Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

I got really lucky this evening & got several pieces of free guttering, so I'm going to pick up some end pieces tomorrow when I'm in Wichita & make myself some feeders out of them. The lady was planning to take them to the dump, so I got them just in the nick of time. These should work great for that fermented feed I'm cooking right now that should be ready to feed tomorrow. We'll see how my chickens like the FF, I'm guessing after they get used to it they probably will like it fine, especially if that's all they get to eat. HEChicken, how did you attach your feeder to the wall? How long is your feeder? I plan to put mine outside in the run so it won't be so messy inside since it's wet feed. I will have to attach it to the fence in my outside pens. I'm hoping my turkeys will like it too because they have been getting kind of picky lately about what they want to eat. They don't want to eat the gamebird feed even if I wet it & make a mush out of it. I'll be glad when spring gets here & they can go out more to free-range. There just isn't much right now out here for anything to eat. The guineas come out for awhile & want back in.

I installed mine onto the OSB inside the coop so I just used the gutter brackets they sell at the same part of the store they sell the gutters themselves. It was literally a 2-minute job - just screw the bracket onto the wall and then the gutter snaps into it. I think I used 3 brackets and they hold the weight of the gutter and food just great. However if you are installed on the wire of a run, I think you would need a different way to do it. What might work is to drill a hole at the front and back of the gutter and thread some wire through both holes, then around the gutter and out the fence to be tied outside. I don't know if that description makes any sense? An alternative would be to build a little stand for the gutter to sit on.

I don't use mine for wet feed but just for pellets, and I like it because it is deep enough they can't bill the feed out. I don't know the length - I cut it to fit precisely into the space I have for it - maybe 4' long?

Hawkeye and Checoukan, that is the pits to be sick for so long. I hope you get to feeling better soon. The flu this year seems to be a bad strain. I have another friend who has not been herself for more than a month also.

Prairieblue, welcome - jump on in - what breeds do you have?

 

[chicken danz]

Welcome Prairie Blue. Pull up a chair and join in. Most of us here are friends and or quickly become friends.
Checoukan I've been selling birds to 4H kids for some time. I still plan to. But some of these exhibition birds come with a hefty price tag of like $150 to $200 each. I just initially can't afford to sell them for cheap. I sold tons of the Q tips to 4 H kids and many of them got best of show or something with them. One of the got grand champion over all in Nebraska at the state fair and a second one shown by the same family got best of breed.
That made me darned proud.
I will still have some cochins and some of the other breeds that have done really well for not coming from fancy stock though and I will end up selling a few of the really pricey birds to a couple families that have come back year after year and have always done well with my birds. And I've even given some of these birds to the kids for free just as long as they promise to take care of them and show them themselves. When they need a bird I know they will call.
I just had a call from a guy and he had seen pictures of the pups on my facebook page. He was trying to deal birds but wants to buy a pup as well. Awesome!!!
I am getting rid of an excess rooster as well that I really needed to get out of the pen.
I spent a good deal of my afternoon taking apart kennel panels and dragging them across the yard. I finally came up with a plan to use the old travel trailer without having to do a bunch more work to it at least for temporary grow out housing. I set up some kennel panels and DH is going to pull the old travel trailer in alongside my turkey pens. He will take the wheels off and set it on concrete blocks. There will be space underneath that the birds can go to get in the shade and the pen around them. I won't have to rebuild the walls or the floors that way cause they will be protected in the pen. I'll just put up the front panels and put netting over the whole thing and they'll have a decent grow out area. I am pretty happy about this. I will actually have some brooder space again! It probably will look pretty ghetto but it solves at least one space problem for awhile.

