Consolidated Kansas

[ByN8ureHomstead]

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You could also use a lag bolt or bolt and a nut.

 

[Naughty]

i saw a post that made me think this might be fun... i'd like to add some byc people to my facebook as friends - would be nice to have some friends who understand my chicken posts lol my family and friends tend to just humor me ...


my email is [email protected] - my name is tina johnson - however i do have to request only those over 18 add me please - i tend to be a lil more adult in my humor there

 

[Ivywoods]

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oh! it's on my "View My BYC Page" link under my Profile picture!

Oh my gosh! I LOVE your dinner bell. Great paint job, too. I like incorporating "old" things into my projects (hence the chicken coop made from an antique horsedrawn blacksmith wagon) I have some ornate shelf brackets I intend to use, but this dinner bell thing might be an idea I'll have to steal from you. Love it!

Are you going to ring it every time you go out to feed?

 

[johnsons-r-us]

Hello Kansas!

I'm loving this site. I need some referrals, hopefully close to me for chicken processing. We have our first 9 hens ready for laying any time now....and I've been reading about meat birds too. I would love to get a bunch next spring, raise them to be processed before fall. We could never do the processing ourselves. Are there many here who take their birds in to be done? Do you pay cash or trade in birds?

More questions....I'm thinking of the type of freedom ranger birds as we free rage all of ours and reading about the CX birds I just can't see me doing that. Anyone around Kansas do this type of bird? pros/cons?

Final question for now......in the future we may take on milking goats or other livestock as we want to gradually become more self-sufficient. Even raise a pig or cow. If we wanted a really good livestock guardian, what kind of dog works well for Kansas. We've only been in KS for 4 years. I'm sure preditors vary with region and weather is also a factor? What do you all have?

Thank you!

Anyone going to be at the Douglas County Fair in Lawrence?

 

[chicken danz]

Of course I am prejudice but the best livestock guard dog that works with goats, chickens, horses, cattle etc would be a Great Pyrenees. This isn't a herd dog. It is simply a dog that lives to work and work being keeping predators away.

 

[ChooksChick]

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I've been in this boat. Last year had a shipment of 20+ Chanteclers that ended up being nearly all cockerels. I did find a young couple through a friend and they processed mine with theirs for $3.50 a bird. That's high, I know, but it was worth it to me to know the boys were getting loved and respected in their final moments in a spiritual way. I'm a bit more pragmatic now and would be willing to pitch in on gas if anyone was on their way to Garnett to have them done there. I know there's a guy in town who does his own, but I'm not sure he'd want to do a dozen or more for me at the same time...he's doing it by hand and doesn't have a plucker.

We need a local solution! I'm considering calling around to the folks who sell at the Farmers' Markets and seeing if perhaps they'd take my handful on a couple of times a year.

If I was going to do CX, I'd do them under a broody- there's a great thread about that on here somewhere. Glorious idea.

I've done dual purpose, and processing at 16+ weeks is not very cost effective. I have spare cockerels now, from large breeds, and it's going to be time to make culling choices on breeding in the future...and then off to freezer camp.

 

[Hawkeye95]

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if you don't want a dog- you could get a Llama. The dairy farm down the road from us (who sell milk to Dillons) puts a llama in their milking herd out in the pasture. He's very friendly, I've pet him. There is a guy down the opposite way that just has meat cows he raises- and he has a llama in with them. They both have told me great stories about how their llamas have run down coyotes and killed them! Neither of them really wanted a dog- so I think that is why they went that route. Not only that, but the llama is out with the cows 100% of the time and great protection since they graze together.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Okay, another question, as I'm not having luck on my Turkey thread and I'm wanting to get back out and start framing the nest box. How much room does a turkey need to nest? This is, of course, assuming that a turkey will use a nesting box??? I'm guessing they do? The height is 18" and for the dividers... I can get 4 boxes with 17 inches in width, or 5 boxes with 12 inches width. Probably the larger one? Will 17" be big enough for a turkey? They have told me she is going to be small, since she is a Royal Palm. But will 17" be TOO big for a chicken? Will they hate that?

 

[johnsons-r-us]

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This is what I've heard, but don't they suffer in this heat with those coats!

 

[johnsons-r-us]

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if you don't want a dog- you could get a Llama. The dairy farm down the road from us (who sell milk to Dillons) puts a llama in their milking herd out in the pasture. He's very friendly, I've pet him. There is a guy down the opposite way that just has meat cows he raises- and he has a llama in with them. They both have told me great stories about how their llamas have run down coyotes and killed them! Neither of them really wanted a dog- so I think that is why they went that route. Not only that, but the llama is out with the cows 100% of the time and great protection since they graze together.

A llama would be fun. But if I kept it fenced it couldn't run the property and protect the chickens free ranging. And at night it wouldn't be able to patrol the entire yard....that's the downside I see at the moment.