Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

I got a pen put up yesterday with a leftover panel & gate section onto the back of another pen & using the end of my breeder coop for the other side. I had to find somewhere to house my Jubilees I have up for sale till they go. I have a bunch of extra roosters in that group too that probably will end up in the freezer. It's such a shame to have to do that with such nice birds but what can you do.

I put my current breeding group of lavender Ameraucanas up for sale last night because I have another group growing out for replacements & they sold within the first 5 minutes they were posted. I wish the other birds would sell like that. I have Jubilee Orps & Mottled Orps for sale as well as a BLRW pair. I hadn't planned to have so many birds this time of year but needed to grow a few out for myself & you always get a lot of extra roosters so you have to keep more to get a few pullets in there.

 

[chicken danz]

I had a pretty good day yesterday although I didn't do a lot. I worked on shoring up a pen. Sure wish my electric fencer was up and running. I could have made a much bigger pen with it. Maybe someday. I did my watering and puttered around a little.
But I did go buy a hog. I think I got a pretty good deal. If I had a better place to keep them I would have gotten two of them. I'm so looking forward to fattening out my own hog. The last hog I got was way too small to butcher and I got taken on it for sure. The guy just delivered it to the locker without me seeing it and it was half the weight he said. The only thing really usable is the ground pork. The other meat has to be cooked long and low so you can even chew it. Of course it would be nice to be able to let this thing just free range. I had one years ago that I made a pet and she just followed me around like a dog. So much less mess to deal with that way. One advantage to that was that I didn't have the smell to deal with like having one penned.
I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I'm pretty excited.
So with all these cockerels, ducks, and a hog I should have some meat later. Too bad I don't have a place to raise my own beef! LOL

 

[HEChicken]

I've been super busy the last few days with out of town guests staying, plus all the usual stuff. The guests have apparently found it interesting to watch the process for milking and turning it into cheese and ice cream and have helped some with the garden. We harvested three 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, okra, carrots, corn and onions on their first day here and turned a lot of that into salsa. As well we've been eating a lot of cucumber sandwiches. This morning we gathered another two 5-gallon buckets and made yet more salsa. My habaneros are finally ripe and this batch of salsa actually has some heat - yay! Usually the heat of hot peppers gets largely cooked out of them. This afternoon we harvested another couple of buckets of apples and made applesauce. I told them they'd be bored here

Its one thing to be busy all the time and another thing entirely for that busy-ness to be interesting to observers.

No chicken news. My coop needs cleaned out desperately but it probably won't happen any time soon. However I did manage to get the feed room swept out today and a bunch of feed hauled to fill the bins so at least I won't have to do that for another week.

The sheep and goats are on their rotation. The ewes started to cycle and the goat buck was preventing my young ram from breeding them, so the goat is now living in the barn which he is NOT happy about and bellows about it pretty much all day. Being in the barn he can't graze so he gets a generous serving of grain morning and night and I also go out and pick forage to give him a couple of times each day. That keeps him quiet for a few minutes and then he's back to it. But - it sure is peaceful in the rotation with only the ram, ewes and the two goat does. I wish a buck wasn't necessary! I'm hopeful my next lambing season won't be as spread out as this year's, as I think the buck was preventing the ram from breeding them last year as well, and that's why my lambing season started in November and didn't end until June. Next year I anticipate them all dropping their lambs at the same time and it sure will be fun watching those lambs play their little lambie games.

 

[Trish44]

I've been super busy the last few days with out of town guests staying, plus all the usual stuff. The guests have apparently found it interesting to watch the process for milking and turning it into cheese and ice cream and have helped some with the garden. We harvested three 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, okra, carrots, corn and onions on their first day here and turned a lot of that into salsa. As well we've been eating a lot of cucumber sandwiches. This morning we gathered another two 5-gallon buckets and made yet more salsa. My habaneros are finally ripe and this batch of salsa actually has some heat - yay! Usually the heat of hot peppers gets largely cooked out of them. This afternoon we harvested another couple of buckets of apples and made applesauce. I told them they'd be bored here

Its one thing to be busy all the time and another thing entirely for that busy-ness to be interesting to observers.

No chicken news. My coop needs cleaned out desperately but it probably won't happen any time soon. However I did manage to get the feed room swept out today and a bunch of feed hauled to fill the bins so at least I won't have to do that for another week.

