Consolidated Kansas

[prairie]

Danz, that is so funny about the guinea with the hens! I am wondering about the 2 little ducks and the 3 guineas I got last weekend-- they will all probably be buddies too because they are all together in the same carrier for the next few weeks!

 

[cherwill]

Cherwill, that garden is lovely. I'm ashamed of mine this year. The early stuff went in late, and the weeds are driving me to drink. I have some immature snap peas filling (Rain, please, rain), and the squash and cukes are looking pretty good too, in spite of my neglect.

I should be out there weeding even as I type.

Sharol

Thanks. I've never had a successful garden before, so I'm overly excited. I've grown herbs for years, and leafy greens for the last couple of years. Last year was our first attempt at what I'd call "real" gardening and it was so discouraging.

karenS - Goat's milk tastes exactly like cow's milk when it is fresh. If it tastes funny then it most likely had bacteria of some sort in it. The duck (her name is Drip) is a fawn and white runner. We have a drake too, and his name is Dunk.

I don't like milk, but I sure do love goat cheese!

Cherwill your garden looks great! I do love tomatillo's because I love making salsa verde and hot sauce. Forgot to plant any this year though.

This is my third year trying to grow tomatillos and the first time I've succeeded. I'm hoping for lots of salsa!

I know! And the Health Dept would have a fit with a walking goat salesman!

LOL! The sad thing is, it probably wouldn't be much less sanitary than a lot of restaurants.

 

[chicken danz]

Prairie, I imagine if you keep them together they will be buddies. Of course the guineas will fly and the duck won't, and the ducks will like water and guineas hate it. But just the same I could see them flocking around the yard together. The guineas raised with the chickens all act like chickens, other than they like to fly on top of the pens now and then.

 

[prairie]

We have one black chicken -- not sure what breed but she sure hangs with the guineas and acts like a dominate one too. The 3 broody's I got from you all kinda hang together -- and if I remember right they weren't from all the same pen. I love that little Brahma -- I can see more in my future! Hubby thinks it is time to put a sign out at the end of the driveway for eggs!

Cherwill -- you are so right about the restaurants -- sometimes I wonder what all is in the food we eat! Hubby and I don't eat out much beacuse it is so much trouble to get cleaned up and then drive to Topeka to go to a restaurant. -- Getting lazy or old!

I have been hungry for a lemon meringue pie so maybe tomorrow I will get that done -- this afternoon I have to have a tooth pulled. Not looking forward to that!

Don't you all love this weather! We got 1/3" of rain last night -- first rain in weeks.

 

[JosieChick]

Holy Smokes folks! Gone for a day and half and can hardly keep up with everyone!

Can't remember who was asking about deworming. I use Wazine, repeat in 10 days then oral ivermectin/praziquantel paste (horse dewormer) and topical ivermectin. I withdraw eggs 2 weeks after the last dewormer (ivermectin, oral/topical application) That covers most things but won't get things like gape worm from my understanding. I THROW the eggs out. You could feed them to your dogs because there are only trace amounts of dewormer but there is a required 2 week withdraw time before the drugs are fully out of the system. It is a royal pain but I do it twice a year, spring and fall. It is worth it to me to not worry. Chemicals are bad but worms are far, far worse. I had a friend lose her favorite roo to a tapeworm impaction. We always send our birds in for at least gross necropsy when they die to make sure it wasn't something serious or to gain more info when we lose a bird and her bird was just packed with worms. Yuck!

Danz- It would be ideal if you could pen Marshmallow after her spay. If she runs around too much the incision can get inflamed and the sutures can let go. It is hard on really big dogs to close the incision well enough to withstand running around (which usually has to be bigger to remove a bigger uterus) and older dogs (over a year of age) heal slower. I know our pup was looking great at 3 days but Mollys incision took a full week before it started to look normal color again. I had to keep Molly locked up for a week and she was none to happy about it. I gave her lots of bones to chew on and that helped a little with her boredom.

Ivy- Turkeys are doing great! I put the two maran chicks out with the cochin chicks that are almost feathered in and they seem to be fitting in. They are very much buddies though, it is kinda funny!

Pony number two who I think we are going to call Duncan, is getting castrated today. I am so tired from this weekend I just hope he is moderately reasonable for us and doesn't put up a huge fight.

Someone was asking about ducks? I remember at our 4-H barn they had pekins and they had way too many drakes who just mated the ducks to death, literally. It was awful. I don't know why they didn't butcher some of the males. It must be a difference in breed.

 

[sharol]

Thanks Josie. I've never wormed chickens before (dogs and cats, but not chickens) so I wasn't sure about the withdrawl on the ivermectin.

Holy Smokes folks! Gone for a day and half and can hardly keep up with everyone!

Can't remember who was asking about deworming. I use Wazine, repeat in 10 days then oral ivermectin/praziquantel paste (horse dewormer) and topical ivermectin. I withdraw eggs 2 weeks after the last dewormer (ivermectin, oral/topical application) That covers most things but won't get things like gape worm from my understanding. I THROW the eggs out. You could feed them to your dogs because there are only trace amounts of dewormer but there is a required 2 week withdraw time before the drugs are fully out of the system. It is a royal pain but I do it twice a year, spring and fall. It is worth it to me to not worry. Chemicals are bad but worms are far, far worse. I had a friend lose her favorite roo to a tapeworm impaction. We always send our birds in for at least gross necropsy when they die to make sure it wasn't something serious or to gain more info when we lose a bird and her bird was just packed with worms. Yuck!

