Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Sharol I'm so sorry for your loss. Even when we see it coming, it doesn't stop us from missing them and grieving for them. It has been more than two years now since we lost our Rex but I still tear up sometimes when I think about him.

Did everyone remember to turn their clocks back?

We had to order a solar panel for the chicken door that stopped working and DH installed it yesterday and it is nice to have the door working again. While it was inop, I merged a couple of pens into the main coop and those birds are used to the people door being open to go in and out so now they have to learn the chicken door.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm back after a week in Reno at my daughter's house. My grandkids are growing like weeds, and Ben took his first steps the night before his 1st birthday when I WAS BABYSITTING. I got it on video with my cell phone so they could see it.
Lucky You! I'll bet his parents are jealous!!
Unfortunately I lost my 15 year old Golden Retriever mix this morning to kidney failure. We knew it was coming and that there was no treatment that would save her -- the kidney flush bought her a couple of weeks, but I didn't want to torture her with hours at the vet's if there was not a significant improvement in blood test results. It progressed really fast and I thought I might not get home before she died, but (as DH says) she waited for me. Our wonderful vet came out to help her over the line this morning and it took almost no meds. She was really ready to go.
We tried the kidney flush on Tyggy too but her labs came back worse. I used the same vet for her that you use. It's been over a year and I still tear up when I think about loosing her.

It is so hard to loose a pet that you care for. Those creatures steel our hearts for sure.

I'm so glad you found a home for your mini horses, I know you have been searching for the right person to take them, I hope it works out for them.

Danz, I don't envy you dealing with that darned clay, it's just the pits. I dealt with it for 23 years & I'm glad we have limestone here & it drains really well. It still gets muddy here if it rains a lot, but it's not as slick as the clay & at least it soaks in instead of just sitting there.

I worked my butt off today & now I have to get cleaned up & go grocery shopping, I'm already tired, ugh. I carried out all of my stacked rabbit cages in the garage to the driveway in front of the garage & hosed them down & cleaned all the trays to get ready to move rabbits in. They were a mess really because I had just moved the rabbits out in the spring & hadn't done anything to get the cages cleaned up. I have 3 stacks of cages that are fixed together with legs bolted together so they stay stacked, so there are two stacks of 3 & one stack of 4 high. The tall one was a real pain to move. I also moved out the larger cages I used for the bigger rabbits & got those 3 all cleaned up too. I have decided it's not going back in there because I'm going to leave the two chinchilla rabbits out in their hutch. It is a really heavy duty hutch made out of a crate that we bought, it weighs a ton & I think I'm just going to put some plastic over the front & they will be snug as a bug out there. I just can't lift those big trays for the larger cages any more, they just get too heavy for me, I really hurt my back last winter trying to do that. Anyway, it took me from 11:30 till 6:00 to get all of the cages cleaned out & put back in place & I also cleaned the floor where they had been because that was a mess too. I have a lot more room around the cages now with those big ones out of there & I will be able to get to my chick brooders a lot easier too. That was quite a job, whew I'm glad it's done. Tomorrow I can move the other 6 rabbits into their cages in the garage now. The critter sitter felt sorry for the 3 that were outside without a nest box attached & she had moved them into the garage. I wasn't ready for them to be moved yet, so it made things a lot harder for me having to move the rabbits twice to clean cages. They're all happy now though in a nice clean cage. I'm still in the process of cleaning out the garage too & my DH wants to get the things taken to Goodwill Tues. that need to go so we can get his side of the garage cleaned for him to get his car back in there. I've been waiting on him for at least two months to help me lift things into the truck that I need help with. One of these days we'll have a nice clean garage again, we won't know how to act. It's just one of those things that happens over years, you collect things & things get piled somewhere & it just stays that way until you finally have to deal with it. It took me forever to get my son to come & go through his stuff & take what he wanted to keep & tell me what to get rid of. We have a two car garage with an added workshop space, so it's a pretty big building to have to clean out. I have made my way so far 3/4 of the way through it, I still have the back part behind where the rabbit cages are & the south wall area to do yet. When I get it all cleaned out where I want it to be I need to get some shelving put in there for my chicken equipment & extra rabbit stuff to store it. We don't have a storage shed any more since that became my main chicken coop, so everything has to be stored in the garage.

Well everyone have a good weekend. Mine I think is going to be taken up with getting things done that need to be done before winter & seeing my granddaughter tomorrow some time if that works out. I'm also picking up a new cat to add to our menagerie, a beautiful long haired calico tomorow afternoon, so I have to get things ready for her too.

You were really busy Trish.

Sharol- sorry about your dog, you obviously meant a great deal to her ,

Lots of chicken drama here today. Moved the geese and the duck together with two ornery yung cockerels . (Nice to see those two getting a taste of their own medicine) and moved the other chickens in with the rest of the flock . The Brahma roo that I got from Zigzag did a great job protecting "his flock" from some of the of the older bossy girls . I really like his attitude , there is another young big orange roo that's was allready in with the main group and they just checked each other out and then went about their business . I think the big orange one is at least part Brahma too they have such nice temperments. Hopefully with the other two "alpha's" out of there everyone will settle down . I wanted to get the waterfowl all together so they wouldn't keep messing up every waterer I had out there.

