Consolidated Kansas

[KsKingBee]

My geese have been breeding but no eggs yet. It is usually around the beginning of March when they lay. Normally about 3 weeks after they begin breeding but I've got no eggs yet. The weather has them confused. I put my saplings I want to keep in temporary wire cages. They like to eat the bark off as well as the leaves. Once they have been established a little they don't bother them.
Geese are like LGD puppies. They love to chew on things. I went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of rubber dog toys and put them in the goose pen.They end up in their water but it gives them something to chew on. I've found anything that has power to it, like a cord plugged in they won't touch. We have a few hardware cloth guards around things like the generator etc. So far they haven't bothered the vehicles.
:

Goose pen??? What a novel idea! I will see if I can talk Candy into it. It would sure beat the thousands of dollars they have cost us to date. They are eating the finish off the picture window now.

I wish they would chew on the power cord.

 

[Trish44]

They are here! Had 4 dead out of 28, but that doesn't surprise me with the cold front. If they would have gotten here yesterday we would have been golden.

Cozy in the brooder, all have drank and most are eating. Here we go!

Congrats on your chicks arriving. Yeah shipping is stressful for them anyway & then they probably got cold on top of that. Hopefully the rest will get warmed up & do fine. If you have some chick electrolytes you might give them some of that in their water to give them a boost.

 

[chicken danz]

Ah ha! Now I have to keep my pictures updated as my calves come. I only have 12 head that I own by myself, and I can sell those babies to whoever I want, see if I can get you to fall in love with a pretty girl! I could even deliver down there, we go to KC a few times a year and it would be close enough on the way. LOL

Well I have Scottish Highland love. I probably wouldn't be tempted to buy any other kind of heifer unless it was a Yak. I guess I like smaller long haired hoofed animals. If I had better facilities I would love to have more cattle though.They really are easy to care for.

Quote: My goose pen is really large, but then I have 41 geese right now. I thought I had 35 until today. They need a large grassy area and access to water if they are penned. I actually let mine free range all year until it's nearly time for breeding season,then I pen them. I rarely ever have to mow the yard. Of course there is always goose poop at both doors to the house. They seem to love pooping on cement where people will be walking.

Still love them though.
What a day. We tested 263 birds today. I feel like I've been beaten up. It took 7 hours to get them all done with 4 people catching and bringing birds to be tested and two testers.. What a job. I don't think I will be able to get out of bed tomorrow. Then after all that was done I had to feed and water all of them.
More downsizing! That is my resolution!!! If I had had to count and test all the babies and stuff it would probably have been twice that many.

 

[tlzimmerman]

Scottish Highlands are awesome! I could never justify owning one from a commercial standpoint....but they are cool cattle. I would think they would need some good shade in the summers in Kansas. Do you breed her? If so what with?

 

[mamalovescoffee]

Welcome Mamalovescoffee what part of Kansas are you in? There are a huge number of breeds that do great in Kansas so its more of what kind of birds are you looking for? Big egg layers? Fancy birds that you can show? Sweet gentle breeds that your kids can carry around? Do you have favorite colors? Do you want to hatch and raise your own chicks? Are you after little chickens like Batams or big old birds? Do you want have any law in your area regarding chickens?

I'm just looking for dependable, reasonably calm dual purpose birds. I figure we'll have cockerels to eat and hens, too, once they're past laying. We're in Lawrence, and summers can get really hot & humid and winters can get pretty cold. We're pretty well shaded by big, old, trees in the summer, though. I've been looking at Australorps, Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Wyandottes… I'm sure at least one of my kids will be bugging me for a Polish hen before long…

I am in Lawrence as well. As per your answer to question 1, that is what I planned

to do and thought I did, but there are still mistakes to be made in the real world of backyard chickens! I'd actually like to start a Lawrence chicken group that could perhaps give each other each other support/ideas/experience.

I'd love to join a Lawrence chicken group. I'm kind of surprised there isn't one already. I just talked my brother, who lives in an apartment in KC, into going in on this crazy thing with me, so it's ON. Do you know of a good place to get healthy chicks around here?

