Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

acsteele what kind of chicks are you looking for? I'm in Winfield. Send me s PM & I can tell you what I have or will have.

 

[sharol]

Our Martins finally showed up. The scouts were here 2 weeks late, and now there are a few moving into the house. We really need a new Martin house and pole, but I'm afraid they won't move into a new house. Maybe we will set up an additional one over the late summer/fall, and then put the house up around the time they are arriving next spring and see what happens. I just love those chatty little fliers.

Went to Topeka today to pick up a pre-ordered tablet for my daughter from Sams Club. They were supposed to have pulled it last week and it didn't get pulled, so they were going to get me one from another store. After much discussion, they sold me the only remaining one in the store (the floor sample) at a GREATLY reduced price. All in all, I'm satisfied with the transaction. The manager bent over backwards to make it right.

My daughter and grandkids are driving in from Denver (never thought I would think of Denver as close, but in comparison to Vancouver B. C. or Winnemucca, Nevada, it is just next door) Sunday for a week. I CAN'T WAIT. My granddaughter is looking forward to seeing the baby chickens.

I have onions coming up, but the ground is so dry, I'm already wattering. Sheese.

 

[chicken danz]

Sorry about your son. I'm glad he was able to communicate and let you know what was hurting.
Danz, that Black hen that I got from you last year has gone broody,she has 10 eggs under her but only 1 of them is hers. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing what kind of farmyard mutts I'll end up with.
So,,,,that means that with the10 chicks that I"couldn't resist" at Orshlens I could be over run with chickens real soon. yikes math !
Darn I was hoping you'd be back down to buy some more! Sounds like you'll have a full house

Chicken math, oh yeah it's easy to get over run with chickens! I hope you get things cleared up for your son, that can be so miserable.

Danz, our fruit trees are blooming too, so we may have another year with no fruit in the orchard. These darned late freezes are the pits.

With all of the trees in bloom right now my allergies are just rampant, I'm having a really hard time with it this year. My right ear is still really messed up from it & I can't hear very well out of it right now.

My allergies are crazy too. It's not as much the blooming trees for me as it is the pollen from the hackberry and elm and all the others around here. Plus saw dust is getting to me too.

I'm just learning the chicken math. I didn't know they ate so much food! Stupid Cornish cross eat like they starving!! Will be glad when they're ready to eat. This is my first time raising chicks. Started out with 12.. Got 6 more.. Then 8. And I'm not liking having to integrate them every week. So next round I will get more the first time so I'm not going back every week getting more.

Yeah it might take less time to feed out a cornish but you sure don't save any money on feed. I have mostly big breed birds and they all eat like horses.

285 posts behind. I'm not gonna even try! I hope everyone's well and getting lots of eggs and whatnot.

I had a computer virus, then ended up putting together a new system since my old one was iffy on running Windows 7 and support for Windows XP has ended. I've finally got it all put together, operating system and programs installed, and data restored,

I'm sure everyone's been very busy with the lovely weather we've been having. Our nine hens are laying an egg or two a day. The asparagus is coming up. The peas are coming up. Potatoes, beets, radishes, onions, shallots, and leeks have been planted. I actually feel like I've accomplished things.

I've missed you all!

So glad you're back. I wondered where you were. Seems many of our regulars have just been missing for awhile. I still need to plant my potatoes. I've had them for 2 weeks but haven't had time to get them planted yet.
I had a super busy day. Worked on my coop for a while. Then got eggs ready to take to town. I went to a retirement reception for my sister at her work. Wow! What nice gifts they give. They gave her all kinds of gardening things and even a big metal wagon to pull them in. Plus several tulip plants, miracle grow and preen. Then they gave her a tablet and a case for it. I'm sure a low estimate would have been $500 in stuff. Then of course she got private gifts and cards with money too.
After the deal I delivered my eggs, then drove out to lend an incubator to a friend for awhile. Sure hope I get it back some day. Then drove on up and met someone to pick up a couple turkey hens. She lost her Tom this winter so I bought the hens to go with my others. All of my turkeys are bound and determined to be broody right now.
After I got home I got the turkeys situated in a quarantine pen and got them some wormer and feed. Then I had to feed and water all my birds. I didn't get in the house until almost 8:00.
I could have had my coop done this morning but decided to add a nest box. I've never built one outside of a house before so I just planned as I built. Tomorrow I'll finish the siding on it and start building doors and windows. Then it will be done except for finishing up the roof edges.

