Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Trish once the fermentation starts there is no need to add more vinegar. I added a little more after I started my mix because I made a bigger batch. I think the bins work so much better than the buckets. I still have a bucket in the hallway and it's a mess. The bin in the brooder is awesome. It really helps to get that stuff stirred up when you have more room. I'd love to do one of these 4 foot long 50 gallon or so rubbermaid bins for the flock but it would just take way too much floor space. So I guess I will just have to figure out how to stir a big barrel of it instead.
There is a point after a few days when you smell a different smell and the mix bubbles a lot when you stir it. It's not an unpleasant smell at all. Reminds me of a very fine quality sour kraut. Like the refrigerated kind that you buy in a bag if you've ever had any of that.
I get tickled at these little olandsk. They love this food when it is fresh.They can have a little left over in their bowl, but when I put a spoonful of fresh FF in there they almost dance in excitement. They are such cute little birds.

That is funny about the Olandsk, I did see the ones Eileen had at her place when I was there, they are cute. I can't wait to see the reaction of my biirds when I feed this tomorrow. It just didn't work out for me to give it to them today, I wasn't here ll day long, but tomorrow I will have time to give them all some. Oh & another thing I was going to ask you is how you get what you're feeding to your birds out to them? Do you just measure it out in a bucket & take it around or what? I'm still trying to figure all of this out about how it's going to work.

 

[mommahen10]

Josie, if it is reassuring at all, when we took out all the plaster it was the biggest most overwhelming mess ever. It was like climbing over a mountain of yucky dusty plaster to get across the room once we got it knocked out. We were shoveling it through the window into a wheel barrow to get it out of there. It wasn’t fun at all and you don’t need to be doing that kind of stuff right now anyway.

I had quit all caffeine for over a year before we started getting fresh milk again. The coffee is just soooooo irresistibly good with cream on it. We made butter today, we ended up with 7 cups so I put it in the freezer.

We used a midwife near Wichita out of Whitewater, I would highly recommend her. She was more than prepared for our homebirths. I don’t blame you about that test. It’s not irresponsible to just refuse it, you know it’s going to make you sick. It’s really hard to make yourself do something you know is going to make you sick. Congrats on the baby girl, I really do love girls. I always thought I wanted girls when I was pg but then after I had my boys those thoughts never came back either. It just seems like there’s more fun stuff to do with baby girls. My dd and I were talking about how she is going to decorate her baby’s room, she’s having a boy. She’s not going to go with classic things like sports, we were talking about a science type of thing like microscopes and petri dishes and such. Good for you putting your foot down about your rest, you really do need it.

Danz, now I wish I had taken a picture of the tracks so we could positively identify it. Do the tracks look similar? Today when we got milk my neighbor said that he recently had 2 bobcats to take care of on his property. His dog was scared of them. I haven’t seen a fox nearby, I saw them when we lived in town way back when. Isn’t that weird? There are coyotes all over the place though and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were foxes nearby too. The fermented feed for the chicks, I stumbled across 2 old drawers from a sewing cabinet, they were more narrow than what I normally think of but they are working amazing to feed the chicks the fermented feed. They can’t tip them either. I’m going to stay on the look out for more of those.

Prairieblue, your coop looks adorable!!! I haven’t seen the other thread, that sounds like a neat idea though.

Hawkeye, good luck with your new project. I hope you get your book quickly.

Frizzled Pink, good luck with your incubating. That always sounds like fun to me. Your new roo sounds like a character. We had a roo that kept getting out and somehow the neighbor’s dog thought he was a toy. I can’t find him anywhere.

Danz, I think your eggs/chicks will be fine if it wasn’t very long. One time I went out of town and my dh forgot to turn eggs and it didn’t seem to matter. Not that I would recommend not turning them but I think it’s going to be okay. I’m sorry about no show, that’s not nice at all. There’s no reason that he couldn’t have told you right away that he accidentally hit one. I mean, it helps to know what you’re dealing with.

Trish, if you add more feed after it’s already nicely fermented you really shouldn’t have to add more ACV. The yeast/bacteria have multiplied to populate the feed and will continue to do so. That is an amazingly happy ending for the dog. I love that!

