Consolidated Kansas

[tweetybaby2005]

Why hello fellow Kansas folk!

Welcome! I hope you find out your local chicken law soon so you will be addicted just like the rest of us!

Hi all, I've been gone on vacation for the last two weeks & we just got back last night about midnight. We flew to Venice, Italy & spent two days there & then got on a ship & sailed to Greece. We had wonderful weather the whole time we were out there, calm seas & sunshine most of the time. It was a lot warmer than we expected it to be this time of year & a lot of other people were surprised as well. It was beautiful over there, this was our first trip to Europe & it was interesting. We both came back sick with bad colds, so that was the downside of our trip, so we're trying to recover from that now. It was the pits flying with a cold all day yesterday, we were just miserable. When we would descend on one of the 3 planes back home our ears would just scream with pain & it wasn't fun with being sick anyway. We were really glad to be back home to our own bed last night. I was glad to see my birds & animals & I think they were glad to see me. Our little dogs have been really clingy since we got home & the GPs outside can't quit smiling at me, it's really cute. I did have a couple of losses while I was gone, kind of par for the course.

Danz, I was trying to catch up on reading, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts & prayers are coming your way to you & your family.

Trish - That sounded like an awesome trip! So sorry you and your DH are sick though. May be you can share some cool pictures of Italy, etc. I do have a plan to visit different countries in the future, just not the near future. It will be so cool to experience the different culture, food, etc. I bet your animals are very happy that you are back! Take it easy so you can recover quickly.

Thanks all. I have already got copies of the law and the zoning map. The neighbor has horses so it shouldn't be a problem but looks like it is a 90 day process to get an answer from the city, unless I can prove we live in an agriculture zoning and according to the map we do. Nevertheless I have a meeting next week with the zoning guy so we will see. I look forward to learning from everyone.

Glad you are making some headway on the zoning and finding out the different laws. I'm glad we are out of city limit and my town doesn't have any strict laws about keeping chickens and ducks.

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Danz - Take it easy. I'm glad to see you back and keeping yourself busy. Hopefully you will be able to get the turkey pen done soon... preferrably before the really cold weather is here to stay for a while.

I've been pretty busy trying to get a pen done for the 2 peachicks. They are still young enough that they stay with my chicks for now but I don't want to find out one day they are too big to stay in the chicken coop. The ducks are giving us some nice eggs so I have more to make salty eggs with. Work is keeping me very busy. I've a major software release going out in 2 weeks and I'll be working some night shifts to cover deployment. I'll get busier when I enter December with another major release going out. I'll try to be here as much as possible to catch up on what everyone is doing. With the cold weather approaching fast, I really have to put some heavy duty clear tarp on the South wall to block some wind. The North wall is solid so I don't have to worry about it. With 3 open sides, I need to do something to protect the birds in winter.

I read in the paper last week that Kansas will have above normal precipitation in January and below average temperature in February. Sounds like we are in for a cold winter!

Danz/Hechicken/Josie/Lizzy/Trish and those who have water fowl like ducks and/or geese, what do you do wtih water in a bucket or pool for them? I am sure they will freeze and with them needing their head/nostrils rinsed out, what's the best way to keep water in a bucket and also keep it from freezing? This is the first winter season I keep ducks so I'm clueless here and need some help.

Have a great day!

 

[HEChicken]

Trish, I'm glad you are back - its been really quiet on here with various people gone for various reasons.

Danz, glad also to hear that things are going back to normal for you.

Josie - yes, the molting is terrible! I have several birds that look like they are completely neglected and uncared for. Even my NH rooster is looking pretty shabby right now and he is the one people usually comment on because he looks so regal.

And, I have a broody hen. Her timing is terrible as there is nothing I want hatched right now. She is one of the Cochins and she has brooded twice already this year. I think she only laid a handful of eggs since giving up raising her last batch of chicks (who are all now larger than she is) so this will be her third time. I wish I had a need to hatch some eggs but right now there is no one laying due to molt, of the hens I would ever consider hatching from....

