Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

My kids are starting 4h this year and they are both interested in showing chickens. I have several different breeds but I have no idea if they are show quality or not. Should I order the expensive eggs and hatch their chicks out this spring or use what we have? I really want to try to breed to standard or as close as i can...I think it would be fun to show my chickens as well...any advise??

I wish Hawkeye & checoukan were here, they could answer you much better since they both show. There is a book you can get that gives you standards for the breeds. I would get that & then check to see if what you have are good enough to show, then go from there. You want to get the best of the breed you can to show. I don't show myself, so I really don't know that much about 4H. Hawkeye could really answer all your questions, but she is in the process of moving right now & is really busy.

 

[sharol]

Good grief. I woke up to a strange noise coming from my brooder. I have 2, 7 week olds in there (Butch's babies) and 3 babies that will be 3 weeks old on Thursday. One of me BABIES was standing on the waterer and trying to crow. About that time, the 2nd of Butch's babies (the one I THOUGHT was a hen) chimed in with a really awful crow of HIS own. They were pretty pathetic examples of crowing, but undeniable.

2 and a half weeks old?

Really?

That little chick is the one mixed breed from my second hatch -- he is half Marans and half BO. All 5 of the others appear to be pure Marans. I was sure hoping for a hen, but his comb has been pretty prominent since hatch.

Well, I said I wanted a rooster from my Butch hatch. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

 

[ashncarson]

Well, I said I wanted a rooster from my Butch hatch. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

How cute! I bet it was a sight to see~ I am geting my chicks hopefully this weekend, and they will be able 5 weeks old so i am hoping I can figure out the girls We can't have roosters!

 

[HEChicken]

Trish, congratulations on your new grandson-to-be! I really hope things will go well for Dana - I know it must be really exciting for her after thinking that wasn't a possibility.

Sharol, that is so cute! I had one little bantam cochin who started crowing at a really young age too. I tried to get a video at the time but he only did it first thing in the morning when it was too dark to get good video, so the video only had the sound.

 

[chicken danz]

Danz I am so sorry for all of the destruction and mess that you have to contend with. We got rain and wind last night but nothing like that. I would love to have more shade around my chicken house but I guess that trees have their disadvantages too.

I am really wanting to get more chickens now that my house is all in place and I have room for more. I would like to get a variety so I don't just want to settle on one certain breed. I have read that some here do fall hatchings and was wondering what kinds you all will be hatching. I don't think that anyone is really too close to where I live so I will have to plan a road trip. After reading several comments I am a little hesitant to go the hatchery route.

I really am lucky that it is still holding the birds. It may look ugly but unless once the tree is gone I find some major damage I can't repair I think it will be fine...just all bent up. I need more trees too but that sure started me thinking about how to place them. I had a glass top table sitting there. I don't know if you could see it in the picture or not. I can't believe it didn't get destroyed.
I have a number of chicks I plan to hatch for fall. I'm planning to start hatching the second week of September. I will have true red stars, not second generation. I am breeding them myself. I can guarantee female chicks on those.
I have light brahmas, gold laced LF cochins (I hope- my rooster isn't feeling very good right now), lavender orpingtons, Show quality exhibition orpingtons, heritage barred rocks (should be mostly show quality), a few show quality exhibition white orpingtons (higher priced), some other special brahma colors if I get them penned separately, partridge brahmas (much higher priced) Maybe later some coronation sussex (due to start laying soon but will be higher priced), speckled sussex- not show quality but very nice birds, and Breda fowl. (No standard yet for Breda fowl but they can be shown under the other category. These I think are almost my favorite eye candy.) I am hoping by spring to be producing some much better quality birds.
By spring I'll have a lot more colors to choose from on orpingtons and brahmas. Some nice imported breeders in my group.
Originally Posted by KNHKLUCKERS

Good grief. I woke up to a strange noise coming from my brooder. I have 2, 7 week olds in there (Butch's babies) and 3 babies that will be 3 weeks old on Thursday. One of me BABIES was standing on the waterer and trying to crow. About that time, the 2nd of Butch's babies (the one I THOUGHT was a hen) chimed in with a really awful crow of HIS own. They were pretty pathetic examples of crowing, but undeniable.

2 and a half weeks old?

Really?

That little chick is the one mixed breed from my second hatch -- he is half Marans and half BO. All 5 of the others appear to be pure Marans. I was sure hoping for a hen, but his comb has been pretty prominent since hatch.

Well, I said I wanted a rooster from my Butch hatch. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

Are you kidding? I've never heard of a cockerel crowing that early. You must be feeding those birds some super food or something. At least you don't have to wait for feathering to sex them. I have heard of hens crowing though! LOL Now you can have a Butch Jr for sure.

How cute! I bet it was a sight to see~ I am geting my chicks hopefully this weekend, and they will be able 5 weeks old so i am hoping I can figure out the girls We can't have roosters!