I’m liking the bin idea for the FF. I like that it wouldn’t be as deep as a bucket. I’m going to scratch buckets off of my list and use a tote. I have a few extra anyway and I can leave it in the laundry room by the back door. We use coffee cans, which are really ketchup cans to carry feed. We could just fill them and load them into the wagon and make the rounds.

My little one is doing much better, although he has a lingering cough. Somehow, I have come down with a terrible cough. I think I will take he and I both to the doctor tomorrow. I just don’t want to be stuck feeling miserable all weekend. My ds seems to have bounced back, he doesn’t seem sick at all anymore other than the cough.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Chicks arrived this morning. 35 tiny babies. Only 3 DOA which I think is great for this time of year.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Trish, I'm so glad that the pyrs found a good home! Even better that it's a fenced in property where she won't wander off and get lost, or get hit by a car or someone will shoot her for getting on their property. Sounds like you had an insanely busy day yesterday with all of that running around!

MommaHen, wow-- 7 cups of butter!? I think you'll be set for a while! Hope you guys will be feeling better soon, glad you are heading to the Dr. Sometimes enough is enough.

Danz, those little Oldansk are so cute! Are they as tiny as the seramas and OE's?? The OE's I see at the shows are so teeny tiny and it's so darned tempting to go home with a pair! LOL Are the Oldansk an accepted breed in the Standard? Or is that one of the new (rare) breeds that are coming over?

Checoukan, thank you for all of the advice and I took a lot of that info and talked about it last night. We had our county Superintendents meeting last night. I am needing to buy new coops too, and I presented it, but can get no acceptance yet for the cost. That will have to go before the Fair Board for them to approve the money for my the new coops. Going to try to get 4 more sets of 4 holed bantams and 4 sets of 2 hole LF and 2 turkey coops. We shall see! We NEED those bantam coops! The gal I took over from (last year) she had brought her own coops for the show! She brought like 3 sets of 4 holes and a couple singles. Makes me nervous because if I can get this project really sparking interest with the workshops and fun stuff, then hopefully we're going to grow! Now I just need to prepare for the two classes I am giving at the Extension Office. I need to put together some info sheets and for the Showmanship part, I invited the kids to bring their birds if they'd like to. So we'll see how it goes. I hope I have a good turn out!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Chicks arrived this morning. 35 tiny babies. Only 3 DOA which I think is great for this time of year.

Congrats! Picture????

 

[JosieChick]

How nice that all the kids still get a ribbon. I am sure some families can't afford to buy nicer birds and maybe all they have are mutts running around to take to the fair.

Hawkeye- Have you thought about having your son "demo" how a showmanship works? I would have been terrified as a kid to go up in front of a judge without knowing what was going to happen but maybe if you did a little skit for the kids they would realize that it isn't so scary and that nobody is going to point them on the spot or grill them?

Now you see all colors on pens. If they are not good type to the breed, what ever it may be, I tell the judge to rank the birds 1.2 or 3. I will not let the judge DQ a bird in 4H. I have some kids that bring cross breds in. WE place them in the class that they closely match. I always let the judge know what is going on, Some kids thats all they will ever have. They still get a ribbon, and premium money.
Now open class is a different story!! You better know what you are doing there, or you will get DQ'd.

Showmanship. Do you have a fax? I can send you what we use for judging. Have some practice showmanship meetings. Let the kids bring the birds, they love to show off their birds, or at least these kids do, but we have strong competion here too. We pay a premiums to the kids on showmanship for the ribbon placing, do you? Just lots of practice. Our kids even get a trophy at the award ceremony. If they got grand, and they also get the rosette.

How many trophy's do they hand out at the awards? We hand out 7, or 8, I will have to look. Kids love those small trophies Just small plastic ones with the emblem and what it was for and the year won.

Darn, maybe its like us eating too much candy. Can't help ourselves but regret it later!!

I've given my ducks citrus before as well, though it was always just the white stuff on the inside of the peel. They always ate it and actually seemed to like it. I, too, would have thought that they wouldn't eat it if it caused problems, but who knows! I stopped giving them citrus peelings after I read that it was bad for them, even though they seemed to like it so much.

