Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Hi everyone! The dogs came home yesterday afternoon covered in dirt and so Extraordinarily pleased with themselves I was a little nonplussed. London was positively Beaming!! I've never seen him grin like that before. Willow was just pumped as well. They both looked like they'd been digging and gotten sprayed with dirt by the other one. Willow went int with the goats again and London is happily keeping watch over the barnyard. I'm extremely curious where they went and what they did. We're considering getting a tracker on Willows collar and see if we can't chase them home the next time they run off.
Still no kids so I must have not seen the breeding that actually took. Guess we'll keep a close watch on her and roll with it. She's happy and eating so she's obviously not due yet.

I'm glad to hear your dogs came back, it sounds like they had some fun. Yeah that grin is the GP grin, mine both do it but Lily does it the most. She will do it when I yell at her like see I'm so cute you can't be mad at me. She is a pill! Jas does it when she is happy to see us like when we're gone all day & come back. I'll bet if they were digging they were after something that had a burrow in the ground. Mine will dig up moles & leave a lovely mess. I have seen those tracker things, but my GPs will not leave a collar on at all & I don't want them to get strangled on a fence & die before I find them. The breeder I got them from told me that happened to her & thus she doesn't put collars on any of her dogs. I gave up on it, I bought several collars of the type that come loose when they get caught, had name tags made for them & they lost them all. They go through the barbed wire fence & I know that's where they lose them. I need to get them chipped but haven't done it.

Ralph those are nice looking dogs. My biggest, heaviest one is Lily, she is all white as well, a big white polar bear.

KsKingBee, I'm sorry that happened to you with the dogs. Some people just don't understand dogs at all. I had to explain to my neighbor next door why my dogs bark at night. He knew nothing about GPs at all & after I told him why they're barking & why they're here he was OK with it. He has 3 big German Shepherds at his place in a small fenced yard & all 3 are in his trailer at times. I wouldn't think there is much room to walk with all of them in there. He's a pretty good neighbor usually though. The one on the other side understands why I have the dogs & doesn't care as long as they aren't over there. She has 3 dogs as well that are in a fenced yard. Once in awhile she has one mutt that escapes & comes over here. My GPs just give him this look & don't even bark at him & he goes home. It's really strange to see, like some silent communication between them. Her dogs bark at the wind though so she has no room to say anything about mine barking at predators. I know when they're after something, especially lately when the coyotes are getting bolder & bolder they do carry on but they have to in order to keep the coyotes out. My neighbor down on the other end of our property down the hill told me the other day that she has seen two coyotes over in the dumpy place next to us hanging around in broad daylight. She fears for her little Yorkie & says now she can't even let him out without going out with him. I told her they have bobcats over there as well at her pond, her DH told me he saw them. Thank goodness for GPs!

Well this is my last day before surgery, I feel like the condemned today, geez. I'm not looking forward to surgery at all, tomorrow is not going to be a fun day that's for sure. I just want to get it over with. I have to get up at the crack of dawn in the morning, ugh.

 

[chicken danz]

Beautiful dogs Ralph. She looks a lot like Fluff my oldest boy. If she is only a year and a half she can grow even more.
Well I had people make a long trip up here to buy a pair of birds and I ended up selling them a third one. That made it almost worth while to get out in the cold. It is miserable out there. The chickens are all huddled in their coops trying to keep warm. I should have gathered eggs while I was still out but my hands were ice already. I hope the heated water bowls keep up in this awful wind. This is awful.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I just popped in and ... surgery? Trish44, hope it's minor and you'll be recovered soon. Good grief!

Hey chickendanz! Miss you!

I'm sidelined on the couch with some health issues but they're coming around, so I'm in one place for a bit! Thank goodness, life has been moving at a breakneck pace.

Guess what I am getting this spring? Some Silver Appleyards from Holderreads and some Pilgrim and Buff geese from Strombergs. I really only wanted the Pilgrims from Strombergs but there was a 5 bird limit on those but you had to have 10 minimum geese so I got the Buffs. Not sure I'll keep those. The Pilgrims are auto-sexing and I thought that was really cool.

chickendanz and Trish44 tell me what kind of birds you have now... inquiring minds want to know.

