Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Oh and Trish your birds are looking great. I need to take a picture of my little peafowl. Of course he is only a week old but because he is different colored he looks entirely different. I took my older Midget whites out to the yard for a little whiel while I cleaned their bin. They were really enjoying it until DH started running the power washer. Then they totally freaked out.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Oh right!! I totally forgot! I remember that now. I bet our pasture is much worse than yours is. No reason you couldn't have your horses there. You have to have to have hay out anyway. I keep hay out all year long-- all thru the summer and winter. There isn't enough in our pasture to support daily grazing. There are weeds, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing they want to eat. I also feed them 12% grain daily to maintain their weight.

Do you do trail riding mainly?

I'm not sure how your pasture could be any worse than ours. Our pasture was grazed pretty heavily last year (before we bought it) and then this year we haven't gotten any rain. We have quite a few weeds (mostly fire weed) in our pasture, but even they are dead, brown, and crispy. The tallest grass in our pasture is only a couple inches tall and is very thin and dead.

There are a couple of reasons we shouldn't have our horses here. There is NOTHING in the pasture right now. We've been looking for some hay, but haven't found any yet, and we haven't finished putting up our loafing shed for the horses yet. Progress on the shed has come to a screeching halt, thanks to having to wait for the equipment to get the dirt work done. Plus, we still need to finish cleaning up our pasture. There's remnants of old fences criss-crossing our property and there are huge holes that need filled (badgers - grrr). I have 2 horses and was planning on a dozen large round bales of prairie hay for fall (Sep/Oct - when we bring the horses out here) through next summer (june/july) when I can buy more hay. Does that sound like an accurate guess? How big is your pasture and how many horses do you have? What do you mean by "12% grain"? I was thinking of some sweet feed type stuff (corn, oats, and a touch of molasses from the local co-op). We bought 33 acres of pasture, but most of that is along the road, so we lose quite a bit to the ditch and the road (our pasture is long and narrow with most of the long side being along the road).

I ride for pleasure, whether that's on the road, through a pasture or whatever. I do enjoy trail rides, but many people think my trail rides (the ones I lead) are too hard. I enjoy riding through trees, across creeks, etc and not necessarily just on flat ground. I do try to ride in "my" rodeo (the one I grew up attending and the one that I am the 2006 queen of - the North Central Kansas Saddle Club Rodeo, held in Concordia, KS) when possible, and I ride in local shows, parades and game days when I can. How 'bout you? Do you do mostly trail/pleasure? I saw on here some talk about meeting at a lake sometime and riding together. That sounds like SO MUCH fun!

 

[chicken danz]

Oh Lizzy! I meant to mention. You can post your videos on Photobucket and it doesn't cost anything. You can make them and your pictures private or public.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye I've seen some really awful looking birds come here for testing from people who didn't have a clue about showing. They would buy some ratty old bird and think they had something special to show. I think the judges are pretty keen on these things and can tell a well cared for bird from others. And your son is prepared so that is that much more to his benefit.
As far as the bread goes that just adds character. Makes me smile because a judge will probably get a nice happy thought in their head when they see a tiny finger hole.
Afterall it's to teach the kids and with kids disaster just happens. That is what makes them so precious.

Well, lets hope the judge will be kind when he sees the yellow streaks! LOL! The other birds look okay. The bread wasn't as bad as actually having a hole-- more like a "dent" finger impression in it. This morning, I think it fluffed back up a bit, because you can barely see the finger dent and my son wants to take that bread again rather than the other loaf. This one was the best one. Yes, this loaf will have some character. Kids... definitely turns a house into chaos.

I'm not sure how your pasture could be any worse than ours. Our pasture was grazed pretty heavily last year (before we bought it) and then this year we haven't gotten any rain. We have quite a few weeds (mostly fire weed) in our pasture, but even they are dead, brown, and crispy. The tallest grass in our pasture is only a couple inches tall and is very thin and dead.

There are a couple of reasons we shouldn't have our horses here. There is NOTHING in the pasture right now. We've been looking for some hay, but haven't found any yet, and we haven't finished putting up our loafing shed for the horses yet. Progress on the shed has come to a screeching halt, thanks to having to wait for the equipment to get the dirt work done. Plus, we still need to finish cleaning up our pasture. There's remnants of old fences criss-crossing our property and there are huge holes that need filled (badgers - grrr). I have 2 horses and was planning on a dozen large round bales of prairie hay for fall (Sep/Oct - when we bring the horses out here) through next summer (june/july) when I can buy more hay. Does that sound like an accurate guess? How big is your pasture and how many horses do you have? What do you mean by "12% grain"? I was thinking of some sweet feed type stuff (corn, oats, and a touch of molasses from the local co-op). We bought 33 acres of pasture, but most of that is along the road, so we lose quite a bit to the ditch and the road (our pasture is long and narrow with most of the long side being along the road).

