Consolidated Kansas

[Ivywoods]

Trish-Yes, I think it would set that up on a small table or some sawhorses or something to save your back. It makes it SO much easier! It looks like it will work nicely.

I have 3 new babies this morning!

Two wheaten ameraucanas and one MYSTERY CHICK! I am not sure what happened there. I am very careful about keeping my breeders penned and separated, and when I gather eggs I mark them as to where they came from... except the free range eggs that I sell for eating. I had one chick hatch in one compartment; a wheaten out of a wheaten egg. In the other compartment I had one wheaten out of a wheaten egg, and one totally yellow chick out of what I "thought" was a golden lakenvelder egg. It's not a golden lakenvelder chick. I don't always mark the lakenvelder eggs because they are quite a bit smaller than the jumbo eggs my leghorns lay. The only explaination I can think of is that one of the leghorns laid a much smaller egg than usual and I mistook it for a lakenvelder and put it in the incubator. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. It's a completely yellow chick, but that can change. Most likely the rooster would have been my black copper marans rooster, Fuzzy. He is such a good boy and takes such good care of his girls.

On the subject of livestock guardians, Trish, thank you for the compliment to my Buddy. He is a beautiful dog. He is a little more shy than Runt, but such a sweet dog and just the BEST guardian. We haven't lost a single animal to predators with these dogs here, and Lord knows we are surrounded with predators. We hear the coyotes every night around here and bobcats are caught on our game cam all the time if we have it set up. With over 50 acres of woods on our place alone there is an abundance of every kind of woodland creature and predator. He does his job, but as I have said, he is getting old and he is slowing down, and Runt is starting to take the lead.

Runt is a different kind of dog. My step son rescued him after his mother laid on him. He gave him CPR and revived him. Runt is now VERY bonded to my husband. He will come in the house, but does not stay in very long. Now that my DH is recovering he is starting to go for walks. Runt accompanies my DH on the walk. This morning the neighbors were out. Our only neighbors are all black angus cows. Runt would NOT let those cows come anywhere near the fence where Mike was walking. It's kind of funny. Runt will "protect" my DH from the cows, then turn around and protect the neighbors cows from any other predator. The other day when DH went for a walk, Runt went with him. Buddy sounded the alarm bark, and Runt took off to check it out, running full blast back to the house. When every thing checked out he ran full blast back to my DH and accompanied him the rest of the way on his walk. When my DH is out in the woods or field Runt goes along, but he says back, often laying in a spot where he can survey the surroundings the same as he does when he is guarding the livestock. Gosh, you've got to love those dogs!

I wish we could find another dog just like Buddy. I'm more bonded to him. It would be a tall order to fill, though. I know we will loose him one of these days. It's inevitable. That will be one day that I will cry my eyes out.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I feel your pain. We started looking last July with a view to being moved in and settled by November - hah! I got so tired of looking at houses. I looked on Trulia and Zillow and Google maps at every place we were interested in, and only contacted our realtor for a showing if all three passed our sniff tests, but even then, we'd get in and look at them and over and over, found something that made it seem it wouldn't work for us after all. I honestly despaired at times of finding just the right place, but in the first week of January we finally went to see a place we thought would work and long story short, we are now under contract and close in a couple of weeks.

But with the purchase came the decision about what to do about our current house. I'm so glad we didn't put it on the market first because if it had sold there would have been a lot more pressure to move and we probably would have ended up in one of those less-than-perfect places we looked at during all of those months. Now that we are under contract we *could* put the current house on the market, I suppose, but for all of the reasons you mentioned, I'm not that excited about the idea. Between dogs, cats and chickens, it would be tough to keep the house ready for showing, and from past experience, sometimes they don't give you a ton of notice that they want to show the house. So what we've decided to do is move, then spend a weekend doing a thorough clean, and then put it on the market. They can put a lockbox on the door and show it to their heart's content and it won't impact us at all.

As for the chickens. Well, when I was looking, one of the keyword searches I did regularly was "chicken" or "coop" (coop doesn't work so well because you get hits on anything that is a co-op and there are a surprising number of them). So for me, finding a place that already had a chicken coop would have been a major coup. But I realize I am in the minority. Unfortunately, so many people have misconceptions about chickens being carriers of disease, attracting rodents, and making a smelly mess, that it might work against you to have them right there when people visit. Is there any way possible you can wait until you've moved the chickens before starting with all that?

