Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

michelle, thanks for that link, that is adorable! I never in a million years would think chickens could swim, but those sure do look happy. Of course the little girls are adorable too! I'm glad your DH made it home OK.

I just went out awhile ago & sprayed everyone down again & put the new ice packs in the water for the chickens & put one in the plastic tub in the chicken pen, but really they looked pretty comfortable after I sprayed them pen down with water. The wet ground stays cool in the shade for quite awhile & they looked pretty happy laying in different groups in there. It was kind of funny that in one corner were all of the lavender Orps & Orp/Isabel chicks & the other corner there were a group of Cream Legbars & Welsummers. Then in the middle of the pen were the Salmon Faverolles grouped together. The Ameraucanas were just kind of spread around. My Salmon Faverolles sure did get big fast, they're really growing up. Maybe I can go out in the morning when there is better light in there & get some pics. I'm afraid the light wouldn't be good now with the deep shade to take any.

I just showed my new calico kitten to my DH awhile ago, he didn't know I got any. His comment was, what do we need more cats for? I was kind of surprised at that because he is the cat man. But I think he understood why I wanted another calico after losing my favorite recently. Of course I didn't show him the sister that came along with that one, it will just kind of blend in & oops where did that one come from. That sometimes happens here anyway, one of our cats will have kittens off somewhere & when they get old enough they appear to eat with the rest, so he probably won't even notice for awhile. Cats come & go here, I don't like it, but it's just how it is out here. We have some for awhile & then something happens to them & we have more. We have had some for longer times like the two momma cats right now, but we just don't tend to have the outside cats for really long periods partially because my neighbor hates cats & I think she does things to them. Then there are maniacs like the one recently that shot my calico, I would like to shoot them in the a*** & see how they like it. There are some crazy, nutty people in this world & the scary thing is they're walking around in the middle of us & we don't know it.

 

[chicken danz]

