Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

checoukan, I'm glad to hear IVY is doing so well & we all hope to see her back on here soon!

tweety, good job on the coup, I know your birds will like it & enjoy the space.

Danz, it sounds like you're keeping busy as usual.

I hope the weather stays decent today, I really need to get out & work on that hutch today. I got some of my young rabbits moved out to their own cages yesterday & left one for momma so she wouldn't feel so abandoned all at once. The other new babies are doing well so far, she lost one of the tiny, tiny ones, but the other two surprisingly are still hanging in there. They're a week old today. As soon as I feel safe taking pics of them I'll put some on here. The momma is pretty protective of her babies, she does let me pick them up, but she watches me like a hawk.

Speaking of hawks, yesterday we were in the house & DH heard what he thought was a hawk sound outside, so he took off down the stairs to go check it out. I can't get down the stairs nearly as fast as he can, so I was way behind. When he got out there he didn't see anything, but the pups were out checking it out too. The chickens had kind of run for cover I think because there wasn't a one out in sight, at least I know if they have to they do go for the bushes, smart chickens.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ivy update.
Just talked to her, and she was headed to PT. Sounds great, her two sons came and seen her yesterday evening, so she was is super spirits. She thinks that she will go home sometime today, so hopefully she will get back on here. But sounds like she is doing VERY WELL with her new knee.

I know she is going to get her incubator filled up, and get to hatching more eggs. I would like to, but so many people are hatching around here, kinda seems useless. Lots of people just want the mugaldy-dun chicks, and I don't hatch those breeds. If they aint pure, or a planned cross, I don't hatch. Better go. Hope all is well.

JOSIE--you will get used to Molly don't worry too much, they usually know where home is , and I think she knows that now.
Hawyeye-- Going to Emporia?
Trish-- nice car, looks cool, just cant see me driving a car again.
Danz-- great you are selling some birds. Enjoy the space till you fill back up again.
Tweety nice coops---
And to all others, been reading, but if I don't take notes, I cant' remember who all was or is doing what

Guess we are in blackberry winter now, cause all of the blackberries are in bloom. Seems cold out after the heat we had last week!!!!!

That's great that Ivy is doing well! Glad to hear it! And yes, going to the Emporia show this Saturday. I paid for 3 cages, but I don't think I'm going to take Seymore now! She further ruined her tail feathers! I'm kind of upset about it. The ends look REALLy bad now. So sad. I think I'd get laughed out of there. It's too bad, I was really hoping to pull the judge aside after the show and ask him what he thought of her.

I hope the weather stays decent today, I really need to get out & work on that hutch today. I got some of my young rabbits moved out to their own cages yesterday & left one for momma so she wouldn't feel so abandoned all at once. The other new babies are doing well so far, she lost one of the tiny, tiny ones, but the other two surprisingly are still hanging in there. They're a week old today. As soon as I feel safe taking pics of them I'll put some on here. The momma is pretty protective of her babies, she does let me pick them up, but she watches me like a hawk.

Speaking of hawks, yesterday we were in the house & DH heard what he thought was a hawk sound outside, so he took off down the stairs to go check it out. I can't get down the stairs nearly as fast as he can, so I was way behind. When he got out there he didn't see anything, but the pups were out checking it out too. The chickens had kind of run for cover I think because there wasn't a one out in sight, at least I know if they have to they do go for the bushes, smart chickens.

Have you seen Shana's new bunnies? I have never seen anything cuter than those! If we get a bunny, I want one of those! LOL The adults look like babies! I loved how she said they only eat 1/4 cup a food a day because they are so small. Economical, too! I can't wait to see baby bunny pictures!! Sounds like your dogs are on it if they heard the bird too. We had hawks last week and they were really close to the coop-- they kept diving right near and flying over the top of the pen. The chickens were under the coop as far as they get to the bales of straw I set up on the sides hiding. They were literally laying low and I didn't hear a peep out of them! So yes, it looks like chickens are smart enough to dive for cover if they have warning.

 

[Hawkeye95]

When I used to work at the shelter, we sent all the animals home with this big cone around their necks so they wouldn't mess with the stitches. I've never seen any chicken sized ones though. Perhaps you could fashion one out of a red solo cup or something ?

That's hilarious!! I'm not so sure my chicken would really go for that! LOL But you did get me singing Red Solo Cup again! ha!

Here's my new coop! Yay!! We are done!!

