Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Yep you'd better get that brooder ready! I am sure you are super excited. That's awesome.
Chickies I raised shelties at one point in my life. I love the true little shelties. Some people raise some that look about half collie half sheltie and are bigger dogs. The tiny little babies are hard to find. That's a cutie. They are shy but spunky. I had one that I kept as a house pet. When she would go outside and come back in she would sit and bite any dirt off her feet at the door. She couldn't stand to be dirty. I loved that. I never had muddy dog prints in the house. She was the only house dog I have ever had. She had several litters of adorable babies for me. I had to sell her when my son was born because he had allergies to her hair. It broke my heart. Like selling one of my kids.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Chickies - she's adorable! Had you been looking for her for awhile?

Not really. I had one many years ago that was the best dog I ever had. I wished for another, but like Danz said, the good ones are so hard to find. This one just kind of poped up and almost like fate, things started falling into place and I have her. So far, so good. Time will tell.

 

[chicken danz]

My little girl was super tiny, she didn't even look anything like what most people call shelties. She totally confirmed to the show standard. She was registered and came from champion lines as well as the stud I used to breed her to. My vet actually owned the stud. That was the smartest dog I have ever seen. I swear she understood every word I said. I turned down several buyers when I sold her. I didn't want her to go to a puppy mill. I finally sold her to a retired military guy who just wanted a companion since his old dog has just passed. He used to send me letters letting me know how she was doing.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

My mom grew up on a farm. she suffers some memory loss do to some of her health conditions and this is bringing back memories that have been lost. It is so great to see her with the birds its like she is 20 years younger and she is so happy. She wants to jump right in and help. She is going to help build a bigger coop come spring, we are gonna need it. I will have 88 birds. And to think I started my own little flock in june of 2012 if that isnt a definition of chicken math I dunnno what is lol.
No lice this morning yay.. Since lice have to have a host should I still treat the coop? I did dust the coop but I bought a pyrethrin spray. I used poultry dust on the birds though it is permethrin

 

[Hawkeye95]

I lost my multi's so I'll see if I can remember everything!

Checoukan, first off, that is looking like a pretty awesome barn! SOOOOO envious! I would love to have that. I loved all the shots you got, you can see it's going to be well built. Loving the idea of the over hang, too! That will be great for all kinds of reasons.

Josie, TOTALLY get where you're coming from with the exhibition birds and people wanting to buy them for hatchery prices. It ain't going to happen.

Like you, I've spent a lot of money on my silkies. At Nationals, I considered myself getting a steal of a deal with only paying $120 for a pair of blacks. She had them priced at $100 a bird and I waited until the show was nearly done and saw that she was moaning about taking them home and I talked her down. I felt kind of bad, because these birds really were worth what she had them priced for. Also agree on having the two best birds you can get your hands on-- both being show quality and then still end up with some pretty crappy birds. For the most part, though, I'd say mine have been at least breeding quality. But I did end up with a few pet quality that I just ended up giving away-- like to HEChicken. Knowing what I knew about them, I felt too guilty about trying to charge someone for such a poor quality bird. Even though they out shine the hatchery quality birds by a mile even with their faults. I spend a lot of time on my ASBC club site learning all I can learn about the SOP for them, and what faults they can bring and either to cull or work with it. I've learned in silkies anyway, you can't fix wings. It just will keep popping back up again, and you must cull every time a bad wing comes up. (talking about twisted, split and slipped wings) I have another pet quality little girl that I can't seem to let go of, but she really needs to go. She is prettier than anything out there-- bigger crest, etc, but she has terrible wings-- they are twisted AND split and slipped! I mean it's the trifecta of worst possible faults ever. There's no way I'll breed her, but she's a pet. She also has a tiny bit of wry tail, which of course is also something that won't breed out well. Having skeletal issues like that are a bad, bad sign. I've had a lot of people contact me about birds or eggs. So far, my policy at the moment is not to sell eggs since I'm working hard on establishing a decent stock and when I get there, I'll reevaluate. I don't want to sell potential problems. I have been selling my breeder quality for around $40-50 which is pretty decent. I have better luck selling them at the shows so people can look them over and then I know they won't come back on me because there is a fault that my camera didn't pick up or I missed or develops later on down the road. This can be a really tricky business. Not that it's even a business for me-- it's fun for now. We'll see how it develops later on as I breed into better and better stock and continue to cull hard. Your Serama's are gorgeous!! Loved all the pictures. I'm with you-- I would never sell a nice breeding or show quality bird, but I need to get rid of my lesser breeder and pet quality, so that is all that I will have available. Keep the best, leave the rest.

