Consolidated Kansas

[Ivywoods]

I remembered the memory card for the camera today and took a few pics. The first pictue is the little windmill my brother made for me a few years ago out of railroad spikes. I planted the climatis my DH gave me for Mother's Day underneath it, but it's a little hard to see. I also found a piece of big heavy pipe that had been cut off and left in our old barn. I used it to plant some geraniums.


This next picture shows the pathway I made and the wagon wheel planter. The wheels are from the antique blacksmith wagon that had been converted into a little shop and I made it into my layer coop.


This is the set of cages I moved into the barn a couple weeks ago. You can see some of my young birds enjoying their perch.


This next picture shows a close up of the latch. It just slides up and down when you grab the bar and it works SO SLICK!


And last is a picture of the wooden cages I built. This shows how I have the feeders on the outside of the pen. I showed this one because I have the water on the outside and the feed on the inside. This little silver duckwing old english hen is the MESSIEST bird I own. She throws her feed everywhere. I turned her feeder around so at least she will throw it in her own pen and still have something to eat!

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[HEChicken]

Noise..... Can anyone tell me how noise my chickens will be making? I have a neighbor who hates my standard poodles, who are rarely outside! He works nights and sleeps during the day. Hates if my dogs bark at all, but has been told by the police, who he HAS called that dogs are allowed to bark occasionally, especially during the day. If I don't have roosters outside, will it be fairly quiet except when they lay eggs? What time of day do the generally lay eggs? Worrying here.....

I'm afraid they can get quite noisy around egg-laying time, but it does depend on the bird. I find that pullets tend to sing the egg song more vigorously than the older birds for whom the process has become a bit ho-hum. Also, I have a couple of "complainers", who are very vocal if they can't get to their favorite nest box right away because its occupied. They will usually continue to be noisy until they get the nest box they want and then they shut up. By early afternoon usually the noise has ceased and for the rest of the day you'd never know they were there.

I remembered the memory card for the camera today and took a few pics. The first pictue is the little windmill my brother made for me a few years ago out of railroad spikes. I planted the climatis my DH gave me for Mother's Day underneath it, but it's a little hard to see. I also found a piece of big heavy pipe that had been cut off and left in our old barn. I used it to plant some geraniums.


And last is a picture of the wooden cages I built. This shows how I have the feeders on the outside of the pen. I showed this one because I have the water on the outside and the feed on the inside. This little silver duckwing old english hen is the MESSIEST bird I own. She throws her feed everywhere. I turned her feeder around so at least she will throw it in her own pen and still have something to eat!

All beautiful pics Ivy. I do like your system for having the feeders outside the cages - very smart!

 

[WichitaKidd]

Hi There all you Kansas people Iam pretty new with Chickens but I love all of them. Iam in Wichita. One of my Hens just hatched a Baby this morning just waiting on the rest. Glad too talk to you all.

Welcome fellow Wichitan! Where abouts in Wichita are you at? I'm on the east side of town. A number of us are on Facebook too. Check out the Kansas Poultry Swap group. Lots more great people there as well.

First,

GinnyLea. As others of said, there are lots of us in the Wichita area so glad you could join us. We've even talked about the possibility of a meet-up for the Wichita folks sometime soon.

A meet up would be fun. I'd like to meet some of the other Wichita backyard farmers.

 

[Trish44]

IVY, I love that windmill & the wagonwheel planter too. I really like using old things & repurposing them for something else. I saw these clay chimney things on CL a week or two ago I would have loved to have to use for planters, but I didn't have a reason to drive to downtown Wichita to get them at the time. I see things like that all the time, but they're usually too far away to drive for just one thing.

