Consolidated Kansas

[Ralph Moyer]

Happy New Year, Everyone. I sure hope you all had a nice new year's eve. I didn't. I spent it replacing a spin clutch in a washing machine. It was my own fault, because I had the parts for several weeks but just didn't get the "TIME" to get it done. I have always had two washers for that reason, but the second one 's transmission locked up with a full load of laundry and water. So yesterday I "FOUND" the time to fix the first mentioned washer. My laundry room is a small add-on room with not much extra space, due to two washers, dryer, and two chest freezers. Well I am down to only one washer now, because after empting the water and laundry out, it is in the back yard, and will be scrapped. I have maintained it for over 40 years or so, and time to let it go. I also broke a water line that had to be repaired before I could finish, so I eliminated the plumbing to one washer. I finished up at about 2 AM into the new year.So, again, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

 

[sharol]

Got the Christmas lights down and I still need to store them, but it is a relief to have it done. I prefer to take them down the day after Christmas, but DH wants them up longer, so....

I'm finally getting some eggs. I boosted the coop light up to 14 hours at winter solstice, and I think there are 3 hens (of my 12) laying (and two of the 3 laying are 3 years old). None of the new pullets are laying yet, but I understand that Marans tend to start a little late. They are almost 24 weeks old, and I'm really ready for some dark brown eggs. I'm getting 1 or 2 a day after a 2 month layoff. After reading the negatives of florescent lights, I replace that with an LED fixture that is quite a bit brighter.

The girls voted 3 of the roosters off the island, so I have to get serious about re-homing/butchering them. Does ANYONE know a 4H kid who would like a beautiful Blue Copper Marans rooster to show? He is fairly tame for a broody raised chick and not aggressive at all. I really need to get him out of here along with the two mixed breeds.

Happy New Year to all of you. I agree with HEChicken. Last year was less than steller. Here's hoping the rest of the winter isn't like the first 2 months.

 

[chicken danz]

HEChicken, and Sharol I agree. 2013 was a year of lots of loss for me. If all years were like this one I'd probably just give up on chickens and other birds. I just haven't given up that things will get better. My guy from OK finally called back and is on his way here to pickup turkeys and chickens. I had to go out and chase down some pullets and there are still two he was paying for that refuse to be caught. If people would call before midnight it would help a lot. I never heard the phone. I substituted with two younger pullets in place of one older one and hope that makes him happy. Maybe I'll catch the other two later on if they venture back to the pen. My next chore is to catch all the roosters from that group (another day) and take them to town to become dinner. At least I'm finally going to get a few of these extra mouths out of here. Not a lot ...but a beginning any way. And that will also free up another pen. I need to do some changes but soon I can move some of these partially grown chicks out there.

 

[KsKingBee]

My next chore is to catch all the roosters from that group (another day) and take them to town to become dinner. At least I'm finally going to get a few of these extra mouths out of here. Not a lot ...but a beginning any way. And that will also free up another pen. I need to do some changes but soon I can move some of these partially grown chicks out there.

We need to get rid of some of our overstock, we have entirely too many cockerels, maybe twenty three to four month old. Do you have someone who would be interested in ours?

 

[chicken danz]

Sending you a pm, King Bee.

 

[KsKingBee]

Thank you!

 

[chicken danz]

Well my customer showed up and I got some birds moved out of here. Hopefully in the next few days I'll be getting some more out of here. I'm not making a profit but at least if I sell several birds to one person it saves me time... which is the most valuable thing these days. It's just gotten colder and colder today. Burrr!

 

[OkieQueenBee]

Well, Happy New Year! Everyone. Things and I are getting back to normal, just don't handle these holidays well. I see where everyone had a pretty good Christmas, busy cleaning, cooking and traveling. Happy grand kids, cute as a button babies, and neat chicken presents. KKB's DIL knows that we love our bees so she is always on the hunt for bee stuff. Here is what she got for us this year.

She can find the most unique things.

