Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I've read to give them corn at night when it's cold to help them stay warmer because it takes longer to digest, so would I not want to feed frozen corn in the summer?

Corn is really hard to digest so it causes more body heat, but normally I believe this refers to dry corn that is used in animal feed. Soft corn like people eat would be easier to digest. But I would still use it in high heat with caution. Mine do get any leftovers we have which aren't many when it's shared among the masses. They'd be lucky to get a single kernal.
Lizzy, If you can freeze plastic bottles of water and drop them in their water they will get more good from them because they will last longer.
@sharol ,I don't think it hurts to worm birds at any age once they have been able to get out and eat grass and stuff. The dangers of the worms far outweigh the dangers of the wormer. Since it is self regulating by the amount of water they drink there shouldn't be a problem of overdosing either.
All of my birds need wormed and dipped but I don't want to do it at the same time. And I'm not really feeling good enough to do it right now either. I noticed the birds I got dipped a couple weeks ago are laying better so I think it was beneficial. I just need to finish it all. I have so much I want to do with the birds but just can't handle the work in the heat and with this "cold".
Sharol I remember those times. I had several misters for the chickens and used to keep fans in every chicken house. I would burn up several cheap fans every summer. The worst part with misters are that if they are used inside they are actually more of a danger than a help but outside they are wonderful to create a nice mud slick for the birds to lay in. I bought some 30 foot long kits at the end of summer that one year and haven't found them since. I have no idea where on earth I put those things.
I'm thinking of buying a couple more big sealed fan units to use. I have two of them in the building and believe a third one would really help keep the air moving well in there. I'd also like to put one in the peafowl house to keep air moving through there on hot days. Their very expensicve but better than loosing birds to extreme heat.

 

[Trish44]

My freezer didn't need replaced. I just needed a lot more space. I freeze more and more all the time because it keeps the nutrients and flavor better than canning. Speaking of which I have green beans ready to be picked but I'm not going to go out and pick them in this heat. And I'm certainly not going to run a pressure canner on these super hot days.
I've been out three times so far to water. I am getting so hot that I start feeling really sick and have to come back in. It doesn't help I'm n two weeks now of this sinus thing that makes me feel kind of sick in the first place. I only fed the birds in the building. It's too hot for the others to be trying to eat. I'll just have to go out later in the evening to finish chores. I think I need some more big barn fans for weather like this. We have one on the puppies cause they were having a terrible time. I moved them to a pen with more shade and added more shade cloth to it to try to cool them down. I wish I could stand to stay out there. I'd be installing more pop doors in the building just so more air could flow. l'd have to cover them with hardware cloth or something to secure them cause there isn't any more pens out there than I already have doors installed for.
It's just going to have to wait for awhile though.

I hope you feel better soon danz,

. I know what it's like to be sick & dealing with the heat, not fun. I'm on the mend but the heat is hard on me any time. I have had to run the hose over my head when I've been out doing chores just to be able to stay out there. I'm afraid we have more of the same coming. When I looked at the 10 day forecast we have a 10 day period coming up of 100 plus every day, ugh.

I really need to go get a box fan for my main coop to try to exhaust some of the hot air out of there, it's awful in there even with every window open. Ditto on the frozen bottles of water, I usually freeze some of those for my rabbits as well. The small soda pop bottles or water bottles work best. I'm going to have an issue right now since my freezer is going out in my fridge in the house, I guess I'm going to have to use the one in the garage till my appliances are here. We're having a problem with keeping ice for ourselves.

We had a surprise rain storm come through yesterday right when I was planning to go out & feed the chickens & get the animals up from the field. I hadn't seen any rain in the forecast but we sure got it. I had some people come from Arkansas City for some birds & it was pouring here. They said they hadn't had a drop yet 10 miles away.

 

[chicklover56]

Hello everybody!

My hen has been broody for a week! Anybody close to Topeka that I could buy an assortment from? Please PM me if so.

Have a great day!

 

[sharol]

Quote:
Contact Chicken Danz. I don't know what she has available, but she has a great variety.

 

[HEChicken]

All this talk about surviving the heat....I have to say I take a very different approach. Wild animals don't have people to put out heat lamps, fans, misters and ice water for them but they don't keel over dead any time there's a heat wave or cold snap. What wild animals DO have, is the ability to choose for themselves where they are most comfortable. So I take that approach with my animals. Rather than penning them in small areas, I let them roam as great a distance as possible so that they can choose where they are warmest in winter and coolest in summer. That and making sure they never run out of water is all I do. I have 4 chicken waterers spread around the property, and they've found a few places where water naturally pools after a rain as well. If one waterer runs dry, there are still 3 others and since I check on them at least morning and night (and often do a round in the middle of the day as well), I'm able to refill often, so I've never had all four dry at the same time. Their water comes out of the rain barrels that collect water from the coop and horse shelter roofs, so it isn't that much cooler than the temperature of the day. But I drink room temperature tap water too, so I figure if its good enough to hydrate me, its good enough for them as well

Well it looks like its going to be a warm week but at least as the week goes on, the humidity will lessen which will make it more comfortable. We moved the sheep to a large area Saturday night and have their next paddock set up already. Both paddocks have lots of trees so are good places for them to be on these hot days. Thank goodness I got them all sheared before this real hot weather, although one has wool growing so fast she almost looks like she'd benefit from being shorn again. One of the lambs was so cute when we moved them to this paddock. It is large enough that she lost track of her mom so she ran around bleating and bleating. Mom was too busy eating the fresh new grass to respond and the lamb was getting more and more frantic (she was only 4 days old). Finally she ran up to me. She has been a very cuddly lamb and we'd enjoyed several cuddles prior to this, so I guess she figured maybe I could help her. She stood at my feet, crying, and when I reached to pick her up, she seemed relieved. I located her mom and carried her over there and as we got close and she recognized mom, she scrambled to get down to run to her - but until then, she was very happy to be safe in my arms. I thought it was so cute that she trusted me to help her out.

