Consolidated Kansas

[lizzyGSR]

Howdy everyone! I'm just stopping in real quick to say "hi" to those I haven't talked to in awhile. I haven't been doing much with poultry lately as I've been focusing my efforts on other endeavors. I still have all my birds - they just haven't been a big focus for me for awhile. However it is almost spring and I'm starting work on some project birds again. The incubator is running, the coop got a total clean out yesterday, and my first broody hen of the season started sitting. She doesn't have eggs to sit on but she'll sit on air

The past two years I was worn out by broodies taking up every available space in the coop. The bantams trigger the LF to start brooding and even hatchery birds of breeds that shouldn't brood, were flipping on me. So this year I decided to preempt that and move the bantams to my hoop coop where they can brood to their heart's content. I'm hoping this will reduce the number of LF birds who go broody in the main coop this year, but we'll see. The broody bird yesterday was one of the bantams and she was NOT happy about being moved but once she adjusts she'll go back to being broody and at that point I can give her some actual eggs to sit on - something I can't do easily in the main coop.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well and staying out of trouble!

Long time no hear! I agree with Sharol!

 

[sharol]

I managed to keep my hands off of my incubating eggs (Gorgeous Campine from @Wisher1000 plus a few of my own to fill the incubator) until day 10. I candled this morning and:

Of the 20 Campine eggs, 15 are developing (3 had detached or misplaced air cells on arrival, so they might be iffy). Of my 8 orp pullet eggs only 2 were fertile (the others were clear), and 5 of the 6 Breda eggs are developing.

Very exciting. Now I have to keep hands off for another week until next Wednesday (day 19).

I also am fostering an adorable little Chihuahua from the shelter. He came in with another chi, and when she was adopted, he refused to come out of his kennel. He was deep sixing his chances for adoption because he was so scared. He came home with me Saturday, and will go back during shelter hours for the next few days until his forever home comes along. I don't usually like tiny dogs, but he is precious. We all got up way too early this morning, so at 5 I went to the recliner to get a little more sleep, and he and our male doxy (and the 8 month old kitten) joined me.

He and Red were in the yard yesterday basking in the sun His right ear lops over and the left one stands up. He is adorable, and Red is very patient.

 

[chicken danz]

Quote:
I think I definitely need to get some English orps and SS for my nephews and maybe a couple Araucanas for interest and blue eggs. The problem is, those boys get so dreadfully attached to their chickens and they already have a wonderful rooster to guard the flock; they'll have a dreadful time if they have more Roos because they won't want to get rid of the extras and they really don't need more than one. Here's why: My brother in law told me that they'd had a broody hen. She's smaller than the rest and one day when they broke water for the chickens and all the big ones were getting a drink, Miss Broody hopped off the nest to get one too. The bigger hens all tried to chase her off until the rooster stepped in, pushed them all away from the water dish and stood there protectively until Miss Broody was done drinking.

they've got a gem of a rooster and I don't want anything to happen to him. Another bonus is that he's very gentle and take around people.

I've been wishing for some BBS Cochins for myself but haven't had much luck finding any so far. Oh well, don't know if I really Need to add another breed right now anyway.

I'm expecting coronation Sussex eggs this spring and hoping to add to the breeds I already have.

Cochins are beautiful but in my experience not great layers. I raised them for a long time but finally sold out to make room for orpingtons. Well Prairie, things happen to birds sometimes. Maybe just slip one or two away bit my bit. It would however be a good life lesson to teach the boys how life is full circle and where food comes from.
Originally Posted by HEChicken
So glad you stopped in. I really miss hearing your imput. I think we'd all love to hear more about your livestock. I've been trying to keep up as I can.
@Sharol that's an amazing success rate for your shipped eggs. I am very impressed. Sounds like it's still a bit early in the year for the orpingtons to have great fertility. Mine has been running somewhat low but not that low. I really think if I could just get my outside pens done and the pop doors in the building it would help a lot.
DH got my hot water heater installed in the building yesterday. Finally, I have hot water instead of just cold. I am stoked. It's an instant on hot water heater so it won't be sitting there using power all the time. I'm really happy that a little more progress got made.
Looks like today is going to be a nice day before the bottom drops out. I have so much I want to get done out there.
I got some bales of hay yesterday that have some clover and brome and alfalfa in them. I am going to try to give one to my geese today to see if they will munch on it. I've got to find a way to keep them from destroying all signs of grass out there in their pen. I really wish I could afford to put a second pen in for them so they could switch from one to another.

 

[Trish44]

Howdy everyone! I'm just stopping in real quick to say "hi" to those I haven't talked to in awhile. I haven't been doing much with poultry lately as I've been focusing my efforts on other endeavors. I still have all my birds - they just haven't been a big focus for me for awhile. However it is almost spring and I'm starting work on some project birds again. The incubator is running, the coop got a total clean out yesterday, and my first broody hen of the season started sitting. She doesn't have eggs to sit on but she'll sit on air

The past two years I was worn out by broodies taking up every available space in the coop. The bantams trigger the LF to start brooding and even hatchery birds of breeds that shouldn't brood, were flipping on me. So this year I decided to preempt that and move the bantams to my hoop coop where they can brood to their heart's content. I'm hoping this will reduce the number of LF birds who go broody in the main coop this year, but we'll see. The broody bird yesterday was one of the bantams and she was NOT happy about being moved but once she adjusts she'll go back to being broody and at that point I can give her some actual eggs to sit on - something I can't do easily in the main coop.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well and staying out of trouble!

