Consolidated Kansas

[Deerfield Acres]

Quote:
Danz, Because of the insane racist stuff going on at school, we finally gave up, sold Deerfield and moved to Wichita. It was an awful decision. This was the summer/fall of 2015. I just couldn't even talk about it at the time. So depressing. But it was a terrible environment for the kids at Rose Hill schools. Now most of them attend Andover eCademy,a combination online school but it's a college prep public education with a building where there are always teachers available and other kids to hang out with. The kids work from a coffee bar/lounge area set up for them there or they can work from home. It's a tough program but works really well with their job and volunteer schedules. Our youngest son attends Southeast High School. Six of them drive, plus my nephew. They are very happy here so that makes me happy too.

The restrictions here exclude poultry of all types. It was extremely difficult to find a house that would accommodate all of us in a non-restricted subdivision. We ended up buying my Dad's house in town on the far east side. As far east as you can get, almost, without being in Andover. He and his wife wanted to move to the West side of Wichita so it worked out for them and for us. There is no HOA so I'm thinking if I get quiet chickens nobody would be the wiser but they have to be quiet. I would like some eggs but at this point, the main priority is just quiet birds. Someone used to keep chickens in this neighborhood but they were quite loud. We have a large privacy fenced yard and some shade so all I would need is a chicken tractor so they could have fresh ground and be protected. Maybe some Cochin bantams would be a good idea.

My health is still a little sketchy but I'm eating right and exercising daily, so it's on the upswing. I have a heart monitor implant in my chest so I know my heart is still beating. LOL! Had some other issues but am addressing them with diet and exercise and I feel better most of the time. It's still difficult to get through a shower without needing to rest immediately afterward. I've become used to it and just allow extra time. Theoretically, taking a cold shower would prevent the drop in blood pressure but I'm not too keen on cold showers! Yikes!

@Deerfield Acres glad you stopped in, long time no see. I'll bet you feel strange without chickens, I know I would. So what town are you living in now?

I got two new Sebastapol geese last weekend & they fit right into my group. The ganders are over the moon to have more females. I let them out this morning & they sure were making a racket out there. They have been mostly staying in their hoop coop because there isn't anything for them to eat out in the yard anyway, but they do like to get out & stretch & run sometimes.

Danz congrats on getting your pork, I'm sure you will enjoy it. I'm still thinking on getting a pig or two later on, but I have to build a pen first.

I do feel very strange without chickens. I really miss them and the garden. The garden was finally really producing after having hauled in tons of wood chips and the soil was finally full of composted material. Now I'm starting over. I also have a very small craftroom but it's working out okay. And no swimming pool! Ugh! We are really close to the Y so that's where the kids go when they have time.

Congrats on the new Sebastapols! They are such pretty birds.

 

[Trish44]

@Deerfield Acres it was my understanding that chickens are allowed in Wichita, just no roosters. Since you don't have an HOA I don't see why you couldn't have them. I know of others who have them in the city. In fact my hairdresser lives right in the city & has them in her backyard. She has had a lot of problems with predators there of the animal kind. She lives by a park & creek so she has had all kinds of horrors with raccoons especially. Let me know if you decide on bantams, I raise Mille Fleur Cochins, real little cuties. Of course the eggs are little too, that's the only problem with bantams.

 

[HEChicken]

@Deerfield Acres it was my understanding that chickens are allowed in Wichita, just no roosters. Since you don't have an HOA I don't see why you couldn't have them. I know of others who have them in the city. In fact my hairdresser lives right in the city & has them in her backyard. She has had a lot of problems with predators there of the animal kind. She lives by a park & creek so she has had all kinds of horrors with raccoons especially. Let me know if you decide on bantams, I raise Mille Fleur Cochins, real little cuties. Of course the eggs are little too, that's the only problem with bantams.

Yes that's correct. Unless there are covenants that prevent it, Wichitans are allowed 3 hens (used to be 5) without a permit. Of you can go down to city hall and pay $25 per year and have up to 12 hens. When I started there, it was 5 so I was grandfathered in for that number but soon found that wasn't enough so I did get the permit that allowed me to have 12 hens.

