Consolidated Kansas

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/678846/chicken-tunnel-need-dimension-advice

While trying to stay warm last night in this open air house, I bumbled into this site. It looks like some nice ideas. I will be dreaming of spring and getting going on some planting projects I want to do.

Does anyone know of any vines that make good chicken food? Something that is nutritional for the chooks and that they like. There is a method of growing that people put the plant inside of a wire "cage" and the birds eat what grows through the wire and the plant itself is safe from being killed out. A way to have greens in a poultry run. A small leafed vine started growing in the weedy part of my pasture, the geese found it and by the time I realized what they were so delighted to snarf down, they had it killed out. Wish I knew what it was.

 

[JosieChick]

Oh bummer, I hope the rest of the babies are ok. I would have been a wreck over losing power that long. Ours kept going in and out this morning and I thought I was going to have a melt down.

I am just sick. We lost power in the snow storm at about 3:30 am. I've been awake most of the time since. There was nothing I could do to get heat to the brooder. I could see thousands of dollars going down the drain. I called DH at work but it was 8:00 AM before he got home and could dig out a propane heaters to put in there. Not too safe for fumes but better than no heat. It just started warming up when the power came back on about 8:30. There was no way I could have dug around in the dark and found that stuff since he wasn't sure where it was.
Unfortunately I think I lost 4 of my white rock chicks. I have them in the house under a heat lamp but they were smothered by other chicks and it doesn't look like they will recover. It broke my perfect record. All of these 50 chicks I purchased for breeding red stars, including the baby red stars had survived up until now. I also lost one barred rock but out of the hundreds in there if that is all I have to thank the lord for not loosing more. I quite honestly was afraid I would have total carnage and loose at least a thousand dollars in money invested in all those birds.
The other problem is my incubator was off and it was getting pretty chilly in the house. I had eggs to come out today and I just hope it held the heat long enough not to kill them. The hatcher was ready but it has to get warmed back up as well. I guess I will just have to wait a day or two to see if any hatch.
I don't know where my dogs are either. I noticed the snow had blown in their dog houses and they had vacated them. The wind is just whipping in circles so there is no way to keep the snow out. I just hope Cloud didn't decide to whelp.
I bought a thermometer yesterday to check her but it is still in the car. By the time I got home last night I was too tied to drag the stuff I got in the house.
I do hope my other birds are okay.They are all staying hidden....even the ducks, except the silly geese. They were out playing in their water pan earlier. I am guessing it was frozen though because the heaters don't work with no power.
I lit the gas fireplace in the front room cause it was so cold in there. It really doesn't put out much heat but the front room is on the north and it is a super cold room.
I really am afraid for some of my younger birds that had no heat like my youngest olandsk. I just hope they all did okay. This really sucks. It makes you realize how much you could loose with just a tiny problem.

Oh, I bet you just worked yourself all up worrying. I know I was doing that this morning and now I have a tummy ache. It was miserable out this morning, I was freezing my tail off even in coveralls!

It would work so much better if the buy, sale, trade forum had the ability to be searched for particular items or location.
I'm not feeling good at all. I sure hope it just lack of sleep and stress. I am feeling sick to my stomach. I swear if my trip out to the real world yesterday, gave me the stomach flu I will probably never go shopping again! I was trying very hard not to touch things but it is so hard to shop. I had one cashier that touched my hand numerous times making change and it just creeped me out thinking if she did that with everyone the germs she could be spreading. Of course I didn't have any hand sanitizer with me.

I had another multi but I don't know where it went or remember what is said. Hmmm. I am trying to find projects for the in laws to do while we are away. Danz- How many treated 2X4s did you say you sandwich together to make posts for chicken runs and what do you put them together with? Sorry, I know you have this somewhere but I can't find it nor can I remember what you said the last time I asked!