Hey, welcome back, I'm glad to see you back here. We have lots of new people on the thread since you were here last.

I managed to keep my hands off of my incubating eggs (Gorgeous Campine from @Wisher1000 plus a few of my own to fill the incubator) until day 10. I candled this morning and:

Of the 20 Campine eggs, 15 are developing (3 had detached or misplaced air cells on arrival, so they might be iffy). Of my 8 orp pullet eggs only 2 were fertile (the others were clear), and 5 of the 6 Breda eggs are developing.

Very exciting. Now I have to keep hands off for another week until next Wednesday (day 19).

I also am fostering an adorable little Chihuahua from the shelter. He came in with another chi, and when she was adopted, he refused to come out of his kennel. He was deep sixing his chances for adoption because he was so scared. He came home with me Saturday, and will go back during shelter hours for the next few days until his forever home comes along. I don't usually like tiny dogs, but he is precious. We all got up way too early this morning, so at 5 I went to the recliner to get a little more sleep, and he and our male doxy (and the 8 month old kitten) joined me.

He and Red were in the yard yesterday basking in the sun His right ear lops over and the left one stands up. He is adorable, and Red is very patient.

That's adorable with that huge dog & the teeny-weeny one! It sounds like you're doing pretty well with the eggs so far, good luck!

Cochins are beautiful but in my experience not great layers. I raised them for a long time but finally sold out to make room for orpingtons. Well Prairie, things happen to birds sometimes. Maybe just slip one or two away bit my bit. It would however be a good life lesson to teach the boys how life is full circle and where food comes from.
Originally Posted by HEChicken
So glad you stopped in. I really miss hearing your imput. I think we'd all love to hear more about your livestock. I've been trying to keep up as I can.
@Sharol that's an amazing success rate for your shipped eggs. I am very impressed. Sounds like it's still a bit early in the year for the orpingtons to have great fertility. Mine has been running somewhat low but not that low. I really think if I could just get my outside pens done and the pop doors in the building it would help a lot.
DH got my hot water heater installed in the building yesterday. Finally, I have hot water instead of just cold. I am stoked. It's an instant on hot water heater so it won't be sitting there using power all the time. I'm really happy that a little more progress got made.
Looks like today is going to be a nice day before the bottom drops out. I have so much I want to get done out there.
I got some bales of hay yesterday that have some clover and brome and alfalfa in them. I am going to try to give one to my geese today to see if they will munch on it. I've got to find a way to keep them from destroying all signs of grass out there in their pen. I really wish I could afford to put a second pen in for them so they could switch from one to another.

Yay on the water heater! Yeah geese do tend to strip the grass pretty quick. I really don't have anything yet out there for them to eat that's green but I started letting my geese & ducks back out yesterday just so they could get some fresh air & exercise. I hadn't been up to herding them in but yesterday they went right in before dark. They're really used to where they know they belong for nighttime so they seem to just gravitate to there, which is a good thing. When I first moved them to the hoop coop they had to be herded there & sometimes it was really difficult to get them to go in.

I do like the English Orps myself as well & have Jubilees, Mottled, Partridge, & some Lavenders as well. They're such big fluffy birds & so calm for the most part. My Buffs are now laying pretty large eggs for just having started laying recently. My Buffs are as big as the English Orps & just as pretty too. The hatchery Buffs just don't even compare with the breeder version of them. My Mottled Orps are just cranking out eggs right now, I may have a surplus of those chicks this year if anyone is interested in any of those. I have eggs for them in the incubator right now & we'll see how many are developing in a few days.

 

[coco mama]

You never notice how much you use something until it hurts, right?!? I hope your finger heals quickly!

I came in for a short break and for some lunch. I'm on my way back out to put a second coat of paint ont he chicken coop. Getting closer to being ready for my chicks to arrive March 9th or 10th!

I have the same excitement! My chicks are scheduled March 17. It is my first time to get chicks shipped, 25 of them. They are coming from Stromberg. This week I will move my 9 week old chicks
with my laying hens. The babies will be going in my garage for the first few days so I can watch them closely. The days are getting warmer, but I am praying for rain to get this dust down! And I am so tired of this wind: one day from the North, the next from the South. It is crazy!

 

[sharol]

When got home today, I found 16 eggs in the coops. That is a personal best for my girls. 7 of my 8 English Orp pullets, both Aracauna pullets, both Breda Fowl pullets, both marans and 3 more older hens laid today. I thought the plate was quite pretty. Pretty good advertisement for Danz's eggs (most of the hens and all the pullets came from her eggs).

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Coco mama exciting news can't wait to see pics of your new chicks....


