Consolidated Kansas

[ashncarson]

As long as the dog doesn't start drooling, you may be OK.

So we made the chicks a small temporary cage in the yard. Shiloh (the one in the photo) would actually discipline our yorkie mix. (Douglas, the yorkie) got to excited and so I put his harness on and put his leash on a tree. After 30 minutes of that he did not mess with them as much, if he got to where he was giving them the look I would holler his name and he was stop. I would never trust them with them outside of the cage, but for now I am impressed!

 

[ashncarson]

Yeah those Frank's Barred Rocks sure are a lot nicer looking than the hatchery ones. I only have one hatchery bird left in my laying flock & then I have the one I got from Eileen & even between the two of those you can see quite a difference in the barring, but these from Frank definitely have a lot clearer, crisper barring. They're going to be big birds too because these are still pretty young & the roosters are already getting some size. After reading about coloring I can now pick out the two pullets from the three roosters.

Do you have photos of them? I bet they are beautiful!

 

[Trish44]

Do you have photos of them? I bet they are beautiful!

No I haven't taken any pics of them as of yet, they're really still chicks, but are growing fast. Maybe HEChicken has some of her birds so she can show you what the adults look like & you can see the difference between the hatchery birds & these.

Boy did I have fun tonight, not! I wasn't much in the mood for letting everything out the day I had my dental work, so I left all but the laying flock in. I waited till today to let the turkeys out for the first time from their new pen too. Well when I went to put all the birds & animals back in tonight I had a horrible time getting everything in, all except my laying flock who put themselves in tonight thank goodness. The turkeys were determined they were not going back in that pen at all, so I chased them around & around & around until finally I got one of the young ones in. Then I thought she would call the rest in since they could hear her. They would go back there when I would run them that way & then hurry up & run away from there. I finally got the two young ones in & then started working on the two older ones. I ended up cornering the one hen & picking her up & carrying her to the pen. Then the last one really gave me a hard time & she finally came into one of my Ameraucana pens & I picked her up & took her in as well. I don't know what's going on with them, but one of the older hens is limping & the other one didn't look like she felt well. I gave them some antibiotics in their water tonight to try to catch whatever is starting. It's been so darned wet it's a wonder they all aren't sick. After I got the turkeys all in finally, this took me a good 30 minutes of a merry chase for all of them, then I went to get the goats in. Patches usually is the problem child or goat as it is & I got her a cookie & she went in, but this time Penny decided to be the pain & she didn't want to go at all, not like her at all. I couldn't believe all of these birds & animals were causing me so much grief. I finally got a can with a little grain in it & got Penny in after chasing her around the yard a few times. This isn't like her at all, she is my good one who always goes in first. The guineas also didn't want to go in tonight, I kept calling them & right at dark I got all but two in & they stayed out tonight because I was just done at that point. The ducks went in after running the opposite direction from their pen & then circling around. During this whole chase going on the cats were following me around wanting to be fed & getting under my feet. I was about to pull my hair out by the time I got done with chores tonight. It's usually not half as bad as that, I hope I don't have a repeat of a night like that again.

 

[OkieQueenBee]

I have been quietly reading everyone's posts and thinking how difficult it is to raise animals because we let ourselves get so attached and then - disaster. Having been there myself many times it tugs at my heart to read about everyone's losses.
On a bright note (at our place) the turkey that broke its leg during the wind storm has healed with just a slight limp, and the pullet that DH had to perform surgery on is doing fine, no more eggs though. Work on the coop is progressing and with this weather should be done in a couple of days. We are already planning our next coop and want to make some breeder pens as well. And DH would love to have peafowl.
Trish44 do you have any pictures of the blue laced barnevelders. I bet they are beautiful birds. Would maybe be interested in getting some from you.
We just hatched out 8 black copper marans, will try to post a picture tomorrow. The eggs came from a friend that has BCMs. We just recently acquired some Black Copper Marans. I posted a picture of the BCM Roo and one of hens (pullet) on the Maran page but didn't get any responses. I think they are beautiful and the rooster is quite the gentleman. We have gotten a couple of eggs from one of the girls but it isn't very dark brown, maybe because she is still young? We got a kitten with the marans and she loves to stalk the guineas and they in turn stalk her and if she misbehaves too much the hen just gives her a peck.

