Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

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.

Well he has been getting on my nerves really bad lately with running into the garage & he's just dumb, that's about all you can say about him, he's not pretty or smart either.

 

[chicken danz]

LOL Trish! I am sitting here giggling at your statement about the Wellsummer rooster. I know exactly what you mean. I've had a couple that were just like that. I've got one rooster going to butcher tomorrow who is just gorgeous. I know his mother is one of the mixed breeds but have no idea who his Dad is. He was a broody raised bird. I noticed him breeding one of his clutch mates today so I figure he is old enough to be soup.
It was kind of nice getting out this afternoon and not having to battle ice....or not much. I had some freezing in my FF barrel which surprised me. I guess I am going to have to make some adjustments there. I'm out of feed right now anyway so I can't do much tonight. I have a load ordered for in the morning.
Today was one of those days. I went out to start the car and the darned battery was dead again. Then I remembered I had a headlight out. So I got the book out and read instructions on how to replace it but I couldn't get the housing to pull out like it is supposed to. I guess I'll have to have DH do it tomorrow. I finally got the battery charged enough to start the car. This keeps happening. I need to drive the darned thing more often. The battery appears to be good and it was new when I got the car last spring so that shouldn't be the problem. I only leave the house once every couple of weeks and in the cold weather it's just not working.

 

[Frizzled Pink]

Cuddly chickens? --yup mine sit on me

 

[Trish44]

LOL Trish! I am sitting here giggling at your statement about the Wellsummer rooster. I know exactly what you mean. I've had a couple that were just like that. I've got one rooster going to butcher tomorrow who is just gorgeous. I know his mother is one of the mixed breeds but have no idea who his Dad is. He was a broody raised bird. I noticed him breeding one of his clutch mates today so I figure he is old enough to be soup.
It was kind of nice getting out this afternoon and not having to battle ice....or not much. I had some freezing in my FF barrel which surprised me. I guess I am going to have to make some adjustments there. I'm out of feed right now anyway so I can't do much tonight. I have a load ordered for in the morning.
Today was one of those days. I went out to start the car and the darned battery was dead again. Then I remembered I had a headlight out. So I got the book out and read instructions on how to replace it but I couldn't get the housing to pull out like it is supposed to. I guess I'll have to have DH do it tomorrow. I finally got the battery charged enough to start the car. This keeps happening. I need to drive the darned thing more often. The battery appears to be good and it was new when I got the car last spring so that shouldn't be the problem. I only leave the house once every couple of weeks and in the cold weather it's just not working.

Yeah it was nice not having to break ice so much today, but I did dump all the rubber pans this morning & get all of them fresh water. It's supposed to be 40 here tomorrow, a heat wave, who hoo! We have to take a load of trash to the dump tomorrow, so I'm glad it's not going to be as bad. My DH had decided awhile back he was done paying for trash service because they kept raising & raising the rates about every quarter or so. So he went to the Rubbermaid store here in town & bought a bunch of big trash cans with locking lids & said he was going to just load them up till they were all full & then take them down to the dump. The dump here is inbetween Winfield & Ark City. Well we wouldn't have had all the cans totally full yet if I hadn't been cleaning out the garage, but due to the GPs getting into the trash bags I sat out I had to put them all in the cans. I also have a big pile of stuff that has to go too besides a pile of old wood trim from when they replaced our windows that needs to go, so he will have a full truck load tomorrow. I guess if you're going to go it's better to have a full load because they charge you a flat fee anyway.

Danz, our old truck does that same thing. We don't drive it enough to keep the battery charged so it's dead most of the time when you go out to drive it. Last winter my DH bought one of those battery charger/air compressor things at Sam's so we would have one to jump the battery especially on that truck & we just leave it in there until it needs charged again. It has saved us a lot of work for sure. We saw a new version of it when we went to Sam's last time & I asked my son if he wanted us to get him one for Christmas, but he had something else he wanted instead. He really could use one of those though, they sure are handy. Even I can jump the truck with it when I need to, it's so easy to use.

Frizzled you have some cute chickens!

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Danz, about your dead battery, have you checked if a trunk light or glove box light or under the hood light is staying on when it should be off? If you have a good battery, something is draining it down.

