Consolidated Kansas

[pikeman94]

Josiechick good luck on the peacock eggs. What the guys all tell me to do is incubate them on their side instead of sitting up straight. I have mine sitting up straight but the incubator they're in turns further side to side than others do. Most people say to put them under a broody hen for at least the first 10 days but not to let them hatch under her. I've also been told to raise them on wire rather than a floor or dirt, due to the fact they are very prone to disease. That part I'm not sure I agree with. They surely can't be worse than turkeys for disease. As long as they have a clean place I think they'd be fine.
I want my peahen to go broody but she has only laid 3 eggs and isn't sitting. I am about ready to go take them and try to get a chicken to hatch them for me. I have 4 ordered eggs left in my incubator and I have no idea if they are fertile or not. The first two weren't. I've got another week or so before they are due to go to the hatcher. I am planning to buy some more the first week of July but I'm trying to hold off until I see what these do.
Good luck on your auction.

Danz - that sucks and you have all of that shade! I have no trees so the birds are finding creative places to stay cool. I just hope they all make it through this hellishly hot summer! I am beginning to think that 5 Cuckoo chicks from you wasn't such a bad idea.

 

[Trish44]

HeChicken, We just saw the Salt Museum ourselves last summer & it was very interesting. I have lived in KS my whole life & never had seen it, but then they haven't had the museum open that many years. It definitely is worth going to see. My DH is really into Geology & this was right up his alley, but even I found it interesting too. Plus it's cool down there, so that's a big plus in the heat. Have you taken them up to the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center in Hutchinson? That's also an interesting place & they always have some kind of special shows going too.

I went out awhile ago & set out more pans of water & the chickens were all gathered around them in the shade. I took one also to the turkeys in their pen, but they were kind of looking at it like what do we do with this? Turkeys aren't the smartest birds in the universe, so I wet down an old blanket & just left it to drip into their pen. I found the misters I had, but one is missing a nozzle & the other one only one nozzle works. Does anyone know how to clean out those tiny nozzles or are they a loss? I guess I may have to go looking for another one. I put that one over the top of the young birds out in the run. They were all sitting in there panting & when I put that spray into their pen they all were fighting over who was going to get wet first. I sprayed down the Ameraucanas in their pen & all of the rabbits, so maybe they'll all feel better for awhile anyway. I think I'm going to move the little Swedish Flowers out to the pen with the other older chicks this evening & hope they don't get picked on. I think some of the young ones may be big enough to go in with the older chickens tonight, I'm going to wait until about roost time & get some of them out after everyone is fed & see how it goes. I have to integrate them some time, so now may be a good time since it's so hot that nobody feels like picking on anybody anyway.

I put my first batch of Peacock eggs in the hatcher today, so wish me luck. I have never hatched them before so this is all a new ballgame for me. I sure hope they hatch because I see absolutely no growth going on in the other batch of eggs. Danz, if this doesn't work out will you have any peachicks for sale?

I'm not feeling all that well today, I thought I may have been running a fever again earlier & I just feel tired. Blah, I wish this stuff would go away.

 

[HEChicken]

HeChicken, We just saw the Salt Museum ourselves last summer & it was very interesting. I have lived in KS my whole life & never had seen it, but then they haven't had the museum open that many years. It definitely is worth going to see. My DH is really into Geology & this was right up his alley, but even I found it interesting too. Plus it's cool down there, so that's a big plus in the heat. Have you taken them up to the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center in Hutchinson? That's also an interesting place & they always have some kind of special shows going too.

Does anyone know how to clean out those tiny nozzles or are they a loss?

If it is cool down there, the salt museum is sounding better and better. I think I did take them to the Cosmosphere on one of their first visits but I have passes to get in for free so there is no reason not to take them again.

On your nozzle, they are most likely blocked due to mineral deposits in the hard water. The best thing to do is to let them soak in vinegar for a little while. 30 mins should be plenty of time, I think. Then try them again. If that is the cause of the blockage, the vinegar will break down the mineral deposits and they should be good to go again.

for your peacock eggs.

 

[HEChicken]

Hawkeye, did you get your brother's coop finished and delivered to him yet? How is he liking it?

 

[prairie]

Danz, so sorry about the birds! Mine too are suffering and I really worry about my two broodies in the chicken house. Those 2 little ducklings I got from you a month ago have been sitting in the little pools I made for them..

Hope no one else loses chickens!!


Such a busy day with putting the auto door in, watering the garden and flowers and several times giving new water to the ladies and guys and then in the office for several hours and then took the car to get a new battery -- it was 6 yrs old - and I don't want to get stranded.

But...............among all of this I had laid the hose on 2 bushes and turned it on ( a big trickle) and meant to set my timer on my phone to remind me to change the hose to other bushes in 30 minutes.

But got interrupted and walked off without setting the timer. Remembered it while eating dinner tonight--- those bushes now have a deep watering of about 4 hours!!

Hubby couldn't really throw a fit because he 'watered the corral' a few weeks ago when he was filling the stock tank.

Thank goodness we both had the pond water hydrant on and not the rural water!! Never again will I turn the water off and leave it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sapphireblu76]

Uuuuuggggggghhhhhhh! This heat! At least I was able to get out and take care of the animals before it got too hot this morning. My oldest DS had swim lessons today at 10:40-11:10. Sitting there waiting for him, the sweat was just POURING off of me. We got in the car to go home and it was already 98 degrees! by the time we got home, around noon it was mostly fluctuating between 98 and 101. We even drove through one area of town that made our thermometer read 105!

