Consolidated Kansas

[Mandilynn]

Tea tree oil is amazing, thanks for the site. The mama and puppy are amazingly cute. Congrats at the new additions to the family.

I am just getting ready to head to work, Kansas State Fair concert tickets go on sale today and I work seasonally in the ticket office. I get excited about working since I don't get to do it often. I feel silly, but I am pretty nervous about leaving the chickens alone all day, I've never done that before. LOL. We have separated they boys out and put them in temporary pens, since I have to hold on to them until my FIL comes and picks which one he will be keeping, which is a huge pain in the rear. The boy we are keeping, Lucy, and the girls were out roaming the yard yesterday and Lucy decided to take a chunk out of one of the reject boys combs through the cage wire, so I had my first injury to deal with. I just cleaned him up and put some bag balm on it, then put him in an old rabbit cage so it could heal up before he goes back in with the other boys. I hope that was the right way to handle it. Lucy seems like a grouchy type of fellow and has a strong dislike of me, but is like a kitten with my husband. He lets him come in the house once in a while and they sit on the couch together. I'm not sure why he decided to go on the attack yesterday. I suppose it is normal and I'm just a newbie and don't get the whole chicken pecking order thing.

Any how, I better get moving to work. Have a great day all!

 

[WichitaKidd]

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.

Danz: OK. What's the trick to giving chicks vitamins? I've tried just holding a dropper by her beak seeing if she'll peck at it. Even dripped some on the side of her beak. Seems like she just shakes it off & most of it ends up on me. Not sure how much she's really getting into her system. Surely there has to be an easier way. Any tips?

 

[HEChicken]

David, I'll be interested in the response to that too! I've never had to do it yet but its good to have the information/knowledge so that when it comes up, I feel a little more prepared.

Ivy, that is awesome that you got Portia as well. I wonder if she will help in potty-training Lizzy at all? Hee-hee, that's quite the assortment of dogs you have now, isn't it? Good thing you have no restrictions. Here in Wichita you can have 2 dogs with no permit and you can get a permit to have up to 4 dogs but that's the limit. Where I'm moving in the country, I haven't been able to get a good feel for restrictions. I know in town you can have 3 but I'm pretty sure we are under county rules since we are outside city limits, and I haven't been able to determine for sure if the county has restrictions or not. Since we can have unlimited poultry, perhaps it is the same for dogs and cats.

Trish, with the frustrations you've been having with dealing with customer service over your GQF, you might appreciate this story. DH's laptop died yesterday and since he needs it for work, I volunteered to go and find him a replacement. I was at OfficeMax and found one that looked like it met all the specs he needs for his work, so I told the sales guy "I'll take this one". He headed off to the back storage area, came out empty-handed, checked the label on the shelf, went back, came out, checked something on the computer, went back. This went on for 10-15 minutes. Finally he came out and started unplugging the floor model. All of this is without saying another word to me. So he took the floor model over to the cash register and plugged it in. I went to stand by him to see if he'd explain what he was up to, and he turned around to say he was deleting all the OfficeMax adware they had installed on it. Ooookkkaaayyy buddy, at what point are you going to ask me if I even WANT the floor model?

The cashier tried to strike up a conversation with me, so I asked her what discount they give you for buying the floor model. She said "I don't know". I asked "Can you find out?" I mean, sheesh. So off she goes to ask him and comes back and mumbles something about "He said he'll think about it". Really? I wandered off to pass the waiting time looking at other things, and after another 10 minutes or so he came over and said it was ready for me. Then he went on to say that they really can't offer a discount BUT, because it is a floor model, they highly recommend buying the extended warranty because they have no idea how much life is left on the LCD display. The warranty will be an extra $150 but if I get the warranty, he's willing to offer me 10% off my entire purchase. I'm a little dumbfounded at this point, so to clarify I ask, "Let me make sure I understand this. You don't have any in stock so you want me to get the floor model but because it is the floor model, and who knows who has been pounding on it or how much life is left in it, you want me to buy the extended warranty, and overall the floor model is going to cost me MORE than an untouched, unboxed model? Hmmmm.....I'm going to have to think about that".