 

[chicken danz]

Hello! New here, so I thought I might just copy & paste my new member post by way of introduction if it's not bad form:

Welcome! Feel free to ask us anything. Many years of experience here on this thread.
So I wrote a lengthy message and tried to give you some tips but lost it and couldn't get it back. Grrrr! I recommend a book call Success with Baby Chicks by Robert Plamondon. It is a good place to start. Some information is outdated but there is a lot of basic information in there to start with,and will give you a place to begin asking questions.
I wrote a few pieces of advice but I'll try to shorten it a bit.
First always have your coop built before you ever get chicks. And make it larger than you think you need to hold more birds than you think you will ever have. Don't waste money on one of those cheap little cute coops you see at the farm stores. They are flimsy, fall apart, and blow over in the Kansas wind. Build a secure pen, also bigger than you think you need. The worst problem people have with chickens to begin with are loosing them to predators. This not only includes things like raccoons and opossums but also neighbors cats and dogs.
Buy chicks locally if you can. Avoid shipping them in from a hatchery or especially buying them from the farm store. All of these chicks suffer shipping stress which gets you off to a bad start. And store chicks are often handled by multiples of people even if the store has a hands off policy.
Watch for pasty butt especially the first week after getting chicks. If you aren't familiar with this, look it up. And when you go get chicks; wherever you get them make sure you have a way to keep them warm while you are driving. Lots of people use handwarmers or temporary heat packs.
You may get multiple answers to anything you ask here. Everyone has their way of doing things. But the beauty of that is that you can choose the answer you think makes the best sense or is the best for your situation.
@Deerfield Acres I can't imagine moving to town. How awful. Chickens or no, you know you can still talk to us!!! I'm sorry your health hasn't improved that much.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

HEChicken, Trish44 and Danz,

It has been an adjustment for sure. I just keep my eyes on all the positive results the move has brought to our children. They miss Deerfield but not all the drama. They are having a great time here. You won't believe it but the twins have boyfriends! I feel like they aren't just completely college focused now and missing out on being regular kids. Still making 4.0's and taking every upper level math and science class they can get their hands on. A teacher arranged for the girls to observe actual surgeries and they get school credit for their community service hours at Wesley Medical Center.

Wichita does allow 3 hens without a permit, up to 12 with, but our subdivision has restrictive covenants against them. However, without an HOA I'm wondering who on earth would enforce it, so thinking I could get by with the minimum number, if they are stealthy chickens!

I wouldn't be given a permit, however, because of the restrictions. I'm just rebel enough to give it a try. It's a really nice sized lot and it would be a shame for it to go completely chickenless!

Trish, you know those Mille Fleur Cochins would be just my style. I do love a spotted chicken!


Everyone who doesn't know me, sorry for the interruption and welcome! I so envy you all!

 

[Ralph Moyer]

I may have mentioned it here before, but last summer I got 5 hens at a swap meet, that were not in the best of condition. They appeared to be burned out layers. I brought them home and isolated them from all my other poultry. They are the best layers I have. Most days I gather 5 eggs, but never less than 4. They now have nice feathers, and they sing constantly. I am considering putting a French Copper Marians rooster with them. Their egg-color is about a 2 on the scale of 4 being a deep dark brown. Has anyone on here have results of using a Marians rooster? I've had good results, with my Barred Rock/Americana cross. So far all have a barred feathering. and the 4th generation lay a nice blue egg, but not during the winter.

 

[tlzimmerman]

Hello from Western Kansas. I am Thomas, I would post up my thread I put in the into forum, but it had a link in it so its under review.

Anyone around here have any inexpensive fertile eggs I could buy? My daughter got an incubator for Christmas (part of this whole chicken ordeal is for her to have a farm project to learn on a bit). We would like to try to hatch a few out before we tried any of the more expensive pet chickens she wants. We have never done it. All my other chicks coming in a week are the large brown egg layer breeds, so would like to have something like that, don't care if its a cross or anything special.

Anyways hello, looking forward to meeting you all.

 

[tlzimmerman]

......here is a copy paste of my intro thread.

Hi everyone, just introducing myself. I am Thomas from Western Kansas. We tried keeping chickens last year and well, we have a serious raccoon problem. All we have left from our first season is one barred rock hen, who is doing great still and has given us 5 or 6 eggs a week all through winter. While I am well versed in cattle and their husbandry practices this was my first go at chickens.

