Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

I'm ready for the heat to break, too. Looks like it won't be too much longer.

I got conned, er recruited, to teach a class at ESU this fall. The teacher who was supposed to do it became really ill and had to opt out for this semester. The department head went the extra step to find me a nice classroom with up to date technology and adequate size, so that is one step. Classes start in a little over a week, though, so I have to get finished organizing to get the online part of the class ready to go. It is the class that all entering teacher candidates take first, and as I understand it, it is the class that helps them decide whether to become teachers or look elsewhere for a major. It is only 2 days a week (3 classes all in a row), so the time commitment won't be as great as if it were every day.

I am really frustrated with the number of birds I still have. I have a beautiful Breda cockerel that needs a new home if anyone wants him as a flock rooster. Actually I have 2, but one of them needs to move on.

I also have a trio of gorgeous silver campines I haven't been able to sell. They are at POL and the girls' combs are really getting red. I should be getting some little white pullet eggs any day now. They are a blast to watch. There are 9 of them, and they move as a group for the most part. The other day they got startled up by the house and FLEW probably 70 feet to the other side of the yard.

There are also some English Orpingtons (mostly black) that need to go, but at least (I think maybe 5) of them are boys, so I'll be butchering them in a couple of months. If you need some good egg layers, I have 4 (I think) English Orpington pullets. The adults are amazing layers, and these girls are 11 and 23 weeks old.

The heat has us all just slogging around. Come on fall.

 

[chicken danz]

In spite of the weather I put a pretty full day in outside yesterday. I finished installing the pop doors for the two outside pens I set up and am waiting for DH to cut the holes. My cutting is pretty messy, using a grinder and I would rather it look a little nicer so if he gets up during the dya I hope he'll do it for me. Then during the evening I moved some panels around, put in a piece of conduit for a brace between openings in a pen and increased the size of the pen. I just threw some netting over the top cause it was getting dark and the mosquitoes had found me.
While working on that project I also worked on taking a cattle panel down that was the old outside fence to my duck pen. I have to either unhook and entire side of a fence or cut some of the panel off to get it down. I've decided I'd just cut the panel because I think that would be easier. My plans are to move the entire thing to the outside fence of the connecting pen. I had planned to build another fence there but it never got done so using this panel should make it a little easier. I really do need to put in one wooden post though. The open side had been hooked to a coop at one point so I need to fill it in. It will make a larger pen for the ducks so I can actually shut them up if I need to. I'll have to rehook some things I had to unhook so it's not going to be a piece of cake but shouldn't be too major. It's just stuff I can't do when it's super hot out cause it's heavy work.
Sharol I hope you enjoy your teaching gig. I've been missing hearing from you.

 

[Trish44]

Danz I don't know how you do all you do, especially in that heat, ugh. I did actually get something done that I wanted to do yesterday. I have always hated this one pen because it had a tiny door to it. You had to walk in sideways to get in there. Yesterday I took the recip saw out & cut off the poles in the front holding the door & another one. I just peeled the fence that had been around the front around to the inside & secured it so nothing will get caught in it. It's one of those dog runs that has wrap around fencing. I had gotten an extra gate panel with the big dog run I just bought to use panels from & one of them was pretty close to perfect. I got the front of the pen all ready & then brought the door panel over & secured it to the frame. Now I have a gate that is 3 times bigger than I had & I got the dog house out of that pen that I wanted out of there. I did some moving dirt around in front of the two pens there so the doors would open better, the rain had washed a bunch of dirt there so it was hard to open doors. I evened up some dirt in the pen as well since the chickens had made a huge hole in there. After all of that I got a group of young Orps moved in there & settled for the night. I had to really hurry after that project to get the feeding done & had to work a bit after dark to accomplish it. I was glad to get that project done though.

@sharol birds are not selling that well in general right now. I think people have kids to get ready for school & things like that so they're just not moving much right now. I have quite a few birds I need to get rid of myself. Oh & congrats on the teaching position.

 

[grnidone]

Where: I'm in Russell, Kansas (central Kansas)

What: I've got 3 roosters that need new homes.
Age: They just started crowing, so whatever age that is.
Breed: Two are Leghorn/ Barred Rock cross,
Combs: Two have regular comb (like Barred Rock) One has Strawberry comb (maybe a Wyandotte cross?)


They are not vicious. I have no idea what other information you need. These were sold to me as "sex-linked hens" and they are all roosters. I cannot have roos in town.

These pictures are terrible.