I hightailed it out of there, went down the road to Office Depot and got the exact same computer, brand new, in box for the same price it was at OfficeMax before the warranty. What a way to do business, huh?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Danz: OK. What's the trick to giving chicks vitamins? I've tried just holding a dropper by her beak seeing if she'll peck at it. Even dripped some on the side of her beak. Seems like she just shakes it off & most of it ends up on me. Not sure how much she's really getting into her system. Surely there has to be an easier way. Any tips?

I've had to do this a few times. First with my silkies when they arrived in the mail (nearly adult birds) and they were going down hill. I can do it by myself, but the first couple of times, you might need a helper. I sit down on the ground/floor with the bird, and then grab hold of the beak and use my finger nail to pry open the beak. I then insert the syringe. Or whatever you are using-- dump it down the beak. Just be careful not to put too much down at once or they could get it down their lungs instead. I've never had any troubles. I even had to do this with my really flighty Polish and I wrangled her and opened her beak. Just use your finger nail. And when you get the beak open, go for the BACK side of the beak-- not the tip. Everything will roll out and the bird can push it back out of it's mouth if you put it in near the tip. OH, and BTW, it only has to be open just a little bit to get it in. Their mouths do seem to draw in the liquid even with their mouths mostly shut.

I hightailed it out of there, went down the road to Office Depot and got the exact same computer, brand new, in box for the same price it was at OfficeMax before the warranty. What a way to do business, huh?

WOW.. that is crazy! No discount for a laptop that might die within the year?? Heck no! Sheesh. I see what kids to to those floor models, I would NEVER buy one. You did the right thing and hopefully your new computer will last a long time for you all.


MandiLynn, just keep triple antibiotic on the wound and he should be fine. I would definitely keep him separated so no one will see the red or blood and go after it.

 

[chicken danz]

David and others. You open a chicken's mouth like any other animal. Just put slight pressure on each side of the mouth or beak. The trick is to get those muscles that open and close the mouth. And of course like Loralee said you can use a fingernail to open them. I have no fingernails to speak of so using the jaw muscles works well for me. If you set them on a solid surface where they have footing it makes it much easier. Just drop it in their mouth. They should tilt their own heads back and swallow it. If a little runs out it is no problem. The chick I have been treating is on day three of vitamin E and is only tilting it's head and acting weird when I pick it up. He is making a really quick recovery. Faster than most. It normally takes a couple weeks of treatment. David I would definitely recommend the Vitamin E more so than the other vitamins. It is a wonder vitamin when it comes to brains. I would mix the other vitamins in her water and add sugar or honey to improve the taste. When she starts improving you can just squirt the Vitamin E on the top of her food if you no longer want to wrestle a chicken mouth.
Ah Ivy, those dogs are to die for. Makes me want a tiny puppy for the house. No! No! No! I have too many animals already.
Next weekend I think I'll start selling off excess pullets after Prairie gets her broodies from me. The new girls are laying well and although not large eggs they are producing. I think I'll start by selling off some of the smaller hens. Last summer when it got hot I had a shortage of eggs so I don't want to go too crazy. I am just going through so much feed it is costing me too much and it is hard to sell that many eggs. From Sunday until Wednesday I collected over 30 dozen eggs. Tath would be close to 60 dozen a week. I just don't have that many customers right now.
My bird buyer will be here the first of the week and I think she will buy all the eggs I have. She makes a lot of money off of me. She resales them at an inflated price. But that is only good for right now. So it is time to start moving some birds. I am so busy hatching game birds etc right now I have no room to hatch random chicken eggs.

 

[Trish44]

HeChicken, wow sometimes you really have to wonder about these stores & their employees. I mean how dumb do they think people are? I would have left way before you did probably, you were much more patient than I would have been with them. We have been dealing with Best Buy for this tablet computer we're supposed to be getting for buying new furniture. I have made 5 calls & was put off every time, which I have been documenting. The first time they told me the tablet would be mailed to us by the end of that week. The next week I called & told them the tablet hadn't come & they said well that model is being discontinued, no notice or anything & your order was canceled. Then they told me to call back the next week, this went on until finally last week they told me to call this week & the new model should be in by then. I had about had it by this point, almost a month & 5 phone calls & still no tablet. Finally yesterday they told me we could pick up the tablet at Best Buy this weekend. Now the clincher here is that I got a confirmation number on the phone & then my DH got a call later at work from the furniture store & they gave him another number entirely, so this story will be continued, I will let you know if we get the run around when we get to the store today. I can guarantee you that if anybody gives me any flack about giving us a tablet they're going to get an ear full at this point & then if I don't get my tablet I'm going right to the furniture store & someone else is going to hear about it. You don' t promise me something & give me a paper stating it's owed to me & not give it to me, that's just not going to fly.

