Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz I'm glad you got the peahen back, geez that's crazy! I love the whites too, they're so pretty. Take care of those places from the hedge thorns, I get really inflamed places from those things I just hate them. Of course we have a whole forest of them here.

Lizzy that is crazy, I didn't know porcupines were coming into Kansas now, that's not good. That's just all we need for our GPs to get tangled up with. I have watched the Vet shows where they showed having to remove quills from dogs, it's really painful. It's bad enough that we have cougars around & bobcats.

I'm not having a good week with roosters. I found one big Orpington rooster just dead yesterday, he was fine the day before. Then I found my SS rooster with a sour crop. Yuck that was just nasty. He is in a pen by himself now to hopefully recover. The hens were picking on him, chickens can be so brutal when they know one of them isn't feeling well.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Danz I'm glad you got the peahen back, geez that's crazy! I love the whites too, they're so pretty. Take care of those places from the hedge thorns, I get really inflamed places from those things I just hate them. Of course we have a whole forest of them here. 

Lizzy that is crazy, I didn't know porcupines were coming into Kansas now, that's not good. That's just all we need for our GPs to get tangled up with. I have watched the Vet shows where they showed having to remove quills from dogs, it's really painful. It's bad enough that we have cougars around & bobcats. 

I'm not having a good week with roosters. I found one big Orpington rooster just dead yesterday, he was fine the day before. Then I found my SS rooster with a sour crop. Yuck that was just nasty. He is in a pen by himself now to hopefully recover. The hens were picking on him, chickens can be so brutal when they know one of them isn't feeling well. 

First of all, note that I am in northwest kansas. From what I have heard from locals who have been here longer than me, porcupines have been in the area for quite a while. They just aren't super prevalent and so are somewhat rare to see. They are just one more reason to be careful if you are out at night.

 

[chicken danz]

I looked at a map and it shows porcupines out in your area. Just a tiny slim mark inside the Kansas line. They like drier pine type forests areas. I would think Colorado would be the ultimate atmosphere for them in the mountains. I should ask my daughter if they ever see them. Not sure they would be worse than the bears though!!!
I've been so nonstop busy it's insane. I really need some down time but don't see any in the near future. I've got so many projects going on and still bit by bit trying to clean up the storm mess.
I bought a new peahen at auction yesterday. Very interesting color combination. She could throw some awesome babies depending on what she was bred to.
I also got some guineas. I decided to quit raising them last year. Just have my 5 old boys that just free range and 4 young ones I hatched last year. But these are a coral blue and they are gorgeous. I've only heard one female in the bunch so far. So I'm going to move a couple out of the pen and leave these in there in hopes of hatching some more. If you are going to have them around to eat bugs and make obnoxious noise you might as well have pretty ones.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

What a crazy last 24 hours passed on 10 hens to my partner Heather (some were the favor hens who were going to need body armer if they stayed) and got a call from the SPCA that OP animal control brought in a Guinea Fowl with its wings Zipped Tied. At first I thought that they had just zip tied the tips of the wings but when I went up I saw that the Asshat who had this GF had put the zip tie through the shoulder blades so we had to cut it out and then pour stopping powder and hope that would clot as there is no way to sew the wounds closed. Their chicken vet will be up to check on it tomorrow I played GF sounds in hope of finding out its gender but got no response and its fully grown. So now waiting to hear from the vet on what needs to be done next for it.

 

[tlzimmerman]

Oh yeah we got porcupines out here in Western Kansas. They aren't prominent but they are out here.

 

[Trish44]

What a crazy last 24 hours passed on 10 hens to my partner Heather (some were the favor hens who were going to need body armer if they stayed) and got a call from the SPCA that OP animal control brought in a Guinea Fowl with its wings Zipped Tied. At first I thought that they had just zip tied the tips of the wings but when I went up I saw that the Asshat who had this GF had put the zip tie through the shoulder blades so we had to cut it out and then pour stopping powder and hope that would clot as there is no way to sew the wounds closed. Their chicken vet will be up to check on it tomorrow I played GF sounds in hope of finding out its gender but got no response and its fully grown. So now waiting to hear from the vet on what needs to be done next for it.

That's just cruel, why would somebody do something like that? I hope you can get it well. They are wild critters, so don't expect it to tame down. The ones I've had for a couple of years still look at me like I'm an axe murderer even though I go in & feed them every day. They're more of a game type bird.

Oh yeah we got porcupines out here in Western Kansas. They aren't prominent but they are out here.

Well I hope they stay over there because I have enough predators here to deal with without those. I would hate for my dogs to have to have quills removed from them & they most surely would.

 

[SidChick]

I am looking for Andelusian, black Giant, light Brahma, penciled Rock chicks in Kansas. Can anybody help me out? Some are for 4-H and some for my boss. She's a vet in Dodge City. Thank you for any advice!

