Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

I've noticed how quiet it has been, too, but I figured everyone was outside getting as much done as possible while we have this nice weather. KKB has the new house ready enough to house the chickens because we have to do some rearranging for some new additions. (Go ahead Danz, and ask how that duck coop is coming along!) Danz glad you took some time for yourself today, gotta give yourself a break every now and again.
We saw something yesterday that I have never seen before - a flock of at least 50 hawks (don't know what kind) soaring over our farm. They were just circling and meandering northward following the little creek. Didn't see them today, just the one pesky one that swoops by every so often. Last winter I thought it was really neat to see a couple of bald eagles soaring overhead, now I'm thinking I don't need to see them that close again. We have owls that are really close, that is bad enough.
Sharol, those are really pretty birds. Isn't it just amazing all the different colors and patterns that birds can have?
Has anyone heard from LizzyGSR? I think we are do an update.
Think we will candle the Maran eggs tonight. And gotta get some honey bottled.

Are you going to be selling any of those Marans chicks? If you are I might be interested in a few. My old hen I have left looks absolutely pitiful right now, she's molting bad & she's about 3 years old now at least if not more. I bought her from IVYWOODS on here who moved & hasn't returned to the thread as of yet, it's been awhile. Anyway, I love those dark eggs & I would like to have some of those again.

I've been so busy it's not funny, just running my tail off. It's been so nice out that you can't help but be out there doing something, enjoy while you can. We had to make a run to Walmart today & that was what the checkout girl said that she was wishing she could be outside instead of in there working.

We took our granddaughter, her sister, mom, & other grandfather to supper tonight & it was nice visiting with them all. Our granddaughter is quite the character, she is getting more so every day it seems like. She showed up her report card & she had gotten all A's except one B, that was excellent & we told her we were really proud of her. My son called while we were there & was talking to her also. I wish he got to see her more often, but it's difficult with him living in OKC & her living here.

It's supposed to be beautiful again tomorrow, enjoy everyone!

 

[HEChicken]

Sharol, they are very pretty birds. A couple of them look just like my Matilda! I will have to find a pic of her so you can see how similar they are....

Thanks for the suggestions on the door everyone. It didn't open again this morning but at least I knew to look for it and I got down there early to open up the people door for them. I do think its a battery issue, based on its failed attempt to comply this morning to my request that it open. The battery is trickle charged via a solar panel that is mounted on the roof. Or, at least, it is supposed to be mounted on the roof, and initially, it was. My roof is metal so the recommended method of mounting was a dab of caulk, which worked for the first year or so. Then a bird thought it would be fun to roost on the roof and in its failed attempt to land on the sloping roof, it flailed and caught the panel and dislodge it so it slid down into the gutter. For the past few months, it has been partially in the gutter so not getting the full sun it needs but as long as the door kept working, I figured it must be getting enough. Perhaps with the shorter days, the higher angle of the sun, a few overcast days last week, it didn't get enough charge so I plan to get out the ladder today and get it mounted back up on the roof again, and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

Danz, the little turkeys had a long time out yesterday than ever before. They still don't return to their pen at night but hang around the main coop and I have to capture them there and carry them back. The BR's are easy to catch and quite friendly little things but the Blue Slates are much more skittish. Is that your experience with the two different breeds as well? I think today I will let them out most of the day to see how they do. I still want them in their little pen at night so they can eat their gamebird starter in the morning, but I think they will enjoy the freedom of having the rest of the day out of their pen instead of just the last 2-3 hours in the afternoon.

 

[chicken danz]

Yes HEChicken that is one reason why I sold the blue slate breeders. I hatched my originals and handled them but they were never as tame as my other turkeys. Beautiful but not as calm. As the boys aged they became more enamored with me but the girls never quite warmed up to me. The BR are very sweet. Even the boy raised by F Reese who had obviously never been handled, is an easy going boy. Of course I never had a lot of time to play with them which might have helped some.
I hope remounting your solar collector will help on your door problem. If it doesn't you may have to order a new battery. Not good!
My poor turkeys haven't gotten to get out for so long. I just can't loose any more to predators with them wanting to go get broody somewhere in the weeds. And now it is nearing harvest time and I'd hate for them to be sitting in the field and get run over by a combine. My farmer ran over a couple of my broody ducks with equipment this spring. Instead of leaving, they sat tight. I think the turkeys would be even worse about that.
I sure hope my DH can get to work on putting the last of the panels on the turkey pen and making the gate. I am so ready to have that project done and get going on another one. I can't believe it's October already!

 

[cherwill]

Cherwill in my experience raising pheasants they prefer to run than fly. They will jump up and fly if started but if they can see their "predator" they will run first.

I'll have to tell my neighbor. He did say it ran really fast. My only experience with them is seeing them run into the brush on the side of a country road, or cooking them after DH has brought them home and cleaned them.

We saw something yesterday that I have never seen before - a flock of at least 50 hawks (don't know what kind) soaring over our farm. They were just circling and meandering northward following the little creek. Didn't see them today, just the one pesky one that swoops by every so often. Last winter I thought it was really neat to see a couple of bald eagles soaring overhead, now I'm thinking I don't need to see them that close again. We have owls that are really close, that is bad enough.

I would think that was really cool, as long as they weren't anywhere near my chickens! We've had a lot of turkey vultures in town the last couple of years; they roost on one of the water towers. I like sitting on the back deck and watching them glide in circles overhead.

We took our granddaughter, her sister, mom, & other grandfather to supper tonight & it was nice visiting with them all. Our granddaughter is quite the character, she is getting more so every day it seems like. She showed up her report card & she had gotten all A's except one B, that was excellent & we told her we were really proud of her. My son called while we were there & was talking to her also. I wish he got to see her more often, but it's difficult with him living in OKC & her living here.

