Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye don't beat yourself up. Everyone here thinks Zorro and your other birds are all beautiful. You know different judges see things differently. He could be a grand prize winner elsewhere. Besides he's fathered some great chicks and he is a family pet.
else you can do. Someone bought my ugly silkies and planned to show them. Well they weren't ugly, but compared to yours they were. Can you imagine how poorly they'll be rated??

 

[Hawkeye95]

I am not sure what type it was found in the front yard by a friend who's cats where trying to eat it, I just don't know enough about pheasants to tell you much my guess ringtail maybe that is what is in our area since we live in town I have know idea how a pheasant got into town. Any help would be great Thanks for the welcome back.

oh no, poor little thing!! I'm so glad you all rescued it!!

Hawkeye don't beat yourself up. Everyone here thinks Zorro and your other birds are all beautiful. You know different judges see things differently. He could be a grand prize winner elsewhere. Besides he's fathered some great chicks and he is a family pet.
else you can do. Someone bought my ugly silkies and planned to show them. Well they weren't ugly, but compared to yours they were. Can you imagine how poorly they'll be rated??

I snorted out loud!! I didn't think your silkies were ugly, but that set me off giggling. Okay, I feel a lot better, but I do have a lot of work ahead of me to down side my silkies and cull hard. His babies are gorgeous! I'm going to cry if his boys turn out to be "too big". Ah well. I'm totally being a bum right now. Dinner is in the oven and I'm sitting on here while the kids play outside. I am spending another long day at the fair tomorrow-- barn monitor. But so far it's been really fun, so it's all good. I probably need to go do some laundry!!

 

[Trish44]

Welcome Schellie, I don't have pheasants & have too many projects myself right now, but maybe someone else can help you out.

Hawkeye, congrats on your win with your hen anyway. I think your rooster is a nice looking guy, like Danz said another judge may have seen him differently, it's subjective. It seems like there is a lot to learn about showing. I'm glad you're enjoying it all & your son is having a good time & learning lots too.

I went out earlier in the afternoon & tried to get that darned pen together, but I can't get the fencing tight enough around it to meet where it's supposed to. I tried using a pole to pull it with, but even with that I can't get it all the way. I'm thinking I'm just going to attach some other fence to it & call it good. I will be hooking chicken wire on the inside again anyway & covering the top, so I just can't see fighting with it any more. I'm not even sure with my DH's help we could get it pulled tight enough to get it all the way around, geez. Why do they have to make things so hard to put together? I'm going back out in a few minutes to hook on the top & bottom wires to hold it to the top & bottom frame & then I'll find something to fix that gap with & try to move the thing where it's supposed to go. I don't know if I can do that by myself or not. What a pain in the behind!

Well better get back out there, I was so soaked with sweat & about to fall over so I had to come in for awhile & rest & cool down, but now I need to go finish that the best I can & then do my chores.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Trish, what a PITA that the chain link doesn't want to fit around it. I wonder if both of you pull on it and start in the middle again... ?? I don't know. I really like the dog panels the best-- they are so easy to set up. I think you've assured that I will never buy that kind of pen! LOL!! I don't want to struggle like that!

Okay, I was sitting out side with some fluffies here tonight. The light was fading fast but everyone is starting to just look so cute, thought I would share a pic of some of them.

This one is one of my favorites! She has the cutest markings on her. (I have no idea if it's a girl, I just call them all "she")

And then some of the fluff balls in action-- doing their favorite activity which is eat grass and find all the bugs in the evenings they can.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Tweety, I thought of you this morning when I was at Ace and they had kids wading pools. They were a pretty good size for $17, but I've never priced them before so don't know what they typically go for.

Swung by our Ace and they had TONS of them! Yeehaww!! I never would have thought to look there! Thanks for the heads up! We picked one up, of course, and will set it out for the ducks this weekend. I know they will appreciate the bigger pool to play in. DH keeps laughing at me about how my simple little flock has started adding up more and more money wise. I completely understand what everyone was talking about when I first started. lol!