Welcome! Feel free to ask us anything. Many years of experience here on this thread.
So I wrote a lengthy message and tried to give you some tips but lost it and couldn't get it back. Grrrr! I recommend a book call Success with Baby Chicks by Robert Plamondon. It is a good place to start. Some information is outdated but there is a lot of basic information in there to start with,and will give you a place to begin asking questions.
I wrote a few pieces of advice but I'll try to shorten it a bit.
First always have your coop built before you ever get chicks. And make it larger than you think you need to hold more birds than you think you will ever have. Don't waste money on one of those cheap little cute coops you see at the farm stores. They are flimsy, fall apart, and blow over in the Kansas wind. Build a secure pen, also bigger than you think you need. The worst problem people have with chickens to begin with are loosing them to predators. This not only includes things like raccoons and opossums but also neighbors cats and dogs.
Buy chicks locally if you can. Avoid shipping them in from a hatchery or especially buying them from the farm store. All of these chicks suffer shipping stress which gets you off to a bad start. And store chicks are often handled by multiples of people even if the store has a hands off policy.
Watch for pasty butt especially the first week after getting chicks. If you aren't familiar with this, look it up. And when you go get chicks; wherever you get them make sure you have a way to keep them warm while you are driving. Lots of people use handwarmers or temporary heat packs.
You may get multiple answers to anything you ask here. Everyone has their way of doing things. But the beauty of that is that you can choose the answer you think makes the best sense or is the best for your situation.

Thank you so much; you've given me a lot to think about!

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

I'm just looking for dependable, reasonably calm dual purpose birds. I figure we'll have cockerels to eat and hens, too, once they're past laying. We're in Lawrence, and summers can get really hot & humid and winters can get pretty cold. We're pretty well shaded by big, old, trees in the summer, though. I've been looking at Australorps, Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Wyandottes… I'm sure at least one of my kids will be bugging me for a Polish hen before long…


I'd love to join a Lawrence chicken group. I'm kind of surprised there isn't one already. I just talked my brother, who lives in an apartment in KC, into going in on this crazy thing with me, so it's ON. Do you know of a good place to get healthy chicks around here?


Thank you so much; you've given me a lot to think about!

Im in Merriam KS so 30-45 mins from you and I have most of those breeds your welcome to come meet my flock and meet them in person to help you decide.

 

[Trish44]

@mamalovescoffee I'm sure someone on here can hook you up with some nice chicks. Dani4Hedgies it sounds like it closer to you. There are other Lawrence people, but I haven't seen them on here in a long time. I'm quite a distance from you, almost to the OK border but I will be hatching chicks probably in March. I do have Buff Orps & Barred Rocks of those you mentioned & I have lots of other breeds & colors as well. I would stick with the most common ones to start out with though. There also are swaps on Facebook of which I run a couple but I'm not allowed to post links on here. If you're interested send me a PM.

I just finally had to move my 4 little bantam Cochin chicks outside to the pen with the Isbar chicks for now day before yesterday. The little roosters were starting to crow at the crack of dawn, silly little things. I hope they did OK out there last night because it got really cold. They have a dog igloo they can get in with the other chicks so hopefully they went in & kept warm. They were running all around the pen yesterday & having so much fun with so much room to run around. Those little roosters are so adorable with their big feathered feet on such little birds. I will have a couple of extra roosters to get rid of. I'm kind of toying with keeping one of these because he's so pretty & selling my older one plus the other young one. I keep one for a backup.

 

[chicken danz]

Scottish Highlands are awesome! I could never justify owning one from a commercial standpoint....but they are cool cattle. I would think they would need some good shade in the summers in Kansas. Do you breed her? If so what with?

They are very adaptable. They don't need any more shade than other cattle. I've read they put on a new winter coat each year. They produce a very high butter fat milk and the meat is said to be exceptional. But who would butcher one when they bring more as a bull?
My girl won't be a year old until April. I do plan to have her bred. I have a friend who has a bull that I can use for free. I'm hoping to eventually make enough off her calves that I don't loose money. But it doesn't matter that much If she has a heifer I will definitely keep that calf the first time around. I would sell or trade a bull calf after it is weaned. I'm hoping to get her tamed to milk as well. Sometimes I think she likes me too much!!!! She thinks nothing of knocking hay or grain out of my hands if she's hungry.