Michellemi, so glad your hubby is home safe.
Trish I just put the swedish flower eggs in the incubator so it will be awhile. I have some others I plan to get the first of September from another part of the country. I am trying to make sure if I do hatch some I have some diversity in blood lines. I don't want to do any inbreeding.
So much for relaxing. I've spent my entire day trying to cool off birds, and doing laundry. I'm not done with either. I raided my freezer and put any kind of frozen veggie I knew wasn't brand new out for the birds. I went out this morning and picked some cucumbers which had virtually about cooked on the vines. I cut those in thick slices and put them in the freezer until they were almost starting to freeze. The birds are really loving those.
Yet even though I've spent the entire day making the rounds I had a Serama hen go down, She was flipping and flopping when I found her. She has been sitting on eggs and I don't think the air was getting to her. I brought her in, cooled her down, gave her vitamin E, syrup, and pedialite in water. She started shivering like my roo had done.I wrapped her in a towel and put her in my tub with her drink mix in case she decided to drink on her own. I'm not sure she will make it. Just the fact that she shivered makes me think she was going in shock. I was so careful to have the water reasonably warm to cool her down slowly but maybe her internal temperature had gone too high. I guess I should gather her eggs and see if they will do anything.
I shut down another incubator today and am down to just one and the hatcher.
My stupid silver pied white peafowl eggs I paid a fortune for weren't fertile. So I wasted a ton of money on those as well as the last bunch. This gal kind of irritated me. I bought my eggs and it took nearly a month for her to send them. Then she blamed the lack of fertility on the heat from the postal service. Considering she knew it was hot she could have included an ice pack or sent the eggs when it was still cooler.
So Trish I wasted a ton of money on eggs this year too. Between the lemon cuckoo and the lavender orpington eggs, and another $100 for peafowl eggs, now the additional lavender and Swedish flower hen eggs, I wasted a lot of money. I just hope I end up with enough birds to breed through all of this and makes some money back as well.
I might have made a huge mistake today. I had a barrel of feed that smelled musty. I had spread some out in my general pen and the birds ate it and seemed fine. So I was thinking I could just throw some out on the ground and the sun would dry it so it would be okay. But, the bottom of the barrel had apparently sweated and there was mold in that feed. I tried to clean it up but my layers came running so I rinsed and rinsed and got a lot of it to wash down the cracks. Still they ingested quite a bit of it. I sure hope I didn't kill any more hens with that! I swear I am starting to feel like a chicken killer these days.
Those were a couple new bags of feed that I put in the barrel. Sometimes I don't think they get it totally dry before they bag it. I keep feed in barrels to keep mice out of it but it might be cheaper to feed the mice than let it get moldy.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, I have two different groups of Swedish Flower Hen chicks from two different people, so hopefully I can have some diversity as well. Then this Cream Legbar chick that just hatched isn't related to the other group either, so at least I will have one hen that is different. With such expensive birds though & it's so hard to get ahold of them it's hard not to have some that are related. Maybe later on I can get some different ones, but for now I have spent enough money. I was just chatting with a gal on the Poultry swap earlier that is getting into the lemon cuckoos also. I think they're interesting, but I have enough breeds for now to work with. There may be some others later, maybe next year that I may want to try, but this year I'm done buying eggs & hatching. This last chick was my very last egg to hatch & now my incubators are shut down for the year. I've got to get them all cleaned up & then store the small one. Next spring I'm going to start much earlier with incubating I think so I can shut down earlier. If we're going to have summers like this then I don't want to be in the position I'm in now with chicks in the utility room. I'm going to have to figure out where to put them after they get too big for that crate too, I guess I do have one bigger crate, but it won't fit on the dryer as well as what they're in now. I just don't want to put these expensive chicks out in the heat until I have to. The others all seem so far to be doing OK out there, but I worry every day about them. They're in a very shady spot & I go spray it down every couple hours to make sure they stay cool, but it's darned hot out there. Even my black Ameraucana rooster just stood there today when I sprayed him, he normally runs into the dog house. The cats are all laying out by the water pans in the shade of the trees. The bowls overflow & the ground is wet there, so it's cooler for them to nap. The GP pups go under the rabbit hutches & lay in the wet poop, yeah lovely, but it's cooler there because I spray down the rabbits. We all just need a break from this heat, I hope we don't have to go through a whole month more of this, we'll all be like the walking dead trying to keep up with it all. I'm sorry about your peafowl eggs, yeah I just gave up on trying to hatch any more of those, especially after that chick I hatched didn't make it. They're just too fragile & not like any other birds I've had. I can get the chicks started fine, they're easy, but these peafowl are a lot harder & that's why they're so expensive. The turkeys were a challenge too, but they sure are doing well now. Those two I hatched with the flipping problem you can't tell any difference in them from the ones I had shipped to me.

My DH has been out in that heat all afternoon out there cutting the 2x4s for the walls of the new coop. I'm shocked he's been out there so long today, usually he just goes out for an hour & quits. He just told me that we underestimated how many 2x4s we needed, that's nothing new, we're famous for that. Oh well, I'm sure we'll be making another trip up that way before long anyway. We'll need other things as we go along, we just got the major stuff in that last trip, 2x4s, OSB, & siding. I figured out how I want to hook on the roof to the walls, so we'll have to pick up some of the plates for that too when we go, but that's aways off yet before we will need them. I'm still hearing complaining about how my DH didn't realize I was wanting a humongous building when he only thought I meant I wanted one the size of my normal coup. I tried to explain all that to him, but he just didn't get it. Now that he's committed it's too late to back out, ha.

 

[chicken danz]

Oh I am guilty of saying I just wanted one small 8 X 10 coop to begin with. Now we have stuff every where. I often wonder if I could have foreseen the future if it wouldn't have been much cheaper to build a big building with a concrete floor and one of those ginormous barn fans in each end. I could have run water and electricity to it instead of dragging 100 miles of hose every where. If I could afford it I would still do it, but it's out of the question. Of course it takes time to know what direction you are going to go as well. I would still like to reduce my numbers (other than by heat!) and concentrate on breeding quality chicks.
This Seramas is doing flip flops every now and then so I am sure she has some brain injury. I am wondering if I should just have DH cull her now rather than trying to nurse her back to health. I put a few eggs in the incubator but it looks like the heat has bothered them too. Many started and didn't finish developing. I still have one broody on eggs. The rest I took so they wouldn't be sitting without air.