I took a couple of my latest chicks out when I went out to feed all the animals & put them in the brooder. I still have about 4 in the hatcher yet, one of which seems to be getting kind of a slow start. I have been giving it chick saver & vitamin E because it just seemed so sluggish. It's starting to perk up some, so I'm glad to see it moving around a little more & yelling at me when I give it something. I did end up having both Welsummers hatch, one of them is the sluggish chick, so I hope it makes it. They are the cutest darned chicks ever! I have been wanting some Welsummers so I hope these end up being hens. I've found someone with Welsummers who is going to get me some eggs to hatch for her & I so I will hopefully have a few more. I've been told they're really good layers & very friendly birds, that's what I like. I don't want to start any discussion again, but just an update, I have one Royal Palm & the Black Spanish poult that have made it. Those two seem to be doing fine now as far as I can tell. The Black Spanish seems to kind of like to pick on some of the other chicks, it is a cute little thing right now while it's small though. I saw someone on one of the swaps or one of the sites on FB had a couple of them, they're cute little things now. I don't think they're especially cute when they're grown though.

 

[cherwill]

Tweety, a shadow box would work well for most of the cutters and Trish, I like the idea of using different fabrics. Thanks!

Danz, I have a bed of mint along the side of the house. I made sure I put in a place I wanted it to take over and it certainly did. Chocolate mint in coffee sounds delicious.

Ivy, your place is beautiful. I love the spike windmill and all the things you've turned into planters.

 

[Trish44]

Oh Danz, I forgot to mention that chocolate mint is a little different than the other mints if you haven't planted it before. It needs a little more shade than the others, it doesn't take hot sun so well unless it's in a moist spot. I absolutely love the smell of that mint, it's my favorite! It also isn't quite as invasive as some of the other mints either, which is nice. I will have to try some in my coffee, I haven't tried that.

 

[JosieChick]

Ivy-Your yard is gorgeous!! I love all the fun planters and old stuff. Is that a swamp birch in the background? I love those trees...

Danz- DH says if the shot helps and she only needs it once a year it is ok, if she needs it multiple times a year it would be better to do pills, then if she has a problem you can pull her off the steroids. Once you give the shot you are stuck with it for at least a month.

Tweety- I have found my silkies are weird when they first start going outside. They just stand there frozen forever. Eventually they learn to scratch and play but seem slower than most of my other breeds of chicks to do so. I think they are so cute when all their feathers start sticking out!

Spent most of the afternoon clearing brush along the our and the neighbors fenceline so we can put up the invisible fence for the dogs. It is a mess back there. Weeds and brush and thorns and TICKS!! Ugh. I thought I would get so much more done but there is always tomorrow. Course the chain kept falling off the saw and getting all tangled up with grass and weeds. Hope it doesn't rain tomorrow.

 

[pikeman94]

After much research I have finally settle on a design for the new coop. It is very similar to Hawkeye's build. I found the design on Purina's website. As an aside, I think they stole your plans Hawkeye! Anyways here it is:

http://poultry.purinamills.com/NUTRITIONMANAGEMENT/HenHouseHutchDesign/default.aspx

This base plan is 4'x4'. I am thinking this might be a tad tight for 10 birds. I am thinking of making it 4'x6'. Again, my girls only next and sleep in the coop. They have free range on about a 1/2 acre so the whole 2-4 sq ft per bird rule kinda goes out the window. I have some mods I will make to the design, but any thoughts or comments are always welcome.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Those are the plans that we looked at when we thought we'd have to resort to building our own. It think it's a great design!

 

[Hawkeye95]

I got the feed, got all 1200 pounds shoveled into barrels. Went back around and fed some birds for the second time and now I'm ready to crash. I drove back into Burlington from Leroy where I get my feed to deliver some eggs to my sister. I was in a hurry like I always am. And I intended to run by to see my Dad. My sis and I sat on her front porch and talked for a couple hours. It was great. I actually relaxed for a while and just enjoyed myself. I just don't take much time to do that any more. I never made it to my Dad's but she had been over there and so had my other sister so he wasn't alone today.
I think I needed that more than I realized. I got an apron that my Mom used to wear. I have one that was my grandmother's as well. I don't know if I'll use it or store it. Probably store it, cause I don't wear the aprons I have often. I forget until I have already messed up my clothes. I got some chocolate mint dug up from my sister's place. I normally hate mint because it becomes so invasive but this stuff smells heavenly. I think I'll wait until it is established and then try brewing some in my coffee.

