Consolidated Kansas

[sapphireblu76]

Putting the waterers in the shade worked. I went out to give the birds ice bottles and check water, and they were all laying in the shade. Not a panter in sight Too hot for me, though. Now I have a headache. Ah well, at least the birds are taken care of.
Sarge was dug into a corner by the back porch, taking advantage of the cool side of the house (at least for another hour). We have a leaky water spigot back there with a bucket under it, so he constantly has cool water to drink. I think he may have gone for a dip in the kids pool earlier, too. At least I know he's keeping cool!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Cave of the Winds is in the area and in my slim and trim days I took the back tour of the cave, off the beaten path.

Hawkeye, I love Catalpa trees too. They are so pretty in the spring and I don't really mind their mess. I'll just mow over it with all the cotton from the cottonwood trees! I'd forgotten about those trees but they are fast growing and I need some more shade around here.


My DH has been working on 3 more small coops for my birds but I told him it's just too hot to mess with right now. He looked the picture of misery but assured me he likes the heat and he wanted to finish them. Hope he doesn't get heat exhaustion, then I would feel guilty for life. I think I'm going to have to get ill humored and convince him it can wait. It's just too darn hot.

Wow, that cave sounds neat! I would love that! Yeah, I'd take Catalpa over cottonwood. BUT, at least you have shade! So, that's a good thing, even if you are battling cotton. And I don't think I'd mind the seed pods too much on the Catalpa, I mow over anything and it all gets mulched down. Hope you can convince your DH to take it easy in this heat!

I found a catalpa tree a couple miles from my place here. It is where an old homestead used to be. They put in a newer home a little ways from it. I've been thinking about going up to see if there are any seed pods or volunteer trees up there. Hawkeye do you know when the pods are fresh and ready to be planted. Do they require being chilled before they germinate?

Nice!! That is what I did! I found a Catalpa tree in the park in Wichita and then pulled down the seed pods! LOL If no one is mowing under that tree, I bet you can find volunteers easy! They just spring up everywhere. Take a bucket and a shovel with you. Now would be a good time to go collect them, there should be a bunch. The seeds already fell earlier this Spring. And it only takes 4 days to germinate the seeds, they are FAST! And then they sprout up! I do have the seeds I collected in the fridge. I'm thinking about taking them out today and soaking them. Any of them that swell up after they are soaked-- those are the ones that are good and stick those into a pot. I bought one of those 32 hole seed starter "pots"-- it's that paper fiber stuff. Anyway, when those get growing, just transfer them outside when the weather is a bit nicer. I've read you can germinate the seeds without being chilled, but I was just going to try to do it the right way. But this late-- I'd just give it a shot and if they don't swell up when soaked, then you could throw them in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Hawkeye, I like Catalpa trees too, we don't have any here but I wish we did.

I went out at noon & watered everyone & went ahead & sprayed off the rabbits again, they were already super hot


My DH is out digging dirt out from under the new coop. He is trying to get enough out to put some blocks under there for support. Fortunately it is very shady where he's working & the heat doesn't bother him like it does me. I came in from being out there about 30 minutes & was nauseated from the heat. I just can't take it at all, I get really sick fast. You all be careful out there & don't overheat!

If you get volunteer oaks-- I wouldn't mind having a couple. I haven't been able to grow them here-- I tried Pin Oak. They died on me and then someone was saying that they need acidic soil, I think?? Or maybe it was the opposite. Your DH is crazy to be out in this heat! I'm reading 108 here in the shade. Ugh!! Hope your rabbits and birds do okay today.

 

[Trish44]

Hawkeye, you're welcome to come out & dig all the little Burr Oaks you want, but I would wait now till cooler weather unless you plan to keep them in buckets for now. I have gobs of them. They are nice trees & they provide squirrel food.

I went out & put the mister on the pen in the run again they were playing in it. I gave the turkeys their pan of water again & I saw the tom standing in it. I also went out & brought in all the chicks in the brooders in two crates, that is except for two. I had another chick get loose & now there are two running around. Do you all think these chicks wil be too cold in the air conditioning? I could put something over the door so they don't get as much air. They were panting so hard when I brought them in I just wanted to get them cooled down. They're down there pee
ping now.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh my - I don't really want to know what the temperature is out there. Darned hot, is all I know. I've just come in from being gone all day and my 82-degree house is feeling mighty good after being in the car and out in the sun. I did stop by Atwoods and got a Cobra Mister and I stopped by my old house and got hoses so tonight I will unload the car and get that set up for tomorrow. By the time I got home today the worst was over for them and their coop and yard are in shade. None of them really look distressed but I refilled waterers with the cold well water and I'm sure they appreciate that.

LOL - Colorado is kind of my second home as when I first came to the US, I was based in Denver. Over the next decade I lived all over the state from the north to the south and several places in between. My parents actually visited me there quite often too and we've been to Cave of the Winds, driven up Pikes Peak etc. I swear - I think my parents have visited more places in the US than most Americans because they always come to visit me wherever I'm living and explore that area, and then after they leave me, they travel and visit some more of the country. I've been to about half the states and I think they have too, although they've been to some different states than I have. My mum is one of those people who will strike up a conversation anywhere with anyone and has a knack for creating life-long friends from these one-time encounters (I got my dad's introverted nature instead). So she's forever heading off to some part of the world to visit some "friend" of hers that she met on a bus somewhere once, decades ago, and with whom she has been corresponding ever since. So when she comes to visit me, she usually tries to visit another of her American friends while she's here and of course they all live in different parts of the country.