The hens have decided that it is too cold to lay. I get a couple of eggs every other day. Sometimes I miss one and it is frozen. We definitely have an over abundance of cockerels. Heard a rumor that you can tell the sex of the chick by the shape of the egg. Any truth to that? The left behind wild turkey has decided to join our flock, to eat at least. She still goes to the trees to roost at night. We're pretty sure that it is a female. We'll probably never find her eggs and who knows she may rejoin the wild flock when they come back thru this spring.
Trish sorry to hear about you losing your peachicks. Ours have all done well. Danz here is a pic of the 3 that we got from you.

Looks like 2 boys and a girl. I think that we have a couple of pairs that should be laying this spring. Lots of will be 1 year olds.
Guess I'd better go check on the ham and beans and get the cornbread made. I will try not to be a stranger.
Oh, what do you all think about a Pyrenees / Border Collie mix?

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Oh, what do you all think about a Pyrenees / Border Collie mix?

I would be very concerned with that mix due to a border collie's instinct to herd; it could possibly kill your chickens. I personally would not mix a GP with anything and get the pure breed of the dog; they're great and mine have never harmed any chickens (they even helped me once find some little chicks that got out of the chicken tractor! They combed the are and would stand at the site of a chick once they found one... I was very impressed.)

 

[HEChicken]

Oh, what do you all think about a Pyrenees / Border Collie mix?

OQB, are you thinking about a pet or a livestock guardian? If a pet, that would be an interesting combination and I bet would be a great dog. I personally love Border Collie's for their intelligence. My black dog is half lab, half border collie and got the best of both breeds, IMO. However, if you are thinking for a LGD, this may not make a good mix. The BC would probably reduce the size of the GP and depending on whether the BC was long or short haired (they come in both), it could also impact the type of coat the dog has. I.e., if it gets the GP coat, it would do great outside in the winters guarding but if it got the BC coat, and the BC was short haired, maybe not so much. But the most important factor would be personality - they have such different functions. BC's are bred to herd sheep while GP's are bred to protect. And, BC's can be VERY intense, so an intense BC trying to herd poultry can be a recipe for disaster.

What I found with my mix is she got the size of the BC but the personality of the lab, so she is joyful and energetic and obsessed with retrieving rather than herding, which means she is fine around the chickens. But - there is really no guarantee as to which of the parents will pass along its traits, and with a GP/BC mix, it is a crap shoot whether the pup will be more interested in herding or protecting. JMO.

Honestly, it makes me kind of mad to hear about mixes like this, as it shows a complete lack of thought on the dog owner's part as to breeding. If they are not planning on responsible breeding, they should get the dogs spayed or neutered! To allow these two breeds to mix is utter nonsense.

Danz, I'm glad you were able to offload some birds. I hope the guy was able to make it home before the bad weather really hit, and that he had a way to keep the birds out of the wind while he was on the road.

OQB, those are adorable bee gifts your DIL found!!!

Well, I just looked at the weather forecast and the high for Monday is supposed to be 14 and the low that night will be -2. Yikes. I really hope none of us lose any animals to this next bout of wintry weather.

A few weeks ago DH replaced a GFCI for me and since then the sheep/goat's heated bucket and the chicken's heated water bowl have performed flawlessly - until 3 days ago. Then I went out one morning to find both frozen. I reset the GFCI but next morning - frozen again. Yesterday, after repeating this daily for several days, I told DH I think the new GFCI has gone bad. He went to take a look at it and found that the GFCI is fine but the chicken's water bowl is shorting it out every time I reset it. We unplugged the heated water bowl and sure enough, the sheep water bucket stayed unfrozen after that. Grrr. This is the third heated water bowl this winter - they just don't seem to last very long. Now that we are headed into another freeze, I'm left using rubber bowls, and I know that will just be a solid block of ice this morning. DH said he'll take a look at the bowl and see if he can figure out what's wrong with it. They're too expensive to only last a few weeks at a time.