You are already half way there to understanding about breed requirements if you understand dog breeding. It all transfers (the general idea, that is). Try Catdance again, she has gorgeous silkies and I think you'll like her birds. I would personally stick to Standard colors if you are doing the 4-H thing. They aren't real enthusiastic over AOV colors. You might want to try Catdance in Feb when it's not too cold or hot. Shipping in 100 degrees+ heat probably killed all your chances of hatching anything. The darker the combs, the tighter the wings, the nice S shape type-- you should be good to go.
She has stunning birds. I had a white cockerel from her a few years ago that was a knockout. And I have always had good luck with her eggs hatching.

Any kind of poultry--- turkey, geese, ducks, whatever. I know call ducks are very popular. If the Khaki is a BIG project, perhaps it might be okay? They do NOT have to be this year's hatch. We have a class for pullets and cockerels (under a year) and cocks and hens (over a year of age). So age doesn't matter at all. They can be 5 years old and if they are in good condition, they will be great! I totally agree with looking at each part and understanding it before moving on. This is what I did too!
I am assuming you are talking about the butterscotch calls when you wrote Khaki? I laughed and thought maybe you mean't someone else at first but I don't think anyone else has calls! Butters are a pretty common color and seen at a lot of the big ranked shows. They just aren't APA recognized yet. My calls are Fuller and Foley lines which are pretty darn nice calls. I am hoping to add another duck or two from a different line this spring if possible. If I have ducklings I will keep you posted, they are really nice little ducks.

Lizzy- I am not sure on the protein for ducks but you don't really want to go over 16% for geese as far as I understand. In fact you may consider cutting the corn out because you want geese to be very lean, especially during breeding season if you are planning on having goslings or fertile eggs. Too much fat accumulated around the reproductive organs of geese can cause infertility. I know it is an issue with sebastopols.

Quote:

Josie I think your discussion of the geese must have sparked something in my goosies. I'm not sure what to look for but they were acting crazy today. I'm thinking maybe some mating attempts. They were all doing the fly around with wings in the air thing and acting like they were on crack or something. But several times I saw one of them grab another by the back of the neck. I've never seen that before.
So what do they do when they court each other. I have no idea what to look for in the way of goose romance.
Hahahaha! Funny birds! Yup, that is some goose courtship right there. You will see a lot of "necking" where a gander will outstretch his neck over a goose and make a terrible racket. The young ganders will hang onto a goose and practice mate before they actually try to do the deed for real. You may have not much going on this spring because your whole gang is so young. Some of the gals over on the sebbie thread don't get fertile eggs from their yearlings because they just don't have a clue what they are doing yet and they lay so few eggs anyway there isn't a real lot of time for them to figure it out!
I also had a neighbor hit one of my chickens. I had found my sussex roo all crippled up 2 days ago, but couldn't figure out why. The neighbor showed up today and said the chickens were in the road and he hit one with the bumper. I showed him the roo and he said it was probably the one he hit. I wish he had stopped and told me when it happened. Stupid chickens do a pretty good job of staying out of the road but once in a while they venture too far. I guess some people don't realize that these birds have value. Of course he said feathers went everywhere and he figured he killed it. So he might have killed a hen and some of these predators might have taken her body. I check the road but never found any signs of a bird being killed.
I have wanted forever to get a fence on the property but it cost so much to have it done and we have too many other projects that have to be done first.
Oh sad, too bad he didn't stop. Is your roo going to make it?

Phew! Trish I am tired just reading this!!!