First, we built the two rabbit hutches that we were going to put together. We removed the connecting walls to put them together. We also decided to cover up most of the screen, leaving a strip for ventilation. The far end also has the same drop down ramp, but that end is going to be the nesting box and I will use the ramp door as my collection door. The roofs also open up for easy access, as well as the trays slide out for cleaning! Added a roost bar the full length as well. The roof is asphalt, so it'll be good in the weather.
Here they are before they are attached:



Here is the finished product:




New we will drag it out to the run area, and add in bedding. Tomorrow's plan is to build the 10x10 kennel run and then the fencing for the outside 20x20 run. I hope the rain stops early!

Looks FABULOUS!!! Great job! I think you did excellent getting the wood to match up with the coops. Very cute and love the idea that the nest box will be the covered hutch area. I hope they like it! Can't wait to see what you do for the run!! Post pics of that when you get it up!!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Okay, my broody little silkie is sitting on a fertile egg. I checked it a few days ago and it was nearly filled up. Then I checked it today because I'm really thinking it should be due any time now. I have no idea WHEN exactly, because I never wrote what the date was on it because it was one of the first fertile eggs from the AI and I didn't know if it would be fertile or not. So anyway, what I'm getting at here is that I candled it today and the egg is completely black and I can't see in it now at all. The only thing I can see is near the air sac-- it looks like maybe some feathers are sticking up that way. It moved a bit in there. No peeping. No internal pips either. Any ideas now on how many more days it might have left??? I DID see a vein towards the top of the air sac--- do those go away before hatching?? Would that mean it still has a day or two left? I bought chick food today just in case it tries to make an appearance while I'm gone on Saturday.

 

[checoukan]

Guess who's home!!!

Welcome back Sis!!!! Thanks goodness I have a three day weekend, sure do need a break from the kids!!!
Well, went out to take a sack of feed in the old barn, and I heard peeping!! The silver campine hen was sitting on eggs, just let her go, anyway, she has 5, or 6, didn't count, black chicks. Should be ameraucana, lavernder, BCM, and what ever else came along. HEE HEE. Sure had some fluffy cheeks.
Ivy I know I told you I didn't want any olive eggers, you think you might want them??????? Hmmm, bet she might be silent on that. Oh, my, hey, Maybe she would take them in trade

Any way Welcome home Ivy!!!!!

 

[cherwill]

Tweety, the coop is so cute. I love the decorations.

I never would have thought of taking my broody hen for a ride. I'm going to have to try it because last summer I swear at least 4 of our 6 went broody at some point and every time one did, everyone's egg production went down. My in-laws suffered greatly because they buy all the extra eggs we can spare, and we had none to spare for months.

It's good to hear how well Ivy is doing.

My chicks are almost completely feathered but still have those adorable fluffy cheeks and Stan has quite a bit of fluff left on his neck. I'm also worried that Dorothy is going to turn out to be a roo as well ....

 

[Ivywoods]

Hi Everyone, Thank you so much for thinking of me. It's good to be home, but I'm pretty groggy from the pain meds

I'll catch up with everyone later.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Hi all!

Welcome home Ivy!

It was so nice to meet Danz today in Emporia! Wish I had been up for a visit to her place but my foot isn't up for too much yet. I spent the afternoon with it above my heart to bring the swelling back down. It was a perfect day for a drive, though, no sun and no rain.

I got three adorable little Anconas from Danz, the kids took a pic of them but one didn't turn out:








Danz, I had some grow gel for them on the way home. When they began to complain, I gave it to them with extra water and that made them very happy. They tried to bathe in it! They are so cute and the kids were so surprised to come home to baby ducks! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The birds you got from me are 8 weeks old today. I thought I knew what I was doing gender-wise, but I'm a little green for such confidence. You should have 4 Buff Orp pullets, 5 Spec Sussex pullets, 2 Spec Sussex cockerels and 2 Spec Sussex pullets for Rob. I will be culling again in 4 weeks so will have a few more available then, I think.

Rob, in case something comes up and you can't pick up your birds or you change your mind, Danz has my permission to keep your two. Knowing chicken math insanity as intimately as I do, I suspect that won't be happening.

We've really enjoyed our birds. The Sussex have been really curious and friendly. They are used to having mealworms for treats and will eat out of your hand.

Candace, praying for you. Hope there aren't anymore scary close calls. It's crazy how life can change so abruptly. Try to be patient with your body while it recovers; offers the woman who feels like 6 weeks to a recovered ankle is an eternity. My silly ankle isn't anything compared to your health concerns but I had all these plans for things that just had to get done and about 1/4 of them have gotten finished.

Tweety, your coop turned out so cute! How clever.

Hawkeye, Just my luck, whenever I do something, it's never halfway.

Trish44, we made it back from Emporia in one piece and I only gasped once!

I wonder how many kids would fit in that trunk of yours. Still trying to figure out how to make that car work for us! It's a really nice body style, btw. Beats the heck out of tooling around in a 15 passenger, so not cool van!

