Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Trish, Makes me thankful to have birds in the house. I don't think I could handle a lamb. I have had a baby goat or two in here but only for a very short time. I wonder what it would be like to have no animals and no animal messes inside? It's been forever it seems.

 

[nick1234]

chicken danz,
RE: holding birds...
The same has happened to anyone trying to be nice and holding anything for sale. I've sold a lot of stuff on craigslist over the years and I simply won't hold things for more than 24 hours anymore. And if anyone else calls and wants to buy it, I'll tell them the other person has until x time to show up otherwise it's still for sale.

Almost backfired once when the original buyer showed up a few hours late and I had another buyer. They were both mad, but I did end up getting a higher price from one of them!!

It sucks to get burned by people when you are being nice.

By the way, the chickens are still doing great!! They are slowly getting more used to us.

 

[Heidi A]

Greetings! My name is Heidi and I am a science teacher at an alternative high school in Maize. Each spring, I do a unit on chickens during which we hatch eggs. The "Agricultural Ornithology" unit is divided into sections where students learn about the History of the Chicken Industry, Anatomy and Physiology, Embryology, Chicken Intelligence, Chicken/Chick Care and Needs, Uses and Benefits of Owning Chickens, and the Industrial Treatment of Chickens. At the end of the unit, students are allowed to take 2 chicks home for two weeks and care for them to get credit.

I'm wondering if there is anyone in the Wichita area that would like to come speak to my students about chickens or allow my students (about 15 high schoolers) to visit their chicken farm. If anyone is getting ready to butcher a chicken, I would really like my students to see that so they have a better appreciation about the true price of chicken meat. I'd be open to other ideas too.

Are there any Chicken People around me that would help?

 

[nick1234]

How often do you guys clean out your chicken coops? What do you do with the pine shavings?

I've been reading about the deep litter method. I worry about using this over summer as most articles mention it produces more heat. Thoughts about that? Thoughts about the Deep Litter method in general?

Also, we have a small garden.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[zigzag45]

How often do you guys clean out your chicken coops? What do you do with the pine shavings?

I've been reading about the deep litter method. I worry about using this over summer as most articles mention it produces more heat. Thoughts about that? Thoughts about the Deep Litter method in general?

Also, we have a small garden.

Thanks,
Nick

Nick - we do DLM and it works great. I tend to clean it out not quite three times a year. Mid Feb of this year it had frozen a crust on the top and the bottom was building up moisture so I knew I was over-do.

I try to throw a handful of scratch in a few times a week so they work the shavings/litter around.

My girls do some panting in the summer but it's not too bad. I am thinking of putting a small fan or two one one of the vents to help air move to be on the safe side.

I tend to use the litter in my garden (needs to set for 6-12 months) or offer it to other gardeners around. I put it on CraigsList and offered to trade it for a new iPad end of last year. Must have posted to wrong section, no takers.

 

[chicken danz]

chicken danz,
RE: holding birds...
The same has happened to anyone trying to be nice and holding anything for sale. I've sold a lot of stuff on craigslist over the years and I simply won't hold things for more than 24 hours anymore. And if anyone else calls and wants to buy it, I'll tell them the other person has until x time to show up otherwise it's still for sale.

Almost backfired once when the original buyer showed up a few hours late and I had another buyer. They were both mad, but I did end up getting a higher price from one of them!!

It sucks to get burned by people when you are being nice.

By the way, the chickens are still doing great!! They are slowly getting more used to us.

Well I have another interested party so I will probably get him sold anyway. I just hate they wasted my time.
Glad to hear the birds are doing well. You guys were such a pleasure. I honestly prefer not to deal with customers very much, but your enthusiasm and positive attitude was totally delightful. I tend to be pretty much an introvert but I loved you guys. I'd be more than happy to have you, your wife and your DD back again...and mother etc.

Quote:

Greetings! My name is Heidi and I am a science teacher at an alternative high school in Maize. Each spring, I do a unit on chickens during which we hatch eggs. The "Agricultural Ornithology" unit is divided into sections where students learn about the History of the Chicken Industry, Anatomy and Physiology, Embryology, Chicken Intelligence, Chicken/Chick Care and Needs, Uses and Benefits of Owning Chickens, and the Industrial Treatment of Chickens. At the end of the unit, students are allowed to take 2 chicks home for two weeks and care for them to get credit.

