Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Osbornestrong Farms here, checking in from Miltonvale KS. Glad to find some more Sunflowers!

Welcome! Do you have chickens now or just wanting to get some?

Everyone here in the north-east corner enjoying our spring snow?

And to think I believed our extra-warm weather would continue on for a good weekend to finish the coop and run with...


Guess I'll have to take more indoor baby pictures to pass the time.

That's an adorable pic! Yes next weekend is supposed to be warm again, at least here it is. We didn't get any snow, just colder weather. I'll be glad when this is through. I'm ready for spring to stay.

 

[Trish44]

A little about the Osborne family and the Osbornestrong team. I am a retired Army Staff Sergeant, and my wife has been my rock and the leader of our home for nearly 20 years. 5 of our six kids are home (3 teenagers, one 22 year old and an 8 year old), and we are getting started on our small family farm in Miltonvale, KS. We have 6 layers (3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Leggers) ready for growing pen we are building when the cold weather breaks again, and 10 fryers the same age going out with them. Behind them by 3 weeks are 4 Black Sex Links and 10 Cornish Cross still in a giant Rubber Maid tub under heat lamps with straw laid out and all day supervision. All of our hens have been handled regularly by everyone from oldest to youngest to ensure less stress when we enter their run and coop.

I grew up on a foster home farm in western Oregon, so my experience is very dated and from a different climate and terrain when I was working with fowl and livestock. My wife grew up in Kansas, with a few animals around, but not any focused operation. I have been stationed in Kansas for a cumulative 10 years, and retired in Kansas for 2 years, so I am learning as best I can about the land and weather patterns.

It looks like you were posting when I was. It sounds like you have a good variety of layers & some meat chickens to grow out. The weather this winter here in my area has not been typical winter weather. We have had a pretty mild winter with some cold spells scattered in. We have not had much moisture through the winter so that is concerning. I have sheep & goats here so I really want the grass to grow for them to graze on. Hopefully the spring will bring some rains but spread them out.

 

[chicken danz]

A little about the Osborne family and the Osbornestrong team. I am a retired Army Staff Sergeant, and my wife has been my rock and the leader of our home for nearly 20 years. 5 of our six kids are home (3 teenagers, one 22 year old and an 8 year old), and we are getting started on our small family farm in Miltonvale, KS. We have 6 layers (3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Leggers) ready for growing pen we are building when the cold weather breaks again, and 10 fryers the same age going out with them. Behind them by 3 weeks are 4 Black Sex Links and 10 Cornish Cross still in a giant Rubber Maid tub under heat lamps with straw laid out and all day supervision. All of our hens have been handled regularly by everyone from oldest to youngest to ensure less stress when we enter their run and coop.

I grew up on a foster home farm in western Oregon, so my experience is very dated and from a different climate and terrain when I was working with fowl and livestock. My wife grew up in Kansas, with a few animals around, but not any focused operation. I have been stationed in Kansas for a cumulative 10 years, and retired in Kansas for 2 years, so I am learning as best I can about the land and weather patterns.

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you have a hold on things for the time being anyway. It probably helps to have all those kids helping. Yes as dry as it has been this year I'm sure a farm in Oregon would be an entirely different animal. I remember Oregon as being very rainy and wet. We had friends and relatives we visited there when I was young. I had never heard of Miltonville before but googled it. Were you stationed at Fort Riley? My son and my DIL both worked at Fort Riley for a few years. He is an engineer who was working on the hospital project and she was a career counselor.

On other subjects, I think between the time change and the cold weather I'm coming down sick. I had to work outside all afternoon and it really took a toll on me. It just seems that cold weather doubles my work. I hate it!!!

 

[Osbornestrong]

I understand the work doubling thing, lol. I had to put up a 25'x25' chain link dog enclosure at 6' tall including strong corner poles of railroad ties the day before yesterday, and helped erect a pole barn at the neighbors' yesterday.

I remember a mix of rain and sun growing up, but with even summer never getting above 90° in Oregon.

As for Fort Riley, I remember it well. I was stationed there from 2006 to late 2007, and from late 2008 to 2010. As a retiree, we still visit there occasionally for things.