 

[checoukan]

hechicken~~I have a very generous husband, what ever I usually want to do, I usually get it. Within reason. Trish has been in my current barn, and it is not much. I'm surprised that I have been able to do what I have in there. I'm going to have double space, running water on the inside, a sink, my hatcher, incubator, brooder. training pens in my work room, along with all kinds of cabinets for storage. Going to have a small fridge in there. I'm even going to have a shelf, or something with all my books and publications. I even going to take my 4H books out there. It is going to be so nice to have "everything" all together in one room. The way it is now, I go from the house to the garage, to the barn, to the old outside barn, back to the house looking for things I need, that I can't keep together because of space limitations.
All birds are going to be on the auto water system, and auto feeders. I'm even thinking about getting some auto grit, oyster shell feeders I seen that look like they would work super nice.

Beside the chickens, I will also have a place to put my lawn and garden stuff, and the other thing that will be inside on occasion are these guys when they are born.

These are the newest babies I have right now. Silly little goobers!!!
So at times the chickens will have babies to watch, but not too long, as I don't want to have to clean the barn out a lot.

hawkeye~~Dr. put me on ciprofloxacn, seems to be working. I am coughing still, but I am bringing "stuff" up now. I have 8 more days of this med. I talked to Ivy, and she said that is what they put her on when she has bladder/ kindey infections. She said this stuff is for bacterial infections. I don't know, I just want it to work!! Oh, by the way, the Pryor, Ok show is march 2nd. Entries close Feb. 9th. I may try to go and show some of the younger girls I have and see how they do. They were too young for Nationals, and Hutchinson. This is an bantam only show, limited to 500 birds.

prairieblue~~

and consolidated Kansas!! We have a wonderful group here, don't be afraid to ask a question! If you have one we will go a very best to help you get your answer.

Trish~~ I was doing the wet feed with ACV with the mother in it. Took a couple of days to get the birds started, but once they got to eating it, wow they took off eating the wet feed real well. But, since I have been sick, and its been so cold, I have not mixed any up. Just did not feel like messing with it. I need to get started again, sure did cut down on the amount of feed I was using tho.

 

[checoukan]

Oh, hawkeye, I have got to get a picture of the paint silky I have!! Talk about a funny little fuzz butt! Out of Bobbie Porto's line. This chick has the funniest headress you ever seen!!

 

[Trish44]

HEChicken, in the outside pens I probably will just sit the guttering pieces on some bricks to give it some support & then wire to the fence, that sounds like the best way to do it that I can think of. I have bricks stacked up that I got recently, it seems like I'm always needing some for something. I think the guttering will work awesome though, I'm glad I finally found some, I was just going to go buy some, but this just about fell in my lap today. How awesome is that? I also will be getting some free tin for my goat building should I decide to get a couple & some free wood from the same lady, I love freebies!

Checoukan, I'm glad to hear someone else has been doing the FF & it has been working. Anything good for my chickens & cutting down on feed sounds great too, mine have been pigs lately. There isn't much around out here right now for them to free-range on. We have had such a drought here & with winter too, it's pretty sparse pickings. I see you have boer goats, that is what I'm thinking of getting, just a couple does to have for brush control here. My DH isn't totally convinced yet, but I think I can win him over soon. Do you have much trouble keeping yours in, I had read that the boers were easier to confine than some breeds.

 

[mommahen10]

Hi all!!!! Long time no see! Things have been just way too busy around here but I'm expecting things to settle down now. My very pregnant daughter came home from Colorado and we had a great time, I think seeing her only made me miss her more. I'm going to Colorado in March for the baby's birth. I'm excited and very anxious about leaving at the same time. My youngest came down with something last night, he's running a high fever and has started coughing. I have to admit that I'm pretty scared this time just knowing how bad the flu has been this year. So far, no one else has had it. It's been 2 years since our family passed around the flu and I'm bracing myself. I guess it's better now than in March when I will be gone, I would be a mess if my little ones were sick while I was away.