I just processed a hen, which means the cockerel I went down there to get, will live another day. I really don't like processing hens, but I could hear the unmistakable sound of a congested hen laboring to breathe. When I identified who it was, it turned out to be one of those 7 hens I "rescued" recently. They are going on 3 years old, and this was a production red so likely had laid most of the eggs she ever would. Rather than waste time and effort treating a hen who is pretty much done anyway, I decided to just put her out of her misery right then and there. I think I made the right choice, as on eviscerating, I didn't see any sign of eggs at all, so she may have been completely done and I would have been feeding her all winter for nothing. Butchering is one of those things where it does seem that "practice makes perfect". I had her in the crockpot less than an hour after discovering her labored breathing at the coop.

I've also done a couple of ducks in the past week so I'm getting a good store of meat in the freezer for this winter. We've also had a meal or two from the duck meat and it is really delicious. I've found the way that works best for me is to skin the bird and then put it in the crockpot on a low setting. I don't add anything to the crockpot and within hours, the slow cooking has the meat falling off the bones, and the juices from the bird end up leaving it tender and moist. Once it is done, I sift through and remove the bones and am left with meat that resembles shredded beef or pork. I then divide that up in to ziploc baggies and put it in the freezer. The juices make wonderful stock for soups or cooking rice in.

 

[HEChicken]

The ducks are giving us some nice eggs so I have more to make salty eggs with.

Danz/Hechicken/Josie/Lizzy/Trish and those who have water fowl like ducks and/or geese, what do you do wtih water in a bucket or pool for them? I am sure they will freeze and with them needing their head/nostrils rinsed out, what's the best way to keep water in a bucket and also keep it from freezing? This is the first winter season I keep ducks so I'm clueless here and need some help.

I think you were typing the same time I was!

Please share your recipe for salty eggs - are they like pickled eggs? I make them a lot as DH loves to eat pickled eggs as a snack and they keep approximately forever. But I'd love to have some variations too and that sounds like something that would be right up our alley....

For the ducks in winter, I use one of those rubber pans that are several inches deep. The nice thing about the rubber is you don't have to worry about it cracking in the winter if the water freezes, like you do with plastic. You can put a cookie tin water heater under it to keep it unfrozen, but usually I just dump it and put a fresh gallon or two of water in every morning. Most days it is above freezing enough to keep it unfrozen all day but on the really cold days I have to redo that halfway through the day. I also use the plastic heated dog water bowls. They are about 6" deep and hold about a gallon of water.

 

[Trish44]

I'm glad to see some of you back, I'm sorry to hear you were sick too Josie, I hope you're feeling better. It's just miserable to fly when you're sick, believe me I know. We're both still sick here, this stuff is hard to get rid of whatever it is. You start thinking you're getting better & then you feel worse again. My right ear is totally stopped up again to where I can't hear a thing out of it. We're like two deaf people here because we both have stopped up ears that go along with this stuff. It's a bad deal that both of us are like that at the same time. We're drinking lots of hot tea trying to break this stuff up.

I have things I really need to do yet for winterizing, but I'm just not up to doing it yet feeling the way I do, I'm so dizzy today I think I would fall over if I tried to exert myself too much. I will try to post some pics of Italy & Greece when I feel better. I have downloaded my pics from my camera to my computer & my DH is working on his now. Between the two of us we have taken over 2000 photos so we will have to go through & pick out the best ones for my scrapbook. I had scrapbooking class on the ship several days so they gave us some free kits on those days & we made themed pages to add photos to later. I also bought some kits from them that were themed for the ship & our cruise so that will be nice too. Now I have to get pics picked out to use in it & get them printed.

tweetybaby, this will be my first winter in a lot of years to have ducks too, so I also need suggestions on the water thing. They're so messy with the water that they have their pen all wet inside from spilling it. I have emptied out the kiddie pool before I left & am not refilling it, so they just have a rubber bowl in their pen now & when they come out they get in all the bowls sitting around to play. I have tarps over the sides of my open pens, I put them on 3 sides in winter to stop the wind & leave the front open. They seem to do OK with that. It does get dark in those pens so they don't lay much in winter, but that's OK as long as they stay healthy.

ctrymama, welcome to our forum. I hope you get things straightened out with the zoning so you can figure out what you can have. We're all enablers here, so we will help you get hooked on chickens!