I'm wondering if there is anyone in the Wichita area that would like to come speak to my students about chickens or allow my students (about 15 high schoolers) to visit their chicken farm. If anyone is getting ready to butcher a chicken, I would really like my students to see that so they have a better appreciation about the true price of chicken meat. I'd be open to other ideas too.

Are there any Chicken People around me that would help?

I would love to help you out. I do wish I was close to Wichita. Of course finding time to do those things is difficult as well. I feel it is so important for young people to learn these things. There are several people in the Wichita area that I am sure would be able to do a good job for you.

Quote:

How often do you guys clean out your chicken coops? What do you do with the pine shavings?

I've been reading about the deep litter method. I worry about using this over summer as most articles mention it produces more heat. Thoughts about that? Thoughts about the Deep Litter method in general?

Also, we have a small garden.

Thanks,
Nick

The deep litter method is great. It is really beneficial. I use it in some of my coops. Those with better ventilation do the best with it because it stays dryer and reacts like it should. I actually only clean out the coops with deep litter about once a year.
Regardless of which option I use I use the stuff from the coops on the garden or I have a man who comes and picks it up. His friends in the KC area pay a hefty price for chicken poop for their gardens. I have extreme clay and where I've used the shavings and poop it is very mellow soil.

I had to start up a second incubator today. And it looks like I will fill it for the most part as well. My counter is covered in hatching eggs. I guess I should start sorting birds and get a list of what is for sale. I have to remind myself I can't keep them all.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Greetings! My name is Heidi and I am a science teacher at an alternative high school in Maize. Each spring, I do a unit on chickens during which we hatch eggs. The "Agricultural Ornithology" unit is divided into sections where students learn about the History of the Chicken Industry, Anatomy and Physiology, Embryology, Chicken Intelligence, Chicken/Chick Care and Needs, Uses and Benefits of Owning Chickens, and the Industrial Treatment of Chickens. At the end of the unit, students are allowed to take 2 chicks home for two weeks and care for them to get credit.

I'm wondering if there is anyone in the Wichita area that would like to come speak to my students about chickens or allow my students (about 15 high schoolers) to visit their chicken farm. If anyone is getting ready to butcher a chicken, I would really like my students to see that so they have a better appreciation about the true price of chicken meat. I'd be open to other ideas too.

Are there any Chicken People around me that would help?

Hey Heidi,

I am Karen S., mom to 8 kids, 7 of them still at home. I homeschool 3 of the middle schoolers. We live on approx 5 acres and have had chickens for 3 years. We use electric poultry netting to protect the birds from predators but they free range inside the netting. I would be happy to have your kids come to our place and have my homeschooled kids and I talk with them about how we do things.

There are many, many types of "chicken farms" but many of us here are just backyard chicken keepers who want fresh eggs and keep our birds as pets. Some are breeders of rare and/or heritage birds, others raise layers to sell farm fresh eggs, hatching eggs and chicks. Fewer raise their own meat to avoid the antibiotics fed to grocery store meat birds from start to finish and avoid contributing to the current ecologically disastrous methods of raising eggs and poultry meat. Of a fairly recent concern is the GMO corn and soybeans fed all commercially raised chickens. I am not a chicken farm but I am a good example of raising some food for our own table. One year my children and I processed 70+ birds for our own use. That's 70 less birds raised in factory farms.

This time of year around here is not good for processing birds because we are just now incubating the chicks that will be used later. We haven't started hatching the ducks yet, either. Commercial type chickens and ducks take about 6 weeks to raise to slaughter.

I am raising birds in an effort to create a new breed and perpetuate a few old ones. My focus is on Buff Sussex, a rare chicken in the States originally imported from England. I am adding Light and Speckled Sussex birds this spring. These birds are in need of perpetuating. Many older breeds have diminished extremely in numbers due to factory farming of the Cornish X broilers and hybrid layers. I am incubating Buff Sussex eggs this year to sell and will raise meat for our family from the ones that do not sell. I am also using these birds in my breeding program to increase size and structure of a project bird called the Aloha chicken. There are probably only about 20 flocks of Alohas in the United States. I kept 2 of my best Aloha hens and will be breeding them to a Mille Fleur Sussex (a cross between Buff and Speckled Sussex). The Aloha is intended to be a dual purpose bird, good for meat and eggs. The color I am shooting for is a ginger colored bird with evenly distributed white spots (known as spangles). The Aloha is currently a very flashy, but small bird without structural integrity. We are working hard to change that but breeding is a very slow process.

