Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Derrick you won't find a nicer bunch of people. We become friends not just people who talk about chickens. Welcome.
Well I had to come in for awhile and I still have to feed and water before dark. I ventured outside and decided to wade half to my knees in the mud and melting snow and work on my hoop coop again. I made some progress.
Here's the front. I did all this today. I have it built to be really strong and have the panels fastened to the wood with pipe strapping. Most of the lumber is double to give the doorway extra strength. Probably overkill but DH would say, "I would have doubled it." so that is what I did. Of course now he'll probably say I wasted wood. Click to enlarge photos.

Here is my framing for the back wall. As you can see my ducks were in the field behind me playing in the melting snow and watching what I was doing.

Here's the framing for the back wall from the outside for comparison.


Here's the first panel for the back wall of the coop part. I just drug it through the mud and clamped it to the frame. Then marked the wood with a red sharpie with the cutting line so it will fit. I had to come in and take some meds. If weather permits I'll get this piece taken down, cut to shape and installed tomorrow.

The mud was so deep out there. I kept sinking the whole foot part of my boots into the mud. I guess my tilling it up before we moved this over there wasn't such a good idea with all the snow we got afterward.

 

[mstng67]

Somehow I missed this before.  I bet you are missing the duck eggs!  I got muscovies mid-May last year and got the first egg on Valentine's Day.  Since then, production has been excellent - I think that first duck has only taken one day off laying since she started and yesterday I got two eggs.  I have 4 ducks total so am looking forward to the day I finally collect 4 eggs daily.  The muscovy eggs are HUGE too - I can't fit them in a regular egg carton, even one sized for extra large eggs.  Or, at least, I put them in the carton but there is no way possible to close the lid.  I don't know how that compares to mallard based duck eggs.

I'd love to see a pic of your chocolate drake!  I have a chocolate duck and another duck who is chocolate and white.  The other four (2 ducks, 2 drakes) are all black.  

I got one Ancona egg this morning. I'll have to get a picture of the drake this week. He is starting to figure thing out regarding the girls but isn't quite there yet that I have been able to tell.

Thanks for the update on the muscovies.  I was wondering how they are turning out.

They are doing great. My daughters have names for them, but I can never keep them straight so I won't even try.

 

[michelleml]

Derrick you won't find a nicer bunch of people. We become friends not just people who talk about chickens. Welcome.
Well I had to come in for awhile and I still have to feed and water before dark. I ventured outside and decided to wade half to my knees in the mud and melting snow and work on my hoop coop again. I made some progress.
Here's the front. I did all this today. I have it built to be really strong and have the panels fastened to the wood with pipe strapping. Most of the lumber is double to give the doorway extra strength. Probably overkill but DH would say, "I would have doubled it." so that is what I did. Of course now he'll probably say I wasted wood. Click to enlarge photos.

Here is my framing for the back wall. As you can see my ducks were in the field behind me playing in the melting snow and watching what I was doing.

Here's the framing for the back wall from the outside for comparison.


Here's the first panel for the back wall of the coop part. I just drug it through the mud and clamped it to the frame. Then marked the wood with a red sharpie with the cutting line so it will fit. I had to come in and take some meds. If weather permits I'll get this piece taken down, cut to shape and installed tomorrow.

The mud was so deep out there. I kept sinking the whole foot part of my boots into the mud. I guess my tilling it up before we moved this over there wasn't such a good idea with all the snow we got afterward.

Looking good. Do you think something like this would be okay out in pasture with mini donkeys and a filly paint? Need to make a run for my coop thats out in the pasture but don't want to spend a lot on getting supplies i was thinking of attaching some how to the building

 

[chicken danz]

Michelleml, I don't see why you couldn't do something similar. For just a run you probably wouldn't have to do so much framing. I am building a coop on one end of this so I tried to give it more structural integrity than necessary. To use it attached to a building you could use screws and plumbers tape (or metal strapping with holes) to attached the panels.
I plan to make another one of these that is 20 foot long as well and put a double coop in the middle so I have a pen going out on each end. But I've got to get this one done first.
They are so easy to build. The only help I've had is DH pulled it over to the spot it is in with the tractor and leveled the ground for me so it sat nicer.
Mstngs67. What color is your Ancona drake? I had grey and white, black and white, and chocolate and white. I lost my chocolate hen last year so I only have the two colors now. They are definitely my favorite domestic duck.

 

[HEChicken]

DD had to redo all her blood work and bone age xrays today since DH's company changed insurance at the first of the year. Isn't that crazy? They have to apply all over again for coverage that we know will be denied. There is a charitable organization that foots the bill for her injections because she fits every single criteria for not being able to make her own growth hormone. We just have to keep proving that she needs it and proving that the insurance company hasn't changed its mind and won't pay. So, once the insurance company turns us down after getting the new blood work, then the Endocrinologist files an appeal and the charitable organization pays for the product and has the supplying pharmacy ship the growth hormone kit. The insurance companies are allowed to deny coverage because many dwarves can live a normal life span without complications. This treatment would cost us several thousands of dollars a year without the help from the charity.

