Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

It snowed lightly all day and about 5:00 it started snowing heavily and it's still coming down. Looks like we'll end up with more than they predicted. I kind of did the minimum chores today so tomorrow I'll have to drag myself through the snow to get the birds fed. I have a couple heavy duty plastic sleds I've used to haul feed in to the chickens when there's lots of snow and I can't pull a wagon or something. I sure hope I don't have to get one of those out cause it won't hold as much as I need to make the rounds.
And of course there's always dragging those water hoses around. I really wish I had hydrants set up in each side of the yard so I didnt' have to do all that hose dragging.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
I hear you on that. You have such an extensive arrangement that it must be a real challenge keeping everyone in water and feed. My girls (and boys) didn't set a foot outside after it started snowing. There was covey of quail walking along the inside of the east yard fence today. They toddled along and went through the fence (chain link) at the north end of the coop and continued south into the pasture. I really like quail. They are such interesting little birds. There must have been 15 of them or so.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy I am also a believer in a rooster he will risk all to protect the hens It is good to hear from you but why you have your husband under your thumb talk him into some quineas they will be a big help with snakes

Ha! So, apparently, it was a little easier to talk my hubby into guineas than I thought!

I found a surprise box from cackle hatchery, which can include guineas. All I had to do was show him the price of that box (which may include guineas) compared to ordering something specific that we wanted, and he was sold! I did, however, have to agree to let him go hunting the guineas if we get some and he decides he doesn't like them... I'm hoping I can talk him out of that if/when the time comes. We will be requesting no turkeys and hoping for as many large-breed or meat chickens as possible. I'm excited to get the box now!

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Congrats on graduating from PT already Trish and definitely take those pain meds and hope you heal quick. Winter sure decide to set in quick heres to hoping it moves out just as fast. Having lived in both IL and KS i definitely perfer KS weather. Am trying to come up with best ideas for how to make the best roost for my garage pen and am wondering if maybe making one that like an attic door can be pulled down at night would be the best option or will my chickens roost all day?

 

[sharol]

Congrats on graduating from PT already Trish and definitely take those pain meds and hope you heal quick. Winter sure decide to set in quick heres to hoping it moves out just as fast. Having lived in both IL and KS i definitely perfer KS weather. Am trying to come up with best ideas for how to make the best roost for my garage pen and am wondering if maybe making one that like an attic door can be pulled down at night would be the best option or will my chickens roost all day?

My wimpy chickens haven't been out of the coop in 2 days LOL. They need the roost for chatting each other up through the day.

I shoveled a space for them this morning and the young Orps went out and ate the scratch and BOSS that I had spread for them and then went back inside. I'm glad they have the bigger, lighter coop, but sheesh, outside would be better. I put scratch and boss on the floor of the coop (wood shavings about 9" - 12" deep). They have done a great job turning the bedding to get to the seeds and grain.

I just remembered that I have a flock block in the storage area. I'll have to move that into the smaller coop today to give the older girls something to do.

My 2 Araucanas are still setting on those eggs. It looks like only one of the orp eggs is fertile, but all the Breda Fowl eggs are developing. Another week on those. I'll need to move those girls next week. I got a Sweeter HEater (a little one) to hang in the hoop coop for them, so I hope it will be warm enough for them.

 

[chicken danz]

Congrats on graduating from PT already Trish and definitely take those pain meds and hope you heal quick. Winter sure decide to set in quick heres to hoping it moves out just as fast. Having lived in both IL and KS i definitely perfer KS weather. Am trying to come up with best ideas for how to make the best roost for my garage pen and am wondering if maybe making one that like an attic door can be pulled down at night would be the best option or will my chickens roost all day?

You can make a roost that folds up against the wall when they aren't using it. I would never manage to get it folded up though cause there is too many other things to do around here. An attic door type would be kind of expensive to build. I always think in terms of money involved.
Originally Posted by sharol b
I must have abnormal chickens. I didn't see them out until I went out to feed the dogs yesterday morning, and then they were out the rest of the day...except later when it was snowing really hard. I guess food won over the idea of staying inside. And they all know that dog food is better than chicken food. I am dreading getting out once again. I skimmed by on watering yesterday but I know today the bowls will be going dry. I so dread fighting those stupid hoses, especially in the snow.

 

[Trish44]

Ha! So, apparently, it was a little easier to talk my hubby into guineas than I thought!

I found a surprise box from cackle hatchery, which can include guineas. All I had to do was show him the price of that box (which may include guineas) compared to ordering something specific that we wanted, and he was sold! I did, however, have to agree to let him go hunting the guineas if we get some and he decides he doesn't like them... I'm hoping I can talk him out of that if/when the time comes. We will be requesting no turkeys and hoping for as many large-breed or meat chickens as possible. I'm excited to get the box now!

If you have many ticks like we do guineas are really a blessing & are worth any noise they make. We used to be just overtaken by ticks as soon as we walked out of the house & now we just don't have many at all. This year with 13 males out there I hope to not have any up where we spend most of our time. Mine are the most noisy at feeding & time for them to go roost. They all sleep in the trees above the hoop coop where I have my breeder guineas. That will be interesting to see what you get.

