Consolidated Kansas

[cherwill]

I keep forgetting to update on my injured girl! She is doing amazing. I had to fight to keep her in the house LOL, she did get vacated to the back room, but is plenty warm. She even roams around a bit as I do laundry, shhh don't tell my DH!

That's great news!

She's looking good! Congrats!
I'm really disappointed, the hawk got my little girl that I rescued from London. I loved that chicken and she was so sweet, often coming and hanging out wherever I was when I went outside. None of my other chickens think very much of me other than when I have food. Like always it would be my favorite.

I'm sorry about the hawk. It seems like it's often our favorites that get hurt or killed.

I have too many chickens & other animals to have to milk goats as well. I'm not fond of goat's milk either, my son had to drink that for awhile when he was little & it was just too strong for me. I'm not a milk drinker anyway, but that definitely didn't work for me. I bought it from a local farm when it was fresh, but the longer after it was obtained the stronger in flavor it got. I do like goat cheese, but just not the milk.

I don't know about goat's milk, but then, I don't like ANY milk. I do love goat cheese, which is what I would make lots of it I had a goat.

Nothing new here, really. It's been cold enough in the evenings that we've used the fire place a couple of times.

 

[zigzag45]

Thank you @TaraBellaBirds and @chicken danz for the help on the new kids. We have one gray, one black, and one yellow chick. They were from a mixed laying flock so I'm not sure what they are.

Followup question... I have them in an unheated shed. Obviously, the mamma bird is keeping them warm. Should I use a heat light in their pen as well? I've had one on during the day for the past two days to encourage them to come out so we can see them, then turned it down at night - didn't want it pitch black in there.

I have a florescent light in the shed, if all i need is light I can use that.

Thanks!

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I wouldn't worry too much if you have them in an area where the babies can't wander too much or get stranded away from the broody. Mama can keep them plenty warm at night, and the babies will feather in super fast.

 

[zigzag45]

BTW @TaraBellaBirds - I forgot to mention, your injured girl is looking so much better. What breed is she? How long will it take feathers to grow back?

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Prairie Fleur, I use to kept the buck separate when I dealt more with goats, but since I retired the goats are mainly for keeping the brush under control. does normally have the kids in February.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

BTW @TaraBellaBirds - I forgot to mention, your injured girl is looking so much better. What breed is she? How long will it take feathers to grow back?

She is a Buff Brahma/ White Rock cross! Thanks she is doing awesome!

 

[chicken danz]

Zig I think the chicks will be fine. The mom's put out about 103 degrees of heat in their fluff. As long as she is good at keeping track of the chicks they will move in and sit under their Mama if they get chilly. I think you are really going to enjoy this experience.

 

[Trish44]

It started pouring here just about the time I started doing my chores this afternoon. I had to wait on an egg customer to get here & he was late, so that messed things up. I did some of my chores in the rain & then I was pretty soaked so I had to go in. The rest will have to get done tomorrow. The goats were upset because they don't like getting wet & they were by the time I got out there to bring them to their pens. I told my DH he's going to have to move his spare tires for the truck out of the horse shed so the goats & sheep can get in there when they need to. He actually was agreeable to that as long as I clear a spot in the garage for them.

I'm glad I didn't plan to paint today! I did however manage to get the pen & inside coop cleaned & sanitized where the chicks had been & moved my Mottled & Jubilee Orp chicks out there this afternoon before it started pouring. I shut them in the coop tonight to make sure they didn't get stupid & run out in the rain & get chilled. They were getting way too big for the brooder & I needed to move another group into that one. Boy did they make a mess in there, so then this evening I had to clean that brooder out again & I had just done that two days ago, it was nasty. I'm glad they have more room to run around now & they will be able to go outside into the pen out there too when it's not raining. I sure hope they do OK out there, they haven't had heat in over a week so I hope they can acclimate OK. Tomorrow we're supposed to finish the 2nd coat on the outside of the building & then I can put the fencing over the top again. We had to be able to get the ladder in there so we had to remove the whole top of the pens. I've been kind of nervous about them being left open so I'll be glad when they're all secure again. Then after this project is all done it's on to winterizing pens. It seems like the work is never done around here.

 

[chicken danz]

We got rain in the afternoon but not much but by evening it was really coming down. It was still raining after midnight. Not sure how long it lasted. It just looks dark and dreary and very fall like out there today. I'm already missing the sunshine.
My daughter has been here and we've had a whirlwind of company but she and I finished getting the walls up for the brooder and hatching area in my building. They are mostly insulated but I still have to do a lot of wiring and plumbing and then figure out what I am going to use for the interior surface. I am thinking i am going to use metal panels along the very bottom just because they will be easy to clean and won't be bothered by humidity or chick poo.
This process is going so much slower than I hoped it would, but I have so much else to take care of it's hard to find time to go out there and work. I guess it's one step at a time. I've sold a few birds and have some others spoken for. All that money is going into the building now.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Danz - we would love to see more in-progress pictures of your building!

Can ya'll believe that yesterday was Ethan's birthday?!?!? This year has really flown by! I took him outside the other day while it was nice, and we played in the leaves...