Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

That is awesome. Sounds like they are naturals!

We'll see tonight. They might try to spend all the time the sheep are allowed out to graze, trying to herd them back in. The trick will be keeping them from chasing until I need them to!

Oh, I found a deal the other day. Several months ago we were discussing the use of cayenne pepper as a wormer. I was in my local Ace Hardware the other day and they were having a "garage sale" to try to get rid of some stuff and had things marked down to garage sale prices. Most of it was stuff I didn't need but I did find a 1-pound container of cayenne pepper for $1!!! OMG, I was so excited. If they'd had more I would have bought it all at that price but 1 container was all they seemed to have left.

My last broody hen is now a mother and I will be able to turn the incubator off for the year - finally. There are still 2 eggs in it but I don't think they're going to hatch. Sad really because one is internally pipped but appears to have died. I didn't see any movement last night but decided to give it one more night and I'll check on them here in a little bit and then turn it off and clean it out.

The last broody hen is a four-year-old and this is her first stab at brooding - ever. Being the eldest hen in my flock, she took over the favorite nest box and was very agitated every night when I collected eggs from under her. I lived in fear that she would give up being broody before the chicks hatched so I'm very relieved. Last night I put the chicks under her, then boarded up the nest box so they couldn't fall out and other hens couldn't get in to lay in there this morning. Then, first thing I went out and moved the new family to a broody pen. She appears to have adopted the chicks and I think the transition will go smoothly. I really hope she's my last broody of the year. Last year I had a bantam cochin broody in November and raising her chick over the winter when the temps were below freezing for weeks.

 

[chicken danz]

HEChicken I am jealous. What an awesome price for the cayenne. Those pups did a great job.
I have a few more chicks hatching today. I had to do some moving around last night to make room. I'm not hatching many but have most of what I am hatching spoken for.
We had a huge storm come through last night with tons of rain,wind, and hail. I'm almost afraid to go out and check things out. My poor geese and ducks were in the yard and since I was awake from all the noise I got up to check on them. Those poor birds were confused about what to do. They seemed to be running in circles cause there was no path to get away from it. So they were all getting hit in head and back by hail. I was so afraid it would injure them but I think they all faired okay. I'm not so sure about some of the young chicks. It seems it takes them some time to figure out where shelter is and I loose more in rain storms than anything else. I'm in dread of going out to see if I lost some. I was going to move some more out to the grow out pen yesterday and ran out of time. I am so glad now because I would have probably lost them all.
We got a lot of rain. Now I'm really worried about the concrete work getting finished. I was really counting on it getting poured on Saturday. It is going to postpone my building if it doesn't get done.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I sure hope all your chicks found shelter safely! Good luck on your new hatches!

 

[HEChicken]

We didn't get any storms here at all - I hope all your birds made it through okay, Danz.

Well, I turned off my incubator this morning after almost 6 months of running non-stop. I just got it cleaned out as well and ready to go into its box to stay clean and dust-free over the winter. Man, I love that thing - it ran continuously for almost six months, yet did not take long to clean. Most of it can be popped in the dishwasher and the parts that can't, wiped off easily with a sponge.

For everyone who was wondering, I have two identical incubators, the second purchased mostly because I loved the first so much. But I've only run the second one twice since I got it and in the end found it was simpler to just run one incubator. The only hatching I did this year was to satisfy broody hens. I.e., every time a hen went broody, I'd set some eggs for her so that after she'd sat for 3 weeks, I'd have chicks to give her. I had initially thought I'd use the second incubator as a hatcher but I guess I'm not coordinated enough for that! I wound up spending the whole summer using the one incubator to both incubate and hatch. When the first egg in a small group pipped, I'd simply turn off the turner for a couple of days and as soon as the last chick in that batch had hatched, I'd turn it back on for the remaining eggs. It didn't seem to hurt the incubating eggs any, and I discovered that chicks will hatch just fine at incubating temp/humidity.

So - that left me with an expensive incubator sitting silent and empty and I looked at it the other day and decided I should sell it if I'm not going to be using it. However after putting the ad up, I realized that this time of year people are slowing down on hatching so I'll just wait until spring to sell it, and that is why I took the ad down again. However I've had a few inquiries since taking it down, so I'll leave it that if anyone is interested, feel free to PM me as it doesn't really both me if I sell it now or in spring, but I'm not going to just give it away because it was an expensive little machine, has only been run twice, and is still under warranty!

 

[chicken danz]

I lost three birds in the storm. One was one of the peachicks the mama peahen was raising. One was a chick in my brooder. I had left windows open and I think it got smothered in the bottom of the pile. And the third was one that had managed to get out of the hoop coop and was outside unprotected.
I sold 5 roosters today, a Sabastopol goose, a duckling for free, 4 turkey poults, and a rooster for breeding. Not much profit but a few less mouths to feed.
I was out trying to move rocks in my iris bed this afternoon and discovered a nest of 18 snake eggs. They had all hatched. Makes me wonder what kind they were and where they are now. I just hope they weren't more of these Eastern racers. Those are the meanest most aggressive snakes ever.
Speaking of snakes, has anyone heard from Lizzy lately? She hasn't posted in some time. Also haven't heard much from Tweety either.
DH said he looked at radar and it looked like we probably got 4 inches of rain. However after looking at stuff holding water I am thinking it was closer to 8 inches of rain. I had a bunch of the screenings washed out where the concrete is supposed to go. They were going to do some more work but not they have to let it drain and set up and dry out before they rebuild the pad. I really wanted that poured this weekend. If it doesn't rain they may get it Monday or Tuesday but at the cost of having their equipment in here trenching up the place due to the mud. Figures rain would get in the way of me getting this thing done!!!