I ride for pleasure, whether that's on the road, through a pasture or whatever. I do enjoy trail rides, but many people think my trail rides (the ones I lead) are too hard. I enjoy riding through trees, across creeks, etc and not necessarily just on flat ground. I do try to ride in "my" rodeo (the one I grew up attending and the one that I am the 2006 queen of - the North Central Kansas Saddle Club Rodeo, held in Concordia, KS) when possible, and I ride in local shows, parades and game days when I can. How 'bout you? Do you do mostly trail/pleasure? I saw on here some talk about meeting at a lake sometime and riding together. That sounds like SO MUCH fun!

We have a 10 acre tract, so we have even less pasture ground than you have. I'm guessing only about 7 acres of it is fenced in. I have 3 horses on it, and I buy around 12 round bales each year. I usually have enough to last me until the next cutting, so it does okay. I also have a horse that is a very easy keeper and doesn't eat as much. I typically always buy brome, but it's now going for $85+ a bale. This is the first time I decided to buy prairie, and only because the farmer told me it was an old brome field that mostly died out and he over seeded, so it is a mixture and I hope they like it. I paid $65 a bale for it. Check on craigslist, you'll see TONS and TONS of hay! But it may not be the prices you want. I started out buying 12% sweet feed (yes, it has molasses in it) at the CoOp. However, their prices went up to right around $11+ a bag. (depends on the month, it could be as high as $13+) I then switched and started buying my 12% sweet feed (it has more pellets in it, but has the same protein %) at Atwoods and it is only $8+ a bag. Cut my feed bill by a LOT. I spend about $50 a week, but that is because I have a horse right now that is so old, she is becoming a very hard keeper. I feed her the x-large plastic red coffee cans-- she gets 4 cans a day, the others get 2 cans in the summer. But in the winter, they get 3. And I top my older mare by another 1/2 since she won't eat any extra, she just stops. So my feed bill goes up a bit because of the winter.

Right now, I'm not doing much of any riding at all. My riding has gone down by a LOT since I had kids. I hardly get a chance to go out there because of them. And you'd think staying at home with them, I could ride. But when they are babies, they need you pretty much constantly.. and now, they are getting better, but with 3 of them, still hard. My best hope is to plan events or go riding in the evening here at the house when my DH gets home and my neighbor can go down the road with me. I used to be a member of the South Central Kansas Trail Riders Association for about 15 years. I let it drop since I couldn't seem to get away. It's frustrating to me, but that's the way my life is right now. Our trail rides always consisted of water crossings, gulleys, etc.. One of the reasons why I like getting out to the lakes because there is more varied terrain to ride on. We have a horse park near by I get out to on occasion, which is fun. But yeah if anyone wants to try to meet up at say-- like Kanopolis this Fall, I'd be in for that. It's about a 2 + hour drive from me, but well worth it. Or there is another lake up north that has good trails-- up by Lawrence, I think. Kanopolis has nice corrals you can put your horse in, and electric at the sites. Even though I tent it, I always buy electric so I can plug in a fan or heater, etc...

 

[JosieChick]

Hawkeye- Sorry about your bleached hackles! That is a good thing to know! Does it mostly happen in the splash or ligher colored birds? I have heard white cochin breeders don't let their birds in the sun because it yellows them.

HEchicken- She is going to wander, it is just their nature. If she bonds to you and the property she will come back. I would let your neighbors know who she is. It is just the nature of the beast. These dogs range out like no other. My girls always came back but they would leave for hours at a time going on "patrols" as I would call them. Our neighbors have cattle and during calving time Molly was gone all the time.

We installed 8 acres of invisible fence on our property ourselves. We did most of it in a weekend and bought all the supplies off amazon. Total the fence install with wire, four collars and the transmitter ran us about $500 minus sweating and being miserable all weekend! We ran most of the wire on the barbed wire fence. It doesn't have to be buried. If you know the brand of fence you can order a few more rolls of wire and splice it to the old wire that is already existing. I know it is a huge investment but it was worth it for us because Molly was chasing farm equipment and cars so much I was afraid she would get hurt. I am especially glad now that the neighbors are cutting hay that she can't run out into the road.

