Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

I KNOW I posted a lengthy response and it isn't here. It disappeared!!! If it shows up this will be a lot of repeat.
The phone company we use is Century Link. It was Embarq before, and Sprint before that. They keep selling it out I guess. Kind of like some of the banks do. Their number for new service is:
1-800-788-3500
If I didn't have a land line I would be in the same fix. We keep calling for cell problems and they keep saying they'll fix it but they have done nothing. We are in a low area too so I think the signal just goes over the top of us or something. We had great service before Altel sound to Verizon.
Josie I will send you a PM later re: the Seramas.
Trish I have no idea what I am going to pay for the peachicks. I am still waiting to hear from him. If they are very high I probably won't buy them. What did you have to pay for yours? I know yours were a little older.
I checked the babies while ago and they are doing fine. The mama peahen is really a good mother. I like the mothering sounds she makes. It's much different than chickens. I didn't find the snake yet again. Of course I wasn't looking much since I had on slide sandals.
All my chicken catching last night wore me out. I look around today and see that I sure missed getting several I should have sold. I was in the garage catching. I wonder if some flew out of the pen so they wouldn't get caught. I still put out as much feed as usual. I guess I'll just see how much disappears. I need to catch a bunch of these young wilder ones and pen them so I know what I have around here. Easier said than done. Downsizing is under way though. It feels kind of nice.

Thanks lady, I am going to call them right now!

 

[chicken danz]

Josie, I went to town last night and I meant to tell you. The Dollar General here had a good selection of pool toys on sale and some decent dog toys. DH even bought the geese another rope toy. That makes three they have now. And he bought me a lighted ball. I told him I had always wanted one since I saw people playing catch with one on the beach years ago. (Some kids never grow up!!!)
They also had a rack of seeds that were 90% off. I got a huge pile for like 10 cents total. I think I will go back and buy all the melon, pumpkin, and cucumber seeds they have. I can plant them next spring for the birds. I have pretty good luck with the previous years seed. I wanted green bean seeds so I could plant a fall crop but they were out of those of course. Anyway I figure if I can buy seed that cheap for bird food it is worth it for sure.
I planted some watermelon seed this year that was probably 10 years old and it came up.

 

[chicken danz]

Oh Trish, I forgot to answer a question. If it were me I would put netting under the area you tarp. Tarps wear out and that could create an escape route. I read where some people double the tarp but I don't know if that would be much better. I'm thinking about doing the same thing here. At least I could build a hoop house without having to have DH here. I have to get a few new pens going for my fancy birds.

 

[Trish44]

Whew, I just got in from working on the hoop coop & then doing chores & I'm pooped out! I got the frame all put on the front, the corner supports, & the door frame. I'm not sure I'm happy with where the frame is, so I may make it a little wider tomorrow. I would rather do it now than be sorry I didn't. I can just move the left frame piece over a few inches to widen it. Anyway, I worked until it got too dark to see what I was doing any more. I will have to run tomorrow & get some more hardware cloth before I can do anything else with the sides. I only had a piece left that was about the length of one livestock panel width. I probably will need a 25 ft roll to do the rest of that one side & all of the other one. I'm saving that other stuff I got for my new breeder coop windows. I got the back of the thing almost covered but will have to finish it in the morning when I can see. I didn't end up putting that netting over the top Danz because this tarp is the heavier one like I used on my main coop run & it lasted a full year before it started to fall apart, so it will be OK for awhile. I can always put it on later when I have to change out the tarp & besides the netting isn't big enough to cover the whole top of this thing anyway, it's only 12x12 & the coop is 16 ft long. So what I have left to do now is to finish hooking on the wire on the back, I had enough of the rabbit fencing to go pretty high up the back & then finished up the top part with chicken wire. The tarp comes over the end just a little & I'm hooking it down back there too just for a little more security. Then I have to put the wire on the sides at the bottom up to where the tarp comes, make a door for the front & finish closing in the rest of the front at the sides of the door. Then the coop will be done & the only thing I will have left is that I'm going to use rocks since I have so darned many here I might as well use them & put them all the way around the coop & then like I did around my grow-out pen I will put some dirt over & around the rocks to help hold them in place. In the places where the ground isn't quite level I'm sliding rocks part way under the frame so they're half inside & half outside. I'll take more pics when the coop is all done. It's like a long tunnel in there now with that tarp over it. I put the tarp a little lower on the north side to give a little more protection from the wind. I may end up putting some more pieces of smaller tarps over that side if the wind becomes a problem, we'll just have to play that one by ear. I usually do put tarps over the north sides of my pens & over the north side of the run. Last year I put tarps on both sides of the run, but I don't know if I will this year or not, it sure is a lot of work to put all of that up by myself, we'll see. The only thing was that it was nice & toasty in there to go in & care for the chickens in the winter, I didn't have to deal with any wind at all.

