Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I've been really busy selling birds this past three days. I think the fairs have people thinking about birds. I have been selling so cheap and most of them were old enough to sex so they've been really picked over. I am going to have a ton of young cockerels left which I hate because I hate to spend the money to feed them out and don't want to cull good purebred birds that I might get better money for later. I guess I need to just make up my mind which ones to keep around. I have to keep reminding people they aren't ever going to get birds from me this cheap again. It's only desperation that is making me let go of so many so cheap.
I haven't had time to sit down and read posts or reply to them. I just decided to take a little time for myself this morning instead of rushing out to a day of sweating.
I got one of the big Robbins incubators moved to the other side of the yard day before yesterday but it took almost an entire afternoon. Even after taking a ton of metal off of it, I still had to remove the doors in order to move it. My bobcat lifts a full ton and it couldn't handle it without the doors off. Now I need to get the doors back on and can't lift them by myself to reattach them. I am wanting to get it all set up and move the peachicks in there so I can get them out of the house.
Later today I have to go to town to see my sister and see how she is doing. On the way I'm going to stop and sex some ducks for the fair. Never ends.
Tomorrow is my appointment with my surgeon. Makes me feel a bit relieved but at the same time over anxious because of all I need to get done.

 

[Trish44]

This heat is getting old & I know we have awhile to go yet with it, ugh. I just don't do that well with it any more. I'll be glad when it cools down a bit so I can get some things done outside that need to be done. It's just too hot to do major projects right now.

 

[TattooedChicks]

Hello from Kansas City! I wanted to give the good folks here on BYC a crack at these 6 week old cockerels before they end up on Craigslist, but I have 3 Cochins from Ideal Poultry that will need rehoming soon. If it weren't for the ordinances I would love to keep these sweet boys, pretty as they are. Thank you!

 

[chicken danz]

Thanks for the offer @TattooedChicks, but I have about 100 boys that need homes right away as well.
What a day it has been. I had to leave for awhile today and came back home to find one of my two breeder Toms had flown into the stock tank and drowned. Broke my heart. I only had one tom in the ones I saved for myself so instead of being Thanksgiving dinner I guess he'll be a breeder next spring. I think we're having ham instead!!! While I was trying to pull him out I looked up and this is what I saw. Absolutely unbelievable! And they are still here. They seem to like my feed and the company of my birds.
These are black Bellied whistler tree ducks. They range no further north than about Austin, TX and live primarily in Mexico and South America. I can't believe they'd migrate so far north. I have seen them at sales a couple times and they go for around $250 each. I can't help but wonder if they escaped someones aviary or if the extreme heat drove them further north.

 

[chicken danz]

I have no idea why it keeps posting old pictures and won't let me delete them.

 

[Trish44]

Oh wow Danz that is a surprise, that's awesome. They must have been looking for a cooler spot, but I can't imagine it's here right now.

As far as the roosters I have roosters I'm still trying to get rid of myself & I have a bantam Mille Fleur Cochin rooster I need to rehome as well, he's a cutie.

 

[chicken danz]

Yep and they are still here!! I love it. They nest in my daughters trees every spring and she lives in Austin. That's about as far north as they ever go.

 

[Trish44]

Ugh this heat is the pits, everything is drying up & dying. We could really use some of that rain we had earlier on all at once.

 

[chicken danz]

My whistling ducks are still here. They get spooked now and then and then they come back. Sure is fun watching them. They seem to let me get a little closer to them all the time. I'm not trying particularly, just trying to get my chores done.
I've lost a few birds to this insane heat. There is just so much I can do to keep them cool. The worst has been guinea keets. I've never had problems with guineas dying in the heat before. But I had them in a hoop coop and it was so hot in there. Even when I moved the tarps up to let in more air it was insanely hot. I lost 9 of them over a few days. So yesterday I took what was left and moved them to the pen with the girls and the one male I had for a breeders. I have several pearls in there I don't need but I guess I'll sort them out later if no one takes them soon.
I was moving some metal with the bobcat the other day and disturbed a bumble bee nest. I've never been stung by a bumble bee before and hope to never be stung by one again. Instantly they were all over me stinging like crazy and I just jumped out of the bobcat and left it where it was to run as fast as I could for the house. I've never had any sting or insect bite hurt any worse. The bites have blisters on top and then the red around them keeps spreading. According to the internet it will continue for about 5 days before it starts to go away. I have a double sting on my rib cage and it is the worst. It's so sore and it itches. The others seem to be calming down some. I'm taking antihistamines which I normally don't to help fight the reaction. I'm allergic to most antihistamines and there is only one I can take that I know of that won't cause a worse effect. Thank goodness DH had some.
Yesterday I decided I had to have the bobcat so I took a net made to go over a bed and covered myself in it and got into the bobcat and moved it. They didn't bother me until I started it up and then I was sure glad I had that net over me. I had sprayed a full can of wasp and hornet spray over the area the tin had been but noticed they came out from under the tin I had moved over before they attacked.
I've got a million cockerels I have to deal with some way now. It seems such a shame. I have a couple older ones I'll just butcher. But there are so many young ones that will be really nice birds I guess I will just have to cull. I may save a couple I think look really good just in case someone needs one later. I just hate to cull good birds but they have to go.

 

[Trish44]

Oh gosh Danz that's horrible about the bumblebees. I'm so allergic to stings of all kinds that probably would have killed me. I have to go get a shot every time I get stung, so I avoid anything with a stinger like the plague. I guess I got stung enough as a kid to develop that allergy. I used to have a sting kit, but that stuff got so expensive I can't afford it any more. I've heard you should keep adrenaline around but with my heart condition it really isn't a good thing for me. I'm glad you had some antihistamines to take, I can't take those either because of my irregular heartbeat.

This heat is awful & I don't deal with it well. I have to be careful not to get dehydrated too. I've been trying to go out & do some chores in the morning & then the rest when it starts cooling down. It's still hot though even at night, ugh. It just makes doing things outside so much harder right now.