Consolidated Kansas

[WichitaKidd]

YAY!! hey, we were taking bets on when you'd show up! LOL No, I'm just kidding!

But seriously, glad that you found the Kansas thread and are here! Ask all of your questions! None are too little or silly to be answered! And no one is too shy to answer! ha!

Thanks. I'm not too shy to post either.

Welcome David! It's especially nice to see another guy here. Our men aren't usually as chatty as the gals. Humm! That seems to be true in life too!
We'll be glad to give advise and ideas to help you out. I highly recommend a book, Success with Baby Chicks by Robert Plamondon if you are a reader.
It gives a good broad start to a lot of things if you aren't real sure what to ask. But you are welcome to come here for all kinds of advice and discussions.
So do you have your chicken house built or planned yet? How many birds are you starting out with?
Chooks it is getting closer to spring so maybe the other bird was a male and the male was fighting over the female? Mine really haven't been fighters at all, other than one male I have quarantined. He is aggressive and has killed two other birds but he is the only one that acts like that. I've thought he might become hawk food if he doesn't calm down. I had eggs delivered to Daren and Michelle this weekend. Let me know if you need more. Is the female laying? She should have started a long time ago but maybe hasn't had enough light yet. Chances are with the two, if you make a plant cover or a place for the female to hide she will hatch a clutch of eggs on her own. I've never set mine up to do that because there isn't room in their cages. I really wish I had a place where I could just watch them and enjoy them like a big glass aviary or something. There just is no place to do that here.
My puppies need a bath. They smell like their Mom and she smells pretty gamey being outside all the time. I love the normal puppy smell though. It's so fun to watch them wobble around. They are so unsteady on their feet. It seems like this litter is maturing rather slowly compared to the last litter. Maybe it's because it's not summer and I am not spending so much time out there watching their every move.
I'm a hurting unit today. I sure hope I have no need to wrestle and handle birds today. There isn't a joint in my body that isn't screaming! It sucks to be old!

Danz-Thanks for the book reccomendation. So far most all of my reading & research has been online thru various forums & websites. As for my chickens, I'm starting off small. Wichita will allow me to "legally" have only 12 birds so I'm staring off with just 6 for now. I ordered them online from MPC back in December. So far they've been good to work with & from what I've read most people seem happy with them. I'll find out more the end of March when my chicks are scheduled to ship. Getting 3 Wyandottes, an Australrop, Orphington, & a Red Star. If things go well, I have my eye on Wellsummers, Marans & Plymoth Rocks for next year.
I've also spent months designing both my brooder & coop. Built my brooder box about 6 weeks ago when we had a "warm" weekend. Right now it's ready to go for when the chicks arrive. Coop is all but designed & I've been slowly buying materials while lumber prices are low. A friend of mine who works at Home Depot gave me a good tip about buying lumber in the "off season" (aka winter). Once spring starts lumber prices will go up at least double what they are now. So far I've spent around $100, but probably have at least another $100 to go...at least. Some day I'll take & post some photos. I've actually been "virtually" building my coop & run using Google Sketchup so that I can get a feel on materials. Coop is currently around 4'x4'x4' with 3 nest boxes & the run is roughly 12'x4'x6' tall. It should be big enough to start based on the dimesion suggestions I've found. I plan on letting them roam the back yard when they get bigger, but with all the stray cats we have in the neighborhood they won't be left unsupervised. My backyard is enclosed with only a 4' chain link fence so I'm not even sure how successful/safe free ranging will be. Wouldn't want my birds running the neighborhood with the cats.
Anyway, looking forward to chatting with you all.
David

 

[Trish44]

tweety, I'm glad for you, that will be so nice to have your coop the way you want it. Remember though to allow for chicken math! We started out saying we were going to have "only" 6 chickens & no roosters. Now I have 16 hens & 5 roosters. Hey when he gets done at your place send him down my way huh, I need some help with my new breeder coop.

Danz, gosh I'm glad you're OK & you caught all the guineas, wow I don't know how you did that, I don't think I could have. It's a good thing you had them all marked so you know which ones you were getting rid of.

BrahmaBoy, you need to start treating all of your chickens right away. I used Tylan when that's all I had & then later on treated with Denagard when I got some of that. Don't forget there is always an egg withdrawal period with all of the antibiotics too. I also use some VetRX when I got some of that too to help with congestion. Don't wait to treat them because they get sicker fast & it spreads all throughout your flock.

tnt, I don't know if you go to Sam's Club, but the one in Wichita on north Rock Road has a really nice shed that we're planning to get for our firewood, but I could see it working for what you're wanting if you add more ventilation in there. It has the two doors on the front & has a built-in floor.

Well we got the chicken run gate put up today, so we'll see how it goes with keeping the pups out of there. Nothing is quite square when you go to do things it seems, so we had to improvise some, the story of our lives around here. The chickens were kind of wary of the gate since it moves some when they try to go through the squares, but I think they'll get used to it. The roosters even made it though & DH was surprised they could get through that, but they just duck their heads & go right on through.