Hawkeye - congrats on the purples and good showings! Don't fret about Zorro - he's still a winner in my book!

Looks like I might have a blue silkie roo to give away.. sigh. I'm pretty sure Jade is a male, he's got a much bigger comb than the other two. Haven't heard a crow yet though - anyone know when those start to come?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Swung by our Ace and they had TONS of them! Yeehaww!! I never would have thought to look there! Thanks for the heads up! We picked one up, of course, and will set it out for the ducks this weekend. I know they will appreciate the bigger pool to play in. DH keeps laughing at me about how my simple little flock has started adding up more and more money wise. I completely understand what everyone was talking about when I first started. lol!

Hawkeye - congrats on the purples and good showings! Don't fret about Zorro - he's still a winner in my book!

Looks like I might have a blue silkie roo to give away.. sigh. I'm pretty sure Jade is a male, he's got a much bigger comb than the other two. Haven't heard a crow yet though - anyone know when those start to come?

silkies can start as early as 14 weeks on crowing. Depending on their maturity and their lines. Renee would be a better person to ask since she'd know her own birds the best! So sorry that you might have to rehome your bird. I hope you can find him a good home. I bet you won't have too hard of a time, he's a good looking bird. So glad you found the swimming pool!!

 

[HEChicken]

Anyway, the the results were kind of what I expected on my birds, but I was surprised about my rooster. However, he gave me a great talk on silkies and he really knows what he's doing--he judges in several other states, so it looks like I'm going to phase Zorro out next year for a smaller bird (not so tall) and one with a smaller comb). I hope I have several little roosters growing up in my pen!! Wouldn't it be my luck not to get any roosters when I desperately need two or three for next year?? LOL Oh-- Zorro got a Red placing in featherleg, my Blue hen got a Red (her backside is torn up --feathers are missing-- I was complaining about that before we left). BUT.... our little pullet got a Purple!!! WhooHOO!!!! He was super stingy with Purples... He said she would have been in the running for BV if she had been older and had her cushion grown in. A Rosecomb featherleg got RV and another beautiful little silkie cockerel got BV. As it was, she is only 4 months and not much of a cushion. So that is the show report.

Congratulations on the purple but BUMMER about Zorro. I would have never guessed they could be too big. Just shows what I know. I always loved JB's size because he was very fluffy which made him look big.

HeChicken, do you think the new dog was going to eat the chicken?

Honestly, I don't think so. I think it was just the movement/toy/chase reflex. She had nosed under a bush the hen was hiding in, which of course made the hen run and the movement excited Tory.

Hi all, It has been a long time since I have been on byc. I need some help I was given a 4-5 week old pheasant I am not set up to take care of it, Is there anyone here in Kansas that would like this little one will be willing to meet and take it for me. Thanks for any help.

Nice to see you back Schellie - its been awhile. How is your DD doing?

Trish, what a PITA that the chain link doesn't want to fit around it. I wonder if both of you pull on it and start in the middle again... ?? I don't know. I really like the dog panels the best-- they are so easy to set up. I think you've assured that I will never buy that kind of pen! LOL!! I don't want to struggle like that!

Okay, I was sitting out side with some fluffies here tonight. The light was fading fast but everyone is starting to just look so cute, thought I would share a pic of some of them.

Those are just the cutest little fluff balls. Now you said your 4-month-old pullet got the purple. Surely that isn't the broody hatched pullet already? She can't be four months old yet can she? If so, time really does fly!!! But I thought she wasn't show-worthy because of the toes.

Swung by our Ace and they had TONS of them! Yeehaww!! I never would have thought to look there! Thanks for the heads up! We picked one up, of course, and will set it out for the ducks this weekend. I know they will appreciate the bigger pool to play in. DH keeps laughing at me about how my simple little flock has started adding up more and more money wise. I completely understand what everyone was talking about when I first started. lol!