Unfortunately, I think we're moving as well. But there's no way we could afford to buy another house and hang onto this one for who knows how long. The market in our area isn't very strong, and our neighbors have had their house on the market for over a year. It's a beautiful house! Clean, no urgent upkeep, and has neat character. It has 6 bedrooms, big kitchen, wood floors, main floor laundry, veiw out basement, and 5 acres with a large barn that is entirely a shop, cement floors, with heating and a/c in it. I don't know why it hasn't sold-- I think it's priced reasonably. Anyway, they moved to Germany and HAD to sell it (military). They finally gave up and rented it out a few months back-- they were drowning in debt. I feel terribly for them. They are making mortgage payments on that sucker AND paying for a rental over there. We would go under if we had to pay on this house and another one. NOT possible. Hope your DD is feeling better now. I feel sorry she is in so much pain, poor thing!

TNTBlake, we'll be doing what you're doing when that time comes. We have chickens and horses. Just make it look as nice and clean as possible and take care of anything that is an eyesore and people will be fine with it. We're going to spend this summer gearing up for sale-- repairing grass in the yard, fixing some siding near the rosebushes where ants ate it out, and the garage door (people door)-- the jam is rotting on one end. I'm going to tear that out myself as soon as it gets warmed up. I think I can even handle the siding, too. I figure I can spend the day taking down the 3 pieces that were effected, replacing the plywood underneath if it's necessary and then have it painted and ready to be put up (I'll need two people) by the time my DH gets home so we can get it back on. We built this house 12 years ago-- it's amazing how fast things go! Good luck with your sale! I hope you find the perfect place when it comes time to buy! My worst case scenario if we sold our house and couldn't find another one-- it would go something like this-- my cousin could take my horses for a bit and possibly the chickens. Or my neighbor here could handle my chickens. We've thought of our contingency plan in case we wind up in an apartment for 3 months or so. It would suck, but not be the end of the world.

Marty--- exciting that you won the eggs! How did they say they packed them? What kind of feedback did they get on the delivery of their eggs and hatch rate?? I want to give it a go, but I'm nervous about wasting a lot of money on shipped eggs. Of course... it could work out fine, you never know!

 

[Hawkeye95]

It looks great! Plenty of room and looks pretty easy to use. I like it! Good job on the find!

OK, here is a pic of the brooder I just bought. You can't see it very well, but there is a piece at the opposite end from where the drawer pulls out that is adjustable for the light to clip onto. It does have legs underneath also Danz so it's not sitting directly on the floor. I may try to figure out something to sit it up on also to make it easier for my back. He had just used it for one order of 7 chicks so it's really like new. They got rid of their chickens because they're moving & can't have them where they're going. I think I will paint it too when it gets a little warmer just so the wood is protected more. I'm not getting very many chicks this time since I already have about 17 hens. I would have room for a few also if I end up hatching some Ameraucanas later on. At any rate it saved me having to deal with the other thing I was using & trying to build something myself, which I'm not that good at.



tnt, I would go ahead & get the chicks because you can keep them for awhile in the garage or somewhere out of the way. People don't look that close at that area anyway. I wouldn't worry about what people think about you having chickens, it will be awhile before they're big enough to run around on their own & you could put them in a pen & then tell the prospective buyers you will be taking them & the pen with you. Are you looking for somewhere to move outside town?

Marty1876, congrats on winning the eggs! I hope they get to you in good shape.

Danz, how many puppies do you still have available? I was just wondering in case I see someone looking for one. I'll bet they're really getting big & active now. I saw a GP on this dog show we watched the other night, he reminded me of IVYWOOD's Buddy, he was beautiful! For once they didn't have just an all white GP on the dog show. They had some really pretty working dogs on there.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Trish-Yes, I think it would set that up on a small table or some sawhorses or something to save your back. It makes it SO much easier! It looks like it will work nicely.

I have 3 new babies this morning!

Two wheaten ameraucanas and one MYSTERY CHICK! I am not sure what happened there. I am very careful about keeping my breeders penned and separated, and when I gather eggs I mark them as to where they came from... except the free range eggs that I sell for eating. I had one chick hatch in one compartment; a wheaten out of a wheaten egg. In the other compartment I had one wheaten out of a wheaten egg, and one totally yellow chick out of what I "thought" was a golden lakenvelder egg. It's not a golden lakenvelder chick. I don't always mark the lakenvelder eggs because they are quite a bit smaller than the jumbo eggs my leghorns lay. The only explaination I can think of is that one of the leghorns laid a much smaller egg than usual and I mistook it for a lakenvelder and put it in the incubator. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. It's a completely yellow chick, but that can change. Most likely the rooster would have been my black copper marans rooster, Fuzzy. He is such a good boy and takes such good care of his girls.