Years ago, a cousin's family and a long time friend's family, raised the typical factory layers in Kansas and Missouri, so I am familiar with those methods. I have used youtube vids to demonstrate those methods with my kids as to how grocery store eggs and meat are typically farmed. My homeschooled kids and I are currently working on a unit on exactly that topic.

I, and my middle schoolers, would be very happy to have "your kids" come to our place and see our natural methods of keeping our small flock and explain to them why and how we do what we do. We have one bird we could use to demonstrate the butchering process and talk about the robotic processes that result in a lot of salmonella and camphylobactor contamination in grocery store chicken.

We typically cull before winter so the flock is smallest in the Spring with only the breeders remaining. We have appoximately a dozen chickens and only 4 ducks right now but have 51 eggs in two incubators.

My mother was an organic gardener before it was cool and even though I was raised in the city, my mom and grandfather tried to teach me a lot about respecting the earth and using natural methods for raising food. My mom is gone now but I feel it is part of her legacy that I am passing along that mindset to our children. I would enjoy sharing it with yours.

 

[chicken danz]

Deerfield, I was indicating you when I said there were people near Wichita that could do a good job for them. You and HEChicken, but she hasn't been posting on the forum.
I came in to take a mini break. It seems my work is never ending right now.
I guess I need to boot scoot back out there and see what else I can get done before evening.

 

[thndrdancr]

What a pretty day it is. I didn't get done what I wanted, I can't find my reciprocating saw. I need to saw the gate on the fence (the one that holds the dog, chickens, etc.). We had siding put on last year and they had to remove the gate and reset it when done. Well it turned out the new siding was about an inch and 1/2 thicker (because of insulation) that the previous stuff. Thus the gate overlaps by inch and half and we have been just not using it, or fighting the darned thing when we Do use it. I wanted to cut it so it fits, but can I find my saw anywhere? What's worse is I actually have 2, i bought a backup when harbor freight had them on sale for 20 bucks. I so need to get organized! I have wandered around all day hunting it.

On another note, roosters amaze me. I have too many and some there is some fighting on. Went in the coop and found a mostly silkie roo at deaths door. Laying on floor, letting everyone step on his head, etc. that's never a good sign. I picked him up and put him in a sepapate little fenced area with 2 hens so he could recover. What does he do but jump up, dust himself off, and started chasing the hens! He could barely move not 2 minutes before! I have no doubt had I left in the coop he would have been dead within the hour!
I guess it must be spring!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Deerfield, I was indicating you when I said there were people near Wichita that could do a good job for them. You and HEChicken, but she hasn't been posting on the forum.
I came in to take a mini break. It seems my work is never ending right now.
I guess I need to boot scoot back out there and see what else I can get done before evening.

Thanks for the vote of confidence chickendanz! I agree, HEChicken would be great!

What a pretty day it is. I didn't get done what I wanted, I can't find my reciprocating saw. I need to saw the gate on the fence (the one that holds the dog, chickens, etc.). We had siding put on last year and they had to remove the gate and reset it when done. Well it turned out the new siding was about an inch and 1/2 thicker (because of insulation) that the previous stuff. Thus the gate overlaps by inch and half and we have been just not using it, or fighting the darned thing when we Do use it. I wanted to cut it so it fits, but can I find my saw anywhere? What's worse is I actually have 2, i bought a backup when harbor freight had them on sale for 20 bucks. I so need to get organized! I have wandered around all day hunting it.

On another note, roosters amaze me. I have too many and some there is some fighting on. Went in the coop and found a mostly silkie roo at deaths door. Laying on floor, letting everyone step on his head, etc. that's never a good sign. I picked him up and put him in a sepapate little fenced area with 2 hens so he could recover. What does he do but jump up, dust himself off, and started chasing the hens! He could barely move not 2 minutes before! I have no doubt had I left in the coop he would have been dead within the hour!
I guess it must be spring!

Oh my, made me laugh!