Consolidated Kansas

[ChooksChick]

Devastation here tonight. At 3pm I went to do a welfare check and refill water bowls. At 6:30pm, I headed back down there with a bowl of kitchen scraps. Upon approaching the yard I saw JB, my silkie roo lying in the sun in the middle of the yard and something didn't look right. I called to him and started running. He raised his head at the sound of my voice but when I got to him he was in bad shape. Then I saw a dead body near him, and then another. Between 3pm and 6:30pm, something got in and wiped out a good portion of my flock.

This is the work of dogs. There was no blood and no one was eaten. As soon as one bird stopped fighting, this predator moved onto the next moving target. I built a Fort Knox coop because most of the predators in my area are nocturnal. I've never even seen a dog here since we moved in, other than my neighbor's dogs who never leave her property. Yet a passing dog found my coop and my birds and wreaked havoc. I can't even see where they got in. DH and I walked the yard multiple times after my discovery and there were no gaps in the fence and nowhere that is dug under.

When I first got there I could see only JB and 3 living birds. As time wore on, birds came out of hiding. But I am down 10 confirmed dead and 2 are still MIA. Of the dead, five were roos and one of the MIA's is a roo, which accounts for all 6 of my roos. That tells me the roos were doing their best to defend their hens and paid for it with their lives.

One of the ducks and JB were alive but had broken necks so we had to cull them. We decided rather than let their lives be a total waste, we would process and eat them and say a prayer of gratitude to them when we do.

Needless to say, I am feeling pretty devastated. 3 years keeping hens in Wichita and only lost 2 to the neighbor's dogs next door. 3 weeks living here and 1/4 of my flock is gone in a matter of hours. DH and I were here - but heard nothing. He is livid and wants to know what got to them and kill it. Tomorrow morning we will NOT be greeted by the sound of crowing and I will be reminded of my loss.

Heather, I just saw this...I'm sooooooooo sorry! This is just sooooo heartbreaking!

I fear I may need to avoid going back in the thread to prevent reading about losses...I'm about to head back out to the farm. I'm hauling 85 gallons every other day along with 15 frozen liter bottles of water to put in the buckets daily. Those poor birds. It's just awful.

I'll check back in when I get back.

 

[ChooksChick]

Ok, that's just weird. I guess I closed my laptop too fast last night after hitting 'send' and it's posted it again this morning when I opened the lid again! Bizarre.

I never got out to the farm. I had a friend lock up for me because I got a panic call.

A girlfriend's ex lives out in the boonies and he had the kids yesterday. Their dog ran over to the neighbor's fence because the cows were up along it and the kids were over there trying to get the dog back when the drunk neighbor came out and shot the dog, right in front of the kids. I'm not sure the dog was even off the kids' property, but the sheriff in that area is a buddy of the drunk...so we'll see what happens. Anyway, she called me because she wanted a cool head in the situation to help out, so I went. Those kids are unconsolable.

I feel terrible, because I get it, but I think this one was unjustifiable. The dog wasn't a chronic problem, just curious...and I don't think the neighbor owns the cows, either. It's very confusing and sad. The kids were right there!! Just imagine if one got in the way!

No rain here. Saw some clouds, but that was it. I'm going to sell off a bunch of my birds.

PM me if you're interested in B/B/S/Partridge Silkies, B/B/S/Mottled Bantam Cochins, Lavender/Isabel d'Uccles or French Black Copper Marans, which I will sell in pairs and trios. They are al under 18 mos, over 7 mos.

I will also sell off my Isabel F1 hens, who are buff and black to the eye, but split to mottled and lavender. These hens look like heck because of the time of year they hatched...they haven't ever molted and are about a year old. They lay well and will produce 50% Isabel/Lavender with a Lav roo.

All of the stock is between 6 mos and 18 mos, and is my breeding stock, which I've worked on for years. The Silkies and Cochins have produced show-winning stock in several states, even though I don't show myself.


I'm hitting 'submit' and running away now. I don't want to 'chicken-out' on selling.

I also have several straight-run Silkied Ameraucana split chicks, Bantam Cochin chicks, d'Uccle chicks, and various others. Let me know if you are interested in those via pm, too. I'm rolling in chicks!

 

[checoukan]

Just a brief check in. Have not been on because I don't like to read other people putting there spouse dpwn.....Surely something else can be talked about....

Anyway, Ivy, had a close lightning strike, so they have not had any internet service for like 2 weeks now. She has a lot to tell everyone when they get back on. They did buy the house in Oswego, and I think the their land auction is the 24th up in Hiawatha..

Cherokee county fair starts the 17, so we are working hard getting everything ready. Almost there, one more work day, and should be ready to go.

Labette co. called I am going to go over and judge their show. I am not a judge, but I told them I would help them out.

I went to the turykey creek sway yesterday over in Joplin, and sold all of my extra birds. That will take my feed bill down, seen some swedish flower hens, they were a young pair, but I seen to much work there, and I don't need anouther project. They are a large bird, and they just consume a lot.