Josie, we had a house that was over 100 years old before we bought this one. It was my dream house, I so wished we would have tried to move it out here. Then we would have the house and the location. We too had old plaster, one of the rooms was really bad and we removed all of the old plaster and put up sheetrock. It made the baseboards not fit tight because the sheetrock was thinner than the plaster so we added some pretty corner pieces to fill it in. It still looked nice and we kept as much of the old wood as possible so I felt better about it. We removed all of the woodwork before putting up the sheetrock though, so we didn’t have any issue with the window trim fitting back on. We marked each piece as we removed it so we could put it back where it was. I see that you decided to keep the plaster, we repaired plaster in a couple of places that had unsightly cracks and even where people before us had just added to the cracks so it looked like a huge hump on the wall. I like the way you described to repair it. We knocked it out as gently as possible and filled it back in. It’s hard to achieve the same texture. In one room we went over the plaster entirely and added our own texture so we didn’t have to match it. The smaller places that were damaged I remember using crumpled newspapers to fill in bigger holes and then mud over that. I have to agree with Danz about the wiring though, that would make me feel better to know that it was all replaced and know that it was safe.

Danz, I had to laugh about you talking about if he picked up all the tools laying around. When I’m outside, I pick up all kinds of things. I pick up any screws, nuts, bolts, washers, tools of any sort, trash and anytime I see glass I pick it up. The tools and such I always just put in one pile on the bench in the barn, or if they blocked the path I’ll put them on the shelf. Then they of course can’t find what they are looking for and are agitated that it’s not where it belongs, yet I have no idea where it belongs and they’re lucky to at least have it in the barn. For heaven’s sake, I pick things up out of the grass and dirt. I’m sure it’s mostly the boys leaving things around but still. They’re in the process of reorganizing out there too but it’s because the brooder room got them started and now the wiring for the nugget coops are going to go through the barn so they have to clean up that area. These chickens are a blessing in disguise I tell you. Holy cow!!! Those puppies are such cute little roly polies. They’re adorable. I’m so glad they are doing so well.

Sunflowerparrot, congrats on your hatch. What are the two dots for on your eggs? That is an amazing story about your pup. I'm so glad that he's doing better.

Frizzledpink, I love the AWWWW pics, those eyes get me every time.

Checoukan, it’s so good to see you!!!! I’ve been wondering how you were doing. I’m sorry you’ve been sick too. Your barn is coming together so nicely, you are really going to enjoy it I'm sure. That is definitely going to be a blessing.

Ppimf, I hope you find the ducks you are looking for. I always feel like I’m ignoring you but I just don’t know about ducks. We only have 1 duck and I don’t even know what kind he is. He thinks he's a chicken though.

HEChicken, during an ice storm about 10 years ago now we lost power for 4 1/2 days and at the time we had a freezer full of beef. We had just picked it up from the butcher a couple of weeks prior. We wasted nothing. Because it was an ice storm, we put chunks of ice into coolers to slow it down from thawing. I started cooking as much as I could and putting it right back on ice. I used my stock pot and my canner. By the time the electricity came back on we were ready to put it all back into the freezer. Every bit of it was eaten later. I think it was mstng who was talking about canning meats, I haven't tried that yet but it's definitely on my list. I like the idea of not having to worry about it staying frozen.

We put an ad on craigslist that we were looking to buy fresh milk. We used to buy it from a neighbor’s dairy but they sold out. You could ask at any local dairies but I think they’re not supposed to sell milk. Our ad on craigslist produced several calls but we found a very close by neighbor who was going to buy a dairy cow. Since then he bought 2 more so it looks like we’re going to keep getting our milk there. Yay! He let me set my price, I told him I was getting it for $3 at Sam’s which was true so that’s what I’m paying. I pay him for the whole month the beginning of the month so I think that’s a benefit to him too. They wanted to pasteurize it, I asked that they not do that and they don’t skim off the cream so we’ve been making butter too but not enough for us. We don’t use margarine at all so we are still buying some butter. So we have fresh milk from the neighbor, veggies from our garden, eggs from our chickens and some of our meat is coming from our chickens too. That doesn’t leave a whole lot to buy at the grocery store.