My little black shoulder Peachick was out the whole time I was gone evidently so I was very glad to find her alive when I returned. I have no idea how my critter sitter let her out of her pen, but nevertheless she was & was flying around on top of the peafowl hoop coop when I first saw her & then she flew to the breeder pens. I was able to lure her over with some bread & caught her so I could get her into the peafowl coop where she is now. I think she is big enough now to stay in there with them. I was concerned before about her getting beat up on, but I think she is going to be OK now that she can fly up on the roost. I'm guessing she lived on the old bread that the critter sitter threw out for her the whole time I was gone because she had no other food. I'm just glad she was smart enough to stay up most of the time on top of the pens so nothing got her. I would have been incredibly sad if she had gotten killed after hatching her & having her this long. There were also two of my hens out when I returned home & I have them going back in at night now. My chickens are really glad I'm home since they're used to free ranging all day, at least the laying flock does. The ones in the breeder pens don't get that luxury. I did lose a couple of chicks while I was gone I guess, one of them I know was a wheaten Ameraucana chick I was sad to lose since I only had 3 hatched from my broody hen. It seems like every time I leave I lose something. It's just hard to leave when you have so many birds & animals to have care for & nobody takes care of them like you do.

Danz, take it easy if you can, don't overdo so you end up sick. I know you're behind, but it will get done eventually. Give yourself some time, losing a loved one is hard. Hugs to you,

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I think you were typing the same time I was!

Please share your recipe for salty eggs - are they like pickled eggs? I make them a lot as DH loves to eat pickled eggs as a snack and they keep approximately forever. But I'd love to have some variations too and that sounds like something that would be right up our alley....

For the ducks in winter, I use one of those rubber pans that are several inches deep. The nice thing about the rubber is you don't have to worry about it cracking in the winter if the water freezes, like you do with plastic. You can put a cookie tin water heater under it to keep it unfrozen, but usually I just dump it and put a fresh gallon or two of water in every morning. Most days it is above freezing enough to keep it unfrozen all day but on the really cold days I have to redo that halfway through the day. I also use the plastic heated dog water bowls. They are about 6" deep and hold about a gallon of water.

The recipe for the salted duck eggs is easy. Just boil water in a pot, keep adding salt until it is saturated (when salt no longer dissolve). Turn the heat off and let it cool. Put duck eggs in a glass jar, add a TBSP of peppercorn and some wine (I use white wine). Pour the cooled salt solution into the jar until eggs are covered. Just let it sit in a cool corner on the counter for 4 to 6 weeks and they will be ready to eat. I use it to cook soup or steam ground pork with it. I also just put a couple in the rice cooker while I cook the rice and they will be ready to eat when the rice is done.

Not sure if this is what you have in mind because they are not pickled in a sense that no vinegar is involved. The salted duck eggs will keep for a long time in the fridge.

Thanks for the tips about black rubber pans. I have 3 I use for feeds but I will get more from the store for the ducks. I also have 2 heated dog bowls and may need to get another one for the duck while in the store.

 

[HEChicken]

I am definitely willing to give the salted duck eggs a try! Some questions: about how much water, and about how much salt will it take to saturate it? Also, do you hard boil the eggs first and peel and put them in the jar, or just leave them with the shells on? I do have a couple dozen duck eggs left from when the ducks were laying, but I have tons of chicken eggs. I'm guessing it will work just as well with the chicken eggs? Also, does it work better with fresh eggs or eggs that are older?

Trish, so sorry to hear about losing your wheaten ameraucana chick - I know how much you were wanting them all to make it. And aggravating about the peachick being loose all that time - I'm glad she was okay.