 

[chicken danz]

Trish it sounds like you did quite a bit. I've been out sweating myself already today. I moved the 8 little guineas I had to the chain link pen and they could run right between the chain link. They sure looked bigger than that. One managed to escape and I haven't located it yet but I assume it will come out of hiding eventually. I took some scrap old garden fencing and tried to roll it a little flatter and wired to to the chain link. Not a fancy job but at least a barrier for the first foot or so. The guineas aren't probably smart enough to fly up higher to get out. It's really humid out there today. I did get my watering done while I was out as well.
DH got the door openings cut in the building so when it cools some I'll be moving some chickens around again. That might be a project for tomorrow cause I sure don't want to move them in this heat.
@grnidone your best bet would be to look for a local swap meet to sell your roosters. You should be aware though that they will probably be meat. Or put an add on Craigslist to sell them cheap. You never get your money out of roosters. If you can get $5 you are doing good. I gave a rooster away a couple days ago that if sold on line would have easily brought $75 as a breeder. I can't butcher or sell them all so I was glad at least one nice rooster was going to have his own flock of hens.

 

[sharol]

My campine pullets have started laying. I found a little white pullet egg in the big coop this morning, and this evening there were 2 shell less eggs together in another nest with several other eggs. They were just membrane. I suspect they were from the same pullet. I hope she gets her shell machinery going soon. There is too much danger in the shell less eggs.

 

[Trish44]

I agree with Danz that roosters are extremely hard to get rid of, even pure bred ones, no matter how pretty they are. I usually get $5 for my pure bred ones just to get rid of them because I always have too many. I'm in that position again with Jubilee Orpingtons because I grew out a group of them to get some pullets for myself & I think there are about half & half in that pen, arrrggghh. I also have a group of black/mottled Orpingtons I'm trying to sell right now. They're about 4 1/2 months old & are big already. They're English so they're going to be big birds.

We got rain again last night & this morning, I don't know how much but it was a loud storm, lots of thunder. It had our little dogs going during the night, they bark at thunder.

 

[chicken danz]

It's been pouring here. Lots of rain I think. It was so dark when I woke up I couldn't believe it was after 7:00 am. Still dark in here. I never did find that last guinea last night so I am guessing it's a goner. After I saw the forecast last night I took a flashlight out and closed up the brooder house and checked to make sure the little guineas in the pen had gone in the shelter.
I got too hot yesterday and had no energy later in the evening to go work on the duck pen any further or move any birds. Maybe I'll get some done today if it doesn't rain all day. It's probably going to be too muddy to do much of anything.
I can't possibly afford to finish feeding out all these cockerels I have. I may choose a few with great potential and just butcher some young and use them for soup meat. I really hate to do that but something has to be done with them. There are a couple I won't cull regardless because I can always sell them later.
In my older birds I have two mottled Orpington roosters. They're exceptional big birds and I hate to cull either one of them. The nicer of the two however is overrun by the other. The less desirable of the two won't let the other one out of the coop. I am making it work for now but come winter that won't do. I am having to feed and water him in the coop to keep him alive. I need to take the other one out of the pen but I don't want to cull him either. He is very good with the hens and that is pretty important with the roosters. I have a pen with back up roosters but I think he'd probably get into fights in there since he's used to having a whole lot of hens with him.
I've still got so much juggling to do before fall.

 

[HEChicken]

Its good to see you back Sharol - I missed you! Congrats on the teaching position.

We got quite the storm here last night as well. I was outside at 3:30 in the morning bringing in a package delivery from yesterday. We left it out because it was big and heavy and we didn't think it was going to rain. Sigh.

At least temps are only in the 80's for the next few days since the humidity will be high again.

No news here. My life is just more of the same. Milk. Make cheese. Feed animals. Repeat.

 

[sharol]

I had a nasty surprise tonight when I went to check the chickens. My lovely EE rooster, Jake, was dead on the floor of the coop. Not a mark on him, so I suspect a heart attack or seizure. He was fine this afternoon, protecting the girls and showing them the tomatoes I gave them. He was a wonderful flock rooster and only 4 years old. Sigh. I will miss his maturity and mediation of squabbles in the coop.

Now I have to decide who to elevate to that coop. I have 1 EE chick (about 22 weeks old) that I think may be male as well as a couple of really pretty orpington cockerels the same age. All of them are living in the other coop, but one of them might work out. The Bredas are just too hard on the hens, I think, and they are not particularly good at being attentive to their hens. I'll be watching them over the next couple of weeks, though. My grandaughter named the white splash Breda Daffodil at Easter, so it would be nice if he could stay. Unfortunately he is all teenager right now and a real pill. OF course there is also the extra Campine cockerel. Being Campine, he would probably be able to boss everyone in the coop around LOL. Maybe I could move him and one of his hens in the older coop with the original flock and see how that goes. Then I wouldn't have to sell him. I'm filthy with cockerels right now, I just can't see any of them taking Jake's place in the flock.

Rest in Peace, big guy, you will be missed.