Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

Quote:
You have a beautiful setup. Thanks for the tips on using netting. We are toying with setting up another coop/run, and this gives me some ideas.

 

[chicken danz]

Very full day today and I still have things to do. But wanted to comment on this as well. I found the very strongest thing to use is paracord. I don't have a problem with snow load unless it's a wet snow. I just go out and push on the netting from inside the pen and it falls through. But you can't let it freeze hard up there. I've never had netting break from snow load but it has stretched it so it hung lower. Also if I remember right 3T carries a cord to use with the netting. I've never purchased it though. I used cord like you make ski ropes from on my first pen with netting. It's been up there 7 years and still holding strong. It was a 30 foot long run so I have a pole in the middle that the rope goes over then drops to both ends.

 

[chicken danz]

Hi!! I'm new to BYC and to raising chickens. Some of my neighbors have chickens so i ordered some because ive wanted some for a while, BUT my dad brought to my attention about the city ordinances and i don't want to go to the city and ask just in case the answer is no (ive already ordered mine and i don't want to cause my neighbors to have to give theirs up). How should i go about my chicks.. because they're on their way already... I live in Galena, KS (Southeast Corner) and i cant find ANYTHING about the city's ordinances or laws about owning chickens. If anyone could help that would be so awesome!

I would just call the city offices and ask the question...whether they are allowed or not and not identify yourself. Now is the time to do it since you don't have birds yet. I do know a couple people who live in the Galena area that have chickens, but I'm not sure if they are in town or not. Most towns are starting to come around to the idea since it is a trendy thing to do these days.


Originally Posted by TakenBackBre
Can't help you with that but welcome to our group.

Well in a discussion with KingBee last night I realized I've been posting everything backwards of the way it works. I feel like a total idiot. And I know better. Birds fly south for the winter and all along I've been thinking that they would fly north in the fall. Duh!

So the AI threat I was dreading for spring will actually occur in the fall. Makes me worry that much more. When those birds migrate south that is when the Canadian birds will be dropping infected poo on our land. I think I got my brain twisted around looking at the flyways maps they put out this spring showing infected flocks in Canada and the migration path they take south thru the U.S. So I believe the true test could be this fall.
My thanks to King Bee for not calling me an insane idiot on the forum! I really hate it when I get my brain backwards. I can now call myself an insane idiot!!! I can't take back months of posts about it. I can only admit I have been desperately wrong.

 

[TytoAlba]

I would just call the city offices and ask the question...whether they are allowed or not and not identify yourself.

Trying to be optimistic, you'll probably get the correct answer if you ask. Chances are, the relevant city official is competent at his or her job and will know. But being both a lawyer AND from the show-me state, I'm more comfortable finding primary authority myself as proof. I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who confidently say things that are wrong without even considering the possibility that they aren't right. To be fair, I don't think most people will purposely lie, but it's human nature that people don't like to admit they don't know something even if it's because they're trying so hard to be helpful and want to give you an answer and/or if they heard it from someone else they assume that person knew what he or she was talking about.

Comments on internet forums are the worst place to get any legal advice--LOL! When I start researching whether I'm allowed to do something or not, there will be some people on forums saying "You can do X" and an equal number of people on different forums saying "You can't do X". Obviously one of them is wrong and I can never understand how someone can be so confident while being wrong. Maybe it's my own habit of second-guessing even myself, but unless I've done the legwork myself and actually seen the relevant authority I'll usually say "I think . . . " blah blah blah.

If you do just go ask someone at city hall, at least ask them to give you the ordinance number. That way, it's less likely they're just giving you a quick "yes" or "no" to get you off the phone. And more importantly you can verify it later. There is a general legal principle that if a government official incorrectly tells you you're allowed to do something, you can't use that as a defense when they later cite you for doing that thing. Crazy, huh?!?

 

[Trish44]

KSKingBee I really like your setup for the peafowl, it looks really roomy. I think they're so beautiful but I just didn't do that well with them or turkeys either for some reason. I don't have a huge place to build a pen like that either. I'll just stick to my chickens, geese, ducks, & guineas, that's enough for me.

TakenBackBre I don't have any splash Marans but I do have a young BCM rooster that is extra. I know that's not what you're looking for but just in case I thought I would throw that out there. I have gotten Blue Coppers from the breeding group I have recently & I am keeping one pullet in the breeder pen. The other one didn't have feathered feet so she went to the laying flock.

