Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Tweety - love what you did with both the greenhouse/trellis and especially the nestboxes - that is just awesome! Good job!

 

[Trish44]

tweety, the chicks really like sand to scratch around in. Your hoop enclosure looks good & you did a great job on that nest box, your hens will love it when they get old enough to lay.

ESP, I don't recommend the gravel under the sand unless you're going to do really deep sand. You will want to be able to scoop the poop out of the run & if you have the sand deep enough you can use a cat litter scoop with a long handle & a pooper scooper pan to sift through it, that's what I use in my run. I just go out every few days & scoop it out & the sand sifts right through the cat litter shovel. I couldn't find one with a long handle locally, so I ordered it online. I just think the gravel might end up being a hassle in the end if your sand thins out.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh - I forgot to add about the wheat grass. I think they will go NUTS for it - so much that you will have to ration their access to it, otherwise they will destroy it in no time. For growing medium, if you don't want to dig up your yard too much, perhaps get a 40lb bag of top soil from your local garden store/walmart/lowes etc? Top soil is usually not too expensive. Last time I bought some at Walmart it was 98c a bag, but that might have been a clearance where they wanted to get rid of the last pallet before closing their garden center for the winter.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye- I so admire your ability to work with wood. You obviously know the basic plus a lot more. I only wish I could know how to and be able to do the things you do so easily.

I only know enough to get myself into trouble and over my head! LOL My DH is the wood worker-- it's a hobby of his.

Hawkeye, do you go to Blair Doon vet clinic? My SIL tried to breed two of her horses last year and we were taking them there for ultrasounds. Unfortunately neither breeding took. On the one mare we weren't that surprised. She's been a great mom in the past but is getting up there in years now. But the other was only 7 so we were surprised she never took. We were actually taking her for the ultrasound to determine ovulation so we knew when to AI, and that's why it was all the more surprising it never took because three months in a row she was AI'd when we knew there were eggs and yet she never got preggers.

The horse in your avatar (I think you said that's your gelding?) is a dead ringer for one of the horses at our barn, only she's a mare. Every time I look at your avatar, I have to remind myself he's a gelding!

Honestly, it depends on the problem with the horse-- that decides where I go. When I have major trouble (internal issues--cancer, eyes, etc), I go to the Equine Surgery Center (north Wichita)-- that's with Dr Speer, Ryding and Kiser (I like Kiser!). But they are all awesome-- Speer came out to my house when my mare was rescued out of the bog and he put her on IV and did all he could for her there in her stall in my barn. When I just need shots and minor care-- I use Dr Joe Gosh and Troy Smith in Mulvane-- they are also really good with feet and leg injuries. I've also used Neilson (Augusta) for years-- he does AI (as well as the Equine Surgery Center). If I want a second opinion-- I used to go to Dr Brooks who is in RoseHill (before his accident). I wouldn't tell him I'd already gotten X-rays done or saw another vet... he's good at diagnostics, but I don't like his "bedside manners". So I'll have him do another round of x-rays and see what he thinks-- he was GREAT at diagnosing the impossible. Then if he's on the same page (or different) I'll go back to which ever vet I'm going with and have them concur. Honestly-- it's taken years of experience to know which vet to go to depending on the situation. I'd NEVER EVER just use ONE vet. They all have their strengths. Hopefully that makes sense!

Well I am here after all. My Mom called and isn't well. I guess I should be going to church myself but after being out all day yesterday I am a hurting unit.
. Tuesday I have to get some blood work and physical to try to get some life insurance. Then Tuesday afternoon someone is coming out to give me an estimate on my building. Maybe later this week I'll actually get to start building.
I am really needing a quiet day today. I've been on the go way too much.

Sorry about your mom! Hope she starts feeling better. We were bums today and didn't go to church either. That's a rare thing for us. But I'm worn out from the kids being sick this week. Your little chopper is adorable! I'll be thinking of you when you do your blood work. I know how anxious you are about it. Sooo.. are you talking about building a barn now???

Got caught up on all the reading,

I didn't go to Yates Center either, but went with DH to Fort Scott to the cattle auction. We took 10 head of calves up there to sell, and ended up buying a bull to bring home for the herd of cattle we are going to be bringing here to the home place. Price's were insanely high, like almost 1000 dollars for a 500lb calf!!!!

Anyway hope ours bring those prices. So, now, "Its hi-ho,hi-ho, its off to milk I go!!!! Got a bottle calf, and five kids to feed milk from 1 nubian dairy goat. I wish all goats milk like she does!!

That is a LOT of money for calves-- they better be super beefy. Wow. But it sounds like you had a great time at your auction. I think that sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ok, found the dose on here! 1/2 tsp mixes up 1/2 gallon at 400 mg

You can start with the Duramycin since that is what you have on hand. Give it a day or two-- unless he shows signs of being worse. The unfortunate thing about Duramycin is that it binds to calcium in the body and it just isn't very effective at all. I almost think if you dose them a bit over, it might work better, but it's not a good idea to over dose on purpose. I think in your situation you'll need the Tylan. Worst case-- you'll need Baytril. (injection) The Tylan can be injected or put in the water. Personally, I'd inject it just so you know exactly how much he's gotten. But the water soluable will work too--- it'll just be slower.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Oh - I forgot to add about the wheat grass. I think they will go NUTS for it - so much that you will have to ration their access to it, otherwise they will destroy it in no time. For growing medium, if you don't want to dig up your yard too much, perhaps get a 40lb bag of top soil from your local garden store/walmart/lowes etc? Top soil is usually not too expensive. Last time I bought some at Walmart it was 98c a bag, but that might have been a clearance where they wanted to get rid of the last pallet before closing their garden center for the winter.