Well I had my other little turkey, the Royal Palm fly out of the brooder on me today, at least you know they're doing well when they have that much energy & along with it another Ameraucana chick went out too. I waited awhile & the little turkey came out where I could see it. I grabbed my fish net & was able to catch the turkey fairly easily, but the chick is still on the loose. I had my DH try to help me, but it kept running behind & under things, so I guess I'll wait until later when it gets sleepy & get it then hopefully.

I had quite another adventure this morning when I decided I had to get the other last momma rabbit & her babies out of the garage. I took her out & got the one rabbit moved out of her hutch only to find out the door wasn't wide enough to get the nest box with the babies in. Then I had to move yet another rabbit & finally got the momma rabbit & babies put in a hutch where they would fit. By this point the momma rabbit was pretty freaked out with all of the moving around & wondering where her babies were. Hopefully she will get settled down & be OK. I got her finally in one of the hutches that has an attached box on the back where the babies are out of sight & protected. I then was one hutch short for a rabbit out there, so I had to go in the garage & carry out two cages that are hooked together to put the displaced rabbit in & then put a cover over it for shelter. By the time this all was about done my DH came out to see what had happened to me, I had gone out to do regular morning chores & then just didn't come back so he got to wondering what was going on. He did help me get the cages moved where I wanted them at least. I know it's supposed to rain so I hope the one in the open cage will have enough shelter. At least they're not hot now though, that was a real concern because rabbits will die from the heat faster than anything.

Well I've got to get around to go to Wichita, so I hope you all have a great day! Oh, I have chicks hatching today too, I have one out already & two more are pipping, yay! I was kind of worried that none of them were going to hatch.

 

[Hawkeye95]

My shipped eggs are pipping! YAY! They are due to hatch tomorrow. So we'll see how long it takes them to get out.

I also finished building a new run under my deck! I'll post pictures as soon as my DH brings my camera home. I'm going to go get lattice to put up on the west side of it, because the sun just beats down in the late afternoon and they will need some shade. I had been using a piece of fabric tied to the wire for shade, but it looked really creepy and the chicken wire I had up was all beat up. I built a door and put on hardware cloth. I'm sure it's really hard to imagine what I've been up to until I post a picture to show.

Trish, congrats on the pips! Hope they all make it out. Sounds like you have been every bit as busy as I have been this morning. Except my DH didn't go looking for me. When he hears me cutting and hammering out there-- he leaves me alone!

He did come out for a bit to see what I was up to. He had NO clue I had torn out the old chicken run under there and was starting a new one. He looked pretty surprised. I hope your mama rabbit settles down with her babies. Having NEVER raised or had a bunny, I have no idea how they handle things. I know mice and rats will eat their babies if they are moved and things upset them. I hope rabbits aren't like that. Crazy about that tablet business! I hope you get it!

Danz, sounds like you're busy as usual! I can't believe the amount of eggs you are getting! With my 9 layers, I am swamped in eggs as it is! I took over a dozen to my neighbors yesterday evening. I'm back to getting 6 or so eggs a day again. I guess my egg eating worries were not founded, thank goodness! Like I need another problem!

Okay, going to go get my lattice, and then my silkie pen will be DONE!!!

 

[rvroman]

Hawkeye, I'm so sorry about your friend and will add her to my prayer list.

I suspect you're right about it not being MS at all. We'll just pray that it's not malignant and that she can have surgery and recover fully. It's just so frightening, though, and the testing seems to stretch out into infinity. I'm really sorry about Crack, also.

Tweety, I hope things turn out okay this weekend. I hear you on the family thing.

roman, how are you feeling by now? Much better, I hope! You owe me a visit!

cherwill, you're nephew is so fortunate to have family like you guys. You're awesome.

JosieChick, hope all goes well rounding up those birds! I'm sure my kids would love to be borrowed, especially DS. Anything animal related makes him really happy. Have fun with Danz!