Okay, I have to ask.. What.....is Brutus?

So I've mentioned my horse colicking (Sunday morning) and my cat's illness and euthanasia (Monday morning), right? Well, because crises apparently come in threes, we weren't done with those two things. While walking my horse on Sunday morning, DD was stung by something. I assume a horse-fly but since she never saw it, we'll never know. Anyway, she woke up Monday with her leg swollen and as the day progressed it got blotchy and inflamed. I am not one to run to the doctor - actually I pretty much avoid them as much as possible - but when its one of my kids I'll take them if I think it really necessary and by last night, I felt it really necessary. The leg was twice the size it should be and she had a "cankle" with no discernible definition. She's a skinny kid so it really did not look good. Anyway, I'm glad I took her in as the doc thinks it is a staph infection so now she is on two different heavy-duty antibiotics. I don't love the idea of being on anti-biotics, especially because there wasn't any pus to drain and culture so the doc really couldn't be sure that's what it was but was going on gut feeling and probably a healthy dose of CYA too. It wound up being a really stressful day because since we are new in town we do not yet have a vet and a doctor so had to make both appointments by letting our fingers do the walking and having no idea if we were finding a good practitioner or not. I would have rather had the chance to settle in and then get some recommendations from local people before settling on professionals of this type. Now I just hope we are done and can go back to boring for awhile.

 

[JosieChick]

HEchicken- Sounds like a rough couple days, hope lots of boring is in your future!

Hawkeye- I may have such a distaste for catalpa because they were so close to our house! Everything was covered in black oil from the leaves during the summer and the rotten blooms would stick all over the sidewalk and cars. Maybe they wouldn't be so bad far away!

I am a nervous wreck, I have two chick orders and two batches of eggs coming this week and it is ten million degrees out! Anyone who says turkeys aren't smart hasn't met my spoiled turkey. Here he is in the best spot in the coop and having a drink from the hose which he just loves and if I don't let him drink long enough he follows me around carrying on until I let him finish!

 

[HEChicken]

Great pics Josie. I'm looking forward to having turkeys one day - everyone who has them always seems to get so much enjoyment out of them.

 

[chicken danz]

I see the site is being updated so I don't know if this will post or not. It feels so miserable out there again today. I have the misters and fans going. I did loose another 4 babies in the brooder which I am sure was heat. I put a new fan in there that moves the air better and I am sure it cooled the place down at least 15 degrees.
I just emptied my hatcher. I took out 22 ancona ducks and 18 cayugas. There are some more pips in there. I fixed my humidity problem I think and they are hatching very well. Now if I could sell about 100 of them I would be feeling good.
I am so far behind today. It's totally crazy! Seems like the hotter it gets the less I can get done.

 

[chicken danz]

Josie, he is a spoiled turkey! Does he fly at all? I'd like to let these blue slates out but I am afraid they'd fly away. I'm still trying to find someone to install my yard fence and I want the Sebbies and the turkeys to be able to free range. I really need to get a pen up for the midget white turkeys so I can make room for the ones being shipped later this week. But they are used to being in the air conditioning and I'd be scared to death the heat would do them in. They are really entertaining but I'm also sure they'd like a little more room.
Heather, turkeys are funny little creatures. They are so curious. I really enjoy them. But then I think I enjoy all of the birds way too much.

 

[sharol]

This picture made my day. My chickens are all in the area where the mister is set up. Once the finally figured it out, they decided to camp there today.

HEchicken- Sounds like a rough couple days, hope lots of boring is in your future!

Hawkeye- I may have such a distaste for catalpa because they were so close to our house! Everything was covered in black oil from the leaves during the summer and the rotten blooms would stick all over the sidewalk and cars. Maybe they wouldn't be so bad far away!

I am a nervous wreck, I have two chick orders and two batches of eggs coming this week and it is ten million degrees out! Anyone who says turkeys aren't smart hasn't met my spoiled turkey. Here he is in the best spot in the coop and having a drink from the hose which he just loves and if I don't let him drink long enough he follows me around carrying on until I let him finish!

 

[JosieChick]

Josie, he is a spoiled turkey! Does he fly at all? I'd like to let these blue slates out but I am afraid they'd fly away. I'm still trying to find someone to install my yard fence and I want the Sebbies and the turkeys to be able to free range. I really need to get a pen up for the midget white turkeys so I can make room for the ones being shipped later this week. But they are used to being in the air conditioning and I'd be scared to death the heat would do them in. They are really entertaining but I'm also sure they'd like a little more room.
Heather, turkeys are funny little creatures. They are so curious. I really enjoy them. But then I think I enjoy all of the birds way too much.

I love that darn turkey! He doesn't fly very much, he sort of does this hopping along dorky thing with his wings out sometimes. He can still jump up to roost about 4 feet but that is about the extent of his upward physical activity! I bet yours would be fine to let out. He just wanders around and eats when he is out but is always right back at the coop in the evening to be let in. Of course I don't have any all flock pellets out so he wants to go in and stuff his turkey face after a hard day of hunting bugs! Yours might find chow somewhere and be more reluctant to go in!