I have been so busy today it's not funny, we had to go to Wichita this morning for a dentist appt. & then we had lunch & stopped at Lowe's on the way home so I could get some of those ends to go on the guttering for my feeders. I didn't realize those darned things were so expensive, so I didn't end up getting but enough for 3 right now, I'll do the rest later. Anyway, as soon as my DH left I had to go into town & look at a Rubbermaid storage cabinet that a lady had & I bought it to put in the garage to store my extra chicken supplies & rabbit stuff in. Right now it's spread all over everywhere, it will be nice to have it in one place so I can find something. I probably will store some things in there too that won't be hurt by freezing like powdered stuff. After I left there with the cabinet then I had to meet a gal to deliver some hatching eggs, they're just barnyard mix ones because she didn't care what they were. I don't sell hatching eggs that much, but she asked me for them, so I thought why not & she was so excited about it. Then I had to run to Orschelyn's to pick up the chicken wire I'm putting on the top half of my walls in the new coop & some screws to attach the hardware cloth onto the windows with, I already had gotten the washers at Lowe's. Then my last stop was Walmart to get some things I needed to do a better job with the FF. Danz, I ended up getting a plastic container too for that stuff, the bucket just wasn't cutting it. I ended up making a big mess in my entryway & now I think this will be better because I can actually get down in there & stir it all better & get it mixed up. The bucket was way too full & I couldn't get it properly mixed at all. In fact when I tried to dump the stuff from the bucket to the container it just stuck in there like cement. I had to scrape it out of there. Now it will have room to breathe better & ferment like it's supposed to. I added some more ACV because I didn't feel like I had enough in there for the volume. When you add more feed, do you have to keep adding ACV or just water?

Josie, if it is reassuring at all, when we took out all the plaster it was the biggest most overwhelming mess ever. It was like climbing over a mountain of yucky dusty plaster to get across the room once we got it knocked out. We were shoveling it through the window into a wheel barrow to get it out of there. It wasn’t fun at all and you don’t need to be doing that kind of stuff right now anyway. Yuck is right!

I had quit all caffeine for over a year before we started getting fresh milk again. The coffee is just soooooo irresistibly good with cream on it. We made butter today, we ended up with 7 cups so I put it in the freezer.

We used a midwife near Wichita out of Whitewater, I would highly recommend her. She was more than prepared for our homebirths. I don’t blame you about that test. It’s not irresponsible to just refuse it, you know it’s going to make you sick. It’s really hard to make yourself do something you know is going to make you sick. Congrats on the baby girl, I really do love girls. I always thought I wanted girls when I was pg but then after I had my boys those thoughts never came back either. It just seems like there’s more fun stuff to do with baby girls. My dd and I were talking about how she is going to decorate her baby’s room, she’s having a boy. She’s not going to go with classic things like sports, we were talking about a science type of thing like microscopes and petri dishes and such. Good for you putting your foot down about your rest, you really do need it. Oh what a fun room that will be! I am going to send you a PM about the midwife. So far I haven't had good luck finding someone and I would love to find someone that comes with a recommendation!

Ok, I have to get going here, lots to do today as usual!

 

[lizzyGSR]

Hello everyone! Gosh, there's so much chatter recently that I'm having a hard time keeping up!

I have one quick question for you all. A month or so ago, I started mixing my bird's feed. I use 50% of the (16% all purpose poultry food that I get at Orscheln's), 25% rolled corn, and 25% rolled milo. Yesterday, I noticed my geese picking at some dog poop in the yard and saw my ducks doing the same thing earlier today. This tells me that they've got some sort of deficiency, but what could it be? I do allow them to free range, but with the drought and now the cold/snow, there isn't a whole lot in the yard for them. Opinions and suggestions on this would be very much appreciated.

NOTE: I have 9 ducks and 3 geese. I do NOT have any chickens. The yard is about 3 acres, but they don't spend much, if any time, in front of the house, and don't usually go into the horse pen, which is at the one edge of the 3 acres.

OK. More input on this topic. I didn't feed my birds any additional food last night as they still had most of what I'd given them yesterday morning. I gave them a little bit this morning, but there was no sign that they had eaten anything that I gave them yesterday. It has been warmer here recently. I chased them out of their pen yesterday because they seemed all too willing to stay in. Once I chased them out, they stayed out for the rest of the day. They did wander around and free range a bit, but it seems strange to me that I suddenly catch them nibbling on dog poo and not eating their regular food, all simultaneous to the weather warming up. Any thoughts on this?

