Consolidated Kansas

[sarajoy]

https://www.kansasforests.org/documents/conservationtrees/Price List.pdf

That is the Ks Forestry seedling price list. There are trees/shurbs that would be great to plant for poultry to use to escape from winged predators, wind breaks, etc.

Thanks for looking up the URL and posting it - I intended to do that last night and forgot... Sara

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Thanks... Yes, I can't believe it. His one eye looks a little shrunk/wrinkled around the edges, but its open, and the eye is tracking. The other one is less red now, too. He was out and about with the other juveniles today like nothing had ever happened.

I felt to mention the stuff about pyrs, because though they are wonderful/bright/loving dogs and excellent guardians, people assume they can just turn them loose with their chickens and be protected. And if you do that, sooner or later you're going to lose chickens to the dog. Then people blame the dog - but never understood that they were the ones at fault, because they hadn't trained the dog to work with chickens, and supervised the process from the adolescent phase. There is also a reality that some specific pyrs (and other LGD's) are a better fit for chicken guarding than are other individuals of the same breed. Its great if you can buy a dog from a breeder who has a working farm with chickens, and has enough knowledge both to sus out which dogs are the best fit for which kind of guard work, begin that training, and then offer you some input on how to carry it on in a successful way. Sara

My GPs have been wonderful from the very first day I brought them home and put them in the middle of my flock. I've never had a problem with my dogs - they will actually follow the flock around and lie down with them while they're out free ranging. You will always find my dogs near the chickens or their coop. I've heard others that have had good luck with the GPs versus a GP mix. I completely trust my dogs with the chickens and would never give it a second thought.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Trish I notice you mention guineas I've been trying to read about them not finding too much. Do you let them free range? We had terrible tick problem last year and wanted at least 6 guinea. Can you share some info on them please. Like what kind of housing? And anyone else feel free to jump in
. Also any info on duck I want a few pecking

michelleml - my guineas free range all day long with the chickens and then they go into the coop at night when the chickens go in.. they stay with the chickens for the most part. I started with 12 guineas last summer and now have 3 left. They would go up into the trees as soon as dusk came and then in the morning, I'd be missing some. We moved our coop from one side of the house to the other one day - and ever since we moved the coop, the guineas started going in and roosting with the chickens at night - I have no idea why they chose to do that with a simple move of the coop! Maybe if you got guineas as little keets and just raised them with little chicks, they'd do well. I LOVE guineas - they are so funny and full of personality. I let everyone out at 7am - they are the first to bust through the hen door I walk a few miles daily and the guineas usually will follow me and the dogs on our walk - they're yelling their crazy heads off at me through most of the walk though.. I've not figured out why they follow me and then yell at me!? lol Eventually, they get tired and they take flight and go back to the house.

 

[HEChicken]

Good morning everyone! It is not looking like the nice day today that I thought we were going to get. Hopefully this cloud cover will pass over and the sun will come out later. I have outdoor plans this afternoon that will be nicer with sun. On a more positive note, someone told me yesterday that more snow is predicted for next week. I don't know where she got her information but all the weather forecasts I have looked at have said possible rain but no snow - yay!

Josie - thinking of Lucie this morning as she goes in for her surgery - hope it goes well. Please update us as soon as you get a chance.

I had an eventful chicken day yesterday. A lady on the FB swap had 6 roosters she wanted gone. I had one rooster here I didn't need but didn't want to set up everything to process just one bird, so it seemed like a good opportunity to pick up her birds and it is worth setting up to do 7 vs. 1. So yesterday morning I went and picked them up. After enlisting the help of Deerfield's kids to process, I added my little cockerel to the bunch and headed over to her place. And what an assembly line they have figured out - her kids are always so enjoyable to be around, but watching them work yesterday was truly a joy. And what great work they do!!! I brought home the dressed out birds and they were beautifully plucked and clean and ready to cook or go in the freezer. My kids have never helped with this process but DH and I talked this morning and decided that in the future they WILL be a part of it. They are happy to eat the meat afterward - they can participate in getting it to that point. Deerfield showed me her method after they are in the cone and I am definitely going to try it her way next time. The last time I did some it didn't go so well and it put me off but I think if I can adjust my method to doing it the way Deerfield does and get a little practice in, it won't be so bad in the future. Anyway, a big thank you to Deerfield and her "crew"!

