Consolidated Kansas

[22qZoo]

Hechicken - I get what you're saying and it would stand to reason, except these three are the top of the pecking order. They act like their eggs are too good to be laid in the same coop as everyone else. No big deal I guess, when the path gets snowblowed tomorrow they can just take themselves back to the coop.

 

[Trish44]

22qZoo I had a few wanting to lay on top of my straw bales in the corner of the run. I stopped that by putting a piece of board on top of the straw so they had to go back into the coop to lay. Mine usually do pretty well laying where they're supposed to other than a stray egg on the floor of the coop once in awhile like maybe they laid an egg while roosting or something.

HEChicken, yeah it was a nice surprise to see my son even if it was a nasty day for him to come. The baby is going to be delivered next Tues. so maybe he was thinking he had better come while he could. I sure hope this weather gets better so we can get down there to see him.

We got almost 5 inches here from the reports & it stopped snowing for now at least. I looked at the forecast for the next few days & there are some more chances of snow & really cold temps.

 

[cherwill]

My Mom loved cardinals. I think it was probably one of her favorite things of all. Every time I see them I can't help but feel like she is there with me. Silly.... makes me cry when it should make me happy.

Sounds like it's one of those happy AND sad cries; that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Wooooooohoooooooooo

My first egg !!!!

Congratulations!

 

[sharol]

We had a rocky start to the day today. DH heard our adult male cat crying OUTSIDE. He opened the door to find Bandit trapped in the corner of the garden by 4 and 5 ft. drifts. How he got in there is anyone's guess.


This is the corner where he was snowed in.

DH went out to shovel a path for the cat, and our 55 lb. foster puppies went storming out and attacked the cat (who, predictably, was not amused). The cat ran past DH in his footsteps and into the house and the dogs did the same. I woke up to dogs screaming in pain and our cat racing down the back part of the house to the area where his food is located. He was scared and really Pi**&% off, but unharmed.

We have a 3' drift across the garage (on the south, nothing new, it always does that). He had bladed the driveway yesterday, and now he is out there cleaning out the blown snow AGAIN. He has a 4wd truck, and there is no hope of getting out of the driveway until it is cleared AGAIN. He is not amused, either.


You can't tell from the picture, but the snow outside the front door is 2' deep. Our poor little dachshunds get high-centered when they try to go out, so he is clearing them some space, too.

When we bought that tractor last summer, I had my doubts about it being a necessary purchase. I am now breakfasting on my words.

Keep warm, everyone. It is 5 here north of Emporia.

 

[ashncarson]

Wooooooohoooooooooo

My first egg !!!!

Congrats on your first egg, its the best feeling! Mine just started last month, and one on of the coldest days....its funny how that works!

 

[chicken danz]

I think if you were from say, another plannet and stopped by Kansas City today , and turned on the TV you would think that this white stuff falling from the sky had never happend before and that the end of the world was coming. Good grief! ... and a lot of it is "the media " sharing pics that other people send in on social media. (Sigh..)
Has any one ever had any luck making some girls change where they lay thier eggs ? I have three girls that insist on flying up and then over and out of the run so they can go lay thier egg in the barn in some hay. Everybody else is happy with the nesting boxes. The funny part is today with all the snow they would stand under the eves of the barn and "yell "at me in the house to come get them and take them back to the coop. They did NOT want to walk back thru the deep snow. They pace the fence really bad if they are actually locked up and can't get out. I don't want to cause any health issues if they refuse to lay in the boxes. So far if I'm not around to let them back in they just hang out close to the barn until somebody gets home, silly girls.

I know what you mean! That was the news last night. Nothing else was important.
BTW is the new trio enjoying their new much bigger home?
When I've had chickens that insist on laying else where I've tried to block that spot and recreate something similar for them in the hen house. Doesn't always work but sometimes it does. The barn however here is magical to the hens. There is so much stuff out there to get under or behind and snuggle into that they find all kinds of wonderful areas to lay. Of all the spot to lay the most popular is a plastic bag of blasting sand. They have a nice little hollowed out area and when they find it they always use it. I have thought about making some pads for the nest boxes using outdoor fabric and sand that I can rinse down with the hose for them. The problem of course is that I can't find any inexpensive outdoor fabric.
I thought the snow had stopped yesterday afternoon but we got a ton more during the evening. DH went to town to get more diesel for the tractor and gasoline for the generator just in case. The snow was too high and blocked the electric gate from opening when he got home last night, so he had to take the tractor and clear the driveway to get his truck in. Personally I would have just left the truck outside the gate and walked to it, but he and I don't think alive. I was angry all night because he left the gate open and wouldn't close it cause he didn't want to mess with it this morning. Very bad timing cause Britt is in heat again and I sure don't want mixed pups, nor do I want the dogs out running in this kind of weather. But then he shut it when he left this morning. So now I am going to have to go out and chain the thing shut so the wind doesn't spring it today. Then back out this evening to remove the chain before he gets home. Again a source of irritation....since the electronic latch is still sitting in the dining room waiting to be installed.
I guess it's pretty obvious this weather gets me grouchy!! Sorry!
It's driving me crazy right now. I have a compact florescent bulb in the brooder house just so I can see the electricity is on. With the glare of the snow I can't see it. My curiosity and worry is going to force me to go out there before I am ready to go do my feeding.