Josie, you could just refuse the test. I mean really, they are testing your blood sugar at intervals after eating something with so much sugar which could never compare to what you would eat normally anyway. You could always ask for the other test, I can’t remember what it’s called at the moment but it averages your blood sugar for the last 3 months. Or, you could just check your blood sugar at fasting and after a normal meal to see how you are doing under normal circumstances. I despise that blood sugar test, it always made me sick because it dropped my blood sugar so low. I just started refusing it all together. It doesn't make sense to me to eat an abnormally huge amount of sugar to see how your body responds. It's not normal circumstances, why not check it under normal circumstances and see how your body is doing?

Hi Pikeman. Things have been crazy around here for us too. I’m looking forward to finding normal again and maybe settling in for the winter and getting some inside things done I hadn’t had time to touch while being outside working so much.

Maidenwolf, I had to laugh. Yup, your chickens are spoiled rotten, much more so than mine. You spend a lot of time with them too. I'm excited for you getting the chicks on Friday and spending time with your mom, that is priceless. I hope this is the tip of the iceberg and you two will have a meaningful relationship for many years to come.

Michelle, that looks like it will work great for a chicken coop!

Josie, soon you will have a child who can run out and get that egg for the cookies for you. I’m sure 'she' won’t mind at all looking forward to those cookies. I actually must have missed something, I swear I read every single post. Maybe I read it and just forgot, not that I'm forgetful or anything. (not) Anyway, you're having a girl? I love baby girls, um.... I really just love babies. People babies, chicken babies, kitty babies. Maybe not baby snakes or spiders though. People babies are my favorite and girls, they're just so fun to frill up. I'm sure you won't forget that girl babies like to get dirty too though. So, what's next? Do you have a name picked out? I hope you aren't wearing yourself out too much with all of this back and forth traveling and moving. I'm betting there is no way around it, it's just exhausting.

Danz, I’m with you on the culling. I see every little chick as a life that I am thankful for. They are useful in some way. I don’t feel like I have a right to choose which ones live and which ones don’t. What’s SQ?

Hi Prairieblue! Welcome to our thread. I'm glad you able to have your chickens. What kind do you have?

I'm going to start getting confused I know, we have Kansasprairie, Prairiechickens, and now Prairieblue. All cute names.

Trish, that's so nice that they are having a benefit for Dana. She is beautiful. I don't like to comment about it because it hurts me. I have been praying for her and your son, and I know the pain. I lost my brother over 2 years ago and I still miss him every single day. My brother is the reason that my oldest son is still in Louisiana. It's just unimaginable to lose someone so young and strong and just beginning their life, let alone someone so close to you. On one hand, I want to only be encouraging and not tell sad stories so I stay quiet, yet it may look like I'm not being supportive. On the other hand, I want you to know that I am reading and paying attention and my heart goes out to you and your family. Thus, I thought it was best to explain a little.

My little one is beside me asleep and he's still burning up, this makes 24 hours. If the fever doesn't break by tomorrow I will have to take him in. He's still eating and drinking enough, not well but something. Yesterday my ds told me that a hawk flew out of the layer coop when he went in. I'm not sure that he's not pulling my leg because he doesn't have responsibilities over there. We divided up who is doing chores in which areas, this way I know who to go to if something is forgotten, not that we've had an issue like that or anything. BUT, the day before yesterday the same ds was working at the table and saw a bobcat walk by the driveway and I saw his face as he noticed it and I believed him because he was just shocked at what he saw. I saw it, but not enough to identify what it was. That night, I woke to a scream. I was panicked because i thought someone was hurt. It was 12:07pm. I heard the scream again 2 more times, it was directly outside my window and the dog started barking furiously. Then yesterday morning we identified big cat tracks right where I thought I heard it so I'm pretty sure that's what it was. I just didn't notice that he hurt anything or got into any pens. Maybe the dog was enough to scare him off. Last night was very quiet.

I have been fermenting feed with my bread starter still. I just wish I had more buckets. It seems they are getting fermented feed every other day. It's funny though, the feed bubbles and fizzes and you'd think it was simmering on the stove it's so bubbly and it smells fermented. I'm using my big bowls. I would need about 4 buckets to do enough to feed them the fermented feed 2x per day. I will definitely keep buckets on my list. I really want to check into buying bulk feed, it bothers me that I have no idea what's in the pellets. I just feel so intimidated about calling. I have no experience with that at all. I'm just sure they're going to laugh at me. I want to know what they are eating though so I will have to pull myself together on that one. We have enough storage space for 1500 lbs of feed, so I would need to increase that. We are also feeding a few pigs so it would be nice if I could feed them all the same thing or mix the feed how we need to here.