Alright, I am out to check on critters again. Time to get suited up like the Michelin man. Sigh. I should move to Florida. But then they have hurricanes.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, I'm sorry about your chicks, I hope all the rest are OK. We lost power about 3 a.m. here, but it wasn't off very long thankfully or I would have had frozen water everywhere. My little chicks in the crate in the sunroom have a Brinsea Ecoglow to keep them warm, evidently it wasn't off long enough for them to get uncomfortable because they weren't carrying on down there.

It's really cold here today, the wind cuts right through you. We did finally get snow last night between midnight & one or so, enough to coat the ground & roof, but it's about all melted off now. We were glad for the moisture though, even just a little. I went out & let the free range birds out & they're mostly just huddled together at the foot of the hill by the light pole, they're favorite spot when it's cold. I took some water out, but will have to take more out later. I have to go get feed today, I have nothing to feed my birds at all, nada. I'm going to get my DH to help unload it when I get back. I just hardly can handle those 50 pound bags of feed with my back problems & arthritis.

Well everybody try to stay warm today, it's supposed to be back to the 50s here tomorrow.

 

[cubbysan]

Hi Everybody, haven't posted in a while.

My chickens did not like their first snow. It was kind of funny watching their reactions when I opened the door. Found out I definitely have at least one rooster. He was crowing like crazy, the good thing is that while he is in his house, it is not as loud as a thought it would be.

The new ducks, it didn't even phase them.

I am getting the bug for a few more chickens. Does anybody know where I can get some silkies or Americaunas? Anytime between now and spring?

Hope everybody is staying warm.

Chicken danz, I hope Cloud is okay. Keep us up to date.

 

[chicken danz]

I laid down and took a nap. I am still feeling pretty bad. I took some stomach medicine for acid reflux hoping it would ease some symptoms. I don't have anything around here to take for nausea. I just went out and let the rest of the chickens out of their pens but most of them are staying huddled in the coops. I shut one of the chicken doors on the d'uccle/ olandsk house so some of the wind wouldn't get in there. They are all huddled in there but doing fine thank heavens. I have the group in the chicken tractor that are all young birds and none of them were out. I have a coikie tin heater just outside the little house they could get close to but none are using it. I hope those goof balls aren't smothering each other.
About the only other catastrophe I saw was my midget albino turkey was outside by herself. I am sure it is too bright for her to see at all with snow on the ground. I picked her up and put her in the coop with the chickens but she started sneezing. I hope she does okay. I have no idea how long she had been outside. She needs babied cause she just can't get around unless she can follow the chickens.
The other thing that worried me is I saw Cloud out straining like she had to go poo but nothing was coming out. This worries me. She might not realize if it is early stages of labor. The dog house has a roof on it but no tar paper or shingles so I could put it to use but I can't move it. I would need DH to help me load it on a trailer and move it up close to the house. Plus I would have to move panels to set up a pen and they are all stuck in the snow and ice. I just hope she is a little constipated! She wouldn't listen to me cause she was looking for a place to potty. I guess I'll bundle up later and go check her.
Sure wish I'd get to feeling a little better. I just moved eggs to the hatcher. I did see some movement in a couple but none in a couple others. This was more white orpingtons from Hinksjc. Most didn't develop. I was afraid of that cause they were in the mail for 5 days. So much for priority service!
I haven't been back out to the brooder yet. I'm almost afraid to. I did have a couple of the white rocks recover that I thought were gone for sure. I had this bin in here up to about 100 degrees with blankets wrapped around and over it to warm them up. I guess it worked. They were gasping for air so I thought there was no chance. Praise the Lord!!

 

[Trish44]

Cubbysan, I will have Ameraucana chicks in the spring, wheatens, black, & lavender.

 

[mommahen10]

Danz, I really appreciate everything you did to try to find those cars for me. I still can't wait to see how he reacts to the color changers, he was dipping the cars again just yesterday as though they're going to do something different. You're right about the girls that age, that's a good way to think about it. My dd LOVES animals, so I will look that direction when we get out tomorrow. I didn't even think to check Walmart for a coat. They have the Dickies brand at Orscheln's too and they felt just as nice. We will find him one tomorrow for sure. He needs to be warm. Sorry about your car insurance, it's a bummer. How much snow did you get last night? We barely got any but some slush icy stuff underneath and some broken branches during the winds last night. Everyone is well though.