Originally Posted by mamalovescoffee

I'm just looking for dependable, reasonably calm dual purpose birds. I figure we'll have cockerels to eat and hens, too, once they're past laying. We're in Lawrence, and summers can get really hot & humid and winters can get pretty cold. We're pretty well shaded by big, old, trees in the summer, though. I've been looking at Australorps, Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Wyandottes… I'm sure at least one of my kids will be bugging me for a Polish hen before long…

Well let me add a little advice for the breeds you've chosen if you don't mind. At least what I have found on these. All of the breeds you've listed other than the orpingtons are sit in your lap calm. I've tried just about every breed there is and have settled on the calmest and friendliest breeds I could raise because that is what people want the most. I do have some others that are more hyper that I personally like and raise as well.
All in all though Brahmas are the calmest birds of any I've ever raised. Orpingtons come in as a good second. Particularly large fowl orpingtons. Some of the bantam orpingtons are higher strung. Cochins are great as well however they tend not to tolerate the heat as well as some others. Breda fowl are awesome tamable. For in your lap hand feeding chickens nothing can beat a speckled sussex. They are naturally eat out of your hand birds. Polish hens are cute but they are a weak breed and terrible layers. One school of thought on birds is that if you buy a smooth coat bird as opposed to a fluffy one that it will do better in heat. This is not true. Those extra feathers often protect the bird serving as insulation for them from the sun. Also in general dark colored birds seem to be more susceptible to heat exhaustion than light colored ones but not always. Regardless either way birds do much better in cold temperatures than they do in hot temperatures. If they have a place to go in the shade in summer with air flow they will be fine. Sometimes pans of water will also allow them to cool their feet.

 

[lizzyGSR]

If you remember, I asked on here a few days ago about my mama hen who has a chick she's raising. She seemed to have injured herself somehow. This morning, I found her dead. Of course, of all my chickens, she was the "favorite" one because she was most likely to go broody and this save us lots of work.

Her death now leaves me with a conundrum I am hoping y'all will be able to give insight on. Mama and Cookie (the chick) were separate from the rest of the flock because I was concerned about what the puppy would do with Cookie while free ranging. Now that Mama Bird is dead, I have a chick by itself separate from the flock. Now what do I do with Cookie? I am hesitant to let him/her free range because I'm afraid the pup wont leave him/her alone. However I know I also can't leave him/her separate. Any thoughts or suggestions?

One note: Cookie lost his/her feet to frost bite and so I'm not even sure s/he could keep up with the rest of the flock.

 

[chicken danz]

If you remember, I asked on here a few days ago about my mama hen who has a chick she's raising. She seemed to have injured herself somehow. This morning, I found her dead. Of course, of all my chickens, she was the "favorite" one because she was most likely to go broody and this save us lots of work.

Her death now leaves me with a conundrum I am hoping y'all will be able to give insight on. Mama and Cookie (the chick) were separate from the rest of the flock because I was concerned about what the puppy would do with Cookie while free ranging. Now that Mama Bird is dead, I have a chick by itself separate from the flock. Now what do I do with Cookie? I am hesitant to let him/her free range because I'm afraid the pup wont leave him/her alone. However I know I also can't leave him/her separate. Any thoughts or suggestions?

One note: Cookie lost his/her feet to frost bite and so I'm not even sure s/he could keep up with the rest of the flock.

Why don't you try to put cookie in with the other birds at night first and see if they accept it okay. Then if they seem to be accepting it let it out with them in a few days. I'm not sure if the dog would leave it alone since obviously it isn't going to move as fast.

I'm giving up!!! Last week my two year old $800 dryer quit working. I'm still waiting for the replacement part to come in. Then this morning my 6 month old newest freezer stopped working. What in the world is going on? Luckily the freezer was still under warranty. I wasn't as lucky on the dryer.