 

[chicken danz]

I guess I need to sex my pekins before they get much older. I don't want a bunch of dead females! I might actually try eating one of these if I do cull them rather than sell them for someone else to eat. I may just keep them all penned rather than free range like my others cause I sure don't want them over breeding my anconas or cayugas.
I have been trying to figure out how to pen Marshmallow. I guess I could set up a kennel and put a dog house in it for her. She is NOT going to be happy. If I could move her from place to place I know she would love being inside during the heat of the day. Se just refuses to be on a leash though so it makes it hard to control her in any fashion if she doesn't want to go some where.
I need to get my lazy butt in gear and do something today. I guess because I feel crappy I just don't want to do anything.

 

[medawinks]

Feeling really dumb here..... Are all Silkies bantams or are there two different sizes? I use a country vet and had on of our dogs there today. My DD was talking about our chickens and how we have tiny white Silkies that dont grow and a bigger set ( our Splash and our new Bloom). A client sitting in the waiting room told my DD off, essentially, and me in that I should know more about what I am teaching or telling her, because there are bantam Silkies and bigger Silkies and I should NEVER have them together with bigger Chickens...... My Silkies have a box they all sleep together in and no one picks on them. In fact, Bloom places herself between my former chick in charge and has said that she is boss even though she is smaller and there have been no squawking about it, one peck and they back off.

I definitely don't want to be putting them in a situation they could be hurt in. Especially if the white ones wont even get to the size Bloom is. Although my D'Uccles are tiny also and they hold their own, and are not bullied beyond a we are here eating now type of peck. They all huddle together and sleep together and my coop is VERY quiet ( which I am thrilled about).

Just confused now and I know you folks know the answers

 

[JosieChick]

Meda- Client in the waiting room needs to get a clue, not you!! ALL silkies are considered bantams. There are no large fowl silkies. Plenty of folks keep silkies with all their other chickens. I personally keep my silkies in my "bantam" pens for convenience and because I had a really heavy topknotted hen that couldn't see where she was going and would accidentally bump into my big laying girls who would beat her up which I didn't like. But I have kept other silkies in with big birds, other kinds of birds, smaller birds, you name it! They will be fine as long as you keep an eye on them and you know your flock best. If someone is getting picked on you will know. I have lots of spunky little chickens that are large and in charge and my big birds run from them. Its not all about size with chickens.

Some people don't have anything nice to say sometimes and they don't even know that their "wisdom" isn't correct!!

Danz- Marshmallow is going to drive you nuts! BUT, it is only for a week. That is what I kept telling myself. Can you "lure" her with food, like a tasty piece of hot dog or something from place to place? That is how I am teaching the pup to walk on a leash. It is only on there in case she tries to get away. I use the food to get her to move not the leash, then she doesn't even realize she is on it. They are big and strong. I am so glad that Molly walks on a leash, loads in the car etc. She is back breaking heavy!

Feeling really dumb here..... Are all Silkies bantams or are there two different sizes? I use a country vet and had on of our dogs there today. My DD was talking about our chickens and how we have tiny white Silkies that dont grow and a bigger set ( our Splash and our new Bloom). A client sitting in the waiting room told my DD off, essentially, and me in that I should know more about what I am teaching or telling her, because there are bantam Silkies and bigger Silkies and I should NEVER have them together with bigger Chickens...... My Silkies have a box they all sleep together in and no one picks on them. In fact, Bloom places herself between my former chick in charge and has said that she is boss even though she is smaller and there have been no squawking about it, one peck and they back off.

I definitely don't want to be putting them in a situation they could be hurt in. Especially if the white ones wont even get to the size Bloom is. Although my D'Uccles are tiny also and they hold their own, and are not bullied beyond a we are here eating now type of peck. They all huddle together and sleep together and my coop is VERY quiet ( which I am thrilled about).

Just confused now and I know you folks know the answers

 

[chicken danz]

I'm not a Silkie professional by any means but the only silkies I have ever seen offered by hatcheries are listed under bantam varieties. However you should read this quote from Wikipedia:
Silkies are often mistakenly called a bantam breed, and although some countries do consider them a bantam, this varies according to region and many breed standards class them officially as large fowl. The bantam Silkie is actually a separate variety. Almost all North American strains of the breed are bantam sized, but in Europe the large is the original version. However, even "large" Silkies are relatively small chickens, with standard bantam size males weighing only four pounds (1.8 kilos), and females weigh three pounds (1.36 kilos).[4] The American Standard of Perfection calls for males that are 36 ounces (1 kilo), and females that are 32 ounces (910 grams).
Medawinks Sounds to me like someone was spouting off when she didn't really know what she was talking about. Silkies do fine with larger breeds. In fact when mine were free ranging the roosters where the most aggressive roosters on the place. The only real danger is if they have a vaulted skull they could easily become brain damaged in a fight. I imagine she read something some where and wanted to act like she knew something when she actually didn't. I have seen much larger and much smaller silkies. But who knows which they really are???