I love the brahmas. Obviously, since they are one of the two main breeds I just keep adding to. They are just awesome easy going birds and the roosters are very protective of their girls without being mean.
I am really having trouble getting around today. I did too much work with my lousy back yesterday. I still have a lot to get done out there too.
I have a few people coming for some birds today which means doing some catching and that won't be easy either. I've learned my lesson about letting people get in my pens or coops so I will be doing it myself. I'd just go ahead and catch and pen them but I've learned not to trust people to actually show up.
I really want to vaccinate all the birds I have for breeders for Mereks today but I just don't know if I am up to it. I need to get it done when I have DH here to help me as much as I am sure he won't like it. I want to be sure to band their legs while I am at it. I might need to do it when it's not so nasty out there but I don't think the weather is going to get better. It's times like these I wish I had a lot less birds!!! He won't do any vaccinating but at least he could hold them while I vaccinate and band them. It may be too much to get done with other things going on at the same time. I wish I didn't have to use so much vaccine at once. I would much rather do it in small groups than a couple hundred birds at a time.
It felt really cool out this morning. I am not looking forward to being out today. The wind is supposed to blow really hard as well. I hope that wind at least dries out some of this mud...before our next bout of storms.
I need to get some garlic planted and I am going to have to mud them in. They need to be in fairly decent draining soil and even the best spots are really wet right now.

 

[JosieChick]

I really miss your posts Josie. Good to know about the screenings. I wanted to get river rock but it is $40 a ton. It has smooth edges and I think that would be ideal. There's no way I can afford that. Maybe I should go to the river to the sand bars next summer and haul it out a bucket at a time! I might get one bucket out before I gave up. I guess using the screenings is better than the clay even though it will have it's draw backs. I just want to get some of these birds out of the mud. I know the gravel we have on the driveway is very hard for the birds to walk on. I can tell it hurts their feet. I wish I could find a source for cheap pea gravel. That would be nice as well. I guess the nice stuff has a price for a reason.
King Bee I have seen my birds pick up small particles of limestone from the driveway. I wish sand would stay in place. It just tends to wash away or disappear in time.
I'm already sick of cool weather. It's supposed to rain again early to mid week. It sure would be nice if it would wait another week or so and at least let some of this water soak in.
I still have my 2013 geese free ranging in the yard. It seems to be the best option...other than they recently have found the back porch is their favorite place to sit at night. I am hosing it off now but when it gets colder that won't work. I really need to get a new and bigger pen for them made but that is one more thing to get done on my never ending list.

Me too! Finally. I had so many people contact me then back out it was getting really frustrating. I didn't want them to go somewhere that was just going to turn around and re sell them or treat them roughly and that was tough to find! Sounds like a LOT of work!!!

I'm so glad you found a home for your mini horses, I know you have been searching for the right person to take them, I hope it works out for them.

Danz, I don't envy you dealing with that darned clay, it's just the pits. I dealt with it for 23 years & I'm glad we have limestone here & it drains really well. It still gets muddy here if it rains a lot, but it's not as slick as the clay & at least it soaks in instead of just sitting there.

I worked my butt off today

Wow!! Ben must have been waiting for Grandma to take those first steps! SO sorry about your old girl, it is so hard to lose them, even when you know they are ailing. Hopefully with time the grief and pain will pass and be replaced by fond memories of her and all the wonderful times you shared.

I'm back after a week in Reno at my daughter's house. My grandkids are growing like weeds, and Ben took his first steps the night before his 1st birthday when I WAS BABYSITTING. I got it on video with my cell phone so they could see it.

I came home to 5 (of my 17) molting chickens, a coop that looks like a feather pillow exploded, and well cared for chickens thanks to my DH. Poor Scout (the Campine) has lost her tail and many of her other feathers. I put the heaters up over the roosts plugged into at thermo cube so that if the temp drops too far, she will have a warmer spot. Poor things are pretty helpless without the insulation.

Unfortunately I lost my 15 year old Golden Retriever mix this morning to kidney failure. We knew it was coming and that there was no treatment that would save her -- the kidney flush bought her a couple of weeks, but I didn't want to torture her with hours at the vet's if there was not a significant improvement in blood test results. It progressed really fast and I thought I might not get home before she died, but (as DH says) she waited for me. Our wonderful vet came out to help her over the line this morning and it took almost no meds. She was really ready to go.

This was taken about 6 years ago (the cocker is her friend Bonnie -- lost her to congestive heart failure 5 years ago - ironically while I was at my daughter's house then too).


You know, it doesn't help a bit that I knew she was failing. I can't stop crying at the drop of a hat. We are looking for a couple of larger-medium sized dogs to adopt (have been since we lost Charlie) and I'm going to meet a golden retriever this week sometime. If I pass muster with the rescue organization and it seems like a good fit, well, we will see.

Sorry, just needed to vent, I guess.

