Consolidated Kansas

[maidenwolfx80]

It is so cold today,,, we are going to have some awfully cold nights

I need to finish up stapling feed bags to the inside of the coop. All the birds are doing great. My little momma's boy ee bantam "Alpha" of course follows me and complains and wants me to hold him lol big baby... The Goddess chicks are 3 months old tomorrow and dont seem to be bothered at all by the cold I am proud of them. The littler ones yet are taking it like champs and running around playing. I have less to worry than I think.
Thank you again Danz for the xmas gifts for my kids they are loving them and thanking you every day. I love my little "Sparkplug" she is a wonderufl gift. I am taking pics soon to post I promise.
I hope everyone has a wonderful christmas tomorrow. You are all in my heart, anyone who is ailing I wish better and anyone alone I wish peace and joy. Lots of Love

 

[Trish44]

BRRRRR! I just got back in from feeding & watering & my toes aren't thawed out yet. I told my DH I need to get some insulated coveralls or overalls & he came out with a pair that are down filled for me. His company gave them to him when he was in the test cell because he had to work in a cold cell at times, but he has changed positions & no longer needs them, so he gave them to me. I will enjoy having those on days like tomorrow I'm sure. I will just have to dig out the thermal shirts I have to wear with them & my wool socks or I might borrow some of the ones he has that are even warmer. I had no problem getting my chickens into the coop tonight, they were more than ready to go in & some were already in there. I went out & the turkeys had dumped their bucket over & had no water & the poor rooster in his temporary pen had frozen water, so I carried out some warm water for those two pens. I also put another pallet up against the rooster's pen to help block the wind some more. Thank-you Sunflowerparrot for letting me bring home all the pallets, I sure am putting them to use that's for sure. I have water bowls up on them in every pen to get them off the ground & am using a few to block wind with & hold a door closed for the rooster pen so he can't get out. The pen has a house attached on the back & has a hinged door that I never put a latch on, so I just sat a pallet on top of it the other day when I put the rooster in. I hope I blocked it enough, but I guess I can put another pallet or two up on that one side of the pen if it's not. I did put some boards on top of the pen for shelter & a pallet to hold them on so the snow won't just fall all in there in his food bowl. I have been trying to figure out if there is anywhere else to put him for now, but haven't come up with anywhere. Now that the weather turned nasty I guess there will be no more work on the coop until it gets better, unless of course I can talk my DH into taking the doors into the garage to work on them. He knows I'm aggravated at him for messing around so long on this coop.

Well everyone have a good night & a very Merry Christmas!

 

[cherwill]

Okay, here are the pictures I just uploaded of what we did this morning. I made up the dough last week and have slowly been working on cutting out pieces over the week and then storing them in ziplock bags as I get them baked up. We made enough to 11 houses, although I still have tons of dough left over, but there are only 10 of us, so figured it was over kill. The kids each decorated their own house and put it together with royal frosting and then decorated it. Here is what we did:














The plan is to have Hot Chocolate tonight with our mini gingerbread houses and eat them with our hot cocoa! So it should be a lot of fun!

Those are the cutest things! I love the idea of having them with hot cocoa.

BRRRRR! I just got back in from feeding & watering & my toes aren't thawed out yet.

I know, and I have to go out right now. My older dog has to have someone go out with her or she just stands on the deck looking sad instead of taking care of business.

Stay warm everyone!

 

[sharol]

We have a 15 year old shorthair pointer/brittany mix who has to have company sometimes, too. He has severe arthritis and really hobbles in this cold weather.

I know, and I have to go out right now. My older dog has to have someone go out with her or she just stands on the deck looking sad instead of taking care of business.

Stay warm everyone!

 

[chicken danz]

Merry Christmas Everyone! You all truly are a blessing to me. Thank you for being here! Wishing you all the best!

Okay, here are the pictures I just uploaded of what we did this morning. I made up the dough last week and have slowly been working on cutting out pieces over the week and then storing them in ziplock bags as I get them baked up. We made enough to 11 houses, although I still have tons of dough left over, but there are only 10 of us, so figured it was over kill. The kids each decorated their own house and put it together with royal frosting and then decorated it. Here is what we did:














The plan is to have Hot Chocolate tonight with our mini gingerbread houses and eat them with our hot cocoa! So it should be a lot of fun!