 

[lizzyGSR]

I have had a rather long and stressful few days. Friday morning, I found a snake skin in the kids' room (2nd story of the house). Fearing it might be a rattlesnake, I took the kids to stay with some family. We have since had the house sprayed for insects and have put a whole bunch of glue boards out trying to capture the snake. So far, no luck. The kids and I are back home today though. We have decided to get an indoor cat (which is a huge step for my hubby who greatly dislikes cats) and are taking other measures to do our best to ensure this is the ONLY snake that gets into the house. However, I have also been thinking about getting guineas to help control the number of snakes that can get into the yard. I have had multiple people recommend guineas when they hear how many snakes we encounter in the yard annually. We had a white Chinese gander, which my hubby hated because he was so noisy. I have been told guineas are loud but was recently visiting someone who had both white Chinese and guineas, and the white Chinese geese are the only things I heard. I would like something to alert me of visitors/intruders (both human and animal) but am concerned my hubby will hate them for their noise.

Those of you who have had guineas, please share your experiences with them. Are they good at keeping snakes and other things out of the yard? If so, does that also hold true with rattlers? What did you like/dislike about them? How did they do around chickens, ducks, cats, dogs and kids? Any problems with them spending time on the road?

 

[chicken danz]

I have had a rather long and stressful few days. Friday morning, I found a snake skin in the kids' room (2nd story of the house). Fearing it might be a rattlesnake, I took the kids to stay with some family. We have since had the house sprayed for insects and have put a whole bunch of glue boards out trying to capture the snake. So far, no luck. The kids and I are back home today though. We have decided to get an indoor cat (which is a huge step for my hubby who greatly dislikes cats) and are taking other measures to do our best to ensure this is the ONLY snake that gets into the house. However, I have also been thinking about getting guineas to help control the number of snakes that can get into the yard. I have had multiple people recommend guineas when they hear how many snakes we encounter in the yard annually. We had a white Chinese gander, which my hubby hated because he was so noisy. I have been told guineas are loud but was recently visiting someone who had both white Chinese and guineas, and the white Chinese geese are the only things I heard. I would like something to alert me of visitors/intruders (both human and animal) but am concerned my hubby will hate them for their noise.

Those of you who have had guineas, please share your experiences with them. Are they good at keeping snakes and other things out of the yard? If so, does that also hold true with rattlers? What did you like/dislike about them? How did they do around chickens, ducks, cats, dogs and kids? Any problems with them spending time on the road?

So here is the trick to having quiet guineas. Only buy males which incidentally are cheapest. However if you buy chicks they won't be sexed. Guineas aren't usually noisy unless there is a predator around, they corner a snake, or someone strange shows up. I have 5 or 6 old boys who have been here close to 10 years and I never hear them. But I got some females so now they all yell. I decided to quit raising them because it was just one more thing and the boys did a good job of taking care of bugs and snakes. You will need to get some young ones probably and keep them in a pen. They do tend to pick on chickens if they are confined together. My old boys sleep in the house with the hens and don't cause a problems, but if they were shut up together they would. If you find older ones you'll have to keep them penned for a few weeks until they know where home is. The do tend to go back to the place they consider home. But often do roost in trees as well. Your problem is going to be your dog. Guineas are fast and wild so they will tempt her. One more thing to teach her.
I just bought 5 beautiful Coral blue guineas and they are gorgeous. So much for not raising them anymore.
The kids will love the house cat. Be sure to get a tame one.

 

[TeeMom]

I have had a rather long and stressful few days. Friday morning, I found a snake skin in the kids' room (2nd story of the house). Fearing it might be a rattlesnake, I took the kids to stay with some family. We have since had the house sprayed for insects and have put a whole bunch of glue boards out trying to capture the snake. So far, no luck. The kids and I are back home today though. We have decided to get an indoor cat (which is a huge step for my hubby who greatly dislikes cats) and are taking other measures to do our best to ensure this is the ONLY snake that gets into the house. However, I have also been thinking about getting guineas to help control the number of snakes that can get into the yard. I have had multiple people recommend guineas when they hear how many snakes we encounter in the yard annually. We had a white Chinese gander, which my hubby hated because he was so noisy. I have been told guineas are loud but was recently visiting someone who had both white Chinese and guineas, and the white Chinese geese are the only things I heard. I would like something to alert me of visitors/intruders (both human and animal) but am concerned my hubby will hate them for their noise.

Those of you who have had guineas, please share your experiences with them. Are they good at keeping snakes and other things out of the yard? If so, does that also hold true with rattlers? What did you like/dislike about them? How did they do around chickens, ducks, cats, dogs and kids? Any problems with them spending time on the road?

I would doubt that the snake in your house is a rattler, but nothing is impossible. Guineas were my first step into poultry craze. We started with 8 and after a year and a half they had dwindled to just 2. We got chickens about a month after we initially got the keets and they were all raised together. They quickly decided that they didn't want to coop up at night and generally chose a place to roost outside...overnights were always when their population took a hit, but there wasn't much I could do to prevent that since they wouldn't coop up. They are NOT tame. Every once in a while my kids would catch one, but that was very rare. They are very skittish and can fly fairly well. I enjoyed them and they did fine with the dogs and kids and pretty much just kept to themselves and ate lots of bugs. I can't comment on snakes because we just don't see many out here and the ones we do, we covet because I would like them to take care of the mouse populations. Ultimately, we passed the last two off to my brother in law because the noise was bothersome...mostly to my husband. I didn't mind their noise unless we had people over. It was impossible to entertain outdoors because new people made them exceptionally squawky. lol. They would follow us around making all kinds of racket. I've never had geese, so I don't know how they compare to that kind of noise.