If you are a type A personality like I am and want to control where the dog goes the only way to contain her is to run hotwire (Molly can be contained with a single strand of hotwire run about a foot off the ground according to her previous owners) or invisible fence on the perimeter of your property. Otherwise she is going to leave. It is just the way they are. These dogs were bred to protect livestock on hundred or thousands of acres. Their territory is as far as their eye can see and it is so true! They also don't hear you when you want them to come back until they are ready. They have highly selective hearing and if they are off on a mission forget about it! You are on the bottom of their totem pole at that moment. I had to let go of a lot of my previous experience with dogs when I got Molly. She is just different, you can't boss them around or be too controlling of they get frustrated because they think they are trying to do their job and you think they aren't doing it the way you want them to!!

You already have a collar right? You said your dogs don't wear their collars so your one dog can go swimming? I bet the wire wouldn't be too bad to install. It is up to you to decide if it is worth it or not for you. When the coyotes get going at night and I think about one dragging my goose up the hill by his neck I am sure glad those dogs are out there barking to keep them away. I like being able to let my birds out in the yard and not worry about their safety constantly. We spent a small fortune on our dogs but I am so glad we did. Molly is my peace of mind.

I have to laugh a little because you are going through exactly what I went through. DH did some research and we determined we could put the fencing in ourselves for much less than the company and it was so worth it. I didn't like Molly in the road and I didn't want our dogs to bother our neighbors who are not very far away as the dog walks. One is right up our back hill. I was very nervous about one of them being shot because they are so big and I was afraid people would think they were going to harm the livestock. In that book I have there is one instance where a pyr was shot and killed in its own field with its own goats because a new neighbor thought a large dog was in with the goats and might harm them. So that is a legitimate concern with these big polar bears.

If you don't want her I will trade you the puppy for her!!!!!

I could throttle that puppy somedays...she was being so good for like 4 days and then yesterday it ended...

 

[HEChicken]

I am feeling better about Tory now as "her" property has just doubled to 20 acres. I talked to my neighbor this morning and she said she welcomes Tory coming over. She recognized her breed and although she only has 2 horses, 2 dogs and a cat so doesn't have many predator concerns, she also knew that Tory wasn't a threat to her and said "oh, just let her come on over". Additionally, the neighbor on the other side of her, whom I've never met, saw Tory this morning and it sounds like she doesn't have a problem with her either. She is the one who owns the big, black Shepherd, and I suggested that Molly the shepherd might run Tory off but my neighbor said all Molly will want to do is play with her. I plan to walk up there this evening and introduce myself and talk to that neighbor directly just to be sure, but what I got from my immediate neighbor is that they don't have a problem with her.

As for the invisible fence, unfortunately we won't be able to splice in and add onto it, I don't think. What the previous owner installed is DogWatch, which is a proprietary company that, according to their website, is incompatible with any other system. You can only buy the collars from them because any other collar won't work. And, the collar we have that the previous owners left, is too small for Tory. It would fit one of my other dogs but one never leaves the property and the other likes to swim in the pond so I don't really want to put it on either of them. I wish I could just trade it out for a bigger one but it looks old and ratty so I'm sure that's not an option.

However I appreciate what you said about getting the stuff off Amazon and doing it and another option might be to just forget the existing fence is there and install a whole new system. It certainly sounds like it would be a lot cheaper to do it that way.

I had decided that for today I would not tether Tory at all and leave her be to see what she would do. She spent most of the morning going off here and there to explore but now seems content to sleep in the shade. I'm sure you're all right that she is just figuring out where stuff is, and hopefully she'll satisfy that curiosity and then be content to spend most of her time here.

 

[Trish44]

Josie, how old is your GP puppy now? Mine just in the last 2-3 months really got through the worst of their puppy behavior & are doing great now, they're much more serious & stopped doing so much destructive stuff, they're 9 months old now. They still bring me stuff all the time from the "landfill" next door on the hill, they're treasures to them, like old shoes & plastic containers of any kind are their favorite because they can chew on them & bang them around. I let them keep some things just to play with, but I do have to pick up a lot of things, that's just how they are. I will put up with that for the job they're doing at night. I was just writing to the guy I got my Cream Legbar eggs from & told him I think the predators are getting more bold in this heat & drought because it's getting harder for them to find food so they're going after chickens & other poultry even more. It's just another reason that the GPs are so valuable.

