Consolidated Kansas

[ashncarson]

2 of my hens will be 20 weeks on Thanksgiving. If I dont have the nest box in place before they start laying, will it be harder to get them to use it afterwards? My husabnd has the frame built and attached, Its just finding the time for him to finish it now! Stay warm everyone!

 

[chicken danz]

I've got two heated water buckets. One really big one (probably 3+ gallons) and one fairly regular size (probably 2 gallons). I was going to use the big one for the geese but Josie told me one of her geese fell in one head first. So they only get the smaller bucket. The dogs use the big one and an occasional hen. I have it sitting on the back steps so the birds can drink out of it from above if they want. It wasn't intended for them but they use it.
I thought the chicken turned out good last night but DH didn't seem crazy about it. I swear he never eats what I cook. He'd rather eat some prepackaged crap. We have such different tastes. I cooked roast the night before and he didn't eat it well either. I think he has something against eating healthy. Anyway the dogs and chickens are getting the leftovers today. They won't mind at all. We are getting really low on beef in the freezer and it worries me. If I have to start buying meat in the store it's going to wreck the budget for sure....not to mention it won't taste nearly as good.
Trish maybe the cockerel is just immature and wants to eat first. Once he gets his gentleman ways and lets the ladies eat first he may stop that.
I'm with the rest of you all. My egg production is about nil. And then what few I do have have been frozen here and there.
At least today it is supposed to finally get above freezing! Yay!
Welcome back Cleansquared.
Sharol I'm not telling you how to run the chicken light, but I have found the birds do better if you have the light come on very early in the morning and shut off by mid morning. Then let it get dark naturally. Just sayin'. That way they are in their places to roost gradually instead of trying to scramble in the sudden darkness.
AshnCarson, chickens will lay where they want nest box or not. Once you get it in place just add a fake egg or something to encourage them to use it. Your laying could be delayed a little anyway with the darkness as it is.
HEChicken, you may already know this but thought I would mention it. A GFCI outlet weakens if it gets tripped. And it doesn't take many times before it won't reset at all. That is the big draw back to them. They have a very limited lifetime if they happen to trip. We had some that tripped a lot and ended up buying some special larger plastic covers for outside outlets to keep moisture out rather than having to replace GFCIs so often. They are see through and have a latch on them. Pricy but not as pricy as replacing those outlets more than once.

 

[HEChicken]

HEChicken, you may already know this but thought I would mention it. A GFCI outlet weakens if it gets tripped. And it doesn't take many times before it won't reset at all. That is the big draw back to them. They have a very limited lifetime if they happen to trip. We had some that tripped a lot and ended up buying some special larger plastic covers for outside outlets to keep moisture out rather than having to replace GFCIs so often. They are see through and have a latch on them. Pricy but not as pricy as replacing those outlets more than once.

Yeah, I'm actually not a fan of GFCI's for that reason. The one we have to replace does have the plastic cover and since we've been here hasn't ever needed to be reset that I can recall, but who knows how many times it was tripped prior to that. The previous owner installed it so he could heat a stock tank for horses so it may have had larger loads in the past than what we use it for.

Oh Trish, I have to tell you about one of my little brooder raised BR chicks. You know how chickens really aren't that cuddly? Even when they're easy to handle it seems like most birds really don't like actual cuddles. Well, one of these chicks is the most cuddly little bird I've ever had. I'm not a bird-cuddler so it took me awhile to figure out that's what she wanted. She would run to me when I go out there and be so underfoot she got kicked and stepped on several times. But it didn't deter her - she was still always underfoot - or preferably ON my foot. She would jump onto my boot and stay there. Finally one day I picked her up and she literally melted into my arms, content to stay there a long time. Since then I've picked her up a number of times, always with the same result. Well, you know how it is - the birds know who feeds them and run to that person but if strangers come, they're a little more aloof. Well, DH is a regular feature but not like I am so the birds don't usually respond to him like they do to me. Last night I was out there and DH came down to look at the GFCI and while I was in collecting eggs, I heard him exclaiming so I went out to see what was up and that little chick was on his foot and he was saying something like "Would you look at that? This little chick is just sitting on me". I told him she wants cuddles and demonstrated by walking over and picking her up off his foot and sure enough, she melted into my arms, looking completely content. DH muttered something about "well, I guess we won't be eating that one" and stomped off to check on the electric. LOL. He's right of course.

