Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Looks like rain here again tomorrow so I have a busy schedule today. I still need to do some butchering and moving some more birds around. I also need to haul dirt to the top of the lateral lines. It sure would be nice if I could just have a load of top soil brought in instead of having to dig it a scoop at a time and drive across the yard to dump it.
I went out to take pictures of puppies yesterday and the battery on my camera died as soon as I turned it on. Grrr.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

I still need to put the sheet metal on the coop to block out snow. I might have to upgrade to a tarp with all this rain... Glad there are three extra tarps laying around the coop!

 

[Ralph Moyer]

View attachment 1574829 I had a Black Copper Marans hen hatch nine chicks, out of twelve eggs, Thursday, 26th. I moved the hen and the chicks to a more secure cage,

as I do have cats, and the little ones were getting thru the chain link pen.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

One of my Royal Palm hens hatched out last Monday. She had a nest in a weed patch, along a fence-line. Only four had hatched alive, but two died coming out of their shells. It is a wonder how any hatched as we have had at least two 4 inch rains, during that time. The temp. was in the 40's Monday. I put the four remaining eggs, in an incubator, and Wednesday three more hatched, so I now have seven in a clear plastic tub, in the house.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

 

[Ralph Moyer]

The "small one", is the pup, Lucky, that was born April, Friday the thirteenth of this year. The large one is her daddy, Wally. I don't plan on any more pups, as both females have been spade. My female, Cherry, doesn't care for either one, as they are both as hair-brained as they look. But they are both excellent livestock guard dogs. It was raining when I took the photo, but with their shaggy coats, they look a mess most of the time.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm still getting ready for winter and have barely made progress. I've been separating birds and setting up pens. I wish I had all the outside pens empty, but I have hatched a ton of chicks this fall, mostly to choose which ones I will keep myself for breeders. Unfortunately that means hatching and growing out way too many. Some of my newer breeds just started laying as well so I'm hatching those. I am beginning to think that downsizing is more work than just staying the same.
@LoveMyChickenBabies I don't envy you at all. I don't mind tarps but I hate working with metal.
Ralph it looks like you'll be brooding just like myself for a while.
I always hatch my new spring layers in the fall so I end up with a ton of chicks.

 

[Trish44]

@chicken danz isn't that maddening when you get your camera out to take pics & right then your battery chooses to die, ugh that has happened to me a lot. My camera only has really small batteries & they don't last long so I have to have several to change out.

I finally got my main coop all cleaned out this last weekend, whew that is a chore I don't look forward to every 6 months. I'm trying out neem oil for mite control so I used that this time & didn't have to air out the coop for hours, that was nice. Now I need to start getting all the birds wormed.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

I found a Plymouth Rock in my coop laying on the ground like it fell from a roost. The roost was only 5 inches from the ground but it was dead... Do you think that it could have over-heated or something? My silkie that sleeps in there was fine and they are more prone to that type of stuff... Any ideas?

 

[Stardustrose]

Hi everyone. Well our coop area will be completely done tomorrow, we have the frame up so the last thing to do is put the poultry netting up. Here's a question, that I'm so confused about. As some of you know I only have one chicken, this is because the woman I adopted her from didn't want her anymore because she picked on her other chicken, ducks and quail. So far she is seems happy being alone....constantly on the move. Ok the question is since she is the only one, so many people tell me I should have a heater for the coop since its just her.....I've been looking at a panel heater, since I read they are very safe. I'm just not sure about this since my coop is small. At the moment we have her nesting box covered with straw to keep her warm when cooler. Any information or advice would be welcome.