 

[22qZoo]

So, when might I expect the girls to start laying better ? Will it be after the winter solstice ? I haven't put any light out there and I don't think I will .Just curious,how old do you guys let your DP layers get before you think they are done laying? About a third of my flock we got in April of 2012, they're just typical hatchery stuff from the farm store.
Danz- we love our little white hen we got from you, I think you said she was from Frank Reese , Jersey Giant and Barred Rock. NPR did a story on him last week about his turkeys was kind of cool to listen after hearing you all talk about him . A poultry "rock star ".

 

[cherwill]

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.

My dad is like that. Mom is a great cook, but he rarely eats what she cooks, and almost never eats leftovers. He buys tubs of chili from Wendy's, fried chicken from Wal-Mart, canned soup (and then he adds chicken broth and milk, no matter what the soup is), and TV dinners. I guess he likes the taste of preservatives and excess sodium?!

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.

Sorry you had to unexpectedly butcher hens, especially one you really liked. I cringed when you talked about the cut; OUCH! And just before Thanksgiving ... that sucks.

Cuddly chickens? --yup mine sit on me

Pretty birds!

My insane birds are really making up for all the time they weren't laying this fall. I'm getting 4-6 eggs a day from 10 hens.

 

[chicken danz]

Danz, about your dead battery, have you checked if a trunk light or glove box light or under the hood light is staying on when it should be off? If you have a good battery, something is draining it down.

Ralph I don't have a trunk or any lights or anything that drains it. I had another sports car that did the same thing. I think the on board computer is continuously working even when the car isn't being used. There are things like the clock etc that pull just a trickle of energy all the time. I've only started the car one time since October 21st. And it was dead then too. I just need to get out more I think. I wish it were something obvious. I did just use it 10 days ago though.

So, when might I expect the girls to start laying better ? Will it be after the winter solstice ? I haven't put any light out there and I don't think I will .Just curious,how old do you guys let your DP layers get before you think they are done laying? About a third of my flock we got in April of 2012, they're just typical hatchery stuff from the farm store.
Danz- we love our little white hen we got from you, I think you said she was from Frank Reese , Jersey Giant and Barred Rock. NPR did a story on him last week about his turkeys was kind of cool to listen after hearing you all talk about him . A poultry "rock star ".

22qzoo,You can tell when a chicken is done laying by their legs normally (unless they are something like an orp that has white legs anyway.) When a pullet is growing up it's legs will be yellow. When it starts laying, the yellow will fade. Then when it gets older and laying slows or halts the legs will turn yellow again. If your birds were hatched in Apr of 2012 I think they'd still lay fairly good this spring. If they are production birds I'd be moving them out by early summer. Depends on how many eggs you want from them.
I think that little hen is the same breed mix as this big ole rooster I have. Like I said I just can't butcher him. He is so sweet. They look a lot like a light brahma without feathering on their legs. I don't know about your girl but this roo is huge.
I love my Reece chickens and my Reece turkeys. It's all I can do to keep from making a road trip out there and buying more.
Cherwill, I don't understand this eating mentality. My DH goes insane if he doesn't get French Fries every couple of days.

 

[22qZoo]

Thanks Danz- good to know about the egg laying . That little hen isn't real big yet, but she sure is sweet, she has really started to grow
in the last couple weeks tho. I guess if there is some Jersey in there growth may be slower? I think she will eventually be the boss hen , she likes to hang out with the big black & white Brahma roo and even tho she is still to young for him he won't let anyone bug her.

 

[chicken danz]

I've got to get in the shower and then get birds ready to go to town. I just finished washing and packaging the eggs that go. I may see if there are any yet this morning. I have to be sure and save some for myself to cook with too.
I'm going to spend a little time with my sister too. I'm always in a rush. So I think I'll pick her up and she can go with me to deliver eggs and birds.
I sent DH to go pick up my feed. I paid for it so all he has to do is bring it home. It's not going to be fun shoveling it. We have another cold front moving in and tomorrow it is supposed to be super cold. The temp is supposed to start dropping again about 2PM today. It's supposed to get down to 12 degrees in the morning!!! Oh burr!!!
I am ready for spring already!!!