 

[chicken danz]

That made me smile and warmed my heart. Sure hope it's a girl!

 

[HEChicken]

That made me smile and warmed my heart. Sure hope it's a girl!

Oh, definitely a girl! I've been very fortunate with the BR's. I currently have 11 that are old enough to tell gender and have 8 girls, 3 boys. Even those two you gave me as feeder chicks turned out to be girls. I actually kind of wish I had a few more boys as I'd like to have some to choose from, for my next breeder. I have two older birds - a pair - and I'm not that happy with the cockerel, so now I'm relying on one of these 3 younger ones being better type. Or I can hope that one that hatched on Friday from your eggs turns out to be a boy!

I just had to butcher two hens. Unfortunately one of them was an Exchequer. One was an older hen that was congested and I decided not to waste time treating a bird who doesn't have much to offer in the way of eggs in the future (and hasn't laid for weeks as it is). The Exchequer though, is really disappointing. She developed some leg/balance thing. I don't think it was Mareks as I've seen that and this one wasn't paralyzed - she just didn't seem to be able to balance very well so spent most of her time sitting. I've had her in a crate for the past week to see if there was any improvement when she didn't have to move around much or get on and off the roosts, but there wasn't any. I even treated with Denagard under the theory that if she had an ear infection that would affect balance so perhaps the Denagard would solve the problem. But after a week there was no improvement, so I decided to go ahead and cull her. I hated to do it to a new pullet, especially one of the Exchequers.

I got the first hen in the crockpot and was working on the Exchequer. I had her skinned and was eviscerating. I picked up my razor sharp knife to cut an opening through which to get the entrails and….got myself. To the bone. Yowza. At least I know the knife is sharp. I had to call DH to come and open a bandaid for me and the triple antibiotic, while I ran it under cold water to try to get the bleeding to stop. It hurts like the dickens now but….this too shall pass.

 

[JosieChick]

Tweety this is the time of year my GPs are the happiest. They run and play with each other and seem to love the cold weather. If the north wind is blowing they aren't quite as happy. They like to have something to lay on. A dog bed, and old blanket, a piece of carpet or even an old deer hide. Other than that they seem super happy just to lay out in the open most of the time.
I've been down in the basement trying to clean out some of the Christmas stuff. There was lots of mouse poo in there . I think one reason is it has little pipes that run out to let in fresh air and somehow they get in those. I am so sick of fighting mice. I guess the only way I could get rid of them is to move back to town. Not going to happen.
I haven't gone out yet except to let the birds out of the pens to run. Most of them are up against the south side of the house trying to stay warm. It's one of those days I wish I could just stay in and not have to feed and water them.
I may have to get some barn cats one of these days. It might be cheaper to feed them than feed all these mice!!!
Glad your lavenders are hatching Trish.

We plugged our heated water bowls in too, it was too cold! I made a couple of fleece lined saddles for my bald girls this weekend, I just felt so badly for them!

I finally got the heated waterer out yesterday for them (in the coop), but the water in the run was freezing almost as fast as I put it out. I do have heaters over the roosts, but they don't really keep the coop warm, just radiate heat under where they are located, so it isn't very warm in there either. If the water wasn't heated, it would freeze. I gave them their "Flock Block" today, and they are working on that when they are in out of the wind.

The freeloaders haven't laid an egg in nearly a month. Several are still molting. My poor little Delaware still looks naked (and has for 3 weeks). I don't remember her molt taking this long last time. One of the EE's is almost as bad. I'm sure it is a light thing.

We started hanging the plug in flat back bucket up on a hook so they can only dip their bills in and we haven't had that happen again. When he did fall in the bucket was sitting on the ground, dumb bird trying to drown himself!

