Consolidated Kansas

[michelleml]

The shelter doesn't have a floor not sure on size I'm waiting on a reply. Danz concrats on puppies hope she does good caring tor them. I hope everyone stays warm its 14 here brrrr

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Danz- I'm sorry you were not feeling well and all this stuf happened. That is usually how it goes for me as well. Like you said moms dont have time to be sick, whether its kids,or animals they depend on us and sometimes let us know that at the least convinent time lol. What would we do without them though... I am glad the pups are doing well and hopefully momma is resting. I want to see pics. this is your pyrenees right? My all time fav and wish I had one. Hopefully if we ever get a home loan and can buy this place down the road we can get one, I would have a shelter for one down there. I thank you greatly for the mystery chickies. I found out my ds was alittle jealous about me searching for my dd a chicken for xmas and told daddy he kind of wanted a special bird too. I am giving him some of those. SSHH he doesnt know

Mommahen- I have lots of things ready for you and hope your kids enjoy them. I thank you greatly for delivering these precious chicks from Danz to me. I cant wait to give them to the kids. We all love our chickens and turkeys so much. Ya know one of these times we will have to meet up when it isnt so late. I know it is more of a rush when it is so late in the evening and we end up chatting lol. After the holidays I think maybe we could meet for lunch or maybe I could come and spend the day at your place and visit, maybe teach you guys how to make necklaces and bracelets.

Cherwill- I will snap some pics for sure. I am so excited they come tonight..

I need to better insulate my run were I turned it into a roost area for the turkeys. They have ice on their back feathers. Not alot, it looked like water droplets until I touched them. EEERRRGGG.. I need plastic sheeting but have run out. I dont know what else I can use. I have no tarps left.... It makes me angry that they were that cold.
The incubator is working so great. I am able to keep it steady rather well. I cant wait to see how they are developing when I candle on xmas day. I already see little things to fix or reinforce once this hatch is complete. I hope it works. I want to buy a thermostat. I am anxious about leaving on xmas day to the family xmas gathering in belton. I dont want to leave the eggs for that long.

 

[chicken danz]

Well the grand total is 11 pups. She did beautifully for a first time Mom and especially for being so young. I am so glad she didn't have problems that Marshmallow always had. Now comes the hard part. Getting her to get up and go out and run and eat. These darn dogs just want to be too good of Mom's. Next time I see all the pups asleep I am going to coax her up and see if she will go outside and go to the bathroom. She's pretty tired today but she was done having pups by midnight.
DH just got home and is going to sleep for a while then try to get the dog house moved over. I guess we will wait on the roofing until later. That means I am going to have to get out and pry kennel panels out of the ice and snow so I can set up some kind of kennel for them. The other two dog houses filled with snow so the other two dogs didn't have a decent place to go yesterday either.
It would be really nice to have a sweeter heater for the pups.
I noticed my turkey houses were piled high with snow yesterday and they were all sitting on top of the houses last night. Sure hope they did okay. It was 12 degrees the first time I checked the thermometer this morning. It's up to 18 now.
I am almost afraid to go check chicks this morning. I turned up the oil heater in the brooder a little but it is on a thermostat so it will only crank out when it needs to. It would be so awesome to have in floor heating for a brooder. It'd sure save some chilling. The little campine cockerel didn't make it. I don't know if he was the only boy I had or not. I honestly hadn't checked sexes. I only have 3 of them now. Sure would be nice to have a trio. I hadn't lost any as chicks. I have the windows completely shut due to the cold but if it warms a little later I need to crack one. I sure don't want mold or anything to start growing in there.
I'm feeling much better today. Still got a tummy ache but not nauseated. Must have been a 24 hour bug and it ran it's course. I even at a little soup late last night.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Well the grand total is 11 pups. She did beautifully for a first time Mom and especially for being so young. I am so glad she didn't have problems that Marshmallow always had. Now comes the hard part. Getting her to get up and go out and run and eat. These darn dogs just want to be too good of Mom's. Next time I see all the pups asleep I am going to coax her up and see if she will go outside and go to the bathroom. She's pretty tired today but she was done having pups by midnight.
DH just got home and is going to sleep for a while then try to get the dog house moved over. I guess we will wait on the roofing until later. That means I am going to have to get out and pry kennel panels out of the ice and snow so I can set up some kind of kennel for them. The other two dog houses filled with snow so the other two dogs didn't have a decent place to go yesterday either.
It would be really nice to have a sweeter heater for the pups.
I noticed my turkey houses were piled high with snow yesterday and they were all sitting on top of the houses last night. Sure hope they did okay. It was 12 degrees the first time I checked the thermometer this morning. It's up to 18 now.
I am almost afraid to go check chicks this morning. I turned up the oil heater in the brooder a little but it is on a thermostat so it will only crank out when it needs to. It would be so awesome to have in floor heating for a brooder. It'd sure save some chilling. The little campine cockerel didn't make it. I don't know if he was the only boy I had or not. I honestly hadn't checked sexes. I only have 3 of them now. Sure would be nice to have a trio. I hadn't lost any as chicks. I have the windows completely shut due to the cold but if it warms a little later I need to crack one. I sure don't want mold or anything to start growing in there.
I'm feeling much better today. Still got a tummy ache but not nauseated. Must have been a 24 hour bug and it ran it's course. I even at a little soup late last night.