Well I found out tonight that we're not going to have any water all day tomorrow & we don't know yet for sure if it will continue Thurs. or not. They're working on our water lines putting some parts on the meters, so we were warned about it. At least I had enough warning that I could go fill up buckets & things so I'll have water for the animals & chickens. I even filled up the bathtub downstairs just in case it does go on for two days. Then I will at least have water for the animals & birds. I did get enough water set aside for us I think too, so we should be all right. It's just a pain when you don't have water & you don't even think of it usually until you don't have it.

 

[bnica1958]

BrahmaBoy.Yes we use the tylan 50 a lot and it works good.Do not even have to inject it just squirt it down their throat.You can get it at TSC or Atwoods and it is really not very expensive.But they are right get it now and use it right away because it only gets worse.

 

[rittert3]

Hawkeye-The best way to catch a pigeon is to go out after dark while it's sleeping then point a flash light at it and scoop it up with a fish net. You will find that a fishnet is a great tool for any kind of bird keeping I got mine at wally world for (I think) 6 bucks. Smaller holes are better but I just got the one made from nylon string with about a 2 foot handle. On your suggestions to tweety, lol, I always wanted the money and room to buy one of those big 2 story barns from Home Depot or Lowes to fill with birds.

I was gathering eggs in the "landlords" hen house today and noticed one of their hens was puting off a nasty odor and one side of her face was all swollen and red. Dose anyone think if I gave her some of the Ivomec I got for mine, that it might clear that up? The odor was horible and I don't feel safe having infected birds running around the same property mine are on. Then again I don't want to go spending a bunch of my money treating someone elses birds either. I don't have much pull with the "landlords", they've been using cedar bedding for 20 some years and when I mentioned that was bad they looked at me like I didn't know a thing about birds and said "well it's worked for 20 some years".

 

[BrahmaBoy27]

How long after giving the tylan 50 or the vetrx to them do you have to wait to start eating the eggs???? I read that it is used for cattle and swine??? That must mean its some pontent stuff.. I just dont wanna have to worry about getting sick from eating the eggs later on down the road!!!!!!!!!

 

[tweetysvoice]

tweety, I'm glad for you, that will be so nice to have your coop the way you want it. Remember though to allow for chicken math! We started out saying we were going to have "only" 6 chickens & no roosters. Now I have 16 hens & 5 roosters. Hey when he gets done at your place send him down my way huh, I need some help with my new breeder coop'

Thank you! Yeah, I'm going to tell him to build it for at least 8-10 chickens. I only have the 4 on order, but I already know that I'm going to try and hatch a couple once i get a broody in the bunch. I really want that experience! I actually consider it lucky that the city of lawrence doesn't allow roosters within city limits, so that will significantly cut down on the number of birds I get. Otherwise - I'd be a breeding experimenting fool. I went crazy with breeding rats about 10 years ago.. LOL. Got that outta my system, moved on to rabbits - and now, it's chickens

Well I found out tonight that we're not going to have any water all day tomorrow & we don't know yet for sure if it will continue Thurs. or not. They're working on our water lines putting some parts on the meters, so we were warned about it. At least I had enough warning that I could go fill up buckets & things so I'll have water for the animals & chickens. I even filled up the bathtub downstairs just in case it does go on for two days. Then I will at least have water for the animals & birds. I did get enough water set aside for us I think too, so we should be all right. It's just a pain when you don't have water & you don't even think of it usually until you don't have it.d

I soooo feel for you!! Our last house had some issue with the neighborhood main line and our water was off at least once every few weeks. We usually didn't know until we got home and it wasn't on. Mad dash to the store to fill water jugs. We used to keep at least a dozen filled water jugs in our back closet all the time just as preparation for these time. Like you, we needed it more for the pets and animals than for ourselves! LOL. The worst is trying to remember to not flush unless necessary. That's what I always used the water in the tub (if we were lucky to have a warning) for. Good luck!!

 

[Hawkeye95]

How long after giving the tylan 50 or the vetrx to them do you have to wait to start eating the eggs???? I read that it is used for cattle and swine??? That must mean its some pontent stuff.. I just dont wanna have to worry about getting sick from eating the eggs later on down the road!!!!!!!!!