HEChicken, loved all the pictures you posted of the chickens! I didn't even know you had Serama. They are cute! Love the picture of the coop. I know I've seen it before, but I think it's really a smart design.

Pikeman, glad things are settling down and you are back!

Duckies-- cute sheltie. I know what Danz is talking about with the really small ones. My friend had a really good sheltie, and it was teeny tiny!! It also was just gorgeous. But so darned tiny! It was a mess around her horses-- it kept getting kicked because they are typically herders and it would non-stop bark at her horses and nip their feet and try to get them to move. It also tried to herd everything-- from treeing squirres and barking like a maniac to chasing everything down that it could. It wasn't a "eater" in the sense that it was seeing everything as food, but it sure did want to chase everything. Otherwise, a very friendly happy dog that didn't know a stranger.

Danz, sounds like you are headed in the right direction with all the fancier breeds. I bet you'll have 4-H families breathing down your door for birds! I'm with you on seeing a lot of really bad and crappy excuses for breeds at our county fair too. The judge DQ'd a lot of them which upset families left and right. I'm going to have two meetings coming up in Feb for our Sedgwick Co poultry members and explain to them about PLEASE don't bring hatchery birds and please buy from breeders and actualy READ the SOP before bringing a bird and seeing if it meets ANYthing on there at all!

I'll be more gentle, but I'm still going to tell it like it is. This just can not continue for parents and kids to be in the dark about bringing just any old bird and then expecting it to win or even be the breed they think it is.

Michele, I LOVE that little shed/barn. Looks like the perfect chicken coop to me! I'd take it in a second for sure! I would also double check for eave vents and put those in and call it good. Or if it's a drafty building, it's probably fine. Also-- my barred rocks are the ONLY birds laying thru the winter. My Wyandottes aren't laying and nothing else is either. The Rocks are just machines. So if you want birds that will lay all year long-- go with them!

Mustang, very interesting about canning cooked meat! I never would have thought to do that. I'll have to remember that if I ever get into a situation where i have a lot of meat and need someplace to store it. Right now, my DH is against having a freezer because of the draw it will be on the electric. I'd like to get some broilers or meat birds to process but since I don't have a freezer, it isn't going to happen. I wonder how long it would take to cook them all, and then can it all. It sounds like a mess compared to just freezing them. Sigh.

Maiden Wolf, I'm glad you and your mom are enjoying each other. Nice that she is buying you chicks. Are they meat or layers? I would really like to stock up a freezer with meat! Oh and wood ash and DE will NOT kill mites. That was a discussion a while back, but I hope you don't think that either of those things will get rid of mites. Because it won't. You can pour on Sevin Dust and that WILL kill mites, but only if they come into contact with it. Your best best is using an Adams or Frontline drop (for puppies) and put a drop on the neck and at the base of the tail. The Ivermectin Pour On is also great-- probably even better than the other two. That would be the ONLY way you'll kill those mites. I can't imagine building a brooder in this weather. I did hear it was supposed to warm up, so hopefully it won't be so freezing cold out there. I don't envy you having to build out in the cold.

I have some silkie projects in the works and when it starts to get closer to Spring, I can't wait to get started. Going to work out a trade with another silkie breeder that trusts me and then we can get fresh blood lines for the both of us and get equally nice birds and hopefully be happy. I had already worked out a trade with a well known breeder in FL-- so I'll have to up hold my end as soon as it warms up! This all has been so much fun! Looking forward to everyone laying again.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Hawkeye- The chicks are from the special they are running the bantam special, pretty much a grab bag of all bantam they sell. I cant wait to see what I get.
The stuff I used was the prozap poultry dust. It seems to be doing the job. I will redust in 7 days to kill off the eggs that hatch and if it doesnt do the job I will do the ivermectin. Thank you for the info. I know the de and wood ash wont kill them. When I first saw lice I dusted them all with wood ash to at leasy try to smother a few before I could get to town the next morning. anyway after I dusted with the poultry dust and checked before roosting I didnt see any. Hopefully it has done its job.
The weather isnt too bad today just mucky because the snow is melting. Oh well it has to be done.

 

[Trish44]

I agree with Hawkeye, those barred rocks are just egg laying machines, through heat & cold or whatever. I also think the hybrids like the red stars, golden comets, or there are several that are sex links are really good layers too. My one red star I have left has been molting & still laying through that. The RIR & crosses of those I have also are good layers. If you want white eggs, the leghorns are really good layers & I'm pretty impressed with the one ancona I have left too. I'm still upset that my other one got killed while I was on vacation, they're harder to find than other white egg layers. I'm surprised Hawkeye that your Wyandottes aren't laying, mine have been, I have the gold laced, but they're just a different color. I will be getting the silver laced in a couple of months.