So gald your day is better today. 11 pups wow. When time comes and I am ready for a pyrenees and hopefully you are still breeding I am putting in a request. I have alot to do today as well. Thank you again for the chicks.

 

[Hawkeye95]

My horses have a barn (3-sided shed facing east), but the wind was blowing in such a way that everything in the barn was covered in snow. The horses actually decided that it was warmer behind the tree line than in the barn, but they got snowed on out there, and it got COLD last night (wind chill got down to -13*F). Their body heat made the snow melt, and then they had water running off of them, which then froze again. My mare is 21 years old, and I"m afraid the move and the wide swings in temperatures are hard on her. I don't know that there's a whole lot else I can do for her/them though.

Just put blankets on them, they'll be okay. I've never had to blanket my young horses, but when they hit about 20, they just don't do as well as they used to. They certainly aren't over the hill by any means, it's just the winters are harder on them. I buy blankets in the summer/Spring when I can get deals on them. I also get them online when I can use coupon codes, etc. Anyway, feeding them grain will help keep them warm, too. I have a round bale of hay out there that they hang out around in the winter.

Our Christmas party/dinner for DH's shift went well. Almost everyone had seconds and some had thirds so I guess the food was OK! The car shopping is on hold for now even though my Montero won't start at all now. One of the guys told me I can't get the Liberty and when I told him I was the one who'd be driving it, his response was yes, but HE would have to see me driving it around town!

I even had a burst of good will the day before and made trees out of stacked gingerbread stars and royal icing for them to take home with them. I haven't done that in years.

I wish the sickness would go away, I hope all of you and your families get well and stay well. It's going around here in town still. My mom's sick and hoping she'll be over it by the time she has everyone over for Christmas Tuesday. I told her to delegate if necessary, but I'm hoping she won't have to. I'm so sick of trying to figure out food for family nights, holidays, parties, etc. Most of my shopping is done. I just need to get some oranges for my dad (he specifically requested them) and figure out something I can make for the neighbors. I think Mom is planning to just do the meal and not have us bring anything (unless she's sick), so all I need is to make the cheesecake and something else for the in-law Christmas on Wednesday.

I'm so glad your foodie party went well for your DH's coworkers! Sounds like a success! Sorry the car shopping is on hold. Very neat about the gingerbread trees! I've not had a lot of time to do much around here. My parents are here and the shopping, errands and kids-- all are keeping me too busy.

Well the grand total is 11 pups. She did beautifully for a first time Mom and especially for being so young. I am so glad she didn't have problems that Marshmallow always had. Now comes the hard part. Getting her to get up and go out and run and eat. These darn dogs just want to be too good of Mom's. Next time I see all the pups asleep I am going to coax her up and see if she will go outside and go to the bathroom. She's pretty tired today but she was done having pups by midnight.
DH just got home and is going to sleep for a while then try to get the dog house moved over. I guess we will wait on the roofing until later. That means I am going to have to get out and pry kennel panels out of the ice and snow so I can set up some kind of kennel for them. The other two dog houses filled with snow so the other two dogs didn't have a decent place to go yesterday either.
It would be really nice to have a sweeter heater for the pups.
I noticed my turkey houses were piled high with snow yesterday and they were all sitting on top of the houses last night. Sure hope they did okay. It was 12 degrees the first time I checked the thermometer this morning. It's up to 18 now.
I am almost afraid to go check chicks this morning. I turned up the oil heater in the brooder a little but it is on a thermostat so it will only crank out when it needs to. It would be so awesome to have in floor heating for a brooder. It'd sure save some chilling. The little campine cockerel didn't make it. I don't know if he was the only boy I had or not. I honestly hadn't checked sexes. I only have 3 of them now. Sure would be nice to have a trio. I hadn't lost any as chicks. I have the windows completely shut due to the cold but if it warms a little later I need to crack one. I sure don't want mold or anything to start growing in there.
I'm feeling much better today. Still got a tummy ache but not nauseated. Must have been a 24 hour bug and it ran it's course. I even at a little soup late last night.

