Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Wish you lived closer! You could come get all the wood you wanted for quite a while and we'd never miss it. But maybe elm isn't good for that. The old elm tree belt is dying out more every year and DH and I can't keep up with all the wood that needs to be cut down. I wish i had a chipper shredder but aren't they pretty expensive?
Hope your turkeys are ok!

Chipper shreaders are expensive but I've paid more for other things for birds. Plus you can use it for so many things. We have old elms here too. They are just a tree that doesn't bend well in the wind. The problem with them is that they often get diseased from bugs so you have to be careful not to introduce those bugs in your shavings. You would want to use wood you know is disease free.

Oh life seems to be going too fast lately ... my kids go back to school tomorrow so between chores and getting them ready I am ssoooo busy :/ plus my mom is out of town till next week so I get to go water and harvest her garden while she is gone... I am officially up to 3 of my 10 hens laying eggs )) super excited ))) however I have a new issue last night I went out to do my evening chicken rituals and found an unknown Raptor in my tree only to discover there are 5 of them :/ Hubby and I got some pretty coll pictures of them and I think they are Cooper Hawks but not 100% sure..

Keep your eye to the sky. Hawks can fool you with their size. I'd be watching those birds really carefully. Coopers eat almost strictly birds as well.

adventurousone that's an adorable pic of your ducklings! Hawks will go after grown birds, so don't let your guard down. We have mostly red-tailed hawks here where I live & every time one flies over my chickens duck & run under bushes & things.

I sure could use some cooler days around here to get a few things done. This heat & humidity just make me not want to even go out other than to do my chores I have to do.

Trish I know what you mean. Yesterday was better other than the humidity. I'm not getting nearly as much done as normal. I just feel drained.

Hello everyone. Time has slipped away from me this month, and I haven't had time to post or keep up with anyone else's. I have been busy helping a 13 year old boy with a quilt for the fair. He got Reserve Grand Champion. I am extremely proud of his hard work and determination. He completed a gorgeous Lone Star; a pattern that some grown women are scared to tackle.

How nice of you to help the young man. That's admiral that he would tackle such a difficult project.

Good news from the broody front. I sneaked 3 of Graycie's eggs out from under her after dark last night and did a quick candle, and they are showing veins. She was off the nest for several hours on Saturday, and I was worried about them, but they seem to be developing. They are speckled sussex and barred rock (breeder/show quality from Danz) and I'm really hoping that they hatch for my broody She has been on the nest for 3 weeks, though, and the eggs will be at 1 week tomorrow, so I hope she hangs in there.

That's great Sharol. I hope they continue to develop for you. I am hatching a large amount of those sussex today. They weren't due to hatch until tomorrow but I already have several of them. I also hatched 5 little peachicks. There are only two more eggs in there now and peacock season will be over. The India blue hen is still sitting though and I don't know how many eggs she has. She had 8 then something stole her eggs,then she had 4. She hasn't budged since then. I never even see her get up to eat or drink. I've even bent over her a few times and she lays still. She's hatched several clutches for me in the past but I don't think I've ever seen her sit that tight. Can't wait to see what she hatches. She is an excellent mother.
I got a few birds moved yesterday to breeder pens. I was really hoping to get more put here and there but I just don't have the pen space. I need to pull out some more boys. My rooster pen is growing steadily. I need to find a market for these English roos. They cost too much as chicks to sell for eating birds.

 

[Trish44]

Hello everyone. Time has slipped away from me this month, and I haven't had time to post or keep up with anyone else's. I have been busy helping a 13 year old boy with a quilt for the fair. He got Reserve Grand Champion. I am extremely proud of his hard work and determination. He completed a gorgeous Lone Star; a pattern that some grown women are scared to tackle.
I have three nice looking Black Copper Marans cockerels if anyone is in need of them. They were hatched on the 9th of May. They are already crowing and harassing my Cochin hens. So it's either a new home or freezer camp for them, since I have no BCM pullets left.
I have 14 Cochin chicks available. And I am in desperate need of Cream Legbar eggs, if anyone has fertile eggs available. I am kicking myself for selling all of my hatch earlier in the season.
I hope you've all had a good summer. I've sure missed checking in to see what you've been up to.
Have a great day!

I'm glad to see you drop in. That's wonderful about the boy & his quilt, that's something I have never tried to do & I admire those that have.

I'm sending you a PM.

 

[cherwill]

Hello everyone. Time has slipped away from me this month, and I haven't had time to post or keep up with anyone else's. I have been busy helping a 13 year old boy with a quilt for the fair. He got Reserve Grand Champion. I am extremely proud of his hard work and determination. He completed a gorgeous Lone Star; a pattern that some grown women are scared to tackle.
I have three nice looking Black Copper Marans cockerels if anyone is in need of them. They were hatched on the 9th of May. They are already crowing and harassing my Cochin hens. So it's either a new home or freezer camp for them, since I have no BCM pullets left.
I have 14 Cochin chicks available. And I am in desperate need of Cream Legbar eggs, if anyone has fertile eggs available. I am kicking myself for selling all of my hatch earlier in the season.
I hope you've all had a good summer. I've sure missed checking in to see what you've been up to.
Have a great day!

