Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I need to get moving. I have to get to town soon and I haven't even made it to the shower yet. I am discovering more and more of my pekins are boys. Maybe they are all boys. That would definitely end thinking of breeding any. I had to catch one and another rooster to take to town for the chinese family. They are getting a big rooster this time> he is a huge red cochin but has the wrong comb so I am sacrificing him.
I came up a bit short of eggs for everyone this week. I've got a couple of new customers and the chickens have slowed way down. I guess it is good I didn't sell all those hens just yet.

 

[HEChicken]

Thanks for that info Josie - I have copied it to a Word document and saved it on my machine. I've used Wazine a few times - not because I ever saw any actual evidence of roundworms but just because it seemed prudent to do it every now and then just in case. I've never used the Ivermectin. I examine the stool now and then and have never seen any evidence of tapeworm, assuming the evidence would look similar in a chicken to what it does when a cat or dog has it.

Sapphire, I saw your question originally but not knowing the answer, left it for someone who did. I'm glad to have the info myself now so thank you for asking again

 

[JosieChick]

Thanks for that info Josie - I have copied it to a Word document and saved it on my machine. I've used Wazine a few times - not because I ever saw any actual evidence of roundworms but just because it seemed prudent to do it every now and then just in case. I've never used the Ivermectin. I examine the stool now and then and have never seen any evidence of tapeworm, assuming the evidence would look similar in a chicken to what it does when a cat or dog has it.

Sapphire, I saw your question originally but not knowing the answer, left it for someone who did. I'm glad to have the info myself now so thank you for asking again

Sure! DH and I spent a ridiculous amount of time coming up with a deworming schedule for the birds. You figure with all the things they pick up and how much time they spend mulling over soil especially in places where a lot of birds are routinely walking over and pooping on they are very much at risk for picking stuff up. This doesn't get everything but it does get the most common offenders. I try to do it at least twice a year, spring and fall but should probably do it more often. If you were having a problem with gape worm for example, it wouldn't treat that but the symptoms are much more noticable for gapes.

Chicken poo just looks like a mess to me, I would never know if there were worms in there or not! In fact they have to have a bad infestation before you start to see evidence with the naked eye. We thought about running a couple fecal floats on a few random birds just for the info it would provide but I haven't gotten that organized. I spent a lot of time worrying when I first got birds about their poop because it seems like normal can be such a wide variety. If a dog gets sloppy poop or liquid poo you worry but a chicken it can be completely normal!

Well, I put the hen back out. Her crop emptied after some oil and she ate some soft food so I am hoping she is ok. She went right out and took a dust bath but she just doesn't seem like herself. I wonder if she didn't have a bit of heat stroke and suffer some damage....

 

[ChooksChick]

I love reading about all of the GP dogs doing their jobs. It is so true how different breeds are better suited for different situations. While we fell in love with Danz's polar bear dogs, city life is not a good place for a dog like that. I love having a big do to alert me to intruders, but mine have to be able to be happy just being walked and taken to a bark park

Pikeman, good luck with the Marans guessing game! I had one cuckoo marans from the feed store and it was really obvious by 6 weeks that he was all roo. I waffled back and forth on him till that point, but I am such a newbie that it probably was quite obvious to more experienced folk long before that....

The guessing game is still going on at my house, also. I have a bantam Cochin roo I have waffled on for a month, hoping it would be a pullet too. So far it hasn't crowed or acted like a roo.... But it sure looks like one. What do you guys think?

We are clueless on our silkies too. This red one is the one Danz gave Sera.
one

It looks very similar to our other two 4 month old silkies. But nothing like Bloom, who is our only laying chicken so far.

They are all misted and not too pretty right now, but they are cooler!

HE chicken, I am so glad Tory is turning out to be a win in more than one way! I ca definitely understand the desire to both protect the birds AND the family. If we lived in the country, a GP would definitely be a dog we would look for, but it is so true that breeds are designed for different purposes and shouldn't be acquired without serious thought. I live my big dogs, because they alert me to strangers on my property and also are unconcerned about routine people and vehicles but also don't alert to unfamiliar vehicles on the street- until they park in my drive Standard poodles may look like sissy dogs, but when they stand at the door and bark a low bark similar to what you describe the GP bark to be- they are just what I need No shedding, no need to roam, and happy to just take a walk around the block If they didn't think my birds were toys to be played with and also protected them as well as they do my kids and I - they would be perfect, but they are family

Popping back on after a long absence- I'm not enjoying my summer AT ALL, guys!!

Danz, you have Red Silkies?? Seriously?? You know how hard I've been looking for those!?!?!? Gah!!!!