I wish we could find another dog just like Buddy. I'm more bonded to him. It would be a tall order to fill, though. I know we will loose him one of these days. It's inevitable. That will be one day that I will cry my eyes out.

Congrats on your chicks! How many incubators are you running now? I guess you have staggered hatches in them? I threw in 4 eggs from my silkies last night just for grins. I'm going to wait until Saturday or Sunday to start collecting eggs for REAL to see if this whole fertility thing worked out. I sure hope so! Interesting about your mystery chick! Kind of fun to have a surprise. Sounds like Buddy is an awesome dog. It's sad to see them getting older. I lost my best Pom ever two years ago, and it's still sad. She was smarter and better than the two dogs I got to replace her. Even my DH shakes his head and says "Mitzi was so much better!". These two little things are idiots. LOL!

 

[Marty1876]

Trish- Nice new brooder!! Wow, way cooler than mine. My hubbie works as a specialty mechanic, and brings home boxes that hold 4-wheelers.....They are HUGE and Extra Thick...I just change the boxes pretty often (Real oftenn for ducks!). I open them out and lay them over the garden walking paths, and over planting bed, cut holes, and plant right through the holes in the poo covered boxes. (I aim that part downward)

Marty--- exciting that you won the eggs! How did they say they packed them? What kind of feedback did they get on the delivery of their eggs and hatch rate?? I want to give it a go, but I'm nervous about wasting a lot of money on shipped eggs. Of course... it could work out fine, you never know!

If you check a sellers feedback, there is always a link on the name of the buyer. Go to their page and send them an email. For examle-before I bid on these eggs, I saw the lady had 100% positive with a history of eggs. I went back to early January, and went to the page of an egg buyer, and sent them a message apologizing for bothering them, but nicely inquiring after their hatch. They got over 70% (o.k. for shipped eggs), so I bid.

I also asked the lady their shipping methods. After I won, I let her know I'd paid, and expressed my willingness to wait for the freshest eggs, asked that they be shipped pointy side down, and that she mark the box "no x-ray - hatching eggs". Some say thats bad, but I've never had a total loss on ebay eggs yet. Usually I get a couple, or more. with quail, they seem extra sturdy, and I often get great hatches.

Thats what I do....but like you said, you never know. I just do my homework and pray.

 

[tntblake]

Unfortunately, I think we're moving as well. But there's no way we could afford to buy another house and hang onto this one for who knows how long. The market in our area isn't very strong, and our neighbors have had their house on the market for over a year. It's a beautiful house! Clean, no urgent upkeep, and has neat character. It has 6 bedrooms, big kitchen, wood floors, main floor laundry, view out basement, and 5 acres with a large barn that is entirely a shop, cement floors, with heating and a/c in it. I don't know why it hasn't sold-- I think it's priced reasonably. Anyway, they moved to Germany and HAD to sell it (military). They finally gave up and rented it out a few months back-- they were drowning in debt. I feel terribly for them. They are making mortgage payments on that sucker AND paying for a rental over there. We would go under if we had to pay on this house and another one. NOT possible. Hope your DD is feeling better now. I feel sorry she is in so much pain, poor thing!

TNTBlake, we'll be doing what you're doing when that time comes. We have chickens and horses. Just make it look as nice and clean as possible and take care of anything that is an eyesore and people will be fine with it. We're going to spend this summer gearing up for sale-- repairing grass in the yard, fixing some siding near the rosebushes where ants ate it out, and the garage door (people door)-- the jam is rotting on one end. I'm going to tear that out myself as soon as it gets warmed up. I think I can even handle the siding, too. I figure I can spend the day taking down the 3 pieces that were effected, replacing the plywood underneath if it's necessary and then have it painted and ready to be put up (I'll need two people) by the time my DH gets home so we can get it back on. We built this house 12 years ago-- it's amazing how fast things go! Good luck with your sale! I hope you find the perfect place when it comes time to buy! My worst case scenario if we sold our house and couldn't find another one-- it would go something like this-- my cousin could take my horses for a bit and possibly the chickens. Or my neighbor here could handle my chickens. We've thought of our contingency plan in case we wind up in an apartment for 3 months or so. It would suck, but not be the end of the world.

Marty--- exciting that you won the eggs! How did they say they packed them? What kind of feedback did they get on the delivery of their eggs and hatch rate?? I want to give it a go, but I'm nervous about wasting a lot of money on shipped eggs. Of course... it could work out fine, you never know!

We are in the same boat as Loralee. We can not afford 2 mortgages waiting for this house to sell. If we sell before we find a new house we plan to move into my mom's basement until we find what we are looking for. I have a list of what is wanted and I will not compromise. The way the market is right now I should be able to get everything we want in the price range we want.