Somewhere, I saw someone say something about their geese acting crazy. Oh boy! Mine have definitely joined in on the circus act! Previously, Lucy, my original goose, would chase my drake every time he tried to service one of his ladies. Now, my two newer geese have joined in on the craziness! Then, yesterday, I caught all the birds running, wings outstretched, in jagged lines sort of like they were scattering with something chasing them, though I saw nothing dangerous anywhere. On top of this, I think the two newer geese have taught Lucy how to hiss. I was holding her the other day, and my husband, who was holding my drake, got close. Lucy hissed at him! My husband looked at her, somewhat surprised. I think Lucy expects everyone to run from her, just because she is my "top dog", err...umm.. "top goose'.

The hissing is apparently just the newest way for her to ensure that happens.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Oh yes pics are coming I am gonna need help identifying everyone. I have 32 bantams I would like to know breed on. I will post pics and a few at a time though lol. Once I take a good pic of everyone, then you all will need to put your detective hats on and name that chick lol

 

[chicken danz]

That is funny about the Olandsk, I did see the ones Eileen had at her place when I was there, they are cute. I can't wait to see the reaction of my biirds when I feed this tomorrow. It just didn't work out for me to give it to them today, I wasn't here ll day long, but tomorrow I will have time to give them all some. Oh & another thing I was going to ask you is how you get what you're feeding to your birds out to them? Do you just measure it out in a bucket & take it around or what? I'm still trying to figure all of this out about how it's going to work.

I have the bin with the fermented chick starter in the brooder so I just spoon it out, but I've just been filling a plastic bucket with other Ffeed I have in the house and carry it out.

Josie, if it is reassuring at all, when we took out all the plaster it was the biggest most overwhelming mess ever. It was like climbing over a mountain of yucky dusty plaster to get across the room once we got it knocked out. We were shoveling it through the window into a wheel barrow to get it out of there. It wasn’t fun at all and you don’t need to be doing that kind of stuff right now anyway.

I had quit all caffeine for over a year before we started getting fresh milk again. The coffee is just soooooo irresistibly good with cream on it. We made butter today, we ended up with 7 cups so I put it in the freezer.

We used a midwife near Wichita out of Whitewater, I would highly recommend her. She was more than prepared for our homebirths. I don’t blame you about that test. It’s not irresponsible to just refuse it, you know it’s going to make you sick. It’s really hard to make yourself do something you know is going to make you sick. Congrats on the baby girl, I really do love girls. I always thought I wanted girls when I was pg but then after I had my boys those thoughts never came back either. It just seems like there’s more fun stuff to do with baby girls. My dd and I were talking about how she is going to decorate her baby’s room, she’s having a boy. She’s not going to go with classic things like sports, we were talking about a science type of thing like microscopes and petri dishes and such. Good for you putting your foot down about your rest, you really do need it.

Danz, now I wish I had taken a picture of the tracks so we could positively identify it. Do the tracks look similar? Today when we got milk my neighbor said that he recently had 2 bobcats to take care of on his property. His dog was scared of them. I haven’t seen a fox nearby, I saw them when we lived in town way back when. Isn’t that weird? There are coyotes all over the place though and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were foxes nearby too. The fermented feed for the chicks, I stumbled across 2 old drawers from a sewing cabinet, they were more narrow than what I normally think of but they are working amazing to feed the chicks the fermented feed. They can’t tip them either. I’m going to stay on the look out for more of those.

Prairieblue, your coop looks adorable!!! I haven’t seen the other thread, that sounds like a neat idea though.

Hawkeye, good luck with your new project. I hope you get your book quickly.

Frizzled Pink, good luck with your incubating. That always sounds like fun to me. Your new roo sounds like a character. We had a roo that kept getting out and somehow the neighbor’s dog thought he was a toy. I can’t find him anywhere.

Danz, I think your eggs/chicks will be fine if it wasn’t very long. One time I went out of town and my dh forgot to turn eggs and it didn’t seem to matter. Not that I would recommend not turning them but I think it’s going to be okay. I’m sorry about no show, that’s not nice at all. There’s no reason that he couldn’t have told you right away that he accidentally hit one. I mean, it helps to know what you’re dealing with.

