Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Those of you who are considering gardening need to get with Bynaturefarms. He has a whole different concept of gardening and has made several videos on it. If you type in by nature farms on U tube you will see many videos. He has a wealth of information about farming and becoming self sufficient. Great guy!
I didn't even get a garden in last summer but so want to this year. I haven't figured out where on earth I could put one and not have the chickens in it though. I can't do much bending any more with my half metal back and can't even maintain my flower beds which are my passion. I would like to grow food for us, as well as some supplements for the birds. DH is a city boy and has no idea about gardening and no interest in helping maintain one. So it's all up to me.
Cherwill, put an add on Craigslist for your rooster. If I were you and wanted him to have a good home I would advertise him as a pet or breeder only and don't ask much or anything ofr him. Then you can screen potential buyers. Be sure to state why you are getting rid of him. That might help draw a chicken lover in.
Hawkeye you could go ahead and hatch. You could then have time to cull out excess roos and you shouldn't have so many females that you couldn't house them once they get a little larger. If Jon could get in the KC area, Gardner is a great little farm type community close to the city. The vet there treats birds and he and his wife raise several. She used to show chickens but got in a terrible car wreck and is having to relearn a lot of things.
My roo seems to be holding his own today. He has thrown food all over the cage. I haven't seen him drinking but he is standing up and crowing now and then. I syringed his nostrils with salt water and gave him a big dose of VetRX.
I sure wish I could eradicate these starlings without getting rid of the other wild birds. I have some resident yellow finches, wood peckers, blue buntings, chickadees, and cardinals that hang around my bird feeders. I really enjoy watching them.
I tried to take marshmallows picture yesterday but of course she was totally uncooperative. She really doesn't like cameras.
I spent my day yesterday vacuuming out the chicken trailer where we have scrapped up the glue off the floor. I think I am about ready to do something with the floor although I keep changing my mind about what to waterproof it with. I also pumped out and cleaned the Mandarin pond so it is all fresh water. Hopefully it will last a few weeks. I sure wish the weather would have held up warm. It sure helps to get things done.

 

[justhatchin]

Hi! I am outside of Galva and if you need to rehome him I have some red sexlink and barred rocks that haven't a roo running with them. You may know me if you come to the recycling/trash center.. susan


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[Ivywoods]

I don't know for sure which way they are going. All they do around here is circle and circle. It's awful late for a southern migration and early for a northbound, so I really don't know. I am wondering if they just haven't migrated as far south since we have had such a mild winter.

 

[chicken danz]

We have lots of snow geese here as well. They hang around the lakes and in the fields most of the winter. I think they are beautiful birds. So much prettier than those awful Canadians!
Speaking of which it sure sounds like our mild winter is coming to an end in about a week. That figures: Just in time to bring puppies into the world. I guess that means rigging up yet another heat lamp! Ugh!

 

[justhatchin]

Hi! I lurk here when I have time not really much of a chat person(ha ha Thats probably not right

). I really have trouble keeping up with you guys but have learned a lot.

luv the green house/chicken coup idea.

So going to try the raised bed gardens this year-making them 2 or 3 foot by what ever length is easy.

IVY- get him to a dr. by-pass the non believers. bev out in w-ks just had a stent put in-99% blockage- in a emergency rush 1.5 hrs to a hospital big enough to handle it and almost didn't make it cuz her bld pres. was so high. She too played with drs all summer while she steadly got worse- no energy- hard to breath-pain in arms and heavyness in chest -heartburn.!!

luving this weather. gota get out and take advantage of it.

How's that for a "non-chatter" Ha Ha! Happy Hatching. Susan

 

[Ivywoods]

I got my DH scheduled for his test. We will go ahead and get the test here, and then depending on what it shows we will decide where to go from here. I'm not going to sit around here waiting for a cardiologist.

In the meantime my DH is starting to learn how to slow down a bit. He is an all or none kind of guy and really stresses himself out sometimes (needlessly.) He doesn't need to push himself to the point of being breathless and then getting upset with himself about it. I'ts been a way of life for him.

Hawkeye-I don't have any pips yet. Supid me! I just figured out I took the eggs out of the turners 2 days earlier than I should have.

I have no idea why I did that! It's not like me to make those kinds of mistakes. I have lost track of time a couple times and had some hatch in the turning trays!

 

[chicken danz]

I had one hatch in the turning trays today. It was a Serama. It was only day 15 so I am thinking that maybe some mama had sat on it a couple days before I gathered the eggs. I only gather eggs in the Serama house every 4-5 days. I figure it is cooler storage out there.
Justhatchin you should feel free to post. We obviously talk about everything under the sun. We can always use more input.

 

[Trish44]

IVY, wow that's a lot of geese! I'm glad to hear you got DH in to get his test done, let us all know what you find out. I hope they get it figured out quick & get him some treatment.

Hawkeye, yes the bunnies are friendly, they're just a little scared having been moved twice now to new surroundings. Especially if you get them young like this you can really tame them so they can be lap bunnies, just like any other pet. You can litter box train them, which I haven't decided yet if I want to do or not. If I get the outside hutch I probably won't because the droppings would be going on the ground & I can compost them for the garden. It might be nice to have a litter box while I have them in the cage in the garage though, it is kind of a mess. I have big trays under the cage right now, but eventually those will have to be taken out & cleaned. Anyway, it kind of depends on whether we can get this hutch I found home or not. We're going to look at it tomorrow afternoon. About the Ameraucana rooster, any roosters will fight if they haven't been raised together, especially if they want the top spot. These two guys are both teenagers & their hormones are kicking into high, so that's like two teenage boys with their testosterone flaring. I had just been very lucky up to this point with all of these guys that the others were just happy to take lower positions in the pecking order & hadn't wanted to challenge Big Red. But when this guy came in the balance shifted & he wanted to take over top spot & Red wasn't having it. I'm glad I had a place to put him where he can't get into any more trouble. He's not happy about it, but at least the others are safe from him now. It's not how I wanted for things to go, but it is what it is I guess. I had hoped everybody could live in harmony until I could get the breeder coop built & separate out the breeds then, but I guess it OK. This way if the hens will start laying again after they get settled in then maybe I can hatch out some eggs earlier. The way it is I won't have the coop done for awhile.

justhatchin, chime in any time, we chatter on here all the time about all kinds of things.

Danz, I hope your birds get better soon, that's the pits. Yeah I wish the weather would stay this nice too, it's been great to go out & get things done with the birds, but looking at the forecast the next few days isn't promising. I guess we kind of have gotten spoiled this winter. Usually before now we would have had a lot worse weather. In a way I would have just rather have gotten it over with because now we'll probably have one of those years where we have a terrible March, I hate that.

 

[Ivywoods]

Trish-I think my black ameraucana rooster would have been the same way. He was raised here, so the pecking order was established early, but he doesn't take any crap off of any of the other chickens. My two marans roosters are both pretty docile. They seem to get along pretty well with everyone. I did notice a little blood on the comb of the one that is free ranging, and I suspect he probably had a run in with one of the black ameraucanas. The lavender roosters are not as big and they are not dominant over the black.

Maybe you can hatch some lav/black splits soon.

Welcome to all the newbies and lurkers!

Danz-I'll bet you do get a lot of geese through your area. Probably some of the same flocks that come up here since we are almost straight north of you. I enjoyed the drive to your house from my sister's. The trees were beautiful and I liked looking at the water as I drove along.

That's why I went right by your place.... I was gawking around!

 

[Ivywoods]

Hurry up, Marshmallow... seems like she should be getting close.