I'm so glad that you got to spend a nice evening with your sister and relax and enjoy yourself. I love doing the same-- sometimes I'll go to my mom's and we'll sit out on her porch and just talk into the evening. I have a lot of mint in my garden as well, but no chocolate mint-- I ALMOST bought it last year. Let me know how it tastes in your coffee!

I remembered the memory card for the camera today and took a few pics. The first pictue is the little windmill my brother made for me a few years ago out of railroad spikes. I planted the climatis my DH gave me for Mother's Day underneath it, but it's a little hard to see. I also found a piece of big heavy pipe that had been cut off and left in our old barn. I used it to plant some geraniums.


This next picture shows the pathway I made and the wagon wheel planter. The wheels are from the antique blacksmith wagon that had been converted into a little shop and I made it into my layer coop.


This is the set of cages I moved into the barn a couple weeks ago. You can see some of my young birds enjoying their perch.


This next picture shows a close up of the latch. It just slides up and down when you grab the bar and it works SO SLICK!


And last is a picture of the wooden cages I built. This shows how I have the feeders on the outside of the pen. I showed this one because I have the water on the outside and the feed on the inside. This little silver duckwing old english hen is the MESSIEST bird I own. She throws her feed everywhere. I turned her feeder around so at least she will throw it in her own pen and still have something to eat!

.

Ivy, I just LOVE your whole set up. I would love to create some cute little garden attraction like you have there with your windmill and wheels. Beautiful. I'm sooooo envious of your cages! I suppose I can build the wood ones eventually. Sigh. I'm tired of building!!! I use the rabbit cups in my pens too-- easy to clean out and set them into the wire up off the ground so they can't walk into them or knock them over. Neat idea about putting them on the outside.

After much research I have finally settle on a design for the new coop. It is very similar to Hawkeye's build. I found the design on Purina's website. As an aside, I think they stole your plans Hawkeye! Anyways here it is:

http://poultry.purinamills.com/NUTRITIONMANAGEMENT/HenHouseHutchDesign/default.aspx

This base plan is 4'x4'. I am thinking this might be a tad tight for 10 birds. I am thinking of making it 4'x6'. Again, my girls only next and sleep in the coop. They have free range on about a 1/2 acre so the whole 2-4 sq ft per bird rule kinda goes out the window. I have some mods I will make to the design, but any thoughts or comments are always welcome.

YAY!! I can see the similarity but I think it's too small. Mine is 5 X 3 ft. And really, I would just make it 8 ft X 4 and then you'll be good to go if you ever add more or need to coop them up in the winter for any reason. You would just buy the 8 ft 2X4's and then cut them in half to make your sides. Less cutting, since you'll just be cutting them once to make two. I really don't think it would cost much more to use the entire 8 ft 2X4 for your length than to cut them down and make it shorter. I also put my nest box on the side, but honestly, you can put the box anywhere! I used reclaimed window sashes that I bought at Habitat's ReStore. They sell their windows for $5 a piece, which is a fantastic deal.

Medawinks, I'm with everyone else, I'm betting your neighbor will be complaining. It's not even like they are super loud, but their voices are high pitched and do carry. I know they laid an egg or something is going on when they do their "bok, bok, bok, BAGWAK!!!" over and over. I like to insert my own words for it "OMGosh, I laid an EGG!!" But my roosters join in with the song when one of them gets started and before I know it, I have 12 birds out there singing the same thing over and over. But then it ends and all is well and quiet again. It's not like it goes on and on all day. Otherwise, they are pretty quiet clucking and talking to each other.