Consolidated Kansas

[jennyjane73]

I would like to put sand in my covered run. Do I buy the play sand?

 

[jhammett]

I'm not sure how old they are, but they POUND the food until they are filled out, and once they are fully grown, they don't eat as much. I go through at least 50# a day, though, so a week would be nice! You have them on significantly less space in the run than what is recommended, however, and they will decimate it very soon if you don't expand it. The recommendations are generally 4-10 square feet per bird in order to retain grazing space. You can also give them a secondary run so that you can rotate between the two and allow recovery or plant ground cover in the fallow run.

One way to preserve it and give them a more nutritious supplemental feed is sprouting wheat and oats for them. You can do a set every day and then feed one several days old, so you always have one for them ready to go. Sprouted grain has better nutrition and they really enjoy it. You can also sprout chia and mung beans, etc. Good stuff!!

actually 16x16 is 256 sq feet at 10 sq feet per bird and 20 birds that would only be 200 sq feet. so my run theoreticlly by your recomendation exceeds the need right? I did however this week start opening the run during the day and letting them "free Range" on my 5 acres. So far they are coming back to the coop at night and I havent lost any.

 

[Trish44]

I can't make any of the swaps-- but it sounds like a lot of people will be on the look out for these birds. I hope the thief chokes on his decision to steal them and they become a HUGE problem for him. Still hoping someone knows this guy/gal and will turn them in.


We already have our a/c on. I give up the moment my house reaches 78 degrees.


Looks like a nice big enclosure! I don't know what to tell you on the chicken wire, because you do have the chain link... I have a chain link pen for my layers, but they are locked up in the coop at night. Nothing has tried to come and get them in broad day light. And if a dog or anything comes into the yard, they all dive under the coop-- and I have attached hardware cloth under it and burried it into the ground. If they were not locked into the coop at night, I'd put a top on my pen (like you've done) and then probably go ahead and put hardware cloth around the bottom 2-3 feet and burry it.

Now-- here's my experience with chicken wire. I had made a temporary enclosure under my deck with the chicken wire and used the staples you hammer into wood to secure it. I had NO clue it would not hold up. I had birds in it and never thought twice about it. The neighbor dog came over, and she was VERY interested in my birds. She took a couple of swipes with her paw at the chicken wire and it just tore right up and she was able to create a BIG hole in just a few seconds. It all happened very quickly and had I not been RIGHT there, the whole thing could have ended much worse. As it was, I yelled at her and chased her off my property. I then had a big hole in the chicken wire... I went right out that same day and bought wood and hardware cloth. I ended up making a permanent enclosure instead and using the hardware cloth. Before, I had used t-posts and rigged up a bunch of stuff. Had I built it right the first time, I'd have safed a lot of time and money on that one. I had to build a pen TWICE... That sucked. Here is the pen the way it looks right now:


You can see the boards I put in on the bottom-- Those are actually wider and I dug them down into the ground and layed the wire down into the ground a bit too. The boards that run through the middle (bisect the pen) are there for two reasons-- to add strength to the wire in the middle, AND because I only bought 3ft height hardware cloth and needed the boards installed to hammer the fencing to secure it to. So there is 3ft top and bottom, but I matched it up so well, you can't even tell that's what I did.





Yeah, I'd like to see Spring actually happen and not just dive right into summer. Sigh. Sorry about your head and back on the trunk! I'm always doing stupid stuff, so I understand how things happen!

I hope you didn't do anything too serious to your back-- pulling a muscle can really mess you up for days, weeks or longer! NO fun.


Sounds like you were busy! I need to buy a really BIG waterer for the layers out there. The new barred rocks eat and drink like crazy. I used to have to fill the water every two days. Now I'm filling it every day, and even at that, they attack me! I need one of those huge ones that I can just use the hose and fill it up that way. Especially with the heat of summer that is about to be upon us! I don't want them running out. I don't know how this is all going to get done-- but I need to set up my water misters for the silkies and for the layers again this summer.... and then my DH is going to have to figure out how to get it turned on in the mornings and shut off at night. Sigh.

We will have someone staying with the kids here at the house during the day this summer, so I think I'm going to have her do my chicken chores for me... or tell her to have the kids "help" her, that way, no one is neglected all day if they run out of water or something. I'm already worried about everyone.

Hawkeye, if you have the time order some lids with spouts, I get mine from here: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23221&catid=686
Then you can get any 5 gallon bucket from Walmart or anywhere & pound the lids on. Then you drill holes in two opposite sides about an inch from the bottom of the bucket. Sit the bucket in a metal or rubber pan & voila you have a 5 gallon waterer. I have a bunch of these I use for summer so I don't have to fill water containers so often in the heat. You can add some ACV to them to help keep the algae down too & I like to use it for my birds anyway. I like having the spout on top too because you don't have to lift that 5 gallon bucket full of water, you just unscrew the cap, fill, & replace. It has suction in there with the lid on so it only lets out enough to fill the pan underneath it without all the water running out. I found out how to make them from a youtube video last year.

 

[Trish44]

I would like to put sand in my covered run. Do I buy the play sand?

