Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Trish/hawkeye- Don't you just love silkies and how they can morph back and forth between boys/girls. I am getting better at it but it is still tough!! I bought four silkie chicks that were five months old a while back and attempted to sex them at purchase and was right on all four!!! What luck huh? Sometimes the crest shape and the comb can give you a lot of clues. Sometimes the boys will have a hint more wattles than the girls but I had a silkie hen with a big comb and everyone on the silkie thread thought she was a "henny feathered" rooster until she laid an egg!!

She has overall been wonderful though, barks at stuff but not constantly and seems to be patrolling "our" property lines. Not sure how she knows what is ours but she sure seems to! Very smart girl and gonna get a haircut the end of this week cause she is full, full of cockle burrs. I keep picking them out and she just gets more. I have mixed feeling about clipping her because she is so pretty but it is impossible to keep her clean so I think I will cut her down to a bit less than 1/2 inch of hair, that should still provide some protection from bugs and thorns but keep her cool and clean.

I really love these silkies-- they are soooo sweet and fun to hold! Really great pets! Yeah, it was really crazy to see my bird go from boy to girl!

Hawkeye, I'll forward your info to Keena since she doesn't get on BYC. I just didn't have a clue since I have never had Silkies. She has caught the chickens addiction bad, chicken math has hit her on the first try.

We're starting to get used to all of the things the new car does, it's pretty amazing what they can do these days with electronic stuff. It has a lot of bells & whistles, but they're nice to have, just a lot to get used to. Here is a pic of it:



I hope IVY is still doing well & things are progressing as they're supposed to. We'll look forward to hearing from her again.

NO problem!! And wow-- love your car!! It's really spiffy looking! Is it a Dodge? I love Dodge! We are definitely fans of domestic cars here.

Up date on Ivy.

Danz, she is at St. Fransis.

When I talked to her just a few minutes ago, she was very sleepy, from all the meds. She has got up to use the restroom, and walk the hall with PT. She was expecting to go to PT any time now for therapy. She said she could lift her leg a little, and bend her knee just a little. Ivy is happy with the pain control that she has had. Sounds just like her but just really groggy. Told me she has had some nausea, and upsets to meds, but that just happens. So I believe she will do good, she always does, once she sets her mind to do it . Can't wait to see her. We always have a wonderful time. Ivy and I spent a lot of time together, I was closer to her than our older sister. We as kids always called her momma duck, cause we always had to follow in line behind her, and if you got out of step, she would let you have it. And you better do what she said, or else. Gee Whiz somedays it was really bad. Ugh.....

Wow, so she's walking on it already! Once the pain subsides from the surgery, I sure hope this will answer all her prayers for getting around! Sounds like you really adore your sister, and that's a fantastic thing! I wish my brother lived closer to me. We used to be really close, but since he moved to Lawrence, it's tougher to keep in touch. And his job keeps him really busy sun up to down down and he barely has a chance to answer texts or emails from me! (he's a dirty evil lawyer)

Nah, he's one of the best-- a decent one!

You know Trish, your husband is right. It does pretty much take me all day to feed and water and then do it a second time around. That is one major reason for wanting to get that trailer done for the chickens and the new building done for the game birds. Can you imagine how many houses I would have if I had a separate one for every breed?
I got my wood all sorted and stacked so I can work on the trailer. DH doesn't want me drilling the post holes for the new building and pens so to keep my anxiety down I am going to attempt to work on the trailer some.
I spent the morning cleaning in the basement. No matter how often we changed the cat boxes it stunk in here. I went down and poured bleach on the floor and used the carpet shampooer to clean up the water and bleach. Now the whole house smells like bleach. But as unhealthy as that is it smells better than it did. I also took everything out of the hatcher to give it a major cleaning. I have another bunch of eggs to go in on Thursday so I wanted to start fresh.
I need to get out and sort some guineas and build another cage for my geese today too. Also trying to catch up on laundry. It's no wonder I never get caught up.
At least if I sell all those guineas that is one less pen to mess with for now. And maybe some of the smell will go away! They really do wreak!

Glad you got someone done for your trailer! I haven't done ANYthing lately on my brother's coop! He's going to kill me! LOL Today was chaos though. I took the kids to school, then took my van to the Dodge dealership to get warranty work done and the back brakes replaced. They had it all day and I was at the mercy of my mom driving around with her. Then she dropped me off at DH's job and i grabbed his car and came home... then had to turn around and pick up my oldest and get him to the Dr.. My Dh had his dad get him after work and take him to get my van and my inlaws had my Littles for the day.... sheesh, it was a mess. I hope I don't have anything like that again anytime soon. I hope the bleach cut the stink downstairs in your basement. After our house flooded, my mom put bleach into a sprayer (like you use for killing bugs--in one of those big tanks with a wand) and after they used the pressure washer to clean everything, she went back and sprayed all the cement with bleach a few times before it cut the river smell. So don't be surprised if you have to do it a couple more times before it comes out good. OH-- and then I think we painted the walls with a cement sealant to freshen it up. I know that made it smell better too.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Danz, since you're the expert hatcher here, my first batch of eggs will go into the other incubator for hatching tomorrow.