Ash, as soon as they get real feathers look at the feathers at the base of the neck and the ones nearest the beginning of the tail. If the ends are pointy they are boys. If they are more rounded or squared off they are girls. Best way in the world to sex chicks.
DH started cutting on the tree limbs (if you can call them limbs) last night. He has a long ways to go but has to start night shift tonight. He also has to work on his truck so the truck will probably win out. My turkey hen that keeps disappearing is bedded down in the duck house. I think she has gone broody in there. The problem here is that I never shut that pen because the ducks come and go in there at night. I so worry about something getting her. It is out where I found the duck bitten night before last. I'm still not sure what could have done that. I really don't mind her sitting but I don't want anything to get her.
I went out to my garden last night and the water is starting to destroy it. I sunk in and lost my shoe and it was buried under the mud at least 8 -10 inches. It was like quick sand. It was doing so well but it is turning yellow and wilting now. What tomatoes that started to turn are splitting and rotting. Why does it have to be one extreme or the other?? I can't even get in to pick in there. Also the squash bugs showed up and I can't get in to shake the sevin around. I just opened the gate hoping the birds would go in and eat bugs but I only saw one hen and she was on task for finding cucumbers ...not bugs. I was hoping the ducks or guineas would go in but neither one paid attention to it.
Trish you know I hope the best for your son and Dana. I am glad to hear it is a boy.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

My sister and her 2 sons left and went home. It was such a hectic week with them being here. The boys sure were a handful. But my son sure had fun playing with them. I think my sister can't wait to leave because she can't handle the dog hair. LOL. I have 2 shelties so they shed constantly in the summer.

Well, I lost 1 of the chicks that the 2 broodies hatched to something. Only the feathers were left. I also lost theI'll ckled Sussex rooster. DH said he saw a stray dog wondering into our property before he left for work. It is devastating because it seems like I keep losinga bird here or there. I need to start incubating some of the eggs to get me a nice rooster now that my SS rooster is gone. I told DH yesterday that i'll be enlarging the enclosed foraging area with panel gates so they won't be free ranging and become food.

I was just skimming through some posts. Saw that everyone is suffering from the excessive rain. We had about 1/2" rain from yesterday and another 2.5" from this morning. Enough is enough!!! There are mud puddles every where and the birds just walk in mud

Danz, sorry your hoop coopgot damaged. Hopefully the damage is not too extensive.

Trish, just saw you lost some birds as well. That 's sad.

Lizzy - hopefully you will be able to get your duck's bumbblefoot under control. Also hope you get some much needed rain.

Others - can't remember other posts much, just too many pages to go through.

Now I need to get my kids ready to start school tommorrow.

 

[Trish44]

tweetybaby, what kind of rooster are you wanting? I have 2 extra month old Salmon Faverolle roosters I would sell you cheap. I have one pair I'm trying to sell & then the two extra roosters. I also have some older roosters of various breeds that are almost grown I would sell cheap too, I'm needing them gone.

It started raining here last night before we went to bed & rained into the morning, so I don't know how much we got again. I hate to even go out there & wade mud, I've been putting it off. I'm just sick of sloshing in the mud.

Thanks for the well wishes for the new grandbaby, I sure hope it all goes well.

 

[HEChicken]

Well, I went to open up the coop this morning and found another black rat snake in front of the door. Definitely not the same one as last time. Grrr. I wonder how many eggs I lost to THIS dude:

Seriously, this was just the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Since it was relatively cool this morning, he lazed around in my hand while I did my chores, moving very slowly around, between my fingers, probably looking for a safe way to get back down to the ground. After showing the family, I let it go in my front yard. The amazing thing is that my dogs sleep in the yard and the birds were milling around that area - I'm stunned that none of them tried to eat it - I had no trouble seeing it when I looked down and they are much closer to the ground than I am!

 

[Trish44]

Well, I went to open up the coop this morning and found another black rat snake in front of the door. Definitely not the same one as last time. Grrr. I wonder how many eggs I lost to THIS dude:

Seriously, this was just the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Since it was relatively cool this morning, he lazed around in my hand while I did my chores, moving very slowly around, between my fingers, probably looking for a safe way to get back down to the ground. After showing the family, I let it go in my front yard. The amazing thing is that my dogs sleep in the yard and the birds were milling around that area - I'm stunned that none of them tried to eat it - I had no trouble seeing it when I looked down and they are much closer to the ground than I am!

That's funny HEChicken! Well if you have one I'm sure you have a lot more because they probably hatched a bunch of them. Later on you'll probably be finding the bigger ones. I'm surprised your chickens didn't eat it too thinking it was a worm. That reminds me about when my DH & I were working on taking off the wire on the back of my hoop coop in preparation for me to convert it to the 2nd pen. We were moving rocks I had up against the back of the coop & I moved a good sized rock & this weird looking think crawled out, I'm not even sure what it was. About that time a chicken wandered over saw it, grabbed it up & ran off with it. It was so fast that my DH didn't even get a chance to see what it was. We just stood there & laughed it was so comical. Bugs just don't have much of a chance around here with all the birds I have wandering around. My DH mentioned awhile back that we have no grasshoppers up by the house & to the range that the chickens go. As you drive down the driveway & get out of their range you start to see grasshoppers again. I know we used to be overrun by the nasty things until I got chickens again, now they keep them cleaned out. I'm sure that's why the guineas have had to expand their territory now going further out because between them, the chickens, & the ducks they have pretty well cleaned out the bugs up close now.

We're going to have a jungle in our yard if it doesn't dry out enough soon for me to mow. The last time I finally was able to mow it was pretty darned tall & it's getting there again. It's just too wet to mow & it rains every night.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Trish, I've 3 salmon roosters right now. I'm trying to get a Speckled Sussex rooster just like the 1 I lost that's why I'm incubating his eggs. He was such a good rooster. He took great care of the hens, made sure to call everyone over when he found food and sent out alerts when he spotted predators. I really miss him.

Hechicken - is that a baby snake or just a regular earth worm? I can't really tell from the pic.