 

[HEChicken]

The Swedish Flower Hen chick is improving, but still shaky & can't walk well at all. It is eating well & drinking, so I'm hoping it just is weak & needs to recuperate & then it will get the legs back. It kind of just waddles over to the water & food. There is a little shakiness still in it's head, but it is alert & peeping in there & it's starting to poop, so I know that's working now too. I sure hope it recovers completely because it is a pretty bird.

I took the tiny little Cream Legbar chick out & put it in with the other little Swedish Flower Hen chicks in the crate & so far it's holding it's own eating & drinking fine. It was pretty small when it hatched, so it looks like a midget next to those week old chicks. You forget how fast they grow once they hatch until you see the new one next to the others.

Glad to hear they are doing better!

My big standard poodle decided that he likes raw eggs..... I put blooms egg on the counter and the next thing I knew, my kids were screaming at each other blaming each other for eating a boiled egg in the living room. When I checked... It was the crushed shell of Bloom's egg. He never even looks at the counter other times. This is new. I must curb it!! Someday I hope to have more fresh eggs to set on the counter
Ideas??? How do I trap him whe he isn't doing it while I am there?

Does he like balls? My Lab/BC is ball crazy and will fetch for as long as you are willing to throw it. I hadn't had her long when she followed me in from the coop with a handful of eggs. She watched me put the "balls" on the kitchen counter, and as soon as I left the room, got up to get one. I came in to find her licking up the remains from the kitchen floor and scolded her severely. I have to say, she hasn't done it since. Now she lives outside anyway, so doesn't get the opportunity, although I am careful never to put eggs down where the dogs can reach them because they all seem very interested. I know that probably doesn't help you much, but perhaps if you catch him in the act and scold him so he knows its wrong, and then find a place to keep them where he can't get to them anyway?

Whew - no disaster this morning. Pearl was doing just fine. In face, after I collected the one egg from the nesting box she immediately went in there to rearrange the straw I'd put back in after someone kicked it all. LOL

Glad she's okay. Strange how they'll sometimes vary their routine - perhaps she just thought it would be cooler to sleep outside last night?

my husband made it here safely from Texas it was a long hot trip but he is here thank God. Kids have been showing him around talking his ear off

. Sorry to hear about the roo this heat is brutal

Glad your husband is home. I imagine you'll be enjoying some time with him in the next few days.

This Seramas is doing flip flops every now and then so I am sure she has some brain injury. I am wondering if I should just have DH cull her now rather than trying to nurse her back to health. I put a few eggs in the incubator but it looks like the heat has bothered them too. Many started and didn't finish developing. I still have one broody on eggs. The rest I took so they wouldn't be sitting without air.

I really hope your Serama makes it. Congrats on the SFH eggs too - they look like pretty little birds. I don't think I could spend that much on hatching eggs. The most I've spent was on some BCM eggs and I only got one to hatch. She was a gorgeous, quality bird and I loved her dark brown eggs so was very disappointed that she was one of the fox victims. She was about a $35-40 bird as I recall, but I would really worry spending $70-100 on eggs, that if none hatched, it would be hard to swallow.

Well, we had another hot, exhausting day today. We had to go and move my husband's office. The main reason we moved to the new place, was to consolidate his office and our home but it meant basically two moves - one for the house and one for the office. After working in the heat all day yesterday the last thing any of us wanted to do today was more packing and hauling but we had to do it while we have the trailer. I must say its a good feeling that its done now, even though we all collapsed when we came in. We started at 8am and worked through until we got home around 5pm. I was really nervous about the birds all day on their own without me there to refill waterers. When I got home they only had about an inch of warm water in one waterer and the rest were dry, but they all seemed to be coping very well. I refilled all the waterers with cold water and they did drink but didn't seem desperate to get at the water. My Cuckoo Marans, the fox victim, has fully recovered and laid her first egg since the attack today, and my little game hen laid her second egg. It was cute to see them there in the same nest box - the tiny white egg next to the much larger dark brown egg.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, I wouldn't give up on your little Serama just yet, that is exactly what my little SF Hen chick did, but I kept nursing it & it is now standing & walking some. It still is weak, but getting better each day. It's peeping down there & eating voraciously like it hadn't eaten in weeks, so it's getting it's strength back. I did put corn syrup in it's water after I got some, so I don't know if that has helped some or not, but I'm so glad to see it doing better.