 

[msy8ix]

[COLOR=0000FF]Chicken math, oh yeah it's easy to get over run with chickens! I hope you get things cleared up for your son, that can be so miserable.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]Danz, our fruit trees are blooming too, so we may have another year with no fruit in the orchard. These darned late freezes are the pits.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]With all of the trees in bloom right now my allergies are just rampant, I'm having a really hard time with it this year. My right ear is still really messed up from it & I can't hear very well out of it right now.[/COLOR]

Chicken danz.,, so sorry to hear about your son., I have had sinus and upper respitpry problems all my life combined with asthma and copd., chronic bronchitis., since you were so very helpful with my hen Henrietta who is still recovering very well I figured that I would pass on the favor., local honey by the teaspoonful helps at least once every morning., a heating pad underneath your pillowcase helps with the pain and pressure and Vicks vapor rub creme on the pressure points of the face helps as well., and hot as you can stand it shower in the morning is really helpful as well., I hope this helps., msy8ix., jenn......

 

[Trish44]

Danz, you'll have to post pics when you get the little coop done so we can see it. I love seeing the things you build. I wish I had some lumber left around here to use, but I've pretty much used up all I had building brooders & hoop coops.

I got about half of my main coop cleaned out today before I had to stop & fix lunch for my DH & get cleaned up before someone came to pick up chicks. I hope to get the rest of it cleaned out tomorrow, it has been needing it for awhile. I'm sure it's not helping the respiratory health of the birds. I usually get it cleaned out about every 6 months using the DLM method. I know when it needs to be done because it starts smelling in there. I have all of the windows open & on these warm days have had the people door open as well. The birds sure have been enjoying the sun & warmth & the green stuff starting to come up now. I let the ducks out for awhile today as well & they were happy to get out & stretch & pick around. They went back into the pen on their own, which was nice since I didn't have to go chase them back in.

Oh & my India Blue peacock is really showing off for his girls lately, it's fun to watch him do his little dance. They're all just yearlings & he doesn't have a very big tail, but he tries.

 

[chicken danz]

Chicken danz.,, so sorry to hear about your son., I have had sinus and upper respitpry problems all my life combined with asthma and copd., chronic bronchitis., since you were so very helpful with my hen Henrietta who is still recovering very well I figured that I would pass on the favor., local honey by the teaspoonful helps at least once every morning., a heating pad underneath your pillowcase helps with the pain and pressure and Vicks vapor rub creme on the pressure points of the face helps as well., and hot as you can stand it shower in the morning is really helpful as well., I hope this helps., msy8ix., jenn......

Actually that was 22Qzoo. But I have asthma, copd, and am allergic to everything. I was sick all the time and started taking golden seal as a maintenance drug when after 3 months of severe pneumonia I had a broad thinking doctor who suggested trying it. It cleared it up when all the steroids and antibiotiics weren't doing the trick. Other than chronic sinus infections I usually clear by syringing my nose, the golden seal keeps me fairly well. Well in what I consider well for me...not for an average person. If I quit taking it I end up sick again. Amazing herb. It removes toxins from your system and in doing so it seems to keep infection at bay.
I have people coming today for a "tour" and to buy a handful of chicks. They are coming early which I don't prefer but it will free me up so I can get more done later. I really want to get more done on that coop before the cold weather comes in. And I'd like to at least get the potatoes planted today. Building is killing my back and my hands so I need to get that done while I can still do both.
Trish I noticed my yearling peacocks displaying yesterday as well. I hope they continue to get along cause I have three boys in that pen. By next spring I think I'll have decided which ones I want to sell anyway...if I can bear to part with any. This fall they should get more tail feathers in and that will help figure out what they will look like. Sure wish there were a way to sex them as babies so I'd know what I had to sell while I was hatching. Of course I want to keep them all which isn't very profitable.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Don't know how many posts I'm behind but my days and everything else are blending together these last few weeks. It is almost 4/15 so I'm slowing down on that front but was pulled into a critical project at work that has a deadline of 5/1. So I've been working long hours to get that project all caught up. It is insane.

Because just about all my brain cells have been fried lately, I left my tomato seedlings outside on Thursday and they now suffered broken branches and wind burn!