My son also decided he didn't want to take the humoungous TV that has been sitting in my garage forever with him, so I have to try to sell that too. I wish he had decided that about 4 years ago, it has been taking up a lot of room out there all of this time for nothing. He finally got through all of his junk in the garage too & our trash cart is now overflowing & stuff sitting all on the ground around it. DH just looked at that when we got home last night & shook his head & I said, well at least it's out of the garage.

Good luck on your hatch!!! So exciting!! Take pics of them!

Yeah that trailer is 70 feet long. I plan to leave the far South end without runs so I can store supplies and stuff there. I have it pretty full of stuff already.
I plan to put in an auto watering system that is going to be my big time saver. I will only have to fill the supply barrel once a week or so. Just not having to drag a hose all around will be great.
I haven't figured out what to do about a water system for my other building. I may just run electrical outlets for each pen so I can plug in heated dog bowls in winter.
So Trish you should show us a picture of your new furniture too.
I never get anything new unless I buy it myself.

Holy heck-- 70 feet LONG!! What kind of trailer is it? LOL Like a semi truck trailer? Wow, that is crazy big!! No wonder you want to use it, I was envisioning some little pull behind trailer and trying to figure out how you were going to do all you were talking about! NOW I understand!

I have lost the dog!

I have looked everywhere for her and no luck. I saw her out the window at about 1:00 and I went out around 1:45 to check on everyone and she was nowhere to be found. Drove around to all the neighbors and the couple just up the street had just seen her out their window about 30 minutes before that but their dogs barked at her and she left. I have been everywhere and walked and called for the last 2 hours with no luck. Do you think she can find her way back home?

Oh no!!! That's terrible! I'd be sure to call everyone you know and stop by neighbors and tell them you are looking for your dog so they won't run her off if they see her! I hope you find her soon!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Josie, praying for Molly to come back safely!!! Get her chipped and tagged when she gets home. Did you call animal control yet?? I'd be calling the local humane society and animal control for a list of pick ups today.

So today was insanely busy and hectic. The kids are all playing outside and it's getting close to their bedtime, but since it's nice and quiet in here... I'll let them stay for a bit longer. I think my egg under Yoda might be close to hatching. UNfortunately, I wasnt sure if it would be a fertile egg, so I never wrote on it when it would hatch! So I have no idea!! I just know the last time I looked at it, I couldn't see the chick anymore and it was just all black in there. Yoda is more ferocious about sitting today then usual. She growled at me when I walked by. Good sign?? Or just a testy chicken ready to get up and finally eat again?? Also-- I think I have a couple of good eggs in my incubator finally. The eggs that went thru the mess of the incubator being too high-- well, they are looking pretty clear. Going to give them a few days and toss them. Poor things.

I got a super dark brown egg yesterday. Which are darker layers?? Wyandottes or Rocks?? I'm thinking since it was so dark, it had to be a different chicken, because I know my Barred Rock is laying (maybe they both are, but I doubt it since there is only one egg every other day). So far all the eggs have been a nice dark tan color. This dark egg was a surprise and so neat to see! None of my polish have layed yet. They are white... no white eggs out there. Cocoa's beak is looking worse. I'll have to take a picture of it sometime to show you all. It grew back in after it broke, but it's such a wierd shape and it hinders her eating and drinking. She isn't starving though-- but if I don't keep the feeders really full to the top, she can't get enough in her mouth. She follows me around every where. The others are a lot more skittish. Today when I left their pen, she got upset I was gone and tried to fly over it. She got half way up and kept flapping and trying to walk/fly up the 6ft chain link fence they are in. She nearly made it too. But then fell to the ground panting. I went back and picked her up and talked to her and felt bad for her. She holds still so I can pick her up, she obviously enjoys it. She is crazy though! She has "spats" which is just as well because her tail feathers don't get picked out because the larger birds are scared of her! LOL She kind of goes into a 'spaz' and jumps or turns around really fast and startles or spooks-- like a horse would. Funny. Probably brain injury from Seymore nearly doing her in.