 

[zigzag45]

I'm thinking I might need to try de-worming my little flock to see if that deals with the ongoing runny poo.

In researching it, I've become very confused as to what to use. There are hotly debated threads on BYC on this topic.

Ivermectin is popular on this thread, but other threads say it's ineffective, or should be used with other drugs.

Some say that the pour on ivermectin is the right stuff, other's say the injectable (which some say won't bond to water and has to be stirred often) is the only right stuff... I have both kinds now.

One thread said after the ivermectin, to do this:
14 days later dose them with the safeguard 10% suspension liquid goat wormer; 3cc per gallon of water. Leave it out for 2 days, then discard

Suggestions on what other's in KS do and what kind of ivermectin to use? I only have two laying right now (others are still growing) so I figure this is a good time to get it out of the way.

 

[Trish44]

I just saw this in a newsletter I get & think it would be worth a try if you don't want to have to waste eggs, which I hate to do. It looks like it will take care of most worms except maybe tapes & unless you see those you should be OK. Here is the link for it: http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog...oster-Triple-Action-Multi-Wormer-p1399.aspxso I have been using Safeguard because I can use it for my peafowl & turkeys too. It's the drug of choice I have read for peafowl who have to be wormed more often anyway.

 

[HEChicken]

Zigzag, I know what you mean - researching wormers gets very confusing. For what its worth….when I was looking into it awhile back, I came across a blog where a woman suggested using the injectable Ivermectin and I tried it her way and it made all the difference for my turkey tom at the time. He was failing and I didn't know why - all I knew was he was getting weaker by the day. At the same time I was seeing signs that my hens had tapeworm, and that is the reason I was researching wormers in the first place. The blog suggested:

4cc injectable Ivermectin, per gallon of water. Withdraw all other water sources and feed only the medicated water for 2-3 days.

The effect on my flock was miraculous. My turkey tom stopped sitting around all day, and attacked the food like he hadn't been fed for a month. Within a short time he was back to displaying and gobbling and looking really healthy. I didn't see another tapeworm segment following the period of worming.

I know that if you read those other threads and listen to other people on that section, they will tell you Ivermectin isn't effective and specifically that it doesn't work for tapeworm. All I can tell you is my experience. There is a specific user in that section who swears that the only wormer that works for tapeworm is Valbazen. It isn't water soluble and has to be administered to each bird separately - in two doses 7 days apart. It is also expensive and has to be ordered. So this year, when I again saw tapeworm, I decided to do it. DD and I spent a couple of hours - twice - dosing every single bird in my flock. And afterwards, I continued to see tapeworm segments in the poop. And I still do - as recently as yesterday. So for me, I would say the injectable Ivermectin (I saw no signs that it is not soluble in water) was the most effective as well as the easiest to administer.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I am definitely willing to give the salted duck eggs a try!  Some questions: about how much water, and about how much salt will it take to saturate it?  Also, do you hard boil the eggs first and peel and put them in the jar, or just leave them with the shells on?  I do have a couple dozen duck eggs left from when the ducks were laying, but I have tons of chicken eggs.  I'm guessing it will work just as well with the chicken eggs?  Also, does it work better with fresh eggs or eggs that are older?

It took about 8 cups of water but I didn't measure the salt. I just boiled the water then turned off the heat, poured the salt in until it no longer dissolved. My guess is at least 3 to 5 cups of salt. I use raw duck eggs so no peeling of the shells. I just clean the shells and put them into the jar. I put about 2 dozen eggs in the jar every time I do it. I have tried it with chicken eggs, the flavor was not as good as duck eggs but still good. The 4 to 6 weeks of soak time is just a range. If you don't want the eggs to be too salty, 4 weeks will do. I have used older eggs before without any issues. Once they are done soaking, the egg yolk will turn to bright orange color. It tastes great with steamed rice alone.

I'm getting ready to soak another batch this weekend with a mixture of old and new fresher eggs so if you need me to take some pictures, I can certainly do that. Let me know.