Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I had to go to Topeka then got home and rushed out to water the birds. I need to go back out and feed them some. I was surprised I didn't find any down because today seemed really miserable to me.
The Seramas isn't improving any. I'm,giving her what she needs but I'm not going to beat myself up trying to get her well. She goes into spasms every time you mess with her. I'm just very tired of trying to save these birds that won't recover. It's not that I don't have a heart. It's that I do. I just hate to see them suffer.
Well I consumed a bunch of ice water so I'd better get back out and finish my chores.
Those silly Sabastopols were cracking me up. I filled their bin which is pretty large with water. They would take turns jumping into it then take off running with their wings spread in circles. Then run back to the pen, jump in the water again and do the same thing. It reminded me of a bunch of kids in a sprinkler.

 

[Trish44]

Hawkeye, I'm so glad your old horse is doing better, glad you got the pic of them to keep.

Well my 10 year old house cat died this afternoon. She has been sick for awhile, I'm not sure what was wrong with her but she was short of breath all the time & had a hard time breathing. She finally gave out today & I kind of saw it coming because she didn't eat today & was just lying in the middle of the floor. She has been going downhill recently. It will be strange here without her even though she wasn't the nicest cat to deal with, she still was part of the family. I think our other cat that is about the same age knew what was happening because she was very clingy last night & today. These animals know things that we don't sometimes. I know that my Blue Heeler dog knew when my late husband was dying because she got up on his hospital bed & told him goodbye before the fact & he died shortly after that. The dog had not gotten up on the bed until then.

My birds seem to be hanging in there so far anyway, I don't want to say they're doing well because I'll jinx myself, but so far so good. I went out & collected rocks to put all around the outside of the new pen I put out there in the shade for the chicks. I had put some dirt around, but thought I would reinforce with rocks & then put some more dirt over them & around them to hold it even better. That pen is not as heavy as the one next to it that I bought years ago. They just don't make the dog runs as heavy duty any more.

I got the new coop floor all painted & my DH I think has most of the 2x4s cut for the walls, so maybe tomorrow he can start putting one together. We had the worst time with getting it straight in his head which way things were facing. I would tell him & then the next time he would have it wrong again, it was absolutely driving me insane. He told me to quit changing the plan & I told him I had never changed it, he was the one that kept getting it wrong. Finally we got this free software program online that he has been able to draw most of the building out with & has it straight which is front & which is back & where the windows & doors go. I got used windows for it & some of them need a little work like glazing & some scraping on the glass to get old paint off. I need to get them out of the shed & start working on them. I still don't know if my DH understands how I intend to hang them or how they work. I tried to show him pictures of some like yours Hawkeye so he could get the concept, but like I said he just can't seem to picture things in his head. He told me if he has plans all drawn out then he can follow them, but they have to have dimensions & everything for him to go by, very detailed. He just doesn't seem to have the imagination I do to see in my head how things will look when they're finished. It's maddening sometimes to try to explain things to him & get him to comprehend what I'm trying to tell him. I sometimes want to bang my head on a wall after one of those sessions.

I hope everyone is hanging in there & staying as cool as possible, just drink lots of fluid if you go out. KarenS, be careful, we don't want you to end up in the hospital!

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I think these are the chickens used in Chinese Restaurants???


I came home from work eager to see how the chickens did on their first day without me home in the fenced area.. Nobody was around. I opened the coop door and found all the chickens in the coop, along with one of my kitties She obviously scaled the fence and entered through the chick door. I need to make sure to leave extra water just in case all 3 kittens decide to hang out in there during the day and drink the chicks' water.

The chickens didn't seem to care that the kitten was in there and vice versa... I hope things remain this calm when the kittens turn into cats.

 

