Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Chooks I understand what you are going through. I had to sell a ton of birds and probably need to sell a bunch more. I am down to such a small amount of chickens. I plan to sell more. I am just trying to get by until the Gardner auction in hopes of getting a decent price for birds. It's so hard to let them go.. cause you are letting go of so many dreams as well.

 

[ashncarson]

I use 5 gallon bucket wateres so I don't have to fill them so often & I can use the ACV in them in the summer. If you all are interested maybe I can find the link to the video again on Youtube & post the link. They have worked out very well for me in the summer. I used them last year & have made more this year. I use either heated dog water bowls in the winter or galvanized waterers with a heated base. The dog bowls really are much, much cheaper & you have to fill them more, but then they don't drink as much water in cold weather either.

I have the Fleming Outdoors auto door also, it's not cheap, but it is very reliable as long as you have electricity. I did get a better timer to use with mine also. They do have the solar option also for more money. The doors aren't cheap, but they do save a lot of time & energy. I only have mine on my main coop where the bulk of my chickens are. I open the doors on the breeder coop manually. I like the up & down motion of the Fleming door rather than the side opening one, it works for my setup better.

I would like to see a video again if you don't mind!

 

[samsdave]

There is the Heart of America Game Breeders Association in the Ottawa Kansas Area They have bird meets swap and sell chickens and I am thinking of joining them The sale auctions in the area are pathetic. Low Ball City, no one bids and you walk away pretty sad. Any other members of this organization on this site? I am in Rantoul Kansas.

 

[ChooksChick]

Chooks I understand what you are going through. I had to sell a ton of birds and probably need to sell a bunch more. I am down to such a small amount of chickens. I plan to sell more. I am just trying to get by until the Gardner auction in hopes of getting a decent price for birds. It's so hard to let them go.. cause you are letting go of so many dreams as well.

When is the next Gardner auction? That may be the ticket for me. I haven't attended before- you know me and my paranoia about other folks' birds...I haven't re-upped my NPIP and wonder what their verification of the testing is...how do they work it?

 

[chicken danz]

The next Gardner auction is September 14th. You would have to have your birds there early on the 13th to sell them. They have to be tested NPIP within 90 days of the sale. And cages sell with the birds so they are pretty cobbled up.
Samsdave HOAGBA is the group that auctions in Gardner. I have belonged to the group for a few years. If you are a member you pay a little less commission on things you sell which adds up if you have lots of birds to sell. Plus you get a newsletter that is pretty informative.
Chooks this is a whole 'nother kind of thing. There isn't a sick bird allowed. These are true breeders with quality animals. Jen /Rev Mama has been there and bought birds when I was there. You know what kind of stock she has had. It is conducted professionally and people come from way out of state to buy and sell. I quit doing the swap meets because of some of the stuff I saw getting sold. But Gardner is my twice a year treat. I tend to buy as much or more than I sell.
I am still a certified tester and could test your flock. But if you are wanting to sell at Gardner you need the testing and the forms for the birds that are being sold -separate from the flock test. I could do that for you if we could work it out. Right now I can't afford to drive out the driveway. Reason for selling most of my birds recently. Any time between now and the sale would get you in the 90 day time limit.
I am hoping to be able to hold out a few birds until then. I've been trying to get some fees for avian DNA sexing so I know what to keep and sell. I can't afford to feed everything to maturity.
I sold 18 chicks this afternoon. Yay! If I did that for a few days I would be sort of under control.

 

[Trish44]

I would like to see a video again if you don't mind!

OK, here is the link for the video, I used method number two farther into the video because I wanted to have the bucket easy to fill & not have to lift it that much.

, You can use any 5 gallon bucket, but you have the have the lids with the pour spout for it to work. I order these from here: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23221&catid=686. I use the metal pans like he showed in the video, but you could use the rubber ones if you wanted to.

 

[Polishpal]

I'm so happy my white silkie chick with splayed les is doing great!!! We took the hobbles off for 10 or so minutes and its already looking so much better. It still has a little trouble walking around but it can stand and take a few steps without hobbles on . So just a update on that chick and the other eggs have not hatched but I suspect they will in the next day or so this is my first successfull pure silkie hatch with a hen sitting on eggs. Any other time I have a hen sit on eggs they always end up being a cross of something or another. So I'm having a good morning

 

[JosieChick]

I am sorry to hear about all your flooding troubles. We need rain but it sure would be nice if it came down a little slower.