I just wanted to let you all know that Paisley the GP I told you about before is still looking for a country home. She has not been with livestock, but I think she could be trained to be an LGD since they all seem to have the instinct for it & actually she is the perfect age to learn. HeChicken has one that had not been with birds or animals either, but I think with a little training she will be a good LGD in the end. Anyway, Paisley is about a year old, spayed & is a beautiful girl. She just isn't liking staying in the city house & sheds like crazy in there, well of course she does they're long haired dogs. The owner would like her to go to a family with children as she loves children & they have four. The re-homing fee is $100, but is negotiable to the right family, the most important thing I think to the owner is that she goes to the right home. The owner isn't sure she would be able to be an LGD, but she doesn't know anything about this breed really. She is really wanting her to just go to someone for a pet, but if you met her requirements & wanted her for an LGD I'm sure she wouldn't object. I would just love for this dog to go to someone for something other than a house dog that is unhappy in her situation & the owner is not happy with it either. I wish they would have researched first, but that's water under the bridge.

 

[Hawkeye95]

it's been a busy day, I'll have to check in tomorrow. But for now, I'm really, really worried about my oldest mare. She is acting very strange and out of it. Even though I've been keeping her in the barn, hosing her down and trying my best with her, there is something wrong. She is also not breaking over when she walks now. I have my ferriar coming out on Tuesday-- he has been sick and that is the earliest he could get me. I have a sick feeling, but I'm wondering if she could have foundered out there in the heat. I've never heard of that before... but at this point, nothing would surprise me. Sigh. Anyway, tonight I fed everyone and she couldn't seem to find her feed bin to eat. She went back out of her stall and looked around and seemed lost. I had to lead her back in and grab a bit of food and put it to her nose so she could smell the molasses and then she turned around a couple of times and finally found it. This isn't good. This freakin' heat!! I am so OVER IT.

 

[Trish44]

tweety, here is a pic of the two new kitties, I snuck them into the office while my hubby was gone walking the dogs. One of the first things he said when he saw the calico was, it's going to be an outside cat. We already have 3 in the house, which is about 2 too many, but that's just how it turned out.



They're still a little scruffy, they got a little wet today when I was wetting down the chickens & all. They didn't seem to mind too much since it was hot. That little one on the right is a real scrapper. I took them with me to feed all of the cats tonight so they could learn the routine & it was growling & batting at the big cats to stay away from the food. I finally had to give these two a little bit of food by themselves. The other cats don't seem to mind them much though, I guess they figure what is a couple more cats in the group we have out there. They seem to be settling in just fine here, but then we have a lot of cats & they feel comfortable with them. They do recognize me already & when I come out they come over to where I am.

Hawkeye, I hope your horse gets better, that has to be maddening to deal with a big animal having those kinds of problems.

I just looked at the forecast & we actually have chances of rain three days in a row next week, I sure hope we get some.

Gosh, the deer ticks have just picked up something terrible in the past few days, I have to check myself over every time I come back in the house. I hate those little suckers, they're hard to find.

 

[JosieChick]

Howdy all,

My mom is visiting from Maine so we have been super busy doing all kinds of fun stuff in the heat!

SO sorry to everyone who's birds are struggling in the heat.

Danz- I will get in touch with you Wed or Thurs when my mom is heading home to arrange to re mother the mom less ducklings! Sorry about your boy.

 

[checoukan]

Well, starting to finally get cooled out from a hot week at the fair. This was by far the largest fair for the poultry group. We had a 190 entries. We have final clean up tomorrow evening. I need to sit down, and write the things we need for next year, and start working on raising money to buy them.
We already have 6 new tables being made.

hawkeye, sorry about the mare, sounds like she has suffered a heat stroke.
trish, cute kittens, I love cats too.
josie, hope you have a good visit.

Everybody else, read the posts, but cant remember all of them.
Ivy, didn't get the voice mail until about 12. so did not get the ginger cockerel.

Take it easy out there, and stay cool.