Hawkeye love the little mini houses. What an adorable idea. Did you get the recipe and the patterns for doing it? I would love to have them. I could do that when I get together with my kids. Not that they are kids any more but they still like being pampered. My oldest son would want his on some of his home made beer though!

I made a mad dash to Topeka yesterday afternoon after DH left. I had looked on line and they were showing two items I wanted to buy one for him and one for my Dad were in stock in Topeka. I got up there and they didn't have either one. One of them had been destroyed because it was broken and they hadn't taken it out of the computer, and the other one said they had one in stock on their computer. The gal that was "helping" me was so rude. She said if we have one it would be out in the garden center. You can go out and look around. Of course the garden center is outside. There was no one out there cause it was all summer seasonal stuff. There was no organization and I had to wander around looking at the boxes that were out there to see if there was one. I was pretty disturbed by their lack of organization and her rudeness. So my trip was basically a bust. I ended up buying some stuff that cost 4 times as much as a replacement for the non existent broken item. I didn't find a replacement for the deck box they were supposed to have in stock. It was a gift for my Dad. I may just have to make one and give it to him later. So I managed to spend another $230 there and come out without what I wanted. I bought some dog food and some puppy chow while I was there which adds up in a hurry. My dogs suddenly decided they didn't like what I was feeding them.
Cloud went out last night and ate a ton of food and then threw up in the hallway...on the rug of course; which I manage to step in in the dark. Geez! I threw it out the back door. That should be fun to clean in this cold! It is a hallway rug so it isn't something I can stick in the washer. This was at 10:30 PM and I was ready for bed. I have been putting food down for her in the house but she thinks she has to go outside to eat. I guess that saves some messes but it would be nice if she could fuel up a little at a time rather than eat until she was sick.
I ended up hatching 4 of the eggs that had gotten cold. One of them hatched an almost immediately died. There are no marks or abnormalities on the chick. It just died. A second one has a cherry and I am leaving it in the incubator hoping it will heal and absorb. I just don't hold a lot of hope for those. The other two seem fine so far. I had some little d'uccle and olandsk eggs in ther but only one of those hatched. I am guessing because they are so small the got cooler sooner. I put 4 more mini eggs in yesterday that were developed but could only see movement in one of them.
I bought a new vaporizer yesterday so I have a spare to use for sick birds. I am very worried about my olandsk out there. They are all sick. My little hen in particular was doing really bad yesterday. I am thinking of setting up a cage in here and trying to get them well. I hate the idea of more birds in the house again. But I hate the thought of loosing them worse.
I have one gift to get wrapped some how...odd shape, won't fit in a bag and I can't find a box that will work. I need to go brave the cold and take care of all the birds. Then get in the shower and head for town. I really hate rushing in the morning. I don't know how long I'll be in in there. Hopefully Dad will get tired after a while and want a nap. I have so much to do here at home.

 

[sharol]

I hope your day smooths out for you. Try to take a couple of cleansing breaths (as they taught us in childbirth classes) and take it one step at a time. I hate rushing, too.

Have a good Christmas.

Sharol

***snip***

I have one gift to get wrapped some how...odd shape, won't fit in a bag and I can't find a box that will work. I need to go brave the cold and take care of all the birds. Then get in the shower and head for town. I really hate rushing in the morning. I don't know how long I'll be in in there. Hopefully Dad will get tired after a while and want a nap. I have so much to do here at home.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I just got back in from doing my chores. When I let the birds out of the duck house, there was fresh blood all over the place (on the floor). I let the birds out and was watching for which one it was coming from. It turns out it is from one of my new geese (an embden). I chased her down (NOT an easy feat) and caught her. It is her foot that is bloody, but without washing it off, I can't really tell exactly what is wrong. It looked like it was coming from a toenail or right next to a toenail. It is bleeding pretty good. Does anyone have any suggestion for what, if anything I can do for him/her?

 

[chicken danz]

Put some corn starch on it to help stop the bleeding then put some gauze around it and wrap it with some vet wrap or tape if you don't have any. Take it off when you think the bleeding has stopped.

 

[mstng67]

Merry Christmas everyone! May you all have a wonderful day!

 

[Trish44]

Merry Christmas to you all! Stay warm & have a great day!