 

[sharol]

My integration of my teen-aged chicks (7 weeks) and broody and her chicks (almost 4 weeks old) into the full flock went really well yesterday. They aren't sleeping in the chicken house yet, but no one is fighting.

After spending the whole day in the yard with them with no negative interaction, I put the teenagers in the run with the big girls about 3, and they were pretty scared and huddled under the ramp. . Since I had to leave for several hours, I brought them back in to the brooder. They are such sweet, gentle boys I didn't want them to be miserable all afternoon. They went outside again today at sunrise and are doing fine with the big girls.

I let Marlena and her 3 out while everyone else was out yesterday for a while, too, and that went pretty well too. I'm not ready to put them in with the others yet, but they can be out in the yard part of the time with supervision. Only one pecking incident, and it seemed pretty mild. Marlena fluffed up, and the other hen backed off. I'm just not comfortable leaving them out of their run with the others loose without being out there to intervene if necessary. As my DH says, how did chickens ever survive without me?

My plan is to move the teens into the coop at bedtime tonight since we won't be going anywhere and then checking them early tomorrow (before dawn). It's looking good. My head hen actually started to squat for the cockerel that is crowing already. That has to be a good sign.

 

[HEChicken]

Sharol, congratulations on the successful integration!!!

Someone has a birthday....someone has a birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRISH44!!!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Things are busy so I haven't been able to check back in. The kids go back to a full week of school starting tomorrow. I have been building pens and now preparing for my daughter bday. She will be 9 this year and wants a guinea pig. I usually always see people selling them or trading but cant find anyone right now. I am trying to concentrate and get this done her birthday is the 27th. The dr is stepping me down off one of my meds and that has been hard but will be better in the long run.
I hope everyone is getting along I see its Trish44's bday so Happy birthday Trish !!!

 

[chicken danz]

No I haven't taken any pics of them as of yet, they're really still chicks, but are growing fast. Maybe HEChicken has some of her birds so she can show you what the adults look like & you can see the difference between the hatchery birds & these.

Boy did I have fun tonight, not! I wasn't much in the mood for letting everything out the day I had my dental work, so I left all but the laying flock in. I waited till today to let the turkeys out for the first time from their new pen too. Well when I went to put all the birds & animals back in tonight I had a horrible time getting everything in, all except my laying flock who put themselves in tonight thank goodness. The turkeys were determined they were not going back in that pen at all, so I chased them around & around & around until finally I got one of the young ones in. Then I thought she would call the rest in since they could hear her. They would go back there when I would run them that way & then hurry up & run away from there. I finally got the two young ones in & then started working on the two older ones. I ended up cornering the one hen & picking her up & carrying her to the pen. Then the last one really gave me a hard time & she finally came into one of my Ameraucana pens & I picked her up & took her in as well. I don't know what's going on with them, but one of the older hens is limping & the other one didn't look like she felt well. I gave them some antibiotics in their water tonight to try to catch whatever is starting. It's been so darned wet it's a wonder they all aren't sick. After I got the turkeys all in finally, this took me a good 30 minutes of a merry chase for all of them, then I went to get the goats in. Patches usually is the problem child or goat as it is & I got her a cookie & she went in, but this time Penny decided to be the pain & she didn't want to go at all, not like her at all. I couldn't believe all of these birds & animals were causing me so much grief. I finally got a can with a little grain in it & got Penny in after chasing her around the yard a few times. This isn't like her at all, she is my good one who always goes in first. The guineas also didn't want to go in tonight, I kept calling them & right at dark I got all but two in & they stayed out tonight because I was just done at that point. The ducks went in after running the opposite direction from their pen & then circling around. During this whole chase going on the cats were following me around wanting to be fed & getting under my feet. I was about to pull my hair out by the time I got done with chores tonight. It's usually not half as bad as that, I hope I don't have a repeat of a night like that again.

Trish I had to laugh. That sounds like about 50% of my nights if I don't get out there to put the birds up at the right time. My turkeys are wonderful if I time it just as dusk hits. They all but race me to the pen if I call them and walk that way. But if it gets late I literally have to carry them one by one to the pen. When I build their new pen and move them I hate to think how long it will be before I can let them out again. They will be disliking me for sure!!! At least it will be closer to the other birds so I won't have to chase them as far.
Quote:

Do you have photos of them? I bet they are beautiful!

