Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye I'm not sure what type of heart problem Jenny (Seramaslovers) has. She has to go through a bunch of blood tests etc.in the next few days or weeks. She is a tiny little thing and very very active. All I know at this point is she is scared and wants to live. That's why I figure you are the best person to convince her not to give up. You've been there.
Tweety I don't think she has posted since you joined us. She is pretty shy.
At any rate she has a big load of worry and she needs those of us who will, to pray for her health.
Karen I don't know how wet the sand was, but with the wind today you would think it would have dried it out a lot. I would be worried if it is very wet it would stay too cold. If you have a heat gun and can use it on the sand to get it hot and aid drying that might help.
Is that a 25 inch x 25 inch brooder? If so, that is a lot of chicks for that small of an area after a few days. You need one square foot for each 12 chicks. For 100 chicks you need about 8 square feet. Just stating the standard, not trying to be smart.
Honeycreek, have you considered buying some of those pullets from K-State?

 

[chicken danz]

Oh I forgot. TNT, I always have chicks of some kind.
And I got the last pup spoken for today. In fact they all have been chosen from pictures so if I can keep it straight they all have specific homes. Yipee!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Karen I don't know how wet the sand was, but with the wind today you would think it would have dried it out a lot. I would be worried if it is very wet it would stay too cold. If you have a heat gun and can use it on the sand to get it hot and aid drying that might help.
Is that a 25 inch x 25 inch brooder? If so, that is a lot of chicks for that small of an area after a few days. You need one square foot for each 12 chicks. For 100 chicks you need about 8 square feet. Just stating the standard, not trying to be smart.

Sorry for the lack of clarity: 25' x 25'. The sand is 12" deep and damp, no longer wet, with a dry layer on top. I will be putting a 4" layer of wood chips on top for warmth, plus they will have their brooder light box with two 250 watt heat lamps. They still need to be kept warm since they're only 3 weeks old. Today I turned the sand with a shovel so that the lower layer could dry better. (Yes, I am THAT crazy and determined) This is a concrete basement with a concrete top with a covered stairwell opening. It is completely separate from our home and will someday (soon?) support a greenhouse on top. It has two large daylight windows and plenty of ventilation from an opening for plumbing as well as the stairwell and windows. The chicks are currently enthroned in my craft room in a 10' x 10' enclosure but they need more room and I need my craft room back. Love those chicks but I'm not really all that thrilled to continue sharing my craft room.

I'm just wondering how dry the sand has to be?

 

[cherwill]

I don't have a good setup for hatching chicks, or even really for raising young chicks. We've done it and been successful with the chicks we've gotten, but it's kind of a slap dash deal. I'm living vicariously through ya'll with your eggs and fuzzies!

I don't think SeramasLovers has posted since I've been more active on the board so I don't know much about her. I'll certainly keep her in my thoughts.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, congrats on placing all the puppies, yay! I'm sorry about your friend, I hope she gets better. I'll keep her in my thoughts & prayers also. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the sale Sat. I hope the weather holds out for us & it's a good sale.

Well I was going to go out to the garage this evening & try to move more stuff around, but I got over to my granddaughter's house & I stayed longer than I planned. I figured that was more important than moving things. Gosh they grow so fast, where does time go, it's just amazing one day they're little babies & the next they're reading & growing like a weed. She is getting so tall, she's going to be tall like her grandma. That's what she told me the last time she was here & I think she is right, she's always been at the top of the growth chart for her age.

Well one of my little Lakenvelders is out again tonight. She wouldn't go in the coop when I left & when I came back she was already in somewhere for the night. I'll bet she got in under the eve of the house again, that seems to be where she likes to go if she doesn't go into the coop, silly bird. I don't know why this breed is so stubborn, none of my other chickens act like them. I'll bet she comes in tomorrow night because she missed getting to eat!

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Trish - MAYBE in time your Lakenvelders will calm down - maybe. lol I have 3 that are getting a little older and the other evening one, that had been "busy" when the others went into the chicken house for the night, actually followed me to the chicken house and stood by me to go in when I opened the door, I couldn't believe it. Usually they won't go in unless I stand "over there" and don't look, as they zip through the door.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Good Morning Kansas!

well, All silkies are NOT made equal. I must have the dumbest birds alive.

I went out to drop my oldest off at the bus stop this morning, and my little broody silkie moved off the nest with her one egg that I caved on letting her keep, and was sitting in a new spot-- no egg. The egg was cold. Sheesh. It's in the incubator now, and we'll see what happens. It's probably not fertile anyway. Zorro was trying to breed her when I was grabbing the egg and he was on her BACKWARDS!! I mean, seriously... world's dumbest birds live right here at my home.