I've settled with some Buff Sussex from Walt'z Ark in Colorado and I'm really happy with them. They are pretty and the sturdiest birds ever. I still have my pet birds: a handful of Alohas, that don't lay, an Ameraucana, one Speckled Sussex, a Japanese Bantam. Only one bantam left and she is great friends with an Aloha who sits on top of her to keep her warm. It's too cute.

My ducks. Well, Chopper is still going strong but of the Ancona's I only have one drake and two hens. I plan to hatch out a few and add a couple hens to my group. A nasty fox got two of my hens last year and I had to take the ducks off the pond and keep them in the electric fence to keep them safe. They did fine and it seemed to alleviate the hawk problem somehow. Maybe because Chopper is so dark and they thought he was a crow? I don't know. Chopper is not very happy right now because he is penned so that when I begin collecting Ancona eggs they will be pure bred. I'm only going to hatch one group so he will only have a few weeks apart.

Karen S

 

[thndrdancr]

I have 4 heat lamps sand hope that will do. My coop is an old shed I made into s coop. Its 27 x 16 and about 20 foot high. The peas love the rafters but its so big and had so many holes that it still basically blocks the wind and protects from elements. I have deep litter which helps some.
We have a lot of snow out there!!!!
My heated bowl for the cats is covered in snow, and we haven't fed the birdies yet, not looking forward to going out.

Your right about people not understanding pyrs. Before we moved, our neighbor kept his calving moms bordering our property, which was really only 50 ft down from our chicken coop. Bandit of course thought they were his to protect. He would have been a great cow dog, he likes them much more than chickens! He would even herd them back in the fence when they got out, which before we got him, the little stinkers would always get out, come up and drink all our water out of the chicken bowl, poop on the back deck (why would a cow get on a deck anyhow???), etc. Well when the neighbor moved the cows back up by his property, Bandit was despondent, for 3 days he moped and wouldn't eat or move around much. Then he must have heard or smelled his cows cuz he set off to find them. All I knew was he was happy again and I didn't put 2 and 2 together til the neighbor came over mad as a wet hen, really ticked. He said he did not pleased as MY dog was going around the cattle about 3 times a night and sometimes he would sit on the ridge and bark. Dog was keeping him up all hours!!!!! Oh he was fuming. He was so livid he wouldn't listen when I tried to explain that Bandit thought those were his cows to take care of and moving them a mile just meant he had more area to patrol. He said he didn't understand what the dog was doing, he watched quite a few nights but dog was going around border of fence several times a night. he wasn't chasing the cows though. He was afraid dog might start chasing though, considering he was doing this weird behavior, or cows may spook. Blah, blah. If someone isn't familiar you just can't explain to them what your dog is bred for. All they see is a big scary dog that automatically means predator.

Ralph, pretty dogs. Everyone stay safe out there in all this rain/ice/snow.

 

[chicken danz]

I just popped in and ... surgery? Trish44, hope it's minor and you'll be recovered soon. Good grief!

Hey chickendanz! Miss you!

I'm sidelined on the couch with some health issues but they're coming around, so I'm in one place for a bit! Thank goodness, life has been moving at a breakneck pace.

Guess what I am getting this spring? Some Silver Appleyards from Holderreads and some Pilgrim and Buff geese from Strombergs. I really only wanted the Pilgrims from Strombergs but there was a 5 bird limit on those but you had to have 10 minimum geese so I got the Buffs. Not sure I'll keep those. The Pilgrims are auto-sexing and I thought that was really cool.

chickendanz and Trish44 tell me what kind of birds you have now... inquiring minds want to know.

I've settled with some Buff Sussex from Walt'z Ark in Colorado and I'm really happy with them. They are pretty and the sturdiest birds ever. I still have my pet birds: a handful of Alohas, that don't lay, an Ameraucana, one Speckled Sussex, a Japanese Bantam. Only one bantam left and she is great friends with an Aloha who sits on top of her to keep her warm. It's too cute.

