Consolidated Kansas

[Deerfield Acres]

Medawinks. Premier Farm supply where the swap meet was carried 50 pound bags of DE dirt cheap. I bought 50 pounds for what I paid for a gallon jar elsewhere. They usually try to keep about 5 bags in stock at a time.
I'm waiting for more "purple" chickens. I do have some more pipped eggs. It is so hard not to interfere. I want those lemon cuckoos to hatch too but no pips on them yet.

I found some at Valley Feed & Seed in Wichita for a reasonable price. I bought a 25 lb. bag there.

Danz, hope those lemons get with it! Glad to hear you've already got some lavs. Awesome fun!

Hawkeye I'm so glad your mare is okay. Hope she improves quickly.

HEChicken, LOL! Hope you catch that door in the act soon!

Trish44, hope you're able to catch that naughty little chick soon. That's a stubborn one!

JosieChick, YUCK! What a mess!

 

[tweetysvoice]

Thank you everyone for the kind words! I am feeling so much better today that I almost forgot I'd been so sick!

Hawkeye, I'm glad to hear that the mare isn't as bad off as you originally thought!
Trish, What type of live trap are you thinking? The chick might be able to be captured in one of those squirrel traps...

So the silkies are going in with the big girls tonight. We aren't closing up the coop right now in hopes that less noise will keep everyone asleep when we move them over. I'm going to give it a couple hours of dark before I do it. Let's hope they are all still alive and kicking when I wake up in the morning! LOL Here's a pic I took of them this afternoon. Still can't tell if I have a roo or not in the bunch.



While I"m posting pics, as ya'll remember, we just moved into this house last Oct, so i'm still finding all sorts of neat plants that were already here that are blooming. Anyone have any clue what type of plant this is? It just bloomed overnight last night (about 12 HUGE flowers):

 

[sapphireblu76]

While I"m posting pics, as ya'll remember, we just moved into this house last Oct, so i'm still finding all sorts of neat plants that were already here that are blooming. Anyone have any clue what type of plant this is? It just bloomed overnight last night (about 12 HUGE flowers):

That's a Hibiscus

 

[Trish44]

tweety, what a beautiful Hibiscus! I used to have two, but the dry summer killed them both last year. I haven't done much at all with flowers this year, I've been much too busy with other projects & the chickens are shredding what I have left of my flower beds, ugh. Until I have a way to keep them out of my best flower beds it's a losing battle.

Well this morning I got the old bucket nests down & had my DH help me carry the new nest boxes into the coop & help me put them up. I was so thrilled to get them in there & he was so grouchy about it. He has been just a mess since I've been sick, growl, growl, whine, whine. Geez who has been sick here? I'm still not fully recovered, I think it may take awhile to get totally over this junk. My ear is still ringing & stopped up most of the time, but at least the antibiotics kicked the sore throat to the curb pretty fast, for that I was greatful.

I had two more little Ameraucanas hatch today, so I have 15 right now. I have someone coming hopefully at noon tomorrow to buy some of them. He didn't say how many he was interested in, I hope all of them, but we'll see. I still have about 10 more in the incubator & the broody is sitting on another 7, but hers won't be hatching for another 2 weeks. That little hen has been so faithful to sit there, she just barely ever moves. My DH said today that he thinks I need to dig out the live trap to catch that little bugger in the garage. I got within a foot of him today, I think it's a roo & then he ran. He has to be finding something to eat somewhere or he would be wasting away by now. Maybe he squeezes into some of the rabbit cages where there is some left over feed & eats that, I don't know. I left him out water, but I don't want to make it too pleasant for him. I ran out of time & didn't find the live trap tonight, I'll have to look tomorrow.

I got the coop kind of cleaned up some today while I was putting new nestboxes in & also cleaned out the brooder where the chicks are that the guy is coming to see. I figured it needed a cleaning anyway. We'll see tomorrow how well my hens like their new roomy nestboxes & how many they use. There were a couple checking them out this afternoon, but tomorrow morning will be the telling time. Some of them lay early & then some in the afternoon.

Hawkeye, I'm glad your mare if going to be OK, I know that was scary.

Josie, there is just nothing else is there like the smell of rotten egg, it's just hard to get rid of.

 

[cherwill]

okay, I don't have a lot of time, but I think my mare will be alright. She's managed to spend most of the day on her feet. She's limping and sore. I've been hunting for my bute, and looks like I'm going to have to go buy another tub of it. Ah well. But I was sooooo worried this was it for her. She is groaning a bit under her breath, she is in a lot of pain. So I'll get her meds tonight and see how she does tomorrow before I take her to the Dr. She's not limping like it's broke again.. just looks like she's feeling her night out. Sigh. Our 4-H meeting this morning went really well. I better run! Just wanted to update you all!

That's good news.

We are heading to Chicago to Shriner's soon and I am not too excited about that.... Sera is because it won't be surgery this time, but she doesn't know she will be at the dentist for lots of work. I am not busting her bubble yet.... The next surgery will be scheduled and knowing that already has her worried. Bone grafts are no fun and she knows that already. She may also need some work on her ankle to repair damage from the rickets and it may have to be pinned. She is a trooper though!

Sounds like she really is a trooper. I hope the trip to the dentist isn't too bad.

I am feeling so much better today that I almost forgot I'd been so sick!

That's great!

Well this morning I got the old bucket nests down & had my DH help me carry the new nest boxes into the coop & help me put them up. I was so thrilled to get them in there & he was so grouchy about it. He has been just a mess since I've been sick, growl, growl, whine, whine. Geez who has been sick here? I'm still not fully recovered, I think it may take awhile to get totally over this junk. My ear is still ringing & stopped up most of the time, but at least the antibiotics kicked the sore throat to the curb pretty fast, for that I was greatful.