I'm rambling, so... g'night.

 

[JosieChick]

Could you try backing it off for a couple days so it gets cooler gradually for them before you pull it entirely. I assume at that age they will be fine but it is supposed to be so cold next week I would hate for them to be stressed by losing their heat then the sudden cold snap?

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?

Hahahaha! This sounds like it would feel bizarre! I was sitting at the dealership while my car was getting it's oil changed and she kicked so darn hard I jumped in my seat! I was glad nobody saw because sometimes I imagine I look like I have just seen a ghost. The weirdest thing is when she stretches really hard and pushes out in all directions! I could feel a wrist or ankle last week, that was wild. I felt this hard push and when I reached down I could feel roundness like a wrist that I could put my fingers around! Having a baby inside you is just the craziest feeling.

Oh, Josie, that brings back the memories!! My DD used to get her feet on top of my ribs. It didn't hurt, but is sure looked funny when she did it!!

She was just expressing how much she liked those cookies, Josie!!

She sure did!
My problem with the exhibition birds is that I don't want to price myself out of the market. I want to keep a few nice quality although not necessarily SQ birds around because I have a lot of customers that just want eggs layers and a few pretties to run around the yard. At any rate most will be hopefully better quality than what you can get from a hatchery or Orchlens.
My other projects aren't as much about showing as they are about preserving heritage and rare birds. And I have to keep a large egg supply coming in for eating eggs.
I'll cull out obvious faults or sell or give them away as pets only. But l just can't kill a bird simply because it doesn't meet the SOP. I can't either. I have heard of breeders having expert breeders out who walk through their pens and break the necks of birds not deemed fit for the program. I couldn't do that. I usually can place hens for cheap and butcher roos for meat. I can't waste a bird, even a tiny bird we will cook and feed to the dogs so it isn't wasted. I hate to butcher boys that are sweet and would be a good roo but there are only so many people out there that need a roo so I figure it is better to live a good life and be useful, even if its in the soup pot. I have a bantam cochin boy out there now that is going to have to be butchered, I have tried to give him away several times with no luck and he also got into a huge fight with one of my very important black cochin cockerels a few weeks ago and really beat the tar out of him and tore up his face so he has worn out his welcome.
If someone wants eggs or meat the bird has a purpose. Very true. Even pet quality birds are important because people really enjoy them. I have a sweet little serama girl that I think I have a great home lined up for. She has terrible wry tail but is just the sweetest little thing and a great broody too.

WOW! That barn is fabulous.

Well, I forgot to up load the new photo's on the progress on the barn.
First photo, is of the south side again. This barn in gong to have 4 overhead doors for summer ventalation. Also so I can back in and unload feed, or what ever I need to do.

you can see the door opening on the left down the side of the barn. As you can see DH would not put up the last 5 rafters. He wants them to go ahead and pour the concrete for my office/hatchery room. Leaving the last 5 rafters off will make it easier to get a cement truck backed in.
This picture show the placement of the west overhead door and the wideth and the rafters. You can see where the north overhead door is going to be. I will also have a walk in door to the left of the north overhead door.

It is next to impossible to find clean blacks with no gold leakage in the males. The females will show up clean... but the trick is to have the males show up clean, too. Which my new ones do. I can breed them this year, but will need to find another nice black so I don't in breed my line. Oh the scissor wing! We call it a slipped wing-- it just means exactly what you said-- that the feathers don't stack right. I bet they have different terms for different breeds. Slips aren't as bad as a split or twist-- those are just impossible.
SO CUTE hearing about how the baby got really active over the sugar rush! Gosh, I remember that too. Aww, cherish it, it will be such a wonderful memory later.