Quote:

I don't know what the official snowfall depth was, but I waded out in about a foot of it in the yard this evening. Danz, my high-steppers never left the coop today. How about your sliders?

My sliders never left the buildings today! Probably couldn't figure out how to get on top. The only birds that ventured out were the turkeys, and of course the silly geese who were sitting out in it instead of being in the shelters. I think the turkeys just have to check it all out so when they see me they all run to the gate regardless of conditions. Even the peafowl stayed put inside the shelters. Normally they fly out when I go in to feed and water. I guess they wanted no part of the game today.
Sounds like it's one of those happy AND sad cries; that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Congratulations!

 

[chicken danz]

This stupid thing double posted. I have no idea why

 

[ashncarson]

is really thick yolks a sign of good fresh eggs? I see it mostly with my green eggs, its so thick it is hard to get it to mix up!

 

[Trish44]

Well the sun is out today & it's currently 8 degrees with an expected high of 14 today & tomorrow. I doubt anything is going to melt anytime soon with the temps like that. I don't think it's supposed to get above freezing till next week.

sharol I would love to have a little tractor like that, we sure could use something with a blade to clear our crazy driveway with. But convincing my DH to spend the money for that is another thing. I haven't been outside the front door since it snowed, I'm too afraid I would go out there & slip or turn my ankle & then I would be in a world of hurt again. I'm just now getting the swelling down some in my ankle after 4 weeks from when I fell & twisted it. I'm still waiting to hear the results of my MRI of my knee to see if I damaged it any further.

I'm sure my chickens are getting bored in there not being able to get out, but I know they really don't like coming out in the snow either. I really hope this is our last blast for this winter, I think the birds are even sick of it.

 

[lizzyGSR]

We had a rocky start to the day today. DH heard our adult male cat crying OUTSIDE. He opened the door to find Bandit trapped in the corner of the garden by 4 and 5 ft. drifts. How he got in there is anyone's guess.


This is the corner where he was snowed in.

DH went out to shovel a path for the cat, and our 55 lb. foster puppies went storming out and attacked the cat (who, predictably, was not amused). The cat ran past DH in his footsteps and into the house and the dogs did the same. I woke up to dogs screaming in pain and our cat racing down the back part of the house to the area where his food is located. He was scared and really Pi**&% off, but unharmed.

We have a 3' drift across the garage (on the south, nothing new, it always does that). He had bladed the driveway yesterday, and now he is out there cleaning out the blown snow AGAIN. He has a 4wd truck, and there is no hope of getting out of the driveway until it is cleared AGAIN. He is not amused, either.


You can't tell from the picture, but the snow outside the front door is 2' deep. Our poor little dachshunds get high-centered when they try to go out, so he is clearing them some space, too.

When we bought that tractor last summer, I had my doubts about it being a necessary purchase. I am now breakfasting on my words.

Keep warm, everyone. It is 5 here north of Emporia.

Sounds like you got your share of the snow! Between the two most recent snow storms, we ended up with roughly 10" total, but it has blown around so much, it is really hard to tell how much is actually out there. WE've got some insanely cold temperatures today though. The forecast says our high for today is only 2*F. Wind chills at 8:00AM were -31*F (actual temperature was -17*F at 8AM), with wind chills being -10 to -30 below zero all day. The sun is actually out today, which is nice, but it is still bitterly cold out there. Chores this morning took WAY longer than usual because I had to give more hay to the calves than usual, and I had to give hay to the horses when they are usually out to pasture during the day. With this much snow, they wouldn't get much to eat in the pasture anyway, and they'd have to work for it. Plus, it is too cold for me to walk out and bring them down to the house this evening, so I just left them in the barn lot today. They say it is supposed to warm up to freezing on Monday. I am really looking forward to the warmer weather after all this!