Besides this, the GPs dug up most of my potatoes and what's left are not looking too well because it's been so dry and cold, except for the last few days. I have ONE whopping garlic showing up so far. Out of 20 eggplant seeds I started, only 9 sprouted and they are looking OK.... not great but OK. So I baby them to death inside the house for fear if I put them outside to harden off, they will end up dead. So much for getting my veggie garden going this year. Sigh... But... I don't give up easily. Since getting them seeds going doesn't seem to be working out for me, I will, once again, attempt to direct sow once the outside temp is more steady and on the warm side. Call me crazy but I am bound and determine to at least have something growing this year. All the veggie and meat prices are going up and up, I NEED to have something from the garden so we don't go broke just because we have to eat. Have you guys noticed the gas prices yesterday? Jumped another 10 cents (up, not down). Geeeshhh... summer is not even here yet!

So, I see that everyone seems to be busy with their birds and anything outside. Other than the 2 that died mysteriously over a week ago, all others seem to be doing well. DH processed 5 roosters and will be doing another 4 more today. They have been in the cage so we really need to get them done. My husband's work finally start picking up. With this long winter, nothing was growing. His work took a hard hit and obviously not much income from that to speak of. But things seem to be looking up now so hopefully mother nature will remember that it is Sping and summer is coming soon!

With the trees are just now waking up, all of them are competing with each other to see which one can produce more pollens. My sinus is suffering. The steroid nasal spray doesn't even seem to touch it. I'm just dreading the rest of the Spring when everything seems to be blooming all at once this year. Argh...

22qzoo... glad your son is attempting to communicate using the ipad. My daughter is trying hard to verbally tell us something now as well. It is great to see them finally make progress, no matter how small a progress that is. Maybe small for others but they are huge to me and you! I hope he gets to feeling better soon. Is the Dr giving him something for his chronic severe sinus infection? Poor thing...

The wind is howling outside now. Can we just have a day without the wicked wind for heaven's sake?!?!?! Even my GP is hiding behind a bush to take their nap. With the dust, pollen and who knows what else are flying in the air, I really think I need to wear a mask over my nose and mouth to just walk outside without suffering. Besides this, my eyes are drying out due to the meds and the wind. My contacts will permanently stick to my eyeballs now...just kidding...

Well... I need to get back to work now. Lunch break is over.... I'll make it back to the forum on a more regular basis once all the craziness have settled down and project done by June.

 

[okjenyp]

I got lucky today! I went to atwoods to buy some feed and a bag of pine chips for the chicks and forgot the pine. So I decided I would go another day... Well on my way home I saw a sign saying free wood chips. The guy has a wood chipper and a huge pile of chips so I loaded up the minivan with about 15 large trash bags full ( knew I kept those in the car for a good reason) so now I am good in the wood chip dept. and he said there was no cedar. Mostly elm and pine. I am trying the deep litter method for my coop and now I just need the grass to grow so I can mix that in.

 

[22qZoo]

We have a new wrinkle, after letting everybody out to free range all day when it's about time to put everybody up for the evening the geese think they should go up in the coop and have been harassing the broody momma. They have broke 3 eggs so far, DD was so mad, I think she wanted to wring both their necks! Now that they have become a breeding pair they have turned into putzes. I'm wondering, if the other eggs got some yoke and egg white on them from the ones that broke does that mean that these egg are now contaminated ?DD cleaned the nest box out and put some new hay in there but she didn't do much to the eggs other than just put them back and set her back on them . What should we have done ? Now I need to figure out how to keep the broody safe and keep the geese out of the coop. Gerr...

DANZ- DD still wants to get another duck to replace the one we lost last summer and I need to do some culling later on (putting it off as long as possible,,)and if this broody doesn't go well we still might need to get a few speckled Sussex . I have actually been selling allot of eggs so I'd like to keep up with the layers.
I'm going to have to check into Golden seal, heard of it and have seen it on the store shelf but never gave it much thought. Good to know.
msy8x- thanks for all those tips anyway,DS and I have both had trouble with sinuses the last couple of years. A little coconut oil in my saline rinse and I'm good to go, him not so much,I was doing sinus rinses,naturpathic & homeopathic stuff, probiotics,humidifiers and air purifiers,yadda yadda.. With a non-verbal kiddo who has to deal with the genetic cards he was dealt sometimes you just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Good news is he's getting better and this round of antibiotics seems to be working and now that we know what the issue is, we can try to stay on top of it.

TWEETY - you're right progress is progress and we'll take it any way we can get it. DH has done a great job setting up his talker program, I'm so glad he has stuck with it and burned all that midnight oil to get him where we are now.

CHERWILL- welcome back ! good to hear from you again.

