Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

How did everyone fair with the storms yesterday?

We are slowly trying to integrate the two chicks into the flock and it seems to be going well... It's been going on for a couple weeks now, and they aren't uptight around each other anymore but there is still some progress that needs to be made of course!

All that being said... I think I need to start looking into building a bigger coop. The one we have currently was bought used and is definitely starting to need an upgrade.... Where should I start?

They still have the section on coops on here but it's under articles now. Lumber is really expensive & you have to have some building ability. If you don't feel comfortable building something you might consider like Danz said converting a storage shed. I did that with my main coop. I added several windows & vents to the basic shed. It worked out great. I did paint the floor inside with some heavy duty paint.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

Thanks for the input everyone!! I'll do some research on vet clinics and see what I can find.
My Dad text today. They had to put their 6-8 year old GSD down due to cancer or liver disease or something. he didn't say much but I know it was a pretty rough day for them. Anyone have any input on a good breed for them might be? They need a new dog eventually but I know they aren't too enthused about an 8 week old puppy and they don't want something high energy either. They may end up being grandparents in the next couple years so something laid back that's good with kids would be ideal. I don't know if a Pyr would have enough of a job without any livestock to protect or if a different breed would be better or what. I know this is another non chicken question but I'd appreciate input if anyone might have any.

Another idea on the coop question. Do you have any place you can get free pallets? Sometimes if you can find some lumber that you can repurpose you can save some money that way. I just added a new coop this spring as a breeding pen for my BLRWs. Fixing to set my first hatch here in the next day or two.

 

[TeeMom]

Another reason I was worried was because a friend of mine helps her Mom (a vet) at the clinic on a regular basis. She said that they'd lost a pyr to anesthesia during an emergency c-section and her mom had mentioned that it wasn't uncommon to loose Pyrs to a reaction to the drugs. I couldn't stand loosing London, he's the best dog I've ever had and so I'm trying to figure out the best thing to do. Did your vets have previous experience with Pyrs in particular?

I agree with @chicken danz ...I was a vet tech before I was mom and have monitored through hundreds of spay/neuter surgeries. Complications are extremely rare. There are always risks, of course, but this is a very routine procedure. I would ask your veterinarian if animals are monitored while under anesthetic and other precautions such as presurgical blood work, IV fluids before, during and after the procedure and intubation with oxygen support are all things that will decrease risk.

Oh...hi, everyone! Still trying to get used to the new site and I'm not getting notifications, either, but I'm sure things will get more normal with time. Had a broody hen hatch out 7 chicks on Mother's Day...I just love watching this whole process!

 

[Trish44]

I agree with @chicken danz ...I was a vet tech before I was mom and have monitored through hundreds of spay/neuter surgeries. Complications are extremely rare. There are always risks, of course, but this is a very routine procedure. I would ask your veterinarian if animals are monitored while under anesthetic and other precautions such as presurgical blood work, IV fluids before, during and after the procedure and intubation with oxygen support are all things that will decrease risk.

Oh...hi, everyone! Still trying to get used to the new site and I'm not getting notifications, either, but I'm sure things will get more normal with time. Had a broody hen hatch out 7 chicks on Mother's Day...I just love watching this whole process!

It seems that they are having some issues with this new site. I keep getting error messages when I try to get the site to come up at times. I guess it'll take awhile to get the bugs smoothed out.

That's fun to watch a hen with chicks. I'm not really setup here to have them keep their chicks with them. The tiny chicks can get through 1 inch poultry wire so unless I want to put hardware cloth on every pen I don't have a safe place for them.

 

[chicken danz]

I've been so busy it's insane. We had those megastorms move in night before last after I moved a ton of birds out side. The count yesterday was 47 dead. I found another 7 today that died due to the stress of it. I have a few others that aren't acting right so I will probably loose those as well. I had customers here from before I was dressed until 7:00 Pm tonight but didn't make much money. I had my prices lowered so much that it seemed like I was almost paying people to take chicks.
I found out I have to have another lumbar surgery so I'm going to be selling everything extra I have, reducing my breeders to just a few and eliminating a few more breeds. I won't be able to get out and care for them for probably 6 months, Maybe will be able to do some light weight stuff after about 3 months. This is a big shake up for me and I'm so confused about how to handle it all. I make a lot of money by continuously hatching but I'm done. I will only hatch the remaining goose eggs, the peafowl eggs and a few guinea eggs now.