It's colder out so far today than I thought it was going to be, it's supposed to be warming up. The water was still frozen in my two pens I don't have heated waterers in. I'm going to have to figure out something for the new pens when I get them built. I hate having frozen water to replace all the time. My rabbit bowls were all frozen still this morning too.

maidenwolf, congrats on the new chicks, I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with them & with your mom building. That's great that you're re-connecting.

Well you all have a good day!

 

[HEChicken]

Hawkeye, I had to laugh that you played down Sevin Dust this time as it seems like in the past you were a huge fan. Is it for something other than mites?

A couple of months ago I noticed I had a couple of birds with bare butts. I examined them and could find no evidence of mites and, as it was also the time of year birds were molting, I didn't know if it was just molt or something else. I actually went out and got Sevin Dust based on your recommendation, and I used it on the birds with the bare butts, as well as sprinkling it liberally on the roosts. I just realized the other day that the bare butt girls are no longer bare but still don't know if they were just molting or if it was a parasite and the Sevin Dust helped.

Regarding the discussion on SOP and standards, I can second that Hawkeye produces awesome birds. The two I have that she bred are really beautiful in my mind - far better than what you get from a hatchery. And, as I only wanted them as pets/broodies, I didn't care at all about the faults that eliminated them as SQ or breeder birds.

 

[JosieChick]

Oh how strange. Glad it is getting around ok though! I have some lemon cuckoo orps that I think are inbred because they hatched with missing toes. (They will only be pets and layers in my flock) They have the strangest nubby toes though but they get around fine amazingly enough.

Speaking of ratty birds, I have a chick with something I've never seen before. This is one of the chicks the mamma hen has been raising in the greenhouse. I noticed it limping and it appeared to be missing toes. DH nabbed it and brought it in for me. All of his toes on one foot are dead. They had been there but they are black and dry and will definitely fall off. One and a half toes on the other foot are the same way. The others appear normal. So this bird walks on these little balls of his feet. Seems perfectly healthy and gets around well other than hobbling a little. The only thing I can figure is something either broke his toes or they might have gotten frozen off. It's obvious it wasn't a birth defect because the toes had grown and then died. I have never seen this before. It kind of reminded me of my rescue cat when she broke her tail before it dried up and fell off. It amazes me this little pullet functions so well. Had she not been raised by a broody she would have never survived.

Hahahaha! Sorry, have to laugh at the small town lumber yard. I hate it when we have to go to Ottawa for lumber because I feel like we have been robbed blind when we pull out of there! I know they have to charge more because they aren't close to the city but geez, it is painful!

HEChicken, yes it would have been even cheaper, but we're dealing with a small town lumber yard & I don't know if they even have OSB let alone how much it is. My DH found this lumber yard in Ark City where he has been going due to our truck being so old & not wanting to drive up to Derby all the time for wood. If I had been with him, which I will be next time I might have checked out what else they had, but as I said I wasn't along. He went down there for a hair cut & then went to pick up my wood. They don't have as much of a selection at this place as they do at somewhere like Lowe's, but it's only 10 miles away vs 35 to Lowe's.

Awww, I love shelties, especially the really petite ones. One of my girlfriends back east just lost her sheltie, Angel, a few weeks ago and she was just the loveliest dog.

Yep you'd better get that brooder ready! I am sure you are super excited. That's awesome.
Chickies I raised shelties at one point in my life. I love the true little shelties. Some people raise some that look about half collie half sheltie and are bigger dogs. The tiny little babies are hard to find. That's a cutie. They are shy but spunky. I had one that I kept as a house pet. When she would go outside and come back in she would sit and bite any dirt off her feet at the door. She couldn't stand to be dirty. I loved that. I never had muddy dog prints in the house. She was the only house dog I have ever had. She had several litters of adorable babies for me. I had to sell her when my son was born because he had allergies to her hair. It broke my heart. Like selling one of my kids.

Hawkeye- I think those black silkies you have you got for a steal! They are gorgeous birds, never mind not being split to anything else colorwise.
I hear you on wings, in a lot of breeds it is impossible to fix. In seramas the scissor wing is a product of creating the truly vertical wing set and can be bred out over time. It takes some work though. It is kind of the nature of the beast when you work towards have such an up and down wing carriage the feathers slide over each other. It will often be overlooked on an otherwise awesome bird when being judged tabletop. I would love to take a few of these guys and show them tabletop but they need some work and training.

Josie, TOTALLY get where you're coming from with the exhibition birds and people wanting to buy them for hatchery prices. It ain't going to happen.