Ivy, congrats on getting your new baby!! We want pics, please!

Trish44, you are one busy woman! I'm always amazed by how much you get done. I have helpers all over the place when I'm working on things, I can't imagine doing it all on my own!

So guys, I've been running like crazy this morning and finally ran clear out of steam. Don't know what is up with that but I actually went back to bed this a.m. THAT just doesn't happen. Hope I'm not getting sick. Maybe just having sympathy pains for DD. Anyway, first thing this a.m. I went down to see how the ducks were doing and ALL of them stood up like "there she is"! I felt like their hero! I had considered having them stay in the pen today after last night but they all came toward me so I just opened the fence and the whole group, plus 3 chickens, trooped out and headed for the pond. Oh my gosh, they're so cute! Once the chickens realized it was a trip to the pond, they became less enamored of the expedition and took off back toward the coop.

The ducks always go down the little peninsula, which is really steep, to get to the water. Chopper decided to show his crew and new trick and flew down to the water! The others hesitated and then plunged down the bank, as usual. They must not be as confident of their flying skills! I bet Chopper will ultimately teach them.

Okay, I know you'll think I'm crazy, no wait a minute, not this group! Hee hee. I got 25 new chicks this a.m. REALLY, that IS crazy? Oh well, damage done. They are 20 Buff Cornish hens and 5 Buff Rocks. I'm going to make my own meatie cross, eventually. I ordered these through Strombergs before Danz posted that she would be able to get fewer birds for us. Bummer. However, they're here and all of them were doing great. I gave them some Gro-gel and they really went after it. They are VERY energetic chicks! They're fast like guineas and LOUD! We took each loud mouth and showed them wear the eats and drinks were and as they got something in their tums they quieted down.

On a sad note, my bronze turkey was dead this morning.

I just couldn't believe it! The Bourbon Red was perking around just fine and there was his dead little friend. I loved that little turkey. I sure didn't see that coming because last night he was absolutely fine. I sure wish I could have saved him. I think I'm going to give up on the turkey thing for now. It's just so disheartening when you can't keep them alive. The lady I hatched for said their hens are sitting beautifully and they should have a really good hatch and will be giving me 2 of their turkeys once they are able to make it without their mama. That will be a huge relief to not worry if they're going to be alive every morning. Sheesh. Anyway, so my little Bourbon Red is now in with the chicks and seems really happy to have lots of friends. The BR has new feathers coming in where he had the unabsorbed yolk thing -- yay!

I'm just really not feeling my usual self. I better not be getting sick for the weekend. That'll really chap me!

I am starting to feel better, after a bad migraine I have a period of a couple days where I am "foggy". Thanks for checking up on me! I am really sad I missed out on the field trip, yall looked like you had fun. Oh, if you ever need to cut down on your Aloha flock, my mom is in love with the Alohas I showed her, just let me know!

I am in Dallas right now, visiting my parents. We just got back from the chicken guy down here, my mom ended up with 2 roo's so she got 2 hens and gave back the roos.

So last night, not even 2 hours after getting to my parents house, my two year old, Brandon, fell into the pool, not thinking I jumped right in to grab him. My phone went in with me so now, I am out a phone and don't know when I am going to get a new one. Geesh.

I am getting a BCM pullet while I am down here, I can't wait to go pick her out! That takes us back up to 8.

 

[prairie]

Danz,
sorry I haven't gotten back to you but yes I do want some of your broodies -- I was thinking just one but what the hay! might as well get more than one. My friend won't be home until Wed so not sure I can get any herbs yet for you. I was hoping to come on Wed but will call you. Got a dental appt on Thurs and don't want to miss that -- lost a filling and have been waiting for a week and a half to get in. Monday or Wed or Friday would be best for me but will call you maybe Sunday night and see what is best for you. I can get the herbs and pot them up and then when I see you next I will bring them. Are you coming the the Premier Swap meet next Sat?

Anyone: I got a Cornish Bantam about 2 weeks ago and she still isn't laying -- shouldn't she be over her shock of moving to a new place??

 

[sharol]

VERY cute. I love the mama dog -- she looks like a sweetie.

***snip***

IVY those are some cute dogs, especially the puppy, I just want to hug it through the screen it's so darned cute! I'll bet she is really happy to have momma with her.