I should take some photos of mine. I have Reece roos and hens in with two of Eileens hens which are better than hatchery hens. There's an unbelievable difference in size and barring. For the time being I am crossing the Reece to the two hens from Eileen in order to improve their type or see what results. I have hatched several but they are still too young to see what difference it makes. All the hens chicks are together so it should show up which are which as they age.
Quote:

I have been quietly reading everyone's posts and thinking how difficult it is to raise animals because we let ourselves get so attached and then - disaster. Having been there myself many times it tugs at my heart to read about everyone's losses.
On a bright note (at our place) the turkey that broke its leg during the wind storm has healed with just a slight limp, and the pullet that DH had to perform surgery on is doing fine, no more eggs though. Work on the coop is progressing and with this weather should be done in a couple of days. We are already planning our next coop and want to make some breeder pens as well. And DH would love to have peafowl.
Trish44 do you have any pictures of the blue laced barnevelders. I bet they are beautiful birds. Would maybe be interested in getting some from you.
We just hatched out 8 black copper marans, will try to post a picture tomorrow. The eggs came from a friend that has BCMs. We just recently acquired some Black Copper Marans. I posted a picture of the BCM Roo and one of hens (pullet) on the Maran page but didn't get any responses. I think they are beautiful and the rooster is quite the gentleman. We have gotten a couple of eggs from one of the girls but it isn't very dark brown, maybe because she is still young? We got a kitten with the marans and she loves to stalk the guineas and they in turn stalk her and if she misbehaves too much the hen just gives her a peck.

Glad you turkey is doing well and I'm amazed that your hen is doing so well. You are very lucky. If your BCM has just laid a few eggs so far or been laying for less than a month, it takes a while to get the paint factory working right. But in general they lay their darkest eggs when they are young. They tend to get lighter in time. I went back and looked at your pictures. Is the rooster older than the girls? He is obviously not a super young bird.... and he is very nice. How old are the girls? Not to come across critical at all. I just want to make sure someone didn't sell you older birds claiming they were really young. Not that it matters a lot in the long run. I had Marans that laid very well at 4 years old.
Sharol, Your husband is so funny.

Glad the integration is going well. If that hen is squatting already she may be pretty frustrated by the time the rooster is old enough!
Maidenwolf I see free guinea pigs advertised all the time. Have you looked under the free adds on Craigslist as well as the pet adds or just typed in the word guinea pig in the search? I know it's hard to work through the pain but you can do it. Keep your self as busy and as occupied as you can. It helps when you keep your mind busy.

I went out last evening after feeling kind of punk all day and started cleaning up left over metal that the metal guy hasn't taken yet. I figured I'd at least get some of it done rather than wait for him to come back. I think I could have it all gathered and sorted and moved in another hour or two. I want to start planning for my new turkey pen. This area is in the shade most of the day which the turkeys will love. But since it has had piles of metal on it for the last 4 years or so there isn't any foliage except an occasional weed that sprang up. I really would like some grass or something to get started back there before I get the pen done and the turkeys moved. It's crappy soil with lots of tree roots. I'm not sure what kind of grass would grow back there. I suppose I'll have to till up what I can to break it up and I know I have to build some of it up or it will be wet on one end because it slopes downward. I'm still trying to decide how to build fencing on a slope so the wire hangs right. I want the pen to be plenty tall for them. They love perching up high. I need to add a little square footage as well because I plan to keep some of this years girls for breeding. Hopefully the Tom's won't be quite as had on them if there are more girls to choose from.
Next year I hope to be able to sell almost all of the babies instead of thinking I have to keep most of them. I can only get so much turkey in the freezer.
I'm going to Eileen's today to NPIP test. I talked DH into going with me. He has never even seen the process for testing. All I had to say was that since we would be so close to the city that we could go out and eat an early dinner. He will be bored for a couple hours but maybe he will drive and save me some gas money! He loves eating out in a couple places around Olathe or Overland Park. I should be out taking care of the birds since my afternoon is going to be gone.

 

[sharol]

Thanks, Heather, we aren't quite there yet, but I think having everyone out at the same time is a huge step in the right direction. I'm SO glad the girls are accepting the boys.
These are my handsome boys (daddy was an EE, Limon's mom is a BO and Jakes is an EE.


Limon




Jake

Sharol, congratulations on the successful integration!!!

 

[sharol]

True that. I think she misses Butch.

Sharol, Your husband is so funny.

Glad the integration is going well. If that hen is squatting already she may be pretty frustrated by the time the rooster is old enough!