Consolidated Kansas

[Ivywoods]

Danz-Yes, I placed my order last week. Did you see my notice above that the date is April 21? I talked to the girl at KSU on the phone and she was going to call someone to get that changed on the webpage as soon as she was off the phone.

I was going to pick some up for my sister, too, but I don't think she has placed her order yet. It wouldn't be an inconvenience for me to stop in Topeka. We will be going right through there anyway. We take I-70 and Hwy 75 to and from Manhattan. Isn't there a Tractor Supply or Orscheln's a little ways off 75 on the north side of I-70? I'd have to look that up, but that might be a good place to meet.

We have to bring our own cages or boxes to put them in. I would just take some boxes to haul them in. I have access to plenty of boxes at work. I should have plenty of room, but I'm sure by the time I get home I will be ready to get them out of the car! I know how just a few birds can smell in an enclosed vehicle!

 

[chicken danz]

I just got a call from KSU and got my pullets ordered. Ivy that is so generous of you. I may take you up on the offer to pick them up. I guess ultimately it will hinge on what my son and DIL are doing that day. She is working full time and taking pre-med so their time load is pretty heavy. BTW I love my daughter in law to pieces. I think of her like one of my own. I am glad it is on a Saturday. In fact DH works that night so he won't be going with me, even as far as Topeka and complaining about me getting more birds!
Trish I use those same wire cages that they make for rabbit pens or I have some smaller wire dog kennels I use to transport birds in my car. As long as you have a tray or something with it it works. I have people come and buy birds all the time with a plastic cat kennel or even a cardboard box with holes that they put in their car. Of course I don't have a luxury car but it still works.

 

[KeenaC]

well, thank you for the warm welcome! The chicken coop we are building is actually a shed we have here and I am transforming it into a coop with a run attached. The problem I am having is I want a couple different breeds of chickens and I am trying to figure out how to separate them so they don't cross breed....or is that even an issue?

 

[rittert3]

Well now I have problems there an auction in clay center the same day as the pick up on the k-start pullets. I was just talking to my wife about making if a family day and picking up the pullets and remembered. O well there will be plenty of auctions this summer. BTW welcome to all the new people! I went to the vet this morning and he sold me a little ivomec sheep drench and only charged me a buck! So i went to dollar tree and picked up some vasaline and fixed the birds all up. They sure thought I was and @$$ when I got done but they should be on their way to getting healthy, gave them their weekly dusting while I was at it.

 

[checoukan]

well, thank you for the warm welcome! The chicken coop we are building is actually a shed we have here and I am transforming it into a coop with a run attached. The problem I am having is I want a couple different breeds of chickens and I am trying to figure out how to separate them so they don't cross breed....or is that even an issue?

Just depends on what you are wanting to do with your birds. If you just want chickens, then it doesn't matter. If you want to sell pure breds, then you got to seperate. It is usually better to start with one breed and then expand, that way you get in to production sooner, and really decide if you want more than one breed.

 

[checoukan]

Well now I have problems there an auction in clay center the same day as the pick up on the k-start pullets. I was just talking to my wife about making if a family day and picking up the pullets and remembered. O well there will be plenty of auctions this summer. BTW welcome to all the new people! I went to the vet this morning and he sold me a little ivomec sheep drench and only charged me a buck! So i went to dollar tree and picked up some vasaline and fixed the birds all up. They sure thought I was and @$$ when I got done but they should be on their way to getting healthy, gave them their weekly dusting while I was at it.

Don't do to much at once. Give them a break, so meds and things do not cross and make something toxic.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye.
Yes just and the eggs small end down.We save our eggs no more than 10 days, it seems after that hatch rates go down.And DO NOT BE DISAPOINTED at your hatch rate this time of year because the birds are not as fertile as in the spring.Just natures way I guess.We have had our bater running ever since Feburary of last year, not been shut down yet.Only got 1 running over winter though because it is so addicting.Have fun with it good or bad it is a great experience. Excuse my typing this is why I never post much.

oh YAY another experienced hatching person! I saw that was your first post-- so glad to see you and

I pulled out my incubator and read thru all the instructions. I would have put them in with the big down down-- I just didn't know! Good thing I'm getting informed. And yeah-- I'm not expecting too much out of my first hatch. I'm just hoping that if I do hatch anything at all-- there will be at least two of them so they won't be lonely.

 

[chicken danz]

A pointed end down makes a chick develop the wrong direction and then it can't move around to pip the egg. Plus you need that wide part for the air space in the egg. I actually have some eggs it is hard to decide which end is which. Have you heard that pointed end eggs are boys and rounder eggs are girls. That's an old wives tale that I tried to test once but it didn't seem to make much difference.
Keena let your chickens grow before you decide to separate them. Some breeds prefer to breed with their own kind and others just breed with anything. At any rate you have several month to divide the pen and building if you want. In an 8 X 8 shed i converted I just put two chicken doors, one on each side. That way I have the option to divide the pen and the building in half if I want. I figured I could put a chicken wire man door between the two sides so I could get access to both pens.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ivy my email got returned undeliverable. I cut and copied the address they have on the site. So then I called them and got a recording so I'm waiting for a return call. Once it get around to deciding on something I want it done! Yeah I could meet you but I wouldn't want to inconvenience you. Did you order yours yet. I decided I need some dedicated layers to replace some of the ones I hope to have separated for breeding.
Hawkeye I would plug in your incubator and monitor it for at least 24 hours to watch to make sure the temperature stays level. Initially you will probably get some temperature swings as it regulates itself.
As far as bands go I have several sizes of metal bands that are numbered. You can keep records with the numbers for testing, age, or whatever. I ban a lot of stuff with different colored little bity tie wraps. I just slip them on and cut off the excess. In this case I was banding females so could tell them from the boys. The metal bands I bought from Cutler's supply and they don't require a tool to fasten them. They are just metal without color though. I would much rather have colored bands. For NPIP testing you should have a record of each number and when it was tested.
My stupid white Serama rooster keeps escaping every time I open the cage door. He has 5 hens to service and he just wants out of there. Maybe he is gay! I just slapped together a little nest box hoping that the girls will adjust and use it.
I have been watching my diamond doves sit on eggs. Now all the sudden today they vacated the nest. I am thinking maybe the eggs weren't fertile since these are their first and they decided it was time to get off of them. What a disappointment! There were 4 eggs in there.

Sorry about your doves abandoning the nest! Hopefully they start again and be fertile this time. That's too bad. I'm glad you said something about the NPIP testing! I need to get that done on my birds before our first show! Yikes! I'll have to call the extension office and talk to the 4-H director. Wow, my memory is bad.

 

[Hawkeye95]

well, thank you for the warm welcome! The chicken coop we are building is actually a shed we have here and I am transforming it into a coop with a run attached. The problem I am having is I want a couple different breeds of chickens and I am trying to figure out how to separate them so they don't cross breed....or is that even an issue?

You could run chicken wire down the middle of the shed-- put in two pop doors, one on each side. Build one big run off of that side where the pop doors are and then just use cheap chicken wire down the middle of the run to separate them out. There are a lot of people who have done that on BYC. Go to the Coop building forum-- and ask to see people's set up's that are similar. But you'll need to take a pic of your shed and show them what you have so they can give you lots of good feed back. Just be sure to use a welded wire on the outside perimeter of any run you build. But using the flimsy chicken wire on the inside is no problem so long as it's secure on the outside.