 

[Trish44]

The last two days haven't been fun doing chores outside, especially yesterday with the cold wind. It sure makes my arthritis flare up & makes me hurt more. I'm just ready for some sun & 70 degree weather. I sure hope we don't go right into hot weather, I hate that when it happens that way. I like to enjoy some spring weather for awhile before being plunged into the heat, which I don't tolerate too well any more.

On another note, I put 8 Sebbie goose eggs & 12 Ancona duck eggs in the incubator last night. We'll see in a few days if they're fertile or not.

 

[chicken danz]

It's a miserable cold day today. I'm dressed warm and still cold just being inside. I haven't been out to do chores yet and I'm not looking forward to it. The forecast was for 30 and 30. #0mph nw winds and 30 degrees. It can't be a whole lot more uncomfortable. Days like this make me wonder why anyone would want to live in Alaska. Especially when you include the dark they get.

 

[Trish44]

It's a miserable cold day today. I'm dressed warm and still cold just being inside. I haven't been out to do chores yet and I'm not looking forward to it. The forecast was for 30 and 30. #0mph nw winds and 30 degrees. It can't be a whole lot more uncomfortable. Days like this make me wonder why anyone would want to live in Alaska. Especially when you include the dark they get.

I absolutely couldn't stand the dark all of the time in Alaska during that season, I think I would go insane. We went up in June & it was so bizarre because it was still light out at midnight. We had to look at the time because we would be out & think oh wow we need to go to bed. They did have room darkening drapes on the windows in the lodge we stayed at.

I'm not looking forward to doing chores today either, I've been cold all day as it is.

 

[Osbornestrong]

Yeah, today I planted the fiberglass rods and insulators for the e- fence. The generator will take 3 days of direct sunlight to charge to capacity.

During this time, I will plant the t-posts for the open run and begin construction of the coop and closed run-out structure. Waiting on Monday next when it is supposed to be 68° to move the first group out to the coop, and then I will open the pop door after 24 hours to let them into the closed run, and by Thursday next, they will be allowed to run in the open pen.

Pics will start coming out when the coop is complete.

 

[Trish44]

Yeah, today I planted the fiberglass rods and insulators for the e- fence. The generator will take 3 days of direct sunlight to charge to capacity.

During this time, I will plant the t-posts for the open run and begin construction of the coop and closed run-out structure. Waiting on Monday next when it is supposed to be 68° to move the first group out to the coop, and then I will open the pop door after 24 hours to let them into the closed run, and by Thursday next, they will be allowed to run in the open pen.

Pics will start coming out when the coop is complete.

It sounds like you're making progress. We would love to see your pics of the coop when you get it done.

 

[chicken danz]

Yeah, today I planted the fiberglass rods and insulators for the e- fence. The generator will take 3 days of direct sunlight to charge to capacity.

During this time, I will plant the t-posts for the open run and begin construction of the coop and closed run-out structure. Waiting on Monday next when it is supposed to be 68° to move the first group out to the coop, and then I will open the pop door after 24 hours to let them into the closed run, and by Thursday next, they will be allowed to run in the open pen.

Pics will start coming out when the coop is complete.

Lots of progress on your end.
It has been snowing here since very early this morning and still coming down. Before the snow we got several hours of sleet. The weather said this would be out of her this morning but it's still snowing hard. DH and I spent the last 4 hours out in the snow trying to get these big incubators unloaded. We borrowed another bobcat so between the two we could lift 4000 pounds. There were some times I was afraid it was too much of a load for them. We had to lift the incubators with a bobcat on each side of the trailer, then drive the trailer out from under it, then slowly lower the incubators from each side without being able to see each other. Then we strapped them up and pulled them out of the driveway. Sounds easy but it was far from that. When you are dealing with that much weight and high in the air it's a pretty cumbersome thing. We still have to go get the egg racks as well. I sure never thought this would be that big of a chore.
Then there's a million parts to remove as well. One of the biggest obstacles is a huge solid metal shaft that runs from one end to the other . That thing alone probably weighs 6 -700 pounds. Not sure how I am going to get it out.