Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

Zig, I had a hen hatch one chick from her egg stash a month or so ago. She was in the pen with 3 other hens and a rooster. Well he is a very independent chick and kind of does what he wants but the other hens totally accepted the chick and never bothered. Flip the page though, I had put a young pullet in there one time before and the same hens picked it to death. It was almost fully grown too. You just never know how these things will go. If the Mom does a good job of mothering the other hens probably won't get a chance to bother the chicks. A lot depends on how many chicks she has. This is one case that small groups are really much better. If she has too many she will loose track and not be able to watch them all as carefully.
I had a big hatch today and I am wondering why I set that many eggs. I just don't have a place to put them right now. So much is waiting on getting the building done.
I got my water heater for the building today. Too bad my water still isn't hooked up! I was going to work on plumbing but have to get the outside wall framed in in order to attach a wall to support my plumbing. I'm just going to have to go get a load of lumber soon and start building. Maybe after this weekend I'll have some birds sold and can actually afford to buy some.

In my limited experience, it helps if the chicks have been around the adults prior to putting them in the coop/run together. This last batch has been in the yard with the adults since they were 3 days old (experienced mother) and it was a piece of cake integrating them. That said, this is only my 5th group of chicks.

 

[chicken danz]

Sharol I agree with you. All chickens accept new additions if they've been around them at least a few days first. When I integrate new birds to a pen I always put them in a cage in the pen they will go in for several days before I let them join the group. It seems to keep them from picking on newcomers.

 

[sharol]

Sharol I agree with you. All chickens accept new additions if they've been around them at least a few days first. When I integrate new birds to a pen I always put them in a cage in the pen they will go in for several days before I let them join the group. It seems to keep them from picking on newcomers.

Actually, I think it was you who suggested the gradual integration last year when you gave me that first group of Marans eggs.

I have a question for you all.

I have a hen who is wearing a saddle (with wing protection) because she is the roo's favorite and she seems to have more brittle feathers than her coopmates. I'm going to be gone for a little over a week. My DH will be looking after the birds until Friday, and then we will have a house sitter over the weekend.

Should I remove the saddle today (before I leave tomorrow) or leave it on? it is fabric that breathes and there doesn't seem to be a problem with it. She has had it for several weeks and I check under it every few days.

 

[Trish44]

Is there anyone breeding some splash Ameraucanas? Blue splash and I think you can get splash from wheaten or blue wheaten.

Here is a quote from pipsnpeeps who is the president of the Ameraucana Breeder's Club:
You can cross blues and blacks together to get blue, black and splash. You can breed wheaten and blue wheatens together to get wheaten, blue wheaten and splash wheaten offspring.
Crossing all other varieties will give you easter eggers as they will not breed true the next generation and therefore are not considered ameraucanas anymore."

I don't breed splash Ameraucanas, I have Wheaten/Blue Wheaten & Lavenders.

sharol, if the hen has been doing OK with the saddle I would just leave it on her. It would give her a chance to grow some feathers back maybe instead of losing more.

It sure has been quiet here lately, where is everyone? I've been working on projects outside to get done before cold weather hits. I started painting my breeder coop & then got sick so I'm kind of behind where I wanted to be now.

 

[chicken danz]

I have a hen who is wearing a saddle (with wing protection) because she is the roo's favorite and she seems to have more brittle feathers than her coopmates. I'm going to be gone for a little over a week. My DH will be looking after the birds until Friday, and then we will have a house sitter over the weekend.

Should I remove the saddle today (before I leave tomorrow) or leave it on? it is fabric that breathes and there doesn't seem to be a problem with it. She has had it for several weeks and I check under it every few days.

Leave it on her. I have a hen wearing a saddle she has had on for 8 months and does great with it. The other two wouldn't leave theirs on. In fact she molted and the feathers came in beautifully.
Yes it has been quiet. I have been so busy lately I haven't even had much time to read. I got lumber and insulation to start working on my hatching and brooding room hopefully this coming week. Plus I got fittings so I can hook up my hot water heater. Still no water though. I have to wait for DH to drill through the basement wall to finish the hook up. I have company coming this next week so I am trying to tackle all kinds of projects plus trying to sell birds at the same time.