WOW!!! 11 puppies is a LOT, right?? Is that typical? That seems insanely high! I hope everyone did great over night. I'm getting to be a pro at making those Cookie Tin Heaters-- I got 2 of them whipped out at like 10 minutes a piece! Seriously! LOL I hope you're feeling much better today and you'll be back to yourself in no time. I'm so sorry about the campine cockerel! That is so sad and I hope he's not your only one.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I need to better insulate my run were I turned it into a roost area for the turkeys. They have ice on their back feathers. Not alot, it looked like water droplets until I touched them. EEERRRGGG.. I need plastic sheeting but have run out. I dont know what else I can use. I have no tarps left.... It makes me angry that they were that cold.

I got some seed sacks from the elevator I buy my feed from. They are 4 foot cubes, made of the woven plastic like the 50 pound feed sacks are now made of, but heavier. With the ends out, you could have a 4' X 16 foot "tarp", and still have the two 4' square end pieces. One end has the opening to fill, etc, so might not be usable. They were FREE. I know of a couple of places here that just throw them away, and some farmers also have them. They are used to ship *seed* in, so when they are empty, they are not needed anymore. If you are interested in some and cannot find them there, if you know of someome traveling between you and the Topeka/Emporia area, I should be able to get you some. They are heavy and bulky enough, shipping would probably be more than just buying tarps.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ditto-- I also used my plastic feed sacks to cover up some pens!

Here is what I did last night:

Used a ceramic socket I bought at Lowes. (BTW-- I got both of these tins at Goodwill for 99 CENTS!!!) I already had the lamp nipples and nuts on hand. But the threaded nipples and nuts are CHEAP! And then I bought the white extension cord from Walmart for a little over a dollar. Cut the end off, separated it and carefully took an inch of rubber off to expose the wires and wried it to the socket. Thread your nut on the extension cord first, then put the cord thru the threaded lamp nipple, and then put on the other nut, and then pull thru about a foot so that you can screw on the ceramic socket just a bit and then push the wires thru and screw them down, and get your nuts on tight. Easy! I did them both in about 10 minutes a piece. Of course, I've made a few of these, so I have a system and I'm getting fast at making them.

 

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye Marshmallow had 10 pups the first time and 11 the second. Yep that is a lot of pups and really hard on the Mom to raise that many. I'll have to be sure Cloud eats lots of high calorie food. My vet suggested even pouring cooking oil in Marshmallow's food to give her more calories. Big dogs tend to have bigger litters anyway.
I am so procrastinating getting a move on things. I am feeling tired today after my stomach bout yesterday. I'm also not anxious to go out in the cold.
My chipmonks have been fighting the last couple days. I think the female is trying to take over the nest box the male has been using. They are so comical. I really need to do a major cleaning in their cage but it's hard to find dry bedding for them right now. I want to find some pine needles this time and see how they like them. They are said to be excellent bedding...even for baby chicks. Plus good at keeping odor down.
I guess I had better get in gear.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I got some seed sacks from the elevator I buy my feed from. They are 4 foot cubes, made of the woven plastic like the 50 pound feed sacks are now made of, but heavier. With the ends out, you could have a 4' X 16 foot "tarp", and still have the two 4' square end pieces. One end has the opening to fill, etc, so might not be usable. They were FREE. I know of a couple of places here that just throw them away, and some farmers also have them. They are used to ship *seed* in, so when they are empty, they are not needed anymore. If you are interested in some and cannot find them there, if you know of someome traveling between you and the Topeka/Emporia area, I should be able to get you some. They are heavy and bulky enough, shipping would probably be more than just buying tarps.

I use my feed sacks and staple them to the inside walls. My coop is made of old privacy fencing, not eh newer thick stuff. The slates are really thin. I dont want to insulate too much. I will ask my feed store in town if they have throw aways. I already have all walls covered. the inside coop part were the chickens sleep is warm but the outside was the run were I put windows and I have covered them with boards but I am going to have to cover them with soemthing so the drafts cant come in.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Geese can get themselves into some real bad situations!! But Honk is ok. Honk is my canada cross goose that sometimes goes fly about. She obviously decided yesterday was a good day to fly. I found her impaled on a rebar fence post late afternoon. She obviously came down and the rebar went through her wing. She is tame and didn't fuss one bit as I lifted her up and off the post. She is big enough if she had struggled I don't know if I could have handled her, but like I said, except for a hole in her wing, she if fine. The wing should heal with no problems.