 

[cherwill]

I went to a retirement reception for my sister at her work. Wow! What nice gifts they give. They gave her all kinds of gardening things and even a big metal wagon to pull them in. Plus several tulip plants, miracle grow and preen. Then they gave her a tablet and a case for it. I'm sure a low estimate would have been $500 in stuff. Then of course she got private gifts and cards with money too.

I could have had my coop done this morning but decided to add a nest box. I've never built one outside of a house before so I just planned as I built. Tomorrow I'll finish the siding on it and start building doors and windows. Then it will be done except for finishing up the roof edges.

For some reason, the text colors menu won't stay open for me, so I can't put my comments in the quote box.

Sounds like a very nice party for your sister. Better than just a cake!

I can't wait to see pictures of your latest coop project.

My daughter and grandkids are driving in from Denver (never thought I would think of Denver as close, but in comparison to Vancouver B. C. or Winnemucca, Nevada, it is just next door) Sunday for a week. I CAN'T WAIT. My granddaughter is looking forward to seeing the baby chickens.

I have onions coming up, but the ground is so dry, I'm already wattering. Sheese.

Our garden is terribly dry, too. We got a bunch of lightning and thunder tonight, but no rain so far. DH is happy because he's in the middle of replacing the deck steps and doesn't want to work in mud.

Sounds like you have a great week coming up, with your family on the way.

I got about half of my main coop cleaned out today before I had to stop & fix lunch for my DH & get cleaned up before someone came to pick up chicks. I hope to get the rest of it cleaned out tomorrow, it has been needing it for awhile. I'm sure it's not helping the respiratory health of the birds. I usually get it cleaned out about every 6 months using the DLM method. I know when it needs to be done because it starts smelling in there. I have all of the windows open & on these warm days have had the people door open as well. The birds sure have been enjoying the sun & warmth & the green stuff starting to come up now. I let the ducks out for awhile today as well & they were happy to get out & stretch & pick around. They went back into the pen on their own, which was nice since I didn't have to go chase them back in.

We must be thinking alike, because we recently cleaned our coop out, too. Just in time to use it in the garden!

Because just about all my brain cells have been fried lately, I left my tomato seedlings outside on Thursday and they now suffered broken branches and wind burn!

Besides this, the GPs dug up most of my potatoes and what's left are not looking too well because it's been so dry and cold, except for the last few days. I have ONE whopping garlic showing up so far. Out of 20 eggplant seeds I started, only 9 sprouted and they are looking OK.... not great but OK.

With the trees are just now waking up, all of them are competing with each other to see which one can produce more pollens. My sinus is suffering. The steroid nasal spray doesn't even seem to touch it. I'm just dreading the rest of the Spring when everything seems to be blooming all at once this year. Argh...

The wind is howling outside now. Can we just have a day without the wicked wind for heaven's sake?!?!?! Even my GP is hiding behind a bush to take their nap. With the dust, pollen and who knows what else are flying in the air, I really think I need to wear a mask over my nose and mouth to just walk outside without suffering. Besides this, my eyes are drying out due to the meds and the wind. My contacts will permanently stick to my eyeballs now...just kidding...

Well... I need to get back to work now. Lunch break is over.... I'll make it back to the forum on a more regular basis once all the craziness have settled down and project done by June.

I hope you can get your garden going. I get so much enjoyment out of mine, plus all the food. We have definitely noticed how much the cost of groceries has gone up over the last 3-4 years.

The wind is driving me crazy, too. I can sleep through all kinds of noise, but wind keeps me awake. It also blows all the pollen around and DH and I have more allergy problems when it's windy.

I hope you're not too stressed at work. I sure would be!

TWEETY - you're right progress is progress and we'll take it any way we can get it. DH has done a great job setting up his talker program, I'm so glad he has stuck with it and burned all that midnight oil to get him where we are now.

CHERWILL- welcome back ! good to hear from you again.

There's no such thing as small progress, right? It's all progress, and that's all good.

We got a bit more planted today -- carrots, fennel, wax beans, and kale. I found a small envelope of broccoli rabe at Wal-Mart, so we planted that. I'm curious to see how it is. I also found some kind of beet that looks more purpley and is supposed to be better for pickling. I'll let you know if it really is. Most of the leeks are looking good, the shallots are all sprouting, and the peas are looking good. Only two or three potatoes have sprouted so far, and the beets are just starting to come up. Just in time for a possible "wintry mix" this next week.

I hope it doesn't happen.