 

[JosieChick]

I haven't animal control yet because we live in the sticks and nobody bothers with dogs out here. None of the neighbors have seen her but I have stopped in with everyone to ask them to keep their eyes peeled. Most folks don't run dogs off unless they are harassing their livestock, pretty much everyone out here lets their dogs run and they all play together and hang out on eachothers porchs. Still no sign of her and it is getting dark. I am afraid she is hurt or someone actually did pick her up. The neighbors cows are calving so I am really hoping she is hanging out with them and will show up soon or in the morning.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Hey Danz,

I used to do investment houses in a previous life. What works on cat smell is Odor Ban. It comes in a gallon jug from Sam's. So if the bleach doesn't take the smell permanently try the odor ban. You mix it with water and on concrete just let it soak in. We use it when we actually wash out the cat's litter box and it keeps it smelling nice. Over time you just have to replace a litter box but we use this stuff instead.

 

[cherwill]

Quote:

Your back yard is gorgeous!! This is exactly how I'd like mine to look! I need a lot more plantings if I'm going to get anywhere near that. And each year I'm busy adding to it, but it still seems so sparse with no charm or 'warmness' to it. You know? Your backyard is really inviting and looks so beautiful. I probably need more borders and beds, etc.. I need more money!! LOL!!! And I know it just takes time over the years to get it the way you want it. I wish I'd started all of this when we first moved in, but I was busy working and had no real thought to how our yard looked or what I wanted to do with it other than keep the horses on the back part of it!

Thanks! It does take years, but there are some things that have helped make it easier and quicker for us. If we go on Saturday, we can get compost and free wood chips from the recycle center; they just dump a scoop in the back of the pickup or trailer. We have been able to get a lot of plants from my MIL, who has been at this for much longer than I have. Whenever she needs something thinned out or divided, she lets me know. We got the concrete edging cheaper because it was done by a friend and DH helped him so he didn't have to pay his usual helper. By far the biggest jump start was the small amount of money my mom gave us out of her inheritance when my grandpa died. It was three thousand dollars and I used half to start a Roth IRA and half for landscaping, mostly the rock and gravel and some larger plants. We also never turn down freebies -- rocks, pavers, bricks, landscape timber, anything someone wants hauled away. I'd be happy to divide some plants for you, but I doubt it would be worth the gas it took to get here! The biggest thing I learned from my MIL, and it was hard for me to accept it, is that nothing has to be permanent. She's constantly moving her plants and things around. I learned not to feel like I had to find the perfect place because I can always move it if I think it will be better somewhere else.

About the egg, I'm certainly no expert on egg colors and breeds, but my Wyandotte lays almost white eggs. The darkest brown eggs come from Sophia, a BO or BO mix. I have no idea what color eggs come out of the Rocks.

Trish, nice car!

Does anyone have a good way to kill weeds without poisoning my dogs?

Also, why are my birds barely laying eggs again? We had about two weeks with a good rate, and now it's back to 0-2 eggs a day for 6 hens.

And while I'm asking questions, how do I know if my chickens are too fat?

I know a guy whose chickens are much skinnier than mine, too skinny I think, but I don't know what all the breeds are. I know he has some Australorps and they're just as skinny as his white chickens. My Australorps and thinner than the BOs, but not nearly as thin as his are. I think all my breeds are dual purpose and I just assumed they'd be heavier because of it.

 

[JosieChick]

Danz- Still no sign of her.

I feel like I have lost a child out in the woods. I am worried sick and wish she would come home. Is it ridiculous to put signs up tomorrow if she still hasn't showed up?

 

[rvroman]

Wow, There is so much stuff going on, I really hope that everyone is alright (dogs included).

I have had a CRAZY weekend leading into a CRAZY week. I am still working on getting the garden finished, it is taking a lot more time than I expected, the dogs kept digging in my beds, so we needed fencing. Add 2 toddlers into the mix and we have a TON more work than originally expected.

Here are a couple of pics of the beds so far, along with a few pics of the chicks first exploration outside! We actually almost lost 2, I didn't think they were still small enough to fit through the chain link fencing between ours and the neighbor yards. But all the babes are safe and sound back in the brooder, they did enjoy the freedom though!

 

[cherwill]

Josie, I don't think it's ridiculous at all to put up signs. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

Rv, that is such a great garden area and it looks like you have a good chicken wrangler there in the last picture.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Josie - what part of the state are you in? Sorry, I don't know where Rantoul is. So this is probably no help for you (not close to me or I would know where Rantoul is) LOL. Anyway, when I was coming home I saw a couple of dogs on a road and one looked to be a pyrenese. There are houses in the area so probably they were just going between some, anyway, thought I would mention it in case.

But, the more you let people know she is missing, the more likely someone will realize she is being looked for.