I've got two heated water buckets. One really big one (probably 3+ gallons) and one fairly regular size (probably 2 gallons). I was going to use the big one for the geese but Josie told me one of her geese fell in one head first. So they only get the smaller bucket. The dogs use the big one and an occasional hen. I have it sitting on the back steps so the birds can drink out of it from above if they want. It wasn't intended for them but they use it.
I thought the chicken turned out good last night but DH didn't seem crazy about it. I swear he never eats what I cook. He'd rather eat some prepackaged crap. We have such different tastes. I cooked roast the night before and he didn't eat it well either. I think he has something against eating healthy. Anyway the dogs and chickens are getting the leftovers today. They won't mind at all. We are getting really low on beef in the freezer and it worries me. If I have to start buying meat in the store it's going to wreck the budget for sure....not to mention it won't taste nearly as good.
Trish maybe the cockerel is just immature and wants to eat first. Once he gets his gentleman ways and lets the ladies eat first he may stop that.
I'm with the rest of you all. My egg production is about nil. And then what few I do have have been frozen here and there.
At least today it is supposed to finally get above freezing! Yay!
Welcome back Cleansquared.
Sharol I'm not telling you how to run the chicken light, but I have found the birds do better if you have the light come on very early in the morning and shut off by mid morning. Then let it get dark naturally. Just sayin'. That way they are in their places to roost gradually instead of trying to scramble in the sudden darkness.
AshnCarson, chickens will lay where they want nest box or not. Once you get it in place just add a fake egg or something to encourage them to use it. Your laying could be delayed a little anyway with the darkness as it is.
HEChicken, you may already know this but thought I would mention it. A GFCI outlet weakens if it gets tripped. And it doesn't take many times before it won't reset at all. That is the big draw back to them. They have a very limited lifetime if they happen to trip. We had some that tripped a lot and ended up buying some special larger plastic covers for outside outlets to keep moisture out rather than having to replace GFCIs so often. They are see through and have a latch on them. Pricy but not as pricy as replacing those outlets more than once.

Hmmm, I have a hen like this. She seems weak toward her hind end if that makes sense? Her tail is droopy and she squats down a lot??I have checked for mites, isolated her and given her vitamins and not much improvement? If anyone has any bright ideas let me know. She is an older hen and I am wondering if it is reproductive/laying problem....

OWWWW!!!! Is all I can say, I totally freak out about cutting my fingers since I got myself with a scalpel blade at a vet clinic I worked at.

Oh, definitely a girl! I've been very fortunate with the BR's. I currently have 11 that are old enough to tell gender and have 8 girls, 3 boys. Even those two you gave me as feeder chicks turned out to be girls. I actually kind of wish I had a few more boys as I'd like to have some to choose from, for my next breeder. I have two older birds - a pair - and I'm not that happy with the cockerel, so now I'm relying on one of these 3 younger ones being better type. Or I can hope that one that hatched on Friday from your eggs turns out to be a boy!

I just had to butcher two hens. Unfortunately one of them was an Exchequer. One was an older hen that was congested and I decided not to waste time treating a bird who doesn't have much to offer in the way of eggs in the future (and hasn't laid for weeks as it is). The Exchequer though, is really disappointing. She developed some leg/balance thing. I don't think it was Mareks as I've seen that and this one wasn't paralyzed - she just didn't seem to be able to balance very well so spent most of her time sitting. I've had her in a crate for the past week to see if there was any improvement when she didn't have to move around much or get on and off the roosts, but there wasn't any. I even treated with Denagard under the theory that if she had an ear infection that would affect balance so perhaps the Denagard would solve the problem. But after a week there was no improvement, so I decided to go ahead and cull her. I hated to do it to a new pullet, especially one of the Exchequers.

I got the first hen in the crockpot and was working on the Exchequer. I had her skinned and was eviscerating. I picked up my razor sharp knife to cut an opening through which to get the entrails and….got myself. To the bone. Yowza. At least I know the knife is sharp. I had to call DH to come and open a bandaid for me and the triple antibiotic, while I ran it under cold water to try to get the bleeding to stop. It hurts like the dickens now but….this too shall pass.