Trish- We are probably going to buy in town because we want to keep the kids in the same school. If we can find a house in the country but close to the south side of town then that would be great too. I would love to have a few acres. I think I am gonna go crazy before I get this house ready. There is so much to get done.

 

[Trish44]

tnt, you might look around the Haysville area or between there & Wichita. I know you said you want to keep the kids in the same school, but wouldn't it be nice to have some room for your chickens & not be told how many you could have? I know you're really restricted in Wichita inside the city. I love having some room & privacy, it's so much better than in a town. I haven't lived inside a town since 1976 & I haven't looked back since I left Wichita then. I grew up in the city, but I think I have always had a country girl heart. I have always loved animals & have always had quite a few of them over the years of all kinds. I probably would have a zoo if I could afford to feed them all, we have quite a few as it is.

Thanks Hawkeye, I keep my eyes on Craigslist every day for things I might need. That brooder caught my eye right off & I was hoping the guy would take my offer. They're getting ready to move also, so I'm sure he just wanted to get it out of the way. It sure will come in handy for me though in a couple of months when my little chicks get here.

For anybody looking for Great Pyrenees puppies for livestock guardian dogs, Danz I think has a couple still available, correct me if I'm wrong. Candace Harding also has a whole new litter that she just posted on the Kansas Poultry Swap. They're really darling & she got two black & white ones this time, a big litter too.

 

[tntblake]

tnt, you might look around the Haysville area or between there & Wichita. I know you said you want to keep the kids in the same school, but wouldn't it be nice to have some room for your chickens & not be told how many you could have? I know you're really restricted in Wichita inside the city. I love having some room & privacy, it's so much better than in a town. I haven't lived inside a town since 1976 & I haven't looked back since I left Wichita then. I grew up in the city, but I think I have always had a country girl heart. I have always loved animals & have always had quite a few of them over the years of all kinds. I probably would have a zoo if I could afford to feed them all, we have quite a few as it is.

Thanks Hawkeye, I keep my eyes on Craigslist every day for things I might need. That brooder caught my eye right off & I was hoping the guy would take my offer. They're getting ready to move also, so I'm sure he just wanted to get it out of the way. It sure will come in handy for me though in a couple of months when my little chicks get here.

For anybody looking for Great Pyrenees puppies for livestock guardian dogs, Danz I think has a couple still available, correct me if I'm wrong. Candace Harding also has a whole new litter that she just posted on the Kansas Poultry Swap. They're really darling & she got two black & white ones this time, a big litter too.

Yeah we are planning to look around there. I don't have a district to stay in because the kids go to Catholic school. So it is just the driving time/distance that limits us. I am a country girl too and would love to live just outside the city on a couple acres and have as many chickens as I want! That is the same brooder I was going to get but changed my mind because I decided to go with the shed instead! When I told him I was going to pass he said he had someone else interested. That must have been you!

 

[HEChicken]

... our neighbors have had their house on the market for over a year. It's a beautiful house! Clean, no urgent upkeep, and has neat character. It has 6 bedrooms, big kitchen, wood floors, main floor laundry, veiw out basement, and 5 acres with a large barn that is entirely a shop, cement floors, with heating and a/c in it. I don't know why it hasn't sold-- I think it's priced reasonably.

Unbelievable! I think I know this house. It came on the market while we were looking and we looked at it online but didn't get a chance to see it in person. We had just been to see the house we ended up putting in an offer on, but if that didn't work out, the house you mentioned was our "contingency plan". How funny we might have been neighbors for a short time. Did the former owners keep chickens? I kept pulling it up to look at the pictures of it and in one there was a shed that looked like it could have been a coop but there was nothing in the description about it.

 

[Trish44]

tnt, I'm glad you decided to pass on the brooder, I really needed it! It fits the bill for me just perfect. All I need now is to figure out for sure what I want to sit it on & I'm in business. That is, when I get the garage cleaned out, which involves lighting a fire under my son's butt. When he gets his stuff out of there I will have a lot more room to use for my rabbits & chicks. I was thinking last night that I will be able to totally re-arrange things once his stuff is all gone, but in the meantime, it's really aggravating me.

Well I was going to go look at some rabbit hutches my friend has in Ark City this afternoon, but she hurt her back & had to go see the Chiropractor, so that kind of did that in. Hopefully she will be better tomorrow & I can go see what needs to be done to them to fix them up. I will need several more hutches to put out in the shaded areas for this summer. If I could get these I would have room for 9 rabbits out there, just what I have now. I haven't seen them in the daylight though, so I need to see what exactly is wrong with them.