It has been hot, and all of my birds are up in pens now. They have auto water so I don't have to worry about them running out of water, but everything gets hot and so does the water. I also have a high volume fan blowing to move the air.Been seeing a lot of people fighting lice and mites on your birds, don't forget to check. and treat them for the little pests. Can you imagine what it must feel like with those darn things running all over a chckens body!!!! EEEEEWWWW~~~~

If you can, feed high moisture treats in vegtables that helps, I put lettuce and kale and leafy veggies out, they will gobble them right up
Lucky yesterday evening, we did get over an half inch of rain!! First rain here in weeks.

Sorry people are running out of water. We are on a water district but we do have 3 had dug wells.They all have water in them, we could use if we needed to.

Been seeing a lot of GP"s on Joplin and Southeast Kansas craiglist. I have 2 they are a father and son team. I don't know what I would do with out them. Funny thing is they don't eat all that much, I ve seen smaller breeds of dogs eat twice as much as these guys do. Maybe they use the feed better, I don't ever see any poop, and if I do, it is not very much

When I was reading about the chicken attack, I new before I finished reading that she had a fox attack. I am so sorry you lost that many birds. Just makes a person sick thinking about the destruction native wildlife can do to your tame livestock. When it happens, it fast and deadly. Hope you recover, and I hope you do get a dog. If you figure what you lost in your birds, time, feed, and everything involved with you birds, and tally it up, That fox cost you more than a dog.

Better go make my rounds, After the rain last evening, it is really muggy out there now. But, we still have rain chances the next two days, hope we get more and some relief from the heat.
Everyone take care and stay cool!!!

 

[OzawkieBantams]

Wuz up fellow flockers!
Y'all beatin this heat?

 

[Ivywoods]

Like Checoukan said, my internet got FRIED a little over two weeks ago. We just got it running last night. I skimmed through the pages I missed, but honestly, I didn't read everything.

Yesterday was a BEAST! I lost a few birds. All the ones I lost were black chickens and the ones that died were in corner pens. That should tell me something. Not enough ventilation in those corner pens. There were a couple chicks that looked kind of lethargic this morning. Hopefully it will be cooler today and maybe they will make it. They didn't seem interested in eating or drinking this morning.

I had a little BBRed OE hen that hatched 7 chicks. One of the other hens was still sitting on the nest, and WOW did they get upset when I reached in the pen. Very protective mamas. I love watching the broodies raise their babies.

I'm watering trees and plants like crazy right now. We've had storm wind and lightening damage, but VERY LITTLE RAIN! The rain predicted for today looks like it's going to miss us, too.

Yes, did get the contract on the house at Oswego. We are very happy and excited to move. I just wish we were getting things fixed up around here a little faster. I posted a pic of the little chicken house at the place we are buying. Here is a picture of the house. It is a really unique home.



DH has agreed to put his shop in one of the barns at the north side of the property. They are nice buildings with 220 wiring, pipe corrals, cement floors and auto waterers. That means I get the shop that is closest to the house! It has a covered area attached to it with a cement floor, and that is where I am going to put my bantams. I think it is going to work great. All of my large birds will go in the layer coop. I have cut down on my numbers, so I will only have a few layers. Here's a picture of the shop with the covered area that I will use for my woodworking and my bantams. We will have to enclose the overhang, but we want to make it so that we can open it up on the south for ventillation.


I better go move the hose. I've got the timer on so I can deep water all the trees.

 

[Trish44]

IVY, that place looks beautiful, I'm sure you will love it there! It looks like you have a big pond there too. I'm sure there will be work to do, there always is when you move to a different place, but if you like the place you don't mind doing it.

Chooks, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's dog, that had to be really traumatic for those children & so dangerous. People are just crazy that's all there is to it. Just recently someone shot our cat just for the fun of it we think, she hardly ever left home, so maybe she was out by the road or something when they drove by & shot her. It's so sad that people have to get their entertainment that way & sick.

Well we didn't get one drop of rain here, it looked like it was coming this way last night & then it must have pooped out before it got here, we sure could use some. Everybody north of us has gotten more rain lately than we have, it's starting to look like a desert here. The dairy farmer down the road from us grows his own grain & his corn looks very sad. I'm glad we didn't even put in a garden this year, it wouldn't have paid to do it. At least it's a little cooler here today, the birds seem to be much happier & more comfortable. I wish it could stay that way, but that's wishful thinking.