Yay - so glad you found one!

Trish, I thought I multi-quoted yours but it didn't show up. Sounds like that dog pen is giving you a run for your money. I hope you were able to get it in the end.

And Danz, you are so lucky to get a little rain. I don't think we even saw a cloud here this evening.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Congratulations on the purple but BUMMER about Zorro. I would have never guessed they could be too big. Just shows what I know. I always loved JB's size because he was very fluffy which made him look big.

Honestly, I don't think so. I think it was just the movement/toy/chase reflex. She had nosed under a bush the hen was hiding in, which of course made the hen run and the movement excited Tory.

Nice to see you back Schellie - its been awhile. How is your DD doing?

Those are just the cutest little fluff balls. Now you said your 4-month-old pullet got the purple. Surely that isn't the broody hatched pullet already? She can't be four months old yet can she? If so, time really does fly!!! But I thought she wasn't show-worthy because of the toes.

Yay - so glad you found one!

Trish, I thought I multi-quoted yours but it didn't show up. Sounds like that dog pen is giving you a run for your money. I hope you were able to get it in the end.

And Danz, you are so lucky to get a little rain. I don't think we even saw a cloud here this evening.

me either! I had no idea they could be "too big" either! LOL SO there you go! Learn something every day. Hopefully Torry will continue to be a good girl and not eat any chickens! ha! She probably just needs to be around them more. And GOOD memory!! Yes! That is the same chick that was hatched by my broody! She has brachydactyly, which means that her outer toe on each foot is shorter and missing a toe nail. I discovered a couple of months ago that it was not a DQ, but simply a deduction of about 2 to 3 points on a scale of 100 for silkies to be missing a knuckle or toenail. So they are showable. I'm not sure if I really want to breed her yet. She needs some more growing out before I make that decision. Anyway, her feathers are so thick on her feet, I doubt that the judge even noticed they were a bit shorter. Her foot feathering is really good. And yeah, she is about a week away from being 4 months old! Isn't that crazy!? Time moves fast!

 

[cherwill]

I'm too tired to remember what I've read, but I'm sure enjoying the pictures of all these beautiful birds!

 

[sapphireblu76]

The GP puppy is about 6 1/2 months old and I could kill her on a daily basis. She keeps chasing chickens, pulling feathers out of my poor bronze turkey, carrying chickens around by the tails. I supervise her constantly and have used a remote collar but it is a high tech one and doesn't apparently have a bad enough bite so I am going to get a stronger one and spy on her. She is smart and knows when I am around and when I am not. She never does anything to the birds until I go around the corner and can't see her. Stinker.

I was just curious if you shaved her neck? We have a really nice one that even on the highest setting wouldn't "bite" the dogs good enough. Finally read the instructions (pffft! who needs instructions!?) and realized we needed to shave the area that the electrode would touch for the "bite" to go through.

well, I don't have much time, our judging starts here in a bit. We were at the fair yesterday until a little after 8pm. The poultry superintendent isn't going to do this next year and she is training me to take over for next year. So we set up cages and she showed me the process of how she organizes the LF by their classes. I learned that Houdans, Polish, etc are all Continential -- I had no idea what they were, I have polish! LOL SO much to learn, I was trying to keep up best i could. She was showing me how the cages torn down and how to flip the tables to get bigger cages on. Sigh. We worked for a few hours yesterday and got tags on the cages and then waited for everyone to show up with their birds. OH!!! and when people started arriving, we left really quick to have my son's yeast bread judged... and the judge was so impressed with the bread, he got a PURPLE!!! I'm so excited for him! When she discovered he did not use a bread machine, and he rolled it out, etc...she was thrilled and then told him the consistency and moisture was perfect and that the crust had the perfect color, etc... She never even saw the little finger dent in it! LOL!! The other loaf had sloping sides and this one was perfectly even. SO I'm glad we took it anyway.