My ducks. Well, Chopper is still going strong but of the Ancona's I only have one drake and two hens. I plan to hatch out a few and add a couple hens to my group. A nasty fox got two of my hens last year and I had to take the ducks off the pond and keep them in the electric fence to keep them safe. They did fine and it seemed to alleviate the hawk problem somehow. Maybe because Chopper is so dark and they thought he was a crow? I don't know. Chopper is not very happy right now because he is penned so that when I begin collecting Ancona eggs they will be pure bred. I'm only going to hatch one group so he will only have a few weeks apart.

Karen S

Oh my God! So great to hear from you Karen. I Miss you so much!!! I keep tabs on you by the way, and saw you were doing some tax work this year....or not... due to your health. You just made my day! Can't believe ole Chopper is still hanging in there. That's awesome. I now have a house turkey. Sure didn't intend to. Kind of a Chopper story. He was the only turkey to hatch late and he imprinted. I don't know if a house turkey or duck is worse. It's only poop I guess.

I have had a lot of people contacting me wanting buff geese. I think it might be a wise breed to go with. Of course I only have my silly sebbies which are plenty.
In answer to your question if I can remember, here's what I have now:
A handful of layers bred from white rocks and one of Frank's New Hamps.
BBS English Orpingtons
Project blue gold double laced brahmas
Barred English Orpingtons
Black brahmas (Gorgeous and I normally don't like black birds!)
Partridge brahmas gold and blue gold
Partridge English Orpington I am going to use for a blue partridge project
White English Orpingtons
Jubilee English Orpingtons
Gold laced English Orpingtons
Exhibition buff Orpingtons (not 100% English)
Lavender English Orpingtons (one barred lavender pullet)
Mottled English Orpington
Chocolate English Orpingtons (LF)
True Araucana
Breda Fowl
Franks Barred Rocks
Speckled sussex
Midget white turkeys
Sabastopol geese colored and white. I have about 20 breeders now.
Ducks Ancona Cayuga and Pekin.
Mandarin and wood ducks
Stupid noisy guineas
Lots of peacocks and hens. India blue, white, pied, black shoulder, purple, and one java cross cock.
Red Golden pheasant
I'm sure I forgot something.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

Danz, DH is very jealous of your Red Golden Pheasants!!!! He's wants so Very badly but we don't have a place at this point. if you have any white or pied peafowl we definitely want a couple to replace the ones the owl took last fall. I wish you weren't so far away! I'd Love to come see all your birds!
We're getting alpacas this spring. Two from Colorado and some more from a farm that's retiring and they're letting all their animals go as rescues. I don't know how many we'll take yet. I want 9 but DH thinks that's too many and we don't have pens for that many either! Maybe I'll get him convinced to do some fencing on his off time!

 

[chicken danz]

I've strongly considered Alpacas but figured I would never get them shorn. I have a school mate that raises them and then spins the wool and makes very pricy items from it. She makes very good money at it. I don't have time for all that but from prices I see they sell for, I think one could do fine just selling the offspring.
I sold all my pieds a while back except a couple I kept from earlier years. I have two pied boys that should breed this spring. I do have some white peacocks though and I am sure I have a few boys in there. I am just hoping I can get a couple girls out of what is left. I sold several earlier in the year I know were girls. I have some iffys in these I have left from last year. I expect to be able to tell shortly when the boys start getting their big boy tails.
It won't be long before the hens start laying again. The boys have been strutting and displaying.
Red goldens are so easy or I would have sold them all when I sold all my other pheasants. You can put them in with peafowl too. The only time you might need to watch them is if you had a onery peacock during breeding season. Out of all the pheasants I've had, the red goldens are the tamest. If I had just a couple more girls I'd sell you a pair. I've got too many boys but don't want to sell any of the girls I have. I should have lots of chicks this year though.
I really really want to get some peacock pheasants, but they are so pricey and take so long to reach a breeding age. I guess if I could ever get my other birds down to fewer to care for I could justify getting them. I just keep dreaming even though I keep saying I have to get rid of some of these birds.
I sell a few hundred then accidentally start breeding something else.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

It's great to see all the new people on the Kansas forum! I need to update my byline desperately -- don't read a word of it, it's all untrue! LOL! Well, okay, some of it's true.


chicken danz,

WoW! Things have really changed! Your place is Orpington heaven and what's not to love about Orpingtons! If it wasn't so darn cold I would drive up and pester you! I love your Sebbies, by the way, they are the cutest things!