The little cockerel of mine that was included in the bunch yesterday was a Sultan/EE mix that resulted when I tried for the blue egg layers last fall. He was a nice little guy, but I didn't need him. I certainly wasn't going to breed him and he was never going to be big enough to be a good flock protector either (besides, I figure why not double up and have a flock protector I also want as a breeder?) I do have a funny story to tell about him from just yesterday though. My neighbor has a production red hen, who spends most of each day hanging out with my flock, but on the other side of the fence from them. Yesterday that little cockerel was doing his best to "woo" her and he had me laughing as he followed her up and down the fence line, alternately dragging a wing and then finding treats (on his side of the fence) and calling her over to share them.

I have a sick chicken. Does anyone have any experience with gapeworm? I'm pretty sure now that's what I'm dealing with. This hen has had some respiratory issues for awhile. I treated with VetRx and hoped she would throw it off. When that didn't work, I put her in the hospital and treated with Denagard, but it had no effect. Instead, she kept getting worse. She got so bad, I brought her in the house and set her up in a hospital in my living room (I normally don't bring chickens in the house so this tells you how ill she had become). I tried Tylan 50 and crossed my fingers after the first dose that I would see some improvement. By the time she was due for dose 2 the next day, I really couldn't tell any improvement but pulled her out and administered dose 2 anyway. After doing that I had her sitting on my knee observing her and pondering what to do if the Tylan doesn't kick in. Watching her, a lightbulb went off in my little brain. I've never seen gapeworm before but there was something about the way she is reaching up, kind of gasping for breath that had me run to my computer to look up YouTube for gapeworm videos and now I'm pretty sure that is what my hen has. It explains why she isn't responding to the Denagard or Tylan. Fortunately, more research said that gapeworm will respond to Ivermectin and since I already have that on hand, I hastily mixed some up and replaced her water with that. That was yesterday afternoon but this morning I'm still not seeing much improvement. There was one thread on it that I read that said to just cull a bird with gapeworm because its so hard to treat. Others gave a little more hope and said Ivermectin (among others) WILL help. Another thread said that the gapeworms will stop sucking blood (they are little worms that lodge in the trachea and the gasping for air is because the windpipe is so clogged with worms that the hen can't get enough air) once they detect the wormer and can hold off on eating for several days, so they said you have to dose for multiple days in order to kill them. So I think that is why I'm not seeing much improvement after the first 16 hours on the wormer. I'm hoping she can hang in there long enough for the wormer to kill the worms, but she is a pretty sick bird now. If only I had recognized the signs immediately as gapeworm and treated for that rather than a respiratory infection, although I'm not kicking myself too much as the wheezing, and difficulty breathing are pretty classic respiratory. I did want to share this though so that it is on people's minds to look for rather than just assuming respiratory.

What I don't know yet (but intend to find out) is where she got it and why only one bird in the flock seems to have it. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.

 

[123casper]

Hello all! Im New to byc and from the SEK Around Parsons KS. happy to be here and if anyone can help. Looking for Poultry sales/swaps in Kansas. Thanks for any help!

 

[sarajoy]

My GPs have been wonderful from the very first day I brought them home and put them in the middle of my flock. I've never had a problem with my dogs - they will actually follow the flock around and lie down with them while they're out free ranging. You will always find my dogs near the chickens or their coop. I've heard others that have had good luck with the GPs versus a GP mix. I completely trust my dogs with the chickens and would never give it a second thought.

Its wonderful that is the case. Danny is great with my chickens too, lets them walk on his back and even eat out of his dish - he isn't food possessive at all. (He does get rambunctious with the young peeping chicks, but is playing, not intending aggression. Still I keep them enclosed - and will till he is past his adolescent phase.) The "expert" consensus out there is that unless introduced/trained properly - by working parents and/or their parents, this is not generally the case - and I'm talking about purebred GP. Just go talk to a few professional GP breeders, not to mention the pyr rescue folks. But I'm glad your experience has been what it is, and mine as well for that matter. I'm going to let go of this now. Just felt a need to speak up because I've been heartbroken at learning of how GP's have gotten a bad name due to owners who didn't understand the needs of their dogs, and as a result how the GP's are treated by animal shelters. Sara

 

[sarajoy]

Hello all! Im New to byc and from the SEK Around Parsons KS. happy to be here and if anyone can help. Looking for Poultry sales/swaps in Kansas. Thanks for any help!