Some where I had read it was a 2 week with drawal... if that's wrong, hopefully someone will jump in and correct me! The VetRX is not actually a drug, but a tincture of combined essential oils-- it can be rubbed on their beak and it can be put in their water to drink. It is great for congestion. It can be used in conjunction with antibiotics. The Tylan is the antibiotic. Be very careful not to over dose the birds. That can not be put in the water. It must either be injected or-- I do believe it can be put down the beak--but double check that and I'd google that to be sure. Be careful not to over squirt-- just dropper very slowly. If they are congested, they will have a harder time swallowing. If you choose to inject them, it is VERY easy. I have injected my own birds. You just want to be sure you are well under the crop and into the breast meat closer down to the legs. The down side with Tylan is that once you inject it into the breast, it does start to eat away at the tissue. If you inject over many years (every time the birds are sick), the bird will lose a lot of breast tissue. It can also be injected straight into the sinuses-- and I've read that is the best way to administer Tylan, because there is no loss of tissue. BUT... if you've never done that, you can kill the bird if you do it wrong.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Thanks. I'm not too shy to post either.



I plan on letting them roam the back yard when they get bigger, but with all the stray cats we have in the neighborhood they won't be left unsupervised. My backyard is enclosed with only a 4' chain link fence so I'm not even sure how successful/safe free ranging will be. Wouldn't want my birds running the neighborhood with the cats.
Anyway, looking forward to chatting with you all.
David

First...

! Happy to see another face around here! I'm fairly a newbie as well and have 4 chicks arriving the first week of march.. I can hardly wait! I have my brooder set up already and am working on the coop (as you might have seen from previous posts). Everyone around here is so very very helpful, so don't be afraid to ask questions!!

Just wanted to comment about the cats. From just about everything I've read (and I know own 6 chicken care books..lol!), cats are one of the few animals that are rarely a predator to chickens (maybe no baby chicks, but full grown ones). I've heard that dogs are much more destructive than cats are. Anyone else have a story to add about this?

 

[ChooksChick]

Hawkeye-The best way to catch a pigeon is to go out after dark while it's sleeping then point a flash light at it and scoop it up with a fish net. You will find that a fishnet is a great tool for any kind of bird keeping I got mine at wally world for (I think) 6 bucks. Smaller holes are better but I just got the one made from nylon string with about a 2 foot handle. On your suggestions to tweety, lol, I always wanted the money and room to buy one of those big 2 story barns from Home Depot or Lowes to fill with birds.

I was gathering eggs in the "landlords" hen house today and noticed one of their hens was puting off a nasty odor and one side of her face was all swollen and red. Dose anyone think if I gave her some of the Ivomec I got for mine, that it might clear that up? The odor was horible and I don't feel safe having infected birds running around the same property mine are on. Then again I don't want to go spending a bunch of my money treating someone elses birds either. I don't have much pull with the "landlords", they've been using cedar bedding for 20 some years and when I mentioned that was bad they looked at me like I didn't know a thing about birds and said "well it's worked for 20 some years".

BAD words!!!! That's Coryza, and it's BAD, BAD, BAD. There is no real treatment, and you should completely decontaminate yourself before going near your birds. It can only be managed by culling, burning, etc.

There is very little you can do to protect your flock if you are sharing a premises. Ideally, you would get the vaccinations for Coryza and give all of your birds shots. 3 weeks later, do a round of boosters. This will protect any that haven't been infected. I'm not sure what else to tell you.

The landlord can put his on Duramycin to control the secondary infections, but they will always be carriers, even if symptoms cease. They will continue to infect other birds during their lifetime, even if they never have symptoms again. It's just the way this disease works. THIS is the disease I've heard stories of sooooooo many people bringing home to their birds after swaps, on their shoes, etc. THIS is the one I keep Oxine in my car for, to spray down my shoes if I forget my 'feed store shoes.' Start putting a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in your water, and try desperately to avoid contact with the infected birds.

I'm so sorry! It's a terrible thing.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye-The best way to catch a pigeon is to go out after dark while it's sleeping then point a flash light at it and scoop it up with a fish net. You will find that a fishnet is a great tool for any kind of bird keeping I got mine at wally world for (I think) 6 bucks. Smaller holes are better but I just got the one made from nylon string with about a 2 foot handle. On your suggestions to tweety, lol, I always wanted the money and room to buy one of those big 2 story barns from Home Depot or Lowes to fill with birds.

I was gathering eggs in the "landlords" hen house today and noticed one of their hens was puting off a nasty odor and one side of her face was all swollen and red. Dose anyone think if I gave her some of the Ivomec I got for mine, that it might clear that up? The odor was horible and I don't feel safe having infected birds running around the same property mine are on. Then again I don't want to go spending a bunch of my money treating someone elses birds either. I don't have much pull with the "landlords", they've been using cedar bedding for 20 some years and when I mentioned that was bad they looked at me like I didn't know a thing about birds and said "well it's worked for 20 some years".

Well last night I was checking my chicken coop and putting the door down, etc. I had my flashlight with me. I walked over to where the pigeon normally sits, but when I shined the flashlight on her (and mind you, it was pitch dark out there!) she took off and flew! In the dark! So I don't know that the light will pin her down. I think I'll leave her be. I really don't need another bird! LOL!

YIKES on that sick bird! After reading what Renee said-- I'd be killing it! Too bad it's not your bird!