Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Well David, I have had several chicks over the last few years that have developed this affliction. My belief is it is more brain trauma than vitamins themselves because it occurs most often in birds with vaulted skulls. I have some regular chicken vitamins, Nutri-drench but keep vitamin E capsules around to treat birds that need it. If I use the vitamins themselves I always add a little sugar to their water, both for energy and to make it taste better. The birds don't like the vitamins. Once they get used to them they do like the vitamin E oil though.
As far as them not getting over it that is bunk. I have only one bird that didn't become completely cured with Vitamin E. He is still alive and I just keep him because I can't see killing him. He gets along fine- he just does it upside down. Another thing I've noticed if that almost every one of these birds has been a cockerel. I can't help but wonder if that is coincidence or what. As proof positive the one bird who was about the worst and I feared would never become normal, finally pulled though after a few weeks of Vitamin E therapy. He is a huge big cochin rooster and is very spoiled. He follows me around on the East side pens every day waiting for a special treat while I feed the other birds. He kind of rules that side of the yard.
I figured out what is wrong with the tractor I think. I think the solenoid is getting bad on it. I hammered on it and the starter a couple times with a board and it started up. It happened again and a little banging it started again. I falsely accused DH of doing something to the tractor. Now if he'll just replace the part all will be good.
I hauled a couple tons of sand to the garden spot. One loader at a time. Of course the sand was far on the west side of the yard and the garden is far on the East. Then I tilled it in.By that time I was just totally beat. My left leg wears out cause I have to nearly stand on the clutch to do anything. It is really stiff. So it got really late and I still have no garden planted but at least I think it is about ready.
While I was moving sand I had some people show up and buy some ducks and some guineas. They had heard I had some ducks. I am just going to have to get my fence put up. That is happening more and more all the time. People just show up out of the blue without a call or anything. I like making money by surprise but I don't like having people here without previous warning. What if I am not here. Are they just going to help themselves to birds???
Ivy how deep are you making the holes for the grapes? I have 35 of them to get planted. Loved the pictures of Brit. Cloud and Marshmallow have started going to the pond every morning and she comes back looking just like that. I think she must roll in the mud.

 

[WichitaKidd]

Well David, I have had several chicks over the last few years that have developed this affliction. My belief is it is more brain trauma than vitamins themselves because it occurs most often in birds with vaulted skulls. I have some regular chicken vitamins, Nutri-drench but keep vitamin E capsules around to treat birds that need it. If I use the vitamins themselves I always add a little sugar to their water, both for energy and to make it taste better. The birds don't like the vitamins. Once they get used to them they do like the vitamin E oil though.
As far as them not getting over it that is bunk. I have only one bird that didn't become completely cured with Vitamin E. He is still alive and I just keep him because I can't see killing him. He gets along fine- he just does it upside down. Another thing I've noticed if that almost every one of these birds has been a cockerel. I can't help but wonder if that is coincidence or what. As proof positive the one bird who was about the worst and I feared would never become normal, finally pulled though after a few weeks of Vitamin E therapy. He is a huge big cochin rooster and is very spoiled. He follows me around on the East side pens every day waiting for a special treat while I feed the other birds. He kind of rules that side of the yard.

Thanks Danz. I actually feel a little better about the whole thing now that I have a better understanding of what's going on. Also goes to show that you can't always believe everything you read online. That's why I asked the experts.

 

[Trish44]

Whew I'm just pooped out. I went out after my egg customer left & I ran into town to deliver a rabbit to a friend who was buying it for a gift & worked until after dark modifying my last rabbit hutch. I had to fix the bottom wire because it was coming off. Then I had to put in a wire divider to make it into two cages. This thing is just terrible wood to work with, it's one of those hutches they sell at pet stores & it's just the pits to do anything with, but it's what I have for now. I worked & worked to try to get things fixed on it & finally got the front wire put back on & I was done. Then I had to move the momma rabbit out that has one baby left with her. I figured I would leave him with her a couple more days since she had one leave today & then she wouldn't have to have them both gone at once. I moved one other little doe into the other side of the cage. I was out at 10:00 then feeding & watering all of the rabbits in the dark, feeding dogs & cats & picking up all of my tools from my project. Now I need to get some screws in some of the plastic roofs on the hutches & give some of them a paint job & I'm done messing with hutches for awhile. Then I have to start on chicken pens. My new little chicks from this year are about to outgrow their brooder so I've got to get on building them a bigger pen to stay in until I can integrate them into the flock. I've got wood to build with for the most part & I think I have enough wire, it's just cutting everything & getting it together.

My GP pups proved their worth last night. I don't know what time it was, but we were sound asleep, that is until I heard a yip, yip like coyotes make & it was nearby. Then right after that I heard one pup go up to the top of the hill & the other was down in the front yard & were they raising a ruckus. They barked for quite some time then when they quit it was total silence the rest of the night, not a yip or a howl, not anything. I have noticed just like I figured that Jasmine is the lead LGD, she takes off first after whatever it is & Lily is backup.