Okay, back to topic: I am finally getting eggs! 10 chicken eggs today and 4 duck eggs. I'm hatching the big ones to sell for a little feed money but I'm so happy to see everyone getting with the program! I just keep waiting for the pricier birds to lay... then I have to wait for their eggs to size up since they are pullets (under a year). Patience, patience, patience.

I'm so sorry you're going through all this with your DD - I didn't realize the extent of it before now.

Derrick you won't find a nicer bunch of people. We become friends not just people who talk about chickens. Welcome.
Well I had to come in for awhile and I still have to feed and water before dark. I ventured outside and decided to wade half to my knees in the mud and melting snow and work on my hoop coop again. I made some progress.
Here's the front. I did all this today. I have it built to be really strong and have the panels fastened to the wood with pipe strapping. Most of the lumber is double to give the doorway extra strength. Probably overkill but DH would say, "I would have doubled it." so that is what I did. Of course now he'll probably say I wasted wood. Click to enlarge photos.

Here is my framing for the back wall. As you can see my ducks were in the field behind me playing in the melting snow and watching what I was doing.

Here's the framing for the back wall from the outside for comparison.


Here's the first panel for the back wall of the coop part. I just drug it through the mud and clamped it to the frame. Then marked the wood with a red sharpie with the cutting line so it will fit. I had to come in and take some meds. If weather permits I'll get this piece taken down, cut to shape and installed tomorrow.

The mud was so deep out there. I kept sinking the whole foot part of my boots into the mud. I guess my tilling it up before we moved this over there wasn't such a good idea with all the snow we got afterward.

This is looking really good Danz! Good for you for getting out there and getting some work done on it.

 

[mstng67]

Danz - I only have the Muscovy drake. The Ancona are grey and white and black and white ducks. I really like them as well and have loved all the eggs throughout the winter. I made my fruitcake this year with duck eggs and really liked how rich they made it.

Your hoop coop is coming along nicely.

 

[chicken danz]

I always use the duck eggs to bake with. I like the added fluff they give to things. I also love eating them but DH says they are too rich. His imagination I think!
Karen sorry I didn't mention your daughter. I so understand the headache with all that insurance stuff. That is why I am still paying premium amounts for insurance. I know if I switch companies they'll refuse to pay for most of my stuff....or give me a 2 year waiting period. You are just so awesome to have adopted a child with special needs like that. You have given her a chance at life she otherwise wouldn't have had.
It's supposed to be cold here tomorrow. I wish we'd have another day I could stand to be out working. I might be able to get some more work done on the coop.
HeChicken how is yours coming? Any more progress? This snow storm sure slowed down getting things done.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Danz, The situation with the insurance not covering our daughters "pituitary dwarfism" is annoying but I'm so grateful to the people who are providing the product for us. If I am remembering correctly, one month's worth of the injections is several thousand dollars. It was just not possible for us to pay for it. The difficulty is that the insurance company doesn't cooperate even though it isn't footing the bill. Things like "losing paperwork" and all kinds of mysterious things have happened. You get a 3 month supply upfront and then the difficulty begins. After that, the paperwork has to maintain a strict timeline or there's no injections until they get it straightened out. I guess because they aren't making money on it, it's not a priority for them. Once they have stalled beyond a certain time period, then they can require you to redo all of the initial paperwork. It's a nightmare on the paperwork end. Giving the shots each night is very hard but when you're not giving them it's also very hard because you're thinking it's worse for her to not have the benefits. It's funny but I have never thought of her as having a special need. I guess she really does! She's such a smart, funny, strong, stubborn little trooper, it just never crossed my mind she has a special need. They tell me we're aiming for 5'2" for her. I hope she makes it. Danz, we don't get any accolades for adopting a special needs child because we didn't know when we adopted her. Not that it would have stopped us!

Many internationally adopted children are placed as healthy when they have underlying issues. If I look at the term "special needs" I realize we have 6 that would qualify for that label. Yet, they are smart, funny, strong and wildly quirky people that we really do enjoy spending our time with. They can also be very frustrating but I think all children are because they aren't able to think like an adult and sometimes we don't get that.

Rambling again.

Tomorrow is a beautiful "down" day for me. I'm looking forward to just playing with the chickens and putzing around, as much as possible. We'll see how that turns out!

 

[HEChicken]

HeChicken how is yours coming? Any more progress? This snow storm sure slowed down getting things done.

Unfortunately I have made zero progress on it because......its tax time. Grrr. I normally don't even mind as I've done our taxes for years so am quite familiar with the process. But, business taxes are due March 15th and this year they've added in a bunch of stuff and its driving me around the bend trying to figure out the new stuff. I have spent 10-12 hours in the past two days working solely on this and I'm not sure I'm any further ahead than I was when I started. I don't have much longer to get it done so I'm feeling kind of stressed about it. I am taking the day off on Wednesday to have a fun day and at this point it feels like I have really earned it!