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye so glad to hear your horse is better today. I loved that picture! You should frame it.
Sorry about your cat Trish. Loosing one of my cats would be like loosing a family member. Mine are so old that I know it will happen sooner than later. Thank goodness they tend to stay in during the day. This heat would get them for sure.
So has anyone been to buy chick starter recently? I have gone to three different Orshlem's and there is no chick starter. As a matter of fact they didn't have any Purina chicken products at all at those stores any more. There was none of their brand of chick starter and I was told that the truck came in but there was none on it. The only starter I could find is that overpriced Nutra brand that comes in the smaller bags. I'm not paying that price.
I'm just wondering if other stores have a shortage on starter?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Wow Hawkeye, she really does look good. Trust me, I know what goes into maintaining an old horse like that. We have a horse at our barn who looks just like her. The lady who owned him was moving overseas and found someone she thought she trusted to take him in. She gave really strict instructions as to how he needed to be cared for and left, thinking he was in a good situation. Her overseas job didn't work out and she returned home. She had only been back a month when she got an email that the new owners were planning on putting him to sleep the next day because he had deteriorated so much. She immediately went to go and see him and was shocked that he was nothing but skin and bone because only four months had passed since she last saw him. She brought him back to our barn and we all cried when we saw him. Those other people basically did nothing for him and he only has one tooth so he couldn't get enough sustenance from just the grass in the pasture. Anyway, she cared for him like you wouldn't believe and we all helped out with feeding beet pulp and alfalfa and senior feed and wetting it down so he could digest it better, and wouldn't you know, within weeks we could all see a difference. Now, a year later, he looks like your mare again! He has so much personality. You should see the faces he makes at feeding time!

That is sweet to see them grooming each other. I hope she is having a better day today.

Trish, I didn't do a garden this year either. With moving, I couldn't start it in the spring and by the time we moved it was too late in the season to get started. With the heat, I think I'm glad I didn't because probably nothing would be producing anyway. I keep seeing ads on Craigslist for people selling tomatoes and wonder how they're doing it. Last year was so hot that although my plants grew like crazy, they didn't start to set fruit until fall and then we had that early frost so all I really got was green tomatoes anyway. I don't know how all these people around me are getting enough tomatoes that they need to sell the excess.

Oh that is terrible they didn't take good care of that senior horse! Ugh, that is sickening. They probably just threw it out with hay and that was it. Makes me mad! So glad that she got her horse back and was able to get his weight back on. I don't use beet pulp, but I do use Cool Calories and a high fat feed. But I wet her feed down, too. Helps the pellets go down easier. Sounds like your barn of ladies is a really great group of women.

Trish~~~ yes it was very hot, but we have big fans blowing, and then a parent bought and donated misters for the poultry. That brought the temps down to about 100, we never lost anything, but was a close call with the duck.

Hawkeye, glad you were able to get this picture, it will be one you cherish for a long time.

hechicken, we have tomatoes, and our daughter has been buying slicing tomatoes in Pittsburg. I only planted 5 out in the garden. But, I have not done one thing for them. Next year the tomatoes will be outside the house where I can take care of them better. the "Garden" is going back to grass. Its just cheaper to go buy some fresh as to try to raise it anymore.

I have a small garden that is pretty easy to maintain. I don't think I could handle a big garden on the ground. I really like my raised bed. I think I want another one, and then I'll be good to go. You'll like having it closer to the house. Easier on everyone.

hawkeye, you can do it. first you need to see how much money the poultry people have. We raffled a grill and raised money this year. We write and apply for grants, which is how we get most of our coops. We are sitting good right now on coops. What is hurting us is space and tables. Coop is going to make 6 more tables for next year So I am going to apply for a grant to buy the coated wire we will need for those new tables. I will also include things like rakes, shovels, paint and small supplies that we need to run our deptment.
Even before the fair was over, we had parents asking about our broiler project for next year, so I know it will be a good class again. So it would not surprize me we go over 200 birds for next year.

That is a really great idea-- the raffle. Who did you get to donate the grill?? I didn't know you could apply for grants! I'll probably be talking to the 4-H office and see what can be done. You have a much more interested poultry group down there if you are expecting 200 birds next year! Wow! That would be amazing if we could get more interest, too!

Hawkeye, at is just an awesome picture! I'm glad to hear that hes feeling better!

Funny to hear you guys say that about your tomatoes. I've got tomatoes out the wazzo! I'm collecting at least 20plus cherry tomatoes a day. I water them about every other day and that's it.

I think I might have another chicken laying. We only got 2 eggs today, but one of them is so light in color it's more ivory than brown at all. Doesn't look anything like the others that i've gotten. Who knows. All four birds will squat for me when i reach for them, so no way to tell that way. Pearl (delaware) did lay another egg last night after I caught her rearranging the nest, so I've figured out one of them! yay!

It's so hot outside that I'm afraid I'm collecting boiled eggs when I get home from work!

Congrats on the eggs! Sounds like everyone is going to be laying before you know it!