Sounds like a great evening, and your granddaugher is a real smartypants! Those are terrific grades.

 

[sharol]

Sharol, they are very pretty birds. A couple of them look just like my Matilda! I will have to find a pic of her so you can see how similar they are....

 

[lizzyGSR]

Has anyone heard from LizzyGSR? I think we are do an update.

I'm still here! I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, as well as an appointment with the chiropracter and an appointment to get our car seat inspected. We spent all afternoon/evening in the next town over where our doctor is located. Since Wal-Mart is the only "grocery" store within 20 minute's drive, we stopped at the grocery store and did some other errands while we were there. LONG day! The doctor continued to sound optimistic about everything and even took me off of my activity restriction! I still am not supposed to lift much, but that is fine by me!

While we were in town, we also got to pick up the maternity pictures we had taken last week! The photographer had posted several "sneak peeks" on FB, and I was so excited to see the rest! They turned out pretty good for not having gone with a professional photographer! I'll include a few of my favorites here for your enjoyment! Just as a side note to keep from getting myself in trouble. These were taken by Emily Rae Photography, who has given me permission to copy/use the photos as I please as long as I don't edit them.

 

[chicken danz]

Love the pictures Lizzy!!! Especially the top one. I'm still thinking boy even though everyone else on here says girl I think. Have you done anything on that dresser yet? I'm so glad you posted. I was afraid you had gone into labor or something. I can't wait for news! I'm so excited for you.
Cherwill I need to go clean out a lot of my garden as well. I may just pull up the bean plants and some of the other stuff out there. I'll keep the tomatoes until it freezes though. I also need to stake some grape vines I planted last year. I thought I had them close to the fence but I'm finding they weren't as close as I thought.
I've been out feeding and watering all the birds. I let the bourbon reds out to free range for the first time ever. They came out then ran back to their pen. Silly turkeys.
Better get back out there. I have tons to do.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Love the pictures Lizzy!!! Especially the top one. I'm still thinking boy even though everyone else on here says girl I think. Have you done anything on that dresser yet? I'm so glad you posted. I was afraid you had gone into labor or something. I can't wait for news! I'm so excited for you.

Yes, we have started on the dresser. In fact, it is almost done! We are just waiting for the drawer knobs to be done drying (they were the last things painted). We might need to do another layer on them, but I am hoping to be able to move the dresser into the nursery and start putting things in it soon (with or without knobs

).

This weekend, while I was in town, I was able to pick up the last few things that I needed before Baby comes, so putting the dresser in the room, washing clothes, and organizing the nursery are really the last big things on my to-do list.... Other than packing my own bag, that is.

I have been meaning to do that for over a week now and somehow haven't gotten very far. I've started but am not done yet. The good news is that the laptop and camera are in their cases and ready to grab on the way out the door if needed. We also got the car seat inspected and installed in the car. One not-so-good thing about this weekend... I was doing laundry and have been noticing that the dryer hasn't been working as well as usual. So, I asked my DH to look at it. He pulled the dryer out from against the wall and pulled the vent hose off the back. He stuffed his hand down it and came out with two great big handfulls of lint. He also discovered a couple pretty good sized holes in the plastic dryer hose (plastic dryer hoses are BAD according to our dryer's owner's manual). The plastic hose goes into the wall before it is vented through the stucco and outside the house. We're not sure how we're going to replace the hose with something more reliable, but it needs to be done, preferably before Baby arrives and we have to start washing dirty diapers on a regular basis. If it isn't one thing, it's another!

 

[sharol]

One not-so-good thing about this weekend... I was doing laundry and have been noticing that the dryer hasn't been working as well as usual. So, I asked my DH to look at it. He pulled the dryer out from against the wall and pulled the vent hose off the back. He stuffed his hand down it and came out with two great big handfulls of lint. He also discovered a couple pretty good sized holes in the plastic dryer hose (plastic dryer hoses are BAD according to our dryer's owner's manual). The plastic hose goes into the wall before it is vented through the stucco and outside the house. We're not sure how we're going to replace the hose with something more reliable, but it needs to be done, preferably before Baby arrives and we have to start washing dirty diapers on a regular basis. If it isn't one thing, it's another!

 

[HEChicken]

Haha - all the talk about dryer lint makes me really glad we hang our clothes out to dry and don't need to worry about that

Well, I was fit to be tied tonight when I got home with DS from an appt to have DH casually say there had been a fox on the property. I thought he was kidding, he was so casual but he said, nope, he'd been watching it. I asked if he took a shot at it and he replied that no, it wasn't interested in my birds (!)

Just then I looked out the window and I saw it too so I asked him to hand me the rifle while I kept an eye on it and DS and I went out and "stalked" it for about 45 minutes. It actually was kind of neat to watch as it was leaping to catch mice and doing some very athletic jumps into the air to go after flying bugs. Unfortunately it was just too windy and too far away for me to get a shot at it. It started to move closer and finally it was within range and I got it in the sights, just as it noticed me and froze. With it locked in the sight and motionless, I pulled the trigger and....nothing happened. Yup - the safety was on. I feel so ridiculously foolish now, I can't even describe it. I was just so intent on not losing sight of it that when DH handed it to me and I asked "is it loaded and ready to go?", I assumed that "Yes" meant all I had to do was pull the trigger. I honestly never even looked as I was too afraid if I took my eyes off the fox for even a minute I would lose it in the tall grass.

Of course, by the time I realized and fixed it, the fox was taking off. It ran the entire width of our property - very fast - and in no time it was out of range again. I know it will be back. I don't even care if its back and satisfied with hunting mice and voles and large flying insects. I just don't want to lose any more birds to it.

My brooder chicks had their first afternoon outside today. They are back in now that its cooling off but are still chattering about their big adventure.