 

[lizzyGSR]

*snip*
I was out trying to move rocks in my iris bed this afternoon and discovered a nest of 18 snake eggs. They had all hatched. Makes me wonder what kind they were and where they are now. I just hope they weren't more of these Eastern racers. Those are the meanest most aggressive snakes ever.
Speaking of snakes, has anyone heard from Lizzy lately? She hasn't posted in some time. Also haven't heard much from Tweety either.
*snip*

I find it entertaining that finding a nest of snake eggs makes you think of me.

Thankfully, we haven't seen very many rattlesnakes this summer. We can count the ones we've seen on 2 hands. We have seen quite a few bull snakes, but I'd much rather see them than the rattlers. We've been overrun with fireweed this summer, so we locked the livestock in a subportion of the pasture to try to get them to eat some of the fireweed. That has made it so I dont' have to walk in the pasture as much, so that has cut back on my opportunities to see snakes. I was out walking in the pasture yesterday and realized that all of my paths have been overgrown. Yikes! That's a good way to make me nervous! Gotta get my DH to take the mower out and re-mow my paths for me. I had to go around the one area of my path where the fireweed is taller than I am!

I am still here, I've just been insanely busy recently. Everything seems to happen all at once, and that has definitely been true recently. We've had company quite a few weekends recently, our car has been having more problems, we had to take an unexpected vacation last week to attend a funeral, we were given 4 grocery bags full of homegrown apples that I haven't had time to process, and the list just keeps going... Add on to the list that I've got a baby to take care of, and I have been one busy lady!

Speaking of Ethan, he is doing well. He is growing like a weed and is very mobile now. He isn't walking yet, but he is pulling up on everything and is getting into everything. Can you believe he is 10 months old already?!? Growing up, my mom had a plaque on her wall that said "cleaning your house while your children are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing." I used to always grin at that, but now I UNDERSTAND! It is especially true when the little one is too small to clean up after himself but big enough to make a big mess!

 

[Trish44]

Awww lizzy he is getting so big & what a cutie! Yes the little ones sure do keep you going. My little grandson is 6 months old already & teething. My DIL to be keeps me supplied with pics of him on FB. Last night she put up a pic of him in his mad face, it was so funny. He's normally been a very happy baby, but with teething right now he's a little cranky.

Well everyone enjoy the weather, I think we may get rain tomorrow. We were kind of hoping it would wait.

 

[chicken danz]

LOL Lizzy. I just naturally think of you along with snakes because you have so many. Ethan is just adorable. He looks a little more like his daddy now that he is getting a little older, but still a great combination of both of you.
I've got lots to do today as usual but I sure am dragging. I need to get out and sex guineas and get them moved to a bigger pen. I'd also like to move some birds out to an outside pen. I worry about the weather getting cooler. I sure hope they'll be okay.

 

[HEChicken]

I feel like I just can't win. I decided to get out of ducks before winter and last week butchered 2 of the 21, getting me down to 19. This afternoon, I realized I'd been hearing a chirping sound quite a lot. I have a couple of broody raised chicks that hang around the house so I guess I'd been thinking it was them and not paying much attention but suddenly the sound was…..familiar and urgent. I went out to check and found a duck who has been broody under the front porch most of the summer, marching up and down, looking very fierce. But she wasn't the one making the chirping sound. Oh no. A glance under the porch revealed 7 newly hatched ducklings. So I've gone from 21 to 19 to 26 within a week. Does that sound like downsizing to you???? I guess it is Danzsizing at its finest.

On a related note, DD ate some duck the other day and called out to ask me if it was one of the 15 ducklings. I thought she was sad at the thought. Oh no, she wanted to rave about how tender it is. And, it turns out that what she was eating was NOT a duckling but the grand-daddy drake. I had decided since the ducklings are still growing out, I'd start with the ones I know won't grow any more so butchered the drake a few days ago. He was several years old and enormous and generated a ton of meat. I've been enjoying it but was really pleased that she noted its tenderness - it gives me great hope that the ducklings will be well received when it is their turn.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh Lizzy, I meant to say, cute pic of Ethan and glad you haven't encountered as many rattlers this year. I've been seeing a lot of snakes around here but fortunately none of them are snakes I'm worried about - I've never come face to face with a rattlesnake and if I never do, I'll be a happy camper.

Danz, hope it is drying out up your way. We still haven't had any rain though they keep saying it is possible. I wish we could have got some of yours - we desperately need it.