Chicken drama!! Hehehehe....those poor cockerels are probably getting a good whipping from the geese!

Sharol- sorry about your dog, you obviously meant a great deal to her ,

Lots of chicken drama here today. Moved the geese and the duck together with two ornery yung cockerels . (Nice to see those two getting a taste of their own medicine) and moved the other chickens in with the rest of the flock . The Brahma roo that I got from Zigzag did a great job protecting "his flock" from some of the of the older bossy girls . I really like his attitude , there is another young big orange roo that's was allready in with the main group and they just checked each other out and then went about their business . I think the big orange one is at least part Brahma too they have such nice temperments. Hopefully with the other two "alpha's" out of there everyone will settle down . I wanted to get the waterfowl all together so they wouldn't keep messing up every waterer I had out there.

Well we got some stuff done yesterday! The minis left yesterday afternoon, no sooner did the lady take Sprinkles lead rope did he bolt and get away from her. I have to use a catch pen to get him so he was again loose in the pasture and totally spooked. I had to send them back up to their car so I could re enact dinner again to catch him. Sigh. Finally got him and put a lunge line on him this time just in case! So off they went.

It is chilly here today with the wind but hopefully it will dry up the muck! I have to list some more birds to sell but am not in the mood to deal with nine hundred phone calls. I did sell my cabinet incubator if the guy shows up to get it. I am trying to find out about the show in Hutch on the 16th. I would love to bring a couple geese and a few geese to sell. I have way too many ganders and don't want to deal with fighting this spring. I do want them to have good homes though and some of them are pretty darn nice looking fellas.

Everyone stay warm!

 

[Trish44]

sharol, I'm sorry about your dog, it's always hard to lose a pet no matter whether you see it coming or not, they're just part of your family.

HEChicken, we totally forgot about changing the clocks, so we will have to do that today & we have a lot of them.

 

[HEChicken]

HEChicken, we totally forgot about changing the clocks, so we will have to do that today & we have a lot of them.

Fortunately the clock on the computer changes automatically! My DH had come in while I was typing above and said "You know its only 7am, right?" and I couldn't at first figure out why he was pointing that out

Oh, Trish, I meant to ask how your egg laying has been since you used the Rooster Booster? I know you had a really good day the next day but I was wondering if that trend had continued. I got twice as many eggs yesterday as I've been getting and a lot more than I've had in the last month though I haven't changed anything lately. In my case, it may just be that some of the newer pullets are finally getting started laying, although most of the eggs were full sized so I dunno….

Josie, congrats on finding a good placement for the minis, though it sounds like it wasn't without its stress either.

 

[chicken danz]

Grrr! I just had a cancellation. I haven't heard back from the other people who were coming even though I asked for a time. I guess people think I do nothing but sit in the house and wait for their messages.They don't obviously understand I can't start projects if I am waiting for an answer from them. Vent!!! I have one more chick to hatch for the other people. It is pipped but not hatched yet.
I remembered about the clocks but I haven't gotten mine changed yet. I figure it is going to be pleasant to just suddenly gain an hour. ...until this evening when the sun sets at 5:15! I am going to hate that!

 

[KsKingBee]

Danz, have you had mereks? Also, do fowl other than chickens get mereks? I read that keeping turkeys in with chickens helps.

 

[chicken danz]

No I haven't. But I do know that it is every where. Turkeys can also get mereks but not quite as easily. I understand that keeping birds in ultimate health helps prevent it. I bought the vaccine after JosieChick recommended doing it. I just haven't gotten it done. I had a bird with some leg problems and got me to worrying about it, so I decided I should get the birds vaccinated and not have to worry. I know it's impractical to vaccinate for everything but I like to be sure my higher priced birds are as protected as I can afford them to be.
I can't imgagine vaccinating all the chicks I hatch though. That would be a nightmare.

 

[sharol]

Danz, we did the flush with blood workups before and after. The numbers were way down after the flush, but 2 weeks later they were back higher than they were originally. One of the things I really like about my vet is that he doesn't give you false hope just to boost the clinic's income. He was really straighforward about the hopelessness of her condition. I just didn't want to steal what little time she had left going to the vet and staying half a day for 3 days if it would only buy her a week or two. It just didn't seem fair to add to her discomfort. No regrets on that one. She had a decent last 3 weeks and a good life in general. Maybe better than a "good" life. She was the sweetest dog on the planet though she sure wouldn't have broken any intelligence records. I'm going to miss her for a long time.

 

[chicken danz]

Yes he shot straight with me too and I really liked that. He just let me know that there was no hope after the flushing. And when I saw how poorly she was doing I knew he was right. I spent an hour and a half with her before she was put to sleep. It was very hard to see her go. I did recognize the signs a few months later when it happened to another pet....even older. He hated riding in the car so I chose to just make him as pain free and comfortable as he could be. In both cases it was the right thing to do.
You have my deepest sympathies. I still cry even writing this. The last year and half has been just awful loosing both my parents, and three very dear pets. Not to mention some very precious birds. I am so feeling your pain.
I hope for both our sakes that that is the end for both of us for a long time.