I don't know if I said, but I saw my Dr yesterday, I gave up. He put me on another antibiotic too. I hope yours works! I'm hoping mine works, I'm so tired of being sick. I now have an infection that went into my inner ear and is causing me to be dizzy and nauseated all day long. I woke up this morning around 5am in a panic and thought I was going to throw up. I got out of bed and instead realized I was going to pass out. My DH freaked, he was just getting out of the shower and I think my heart was acting wonky, because I had one of those heart seizures that scares everyone. It looks like a seizure, but it's not. I've done it before, and my cardiologist ran all kinds of tests even though he pretty much knew that is what it was. I've been having arrythmias and I think it's due to the bacterial infection I have in my inner ear. It just keeps getting worse. Which is why I've been on the internet most of the day-- I've been trying to lay down or sit down so I don't fall down. Watching TV makes me dizzy. But this isn't so bad. Oh man! This sounds scary. Hope your antibiotics help very soon!
I think that's really neat that your plans are to work with the endangered birds. I know that Revolution Mama Ranch does the same thing. Your barn is coming along quickly!! I can't wait to see it all done! You'll have to give us a virtual tour.

Welcome Prairieblue! Just jump in and if you get behind just pop back in where you can, sometimes this thread goes ninety miles an hour and it is impossible to catch up!

Hello Consolidated Kansas! Have been on BYC off and on the last couple years, but just found this thread (actually just spent the last several hours reading the posts on here) and wanted to say Hi! I must admit I mostly use BYC as an outlet for window shopping the coop pictures... lots of really awesome coop designs and ideas out there!! I'm an "under the radar" Overland Park backyard hen owner that lucked out in the got great neighbors that don't mind department!

So, again hello fellow kansas chicken lovers.

I have heard some of the larger breeds of goats can be a bit easier to contain but we had a terrible time with the pygmys we had. I don't miss them one bit! The only thing that kept them in was hotwire!

Checoukan, I'm glad to hear someone else has been doing the FF & it has been working. Anything good for my chickens & cutting down on feed sounds great too, mine have been pigs lately. There isn't much around out here right now for them to free-range on. We have had such a drought here & with winter too, it's pretty sparse pickings. I see you have boer goats, that is what I'm thinking of getting, just a couple does to have for brush control here. My DH isn't totally convinced yet, but I think I can win him over soon. Do you have much trouble keeping yours in, I had read that the boers were easier to confine than some breeds.

 

[JosieChick]

Hi! I was just thinking about you today!

Hi all!!!! Long time no see! Things have been just way too busy around here but I'm expecting things to settle down now. My very pregnant daughter came home from Colorado and we had a great time, I think seeing her only made me miss her more. I'm going to Colorado in March for the baby's birth. I'm excited and very anxious about leaving at the same time. My youngest came down with something last night, he's running a high fever and has started coughing. I have to admit that I'm pretty scared this time just knowing how bad the flu has been this year. So far, no one else has had it. It's been 2 years since our family passed around the flu and I'm bracing myself. I guess it's better now than in March when I will be gone, I would be a mess if my little ones were sick while I was away.

Josie, we had a house that was over 100 years old before we bought this one. It was my dream house, I so wished we would have tried to move it out here. Then we would have the house and the location. We too had old plaster, one of the rooms was really bad and we removed all of the old plaster and put up sheetrock. It made the baseboards not fit tight because the sheetrock was thinner than the plaster so we added some pretty corner pieces to fill it in. It still looked nice and we kept as much of the old wood as possible so I felt better about it. We removed all of the woodwork before putting up the sheetrock though, so we didn’t have any issue with the window trim fitting back on. We marked each piece as we removed it so we could put it back where it was. I see that you decided to keep the plaster, we repaired plaster in a couple of places that had unsightly cracks and even where people before us had just added to the cracks so it looked like a huge hump on the wall. I like the way you described to repair it. We knocked it out as gently as possible and filled it back in. It’s hard to achieve the same texture. In one room we went over the plaster entirely and added our own texture so we didn’t have to match it. The smaller places that were damaged I remember using crumpled newspapers to fill in bigger holes and then mud over that. I have to agree with Danz about the wiring though, that would make me feel better to know that it was all replaced and know that it was safe.
All the wiring has been replaced. They damaged the walls and hardwood floors pretty badly to update the wiring! So we have a lot of repair work to do for that. I am glad we are fixing the plaster, I think it would overwhelm me to try to replace it, especially now that the floors are getting re done. I really don't want repair guys making a big mess and potentially damaging the floors.