It's so exhausting integrating in new birds to the main flock. They never learn right off where to go back to at night, so it's always a struggle to catch them & carry them back up there to the main coop. I have 3 right now I'm working with & only one of the three is getting it. I thought I would take them in groups of three so they weren't alone in the big group. I'm going to have to make some decisions soon about which older hens to cull because I have about 6 or so new ones going in that I've been growing out. It's always hard to have to cull any after you've had them for several years but I just can't keep feeding them if they're not productive.

 

[chicken danz]

@TytoAlba , I guess I wasn't perfectly clear. I assume most people think things through. I wasn't suggesting she just call a clerk that takes the payment for a water bill to get an answer. In my experience, if you ask a question they will forward you to the proper authority. For instance, I called to talk to people in a local town for my parents and was referred to the police chief who was also in charge of animal control. I guess it's a matter of asking the right questions. Galena is a town of only about 3000 people so I am pretty sure it's been addressed before, so the answer should be pretty forthcoming. And instinctively. I always ask for an ordinance number when I'm inquiring on matters of local government. Thank goodness I don't have to deal with much else but building permits out here in the country.

I've been working very hard to try to get more pens moved and completed. I am starting to stress that winter will be here and nothing is going to be ready. A lot of these hopefully won't be in use this winter and only used during the spring hatching season once I move all the current birds for sale. But they need to be done now for sorting.

 

[Grain Gypsy]

Another rookie question for the pros.

My little peckerheads are spilling more food than they're eating. [Before I continue, I want to note that the peckerheads I'm referring to are my chickens. That is the "term of endearment" I use to describe my chickens when they are being naughty. Because, literally, they are pecker heads.] Upon further study, I guess this nasty habit is called billing, and the birds use their bills to shovel their feed out on the floor. Bottom line is, I don't want to pay for food that the birds are going to waste. I want them to eat, not waste, the food.

My feeder is a 40 lb. galvanized steel feeder that is open on the top (where I pour in the feed) and has a round trough/pan on the bottom, where gravity allows the feed down. There ARE 3 different "levels" that I can set the gravity feed to. I have always had it set on the highest (most free-giving) of the levels, thinking the more food in the through, the easier all my chickens (of different sizes) will be able to get to it. The feeder is raised about 10-12 inches off the coop floor on concrete blocks.

Below is a picture of the type of feeder I have. What have y'all done to prevent food waste from "billing"?

 

[Trish44]

Grain Gypsy the best feeders I found for less loss of feed when I was feeding dry feed were the ones I made of PVC. I no longer use them since I'm feeding FF. They're really easy to make & I'm sure you can find pics & such on BYC somewhere. I really liked those because I could put enough feed in to last a weekend or so if I wanted to go somewhere. That was before I got 100 birds though.

 

[chicken danz]

Another rookie question for the pros.

My little peckerheads are spilling more food than they're eating. [Before I continue, I want to note that the peckerheads I'm referring to are my chickens. That is the "term of endearment" I use to describe my chickens when they are being naughty. Because, literally, they are pecker heads.] Upon further study, I guess this nasty habit is called billing, and the birds use their bills to shovel their feed out on the floor. Bottom line is, I don't want to pay for food that the birds are going to waste. I want them to eat, not waste, the food.

My feeder is a 40 lb. galvanized steel feeder that is open on the top (where I pour in the feed) and has a round trough/pan on the bottom, where gravity allows the feed down. There ARE 3 different "levels" that I can set the gravity feed to. I have always had it set on the highest (most free-giving) of the levels, thinking the more food in the through, the easier all my chickens (of different sizes) will be able to get to it. The feeder is raised about 10-12 inches off the coop floor on concrete blocks.

Below is a picture of the type of feeder I have. What have y'all done to prevent food waste from "billing"?

They're going to do it regardless. Nature of the beast. When I use hanging feeders i put a larger pan underneath the feeder with some taller sides. The chickens can get in there but it catches the wasted feed.
My house, rescue chicken, One Wing laid us her first egg today. When you have hundreds of birds like I do, 1 egg isn't much of an excitement. But she survived the worst of trauma and is living her life without a wing. I'm just so happy that she laid. She is the sweetest most spoiled little chicken.

 

[venymae]

So, I saw on craigslist a big chicken auction is going on in Onega in September. Have any of you had experience with chicken auctions? We are almost finished with our coop and would really love to get chickens (we can have 6 in our town) but are having a hard time finding any this time of year. Any advice?