HeChicken, I agree with Danz, you need to give Tory some more time, she is having to make a big adjustment & she is trying to figure out where she is supposed to be. It may take a little more working with her to teach her the boundaries you want her to stay in. My puppies have grown up here from the time I got them, so they know where they're supposed to be, but an adult dog has to re-learn after being somewhere else especially. I don't really think it's the amount of land you have because we only have 10 acres here & mine know where they're supposed to stay. I'm not saying they don't leave once in awhile because I know they do, but they come back. I haven't talked to all of the neighbors about mine, just a couple of them, I probably should talk to the one on the other side of me & across the road at the Dr's place, but I haven't yet. My neighbor on the east of me was the one that asked me about my dogs first before I had a chance to tallk to them because they were afraid for their horses until they found out what kind of dogs they were. Now they understand they won't hurt them or their chickens. I do fear for mine if they go out to the road though because we have crazy people who drive like idiots around here & there is a huge hill right east of us that they just fly over, it's nuts because it's really steep. Of course we have nuts that shoot innocent cats too just for entertainment, that still burns me up.

Well it's time to go cook lunch already, we had a rude wake-up call this morning early, the cat knocked over my antique lamp & broke the shade all to bits & then after I got back to sleep I overslept. Grrrr, darned cat!

 

[JosieChick]

I am feeling better about Tory now as "her" property has just doubled to 20 acres. I talked to my neighbor this morning and she said she welcomes Tory coming over. She recognized her breed and although she only has 2 horses, 2 dogs and a cat so doesn't have many predator concerns, she also knew that Tory wasn't a threat to her and said "oh, just let her come on over". Additionally, the neighbor on the other side of her, whom I've never met, saw Tory this morning and it sounds like she doesn't have a problem with her either. She is the one who owns the big, black Shepherd, and I suggested that Molly the shepherd might run Tory off but my neighbor said all Molly will want to do is play with her. I plan to walk up there this evening and introduce myself and talk to that neighbor directly just to be sure, but what I got from my immediate neighbor is that they don't have a problem with her.

As for the invisible fence, unfortunately we won't be able to splice in and add onto it, I don't think. What the previous owner installed is DogWatch, which is a proprietary company that, according to their website, is incompatible with any other system. You can only buy the collars from them because any other collar won't work. And, the collar we have that the previous owners left, is too small for Tory. It would fit one of my other dogs but one never leaves the property and the other likes to swim in the pond so I don't really want to put it on either of them. I wish I could just trade it out for a bigger one but it looks old and ratty so I'm sure that's not an option.

However I appreciate what you said about getting the stuff off Amazon and doing it and another option might be to just forget the existing fence is there and install a whole new system. It certainly sounds like it would be a lot cheaper to do it that way.

I had decided that for today I would not tether Tory at all and leave her be to see what she would do. She spent most of the morning going off here and there to explore but now seems content to sleep in the shade. I'm sure you're all right that she is just figuring out where stuff is, and hopefully she'll satisfy that curiosity and then be content to spend most of her time here.

Awesome!!! That is so nice that your neighbors are so accepting. Most people really don't mind these dogs wandering by. Country folks are so much nicer about dogs than city folks are! Bummer about the fence. I have heard of dog watch, too bad you can't tap into the line. If you do decide to do a fence we have Sportdog invisible fence and it has really good reviews. So far it has worked really well. It alarms if a wire is broken which was handy last weekend because one of the horses broke one of the pasture wires.

They kind of go out and come back, it is like they are mentally mapping the area in their heads. They will go out just a little ways, then come back. Then go out a little further and come back. If we didn't have a serious vehicle chaser I wouldn't have even worried about fencing them in. Most of our neighbors welcomed the dogs for predator control since they all have livestock etc.

Don't panic if she doesn't come back right a way or respond to you calling. Remember selective Pyr hearing!!