 

[chicken danz]

Ivy, So glad to see you made it home. Keep that leg elevated when you aren't up!! Sure have missed your wit!
What a day I had. I was awake at 4:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep so I got h.up and sat on the computer and drank a pot of coffee. Made a trip to meet Patricia's husband to pick up some geese, then back home. Then changed clothes and got ready to head to Emporia. I did some shopping then met KarenS and her husband.
Oh funny story. I was bringing Karen some ducks in exchange for her chickens. I went out and caught 3 of them and brought them in the house. I sat down some food and water thinking they would be starved as baby ducks always are. Then I went looking for a box to put them in. When I got back they were gone. Scattered everywhere. So I finally found 2 of them but never found the 3rd one. I finally gave up and just left it in the house. I went out and just caught another one.
So after meeting Karen and her husband; (It was great meeting you both, by the way.) then I had some shopping to do. I hadn't been any where in so long and it's been months since I walked in a store by myself. So even though I didn't really find what I was looking for, it was great to do just take my time and look around. Then I headed back home. First I looked all over and finally found the escape duck behind some bins in my closet.
Then I started feeding and watering birds.
I had a group of polish babies I was supposed to deliver tomorrow in a new brooder box my DH just made for me to go on top of my other brooder sections. Every last one of the babies was dead. There went a little money down the drain. I have no idea what happened. The only thing I can think of, is he used stain on the floor of the box instead of the normal barn paint and sealer I normally use. Maybe they ingested some of that or something. They had food and water and heat so what else could it be? So now I have an incubator full of newly hatched chicks and no place to put them! I'm ready to drive to a major city and sell them on the street corner! I still have to make the trip to Iola tomorrow to meet the gal anyway, because my friend is buying chicks from her and I committed to driving her and keeping her chicks until Sunday for her son's Easter present. I just won't make any money at it this way. And now I don't know where to keep her chicks either!
Well then, my other plan was to construct a new idea I had for a portable pen to put all the baby geese in. I've had three in the house and was ready to get them out. Well now I have 7 of them. I have them in a huge dog kennel but there isn't room for it and a bunch of geese isn't something you want your house to smell like. I had planned to set them outside with a cover and a heat lamp until I could get a temporary pen built but it turned too cool out for them. So somehow tomorrow I need to rig up a temporary shelter for them. Chopper decided he wanted to play with them so he is reaching in and grabbing the paper towels I had underneath them and pulling them out the sides of the kennel.!! Yes he is far worse than a puppy!!!
Just got them in the kennel and Patricia's husband called and I drove to meet him with an exchange bird. (He was in meetings all day so we had to meet twice.)
I spent a lot of money today and got very little. I was out of some of those things like herbal supplements and $$$ moisturizing cream. I did buy some garden seed even though I am starting to doubt I'll ever get my new tiller in the ground!

 

[Hawkeye95]

YAY Ivy for coming home and I missed you around here!! When you get un-groggy check back in!

Course, that could be a while since I bet you'll be on pain meds for a while.

Karen-- CUTE, CUTE duckies!!! Danz grows them up adorable, doesn't she? I LOVE all your tea pots! I have a small collection of tea pots myself. I'm a BIG fan of them!! I love tea, drink it a lot! I love choosing a tea pot to steep my tea in. I have a cute collection of tea cups, too. My favorite teapot of mine is a pot that looks like a pumpkin, it's all white and has vines (3D) sculpted on it and came with a set of 4 little pumpkin teacups with vines and leaves for the handles! I bought it several years ago when I saw a set similar to it that some one else had. I searched for it online and found this one, which I ended up liking better and bought it. I did find the other one my friend had, but thought mine is cuter. LOL Are you a tea fanatic? I have tons and tons of teas! When I was nursing, I even bought this really fabulously yummy tea that promotes milk production. I still buy it because it tastes SOOOOO good. ha!!

Danz--- Here is part of the email I got this afternoon when I got home: (I'm sooooo sad!!!!) NO Emporia show!!!

"Good morning!

Due to a low number of entries, we have cancelled our Spring Show. We only had 5 families, 7 kids, and 30 birds. In the past, we have had 60-130 birds in total. Quite frankly, we just did not have enough participation to justify the cost of the having a show."



Anyway, so I won't be in Emporia this Saturday. I suppose I should really work on the coop and GET IT DONE.

Anyone??? Anyone?? On my above chick/egg hatching question?? I sure wish I had thought to put a date on that egg. It was the first egg she laid after the AI-- the VERY next day and it turned out to be fertile! Those "boys" must work fast! Of course, the AI was done in the morning... so I guess there was time.. I don't know. I figured it wouldn't be fertile.