Maidenwolf, thank you for everything. I appreciate all of your help gathering things for my kiddos. It means so much.

Michelle, I think he's asking you for a date. That's so cute. I love it when they do their dance. At least he's trying to impress you and not being a meanie roo. I don't know if it's normal or not.

Hawkeye, sorry you had to deal with sick kids. That's so tiring. I had one throwing up all morning yesterday but somehow in the afternoon she just got up and announced she was better and she was. I'm so thankful that no one else got it. There have been times that it's taken a whole month for bugs to get through everyone. Sorry to hear about your roos fighting, that is a pain in the patootie. If it were me I would just give him some time in a small pen/cage and give him time to rest and see if he gets better. My EE miraculously started walking on her hurt leg, visible swelling and all and today she's back in with the others and you can't even pick her out of the group. I don't get it, sometimes they just get better so I'm going to suggest give him some time to see what happens.

Josie, all I can say is GRRRRRRRRR!!!! I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. Your house, your way, end of story.

Yup Maidenwolf, I think your roo is sweet on you. He's so pretty.

Danz, that's terrible about someone saying they didn't get their item. At this point, it's the responibility of the post office. UGH, I never even considered power failures. That's terrible! I still have extra brooder space, I wish it were easy to just pick them up and move them. I'm so sorry Danz. I think about that too with the germs. I don't like to touch hand rails, sometimes I use my elbow to balance. I think about it when we go to a restaurant and they handle money and then give you your cups. YUCK! I really don't like it when they stick they hands inside of the rim of the cup when they get them out. I used to ask for them to give me a different cup but it embarasses the kids. Now we throw away that one, it's usually just one and some of us will share if needed to avoid saying anything.

HEChicken, it seems there are some pretty ugly people on eBay nowadays but they're not all that way. You have to be careful and cover the bases. Definitely do what you need to in order to protect yourself. We listed a motor for a dishwasher and I marked it so someone couldn't say that it didn't work and return a non-working one to me. One time I bought a dress and it came frayed at the seam and I returned it for a refund. Before I sent it back, I took close up pics of the damage to the dress. She accused me of letting my dd wear it for Easter and then returning it which was completely untrue and she said it wasn't damaged. I sent her the Easter pic of my kids along with the pics of the damage of the dress and she went ahead and refunded me at that point. Always describe or over describe your items, always keep your pics until you know they won't be coming back to complain. I've never had a dispute against me but one time a lady tried to file against me 3 mos after a sale. I consulted eBay about it and they told me I was in the right anyway but they couldn't do anything because it had been too long.

I was expecting chicks to hatch today, but they came yesterday. I had a few pips the day before yesterday. When the pips obviously didn't progress overnight I inspected and they were all shrink wrapped. I have to put an end to this shrink wrap problem, it's my biggest issue. After realizing they were shrink wrapped, and knowing that my chicks always hatch early it put some pressure on me to help or not to. Of course I helped the 8-10 that were already hatching first, slowly with lots of breaks. I got those stable and started working on the others one at a time. ALL were shrink wrapped. All but 2 had broken the membrane inside of the shell and had their beaks out at least but not through the shell at all. They couldn't move. I found 1 that quit developing a few days before hatch, 2 died during hatch, the ones that didn't have their beaks through. I helped the rest of the chicks, so this hatch, every single chick I helped. I have 23 chicks, it was a long day. 3 chicks had significant yolk sac issues, a few had minor yolk sacs. The 3 that had big ones I really didn't think would make it. I put them back in the incubator, not the hatcher/incubator we just made. They would be disturbed less there. I just left them there to rest. One got loose from his shell and his yolk sac didn't absorb but dried. The other 2 were very stuck to their shell with lots of stuff in different directions, I've never seen that before. They remained lying on their side all night stuck to the shell. This morning I thought one was dead, but both of those the yolk absorbed but I had to cut a cord with scissors to get them loose. Now both of those chicks are learning to walk and I'm just totally amazed. They seriously couldn't get off of that one side. We propped them up at first and it didn't take long for them to adjust. Now they're eating and drinking, walking although wobbly. We will keep them separate until tomorrow morning to give them time to get more steady. There are another 2 chicks in the lively group, their legs look like they're doing the the splits. I told my dd that they reminded me of her. She was a breech baby and her feet were stuck by her ears for the longest time. We are doing exercises with them to help them walk with their legs together. We will see how it goes.

