chicks in this brooder right now. I have a couple of people coming this Sat. to pick up some of them so that will help. I wish I could send more off right now but I'm also waiting on ducklings to hatch as well.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Anybody have any idea where all this smoke is coming from!? I'm dying out here!

I heard that there was a fire near highway 160, but I have no idea where that's at. Does that help you any?

There are fires right close to the OK/KS border, they have all kinds of fire departments fighting them. My DH works at Strother Field between Winfield & Arkansas City & he said it just reeks there. But with that wind blowing like it is it's no wonder. I smelled the smoke when I was out gathering eggs this afternoon.

@lizzyGSR I took a pic for you to show sexes on the SS chicks but it's not that great. The little buggers can already fly not even a week old so I had to finally put them in a plastic bucket to take the pic.



The chick on the left is the male, he has more blurry markings & his head is more reddish. The female on the right has much clearer, crisper markings down her back, the lighter lined by darker markings. She also has dark eyeliner beside her eyes. I'm sorry I couldn't get better pics.

Here is a pic of some of my chicks I hatched waiting to go to their new homes. I have another hatch coming up the 27th that I hope I can then match up some more of them & fill more orders. It gets kind of crazy trying to fill multiple breed orders.



There are more at the other end of the brooder, but you can get an idea. There are 50 chicks in this brooder right now. I have a couple of people coming this Sat. to pick up some of them so that will help. I wish I could send more off right now but I'm also waiting on ducklings to hatch as well.

Would you be willing to take a picture of this eyeliner vs. what it looks like for no eye liner? I'm guessing my other chick is a female as well. That could be why I couldn't tell the different, but s/he has enough feathers now that I can't tell how blurry the line on his/her back was.


We're getting blizzard conditions now. It is blowing something fierce out there! Wind gusts of about 60mph with a bunch of small snowflakes. I just went out to check on my birds, and it felt like I was being sandblasted. Good day to walk backwards! I've got everything going in the coop right now I can for heat, and it's barely cutting it. That wind sure is cooling things off in that coop. I think I need to figure out some ways to draft-proof that coop! Anybody got any suggestions? I've got a door on the North side that I think is causing a good portion of the drafts.