Congrats on graduating from PT already Trish and definitely take those pain meds and hope you heal quick. Winter sure decide to set in quick heres to hoping it moves out just as fast. Having lived in both IL and KS i definitely perfer KS weather. Am trying to come up with best ideas for how to make the best roost for my garage pen and am wondering if maybe making one that like an attic door can be pulled down at night would be the best option or will my chickens roost all day?

Thanks, I'm sure I will feel better once these staples come out. I can't get away with not taking pain pills yet, my knee lets me know for sure when it's time. Here is an ugly pic of my knee:


I made one originally in my main coop that was on hinges so it could be lifted up & secured to clean out the shavings. If the birds are free range they will not roost all day. Mine come in & out to lay & eat but only roost for long at night.

I'm trying to stay up longer, but I'm still pretty weak & shaky yet. I'm looking forward to your pics coco mama.

 

[coco mama]

New coop, my nursery! 5 one month old chicks are living it right now. I have 25 more to come in March. My husband and I work in construction, specifically in metal buildings. We built this little building with all the scrap and sheets that we had. I was happy when I found a steel door to fit. The neighbor had given us the window just the month before. We didn't know at the time if we would use it for anything. Didn't know I was going to want another coop! It has not cost us anything, just our hard labor!!

I have this coop for the past 4 years. The building on the left is an old milking shed that my husband's grandpa had in his backyard. It was in terrible shape with broken window and door. The neighbor kids had started a fire in it and it was tag all over. I am so glad we brought to our pasture and gave a lot of TLC. I insulated wall and roof. Being a coop gave it its second life.
The green shed was our horse lean-to. It blew and rolled in the trees twice before we attached securely to the ground. I give great protection from the North wind. That yard is all secure with wire on top and underground. I let the chickens out to their bigger fenced in yard every morning.

Wow! that picture of your knee is a bit scary. It makes me think of the road spikes that cops use... The incision looks really good. Make sure you moisten around the staples with antibiotic ointment. It will help clean the oozing and keeps the skin pliable. When did you have surgery?
Sorry about the missed match pictures and order. I will learn at this site works!!

 

[zigzag45]

Hi all - most of you won't remember me. Life got busy and fell off the BYC wagon. I mostly lurked anyways. I've been planning to post since Thanksgiving and it's just now happening.

Spent a little while catching up....

My birds have been behaving of late. I had a horrible last year with illness but haven't had to give any shots/meds in a number of months. I did loose a 18 month old bird a few weeks ago. Couldn't tell why - and unlike some of you I had no interest in performing a necropsy. We've had to keep the girls penned up more to let the back yard recover. It's amazing how efficient they are at destroying large areas of grass.

I need to get a possum trap from the city... I have one (or more - who knows) that get into my run at night. I'm afraid they're going to time things better and be around before the auto-door closes. Too bad city restrictions prevent other ways of dealing with rodents.

Some of you may remember that I'm always on a quest to come up with the perfect freeze-proof drinker. My previous one, a 9 quart heated bucket that I had tapped poultry nipples into worked well - but I wanted something bigger. I spent $50 and bought the 5 gallon heated blue bucket - really nice. I also purchased some horizontal nipples and drilled two in, near the bottom of the bucket. Well, I then learned that this bucket had the heating element wrapped around the lower the sides, instead of on the bottom of the bucket. Translation - I had just drilled two holes in the heating element. Holding it up to the light, it was easy to see where the element was - but of course I didn't do that initially. And, I wasn't totally sure the horizontal nipples would work that well anyways... so the idea is yet untested.

I have now patched the holes but don't feel comfortable plugging it in. I have a very nice, heavy duty, 5 gallon bucket that I can use for car washing or something. So, my quest continues. Right now I'm looking for high quality, standard (ie, not horizontal) poultry nipples. All the ones I can find are $.25 or so on Amazon or eBay -- I know there are better quality ones out there, but finding them is the problem.

I've taken a few week break from fermented feed. Crazy how much dry food they eat when I'm not fermenting. Always struggle with keeping mold out of it... not necessarily in the mix but up the sides.

Take care and stay warm!

 

[chicken danz]

So glad to see you back Zig. I've missed you. How are the girls doing? Your girls ...not the chicken girls. You know Gardner is coming up March 12. Just thought I'd mention that. It might be a bit chilly for the kids but I always look forward to seeing you. Hope you and the family are doing well.
Have you considered taking that heating element out of the 5 gallon bucket, checking it for integrety and or repairing the damage? I think you may be able to wrap it on the outside of your other bucket and make it work. You would probably need to cover it to water proof it but I am sure there's a way.
I have some sealed heated water bowls that have stopped functioning. I am thinking of dismantling them and using the heater from some that snap in on these. I think I can connect the other heaters to the bottom some how and make them work. I had a couple of my heated bowls break at the bottom where the mold comes together so I can use the heater coils from them. I think I'll see if I can trouble shoot the non working bowl coils and get them working again. It may just be the thermostat that isn't functioning. If that's it I'll just remove it and use a thermo cube to control them.
We are down to zero grass here I think. I have hired a fence builder to build a goose pen and then the only birds free ranging would be my layers and the ducks. Impatiently waiting for him to come back and finish the work cause the geese are breeding and I really need to have them penned.