You all have been talking about paring down birds & I will eventually have to do that too, but I need to let a few grow out so I know what I have for sure first & decide what I want to keep & what to get rid of. I hatched all of my Ameraucana eggs at the end of June & the broody eggs hatched the first week of July, so those are all done. All I have in the incubator now are my 2nd set of Swedish Flower Hen eggs & the Cream Legbar eggs that traveled across the state. I haven't even candled those yet to see if there could be any growth there. I think it would be a miracle if anything developed & hatched after that trip they took in the heat, but we'll see. I have a few chicks that I'm trading in the utility room & some I'm going to sell in the storage room. I'm kind of letting them grow a bit because I want to keep one Welsummer pullet to go with the one I have out in the grow-out pen. I think I will sell the rest that I hatched, I just don't have the room to keep them all. I should probably have gotten up this morning & gone to the swap in Arkansas City, but it's just so hard for me to get up at 6 a.m. when we don't go to bed until 2 with my DH's work schedule. I'll probably just put some on Craigslist & the poultry swap & see what happens.

 

[JosieChick]

HEchicken- You lucky duck!! I wish it rained good here. It must have sprinkled but just barely. Ugh, it is so muggy today. I was so excited for cooler weather.

Ivy- That house is fabulous!!!! Is that your pond in front? I am so envious!!

Checoukan- Welcome back! Was wondering where you had been! Glad to hear you are doing well.

Well we woke up to a small problem this morning! The darn naughty stud pony (who isn't a stud anymore but don't tell him that!) broke out of his pen and was wreaking havoc in the pasture with the other horses. Ugh!! Had to shut the big horses in the goose pen which the geese were none too happy about to catch him! He is so bad. I wish he would chill out so he could go out with them but all he wants to do is fight.

Off to water and cool everyone off. I sure hope it rains today, it is so muggy out!

 

[Angelbells]

We didn't get any rain at all here.

 

[HEChicken]

So sorry to all of those who didn't get any rain or not much. We actually got about 1/2". Not as much as we needed and would have liked but I'm not going to complain to people who didn't get any

It sure is muggy today though and I'm disappointed to hear that it isn't forecast to be as cool this week as they first thought.

Chooks, what an awful experience for those kids. I'm sorry the Sheriff is a buddy of the drunk - sounds like he won't even get a slap on the wrists. There should be some kind of ordinance about using a weapon while intoxicated or while small children are present or something. If I were the parents of those kids I would be LIVID.

Ivy, your new place looks gorgeous - I bet you can't wait to move in. And it looks so lush and green too. Perhaps Oswego has been getting more rain than other parts of the state?

Checoukan - good to hear from you. Yes, it was a rude awakening to life in the country, I have to say. I did know we would have more wild animals around here - I just thought it would take them a little longer to find us. And when we moved in, I was encouraged that my neighbor's small flock free-ranged to the point we saw them on our property on a daily basis while I was out here building the coop. I guess I thought if their flock was surviving and free-ranging, my risk was relatively small during the day. Of course, I haven't seen their flock since we moved in - only heard the occasional crow and distant egg song - but I thought the presence of my flock had deterred them from visiting. Now I think perhaps some of that flock was lost - possibly to the same fox - so the owners are keeping the rest of them penned.

It is a quiet morning here. A little box turtle ambled past our front porch this morning while we sat out there drinking our morning coffee. Now THAT'S the kind of wildlife I welcome seeing

Oh - and a few days ago I saw a pair of wild turkeys just down the road from here when I was driving home. I had the camera in the car and stopped to snap a pic. See them? One is to the far left of the pic and is easy to pick up but it is following its mate who is closer to the center of the pic and is a little harder to see.

 

[Ivywoods]

Josie-Yes, that is our pond. Actually, there are two ponds on the place, but one of them is not visible from the house. Both are stocked with fish.

Trish-Yes, there will be plenty to do. We want to put in a room addition on the back, kind of like a mud room. There is no place for that in the house. Since we have little dogs, we will need it. The house is so nice I don't want to take a chance on messing it up with muddy boots, dirty dog's feet, etc. The floors are all hand parque (sp?) walnut which was milled from the place. Cabinetry and woodwork is all the same... hand made from solid walnut. The counter top in the kitchen is butcher block made from pecan wood, which was also milled from the place. There is 40 acres around the house, so plenty of room for chickens and DH's livestock. We also plan to purchase a separate tract of land just for hunting and fishing. We had one that would have worked nicely (picked out) but we weren't able to move on it fast enough and it sold before we could make an offer. There will be others.

The wind storm we had about a week ago knocked shingles off the house. DH just finished fixing that. It also ROLLED my chicken tractor I built! It rolled it about 40 or 50 feet! It tore the roof off of the little house part and broke some of the other wood. I think if I build another one it is going to be an A-frame style. Less apt to blow around. This one has blown over several times, but never any damage. This is the first time it has been rolled. All my little bantam partridge wyandottes that were in there were out milling around in the yard. Luckily, all were okay, no injuries at all. DH had to treck over the hill to the east to retrieve a bucket and our trash dumpster that had managed to blow into the neighbors soybean field about 1/4 mile away. It blew the barbecue grill over..... again. We had moved it down below the deck and thought it was safe. No such luck.