Consolidated Kansas

[22qZoo]

My sister lives in an older part of Olathe, she would be happy with the most obnoxious rooster imaginable as a neighbor instead of the tweeker that lives across the street from her now .
I'd be up for a some pointers on processing. I helped my parents when I was a disinterested kid , but I don't remember much of it. I'd like to figure out how to skin them quickly, we don't eat the skin much nor do I really want to pluck or mess with pin feathers.
Prettywitty- welcome to the thread.
Frizzled pink- that sure is cute, what is it? (Boy or girl) I guess looking at feathering for sexing doesn't really work on those guys.
Tweety- sorry about your pea chick. These animals bring us a lot of joy but jeez! ,seems like there's always something .
I was looking out the front door at the horse pasture and saw a coyote go jogging thru ! Gerr... Creepy buggers ,I went running out in my stocking feet waving my arms and yelling trying to make sure he wasn't heading towards the chickens that were out free ranging. When the dogs saw me running around they thought we were going to play "fetch the hedge apple" and totally missed the coyote! Then while my daughter and I were out rounding everybody up so the wouldn't be on the menu, my husband called and our son who is non verbal somehow answered the phone but was only making a noise like he was upset. (The battery on his IPod had died) So that got the husband worried which led him to call my parents , who then rushed over to see if we were ok. Ha ha ... What a zoo!

 

[HEChicken]

McPherson allows a number of "farm" animals in town, including horses. Roosters were fine until they got three complaints about a roo somewhere (not my neighborhood; most of the neighbors said they enjoyed hearing our roo). There are many, many more complaints about dogs and whatnot, but this particular complainer had connections. Several of our neighbors, and people in other neighborhoods with chickens, went to the city meetings to defend roos. They mentioned the noise from barking dogs, trains, lawnmowers, etc., and said it was all temporary noise that didn't bother them. The mayor offered several compromise solutions that were OK with most people and there was an agreement about what the new ordinance would be. Then he drafted an ordinance outlawing roos just like he'd wanted to from the beginning and it was voted on privately. While I do understand why a city might not want roos, I don't think they're the most unpleasantly noisy thing I hear regularly in town. The funny thing is, that around here, it's the smallest towns who want to ban chickens altogether because they don't like the stigma of being too rural, even though they are. And why is that a bad thing???

It makes me so mad hearing about corrupt local politicians. I totally agree with you - I'd rather hear a rooster during the day, than not be able to sleep because a dog is barking non-stop all night.

HEChicken, my kitty got tortured again today, at least that is how she saw it. I took her in to the Vet again & she gave her more fluids, an antibiotic injection since she was having so much of a problem swallowing, a short acting steroid shot to hopefully reduce the swelling in her throat, & a B-12 shot to stimulate her appetite. She was so mad at me when I got her home, she went & hid behind the chair, she sees me as the bad person who has been shoving things down her throat & taking her to the bad Dr. who pokes holes in her with needles. This cat has never had to go through anything like this before so this has been pretty traumatic for her. At any rate, I left her to rest this afternoon after all of that & went out to continue putting up tarps & plastic on my hoop coops & pens. My DH had to go into work really early this morning to get re-certified in CPR & first aid since he is a first responder, so he got home about 4:30 this afternoon instead of working 2nd shift today. We both did things outside for awhile & then I had to feed & do all of my chores. About the time I had started chores my granddaughter called me wanting me to come & bring her cell phone back to her because I had it checking out her issues with it & hadn't had time between taking the cat to the Vet all the time & working on winterizing, so I told her we would come after chores were done & we ate supper. We had to take the cell phone over & then came back to check on the cat & hopefully get her to eat, it's been days since she has eaten a thing or drank water on her own because she's been so sick. My DH got her on his lap & I warmed up this canned food the Vet had us get from her, it's a special diet for seriously ill cats. I really was expecting her to look at it & turn up her nose again the way she has been doing, but to our surprise she started chomping it down & ate every little bit. I didn't want to overwhelm her stomach after not eating for days so I didn't give her much the first time. But we were so thrilled to see her eating something & then evidently the canned stuff spurred her to go out & try some dry food as well after that. That is so exciting to see her eating & acting better. She got brushed, something she loves for a reward for eating & she was actually purring! Finally, something helped her, I was getting really concerned & the Vet was too, she said she should have been better before this & she told me she would call me tomorrow to see how she is doing. I'm really liking this new Vet we have, she is really good & is really caring. I like that she tells you all of your options & let's you decide what you want to proceed with. The next step if this didn't help was to sedate her & check out her nose, but I hated to have her go through that, she has had so much trauma already.

Wow. I'm sorry she had such a bad day but hopefully the eating is a good sign and its all downhill from here...