 

[Ivywoods]

Danz-I'm not sure how deep I will go to transplant the grapes. These have been in the ground for a year, but they have done absolutley nothing,. I couldn't have picked a worse spot for them last year. I didn't realize how bad it was until after I had put in all the posts for the support wires. I thought I could ammend the soil there, but they just haven't grown. How big of a hole and how deep I go will depend on how much root they have when I dig them up, and then I will put them back in so the stem comes out of the ground at the same place it does now. Considering how bad they have done this past year, I doubt that the roots have spread much at all. I want a total of 8 plants, and I am down to 7, so after I get these transplanted I will go out and buy one more plant. I'm not sure what variety. I want several different ones, both seeded and seedless, so we will see.

 

[Hawkeye95]

WHEW! I have been insanely busy. Yesterday was packed with end of the year stuff for the kids. Preschool had a graduation ceremony for everyone moving up a grade (my middle is going to Kindergarten and my youngest is going to PreK now). On top of that, I never had a moment to myself except for this morning when I was at my usual coffee shop during Preschool to read-- and that ended up being not so fun. My best friend called to tell me her results came in and she has a tumor on her spinal cord and will be having it removed at Mayo. We knew it was bad, but it's really, really bad and everything else is going down hill for her, and I started crying while talking to her on the phone and had to leave the coffee shop. What a day. I know a lot of you pray, so please pray that the surgeons will be performing at their best and that they won't make any mistakes with her spinal cord. The tumor is so bad, it's not pushing out discs-- which is how she even noticed something was wrong a few months back. Her first idiot Dr did an x-ray and decided it was compressed and he wanted to fuse them. She felt there was something else going on and got a second opinion-- and this is what they found. (among other things like her entire body lymph nodes being swollen and causing her pain)

HeChicken-- that story is beyond crazy!!! OMGosh, I would have killed my dog! OKay, not really, but I would have been so angry! It was funny, but in such a terrible way. You are making incredible progress on your coop!!

I forget who made the cupcakes that looked like pies, but those were really amazing! They look JUST like pies!!

All the herb garden talk-- I have a herb garden, but I don't have much in it. Just rosemary, lavender and mint. I threw in tomatoes, peppers and strawberries to fill it up. I still want to plant raddishes, but haven't done it yet!

Danz, hope you get that solenoid fixed-- that's a PITA. I used to have to climb under my car and use a screw driver to touch the solenoid to the frame to get the car to start. It did it all the time, it was annoying. That was one of the first cars my dad bought for me. I think he didn't fix it on purpose so he could slow me down.

Ivy, when ever I plant something, I throw in the humus/manure mixture that you buy at Walmart. It really gets plants off to a good start. I don't generally make my own compost-- unless I find something nice sitting around the side of my barn from the horses, and even then, it usually tries to grow milo on me. I don't trust it anymore unless I know it's been sitting there for a good year or longer.

Pikeman, that is great that you have scavenged wood off Craigslist! Nice to build for cheap, I love it!

Trish, nice that your pups had the coyotes turn tail! I wish I could get me one of those dogs. The more i hear you all talk about them, the more I'd like one. But there is no way my DH is going to get another dog.

That is great that yours are really working out well now. I'm not a fan of the puppy stage. I've always adopted dogs-- when they are older. I like older dogs.

 

[Hawkeye95]

OH! forgot to say that Crack did die. Poor chickie grew for quite a long time there! Nearly made it! I don't know what happened, I'm guessing I might have missed another hairline crack that was there and I didn't see. He had a blood ring around the top. Who knows. So, now out of 12 shipped eggs, I'm down to 7. I candled them last night and they are all wiggling in there, so I hope they all make it! I still think that's pretty good odds out of eggs shipped from CA.

Going to try to get chicken building stuff done today. Dont' know how far I'll get. Sigh. I'm soooo burned out. Bleah.

 

[tweetysvoice]

I had to giggle about all the posts re: chainsaws. A few years back, I asked my DH for a jigsaw for christmas and he looked at me like I was crazy. He got it for me and guess who uses it just as much, if not more, than me. I love doing wood working projects! We have a pretty nice chainsaw, just haven't had too much of an oportunity to use it.

Ivy - I would have loved to see a video of brit and the digging. I love the second picture - She has such a mischevious look on her face! LOL

Hawkeye - sorry Crack didn't make it. I'm very impressed that s/he did grow though - shows how resiliant these birds are!

Busy night tonight. Gotta get the coop cleaned up, mow the back yard, clean the house, grocery shop, etc etc all for the roar of more family coming in tomorrow morning. I can't wait to have a normal weekend! At least I can look forward to next weekend, which is a three day one!