What a nice thing to do with that boy, and I'm glad he did so well with his quilt. I've always wanted to quilt, but I'm not good at sewing in general, never mind something like a quilt.

Trish I know what you mean. Yesterday was better other than the humidity. I'm not getting nearly as much done as normal. I just feel drained.

Maybe that's what happened to me yesterday. We went out to the garden for a couple of hours, and I started with the tomatoes. We'd had lunch not long before, and I was keeping hydrated (I think), so I don't know what my problem was. I was doing a lot of bending and looking in and around the tomatoes, and I just started to feel weak and ever-so-slightly dizzy. I took a short break, and continued doing various things in the garden, but I didn't feel right. I almost felt shaky like when I get too hungry, but I shouldn't have been short on fuel. When I was done, DH wanted to do some weed whacking, so I sat in the truck. I broke into a huge sweat, then got really tired. After we got home and I took a bath, I felt fine. What was that all about?!

I'm starting to get a good tomato harvest, though the wind apparently knocked over one of my plants. I doubt it will recover. We dug up all the onions because they're starting to rot on the outer layers. We dug some more potatoes, got quite a few red bell peppers, and dug up all the fennel because it's starting to resprout out of itself.

 

[chicken danz]

Cherwill, that sounds like a blood sugar problem. Have you ever had problems with that? I am hypoglycemic and I get like that when my blood sugar gets too low. Sometimes if you eat too many carbs you can have an overload then a dump. I had eaten oatmeal one time before a blood test a couple hours later. But my blood sugar had peaked then dumped and the doctor reading my blood test called me in panic mode thinking I would be in a comma with blood sugar that low.
I also feel similar when my oxygen level gets too low. But then it's more of a heavy feeling like my arms and legs have taken on about 50 pounds extra each.
If that happens again I'd certainly go get some tests done.
I have tomatoes now that the rabbit didnt' bite into but they aren't ripe yet. It's insane as late in the year as it is.
If I were trying to grow bugs I'd be having a great harvest though.

 

[sharol]

If I were trying to grow bugs I'd be having a great harvest though.

 

[chicken danz]

I tried to do some mowing today and had a cable come off that powers the blades. By the time DH got it repaired I was out of the mood to mow any more. This is the second night in a row I have waited for a guy to show up to buy my old clothes dryer and he hasn't called or showed up yet. If he has to work late he could call and let me know. I had some tentative plans for this evening but that is out since the thing I was going to started at 7:00 PM.
I was in a mood to do other things besides feed chickens today so I worked on my antique incubator some more. I need to find some stain that will work well and then get it varnished. It's going to be a coffee table in a perfect world if it turns out. If not I may have to put a thermostat in it and make it back into an incubator. I took all the old Kerosine parts out a long long time ago. It was in pretty bad shape, but I want it to look as new as it can. It's going to be oversized for my tiny living room but so is my couch.

 

[Trish44]

I spent my afternoon & evening till time to do chores putting in another big crank out window in my main chicken coop. I have had the window since last year but never got around to getting it put in till today. It was just a bit cooler so I figured I had better suck it up & get out there & do it. I just finished getting it in before having to go feed all the animals & birds, now I'm just pooped out. The only things I have left to do on it is I want to put a little trim piece over the top of the window outside where I kind of messed up cutting the hole out. That will cover that up & I already caulked there so it should be good when I get that put on tomorrow. I had to order a crank for it too because it didn't come with any & I can't find the ones I got before. That seems to be the way it goes around here, if you wait too long to use something it goes into this black void where it's never found again. Anyway, the chickens on the other side of the coop should be very happy tonight with more air circulation.

danz I need badly to mow around here, I have just put it off because it's been so darned hot I just don't have the desire to go out there & cook doing it. Maybe I'll get motivated one of these days. When you get that incubator table done you'll have to post a pic so we can see it.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

The Cherokee County Fair allowed Broiler class chickens in their annual 4-H livestock auction this year. There were 11 entries with a total premium of $3,900. The grand champion chicken went for $1,400.00. None of the chickens received less than $150.

 

[Trish44]

The Cherokee County Fair allowed Broiler class chickens in their annual 4-H livestock auction this year. There were 11 entries with a total premium of $3,900. The grand champion chicken went for $1,400.00. None of the chickens received less than $150.

Wow Ralph that was some auction! I thought about going to the one here in my town after the fair but didn't make it.

 

[chicken danz]

It's a great experience for the kids but I really hate to see them include a broiler class. Those kids are going to figure out those birds either die young or get eaten. Kind of sad in a way but it's nice the kids did so well.
I went with a friend of mine and went to a gals house today. What an awesome set up they have. I guess there are the Haves and the Have Nots and I'm definitely a Have Not. A log house looking home with a porch that goes all the way around, Two story plus a walk out basement. It overlooks their own private large sized pond, plus a pump from the pond to water their garden. A large green house, a few chickens and guineas. Just a lovely private place. Their decor was a little too cabiny inside for my taste but the entire place was really nice.
I guess what makes these places really nice is that is everything is done. No darned projects that need finished. I can't even start to imagine that.
I guess speaking of that I should go out and get busy on my projects again. I could really use a day off.