 

[lizzyGSR]

We have a 10 acre tract, so we have even less pasture ground than you have. I'm guessing only about 7 acres of it is fenced in. I have 3 horses on it, and I buy around 12 round bales each year. I usually have enough to last me until the next cutting, so it does okay. I also have a horse that is a very easy keeper and doesn't eat as much. I typically always buy brome, but it's now going for $85+ a bale. This is the first time I decided to buy prairie, and only because the farmer told me it was an old brome field that mostly died out and he over seeded, so it is a mixture and I hope they like it. I paid $65 a bale for it. Check on craigslist, you'll see TONS and TONS of hay! But it may not be the prices you want. I started out buying 12% sweet feed (yes, it has molasses in it) at the CoOp. However, their prices went up to right around $11+ a bag. (depends on the month, it could be as high as $13+) I then switched and started buying my 12% sweet feed (it has more pellets in it, but has the same protein %) at Atwoods and it is only $8+ a bag. Cut my feed bill by a LOT. I spend about $50 a week, but that is because I have a horse right now that is so old, she is becoming a very hard keeper. I feed her the x-large plastic red coffee cans-- she gets 4 cans a day, the others get 2 cans in the summer. But in the winter, they get 3. And I top my older mare by another 1/2 since she won't eat any extra, she just stops. So my feed bill goes up a bit because of the winter.

Right now, I'm not doing much of any riding at all. My riding has gone down by a LOT since I had kids. I hardly get a chance to go out there because of them. And you'd think staying at home with them, I could ride. But when they are babies, they need you pretty much constantly.. and now, they are getting better, but with 3 of them, still hard. My best hope is to plan events or go riding in the evening here at the house when my DH gets home and my neighbor can go down the road with me. I used to be a member of the South Central Kansas Trail Riders Association for about 15 years. I let it drop since I couldn't seem to get away. It's frustrating to me, but that's the way my life is right now. Our trail rides always consisted of water crossings, gulleys, etc.. One of the reasons why I like getting out to the lakes because there is more varied terrain to ride on. We have a horse park near by I get out to on occasion, which is fun. But yeah if anyone wants to try to meet up at say-- like Kanopolis this Fall, I'd be in for that. It's about a 2 + hour drive from me, but well worth it. Or there is another lake up north that has good trails-- up by Lawrence, I think. Kanopolis has nice corrals you can put your horse in, and electric at the sites. Even though I tent it, I always buy electric so I can plug in a fan or heater, etc...

Brome is a rare (and expensive) commodity out here, so I'll most likely be getting prairie. My neighbor is a big farmer/rancher and is one of the major hay suppliers for this area. He said prairie hay this year would be going for ~$70/bale. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do for some extra protein for my horses. I've considered getting one bale of alfalfa (~$200/bale) and then mixing a small amount with their hay. I've also considered allowing them to free range a protein tub and/or getting sweet feed. I'm in extreme Northwestern KS, and the only farm stores we have out here are Co-op or Orscheln's. Orscheln's sells 12% sweet feed for $10.00 for a 40lb bag. I don't know what the co-op sells it for. Orschelns has a 16% molasses tub for $55 for a 200lb tub. How long does a bag of sweet feed last you?

Lawrence is way too far for me to go. It'd be about around 6 hours' drive for me. Kanopolis is kinda far (around 4 hours) as well, but I have family north of Salina, so I MIGHT be able to swing that, depending on when.

 

[HEChicken]

They kind of go out and come back, it is like they are mentally mapping the area in their heads. They will go out just a little ways, then come back. Then go out a little further and come back. If we didn't have a serious vehicle chaser I wouldn't have even worried about fencing them in. Most of our neighbors welcomed the dogs for predator control since they all have livestock etc.

That is EXACTLY what she does - goes a little way, comes back, goes a little further. I do find it interesting to watch her. Sometimes she's just a dog, gamboling and playing with Sammie (lab/border collie). But then she gets all serious and it really is like she is figuring out how best to watch out for this property. She checks everything out, sniffing at all the stuff in the pole barn, stopping to smell any smells as she makes her way through the pasture. She only met DD last night for the first time, and then DD went out first thing this morning to class, and came back for lunch. I was amazed that Tory didn't even bark when DD pulled in the driveway. She has barked at every other vehicle and was sitting in the shade watching as the car pulled in so its not that she just didn't notice. I think she recognized the vehicle as belonging here and decided it didn't warrant an alert.

Brome is a rare (and expensive) commodity out here, so I'll most likely be getting prairie.

That is too bad. I had no idea there would be such variation around the state. Our barn is part of a 200-acre property planted to hay. Half of it is brome and the other half is prairie. Our turnout field is over-grazed but when we are there, we are allowed to turn the horses out for an hour or so on the brome to eat it directly and they love that. And, when we're riding we'll sometimes stop to take a break and chat in the shade and let the horses graze (yeah, they're a little spoiled). We only buy square bales and only get brome. The price really jumped up last year to about $9/bale. The crop has been so much better this year the price should drop. I hope.