We put an ad on craigslist that we were looking to buy fresh milk. We used to buy it from a neighbor’s dairy but they sold out. You could ask at any local dairies but I think they’re not supposed to sell milk. Our ad on craigslist produced several calls but we found a very close by neighbor who was going to buy a dairy cow. Since then he bought 2 more so it looks like we’re going to keep getting our milk there. Yay! He let me set my price, I told him I was getting it for $3 at Sam’s which was true so that’s what I’m paying. I pay him for the whole month the beginning of the month so I think that’s a benefit to him too. They wanted to pasteurize it, I asked that they not do that and they don’t skim off the cream so we’ve been making butter too but not enough for us. We don’t use margarine at all so we are still buying some butter. So we have fresh milk from the neighbor, veggies from our garden, eggs from our chickens and some of our meat is coming from our chickens too. That doesn’t leave a whole lot to buy at the grocery store.
Yum! We used to drink raw cows milk at my Nanas and she would skim off the cream and make whipped cream and iced coffee. That milk was sooo good!

Josie, you could just refuse the test. I mean really, they are testing your blood sugar at intervals after eating something with so much sugar which could never compare to what you would eat normally anyway. You could always ask for the other test, I can’t remember what it’s called at the moment but it averages your blood sugar for the last 3 months. Or, you could just check your blood sugar at fasting and after a normal meal to see how you are doing under normal circumstances. I despise that blood sugar test, it always made me sick because it dropped my blood sugar so low. I just started refusing it all together. It doesn't make sense to me to eat an abnormally huge amount of sugar to see how your body responds. It's not normal circumstances, why not check it under normal circumstances and see how your body is doing?
That is true. I am working on finding a nurse midwife down near Wichita and may only have one more visit with my doctor up here before we move. We have so much to do also and I hate not eating in the morning. Last time I didn't I got sick. Sigh.

Josie, soon you will have a child who can run out and get that egg for the cookies for you. I’m sure 'she' won’t mind at all looking forward to those cookies. I actually must have missed something, I swear I read every single post. Maybe I read it and just forgot, not that I'm forgetful or anything. (not) Anyway, you're having a girl? I love baby girls, um.... I really just love babies. People babies, chicken babies, kitty babies. Maybe not baby snakes or spiders though. People babies are my favorite and girls, they're just so fun to frill up. I'm sure you won't forget that girl babies like to get dirty too though. So, what's next? Do you have a name picked out? I hope you aren't wearing yourself out too much with all of this back and forth traveling and moving. I'm betting there is no way around it, it's just exhausting.
It is a baby girl! I am excited, I am hoping for a bit of frill and a bit of getting dirty too. Best of both worlds. I am trying not to wear myself out and have slammed my foot down with the inlaws so they are off my back for now. I couldn't take it anymore from them. I am also a professional power napper these days. If I get worn out I tell DH I am taking and nap and to leave me alone. I pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow and 45 minutes later I am recharged. When I get exhausted I stop. If DH is fussing about getting something done I ask him if he wants to have a baby three months early! That ends the discussion right there!!

Danz, I’m with you on the culling. I see every little chick as a life that I am thankful for. They are useful in some way. I don’t feel like I have a right to choose which ones live and which ones don’t. What’s SQ? Show quality.