I had to go to Topeka then got home and rushed out to water the birds. I need to go back out and feed them some. I was surprised I didn't find any down because today seemed really miserable to me.
The Seramas isn't improving any. I'm,giving her what she needs but I'm not going to beat myself up trying to get her well. She goes into spasms every time you mess with her. I'm just very tired of trying to save these birds that won't recover. It's not that I don't have a heart. It's that I do. I just hate to see them suffer.
Well I consumed a bunch of ice water so I'd better get back out and finish my chores.
Those silly Sabastopols were cracking me up. I filled their bin which is pretty large with water. They would take turns jumping into it then take off running with their wings spread in circles. Then run back to the pen, jump in the water again and do the same thing. It reminded me of a bunch of kids in a sprinkler.

It wasn't near as hot today, but still not really pleasant out there. I hear you on the bird. It's just too much, especially when it's one right after the other. Glad your geese are bringing you joy! They sound pretty silly!

I have Cassie in the barn again in her stall... I soaked her down and then soaked her stall down to make up some mud on the floor. I've been out there a couple times to renew the water and muddy up her floor again. I'm suspicious she has foundered as well. I need her hooves nice and soft to get clipped and dug out tomorrow.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Trish, I'm sorry about your cat, that is really sad. Glad you got your floor painted and are ready to get walls up. It seems like it just goes on and on. When I work-- it does! LOL Glad I'm not moving all those rocks around. That is a lot of work.

Sunflowerparrot-- that is a cute picture of your cat in the chicken coop! I think she was interested in the shade and probably curious what the chickens were up to. Funny!

Danz-- I just got this old window with wavy glass and I think I WILL get that picture enlarged and frame it in the window! It just makes me smile to look at it. I just bought chick starter last week, on Wednesday, I think? No shortage at Atwoods. I always buy their own store brand. The other stuff is way too expensive. I buy the medicated and they had an entire pallet of it. I hope your feed comes in soon! Atwoods has often been slow about getting horse feed in and that can be REALLY annoying when you are down to the bottom of the barrel and need more. I hate going to the CoOp to buy grain. It's soooo much more expensive.

 

[checoukan]

I got corrected at clean up tonight. We had 190 birds this year!!! So we will go over 200 next year with out any problem. Ive got to get my pencil out and make sure everything is in order for next year in the line of supplies. I know we will have to count holes so we can see if we have enough coops. I figure we will hit 225.

Sometimes, I feel a little overwhelmed. Never dreamed that the poultry would grow like it has.

Nice thing we have some parents that have stepped up and are helping, and that has taken a BIG load off of our backs. We had three men show up and help with clean up and man it only took about 30 minutes. Fastest take down ever, but the fair board has told us that the area we were calling over-flow will know be all chicken area!! We did not have to take down all of those extra cages!!

That makes our work so much easier and faster. Better go and see what my babies are doing. So far so good. No issues as of yet.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Went to put the chickens in their new coop tonight (2nd night) and was so happy to find them already IN it Unlike last night - where I had to grab each one and put them in because it was getting dark and I was not interested in pretending to be an LGD

Am getting 5 guinea keets tomorrow - a coworker's son brought them to her tonight and I will pick them up in the morning at work from her.. my office is sure to be a popular (and loud) place tomorrow.. I'm going to try to run them home fairly early in the morning if I can (I live about 15 mins from where I work and my calendar is free in the morning!)

I'm going to put the keets (same age as the chickens.. 2 months old) right in with the chickens in the coop/fenced area - any problems/concerns with that? The other option is put the keets in the rabbit hutch for a week or so... what should I do?

 

[tweetysvoice]

I officially have three layers now! And through some sneakiness, I've determined who is laying what... Onyx, my sweetest girl, is the last of the four. They all are laying at different times. Opal is laying in the morning, Ruby laid her first today (YAY!) about 5pm, and Pearl, who was the first layer - lays at about 7pm.





Trish..

So sorry to hear about your kitty. Are you going to have another house cat? I don't think i'm going to be replacing mine. I have another cat that just might kill a kitten if I ever brought one in and since we live in the city, can't have any outside.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Trish - I have some mobile home skirting panels - you can have 3 or 4 of them to put on your fence for shade. We put 5 on with zip ties last night and those gave the chickens a lot of shade! Let me know if you're interested. sunflowerparrot at yahoo dot com