All I really need to do at this point is build the gate and that shouldn't take too long. I also need to put the chicken wire around the whole inside of the thing but that's not an immediately need, since it will be to keep poults and ducklings in, and it will be a few weeks until I have any of them. Right now, the hog panels alone will keep in the adults.

 

[Trish44]

Derrick785,

Glad you're here!

DD had to redo all her blood work and bone age xrays today since DH's company changed insurance at the first of the year. Isn't that crazy? They have to apply all over again for coverage that we know will be denied. There is a charitable organization that foots the bill for her injections because she fits every single criteria for not being able to make her own growth hormone. We just have to keep proving that she needs it and proving that the insurance company hasn't changed its mind and won't pay. So, once the insurance company turns us down after getting the new blood work, then the Endocrinologist files an appeal and the charitable organization pays for the product and has the supplying pharmacy ship the growth hormone kit. The insurance companies are allowed to deny coverage because many dwarves can live a normal life span without complications. This treatment would cost us several thousands of dollars a year without the help from the charity.

Okay, back to topic: I am finally getting eggs! 10 chicken eggs today and 4 duck eggs. I'm hatching the big ones to sell for a little feed money but I'm so happy to see everyone getting with the program! I just keep waiting for the pricier birds to lay... then I have to wait for their eggs to size up since they are pullets (under a year). Patience, patience, patience.

I'm sorry you have to go through that just to get the medicine your DD needs. I don't know why insurance companies have to be so hard to deal with, but they are. It sounds like all the red tape otherwise is a pain too. We had to change insurance companies this year too with my DH's company & I'm waiting to see how this new company is to deal with. I really liked BCBS, that's who we had before. They paid & there wasn't much hassle, but now we have Coventry.

Unfortunately I have made zero progress on it because......its tax time. Grrr. I normally don't even mind as I've done our taxes for years so am quite familiar with the process. But, business taxes are due March 15th and this year they've added in a bunch of stuff and its driving me around the bend trying to figure out the new stuff. I have spent 10-12 hours in the past two days working solely on this and I'm not sure I'm any further ahead than I was when I started. I don't have much longer to get it done so I'm feeling kind of stressed about it. I am taking the day off on Wednesday to have a fun day and at this point it feels like I have really earned it!

All I really need to do at this point is build the gate and that shouldn't take too long. I also need to put the chicken wire around the whole inside of the thing but that's not an immediately need, since it will be to keep poults and ducklings in, and it will be a few weeks until I have any of them. Right now, the hog panels alone will keep in the adults.

Wow, I hate doing taxes, but I'm the one that does them every year. I'll bet business taxes are really a pain to do. I hope you get through it soon so you can do something enjoyable.

Yeah the wire around the whole inside on the hoop coop is what takes so much time & lots & lots of cable ties. What would we do without cable ties? I have used so many of them in the last few months I should have bought stock in the company. I was using them again today & all my pens outside of my new coop are put together with them.

I had a friend come over today & we whipped out that goat pen in like 2 hours, it was so nice to have someone else to help & talk to while we worked. She has goats also, so she knew a lot about goats & fence. I ended up using all the rest of my livestock panels that I had. I had two whole ones & two that were damaged that I had bought used. I just cut off the damaged part & used the rest. Then I had enough welded wire fence to finish off the rest of the pen & use for the gate. I will have to go out when it warms up again & put chicken wire all around on the inside because my goats are still babies & my friend said they will get through the livestock panels until they're older & bigger. I ended up with a fairly good sized pen for them though, bigger than I really thought it would be. I didn't know really how much welded wire fence I had until we unrolled it & laid it out. I had just the right number of t-posts left too, so that was great. I didn't have to go buy anything at all, that was the best part. It's not the most beautiful pen in the world, the panels were bowed some, so it's not perfectly straight, but the goats won't know the difference. I borrowed a calf hut for now for shelter for them & when I collect enough pallets I'm going to build them a permanent shelter. I have roofing material & some scrap wood, I just need pallets now. I'm going to go up & pick up my little doe in Hutch the 13th. Danz, it turned out she is still holding the baby for me, it scared me when I thought she had sold her to someone else. The one my friend has at her place will be coming here after I get the new one home so they have a companion. She says she has been wanting to go into the pen with her goat, but she is afraid to put her in there due to a big, big pig that lives in there. She's afraid the pig will hurt the baby goat, me too! She already killed one pot beliied pig that my friend had. She has like a zoo at her place, it's interesting to go there & see what she has acquired. I feel so relieved though to have that project done for the most part.

Now I have another hoop coop to get built, it's just one project after another here it seems like. This one though my DH is going to help me with, I already told him he's going to have to help this time since this one is for the broiler chicks coming next month. I needed some kind of pen for them anyway, so I figured I would just kill two birds with one stone & get the hoop coop built & then I can use it hopefully for the rabbits next winter & not have to have them in the garage. That's my plan anyway, I hope it works out like that.

I will try to get some pics of the breeder pens & coop on Thurs. when it warms up again. I'm so glad to finally have all the birds moved to their new home. It seems like so long ago that we started this project & it has taken an eternity to get it to this point. I still have painting to do when it gets warmer.