I was looking out the front door at the horse pasture and saw a coyote go jogging thru ! Gerr... Creepy buggers ,I went running out in my stocking feet waving my arms and yelling trying to make sure he wasn't heading towards the chickens that were out free ranging. When the dogs saw me running around they thought we were going to play "fetch the hedge apple" and totally missed the coyote! Then while my daughter and I were out rounding everybody up so the wouldn't be on the menu, my husband called and our son who is non verbal somehow answered the phone but was only making a noise like he was upset. (The battery on his IPod had died) So that got the husband worried which led him to call my parents , who then rushed over to see if we were ok. Ha ha ... What a zoo!

I'm sorry about the coyote but your write-up of the situation is hilarious. I can so see my dogs doing that! The one is so ball obsessed that every time I step outside she drops a hedge apple at my feet, hoping I'll throw it to her. I can just imagine being out there trying to encourage her to go chase the coyote and all she can do is prance around, excited because any second now I might throw the hedge apple for her!

 

[PrettyWhitty23]

[COLOR=0000FF]That's cute![/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]Welcome, we're always glad to have new people join us. We have quite a few people around the Wichita & surrounding area. We also have a Kansas Poultry Swap on Facebook if you're on there. If you're interested in joining we can get you the link. We have a lot of different birds come through the swap at different times. There is also a Kansas Farm Animal Swap on FB for other animals & there are a few birds on that one too.[/COLOR]

I would love to join those 2 pages on Facebook. If you'll place send me the links I will do that ASAP. Thanks so much for the info

 

[chicken danz]

I live in a rural area and My nearest neighbors are over a mile away. I have no problems when it goes to raising anything, but all the small towns have rules about raising livestock in town. Really just one rule; they don't allow it. I can understand the no rooster rule, as I have a black Langshan rooster that crows from dawn to dark, and even at night if its bright moonlight. And I always warn anyone I sell a peacock to that they need really understanding neighbors or no neighbors. And the understanding neighbors may change after they have a peacock nearby. Last week I told a customer this and she bought all three of the adult males I had advertised. She lives just outside of the city limits , but they are very, large farmers. Southeast Kansas is a farming community and should allow a few backyard hens or rabbits.

I happen to love listening to my peacocks. I guess it's all in the "ear" of the listener.

Just for fun-- looks like a stuffed toy LOL

That is just adorable!!

Hi all. I'm kind of new to BYC. I haven't posted yet but have been lurking for a few months now. My husband and I just started our chicken experience about 6 weeks ago. We just moved to Augusta. We bought a house on 10 acres and thought it would be fun to have chickens. Needless to say we have become obsessed. We just moved them out of their box in the garage into their chicken coop on Tuesday and they seem to love all the space they have. Most of our flock are barred rock. We also have a few bantams. We are interested in owning a few frizzles or sizzles but we have been unable to find some. Anyways we are excited to be apart of the kansas group!

Welcome to BYC. Glad you have you.

McPherson allows a number of "farm" animals in town, including horses. Roosters were fine until they got three complaints about a roo somewhere (not my neighborhood; most of the neighbors said they enjoyed hearing our roo). There are many, many more complaints about dogs and whatnot, but this particular complainer had connections. Several of our neighbors, and people in other neighborhoods with chickens, went to the city meetings to defend roos. They mentioned the noise from barking dogs, trains, lawnmowers, etc., and said it was all temporary noise that didn't bother them. The mayor offered several compromise solutions that were OK with most people and there was an agreement about what the new ordinance would be. Then he drafted an ordinance outlawing roos just like he'd wanted to from the beginning and it was voted on privately. While I do understand why a city might not want roos, I don't think they're the most unpleasantly noisy thing I hear regularly in town. The funny thing is, that around here, it's the smallest towns who want to ban chickens altogether because they don't like the stigma of being too rural, even though they are. And why is that a bad thing???

because they don't like the stigma of being too rural, even though they are. And why is that a bad thing???
Perfect comment Cherwill!
Quote:

HEChicken, my kitty got tortured again today, at least that is how she saw it. I took her in to the Vet again & she gave her more fluids, an antibiotic injection since she was having so much of a problem swallowing, a short acting steroid shot to hopefully reduce the swelling in her throat, & a B-12 shot to stimulate her appetite. She was so mad at me when I got her home, she went & hid behind the chair, she sees me as the bad person who has been shoving things down her throat & taking her to the bad Dr. who pokes holes in her with needles. This cat has never had to go through anything like this before so this has been pretty traumatic for her. At any rate, I left her to rest this afternoon after all of that & went out to continue putting up tarps & plastic on my hoop coops & pens. My DH had to go into work really early this morning to get re-certified in CPR & first aid since he is a first responder, so he got home about 4:30 this afternoon instead of working 2nd shift today. We both did things outside for awhile & then I had to feed & do all of my chores. About the time I had started chores my granddaughter called me wanting me to come & bring her cell phone back to her because I had it checking out her issues with it & hadn't had time between taking the cat to the Vet all the time & working on winterizing, so I told her we would come after chores were done & we ate supper. We had to take the cell phone over & then came back to check on the cat & hopefully get her to eat, it's been days since she has eaten a thing or drank water on her own because she's been so sick. My DH got her on his lap & I warmed up this canned food the Vet had us get from her, it's a special diet for seriously ill cats. I really was expecting her to look at it & turn up her nose again the way she has been doing, but to our surprise she started chomping it down & ate every little bit. I didn't want to overwhelm her stomach after not eating for days so I didn't give her much the first time. But we were so thrilled to see her eating something & then evidently the canned stuff spurred her to go out & try some dry food as well after that. That is so exciting to see her eating & acting better. She got brushed, something she loves for a reward for eating & she was actually purring! Finally, something helped her, I was getting really concerned & the Vet was too, she said she should have been better before this & she told me she would call me tomorrow to see how she is doing. I'm really liking this new Vet we have, she is really good & is really caring. I like that she tells you all of your options & let's you decide what you want to proceed with. The next step if this didn't help was to sedate her & check out her nose, but I hated to have her go through that, she has had so much trauma already.

So glad your kitty is doing better.

My sister lives in an older part of Olathe, she would be happy with the most obnoxious rooster imaginable as a neighbor instead of the tweeker that lives across the street from her now .
I'd be up for a some pointers on processing. I helped my parents when I was a disinterested kid , but I don't remember much of it. I'd like to figure out how to skin them quickly, we don't eat the skin much nor do I really want to pluck or mess with pin feathers.
Hey 22qZoo, I got to thinking about how my comment might have sounded regarding the older part of Olathe being lower classed. I didn't mean I thought so. I meant in the eyes of the richer people like the doctors and lawyers etc that live in those new developments. I for one, am as low classed as they could possibly imagine. I just have a problem with people who have the opinion that they are better than everyone else, whom attach a social stigma toward those who aren't as wealthy.
I was looking out the front door at the horse pasture and saw a coyote go jogging thru ! Gerr... Creepy buggers ,I went running out in my stocking feet waving my arms and yelling trying to make sure he wasn't heading towards the chickens that were out free ranging. When the dogs saw me running around they thought we were going to play "fetch the hedge apple" and totally missed the coyote! Then while my daughter and I were out rounding everybody up so the wouldn't be on the menu, my husband called and our son who is non verbal somehow answered the phone but was only making a noise like he was upset. (The battery on his IPod had died) So that got the husband worried which led him to call my parents , who then rushed over to see if we were ok. Ha ha ... What a zoo!

I woke up about 4 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I hate that. I just got up and took a shower. I forgot to empty the leftovers from my coffee pot before making coffee. (It is a stainless carafe so I can't see in it.) So I came out to a mess of coffee all over the counter and the pot of coffee is luke warm. Yuk!
It looks like it is going to be a little warmer today. Maybe I'll get out and get some more work done. It is still a lake around here though with all the rain. I'm thinking of trying to rake some leaves and see if I can throw those in some of these wet pens. Most of them blow away out here but maybe I could come up with enough to start anyway.

 

[HEChicken]

Awhile back, while trying to design a shelter for the goats this winter, I remembered how much they had liked going into the dog's igloo when they were out free-ranging. I had a spare, so I moved it into the goat's pen and put some old hay on the floor for bedding. They immediately tried it out, and now sleep in there together every night. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get a picture because they run out to greet me every time I go down there but this morning they were too sleepy to move. Gem wasn't in the igloo but Smoky was, and he stayed put long enough for me to get this:

Doesn't he look cozy back there?

Meanwhile - and this is completely random - as long as I had my camera with me, I snapped a pic of my "chick creeper". Months ago, concerned that small chicks accompanying broody hens either wouldn't be able to reach into the big feeder in the coop (which is a gutter feeder mounted at the level of an adult hen's back), or wouldn't be able to compete with the older hens for food, I came up with a way to ensure they have access to food. I originally made this little pen for DD's rabbit a million years ago. It was one of those things where I just snapped together some 1x2's and chicken wire one afternoon, so the rabbit would have a way to get out and eat some grass in the backyard safely. I never expected it to be a long-lasting thing but its been years now and the thing has stayed together and been used almost constantly, either to segregate a broody hen in the coop, or to give chicks a safe place for their first outdoor excursions. Anywho….while trying to figure how to allow chicks access to food, it hit me that this little run, raised on some bricks, would allow the chicks to slip under to eat, while preventing the adults birds from gaining the same access. It has worked phenomenally well. It doesn't take chicks a heartbeat to "figure it out" and they like having access to feed without the adults crowding them out. Unfortunately, there were no chicks eating at the time I snapped the pic here, but I thought it would give the idea anyway:

Its hard to see that its raised off the ground, but you can see the bricks - the run is on top of them so 3-4" off the ground. Newly hatched chicks run under easily. My current baby chicks are at least 8 weeks old and they now have to flatten against the ground to squeeze under - but they do it! Experimenting with it, I've found I can't raise it much higher without the older birds snaking their necks under and getting at the feed, so I leave it at this level and once the chicks grow too much to even be able to belly slide under it, they just have to start eating at the big feeder instead. By then they are old enough to hold their own so it all works out.

 

[JosieChick]

AWESOME! I need some advice. I just went out to the mail box and found a note on lined paper that says "PLEASE control your dogs barking ALL night!!!" No name or address, just stuck in our mail box. If I had to guess it is the people just west of us and they are trigger happy, gun shooting fools. I called the sheriffs department to double check but their is no ordinance against barking dogs. The girls have been on ramped up duty because the fox have been out heavily and the coyotes have been in closer to our house. And they are fenced on our property so they can't really chase something off instead they bark to protect our property. I was going to go talk to them this afternoon but I don't know what to say! Like, they are doing their job.....barking is how they work....everyone else in the area has dogs barking all night.....IDK! HELP!

 

[KsKingBee]

When I lived in town I had three Norwegian Elkhounds. I had the mother, daughter, and son, so when either of the two bitches went into heat the son/brother went into the kennel. He would howl constantly wanting out and, well you know...

So here came the phone calls from unidentified callers, this was before caller ID, then came the police who would apologize for having to be there at four am for something that no one could do anything about. Even when I would put the dog in the garage the hang up calls would still come all night. Guess they figured if they could not sleep they would make sure that we could not either.

In about six months later all the dogs were dead from cancer. My assumption was that something was thrown over the fence and the dogs ate it. Sad, sad.

 

[JosieChick]

When I lived in town I had three Norwegian Elkhounds. I had the mother, daughter, and son, so when either of the two bitches went into heat the son/brother went into the kennel. He would howl constantly wanting out and, well you know...

So here came the phone calls from unidentified callers, this was before caller ID, then came the police who would apologize for having to be there at four am for something that no one could do anything about. Even when I would put the dog in the garage the hang up calls would still come all night. Guess they figured if they could not sleep they would make sure that we could not either.

In about six months later all the dogs were dead from cancer. My assumption was that something was thrown over the fence and the dogs ate it. Sad, sad.

UGH, this is my fear but I don't know how to reduce barking in dogs that "bark for a living." We don't live in town either, we are pretty rural. We have ten acres and only have one neighbor that is just west of us but they are a ways away from our house so I am surprised they even hear the dogs. I am also scared they might shoot them, I love these dogs but I also need them to be able to do their job. Just the other day there was a fox right across the street in the hedgerow that they scared away. They are invisibly fenced in so they can't leave our property and wander all over everyone elses which is what they would do given the opportunity.

p.s. I love elkhounds. I used to groom one and she was just the nicest dog, they are very bright and cheerful pups.

 

[zigzag45]

@HEChicken - thanks for sharing the chick creeper. That's one thing I've thoroughly enjoyed about having chickens is having an outlet to fiddle, make and adapt things for the birds' use. They don't seem to be overly picky, which is a good fit for my skills. I like seeing ideas like this as I try to tuck them away for a future need.

 

[chicken danz]

Josie I wish people had the nerve to just come up, knock on the door and discuss things like adults. I've had people a mile away comment about my GPs barking on quiet nights. No open complaints though. Last night my own dogs kept me awake. Predator level is so high right now.
If you know who it is, or have a good idea, I would simply go be very nice, but explain they are there to protect your livestock and they do so by warning barking. Say that you are sorry that it disturbs them but that it is because predation is so high right now. That once the predators move on the dogs will be quieter.
Maybe offer them a small peace offering like some cup cakes or something as a friendly neighbor gesture to help sooth them.
If they react hatefully I'd be calling the sheriff again just in case, to see if they will prosecute if one of your dogs gets shot. Not that that would help the way you feel any but after being there I'd want to know you could prosecute if necessary.
Meanwhile if it were me I'd be thinking... "close your windows, insulate your house and buy a white noise machine to muffle the noise. "
Some people would rather complain than just learn to deal with things.
King Bee doesn't that just make you dislike people? I am still angry that someone chased my dog down and shot her.