Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Well, it looks like a perfect weather week - temps in the 90's but no triple digits, sunny, no rain! Hopefully that means I can get a lot done.

When my turkeys were little, I used to sit out in my lawn chair and read my Kindle every evening and as many of them as would fit, would immediately jump up onto my lap and sit with me. I got out of the habit, between some hot weather, bug bites and then the rain, but after yesterday's hawk visit, I decided a presence there would be a good deterrent, so I grabbed my Kindle and went out to sit with them. I figured the turkeys would have forgotten by now, but immediately I sat down, I had four of them vying for a place to sit on my lap (when they were little 10-12 could all get up there at the same time but now four is pretty much the limit

) They are such curious little birds though! I almost couldn't read because they kept pecking at the Kindle (and if they hit the page turn button, pecked hard enough to turn the page), and my fingernails, and the Kindle case, and my hair and my sunglasses and.....their beaks are big enough now that after awhile it got very uncomfortable to have them constantly "grooming" me LOL. Still, it was nice to commune with them again....

 

[sharol]

My Easter Egger boys now have new names. They are officially Jake and Elwood, named after the Blues Brothers. I can't take credit for this one. This was my husband's idea.

 

[chicken danz]

ChickenDanz, thanks for the input I appreciate your thoughts. They were sold as " this years hatch and now laying ". Do their leg bands have a date on them?

So what does everyone do about flies in the coop? And everywhere else for that matter?
Here's a couple of pics of the BCM chicks we just hatched.


Back outside to enjoy this beautiful day. Actually, we are checking the bees this afternoon, good to see honey in some of the supers.

Adorable chicks and looks like a great hatch!!! Sharol has a great suggestions for flies in coops. I'll let her explain.

Danz, sorry to hear that you Sussex hen was injured badly I hope she pulls through for you.
She Didn't. She died later that day.

Yay! We got our first egg today! It is a good size for a pullet egg too! It has been forever since we have had fresh eggs. Hopefully, the rest will start pretty quick.

Congrats on being back to chickens again. Hope your pond is doing well as well. Pictures???

There was a gigantic egg in the chicken yard todaywith blood on it and none in the basket i wonder if the other legbar laid it or if the crested one just laid out of place she has been pretty consistant about the basket?? Any thoughts??

It could be either one of them. I still think the second hen has been sneaking in the basket with her sister. Maybe she likes to lay in private!

Well, it looks like a perfect weather week - temps in the 90's but no triple digits, sunny, no rain! Hopefully that means I can get a lot done.

When my turkeys were little, I used to sit out in my lawn chair and read my Kindle every evening and as many of them as would fit, would immediately jump up onto my lap and sit with me. I got out of the habit, between some hot weather, bug bites and then the rain, but after yesterday's hawk visit, I decided a presence there would be a good deterrent, so I grabbed my Kindle and went out to sit with them. I figured the turkeys would have forgotten by now, but immediately I sat down, I had four of them vying for a place to sit on my lap (when they were little 10-12 could all get up there at the same time but now four is pretty much the limit

) They are such curious little birds though! I almost couldn't read because they kept pecking at the Kindle (and if they hit the page turn button, pecked hard enough to turn the page), and my fingernails, and the Kindle case, and my hair and my sunglasses and.....their beaks are big enough now that after awhile it got very uncomfortable to have them constantly "grooming" me LOL. Still, it was nice to commune with them again....

LOL! Don't you love those silly birds!
I'm not sure the 90's is going to be real comfortable. It depends on the humidity level and wind. I'll hold out judgement I guess.

Originally Posted by sharol

My Easter Egger boys now have new names. They are officially Jake and Elwood, named after the Blues Brothers. I can't take credit for this one. This was my husband's idea.

Cute!!! Which is which?

Well we went to Eileen's and I NPIP tested 46 birds for her. It went rather smoothly cause she had them all caged. Then her Mom took them back to their pens when they were done.
The bad part was the truck broke down just as we were getting there. So DH had to borrow a car and go pick up parts and fix it while we were there. Luckily he found the problem and it wasn't too difficult but it left me wasting the rest of their afternoon. If we were going to break down it was perfect timing to do so. We picked some veggies. She had tons of tomatoes that weren't being used. I told Erin about how I freeze mine and I think she is going to try that. She hasn't had time to keep up with them lately.
So anyway we went to eat and it was getting dark before we got home. I have another turkey hen missing. I went out early this morning hoping she showed up for breakfast but no luck. The coyotes were going crazy last night to the South and the dogs were after them all night long. It makes me fear she got out too far and a coyote nabbed her. They have been venturing out further and further into the field. I've got to get the new turkey pen built soon. I can't afford to loose any more hens. I honestly think they would do better putting themselves up if their pen were moved in closer to where they like to hang out. I sure hope I find her. Since I have that one broody I only have 4 other hens for the two boys. They are starting to get pretty bare from them. I think I'll try to build a small bachelor quarters to hold one male at a time and switch them out next spring. It would be easier on the girls that way.
I've got to get to town and pick up some prescriptions and visit my Dad today. I need to get the birds taken care of well and then I have a card class to go to later this afternoon. I wanted to get the sebbies DNA tested while DH was off today but I don't think I'll have time. There just is never enough time in a day.