My little one is beside me asleep and he's still burning up, this makes 24 hours. If the fever doesn't break by tomorrow I will have to take him in. He's still eating and drinking enough, not well but something. Yesterday my ds told me that a hawk flew out of the layer coop when he went in. I'm not sure that he's not pulling my leg because he doesn't have responsibilities over there. We divided up who is doing chores in which areas, this way I know who to go to if something is forgotten, not that we've had an issue like that or anything. BUT, the day before yesterday the same ds was working at the table and saw a bobcat walk by the driveway and I saw his face as he noticed it and I believed him because he was just shocked at what he saw. I saw it, but not enough to identify what it was. That night, I woke to a scream. I was panicked because i thought someone was hurt. It was 12:07pm. I heard the scream again 2 more times, it was directly outside my window and the dog started barking furiously. Then yesterday morning we identified big cat tracks right where I thought I heard it so I'm pretty sure that's what it was. I just didn't notice that he hurt anything or got into any pens. Maybe the dog was enough to scare him off. Last night was very quiet. Scary!!!! Bobcats are pretty scary big cats. I thought they were small until I saw a stuffed one at the, gosh darn what is that huge store full of stuffed dead wildlife...Cabelas! Geez, it is time for bed!

 

[chicken danz]

Mammahen the scream sounds like a fox. Are you sure it was a Bobcat you heard. The female foxes scream the most terrifying scream you have ever heard when they are ready to breed. You could have dual predators out there too. I used to have a resident fox when I lived in Council Grove that always came to town and had her kits on my hill behind the house. I always knew when she was going to have babies because she would serenade me ! I left for work about 4:45 am and it seemed like that was her time to let out one of those blood curdling screams. This was a wild fox but she became quite tame and I fed her table scraps from the refrigerator. People don't believe it but she used to wrestle and play with my cats just like another cat and never showed any intent to harm them. The only time she showed any aggression was if they got too close to her food. I didn't have birds then so I welcomed her presence. We never had a mouse or a squirrel around when she was there. The only problem I had with her was she had fleas so I really had to vamp up flea prevention on my cats during the time she was having babies.
Bobcats are getting more and more plentiful around here. There is one that hangs around about a mile from me and I sure hope that the dogs keep it from getting closer. Those boys pee non stop. I've never seen an animal that marks territory more often than a bobcat.
I've got to get in gear and go get a load of feed. I really wish I had two days in every one. I might have time to relax and get some work done. So I am sitting here instead of getting the truck ready and like I should be.
I am going to start a really big barrel of Fermented Feed after I get this load, I think I may be able to stir it with the hoe. The main thing I have noticed so far is this: Even though the shavings in the brooder have gotten wet with all the birds in there there is zero odor. No ammonia smell or anything. Mold would normally be a problem if they got wet but you can't even smell that. I shoveled it out yesterday because it was getting too wet but I was amazed. My birds are growing well and I am suffering less loss in the chicks.
So if I can get it going I think I will start feeding all the birds FF. It does take a little time and effort and it is messy but I think it is worth it in the long run. It's har dso far to tell if I am saving feed because I'm not feeding it to all of them yet. I do need to come up with some different feeders though for some of them because I have several galvanized feeders for the big pens

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Prairieblue welcome. You will like this thread it is full of the nicest people. Everyone is willing and eager to help.

mommahen- yes my birds are spoiled rotten. They have done alot for me so I want to do alot for them. I dont work so my job is to care for them and make them happy. when you show animals comapssion they show it back. Teh difference with animals and humans is that animals show it unconditionally were humans, we feel like we have to tell each other nice things or hug out mothers etc. When an animal comes to you or crawls,flys,jumps onto your lap,shoulder etc and falls asleep curled in your arms that is bliss. That is unconditional love and respect. Animals have a understandable fear of humans and when they break that barrier and run to you instead of away that is something. Sorry for gabbing lol

Josie- My mom is buying a lamp and bulb tonight and bringing it out. Thank goodness. But I am going to wean them off that light out there. They dont need it. They are inside a metal building and sleep in a dog house inside that metal building on roosts I installed in it with deep bedding. They will be so ok without the light.

So I turned a playpen into a brooder for the new chicks that will be here tomorrow. Its the perfect size for them. I just have to make a top for it and it is all set