Choppers is such a character, we love him. I feel bad for him being separated from the group but they visit him in the house off and on during the nice days. Today there aren't any of them venturing out.

How funny you have a house turkey!!!! I miss my Tookie terribly, she was such a dear. Who knew you could fall in love with a turkey, but I sure did.

Okay, so here's the deal, I'll trade you my Buff geese for some midget whites! I'll only have 5 of them 'cause that was the limit, but I would really love to have some midget whites. What do you think? I've read I can keep blackhead at bay by using cayenne pepper regularly. Have you had any blackhead trouble?

You still have the Speckled Sussex from me? Or did you get some birds from a specific breeder? I would like to get some of those from Waltz Ark but thought I'd better wait till next year. I am keeping the birds to a minimum (for me). I have about 15 - 17 right now. All of the birds I got from Tony Albritton died by, I don't know, 7 months old. It was not a cheap loss and Trish44 had the same experience. So I should have some nice SSX but don't. Sheesh!

 

[chicken danz]

We've had a lot of people come and go and lost a lot of the old regular people over time. Once in a while we get a short visit which is always wonderful.
I actually still have a couple of your old girls and I had that one Meeks girl which is still going strong. I added some new blood as well to create bigger spottier stockier birds. I just traded back one of the offspring from Sharol that came from my girls and the new roo. The project worked beautifully. He's exceptional. He will be the new breeder. I am letting the old roo stay with the girls in the cold weather. He has been such a great rooster for them I feel I owe him some decent weather when I move him. I actually still have big mister spotty. He is just a yard bird these days. He's one of those with an honorary free range spot in the yard.
No I don't think I have had black head. I had a couple that got capilliary worms though which is just about as bad. It will knock them down in nothing flat. I did treat one for blackhead but found capilliary worms when I did the necropsy. I have flagyl on hand just in case. l give them safeguard wormer at least twice a year and ivermectin another couple times a year. I also have cayenne I add to their feed off and on. I don't know if it works but I guess as long as there is no blackhead something is working.
I've learned the peafowl and the turkeys are almost identical in disease and how worms affect them. So I've actually sprayed disinfectant in their pens and made sure I worm them each quarter. It seems to be paying off well. I let the turkeys free range a lot in the summer and they have done fine.
I just happen to have some midget whites I hatched late season. They should start breeding April or May. Midgets tend to breed later than other breeds and continue into late fall. I'm not too sure how many boys or girls I have. I think I have an overload of boys. There are 10 turkeys out there in the grow out pen plus the house turkey. House turkey has an honorary place as back up Tom and will probably just free range all the time. I wanted to keep a couple girls to add to my breeders cause some of them are getting older. But I think I could still come up with at least a pair of breeders. I just planned to sell some soon anyway. Or..the other option is to trade you some babies later.
Last year was a great year for midget whites. It started out slow but then the rest of the summer I couldn't hatch enough to keep up with demand. I sold all my other turkeys and decided to just raise the midgets. They are the sweetest birds. I sold a ton of the bourbon reds as well but sold my breeders at the end of summer. I was trying to cut back.
I'm not sure what I would do with the buffs. I'm trying to decrease pens!! We can work something out for sure though. And besides I would love love love to see you again.
I went with good quality exhibition type orpingtons for a while and sold those out later and started buying English orps and having them shipped in so I could get the best I could find. I love those big fluffy gentle monsters.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I would love to get a breeding pair of midget whites and would be more than happy to buy them. I have some flagyl on hand also, just in case. I'll remember your worming routine. Do MW hens sit or do you incubate? I'm so glad you still have the MW's! I would love to see you again! Once it gets a bit warmer...