 

[chicken danz]

Aw Hawkeye I am so sorry about your friend. Your prayers helped me so much and you can bet I will pray for her. Have faith.
And sorry about your chick. I think you are doing great with shipped eggs. I think 50% is about average if they are good eggs. There is just so much that can happen when they are thrown around and put to temperature extremes. I am concerned about how they are changing the postal system.I've noticed anything that comes from the East and goes through Kansas City has a lot more problems as far as time and condition than things that are cleared from Topeka. Now since they are going to all come from Kansas City I can see a potential for bigger delays and poorer handling. My own postal carrier even said they have trouble with Kansas City stuff.
Ivy all of my grapes are concord. It would be nice to have some eating grapes but I just don't know of too many people having a lot of luck with anything else in this area. I know out northwest some they have some wine vineyards but the soil is more sandy there than it is here. Your soil is much nicer than mine so you may have some success. I figure if I get 50% to grow I will be lucky.
Tweety I don't envy you at all. I just freak out when company is coming. I procrastinate and wait to the last minute to start cleaning and then I get grouchy cause I have so much to do. I think I just function under stress better.
David I have a little Wyandotte roo in here with the head twisting thing I took out of the brooder 2 days ago. Been pumping him full of Vitamin E. I noticed this morning he was standing better. I gave him a dose of E. He was yelling then jumped out of his box and is standing here next to me preening himself. His head is leaning slightly to one side but he seems to be pulling through. I think he'll be back out with the group before I know it. He was bad enough DH said he should kill it and I convinced him to give it a couple days. Just a little word of encouragement. It can be done!
His worst malady at this point is he insists on standing on his water dish and pooping in it.

 

[Ivywoods]

Oh, Hawkeye. I'm so sorry about your friend. I will pray.

Tweety. Funny about the jigsaw. I love my little jigsaw. Since it's the only one we have my DH uses mine, too.

I'm leaving later today to go pick up my new puppy, Lizzy. I'm so excited. The excitement might diminish a little the first time she piddles on the floor, but maybe if my DH and I are both diligent we can prevent that all together. Seems like almost every dog I've ever raised has had a least a few accidents in the house. My DH's bird dog, Buster, was raised in the house by my DH and he has NEVER had an accident in the house. These havanese are supposed to be smart and easily trained, so I will hope I can prevent the accidents.

 

[HEChicken]

My best friend called to tell me her results came in and she has a tumor on her spinal cord and will be having it removed at Mayo. We knew it was bad, but it's really, really bad and everything else is going down hill for her, and I started crying while talking to her on the phone and had to leave the coffee shop. What a day. I know a lot of you pray, so please pray that the surgeons will be performing at their best and that they won't make any mistakes with her spinal cord. The tumor is so bad, it's not pushing out discs-- which is how she even noticed something was wrong a few months back. Her first idiot Dr did an x-ray and decided it was compressed and he wanted to fuse them. She felt there was something else going on and got a second opinion-- and this is what they found. (among other things like her entire body lymph nodes being swollen and causing her pain)

I'm so sorry - how awful. When my kids were little, I joined a playgroup and became good friends with the other moms. We used to take it in turns to bring a snack on playgroup morning and one morning I got a call from "Susan". It was her turn to bring snacks but she asked if I could do it instead. I said yes, but there was something in her voice and I asked if she was okay. It turns out she had JUST got a call from her doctor with results of tests from a couple of days before and she had a brain tumor. She wound up having surgery and chemo and I spent a lot of time with her while she was recuperating. Her son was only 3 years old and her biggest fear was that she wouldn't be around to raise him and worse, that he wouldn't even remember her because he was still so young. So I do know what you're going through and you and she are definitely in my thoughts.

HeChicken-- that story is beyond crazy!!! OMGosh, I would have killed my dog! OKay, not really, but I would have been so angry! It was funny, but in such a terrible way. You are making incredible progress on your coop!!

I'm not a fan of the puppy stage. I've always adopted dogs-- when they are older. I like older dogs.

I always adopt older dogs too. I had one puppy who was great - never chewed up anything or pottied where she wasn't supposed to, but I figure she was one in a million and I'll never get that lucky again so since her, I've only adopted older dogs. I would love to get GP's at our new place since I know there are coyotes there but I know DH won't be in favor of the idea.

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Sorry about Crack, but glad the rest are doing so well. That is a great result from shipped eggs.

I had to giggle about all the posts re: chainsaws. A few years back, I asked my DH for a jigsaw for christmas and he looked at me like I was crazy. He got it for me and guess who uses it just as much, if not more, than me. I love doing wood working projects! We have a pretty nice chainsaw, just haven't had too much of an oportunity to use it.

Yeah, all these posts about chainsaws have got me to thinking maybe I need one of those. Never had one, never used one, but I do have my own set of power tools, separate from DH's. Actually, I have a bigger selection than he does. I bought my own jigsaw last year when I needed to cut out a pop door on the coop I was building at the time, and it will come in handy on this coop too, I'm sure. I also bought a framing nailer for this coop build and am so glad I did. It has made things go so much faster than having to pound in nails manually or use a screw driver. I was able to frame a 14' long wall in about 20 minutes and that includes carrying the lumber to put in place, marking it, laying it out and nailing it. No way I could have done it that fast using the manual methods. Only thing is, the framing nailer is a monster - even though its an air tool, it is big and heavy and I've been doing so much work with it above my head that my shoulder muscles are not just sore - they're growing.