Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

I know there was more in your post but it didn't multi over but....thank you for your insight - I figured with all the animals with which you've had experience you'd give me something to chew on, and you did. Interesting about the inside/outside dog dilemma....our dogs have always been inside dogs until we moved out here, and then we decided all pets would be outside. I have to say, I haven't missed them being inside and that's why I'm confused about this sudden desire to....look. I do take my two dogs with me as often as I can. In summer they have to stay home since I can't leave them in the car, but the rest of the year, they usually go with me if I am going out in the car and they LOVE to go to the barn. I think what I am missing is the companionship in the evenings so I guess I am really looking for a lapdog.
It is nice to have a little lap dog to cuddle with. I would shoot for a male dog and small. I love shih tzus but they do need grooming. If I ever have another house dog after these guys I would get a shih tzu. One of my favorite breeds to groom and very sweet little dogs. You would be safe with a maltese/shih tzu mix. Both breeds have what is called a "drop" coat and it is easier to maintain when short. I would AVOID Bichon or mixes because they tend to have incredible dense hard to maintain hair coats. They are awesome little dogs but do have crazy hair coats. Also, as much as I love them, poodle or poodle mixes tend to be a little harder to maintain coat wise and most of the poodle mixes I have met are just a tad higher strung. You might also really like a papillon, they are super sweet little lap dogs and you will see a lot of papillon and chinese crested mixes come into the shelters around here.
:

Oh - regarding your cockerel dilemma....I keep snakes that can eat a meal that is up to about 100g in size. If you are culling anyway, rather than throwing away, if they are around that size, you could put them in the freezer and I could get them from you sometime and use them as snake food. That way they wouldn't go completely to waste. Just a thought....

How big is 100 grams? If I got a pic would you be able to tell me if they are too big for your snakes to eat? I wouldn't be opposed to that at all, I hate to see them go to waste and I can't believe they are all cockerels!

The RP's are really used to being around chickens since they all slept in the same coop together at night, so it might not bother them to be with the bachelors. The four chickens that were raised with them as turkey tutors still hang out with them a lot of the time.

When I had my first, we were planning an international move as soon as she was born. The first picture taken of her was her passport picture and we expedited the passport, so we could get on a plane when she was only 20 days old. Let's just say....I had no nursery to get ready and when we arrived in the new country, did not even have a home to move into. We were met at the airport by friends with whom we stayed for a few days while we found a place to rent. The place we rented was a 1-bedroom and she co-slept with us. She didn't get her own room until we bought a house when she was about 6 months old, and I was turning it into a nursery for her well after she was already in it. Today she is a well-adjusted teen so....don't sweat not having everything absolutely perfect before baby is born - they really don't care.


Yapping....I totally forgot about the small dog tendency to yap. I am so glad I am discussing all of this with you guys - you are definitely giving me things to think about that I hadn't thought about. Of course, last night I saw a Cairn Terrier I really like and I've been a fan of the breed for a long time so I started wondering about a Cairn and then today when talking to a friend, learned that one of her dogs is a Cairn, and that of course started the "it was meant to be" train of thought.
Don't get a Cairn terrier. I LOVE cairns and westies but they are bred to go to ground after rodents and I am sure that "fun" could easily be transferred to chickens. The reason they have a "carrot" tail is so it is just long enough for a man's hand to grab it like a handle and pull them out of a hole!! I would not consider them a lap dog either. They are typically fiercely independent and stubborn as the dickens. Fun little dogs but probably not the lap dog you are looking for!!



I could talk dogs all day!

Lizzy- Do not despair!!! I insisted on repainting a dresser for the nursery and I had clothes and diapers EVERYWHERE up until a few days before baby came. One night I stayed up until 1 in the morning painting and DH probably thought I was nuts but I got that dresser done and clothes put away before she came! Just barely.....