Sharol love all your pretty eggs came wait for March 12th to get here so I can go shopping at Danz

 

[chicken danz]

When got home today, I found 16 eggs in the coops. That is a personal best for my girls. 7 of my 8 English Orp pullets, both Aracauna pullets, both Breda Fowl pullets, both marans and 3 more older hens laid today. I thought the plate was quite pretty. Pretty good advertisement for Danz's eggs (most of the hens and all the pullets came from her eggs).

That looks like Easter Eggs. I can't take credit for those two marans eggs though. They add a nice contrast to the soft pastel colors.
My geese were equally as generous today. Yesterday I only got like 5 goose eggs but today I got 17 of them. DH wanted to know what I was going to do with them. I said Hatch them and pay for some of this food they eat!
I let my ducks out of the pen today for the first time in a while. I was really happy to see them all gather up and willingly go to their pen this evening. They spent most of the day trying to figure out how to get in the goose pen. I am sure their water trays were the attraction, not the geese themselves.
I spent a good deal of time working on a door today and cutting it down so I can use it on the stairs to the basement. Got it cut down and cleaned up but I didn't get it hung. I decided since I had the door out it would be a good time to get this monster aquarium out of the basement. When we put it down there it just had a small clearance to be able not to hit the ceiling half way down the stairs. We spent a couple hours getting it all rigged up to pull up the stairs. It is built into the frame and cabinet which makes it that much heavier and hard to move. We had forgotten that we added wheels so we could move it easier and after getting it pulled half way up we found out we couldn't get it to clear the ceilings. Then we couldn't get it to come back down at the right angle so it was stuck in the stairs. So i managed to skim down along the side and cut off the overflow pipes to make more room so DH could get down there. I slipped back up the stairs and got in the bobcat and slowly lowered it back down until it was on the floor again.
I'm going to dismantle that thing. It's 7 foot long so it takes a ton of space. If I can get it detached from the cabinet, it might still be salvageable and I might get it out of the basement. If it doesn't I just lost a ton of money. At this point I just want it moved. It takes up way too much space.

 

[sharol]

That looks like Easter Eggs. I can't take credit for those two marans eggs though. They add a nice contrast to the soft pastel colors.

Actually, you can. They are from 2 of the chicks out of that first batch of eggs you gave me in the parking lot at BETO. 3 turned out pure, and 3 were Marans/Orp crosses. It was right before you closed out of the marans. 3 ? years ago, maybe. I know it was at least 2 years. The one hen that is gray in front and buff rear is one of the crosses. The two roos were re-homed.






THis was the mixed roo. I called him chickizilla because he was HUGE from the beginning.

The two above (one mixed, one pure Marans) are my yearly broodies.

 

[HEChicken]

Thanks everyone! Sharol, that little Chi boy is very cute - I hope he finds a good home. I used to foster but found it hard due to the fact the dogs don't understand its a foster home. I had one little dog I had to foster for 3 weeks while he was undergoing a course of meds. He thought this was his new home and bonded hard to me, following me everywhere. When we returned him to the humane society ready for adoption, I felt like I'd broken his heart. My DD volunteered in the spay/neuter department of that humane society and the first thing that had to happen was his neuter so she was with him all day. She said he just sat in his kennel and mourned being returned there. After that I decided I couldn't do it any more....

In any case I now have a dog pack....one of the things that has happened in the past couple years that keeps me busy. We went from two dogs to five in 13 months. First was a little companion dog for me and more recently two LGD puppies who are now 6 months (male) and almost 5 months (female) old. Dogs, dogs everywhere, but they all have their role and get along great and they're all really good dogs.

Danz, you asked about livestock. We had three sets of goat twins born within days of one another (the last two sets were only hours apart). They are now two weeks old and at that cute stage where they leap and bound all over the place. The six of them are one big pack of siblings who stick together and play while the moms doing boring adult stuff like eat hay. Unfortunately one of the does doesn't believe in raising twins. Both last year and this year she accepted the firstborn, rejected the second. I am forcing her to raise the second anyway, but that means I have to go out and hold her multiple times each day while the kid nurses. Even with that I found the kid wasn't gaining near as much weight as her twin due to not having access to the milk "at will" so I started supplementing her. She knows the routine. When I go out she runs to her mom and as soon as I secure the mom, she dives under to nurse. Once the doe cannot be held any longer, the kid turns to me, ready for her bottle. We have Jersey cows that we milk every morning so I have a ready source of fresh, raw milk available and the kid will suck down anywhere from 8-12 oz at a time now, depending on how much she got from her mother first.

Meanwhile a couple of the other kids got in on the action. Their mother does not appear to have enough milk so even though she is a very attentive mother and lets them nurse frequently, they acted hungry all the time. They started hanging around while I bottle fed, and finally one day when I had a little left over after Reject was done, I offered it to them. They decided they like the supplemental milk so now when I carry bottles out, I carry out three bottles, with 10oz each in them and get mobbed. While feeding one, the others are chewing on fingers and sucking on my clothing, anxious for it to be their turn to get the bottle.

Anyway, between cows, sheep and goats, I am outside a lot and busy most of the time. I love it though! Speaking of which.....I should get dressed and head out to milk the cows.