Yeah, I've heard that they love it. I'm using an idea that my friend currently does. She has a three tray swap going. One tray is full and given to the chickens, One is in mid grow and the other one is just seeding, so she always has a full tray to give them each week with fresh wheat grass. Just need to replant the one that they've torn up.

So you don't think that top soil would be too awful? I'm just afraid of fertalizing chemicals that are added to some of them. I guess maybe the super cheap stuff won't have that, will it? I know the organic bags that I got (they were tiny too) were stupid priced for what they were.

I'm also thinking i'm going to create a small spot on in their run that will have a wooden border with hardware cloth so grass can grow up and out of the netting that they can pick on it and it will still grow in the ground.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Tweety-- your nest box looks GREAT!! Good job! You can add anything over the top at an angle to discourage them from roosting on top. Old signs, a piece of veneer, it doesn't have to be expensive or very sturdy. And make it steep. The hoop over your garden looks great. Are those the trellis's you're talking about that are hung on the privacy fence? That is really pretty. What are you thinking of growing on them? I want to try my hand at grapes soon. Great idea with the WheatGrass! Funny-- I take wheatgrass juice, I never thought of growing it myself. I think I still prefer to knock it back (in a shot glass) than try to eat it raw like that. I'm going to go ahead and put veggies in my garden this spring. I wasn't going to, since I was upset about the house... but I figure it will make me happy to get the garden growing and looking nice again this year. I have a raised bed-- I just used railroad ties and dumped in topsoil and mulch. It grows like crazy.

Okay, I got more done on my coop. In all honesty, I could have finished it today. But I didn't even go out there until about 1:30... and then even then, I was tired and just kind of took my time with it. I still have plenty of day light, but I'm done in. All I need to do is hang the door for the nest box, put in the vinyl floor and get the roof on. If tomorrow is nice, I suppose I'll finish it then. OH-- I want to paint it! So I guess I better get on that, too. I'll be back to post a pic.

 

[chicken danz]

Candace, Duramycin will only work if you aren't feeding calcium. If you are feeding layer feed or additional calcium it will block the duramycin so it won't work.
I personally would only give VetRX to all the birds at this point. You can just squirt some in their water if you aren't treating one individually. The only one I would give antibiotics to is the sick one with the swollen eye. If this is a virus which most colds and flues are, antibiotics won't do any thing but imbalance their system. You should only give antibiotics when a cold or flu has caused a secondary infection, like that swollen eye or more obvious labored breathing.
I looked for Tylan at Bluestem and they didn't have it, Candace. I found some at TSC though. It would probably work better for respiratory infections than duramycin does. but you can use that until you can find something else.
I sure don't understand the price of cattle around here. They should be going way down rather than up. The stupid things are starving because of the drought. I've said I should just take a semi to Texas and load up.
BTW, the white swan went for about $180 I think. The black swan went for $250.
Marc,
The next meet will be in Gardner. March 17th. If you really want to see some great birds and a great selection that is the place to go. Very organized and clean and everything is auctioned. No pre-set prices.
It's a little farther for you but well worth the drive.
In Topeka , third Sunday of every month there is an open swap at the North TSC. 9;00 till whenever. I don't recommend this one because no one checks anything and you get some pretty questionable people there.
Starting in April, the last Saturday of every month South Topeka off 75 highway there is swap at Premier farm and ranch starts at 7:30 and lasts until noon. This one is a good one most of the time.
I would like to try to organize a swap somewhere around Emporia because it is kind of a central location. I may work on that this summer some. I think it would draw a big crowd. Iknow none of these are real close to you but maybe it will help.

 

[chicken danz]

Oh I forgot something. Tweety you do very pleasant and appealing work.
Don't worry about fertilizer. It may not be chemicals at all. Most fertilizers are minerals and minerals are essential to life. Now herbicides and insecticides are an entirely different thing. Look for potting soils that say STERILE. That indicates they've been heat treated and hopefully all the bad stuff has been removed.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Okay here we go.... Like I said.. not a ton of progress, but the door is made (for the nest box) and would be on- but I need to buy hinges. I will be filling in the open spaces on the side of the box at bit more-- and maybe leave a bit open for ventilation. I'm not decided. It's not really "pretty" since I'm not working with new lumber. And it's been SUPER hard to try to make this work with what I have. I have a much improved opinion and respect for those of you that are recycling old wood or other materials. On the other hand.. it's been really fun to make this thing for nearly $0. I did have to buy hinges and screws. I'll be starting on my brother's soon. His should be a lot easier, since I'll be working with all new lumber.

Picture BELOW: I propped up the door I made so you could see it. No hinges, so it was the only way I could think of to show how it's going to look/function.