Congrats on the bread! How neat to be learning all that, too

I got that dog pen put together for the most part after trying different things, it was kind of like a puzzle there for awhile that you don't have a picture to use for a guide. I was missing one upright pole until I went & looked inside of the rolled up fence & saw it in the middle of there, so I will have to roll it out in order to get it out of there. I need to bring the fence down now from up on the hill, it's kind of awkward & doesn't fit in the wheelbarrow, so we'll see how I can figure out to get it down here. We had all that stuff in the back of the truck & then needed the truck at one point, so we just unloaded it all up there where it has stayed until now. I guess I will see how I do trying to get this fence on by myself, wish me luck on that too. They made it look so easy on this video I watched for another type of pen. The one I have doesn't have brackets to fit over joints, they just slip together. This was a used pen when I bought it, so I didn't have instructions.

We bought ours used, too. It took a couple of hours to figure out what the heck we were dealing with because I had never seen the wrap around style before. Fortunately, the lady who sold it to me (who had bought it used and never set it up) was able to point me to a picture on the Home Depot website and that helped immensely. We had trouble getting the fence wrapped and pulled, too. My sister started at the end we attached, I held the loose end as taught as I could, and she just worked her way around the fence tugging and pulling and I took up the slack as she did. When we got within about 2 inches, I had her hold it while I wired it to the pole. Then as we worked our way down, we were able to get it closer and closer, so worked our way back up, tightening the clips as we went. Hope that helps.

Okay, we just got back! I clerked for the judge along with the Superintendent who showed me how to direct the judge and keep him on task and what he needs to judge for. It was complicated than I thought, because we had so many Opens and they are judged on a different scale, and then get different ribbons and then must be judged against the class. So we ended up having all these different divisions. I'm sure Checoukan will be doing the same thing and totally understands what I'm talking about. But it took me a while to get the hang of what the heck the judging system was for Open. Anyway, next year, she said I'm going to do it myself and I told her-- no way!! I said she's going to have to come back and show me again to be sure I have it down! LOL Anyway, this judge was HARD. Practically no one got Purples and Blues were hard to come by too. I was glad he was judging very carefully.

Anyway, the the results were kind of what I expected on my birds, but I was surprised about my rooster. However, he gave me a great talk on silkies and he really knows what he's doing--he judges in several other states, so it looks like I'm going to phase Zorro out next year for a smaller bird (not so tall) and one with a smaller comb). I hope I have several little roosters growing up in my pen!! Wouldn't it be my luck not to get any roosters when I desperately need two or three for next year?? LOL Oh-- Zorro got a Red placing in featherleg, my Blue hen got a Red (her backside is torn up --feathers are missing-- I was complaining about that before we left). BUT.... our little pullet got a Purple!!! WhooHOO!!!! He was super stingy with Purples... He said she would have been in the running for BV if she had been older and had her cushion grown in. A Rosecomb featherleg got RV and another beautiful little silkie cockerel got BV. As it was, she is only 4 months and not much of a cushion. So that is the show report.

Purple:

Showmanship:

Woo hoo! So sorry Zorro was not what they wanted him to be, but your birds are so nice looking, I'm sure you will have a great roo next year

Trish, what a PITA that the chain link doesn't want to fit around it. I wonder if both of you pull on it and start in the middle again... ?? I don't know. I really like the dog panels the best-- they are so easy to set up. I think you've assured that I will never buy that kind of pen! LOL!! I don't want to struggle like that!

Okay, I was sitting out side with some fluffies here tonight. The light was fading fast but everyone is starting to just look so cute, thought I would share a pic of some of them.

This one is one of my favorites! She has the cutest markings on her. (I have no idea if it's a girl, I just call them all "she")

And then some of the fluff balls in action-- doing their favorite activity which is eat grass and find all the bugs in the evenings they can.

Awwwwww!