 

[Trish44]

Cairn are terriers again, so I would steer clear of that with chickens. I know my Yorkie goes right after anything that moves. At times I have chicks in the brooder in the house that will fly out when I open the top to add food or water & she is right there watching when I go. She loves seeing the chicks when they hatch, but if they get loose she will go after them. She injured one of my Welsummer chicks when she caught it before I could even move fast enough to catch it. I had to splint the leg for awhile & the bird is fine now, but I definitely wouldn't get any kind of terrier. I agree with Josie that a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix would be a good one for you if you want a lap dog. This little one we have is such a delight & she loves to snuggle up with either of us in the recliners at night. I got her when she was only a few weeks old & she was the cutest thing ever. She first was spoken for & then someone changed their mind so I got her after all & she has fit in with us to a T. She even is best buddies with the Yorkie who was here for about 3 months before she came. They are inseparable, if one has to go to the Vet for shots then they both have to go because they have a fit if one is left behind.

Well I got the main coop all done & fresh shavings, DE, & Sevin put in before the birds went in for the night, so they have a clean coop tonight. I'm so tired now, that is quite a job & I must have done it at warp speed today because I never have done all that in one day before. It's a big relief to have it done though. I plan to work on the breeder coop next & that will be the main things I need to clean for now. I will have to put tarps back up on the pens soon. It's hard to believe we're going into cold weather again soon, ugh. I don't like it really hot, but I hate winter. It's such a mess when it shows & it makes me hurt really bad with my arthritis too.

 

[ashncarson]

Oh - regarding your cockerel dilemma....I keep snakes that can eat a meal that is up to about 100g in size. If you are culling anyway, rather than throwing away, if they are around that size, you could put them in the freezer and I could get them from you sometime and use them as snake food. That way they wouldn't go completely to waste. Just a thought....

What kind of snakes do you have? We had a small milk snake for almost a year, but she escaped right before that big ice storm we had this winter/spring!

 

[ashncarson]

Since you guys are talking about cold weather I was wondering what I should be prepared for as far as raising chickens in Ks in winter:

~ my roost is in line with winters that are north and south. Should I plan on keeping them shut each night? should I try to lower the roosts?
~ I believe that we still need to add more vents? we have the roof eves that have the gaps all arond and the 2 windows/chicken door
~ I plan on adding more shaving to the bottom of the coop

 

[chicken danz]

Really the only thing one needs for winter with chickens is to make sure they have water that isn't frozen and a place they can get in out of the weather. Ventilation is a must but it doesn't take all that much, especially the way the wind blows around here. I have always had a group of chickens that sleep in what was once of carport thing that is penned but open on three sides. Only the north side is a solid wall and a roof. They could go in the old garage cause I keep a door open but they roost outside and seem perfectly content.
I tend to spoil my birds a bit generally but they are a lot tougher than most believe when it comes to cold.
Small chickens with a tight short coat may need a warmer place that one that is heavier longer feathered.
HeChicken the turkeys have chickens running around them all day. The roosters free range all day as well. Or I would put them in that pen. It's just a matter of finding a place for everyone when some free range and others haven't been here long enough to know where to go.
Too bad everyone can't just play together well and not breed anything but what they are supposed to. I would rather all the birds just free ranged. Seems the turkey boys just don't want to play nice with each other though. Even some of these young ones get kind of pushy with each other. But that helps me figure out who are boys I guess.

I went to a craft class tonight and made a halloween decoration. It was a fun change but now I feel even further behind.

 

[HEChicken]

I agree with Danz on winterization. Chickens, with all their feathers and down, do better in cold than they do in hot weather. All I do to "winterize" my coop is to put storm windows over the window openings. Well, and plug in a heated water bowl so they have unfrozen water on the really cold days. Ashncarson I should have done a better job of showing you my coop but it has a lot more ventilation than would first appear, as there is a roof vent that runs along the ridge, plus the soffits are open to vent further. I also leave the storm windows open to some degree on all but the coldest of days. I can open the either from the top or bottom and if I leave the top open it is high enough there is no draft on the roosts.

My snakes are corn snakes. They are 9-10 years old so in the latter years of their life. I really enjoyed my snakes in the early years but since getting into poultry, find the birds more interesting.

Josie, I was afraid you were going to ask me about size - I had to go and look it up. 100g is about 3.5oz. Normally at 4 weeks a chick would be a lot larger than that but if they are bantams...perhaps not? I've actually had my snakes eat a meal up to 4-4.5oz, so we can go a little higher even, but maybe that is still way smaller than your guys are already?