I am digging garlic bulbs like crazy. Thank goodness they store well so don't have to be used immediately. I've also had a lot of red tomatoes (some never make it into the house), and I've also been able to pick and use Swiss Chard and Shallots. It is so nice to be eating fresh again!!!

 

[chicken danz]

I picked an overflowing bucket of green beans yesterday and probably need to pick again tomorrow. I haven't prepared them yet but really need to get to them. I got trellises set up for the tomatoes yesterday which I should have done a long time ago. I ended up knocking off a lot of green tomatoes but they really are loaded down so I don't suppose it hurt too much. I've also had lots of ripe tomatoes and eaten most of them warm out of the garden. Bring them in, wash them off and get the salt shaker out. Yum.
I had made a wooden trellis for my cucumbers a while back in an attempt to control them. A couple days ago I covered it with tulle to see if I could keep the squash bugs from getting on them when they swarm. I haven't seen any yet and have actually picked a couple of small cukes. The worst part will be getting to the cucumbers but I think I can just move the tulle aside to pick them. I had to stake it, which wasn't in the original plans but it was blowing around too much.
I agree with your concept HEChicken which is what my free rangers do, However, where I have the birds separated for breeding purposes I have to have more control for them than just letting them seek shade. I have too much money invested in my breeding stock to let them die of heat exhaustion.
In nature there are certain breeds that are fitted for our climate and survive with the same. When we bring in other birds they may have the wrong type feathering or body size to do well here.
I expect comfort for myself so naturally I'm going to try to make them comfortable as well.
I haven't dug my garlic yet but it's about ready. Actually it gets less bitter if it hangs and ages for a while. I normally hang mine in my basement.

 

[Trish44]

It is a totally different thing for free ranging birds that can go find shade & comfort in the heat vs birds in a pen that have to be there to keep them pure bred. We all have our own individual situations that we have to contend with.

I picked all of the rest of my lettuce from my VegTrug yesterday. I grew a lot of lettuce in that thing, so I am really pleased with how it worked out. The bug screen kept bugs off of it & chickens out so that was my aim. Next spring I will get an earlier start now that I have it all set up.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I picked an overflowing bucket of green beans yesterday and probably need to pick again tomorrow. I haven't prepared them yet but really need to get to them. I got trellises set up for the tomatoes yesterday which I should have done a long time ago. I ended up knocking off a lot of green tomatoes but they really are loaded down so I don't suppose it hurt too much. I've also had lots of ripe tomatoes and eaten most of them warm out of the garden. Bring them in, wash them off and get the salt shaker out. Yum.
I had made a wooden trellis for my cucumbers a while back in an attempt to control them. A couple days ago I covered it with tulle to see if I could keep the squash bugs from getting on them when they swarm. I haven't seen any yet and have actually picked a couple of small cukes. The worst part will be getting to the cucumbers but I think I can just move the tulle aside to pick them. I had to stake it, which wasn't in the original plans but it was blowing around too much.
I agree with your concept HEChicken which is what my free rangers do, However, where I have the birds separated for breeding purposes I have to have more control for them than just letting them seek shade. I have too much money invested in my breeding stock to let them die of heat exhaustion.
In nature there are certain breeds that are fitted for our climate and survive with the same. When we bring in other birds they may have the wrong type feathering or body size to do well here.
I expect comfort for myself so naturally I'm going to try to make them comfortable as well.
I haven't dug my garlic yet but it's about ready. Actually it gets less bitter if it hangs and ages for a while. I normally hang mine in my basement.

I guess I need to check my garlic... How do you tell if it's ready?

That many beans already?!? Gosh, my plants have just barely started to bloom. It always amazes me how much of a difference there can be between Eastern KS and WEstern KS - both in weather and harvest times.

 

[chicken danz]

You need to harvest garlic when the leaves are between 1/3 to 2/3rds brown. Normally here that is in July. But it looks like mine is about ready now. Yours was planted a little later and it's cooler out there so you may have some time left. Also the type of garlic you plant makes a difference. We both have hard neck garlic which is harvested later than soft neck garlic. My garlic is just now setting on seed pods and normally I have full seed pods when I harvest. I don't think it's going to last that long this year. You can check the heads to see how they are developing. Once you dig them however you need to put them up quickly. They need to hang about 3 weeks before you start using them for optimum flavor.
I really wish at this point I had a ton of straw. I could really benefit by mulching the gardens now. The source I've been getting it from is gone now and I hate to spend a fortune on individual bales.

 

[chicklover56]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1115771/chick-with-swollen-eyes

Help is greatly appreiciated!