Well we got 4 1/2 inches of rain the other day all at once, just a deluge & it wasn't a good thing to get that much at once. We had a flood here & I lost 9 chicks on my one hoop coop I'm using for a growout pen. Of course they were the ones I really valued, my lavender Ameraucanas, 2 of my Tony Albritton Speckled Sussex, the wheaten Ameraucana pullet I've been babying for a month, some lavender Orps & a Frank's BR chick. I was just sick about it. We also had a collapse in the turkey pen, the front pole on the run collapsed due to too much weight from the water in the tarp, so those who are thinking of putting tarp over their pens, make sure you have enough support for standing water, especially if it rains much. HEChicken also had this happen to her. We were able to get the water out yesterday & straighten the pole enough to get the door closed & use the pen for now, but I eventually will have to replace that pole because the pen is all messed up now. I pulled the tarp back to just covering half the pen so there is netting on half of it now so the rain will go through. I'm going to have to think of a better alternative before winter for that pen because the snow sits on top of it too & it's too heavy. The pen is 10 ft by 10 ft. so it's hard to deal with. When the pen collapsed all the turkeys, ducks, & chickens that shared that pen at night were all out running around, they were pretty shook up, but I think OK. I have since moved the 4 ducks to their own pen so they will have more room with their own pool. My DH & I worked on the rock wall yesterday afternoon until feeding time moving it to divert water away from my hoop coops to a degree & building another wall in front of my two pens that get flooded & filled with mud. Hopefully it will at least slow the water down & it won't push so much mud in front of my pen doors. I have had trouble even getting in now that the hillside is bare & just dirt it becomes a running mud field. It looks like rain again today & we're under a flood watch here, imagine that after such a drought. Anyway, it looks like I'll be starting over with some of my projects since I lost so many chicks, not what I was wanting to do. I thought I was done hatching for the year, but I guess not. What a mess, oh & I also lost a nest of wheaten Ameraucana eggs my hen was sitting on, they were floating in water.

Awww, such a sweet turkey.

and Ares she is really growing and so lovable.

Rantoul!!! Hahaha! Welcome, we just moved from Rantoul and nobody ever knew where it was.

There is the Heart of America Game Breeders Association in the Ottawa Kansas Area They have bird meets swap and sell chickens and I am thinking of joining them The sale auctions in the area are pathetic. Low Ball City, no one bids and you walk away pretty sad. Any other members of this organization on this site? I am in Rantoul Kansas.

Sorry I am so far behind, I read but don't make it to posting often! Sorry to hear of those who have to sell birds. I am going to thin down our birds here shortly. I need to get organized and go take pics of everything that will get sold. If I can't sell them privately I may look into finding one of the monthly auctions.

Welcome to all the new folks!

We have been super busy here as usual. My little peanut keeps me busy and she just turned three months old!!! Can't believe how fast she is growing. Here is one for Grammy Verna!

 

[chicken danz]

Aw that made me tear up with an overload of happy!!! I love that adorable little girl. She is so stinking cute!!! I want to hold her again.
As soon as I can get back on my feet financially I am making a trip to visit...uninvited ....but I have to see that pumpkin again.
Josie my gander was doing really well but his foot is swollen again. I am putting him back in a kennel today and treating him again. I wondered about wrapping his foot in something to keep the dirt off. Is there anything you might suggest that would let it drain but keep dirt out? Even in the kennel we had to do some major housekeeping to keep it clean for him. I really thought he was well and doing good.

I am thinking of having my goslings DNA sexed soon. I have tried several times and they just suck everything back in so you can't get them sexed well. It is easy when they are young. I need to move some more boys out of here for sure. I think it would be worth the cost not to have to feed them all all winter.
Trish I should get my bucket lids today. I am so ready to switch to those plastic home made waterers. I just hate seeing rust in the water from the galvanized ones. I think the feeder would work too. That is the biggest problem with fermented feed though. Even though you can put it in plastic you can't keep it stirred. It just about has to be fed fresh every day. It would be so nice to be able to leave feed and water for a few days.

 

[cleansquared]

So the ladies did an odd thing today i keep 2 large 2 inch deep pans of water in the run that being said.. I found a blue egg in one of the water dishes this afternoon does any one know is it still ok to eat? i chaged the water this am 730 but only dish wash the bowls once a week idk how long it was in the water or how bacteria free?