Consolidated Kansas

[patricia]

Wow I love your greenhouse. Was it a kit? It's green and I am green. Hi Jeff where in SE Kansas are you from?

 

[Jeff21]

Hi, Patricia.

I'm from Parsons!

 

[Ivywoods]

Hi Jeff 21

You aren't too far from my sis, Checoukan. She has quite a few chickens and does a lot with the 4-H clubs, poultry club and is poultry superintendant for Cherokee County. She is near Columbus.

Welcome to the Kansas thread. I believe it is one of the most active state threads, and we now have a facebook poultry swap started. I know we are over 150 members there.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Most people are very eager to share their knowlege and experience. Sure helps if you have a crisis.

 

[WichitaKidd]

Tweety, are you wanting your flock to grow or just wanting to buil a coop to suit your 4 current hens? What I would suggest, and what I use, is to download the free version of google sketch-up and play around with it a bit. Then go to home depot, lowes, or even your local lumber yard and start pricing lumber and hardware and see what you can afford to put together.

Tweety- If you'd like some help with creating a coop design in SketchUp let me know. I've been using it to design my coop for the past 6 months & am pretty good at it. If you'd like to scribble some ideas down on paper & send them to me I'd be glad to sketch them up for you. It's a good way to help figure out material lists & cost.

 

[Ivywoods]

Well, here's my personal update.
DH goes to Topeka in the a.m. for a heart cath. Wish us luck. He has been getting worse by the day.

As far as chickens go, I got back one of the original black copper marans I sold a couple years ago. For some reason this roo took a dislike to his owner and became very aggressive. She was afraid of him. When I saw him at her place I said I would take him back if she wanted. Gosh, he had turned out nicer than any of the ones I had kept! So now I will use him for breeding. So far he has been sweet as pie to me. His previous owner was the ONLY one he was aggressive towards!

Had one more marans hatch today. Gosh, they can be slow to hatch!

I worked on the stacking cages I recently bought. After my new BCM roo gets out of quarantine he will go in one of these cages until I decide which hens to put him with and what pen.

I also worked on the brooder I'm making. Gee. What a comedy. It never turns out quite like you plan when you are working with salvaged stuff. I got the main part of the thing done the other day. I decided to make 4 compartments for this thing, and so I got the lights and hinges I would need for each compartment and lid. I discovered the hinges I bought would not work! They were not large enough to reach across the groove in the edge of the thing. I didn't want to buy any more or run to town, so once again I imporovised. I found 4 very OLD very RUSTY and HUGE gate hinges! DH squirted some "magic" rust remover on them and I polished off a bit of the rust with my grinder. Now each lid to each compartment has only one LARGE hinge! I think it will look pretty cool if I get it painted. Then I dug out some old cabinet handles that I had been hanging on to for a few years. I had given a dollar for a whole batch of them at a fire auction. Each one is different, so I have one black handle, one silver handle and two brass ones all in different styles. They had originally been part of a sales sample. I think it will be kind of neat when I get chicks in there.

Let's see... what's behind lid #1?
How about door #3?

 

[Jeff21]

Thanks!

I actually recently joined the Southeast Kansas Poultry group on Facebook! This should come in handy if I want to add to my current flock in the future.

I just got 25 new hens that I am keeping separated from my current group of older chickens. (6 hens and a rooster)

Any idea how long I should wait until I put them together?

 

[checoukan]

Thanks!

I actually recently joined the Southeast Kansas Poultry group on Facebook! This should come in handy if I want to add to my current flock in the future.

I just got 25 new hens that I am keeping separated from my current group of older chickens. (6 hens and a rooster)

Any idea how long I should wait until I put them together?

Oh, I guess you should try to keep them separte for at least 30 days. Gives them a chance to break with something if they are going too.

Sometimes if may take 2 weeks or more for a virus, or bacteria to make a bird sick.

 

[Jeff21]

Eek! I hope not.

I noticed one of my Easter Egg hens is a bit slower than the rest. But I am keeping an eye on her, she still eats fine and drinks well. She is just a bit "slower" than the rest!

Also, the rooster I currently have is old.. The older group never come out of the hen house or they don't go far. He is so scared of everything! We have a problem with hawks, so I was wondering if there is a certain breed that will protect my hens better? I have been putting up reflective objects just in case. I haven't seen any this year yet, so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[checoukan]

Eek! I hope not.

I noticed one of my Easter Egg hens is a bit slower than the rest. But I am keeping an eye on her, she still eats fine and drinks well. She is just a bit "slower" than the rest!

Also, the rooster I currently have is old.. The older group never come out of the hen house or they don't go far. He is so scared of everything! We have a problem with hawks, so I was wondering if there is a certain breed that will protect my hens better? I have been putting up reflective objects just in case. I haven't seen any this year yet, so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Well, don't know what your cock bird is, but as they age, they just slow down alot. Most males will call out a cry of warning to the hens, I have several breeds, and most do a good job. But it seems like my BCM's do the best job.

 

[Jeff21]

He is a mix rooster of some sort. We have had him for quite some time. But I figured I would try him with the new hens first and if he doesn't pick up the slack.. Then I will have to invest in a younger rooster. BCM?

I read that Old English breeds seem to be one of the best. But I guess it also depends on the rooster, too. Mine is such a wimp. *sighs*