 

[Trish44]

Yeah, I'm actually not a fan of GFCI's for that reason. The one we have to replace does have the plastic cover and since we've been here hasn't ever needed to be reset that I can recall, but who knows how many times it was tripped prior to that. The previous owner installed it so he could heat a stock tank for horses so it may have had larger loads in the past than what we use it for.

Oh Trish, I have to tell you about one of my little brooder raised BR chicks. You know how chickens really aren't that cuddly? Even when they're easy to handle it seems like most birds really don't like actual cuddles. Well, one of these chicks is the most cuddly little bird I've ever had. I'm not a bird-cuddler so it took me awhile to figure out that's what she wanted. She would run to me when I go out there and be so underfoot she got kicked and stepped on several times. But it didn't deter her - she was still always underfoot - or preferably ON my foot. She would jump onto my boot and stay there. Finally one day I picked her up and she literally melted into my arms, content to stay there a long time. Since then I've picked her up a number of times, always with the same result. Well, you know how it is - the birds know who feeds them and run to that person but if strangers come, they're a little more aloof. Well, DH is a regular feature but not like I am so the birds don't usually respond to him like they do to me. Last night I was out there and DH came down to look at the GFCI and while I was in collecting eggs, I heard him exclaiming so I went out to see what was up and that little chick was on his foot and he was saying something like "Would you look at that? This little chick is just sitting on me". I told him she wants cuddles and demonstrated by walking over and picking her up off his foot and sure enough, she melted into my arms, looking completely content. DH muttered something about "well, I guess we won't be eating that one" and stomped off to check on the electric. LOL. He's right of course.

That is so cute, I have never had a cuddly chicken, ever. They run to me when I go out, but that's because they know I'm the one that has the food. When I walk out at feeding time I'm totally surrounded by a flock of chickens on all sides & I have to walk carefully so as not to walk on any because they're so close to my feet. I have stepped on toes a few times.

Oh, definitely a girl! I've been very fortunate with the BR's. I currently have 11 that are old enough to tell gender and have 8 girls, 3 boys. Even those two you gave me as feeder chicks turned out to be girls. I actually kind of wish I had a few more boys as I'd like to have some to choose from, for my next breeder. I have two older birds - a pair - and I'm not that happy with the cockerel, so now I'm relying on one of these 3 younger ones being better type. Or I can hope that one that hatched on Friday from your eggs turns out to be a boy!

I just had to butcher two hens. Unfortunately one of them was an Exchequer. One was an older hen that was congested and I decided not to waste time treating a bird who doesn't have much to offer in the way of eggs in the future (and hasn't laid for weeks as it is). The Exchequer though, is really disappointing. She developed some leg/balance thing. I don't think it was Mareks as I've seen that and this one wasn't paralyzed - she just didn't seem to be able to balance very well so spent most of her time sitting. I've had her in a crate for the past week to see if there was any improvement when she didn't have to move around much or get on and off the roosts, but there wasn't any. I even treated with Denagard under the theory that if she had an ear infection that would affect balance so perhaps the Denagard would solve the problem. But after a week there was no improvement, so I decided to go ahead and cull her. I hated to do it to a new pullet, especially one of the Exchequers.

I got the first hen in the crockpot and was working on the Exchequer. I had her skinned and was eviscerating. I picked up my razor sharp knife to cut an opening through which to get the entrails and….got myself. To the bone. Yowza. At least I know the knife is sharp. I had to call DH to come and open a bandaid for me and the triple antibiotic, while I ran it under cold water to try to get the bleeding to stop. It hurts like the dickens now but….this too shall pass.

I'm sorry about your Exchequer hen, they're just so pretty. Of those two I got from you the one is a lot more social than the other one. One of them hangs back from all the other chickens & she has been the last to come in at feeding time. I have to look to make sure they're both in the run when I shut it up for the night.

Uh oh, remember when someone asked you if you had ever cut yourself while butchering & you said no, Ouch, I hope it heals OK.