The sheep and goats are on their rotation. The ewes started to cycle and the goat buck was preventing my young ram from breeding them, so the goat is now living in the barn which he is NOT happy about and bellows about it pretty much all day. Being in the barn he can't graze so he gets a generous serving of grain morning and night and I also go out and pick forage to give him a couple of times each day. That keeps him quiet for a few minutes and then he's back to it. But - it sure is peaceful in the rotation with only the ram, ewes and the two goat does. I wish a buck wasn't necessary! I'm hopeful my next lambing season won't be as spread out as this year's, as I think the buck was preventing the ram from breeding them last year as well, and that's why my lambing season started in November and didn't end until June. Next year I anticipate them all dropping their lambs at the same time and it sure will be fun watching those lambs play their little lambie games.

I know you've been swamped with your company & everything but I miss hearing from you. It sounds like your garden has been bountiful this year. The goats decided the other day that they needed our tomato plants more than we do so we got all of the tomatoes we're going to get this year. I had put up orange plastic fence to protect the plants & they had left them alone, till the other day & then they broke the fence. At that point the chickens joined in & there isn't much left there now. Next year I plan to put in a raised bed & a more permanent fence. Darned goats! I wouldn't have any if it wasn't for so much brush & stuff that needs to be cleared around here & I don't have a buck any more, just the two girls. Oh & the sheep lost their yard privileges again a couple of days ago. They had been doing really well staying here but they decided it looked better at the neighbor's place again so they all went through the fence behind the garage & when I came home that day they were gone. The worst thing was they took the goats with them this time, normally the goats stay here, ugh. We have another month of grazing time left so they're back to the fields where there isn't a lot to eat for now. Maybe they will forget about where they got out by the time I let them back out again. It's not as though we don't have enough for them to eat in our yard, there is, but it always looks better on the other side of the fence.

 

[HEChicken]

The goats decided the other day that they needed our tomato plants more than we do so we got all of the tomatoes we're going to get this year.

The first year I had the goats, at the end of the veggie garden season, I pulled out all the tomato plants and threw them in a pile. To my surprise, the goats discovered them and wouldn't leave them alone. I had always thought tomatoes were part of the nightshade family and the leaves were toxic but apparently not to goats as they reduced the pile of foliage down to just sticks, going back over and over to find a stray leaf they might have missed the previous time. Since they apparently suffered no ill effects, I have let them do it every year since, and it doesn't surprise me in the least that your goats ate your plants, given even half an opportunity.

I'm sorry your sheep still aren't behaving. What a pain. And so different to mine who are so good and it is the goats who pose a challenge. If forced to give up something, the goats are what it would be, however I do enjoy the milk and love goat cheese and a buck is a necessary part of making that happen. My buck went back in with the rest of them when we moved them this morning. I'm glad not to be listening to his bellows from the barn any more but I'm sure the sheep and goat does didn't miss him - they don't like him any more than we do. He may be busy enough today to keep out of the way of the sheep anyway. When I opened the back door this morning, the does immediately started yelling at me. At first I thought they wanted to be milked but after milking they were still noisy so I figured they wanted to be moved. We moved them to a new patch of graze but even then they weren't happy. Then I put the buck back in with them and realized all the noise is because they are in heat. So at least the buck will be busy following them around and leaving the sheep alone.

 

[chicken danz]

Thanks for the reminder of why I got rid of goats!!!! Every now and then I think about how funny the little ones are and how they jump around and are so cute, then I want some again. My biggest problem was also the buck. I swear I got that smell up my nose and you just couldn't get it out. I would much rather smell pig poop than a buck goat!!!!
My pig is slowly warming up and acting a little more social. The more treats I bring him the better he likes me. Imagine that! I think I said the same thing about chickens years ago.
It seems no matter how much I want to decrease my work load that I just have to have a million new animal projects going on. Meanwhile I have equally as many inside but they don't get my attention like the animals do.
Currently I'm trying to think out a way to build a temporary frame that takes up little floor space so I can keep my sink and faucets hooked up while I tear out the old floor and lay hardwood in the bathroom. Plus finish the walls behind the old built in vanity cabinet that is there now. I can't handle not having a bathroom sink for days and days.
Next weekend I am going to the granite distributor with my counter top guy to see if I can find the right piece of stone for the bathroom vanity. I may even fine some time to get the stain and finish on the vanity this week if I buckle down to it. A lot depends on the weather conditions and how much time I have to work outside. Tomorrow I have to drive to a optometrist appointment. My glasses have been broken for three weeks and I have needed new ones for a long long time. When I finally decided I couldn't put it off I hit the rush before school starts and couldn't get in for weeks. I got a call that there was an opening on Friday with a local office but had this appointment on Monday with a higher recommended doctor so I decided to keep that appointment.