Trish, if you add more feed after it’s already nicely fermented you really shouldn’t have to add more ACV. The yeast/bacteria have multiplied to populate the feed and will continue to do so. That is an amazingly happy ending for the dog. I love that!

I’m liking the bin idea for the FF. I like that it wouldn’t be as deep as a bucket. I’m going to scratch buckets off of my list and use a tote. I have a few extra anyway and I can leave it in the laundry room by the back door. We use coffee cans, which are really ketchup cans to carry feed. We could just fill them and load them into the wagon and make the rounds.

My little one is doing much better, although he has a lingering cough. Somehow, I have come down with a terrible cough. I think I will take he and I both to the doctor tomorrow. I just don’t want to be stuck feeling miserable all weekend. My ds seems to have bounced back, he doesn’t seem sick at all anymore other than the cough.

The bin works so much better for the feed than a bucket. I wish I'd known that before I bought the buckets. But I can always use the buckets for other stuff.
Here is a link I found on tracks. Hope it helps. http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/common-plants-and-animals/mammals/animal-tracks
Mammahen I would so love to find whole fresh milk. I used to buy all of my milk that way and make my own butter and great ice cream etc. I sure wish I could find someone near here to sell me milk. There is nothing nicer. I used to skim off extra cream for what I needed and the milk still had a lot more cream and body than the store bought stuff.

Chicks arrived this morning. 35 tiny babies. Only 3 DOA which I think is great for this time of year.

Be sure to call Ideal and they will credit you for the dead chicks. If you have some chick saver to use in their water it really does help with shipped chicks.

Trish, I'm so glad that the pyrs found a good home! Even better that it's a fenced in property where she won't wander off and get lost, or get hit by a car or someone will shoot her for getting on their property. Sounds like you had an insanely busy day yesterday with all of that running around!

Danz, those little Oldansk are so cute! Are they as tiny as the seramas and OE's?? The OE's I see at the shows are so teeny tiny and it's so darned tempting to go home with a pair! LOL Are the Oldansk an accepted breed in the Standard? Or is that one of the new (rare) breeds that are coming over?

They are slightly larger but sooooo much prettier. They have quirky little personalities. I love them!
Quote:

How nice that all the kids still get a ribbon. I am sure some families can't afford to buy nicer birds and maybe all they have are mutts running around to take to the fair.

Hawkeye- Have you thought about having your son "demo" how a showmanship works? I would have been terrified as a kid to go up in front of a judge without knowing what was going to happen but maybe if you did a little skit for the kids they would realize that it isn't so scary and that nobody is going to point them on the spot or grill them?
Darn, maybe its like us eating too much candy. Can't help ourselves but regret it later!!

Lizzy- I am not sure on the protein for ducks but you don't really want to go over 16% for geese as far as I understand. In fact you may consider cutting the corn out because you want geese to be very lean, especially during breeding season if you are planning on having goslings or fertile eggs. Too much fat accumulated around the reproductive organs of geese can cause infertility. I know it is an issue with sebastopols.

Phew! Trish I am tired just reading this!!!
Ok, I have to get going here, lots to do today as usual!

Really? I didn't know this about the geese. You really should share more info. I am totally dumb about these wonderful creatures.
Your whole post didn't multi. I sure hope I get some fertile eggs this year. I'm counting on it. If the boys can figure out what to do at least the girl from Trudi should be old enough. I want babies!!!

 

[jeanniec]

Hi , thought i would introduce myself.. i am jeannie.. i live 60 miles straight east of wichita. i have started raising silkies,lavendar orpingtons , and americanas. i also have a few mutt chickens who arent laying right now. i started hatching eggs last summer from some well known breeders and i think i have some beautiful chickens.. well i am really not sure but of course i love them. i am trying to study all the good traits they are suppose to have and my daughter in law has been documenting their growth and progress. right now i am hatching some silkies from catdance and lavendar orpingtons from the Hink-JC lines.. hopefully they will hatch and turn out well. Looking forward to reading all about everyone here on this thread and maybe even meeting some of you in the future..