Do you remember that rooster I told you is a Welsummer & you said he didn't look anything like the one you had? Well I'm thinking of just culling him, he's the dumbest bird I've ever had & I'm thinking he's probably mixed because I have had the feeling those eggs I got from that gal weren't pure Welsummers. The more I look at pics of roosters the more I think he's mixed with something. So I think I'm just going to cull him & send him to freezer camp. He's the most trouble too out of my flock because he's the first to run into the garage if the door is opened & he's hard to get out of there. If I'm going to have a Welsummer rooster I want one that at least looks like he's supposed to. I was wanting at some point to hatch some olive eggers, so I will need to get some more Welsummer eggs in the spring, but I have to make sure they're what they're supposed to be.

I'm with all of you, I'm getting fewer & fewer eggs & it's getting hard to get eggs for any of my egg customers. I have one guy that wants 3 dozen a week & I'm having a heck of a time just getting those. My next door neighbor came over this morning wanting some too & I had to turn them away, I hate that. I will need some eggs for Thanksgiving too, but I may have to heaven forbid buy some at the store just to do deviled eggs with. Bah!

 

[chicken danz]

Aw HeChicken I'm sorry you cut yourself. I tend to do that every time I pick up a knife. Even washing dishes I set all the knives to the side and carefully wash them one at a time rather than put them in with dishes cause I'll cut myself for sure.
I wish I could bring you one of these boys I have. I have some nice ones that I am getting ready to sell for meat. I have a few others that need to grow some more. I hate butchering the beautiful nice Barred rocks but it is at that point now. I have to get rid of some of these extra boys. I'm even selling one exhibition buff orp roo because his comb isn't perfect. Makes me sad.
I have this one big ole rooster from Franks mixed breed eggs. He is such a sweetheart. He comes when I call him. But he is Heaven knows what. Maybe part white Jersey Giant and something else. I told DH he was too nice to sell but he would have to kill him cause I can't.
Well I don't know if it works for all birds but keep this in mind. I read that St. John's wort helps with nerve pain and nerve conditions. I had a white orpington that I was going to cull because she couldn't use her legs and laid on one side all the time. She was skin and bones and I just didn't have the heart to do the deed. So I started giving her St. John's wort in her water. Within two days she was sitting up. She is now running all over the place. I am still keeping her inside and treating her cause she gets tired pretty easily. I figure when the rooster sees her if she isn't back to 100% yet he'll have her down again. DH says it's a miracle cure. The little brahma pullet however is receiving the same treatment, and although her mind is sharp as a tack and she eats and drinks she continues to go down hill.
Neither one of them have typical merek's symptoms and their symptoms are different so I just don't know. At least I know the Orp will be back out and doing well soon. I am at the point I'd like the brahma to die. I don't think there is much hope for her. She has lost most of her muscle so she wouldn't be any good to eat either.

 

[HEChicken]

That's so funny Trish because in my shower this morning, for some reason I was thinking about the cockerel of yours and how he looks nothing like any Welsummer Rooster I've ever seen - either in size/type or color, and I was going to ask you if there is any chance he is mixed, and then you brought it up before I had a chance.

 

[HEChicken]

That is interesting Danz, about the St. John's Wort. I've only ever heard of it used as a natural anti-depressant.

I forgot to mention that I did also try treating that little exchequer with vitamin E, but didn't notice any improvement with that either.

On the BR….I'm actually kind of hoping that one chick that hatched on Friday winds up being a cockerel (and a decent example of one) as he is less related to the others than any of the ones I've hatched, which are all direct siblings. But - because of the way I keep my flock all together, I really need to grow one out versus trying to add one. I did have a BR rooster who was not perfect but okay looking, but he and the NH fought any chance they got - and would have fought to the death if I'd let them, I think - and it was all because they were introduced to one another when they were both mature. So I culled the BR rooster, and the NH is now the only male bird of breeding age that I have. Since I do want to be able to breed both NH and BR, but want them all to live in harmony, I decided to grow out a BR cockerel instead. By growing up with the flock, he should get along fine with the NH. Even if he one day decides to make a bid for the top bird position, it shouldn't be a fight to the death but just a fight to establish dominance.