 

[sharol]

Jake is the darker one;



And Elwood is the lighter one;

 

[cherwill]

So cute - the eldest of them has discovered his reflection in a window and now spends all day talking to, and peering at and displaying for, the "turkey in the mirror". Periodically he will tap loudly on the window - probably in an attempt to reach out and see if the other turkey is real. I keep thinking I need to name him Narcissus.

That would be a perfect name! How funny. My dogs have no interest in mirrors; they seem to know it's nothing. I've never tried it with my hens ...

Danz, when you do have a chance to come this way, I'm with Trish and Hechicken, we can meet up and have lunch. I did promise Deerfield that I'll cook her some curry chicken and fried rice but just never had a chance. I'm heading into the busy tax season but sure can do a quick lunch with you and others. That will be fun. I'll take some ducklings and a trio of Sebbie goslings if you have any since my son has been asking for them.

Mmmm ... I love curry.

I'm dreading tonight's (more accurately, early tomorrow morning's) deployment. I need to get up at 2:00am to get started. Hopefully it is smooth and painless and I'll be able to head back to bed no later than 6 am.

Wow! That's the middle of the night. Sometimes I haven't even gotten to sleep by 2!

Between broilers, turkeys, geese and a pig, I will have plenty of meat in the freezer!

That sounds like a fantastic freezer full of goodness!

I'm sad. One of my sussex hens that has over a dozen babies she hatched is not doing well at all.

I saw later in the thread that she didn't make it; I'm sorry.

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.

What a mess.

Happy Birthday! It sounds like you had a nice day with family.

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.
It is often sad, because they just don't live long enough in the first place. It's even worse when that short time is cut even shorter.

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,

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 !!!

You shouldn't have too much trouble finding a guinea pig. They multiply quickly and you can't tell a male from a female. My brother and I once ended up with a yard full of them and trying desperately to find them homes. When we were little, we called them pee pigs, which my mom said was very accurate.

Yay! We got our first egg today! It is a good size for a pullet egg too! It has been forever since we have had fresh eggs. Hopefully, the rest will start pretty quick.

Congratulations! Funny how exciting that is, isn't it?

I lost 3 chicks to the hawk, Trish. I have one hen who three days ago had 3 chicks she was raising who are about a week and a half old. Two days ago I went out and one of them was lying there dead. It had been fine a short time before so I didn't know what killed it. Then yesterday I went out and she only had one chick with absolutely no trace of the second. That was a puzzling mystery all of last night and this morning I hoped it would be there but she still just had the one.

This afternoon when I looked out and saw the hawk, my first thought was "Oh THAT'S what took that chick yesterday". I don't know that it killed the one the day before because if it did, why didn't it take it and eat it? But I'm fairly certain it took the one yesterday. That hen and chicks were still in the nursery but it has no top so the hawk must have flown right into the pen, which is scary by itself.

I also had 4 hens raising 6 chicks who are 3 weeks old, and when I went out today after seeing the hawk, I couldn't find any of them. My Aloha hen is one of the mamas and she is the smartest chicken I've ever had. She came running over to me and was talking away and it just seemed like she was saying "Can you help me? I can't find any of the babies". So she was hot on my heels the whole time I was looking and then in a patch of weeds I saw what I thought was a dead body and I went to pick it up and it squawked and the Aloha was right on top of us, scolding me for "hurting her baby", and at the same time chiding it to follow her to the main coop. It turned out there were 4 hiding in that same patch of weeds and when they heard their mama, they all emerged and followed her to the coop. After that she kept them in the main coop for the rest of the afternoon - I guess she felt like that was a safer place for them to be. She is such a great Mama - I really appreciate her.

What a great hen. Sorry you've lost some chicks, but thank goodness for that Mama or it could have been worse.

 

[Trish44]

I lost 3 chicks to the hawk, Trish. I have one hen who three days ago had 3 chicks she was raising who are about a week and a half old. Two days ago I went out and one of them was lying there dead. It had been fine a short time before so I didn't know what killed it. Then yesterday I went out and she only had one chick with absolutely no trace of the second. That was a puzzling mystery all of last night and this morning I hoped it would be there but she still just had the one.

This afternoon when I looked out and saw the hawk, my first thought was "Oh THAT'S what took that chick yesterday". I don't know that it killed the one the day before because if it did, why didn't it take it and eat it? But I'm fairly certain it took the one yesterday. That hen and chicks were still in the nursery but it has no top so the hawk must have flown right into the pen, which is scary by itself.