I have been working on the coons all winter with much success, I'll spare you the gory details, but its about spring time and we are trying again. We are going a little bigger this year, plans and lumber are gathered and we will be building a new coon proof coop. 25 Chicks will be here the first week of February, and we are going to be keeping a couple roosters and starting to hopefully hatch our own flock as well. My oldest daughter (6) got an ebay incubator for Christmas and my oldest 3 are really looking forward to hatching some chicks. Probably try to keep our own flock between 30 and 40 in the end and sell the rest, and also do 2 batches of 50 meaties for eating.

The plan is for the chickens to be primarily free range if I can deal with the hawks, and coop them at night. I have a large wooden crate for a brooder, and it is set back up and ready to go.

Just a little background on me, 31 and married for 9 years, have a drop dead gorgeous wife and 4 kids ages 6, 4, 3, and 6 months. Work as part of the family farm operation farming about 8000 acres, family used to run small feed lots for cattle, but no longer do that. We do still have a good sized working cow/calf operation, as well as the farming.

I am lucky enough as a farmer to have access to a bunch of whole grains, and I am versed in calculating rations for our cattle, so I am hoping to do the same thing for our chickens. Last year we used commercial feed, this year I have brought in a couple ingredients to the feed store (barley and Soybean meal), will be working up a ration to put them on once I get them out of the brooder. I've done some quick first calculations and I think I am going to be around 7 cents a pound for good 20% protein feed blend, and a little less for 17-18%. Ration will contain distillers grains, cracked corn, wheat, barley, milo, and silage, along with plenty of animal protein scraps throughout the year. Planning on supplementing with oyster shell or whatever other calcium source I can find.

So thats me, looking forward to being part of the community. I am sure I will come up with questions for ya'll as we get going again. OH....I am also a professional landscape photographer who specializes in agriculture, so I take a lot of art photographs and sell them. Here is one of my Cornish X last year. I actually got to eat him before the coons got him!

 

[HEChicken]

Welcome Thomas! I'm totally envious that you have access to your own whole grains - I would love to be able to feed my animals that way instead of relying on purchasing feed.

 

[chicken danz]

I may have mentioned it here before, but last summer I got 5 hens at a swap meet, that were not in the best of condition. They appeared to be burned out layers. I brought them home and isolated them from all my other poultry. They are the best layers I have. Most days I gather 5 eggs, but never less than 4. They now have nice feathers, and they sing constantly. I am considering putting a French Copper Marians rooster with them. Their egg-color is about a 2 on the scale of 4 being a deep dark brown. Has anyone on here have results of using a Marians rooster? I've had good results, with my Barred Rock/Americana cross. So far all have a barred feathering. and the 4th generation lay a nice blue egg, but not during the winter.

Back in the day when I had Marans I did some inbreeding....or rather the chickens did.

It added a little color but seemed more washed out.

......here is a copy paste of my intro thread.

Hi everyone, just introducing myself. I am Thomas from Western Kansas. We tried keeping chickens last year and well, we have a serious raccoon problem. All we have left from our first season is one barred rock hen, who is doing great still and has given us 5 or 6 eggs a week all through winter. While I am well versed in cattle and their husbandry practices this was my first go at chickens.

I have been working on the coons all winter with much success, I'll spare you the gory details, but its about spring time and we are trying again. We are going a little bigger this year, plans and lumber are gathered and we will be building a new coon proof coop. 25 Chicks will be here the first week of February, and we are going to be keeping a couple roosters and starting to hopefully hatch our own flock as well. My oldest daughter (6) got an ebay incubator for Christmas and my oldest 3 are really looking forward to hatching some chicks. Probably try to keep our own flock between 30 and 40 in the end and sell the rest, and also do 2 batches of 50 meaties for eating.

The plan is for the chickens to be primarily free range if I can deal with the hawks, and coop them at night. I have a large wooden crate for a brooder, and it is set back up and ready to go.

Just a little background on me, 31 and married for 9 years, have a drop dead gorgeous wife and 4 kids ages 6, 4, 3, and 6 months. Work as part of the family farm operation farming about 8000 acres, family used to run small feed lots for cattle, but no longer do that. We do still have a good sized working cow/calf operation, as well as the farming.

I am lucky enough as a farmer to have access to a bunch of whole grains, and I am versed in calculating rations for our cattle, so I am hoping to do the same thing for our chickens. Last year we used commercial feed, this year I have brought in a couple ingredients to the feed store (barley and Soybean meal), will be working up a ration to put them on once I get them out of the brooder. I've done some quick first calculations and I think I am going to be around 7 cents a pound for good 20% protein feed blend, and a little less for 17-18%. Ration will contain distillers grains, cracked corn, wheat, barley, milo, and silage, along with plenty of animal protein scraps throughout the year. Planning on supplementing with oyster shell or whatever other calcium source I can find.