Welcome Casper - I'm also near Parsons - over by Dennis for now - though I'm moving to Wilson County in a month or so. There is a sale over east of Parsons, can't remember the name of the town - there is a gas station on the corner of 400, I think not far past the Labette County line, you turn north there about a mile. It is usually advertised in the Good News paper. It is I think the third Saturday morning of the month. Then there is a sale/swap at Independence, in the Orscheln's parking lot, on the 4th saturday of the month - we just passed that one. There are also a lot of folks privately breeding/selling newborns particularly - you can find some of these on the SEK Creig's list. There is one in Chanute. I know of at least one in Coffeyville (she is growing 50 layers for me till I make my move). Most advertise on Creig's. And there is a SEK facebook page for chickens.
Just do a search on SEK and chicken and you'll find that one. Good luck! Sara

 

[HEChicken]

Hello all! Im New to byc and from the SEK Around Parsons KS. happy to be here and if anyone can help. Looking for Poultry sales/swaps in Kansas. Thanks for any help!

There is a Facebook swap sight for us here in Kansas, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/275183675880038/ It is a closed group but the mods check regularly and usually approve requests pretty quickly after you request to join. You can post a wanted ad or review what other people have already posted.

 

[mg15]

HEChicken

Hi, read your note on the weather in Kansas. Here in Nebraska we will
be getting mid 50's temps. so maybe for you no snow.

 

[chicken danz]

Wow, RoosterLew - I went and looked up that article last night, and it was really informative, plus, all kinds of additional information. i signed up to follow the blog. I did a get a bit confused though. The article suggested NOT using apple cider vinegar. Apparently there are two kinds of fermenting, and the kind with ACV is in the author's opinion not healthy for chickens?? But folks here are using it and seeming to have great health benefits. It also suggests not using yeast. It mentions a couple possible "starters" for the "right" (in their opinion) form of fermentation - but says it will happen just with the microorganisms in the air, simply by adding enough water to first be absorbed (swelling) by the feed and then covering it. Those of you using the ACV might want to read the article and I'd love to hear your feedback. Before reading the article last night I had already started a batch with ACV, so I guess I 'll see for myself how that works. Sara

Sarajoy I think if you go with the assumption that you will pull the fermentation from the air you should also know that you will pull in mold spores. The ACV actually helps prevent the mold. The brewers yeast adds protein and niacin so that is why I added it. I don't know that it would be necessary for just chickens but I have geese, ducks, and game birds so I want to provide the most nutrition and niacin I can.
I understand your opinions on LGDs and that is why I said we will have to agree to disagree. There are opinions all over the place. I still stand that it is in the breeding of the dog. No one taught my originals. They simply switched to fowl from goats as I introduced them.
At any rate we can all agree I think that a Great Pyr is a wonderful dog.

Hello all! Im New to byc and from the SEK Around Parsons KS. happy to be here and if anyone can help. Looking for Poultry sales/swaps in Kansas. Thanks for any help!

Welcome! Join in and tell us what you are looking for and what you plan.

HEChicken

Hi, read your note on the weather in Kansas. Here in Nebraska we will
be getting mid 50's temps. so maybe for you no snow.

You are lucky HeChicken. They were talking flurries here and even though it is supposed to be warmer Friday and Saturday they are talking rain and clouds. Then snow again on Monday. I am not at all happy about the weather.
I sure wish I were closer to Deerfield. I would hire her kids to do my butchering. I just don't bother doing it much because it is such a pain. Of course I never have any help either. I do intend to try it on a chicken again since feeding the fermented feed. If it goes like the turkey did I might start butchering more often.
I have a bunch of chicks in the hatcher this morning. I need to get them out and see what all hatched. I'm running out of room here already. I've been enjoying the baby sebbies. They are typical geese making lots of little goosey noises. I have to watch them though. They are wanting to snuggle up with the chicks and keep laying on them. Their big bodies aren't too forgiving on little chicken chicks. I guess it's time to set them up some additional quarters.
I fired up another incubator last night. I just have too many eggs to hatch. I have a couple of trays of eggs waiting to go in already and didn't pick up all the hatching eggs yesterday.
If anyone hears of a Jamesway, Robbins or other commercial hatcher I'd sure be interested.
I sure wish the sun would come out and melt some more snow. I know this stupid snow on the ground is holding our temperatures down.
I need to get eggs ready to take to town but know I will be gone all afternoon if I do. I wish DH was off to take them in. He doesn't mind taking the time like I do.