 

[lizzyGSR2]

Hi, everyone! It's me, @lizzyGSR . I had to sign up under a new name to get back in after the new site was launched. All my attempts to salvage the old login have failed. I'm still hoping to get my old profile back, but in the meantime, at least i can log in under this new name, send messages and write posts.

Danz - I'm so sorry to hear you have to sell so many birds! I've found out I have to have jaw joint (TMJ) replacement surgery, orthognathic surgery, and sinus surgery (possibly all at once or in multiple surgeries - I don't know yet). My husband and I have talked about selling all of the animals, save for my horse, the dog, and the cats before I have the surgery. I am the one that takes care of the animals, and I will likely have my hands full just figuring out how to take care of myself and the kids for a while, so we're wanting to make it easier on me by reducing the workload. I hope to eventually get back into birds, but for now, I think selling them is the right thing all around. For the time being, though, I have 5 baby chicks that are a lot of fun to watch. This is the 3rd batch of chicks I've had, and I am always amazed at how FAST they grow!

 

[TipsyDucklings]

Hello. I just registered a couple minutes ago. I'm glad I found an active Kansas thread. I live in Wellsville, just north of Ottawa.

Crazy! I'm from Wellsville, Kansas as well! Small world!

 

[Trish44]

Hi, everyone! It's me, @lizzyGSR . I had to sign up under a new name to get back in after the new site was launched. All my attempts to salvage the old login have failed. I'm still hoping to get my old profile back, but in the meantime, at least i can log in under this new name, send messages and write posts.

Danz - I'm so sorry to hear you have to sell so many birds! I've found out I have to have jaw joint (TMJ) replacement surgery, orthognathic surgery, and sinus surgery (possibly all at once or in multiple surgeries - I don't know yet). My husband and I have talked about selling all of the animals, save for my horse, the dog, and the cats before I have the surgery. I am the one that takes care of the animals, and I will likely have my hands full just figuring out how to take care of myself and the kids for a while, so we're wanting to make it easier on me by reducing the workload. I hope to eventually get back into birds, but for now, I think selling them is the right thing all around. For the time being, though, I have 5 baby chicks that are a lot of fun to watch. This is the 3rd batch of chicks I've had, and I am always amazed at how FAST they grow!

I'm so sorry to hear you have to have surgery too & get rid of your birds. That doesn't sound like fun at all. When will you have to have it done?

That's weird that you couldn't get back into the site after the change over. Have you contacted them about it? I know I lost the last few messages that were sent out during the conversion but at least I got back in. There always seems to be bugs for awhile after anything like that. I was having problems with error messages at first getting into the site.

 

[Trish44]

If anyone is still interested I still have English Lavender Orpington chicks on sale for half price that need to go to new homes. I can't afford to keep feeding all of these chicks. I'm hatching guineas now & have had to send them to the galvanized trough in the garage & it's been pretty cold at night lately. I'm kind of worried about the little things. My other brooders are full so I had no choice.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I'm so sorry to hear you have to have surgery too & get rid of your birds. That doesn't sound like fun at all. When will you have to have it done?

That's weird that you couldn't get back into the site after the change over. Have you contacted them about it? I know I lost the last few messages that were sent out during the conversion but at least I got back in. There always seems to be bugs for awhile after anything like that. I was having problems with error messages at first getting into the site.

I don't yet know when it's going to be. The doctors are still trying to decide if they want to do it all as one massive surgery or as several smaller (yet still major) surgeries. I'm hoping to have more info by the end of the month, but things always seem to move so slow when you have multiple doctors involved.

I am finally am to log back in. I sent several e-mails to BYC through the "contact us" link and none of them were replied to - until today. I got a response today and was able to log back in after they reset my password for me.