I really need to get some of those misters or see if I can find some old hoses around here. How much do the misters typically run?

The birds have plenty of shade out there, but they still haven't wanted to go far from their pen. I put water in the best shade of the Mulberry tree to encourage them over there, but I haven't been able to go check them yet. The doctor has me on new meds that I am not supposed to be out in the sun while I'm taking them. I'm trying to be good and follow doctors orders, but when there are chores to be done and children to run around to activities, it becomes difficult. Yesterday, I pushed it, being out there for 3 hours building a chicken tractor with DH and, boy, I paid for it. I had to come in a few times because I was getting too over-heated, having a hard time breathing. I was actually getting the chills and not feeling well at all. Dangerous stuff, this heat. Be careful all!

Danz- We have had Sarge out since I chatted with you here the other evening. He has stayed close and barking at I'm not sure what. He's not in with the chickens, but he patrols the perimeter of their yard. So far he's doing great He has, however, amassed quite a "treasure" pile in the back yard by the door. Not sure where he finds all this junk, but he has a couple of towels he's drug back there, some wrappers he probably got out of the trash can, and a few things he must have dug out of the burn pile...silly boy. At least I was expecting it XD

I really want to go out and check the birds, but I just have to wait until the sun gets a tad lower in the sky...

 

[sapphireblu76]

I was out sitting with the birds a bit ago and noticed out of the 4 black roosters I got from the "fryer" bin, 3 have black eyes and one has amber eyes. They all have the green sheen to them and black legs. I'm wondering if the one with yellow eyes is a black sexlink and the others are Australorp?

 

[chicken danz]

Sapphire he is definitely being a Pyrenees. My yard looks like a bomb went off. Yesterday I sat a box fan by the shop door. When I went out to get it I couldn't find it. I thought DH had taken it somewhere. Later I found it clear out in the front yard. Yep! cloud had I assume grabbed it by the cord and drug it cleat to the front of the house! Our yard is full of shoes and rags and bones. She grabs shoes that get kicked off at the back door and you never see them in one piece again. I am getting down to almost nothing to wear out in the yard.
Trish those little nozzle things screw out of the housing. I had a couple plugged up as well. It actually wasn't lime in the water. It was just a piece of dirt or something in the hose. I took unscrewed the nozzle, turned the water on a second, screwed it back in and it worked fine.
I Had a couple here that came to get some NPIP testing done yesterday. Then she decided she wanted to buy 6 guineas, then she decided she wanted 5 ducks, so I got an extra $40 from her. She came back while ago to get 10 more guineas for her mother, and they ended up buying 10 young pullets from me. Another $60. I wish all my $3 testing turned into a $100 extra without having to leave home.
I still have a guy that is wanting 50 guineas but he lives clear out in Abilene. I can't imagine someone driving that far but he emailed and said he could come tomorrow evening. I am waiting to hear back from him to confirm if he is coming or not. Sure hope so! That would help buy some chick feed.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

HeChicken, so sorry about your kitty, I don't know how I missed that. It is so hard to lose a pet.

Two of my Maltese had their teeth cleaned today so they are sporting bright smiles and fresh breath!

We're just running the water constantly, filling and refilling pools, waterers, and watering the orchard and garden. Then at night I run water into the pond to keep it decent for the ducks! Sheesh. I don't know what we'd do without a well. I would have a desert wasteland, I'm afraid. I've checked and rechecked all the animals and feel like I've got a system down as to when to refill waterers and replace ice packs. I have wading pools and kitty litter boxes with knee high water for the birds and I'm just holding my breath hoping they'll all be okay. The bunnies have ice packs and a fan running 24/7. All of them get ice in their waterers periodically. Even the bantams in the yard have their own little wading container and ice in their water. I actually bought ice today but am freezing lots of containers tonight and using them tomorrow. It's a full time job just making sure they're all okay! Tonight I'm leaving the coop doors open, with the fan running and just hope the electric fence keeps all predators who come calling tonight out of the pen. An owl would be the pits tonight.

Way to go Danz with your sales! That's cool!

I had some people call today wanting to buy 2 hens so I sold a couple of the Alohas that weren't necessary for the program. I hated to sell them. I incubated them and raised them with tons of TLC and I'm glad I didn't have too much time to think it over.

Pikeman94, so glad Sumac is settling in so well. She is one sweetheart of a hen and definitely one of our family's favorites. I think you and your daughter will enjoy her as long as she stays healthy. These Sussex are a real trick but hope the 68 soluble solution helps her make the transition without too much difficulty.

 

[medawinks]

Are some of my chickens "honking" because of the heat? I was out watching them all jockey for space on the roost and they were not peeping or clucking at rack other. I swear it sounded like they were honking!!! I have never heard this out there before. Many of the older crew clucks, but they never honked in between the peep stage and clucking. It really sounded like I had geese out there!

I am going out tomorrow to buy a mister! We changed their water several times today, added ice and put a fan in the run. It was still miserably hot....

I am so sorry about the losses this week of cats and birds.... My son does not handle death well, or worse than most. I really want to keep from losing any animals if possible. I know it is so hard to prevent. :-( None of the birds we have are exceptionally hardy...

Sera's new little Silkie, Topaz, has buddied with our tiniest silkie They both chose to sleep in a cage next to each other- 2 diff cages, so I put them together. So far so good She has already decided that it is OK for Sera to pick her up and cuddle her. She was doused by the hose.... Looks fluffier

Hope tomorrow is cooler!!!