I also had 4 hens raising 6 chicks who are 3 weeks old, and when I went out today after seeing the hawk, I couldn't find any of them. My Aloha hen is one of the mamas and she is the smartest chicken I've ever had. She came running over to me and was talking away and it just seemed like she was saying "Can you help me? I can't find any of the babies". So she was hot on my heels the whole time I was looking and then in a patch of weeds I saw what I thought was a dead body and I went to pick it up and it squawked and the Aloha was right on top of us, scolding me for "hurting her baby", and at the same time chiding it to follow her to the main coop. It turned out there were 4 hiding in that same patch of weeds and when they heard their mama, they all emerged and followed her to the coop. After that she kept them in the main coop for the rest of the afternoon - I guess she felt like that was a safer place for them to be. She is such a great Mama - I really appreciate her.

Tonight I moved that group of hens with the 4 remaining chicks into one of my pens that I got from Deerfield, and I moved the other hen and her remaining chick to the other. I also moved a broody hen and some eggs that were in my hatcher (one pipped) into that same pen, so she can be safe with her new chicks. She heard the pipped egg peeping and joyfully tucked the eggs under her. I expect by morning she will have some chicks to raise.

I am so sorry to hear about the ducks losing their feathers - at least those will grow back. Hopefully they will be safe until you have the modified hoop coop ready for them at night. They really are very good at flying out - I've found the same with mine. I also have a sheep who figured out a way to get out and its really quite funny because she's the only one who does it, and as soon as she's out, all she does is graze in the backyard and stay just on this side of the fence from the other 5. And, as soon as I open the back door, she races over to me, kicking up her heels with glee, and when I open the gate, she obediently trots back in. Its like she gets out just because she can, and gets a lot of "fun" out of beating the system on a regular basis.

I'm glad you found the other chicks, that's cute the momma hen is so protective of them. I'm sorry about your losses though.

Well, it looks like a perfect weather week - temps in the 90's but no triple digits, sunny, no rain! Hopefully that means I can get a lot done.

When my turkeys were little, I used to sit out in my lawn chair and read my Kindle every evening and as many of them as would fit, would immediately jump up onto my lap and sit with me. I got out of the habit, between some hot weather, bug bites and then the rain, but after yesterday's hawk visit, I decided a presence there would be a good deterrent, so I grabbed my Kindle and went out to sit with them. I figured the turkeys would have forgotten by now, but immediately I sat down, I had four of them vying for a place to sit on my lap (when they were little 10-12 could all get up there at the same time but now four is pretty much the limit

) They are such curious little birds though! I almost couldn't read because they kept pecking at the Kindle (and if they hit the page turn button, pecked hard enough to turn the page), and my fingernails, and the Kindle case, and my hair and my sunglasses and.....their beaks are big enough now that after awhile it got very uncomfortable to have them constantly "grooming" me LOL. Still, it was nice to commune with them again....

That's so funny those turkeys come & sit with you, they are very curious birds. I could just see them pecking on the kindle screen. How are your goats doing? My oldest one is the most ornery of the two. She will come up to me & nibble on the bottom edge of my shorts, she was doing that yesterday while I was trying to talk to my son on the phone like hey you're not paying attention to me.

My Easter Egger boys now have new names. They are officially Jake and Elwood, named after the Blues Brothers. I can't take credit for this one. This was my husband's idea.

Those are cute names, I love it!

 

[sharol]

I read on a board a couple of years ago that the vanilla car fresheners would repel flies, and I think it really works. I hang one in the coop, and there really aren't a lot of flies in there. I get the cheap ones from Walgreens, and last summer when the flies were so awful, I even used them in the kitchen.

edited to add: There appears to be a difference between brands, so if one doesn't work, you might want to try a different one.

Adorable chicks and looks like a great hatch!!! Sharol has a great suggestions for flies in coops. I'll let her explain.

 

[zigzag45]

My DH finally got a load of sand in for the coop. I'll be out there shoveling them into the coop and covered run after lunch.

Tweetybaby - I'm behind on posts and just now responding. Do you use sand in your coop, both the run and the coop? I was thinking of trying sand but read that in colder climates it's hard on the birds feet as wood chips are warmer in the winter. But, I've been curious what others do with raised coops and never got around to asking.

edit - just saw you'd already responded. So, I think the pending question is how do you do winters? Does the sand stay warm enough?

 

[KNHKLUCKERS]

Helped my friend butchered another 180 broilers today (total count for year is up to 800!) She just placed an order for 200 more for a Fall butcher.. I think I"m going to go ahead and order myself another batch too.. she just can't keep these birds; they sell like hot cakes at the markets. I also butchered my turkeys and geese as well - I wasn't sure how I would handle that since they're so sweet and friendly - but it was ok really. Between broilers, turkeys, geese and a pig, I will have plenty of meat in the freezer!

Looks like we have 7 days of no rain the forecast... finally!

Where do you order your broilers?? I purchased 50 from a local farm store this last spring...they were great however expensive!!

 

[cleansquared]

Does any one here have any experiance with noregian Jaerhons?