So thats me, looking forward to being part of the community. I am sure I will come up with questions for ya'll as we get going again. OH....I am also a professional landscape photographer who specializes in agriculture, so I take a lot of art photographs and sell them. Here is one of my Cornish X last year. I actually got to eat him before the coons got him!

Welcome to our thread. Glad to have you. Many of us have other livestock so it's nice to have someone on board that has some other knowledge.
To be predator proof, remember to extend fencing underground for a pen and overhead netting to protect from owls, hawks and climbing animals. Even if you have a free range group you will still need some type of fenced area outside the coop. It makes a world of difference in their safety and also helps you when you need to pen them for treatment, like worming etc. If you have to be gone somewhere and don't want to leave the chickens unprotected or if you are getting home after dark it's necessary.
As far as hawks go, I hope you chose a larger breed chicken. If the birds are big, the hawks won't bother them like they do smaller breeds.

Some more info on feed for chickens: Just things to consider. I would avoid the soybean meal if you are ordering large quantities of feed that you won't use up quickly. Soybean meal starts going rancid as soon as it is ground. Distillers grain should only be added at a rate of 100 pounds per ton. The reason being, that although very high in protein it will burn out a chicken rather quickly. If you have a higher rate of DDG your chickens will lay more, however they only have a certain number of eggs in their system. So within a couple years they will be done laying. Also the distillers grains are very hard on the liver and kidneys and if in too high a concentration will exhaust those organs a lot more quickly and cause death. Large grains like corn need to be ground. It takes so much energy for a chicken to digest corn that it needs to be reduced in summer. You can add more in winter because their digestive process increases their body temperature and it also adds fat. I've learned that most grains are eaten better if they are ground or crimped. Also consider vitamins and minerals that a chicken needs. If you are planning on layers I'd add Calcium carbonate for feed. The little pelleted kind that you use for cattle. A 50 pound bag mixed with a ton of feed is plenty. (Add this much only when they get to laying age.)
There are a number of vitamins that are essential for poultry health and egg production. Here is some information you might find helpful. Adding a poultry supplement to your feed is expensive but it is also the only practical way of providing what they need. If you have knowledge of what grains contain what vitamins that would also be helpful. Just food for thought:
Fat-soluble vitamins may be stored in the animal body. In contrast, water-soluble vitamins are not stored, and excesses are excreted. So water soluble vitamins need to be replenished daily. There is no way to know how much of what nutrients a chicken is going to get from free ranging, so it's best to make sure they have what they need in their feed. Here is a list of problems associated with lack of each viatamin and mineral. Good information to know. I've found even with supplements that vitamin D and the B vitamins are the two that obviously come up short from time to time. Vitamin D more in winter and in long stretches of gloomy skies. Vitamin B year round but more so in winter. Free range birds do much better than penned birds getting enough B vitamins.
Fat Soluble Vitamins
Vitamin A Decreased egg production, weakness and lack of growth
Vitamin D Thin shelled eggs, reduced egg production, retarded growth, rickets
Vitamin E Enlarged hocks, encephalomalacia
Vitamin K Prolonged blood clotting, intramuscular bleeding

Water Soluble Vitamins
Thiamine (B1) Loss of appetite and death
Riboflavin (B2) Curly-toe paralysis, poor growth and poor egg production
Pantothenic Acid Dermatitis and lesions on mouth and feet
Niacin Bowed legs, inflammation of tongue and mouth cavity
Choline Poor growth, fatty liver, decreased egg production
Vitamin B12 Anaemia, poor growth, embryonic mortality
Folic Acid Poor growth, anaemia, poor feathering and egg production
Biotin Dermatitis on feet and around eyes and beak

Minerals
Calcium Poor egg shell quality and poor hatchability, rickets
Phosphorus Rickets, poor egg shell quality and hatchability
Magnesium Sudden death
Manganese Perosis, poor hatchability
Iron Anaemia
Copper Anaemia
Iodine Goitre
Zinc Poor feathering, short bones
Cobalt Slow growth, mortality, reduced hatchability

Just as a side note: I have my own feed milled and have had to make several adjustments especially with changing seasons to make sure the birds get what they need. I keep this list handy for reference so I can track what they may need.