Maybe you need to slip him some kind of medicine! Or tell him every time he complains, it sets your recovery back a full day.

Seriously though, if it is strep (and it sounds like it is), you want to do whatever you need to do to take care of it. Otherwise you risk setbacks and, if the bacteria aren't completely killed by the antibiotics, you can end up having future episodes of strep.

This is completely off topic, but since I've done a little (very little) successful canning recently, I'm curious about those of you who can use as references. Do you have any favorite canning books or resources?

 

[Trish44]

cherwill, well my DH just doesn't get how serious strep can be, but actually it's just usually about him. The world is supposed to revolve around him & if it isn't he whines & gets angry. He learned from the very best, his dad had everyone playing games to accommodate him. When I first met the man I couldn't believe what they all put up with. Needless to say I didn't like the man & don't miss him one bit, he knew it too. Some people just never grow up, men are just little boys in a man's body.

 

[BamaProud]

I found some at Valley Feed & Seed in Wichita for a reasonable price. I bought a 25 lb. bag there.

Danz, hope those lemons get with it! Glad to hear you've already got some lavs. Awesome fun!

Hawkeye I'm so glad your mare is okay. Hope she improves quickly.

HEChicken, LOL! Hope you catch that door in the act soon!

Trish44, hope you're able to catch that naughty little chick soon. That's a stubborn one!

JosieChick, YUCK! What a mess!

Medawinks, just ask for Stall dry or look in the horse section.IT will be a lot cheaper than the bag that is labeled DE but that is what is in stall dry.Works with any animal and will help control flies and fleas.Most all farm stores will carry this but not the bags marked DE .

 

[BamaProud]

http://www.orschelnfarmhome.com/Ors...cl1/stall-deodorizer?&query=stall+dry&offset=

 

[HEChicken]

This is completely off topic, but since I've done a little (very little) successful canning recently, I'm curious about those of you who can use as references. Do you have any favorite canning books or resources?

I use the Ball Blue book and that is the only book I have. With the plethora of information available on the internet at the touch of a button, I tend not to stock as many books as I used to, since I can always look up a good recipe. When I find something I really like and want to repeat, I store it on my computer under a folder called "Recipes" and that way I can easily find it again. So when I started canning, I got just the one book and use it as my reference. Even though I've run my canner quite a few times now, I still pull that book out every time, have it on the counter, and refer to its step-by-step to make sure I don't forget a crucial step. I'd hate to go to all that trouble and have the lids not set because I skipped an important piece along the way.

 

[Ivywoods]

I am SO far behind I will never get caught back up with this thread. Skimmed some of the last few pages.

It has been the week from he77 but it's raining now, so I can sit down and relax for a while. We were in a pocket just a few miles wide that had missed almost every bit of rain this year. The corn is tasseling and is only about 2/3 the size of normal. Some of the soybeans didn't even germinate. We will welcome every bit of rain we get today.

We are still working on the new home purchase. Once it's a "done deal" I'll post some more pictures. I was super happy this morning I figured out where I'm going to put all my chicken pens and stuff. It will be SO NICE when it's done. It will be closer and easier access than what I have right now, everything will be in one place and I will have a cement floor where the birds are inside! It will be a pretty simple "fix" to finish it up for the birds.

Lizzy the havanese puppy is about 2 1/2 months old now. She is a little ball of fire. You should have seen her when she came in this morning. I had no choice but to let her go out in the rain because it wasn't going to stop and she needed to go. She was a wet mop for sure. Danz, Britt is SO GOOD with this puppy. She mothers her and takes care of her. The other day we went out with the dogs after dark. The two older GP's noticed something and came running toward Lizzy and Bella. Britt took off after the two big dogs and RAMMED Runt right in the side, bowling him over so he wouldn't accidently attack one of the little guys! Once Runt and Buddy got closer they realized who and what it was and everything was okay. I was pretty proud of Britt, though. She is turning out to be a BEAUTIFUL dog. I'll have to get a picture soon. I think she has the personality of her daddy. She likes to stay closer to the house than the other two. That will work perfect. when we move. The two older dogs can stay in the pasture with DH's goats and Britt can stay near the house and garage to look after the chickens and US!

I'll try to do more catching up later. We have just been so busy with everything, and somewhat stressed, too. Even though we are super excited and eager for the move, it is kind of stressful. The farmland will be sold at auction July 24th. Farm ground is bringing good prices here in Brown county, so I'm not too worried about that. It's just been a headache trying to get everything taken care of, the house and barn surveyed out and all the other crap that goes along with it. We haven't listed the house yet. We don't want to until we know for sure when I will be starting my new job down south. Wish me luck on that. It seems to be going well, but you just never know. In the meantime we have more to do on this house to get it ready to sell than we will ever be able to finish. So much of it I need my DH's help with, and he just hasn't had the energy or stamina to do a lot of it since his heart problems and all the medication he is now taking. Hopefully we will get enough done that it will be okay and we will get the place sold for a reasonable price. We've already had some interested people, but unfortunately they weren't able to afford it. Maybe once the farmground sells we can focus more on the house.

On the subject of chickens, I have sold down my numbers considerably. I will be selling some more tomorrow. I will be down to just a few I am keeping for layers, my bantam breeders and a few young show prospects. I had a little black serama hen that hatched a couple chicks and she is running around in the barn with them. One ameraucana hen hatched a chick, too. I was so busy and beat this week I didn't even gather eggs, so now I've got a bunch of eggs I need to scramble for the birds and dogs. I won't save them unless I know they were laid that same day. The dogs will be happy.
Hope everyone is doing okay.