Danz, does jenny still read this thread at all? Congrats on having all your pups spoken for! Your duckie really melts my heart with wanting to be with you.

Trish, sounds like you had a great time with your grand daughter. I'd rather do that too than move a bunch of stuff around outside. It was cold yesterday with that wind. AND guess what?! It blew over my little hutch I'm working on! And I mean-- lifted it and moved it like 8 feet! I can't figure out how the hutch moved so far. I looked it over and it doesn't seem broke, but I did leave it lying over since I didn't want it to be throw again in the wind. You always have lakenvelder drama, don't you? LOL I guess we all have to have something going on to mess with us. I swear God is up there laughing so hard at me being so frustrated by birds that can't be broody correctly OR learn how to breed. Crazy birds!!!! Are the pups getting any better yet with your coop/food/eggs?

 

[HEChicken]

Wow Hawkeye - so glad the little hutch doesn't seem to have damage but wow - it looks like a heavy little thing so I'm really surprised. It was blowing a gale yesterday though, and more wind coming by the looks of the forecast.

Tonya - sorry it won't work out for this year - I'll keep my fingers crossed your house sells quickly.

Trish - how old is your granddaughter? I bet you do have some great times with her. They grow up so fast, so I agree you should take the time with her when you get the chance. Chores can always wait until later.

I'll be thinking of Jenny. I didn't know her but went back and read a few of her posts and she sounds like a very sincere, fun person. I hope her health improves quickly.

Well....the last couple of days there has been an odd odor in my house. Kind of like the smell of broccoli cooking, except I haven't cooked any lately. It wasn't overpowering but every time I walked in from outdoors, it kind of hit me, like "what IS that smell?" This morning I finally figured out what it is/was. One of my corn snakes died. Naturally he was my favorite - the prettiest by far, and also, he never tried to eat me, which kind of added to the fondness. Sigh. He was 9 years old which is not old, old, but past middle aged, but still, I really have no idea why he died. I was kind of glad to find the source of the odor though and be able to remove it from the house. I have a feeling by the time I got home this afternoon it would have been much worse. Its weird though that the smell was more like broccoli cooking than "dead animal". The last time I lost a snake (years ago), the smell was overpoweringly a dead animal smell.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh - I meant to say.....thanks for the anecdotes about Lakenvelders, Silkies etc. That's one of the things I like about this thread - in some ways you find out more info that if you just go to the breeds database and read about a breed. I've always thought Lakenvelders were pretty but had no idea what their personality is like. And with Silkies, at first I didn't want them as I saw them as kind of "foo-foo" chickens. But once I heard about their tendency to brood, I decided I do want some after all and since then I've been reading more about them. Hawkeye, you're not the first to say they are kind of dumb. Oh well - I still plan to get some - but it sounds like segregating them while they're broody so they can't return to the wrong nest might be a good idea...

 

[chicken danz]

Naw Hawkeye your silkies aren't the only dumb ones. I have two females that lay but never sit. At least the little guys are non stop breeders and obviously have figured out which end to use, since before I separated them I had a load of half silkie babies. I bought a bantam cochin once just for the purpose of hatching eggs. She never hatched a single egg. She just runs around with the big birds and is part of the group.
wow Karen that is a lot of sand. It sounds like a great place to brood chicks. Being underground will help with the heat as well. I'm going to step out on a limb here and say with that much sand it is going to be a while before it all gets dry. But water will filter to the bottom of it. The wind is blowing crazy today. Maybe you could let it dry one more day. Or put a little electric heater with a blower down there and shut it up to cook some moisture out. Knowing me I'd probably have towels or something trying to soak up excess moisture.

I tend to lack patience.
I so understand being done with having the chicks inside. I keep saying I'm getting all the birds out of this house but then I hatch some more and I'm stuck again. And then there's the duck!
My DH is getting a kick out of him. I ran out to feed the puppies while ago and he and the duck were waiting at the back door for me. He said, "He heard your voice so I am was helping him find you. When he runs across the floor his little feet make a flap flap flap sound and it cracks DH up every time. Yeah so ducky had breakfast and is sitting peacefully on my lap. He took a nap with DH last night after he got home from work. I swear I really need to get my camera out and video tape him. He's hilarious.
It's really cold this morning. Feels like winter again.
My rug came yesterday and DH helped the UPS guy unload it. When we brought it in the house last night I noticed a big rip on the underside. #$%^$& I'm not sure if it will fray there or not. So I guess I'd better make some calls today and see what can be done about it.