 

[cherwill]

Good afternoon everyone. I'm too far behind to catch up. I hope all is well.

We had to get our garden cleaned out and I must have overdid things. My back went into a spasm and I was down for a few days. Then I took it very easy for a few days. It's not bad now, though some of the muscles are a bit sore. I made the last of the tomatoes into salsa and a small batch of green tomato pickles. I've never had the pickles before, but a friend gave me the recipe and I thought I'd try it. They taste a lot like bread and butter pickles, which are my favorite. DH found some potatoes we hadn't dug up earlier, and we got a bunch of bell peppers. They hadn't turned red yet, but I have no problem using the green ones instead.

Still no eggs from my hens. We had to buy some from my SIL, who gets them from a co-worker. It's been 5-6 weeks; surely one of my girls will start laying again soon.

My part of the state is have 80+ degree weather the last couple of days. It's a little warmer than I like for fall, but I'll take it!

 

[ChooksChick]

Good afternoon everyone. I'm too far behind to catch up. I hope all is well.

What Cherwill said!!

Gosh, I miss you guys. I wish I could pop in more often...I will never catch up on all I've missed.

I've sold off most of my birds- down to just a few projects, and less than 75 birds in total. Still need to sell off some turkeys, peas and a few breeding projects, but not willing to piece them out, so it's been slow...but I'm picky and want to make sure they'll keep going with the projects, not just keep them as eye candy so they end!

It's been a decent fall so far, but I've been in denial about upcoming winter so I hope it keeps being mild...

I need to pull up the garden frames and till. I've had raised beds for years due to gravel in the soil from the previous owners making the sunny part of the yard a parking lot, and after we got the majority of the gravel hauled off, there remained some and the compaction was awful. A decade of chicken litter and leaves composting between the frames and I think we can just plant in the ground now- it's 6+ inches higher and the worms have helped immensely. Each year I've put down squash around my frames and this year they were HAPPY, so I will make a single level garden again.

Hope all are happy and healthy.

 

[chicken danz]

Cherwill do you mind sharing your green tomato recipe. My plants are still gorgeous even though I only managed to get one decent ripe tomato all year. This is the last time I am going to attempt to plant tomatoes in the garden. If I didn't have the soil so mellow I would even move the garden but I don't want to do all that work again. It's pretty handy for pumping out the duck pond where it is so I guess it'll stay as is. I'll just find a new spot for tomatoes.
Chooks it's been a glorious fall. I just wish I had the time to enjoy it. I still have so much to do before cold weather. I am totally dreading it to say the least.

 

[sharol]

Nice to see you back, @Chooks Chick. Thought you would like to know that Associate's son (Jake) is doing a great job as flock rooster and dad. He is protective of the baby chicks and keeps the teen age cockerels in line when they get obnoxious. He warns of danger and sends everyone undercover if a hawk is around and finds special treats for his "special" girls. Thanks again.

 

[Trish44]

chooks nice to see you here, long time no see. I don't think any of us are looking forward to winter. I especially hate it even worse now since I broke my leg falling on the ice & snow last January. I'm going to take more precautions this time for sure. I just hate the hauling water in the freezing temps, breaking the ice out of the bowls, & all of it.

We went to OKC over the weekend to celebrate a late birthday for my DS & took our GD with us. Somehow her mom got her wires crossed & had told her we were staying overnight & then we had to end up staying because we didn't want to upset her. She doesn't get to see her daddy nearly enough so we got a hotel room & stayed. My birds & animals were really upset with me by the time we got back. My laying flock had to be locked in the run & coop for two days. I had given them a pumpkin they had started on to peck at & when we got home they had it down to the skin.

I've got to get out there in a bit & work on painting again on my breeder coop. That was supposed to be my project yesterday & that didn't happen since we didn't get home till 4:30 in the afternoon.