Like you, I've spent a lot of money on my silkies. At Nationals, I considered myself getting a steal of a deal with only paying $120 for a pair of blacks. She had them priced at $100 a bird and I waited until the show was nearly done and saw that she was moaning about taking them home and I talked her down. I felt kind of bad, because these birds really were worth what she had them priced for. Also agree on having the two best birds you can get your hands on-- both being show quality and then still end up with some pretty crappy birds. For the most part, though, I'd say mine have been at least breeding quality. But I did end up with a few pet quality that I just ended up giving away-- like to HEChicken. Knowing what I knew about them, I felt too guilty about trying to charge someone for such a poor quality bird. Even though they out shine the hatchery quality birds by a mile even with their faults. I spend a lot of time on my ASBC club site learning all I can learn about the SOP for them, and what faults they can bring and either to cull or work with it. I've learned in silkies anyway, you can't fix wings. It just will keep popping back up again, and you must cull every time a bad wing comes up. (talking about twisted, split and slipped wings) I have another pet quality little girl that I can't seem to let go of, but she really needs to go. She is prettier than anything out there-- bigger crest, etc, but she has terrible wings-- they are twisted AND split and slipped! I mean it's the trifecta of worst possible faults ever. There's no way I'll breed her, but she's a pet. She also has a tiny bit of wry tail, which of course is also something that won't breed out well. Having skeletal issues like that are a bad, bad sign. I've had a lot of people contact me about birds or eggs. So far, my policy at the moment is not to sell eggs since I'm working hard on establishing a decent stock and when I get there, I'll reevaluate. I don't want to sell potential problems. I have been selling my breeder quality for around $40-50 which is pretty decent. I have better luck selling them at the shows so people can look them over and then I know they won't come back on me because there is a fault that my camera didn't pick up or I missed or develops later on down the road. This can be a really tricky business. Not that it's even a business for me-- it's fun for now. We'll see how it develops later on as I breed into better and better stock and continue to cull hard. Your Serama's are gorgeous!! Loved all the pictures. I'm with you-- I would never sell a nice breeding or show quality bird, but I need to get rid of my lesser breeder and pet quality, so that is all that I will have available. Keep the best, leave the rest.

Ohhh! Sounds like fun!

I have some silkie projects in the works and when it starts to get closer to Spring, I can't wait to get started. Going to work out a trade with another silkie breeder that trusts me and then we can get fresh blood lines for the both of us and get equally nice birds and hopefully be happy. I had already worked out a trade with a well known breeder in FL-- so I'll have to up hold my end as soon as it warms up! This all has been so much fun! Looking forward to everyone laying again.

A random side note because I don't use Sevin dust and don't have any experience with it but there is a species of mites that only feeds at night time. Yuck! I had it with my cochins and kept checking them during the day and couldn't figure out why they were scratching and one night I was out there with a flashlight checking on everyone and picked on up and they were crawling. Ewwwww!!!! I hate mites!!!

Hawkeye, I had to laugh that you played down Sevin Dust this time as it seems like in the past you were a huge fan. Is it for something other than mites?

A couple of months ago I noticed I had a couple of birds with bare butts. I examined them and could find no evidence of mites and, as it was also the time of year birds were molting, I didn't know if it was just molt or something else. I actually went out and got Sevin Dust based on your recommendation, and I used it on the birds with the bare butts, as well as sprinkling it liberally on the roosts. I just realized the other day that the bare butt girls are no longer bare but still don't know if they were just molting or if it was a parasite and the Sevin Dust helped.

Regarding the discussion on SOP and standards, I can second that Hawkeye produces awesome birds. The two I have that she bred are really beautiful in my mind - far better than what you get from a hatchery. And, as I only wanted them as pets/broodies, I didn't care at all about the faults that eliminated them as SQ or breeder birds.

Chickies-duckies- I thought I multied the puppy pic but congrats on your new baby! Very sweet little face!


Ugh, I feel like its just starting to finally warm up and now I have to go to town to get my car's oil changed and sit inside! Bugger, why does that happen. Lucie is driving me bonkers, she keeps barking early in the morning because she wants breakfast earlier because we have been getting up to do stuff on the weekends and now she thinks we get up super early every day. Dogs!

Well I learned an important lesson last night. Don't eat chocolate chip cookies right before bed! Baby must have been on a crazy suger rush because she kicked for 45 minutes while I laid there and tried to go to sleep!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Well I am short one heat lamp. My mom has my other and is bringing it sat with her. I have one out in the grow out she with the chicks out there but they are 3 months old now lol. I guess I just kept them nice ans warm. Now I am worried if I take it back and they have been using it all this time that they will not be used to the cold and suffer with the cold nights. Any suggestions short of buying one?