 

[Trish44]

Yeah Danz I just couldn't stand buck goats, they're just obnoxious. The only time mine smelled was when the does were cycling & he peed on himself, it was gross. I was never so glad to get rid of an animal as I was when he left. The girls can be stubborn but really they're usually pretty easy to handle. My oldest doe totally changed after her pregnancy & losing her kids, she is really tame now & I can handle her & she likes her ears rubbed. I couldn't get near her before that. The other one is the baby from the other doe I sold & she is tame. We have so much brush & stuff on our property that we really need to have a couple of goats here just to keep it cleared out. They do a good job of that too. I have more trouble keeping my sheep at home than I do the goats normally. Usually the goats stay here & the sheep run off, ugh.

I've been working on my breeder coop pens since it got cooler. I have about a hundred cable ties to take off every individual pen to get things loose to move them. I have fencing on top & then the panels are tied to t-posts & screwed at the coop. I have replaced two so far & have one more to go. Those panels are a pain to move because they're 10 ft long & 6 ft high. When I get all of these panels replaced today then tomorrow I hope to get my DH to go with me to the lumber yard & get the posts to put in for the gates & the hinges plus some 2x4s for the top for support for the fence & tarps. I want to angle it all too so the water runs to the end & off instead of pooling on top.

I sold my lavender Ameraucana group yesterday & moved my new breeding stock into that pen. I've got two more groups of birds that need to go now & a pair. If I have to I can keep the one hen out of that pair & just dispatch the rooster but I would rather someone would have him, he's a pretty guy, a BLRW.

I'm glad you're going to get your glasses Danz, it's hard to go without those. We have our annual eye exams this Tues. so we can get new contacts. We buy a year's worth at a time & we're both on our last set.

When you get that vanity done you will have to take pics so we all can see it all finished. I can't wait to see it all done, it's so pretty.

 

[zimfam]

Hi,

New to this forum. Is this how this Kansas thread works? By replying or should I start a new thread?

Writing because my beloved white silkie turned out to be a rooster. Roosters aren't allowed where we live, though my neighbors have all been tolerant so far, some even like the crowing.

He's 20 weeks. I researched the no crow collars a bit and have decided it's not worth the risk. So I find myself in the position of risking someone complaining or relocating him.

I have a friend outside city limits that will take him, but she has other roosters and I'm concerned he'll get pecked to death.

Any advice or experience with relocating a silkie rooster?

We're in Lawrence, Kansas.

Thank you!

 

[Trish44]

Hi,

New to this forum. Is this how this Kansas thread works? By replying or should I start a new thread?

Writing because my beloved white silkie turned out to be a rooster. Roosters aren't allowed where we live, though my neighbors have all been tolerant so far, some even like the crowing.

He's 20 weeks. I researched the no crow collars a bit and have decided it's not worth the risk. So I find myself in the position of risking someone complaining or relocating him.

I have a friend outside city limits that will take him, but she has other roosters and I'm concerned he'll get pecked to death.

Any advice or experience with relocating a silkie rooster?

We're in Lawrence, Kansas.

Thank you!

Welcome to the Kansas thread! This thread has been really quiet lately, everyone has been busy. I have never had Silkies at all, so I can't help you with how they do with other birds. I know others who have had them & they did OK, but it depends a lot on how aggressive the other roosters are. You might try putting up a Craigslist ad for your area & see if you can find a new home that way. Roosters in general are really hard to re-home because people only need so many.

 

[chicken danz]

@zimfam , welcome to the forum. We'd love for you to stick around if you like. It's always nice to know other chicken people. Put him up for sale on the facebook poultry pages if you do facebook. Here's the names of a few: Kansas Poultry Swap, Kansas Poultry and Garden, Kansas want to buy Poultry, and NE Kansas Poultry Swap which is probably more relevant to your immediate area. You won't get much out of him cause he's not show stock but there's lots of people who like silkies. They do tend to get picked on my other birds so I don't know how well he would get along with other roosters. If that doesn't work there is a swap meet and Premier Farm and Home in South Topeka I think occurs on the last Saturday of the month and you could take him there as a last resort. It'd be a lot of driving for one bird. And of course there is always Craigslist. I am sure he'd probably sell okay if you don't ask much.
I am so tired of going. I'm not used to having to go places and drive much any more. It just totally wipes me out. So I found a guy that is willing to do my electric fence. He's meeting with me today so I can see if I can afford him and the materials. It's going to be way over budget but it needs to be done. I've fooled myself long enough to think we'd ever get it done ourselves. Too many projects!!!Th
Rain is forecast off and on the rest of the week. I sure hope it doesn't keep me from getting things done I need to.