I need a drink...

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I loved touring your place Trish and am envious of the trees (aka shade!) that your place has. I hope in a few years to have some shade too will most definitely take a few pasture cedars from you this fall and will plant them in front of each coop on the west side.. that should help next summer

I'm really excited about my day tomorrow!! I am going to meet my boyfriend at Lowes (after a Subway lunch) and we're going to get supplies to start the floor of my coop! I'm going to do an 8 by 12 coop for the chicks to graduate too from the chick coop - the chick coop has a little run, the main chicken coop will not have a run... they will be totally range free at that stage.

Another AWESOME newsworthy event to report - I have been waiting for a litter of GP pups to be born.. found out today that one little girl is all that survived and she will be mine She was born Sunday.. Hopefully the next few weeks she continues to do well. This is from Candace Harding - the same breeder Trish has her 2 GPs from. I should have my girl by mid October

Next week, I am going to play around and make Trish a hen saddle to see if we can figure out how to make one that her hen cannot get out of... once this is done (and perfected), if you want one, let me know

Well - I hope everyone and their animals are doing ok... it is just so dang hot

 

[medawinks]

Chooks, my DD, who really does love her little red silkie says that you are more than welcome to borrow her to hatch some eggs once she starts to lay, as long as she can have her back, if that helps you

 

[HEChicken]

Chooks, my DD, who really does love her little red silkie says that you are more than welcome to borrow her to hatch some eggs once she starts to lay, as long as she can have her back, if that helps you

Awww... that is so sweet of her Medawinks!

Sunflower, congrats on the birth of your puppy. Have you been busy thinking of names for her?

 

[Trish44]

Well we made it through another day of horrible heat, ugh. 109 predicted for here tomorrow then it looks like a small cooldown of a few degrees, still 100 & above, but less than we have been having. Gosh any break right now would be welcome. My birds are suffering so bad, even the young ones that I got in April are rattling when they breathe & I know it's from this darned heat.

I got the cutest little guinea keets today, thanks sunflowerparrot! I have 3 pearls & the other 7 are some color of pied I think, maybe royal purple, but we won't know for awhile. They're just a few days old so they're really tiny yet. They were really scared when I put them in the pen today & they huddled in one corner or the other for quite awhile. I did notice later they were walking around some. I'll bet tomorrow they will be exploring. The GPs haven't noticed them yet because they haven't made any noise yet, but when they do they will come & check them out like they do everything else, it's so cute I think that they do that every time I bring something new home.

I was struggling with the young pullets this evening trying to get them to stop roosting on the pen that the guineas are in now. They have made such a mess there sleeping there at night. I got it cleaned up & I would love for them to go into the coop to sleep, but it's hard when I have to leave the door open right now due to the heat. When it's cooler & I can shut them in it will be different, but right now they would rather be out in the run to sleep & you can't blame them when it's so hot even at night. My DH said it was still 90 when he came home at midnight last night, unreal. I don't remember it being this hot late at night before.

sunflowerparrot, have fun buying the supplies for your coop! We've got to make a run to Lowe's this weekend for more wood too. We couldn't get it all in the truck last time, we were loaded down.

 

[JosieChick]

Soooo, I am freaking out. I have called three places looking for square bales of hay for this winter and everyone has sold the whole lot of hay to someone else. Yikes!!! I am thinking about driving down to Wichita tomorrow with my trailer because several folks still have prairie hay down there for less than $9 a bale!

Should have done this sooner, now its all gone and my horses are going to starve. I know, I know, I am being dramatic. But I truly do worry about feeding them this winter and our pasture is all gone so I have burned through what little hay was left from last winter. Ugh, thank heavens the extra horse is leaving next Saturday!

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Sunflower, congrats on the birth of your puppy. Have you been busy thinking of names for her?

------ I knew her name before I knew I was getting her Her name is Fern. The breeder already knows this and will be using her name when talking to her. Fern is a GP/guardian dog. I am a guardian with the Kansas Guardianship Program and have been involved with that program for about 3 years. The first person I was ever given as a charge was Fern. Fern was an 86 year old lady whose family literally dumped her off at a nursing home because she ran out of money. She has serious dementia and stage 4 lung cancer. I fell in love with this lady the first time I met her. We would have the same talks each week - I'd ask her what kind of work did your husband do (she'd reply with didn't you tell me he was a barber..) do you know where Wichita is she would ask.. I would tell her that is where she lives and yes, I know where Wichita is - of course, she didn't know really who I was or her surroundings - but, she was still a happy lady So, with that said... Fern now gets to be the guardian I am honoring that lovely woman by naming my guardian dog after her..