I would think the play sand would be really expensive, would it not be cheaper to go somewhere that sells sand & have them deliver it? I had sand in my run for about a year, I bought it from my neighbor who had a pile left from some they bought to level their swimming pool. It dispensed pretty fast is the only thing, It gets scratched around & the birds pushed it all through the sides & most of it went outside the pen instead of staying in there. Then they got into the straw I had piled in the corner & mixed it in with the sand & that kind of became cement when it got wet. I've given up I think on having any in there any more. I'm not going to go buy more to put in just to have it all end up outside the run anyway. That was just my experience with it.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Kuan these are non flying ducks. They won't fly off. I wouldn't put the babies in a pond for a swim just yet. When they are with their mother she preens them and it coats them with a substance that helps them stay afloat. Try giving them a pan with something they can crawl in and out of it with. Or fill the bathtub up with enough water that you leave an almost dry end and let them learn to swim there first. If you put them in the pond you would have to be prepared to swim out and get them if you needed to. Let them get really used to being with you first and knowing where "home" is then let them go to the pond.
I've spent hours sitting by the tub watching babies swim! One thing I've read to try to is get a paint roller pan and use that so they can run up and down it like a ramp when they are really little.
I'm really glad you like them.
I was so busy yesterday. I moved the goose fence so they could get some new fresh grass but in doing so it took the tree they stay under out of their pen. They were very unhappy with me and go further than their old fence line! I hope at some point to give them a much bigger area to roam.
Then I worked on the hoop coop. I got the panels all fastened down and wired together. I need to start on the wooden part next. 
I decided to till the garden. Of course the fence side I left so I could take it down and use the mower on the tiller. is now part of the goose fence. So I had to use the other tiller. I wore a blister on my hand and then tore it up trying to Manhandle that monster. I also was trying to avoid a grape vine I planted last year and ended up accidentally catching the fence wire with the tiller so I ended up having to cut a section of wire out anyway!!!
I've been on the go since early this morning and just got to sit down here. Now I have to get running again. Sure wish I could clone myself. 

I didn't let them go to the pond since the pond looks yucky right now with algae. I did, however, fill a whiskey barrel liner (it's about 6" tall) with 4" of water. But the ducks didn't want to have any of it so i dried them and let them go back home to dive into the shallow water pan. They loveeeee the water pan. They walk in,dunk their silly heads in,fling the water every where,walk out then back at it again. It is definitely duck Tv for sure. I really like the paint roller pan idea and we have a lot of the since we are painting the house. Gotta give it a try!

Danz - you just work way too hard...

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I would like to put sand in my covered run. Do I buy the play sand?

Jennyjane, buying play sand is too expensive. If you don't want to have it delivered, you can go to the Sod Shop on K96 and Hillside. They sell it by cubic yard. They can dump it in your pickup bed or trailer.

I've it in my coop but not in the run. Well, I don't really have much of a run per se since mine free range. I do have to add more from time to time since the chickens do track it out every where.

 

[Polishpal]

'My Kitty is still missing I thought I saw him but it was only my neibors cat

 

[HEChicken]

PolishPal, I'm sorry about your cat - I hope he or she shows up.

You know you are officially hatching too much when you do your daily check on the incubator and discover a pip you weren't expecting. The floor of my incubator is slick enough that a poult from the last hatch wound up spraddled (easily fixed fortunately), so DH suggested putting a towel on the floor for the next hatch. So after seeing the pip, I quickly lifted out all the eggs so I could put the towel in, and in doing that discovered a second pip I hadn't noticed. Ooops. So I guess I am back in hatch mode.

My fourth duck went broody, but chose my dogs igloo to brood in. I didn't want to leave them without a place to sleep (and they won't go in it while any of the birds is there) so last night I moved her to the broody coop and this morning it looks like she has accepted the new nest. I have to say, I am getting pretty darn good at nest-making these days. When I built that nest, I used fresh straw and was even able to get the indentation looking good before filling it with eggs. Apparently she found it acceptable.

 

[sarahswank]

Hey, just wanted everyone to know, I will be running across the state from Garden City to Wichita on May 27th (and I dont mind a bit of a detour) and then coming back from springfield, AR back to garden city, ks on June 5 or 6th. (but I could come up though wichita if needed)

Just letting everyone know in case anyone needs hatching eggs or live chickens moved across the state/s




ETA: changing start location or the back trip... going to be a longer drive now.

 

[chicken danz]

HeChicken, I used towels in the bottom of my incubators for a long time but have now switched to that rubber perforated shelf liner. It is perfect. No more spraddles. I also put it in the bottoms of my brooder bins for a few days until I add shavings.
Yesterday I got up early and went to a breakfast. Then spent a couple hours moving egg shells from the hatcher and disinfecting it, and doing maintenance on the incubators, and moving some eggs from the incubators to the hatcher.
I moved some young ducks outside to the baby duck pen and some newly hatched ducks to the duck brooder bin in the basement. Spent my normal hours feeding and watering. Then I had a card class to go to last night. I had forgotten about it. I accidentally sold 4 pullets after I got back home and got back in the house after 9:00 PM. I need to get those ready to be picked up this morning. My reasoning was that I need to downsize so I can get along without them.
I had no time at all to do any work on the hoop coop.
I had a couple broody hens hatch out some chicks in the barn. There were four chicks partially out of the eggs which didn't make it. I think the hens left with the chicks and weren't there for them to finish. There was quite a pile of eggs that hadn't been sat on for 2 days. I candled all of them and found one baby still alive. It's in the incubator. If it hatched the next day or two I'll let it join the mothers.
I candled all the duck eggs in one nest and they were all dead so removed that nest. I have 3 other ducks sitting on nests I need to take care of. I feel guilty disturbing them but their hatch rates are terrible. I need to get some of these broodies to stopped so I can resume my own hatching and egg gathering. I have no idea where all the rest of those silly ducks are laying all their eggs! I normally can find their hiding places but I am really having trouble this year.