Considering the talk about power failures, I think I'll stop hatching until February. I mean a month old chick will better be able to handle mishaps like that than brand new ones. I'm hoping maybe I won't have to run a heater too. It's still nice to work in the brooder room even with the few heat lamps. My baby chick brooder has 2 lights, it's been nice when they go out they still have another spot to go to get warm. I still have places in the brooder room but not enough spots to continue to rotate them outside as they get bigger so if I wait until warmer weather comes and we can get more pens built I think it would be the more responsible thing to do.

Danz, I hope you get to feeling better soon.

 

[cubbysan]

Cubbysan, I will have Ameraucana chicks in the spring, wheatens, black, & lavender.

Please send me a PM when you have some. We bought two babies from a farmer here in August, but I think they are really EE's ( I now know better!) but they are the sweetest things. Now I want the real thing!

 

[chicken danz]

I just had to be right this time! I told DH when he woke up to go Pee that I thought Cloud might be having pups so we needed to get the dog house moved. Of course the tractor wasn't plugged in so we can't move it. He came running in 20 minutes later saying she went out to poop and dropped a pup in the snow. Then she went in the barn and crawled back in a bunch of stuff. Neither one of us could lift her. She weighs a ton. I finally grabbed her collar and pulled her while she skidded her feet trying to stop. I finally got Dh to push her back in and together we got her lifted into the truck, Then I drug her from the truck to the house. After she tracked mud everywhere and so did Marshmallow..(she of course had to know what was going on!) Cloud finally settled in the utility room. She has three puppies so far and seems to be doing well although the pups haven't nursed yet. I am just checking on her every now and then and making sure she is doing okay. Once she gets more settled I'll try to attach some pups. In answer to someone's question, no she isn't house trained. These dogs just don't like being indoors. If I have to I will clean up messes.
It will be tomorrow before I can get the house moved and a kennel set up. At least in the interim I know they pups won't freeze. I Just hope she doesn't have trouble like her Mom did.
At least it isn't Christmas day so I might be able to reach the vet if I have to .
I could sure deal with this better if I wasn't feeling so crappy.

 

[mstng67]

I just had to be right this time! I told DH when he woke up to go Pee that I thought Cloud might be having pups so we needed to get the dog house moved. Of course the tractor wasn't plugged in so we can't move it. He came running in 20 minutes later saying she went out to poop and dropped a pup in the snow. Then she went in the barn and crawled back in a bunch of stuff. Neither one of us could lift her. She weighs a ton. I finally grabbed her collar and pulled her while she skidded her feet trying to stop. I finally got Dh to push her back in and together we got her lifted into the truck, Then I drug her from the truck to the house. After she tracked mud everywhere and so did Marshmallow..(she of course had to know what was going on!) Cloud finally settled in the utility room. She has three puppies so far and seems to be doing well although the pups haven't nursed yet. I am just checking on her every now and then and making sure she is doing okay. Once she gets more settled I'll try to attach some pups. In answer to someone's question, no she isn't house trained. These dogs just don't like being indoors. If I have to I will clean up messes.
It will be tomorrow before I can get the house moved and a kennel set up. At least in the interim I know they pups won't freeze. I Just hope she doesn't have trouble like her Mom did.
At least it isn't Christmas day so I might be able to reach the vet if I have to .
I could sure deal with this better if I wasn't feeling so crappy.

Good luck! I'm glad you and DH got her inside!