Thanks to everyone for the dog suggestions. I can't tell you how helpful this discussion has been to me in narrowing down the criteria that really matter vs. the criteria I can be flexible on. The things I never even though to think about....

My last chick of the year hatched while I was out today. After dark I slipped the last chicks under a Mama Hen who got her first chick on Saturday night. I'm really hoping since she is a Cochin that she will just adopt these last chicks and raise them but I'll have to go out at first light tomorrow morning and make sure all is well.

 

[ChickieWickies]

HEChicken, I've been feeding Lacey tomato and bread bites in her nest box. She came out for a few minutes the second day, but when baby couldn't figure out how to follow her up the ramp, I had to put them both back in. She has been in the nest box since--they have water and feed in the coop for them. I took out the eggs that aren't developing, but she still has about a dozen that are ready any day now. We also have the three babies from Atwoods to integrate into the hatch. I'm so excited that the ONE egg marked cochin hatched. All the others are from our Langshan pen. We have blacks and whites in there, so this will be our first pure-bred hatch of those also. I doubt she'll leave the eggs anyway. She took to sleeping in the nest box even after her other 2 chicks were sleeping on the roosts. I'm just glad the other ladies have learned that is Lacey's box and to use the other 2 that are available. I screwed a board over the top half of the entrance to the fourth box and the chick feed is in there. The larger birds can't fit in there, but the chicks and the 2 from July can still fit in there.

 

[Trish44]

I agree on the winterizing & I guess the important thing is to avoid a draft on the roosts. I leave vents open all the time year-round in my main coop & also leave a window open all through the winter on the people door. It's important for them to still have ventilation so things don't get wet. If you do the deep litter method that produced heat in itself & will help them keep warm also. Chickens have their own insulation as HEChicken & Danz said & do a lot better with cold than we do.

 

[cherwill]

Grrr. I had several multis lined up yesterday and was just starting to reply when I got called away. Now I can't remember most of it, and there are a ton of new posts, and my concentration is no good so I did too much skimming ....

DH came in right when I was looking at the picture of the coyote. We laughed a little because of the way the birds were all clumped together looking at it, just as if they were having the conversation described in the post. We've learned to listen to our birds, too. They're very good at warning about danger. In our case, it's usually a cat or squirrel in the alley.

HEchicken, I have no advice on dogs. I love dogs, but I love the bigger ones. As you can tell by my dog choices (Weim and Vizsla), I like sleek, short-haired dogs. They're hunters by nature and not at all chicken friendly. I don't know enough about the smaller breeds. Good luck with the search!

Winterizing: They don't seem to need much. Mine won't walk on snow, but if we shovel a clear area, they will be in it even when snow or ice is falling from the sky. Our window openings are covered with chicken wire, with thick plexiglass that can be raised or lowered. Unless it's below zero, we leave one of the windows propped open about 1/2" or so just to keep fresh air coming in. We do put a light on a timer in the coop in winter to keep egg production a little higher, and that adds some heat when it comes on, but for most of the night/early morning it isn't on. I still haven't rigged up a heated water dish, so I do have to go out regularly and make sure they have water to drink.

 

[OkieQueenBee]

We candled some eggs last night and we could see veins growing in the majority of them. These are eggs from our hens so most will be mutts. The eggs were laid while they were drinking medicated water. About 1/3 of the eggs (from the same hen?) had this speckled look that is only noticeable with the candling light.

Our major accomplishment yesterday was getting the brooder portion of the new house functionable. We moved the 5 week old chicks that we got from Heartland hatchery in last night.

In this mix is Blue laced red wyandottes, Buff Orps, Welsummers, and Easter Eggers.

Today DH will make the other doors and we will put wire on, since we are still waiting on the tin to come in. Plan on moving the larger peafowl in there to get them off the ground. And hopefully, I will be able to cobble together a duck house before the rain. Hoop coop, yeah it's still on my list....
Oh, and I've got more babies to move around in the nursery. How did we get so many chickens? :/