Danz, I paid $30 apiece for my two little peahens, they were about a month old when I got them & were really started well. I was thankful for that after the experience I had with trying to keep that little one I hatched alive. I got those two from a guy up in Marion, Shana told me about him & she picked them up for me & met me in Wichita, which was really nice of her. Those two little peahens are really starting to get big now & are getting really pretty coloring. They have white markings that look like eyebrows above their eyes. I think they will be very happy in their new pen when I get it done. They will have so much more room to walk around in. I know a lot of people have peacocks, but it seems like when you go to look for them they're just hard to find. Maybe peacock people are all like that lady I met that lives by Sunflowerparrot & just keeps all the ones she gets. She won't be getting any more though because she only has all males left now. They have a lot of problems with predators there & for some reason the males have survived & none of the females. They don't have any dogs that run anything off. The only dog I saw was an old really fat Lab & I think she stays in the house most of the time. Well good luck with getting the peachicks, I hope they give you a good price on them. I can't wait to get this pen done so I can go up & pick up my male peacock. It should be interesting getting him home!

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I have company for the next 10 days! (my brother and daughter visiting).

My coop should be chicken ready after this weekend! Here is my question:

The new chicken coop is about 50 feet from the old little coop the chicks live in now. How can I get them to start going to the new coop for food/evening? I can't get rid of the old coop because I will be using it for the guineas once I get it a little more escape-proof. I was thinking to start throwing all the scraps in front of the new coop door - put food and water dishes outside at the door entrance so they'll see them.. I only have 4 chickens - I could just pick them up out of the old coop and carry them to the new coop too Any helpful suggestions for them to do this on their own!?

Am off to Cherryvale today to pick up my daughter - I'm hoping for RAIN!!!!!!!!

 

[sharol]

It's raining. We have a whole .1" so far, but I'm hopeful. The chickens, not so much. They are pretty disgusted with the water coming from the sky. It can just do this all day as far as I'm concerned.

We live in a berm (earth sheltered, underground sort of) house, and at the beginning of the week, our main water line started leaking at the point it enters the house. They had to dig out the line (about 15' down at the back of the house) with a backhoe. As it turned out, the leak was inside the 12" concrete wall, so they had to drill out the old line and replace it. What a trauma -- I don't have the bill(s) yet, either. Bummer. I can really use the rain to settle the fill in the hole/pile of dirt. They did a great job, though, so I can't complain about the dirt work (or the plumbing for that matter). It gave me motivation to clean the garage, though. We had to move stuff around to get to the water line, so I'm working on organizing as I put stuff back. You know, there was a floor down there all the time.

I've been reluctant to use Google Chrome (don't really trust the google people), but it sure works better for posting to the list. IE had gotten to the point that I was having trouble editing posts (in the middle of paragraphs). Chrome actually has a spell checker built it to all text boxes. Amazing. My DH says it works better with his discussion lists, too, so it isn't just an accident with this one.

Enjoy the rain if you are in this area.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I wouldn't wish that on anyone. If it wasn't for the fact that our daughter was born 5 months before her father died I would have lost my wife to depression. DD had needs that helped DW keep moving. It still sucks because I really miss both of in-laws. They were both top notch people in the character department.

A blessing for sure that your daughter was born when she was. Still, it's so sad, and I just can not imagine.

My next step is to fix chicken wire to the base (I have some 2' wire that should work great) to keep smaller chicks in. I am also going to try to stretch some chicken wire across the top. I'm hoping that if I can get it stretched tight enough, it will help to hold up the tarp over the top and keep it from sagging in the middle. Then I'll only need to add roosts (I have a large tree branch that might work great) and a dog kennel. Since the kennel isn't in there yet, I'll have to have DH help me to pick the whole thing up and lift it over the top of the dog kennel. Trish did warn me to put the kennel in before putting it together but I didn't think about it last night when putting on the chain link. Then it will be all set to accommodate some birds.

seriously, I'm convinced I will never buy anything but dog panels! You all and your terrible stories of trying to find parts, pieces and then stretching it-- no way, Jose! LOL But I'm glad you have it up and it will be finished soon!

I think vision is a big issue with silkies. My two were a splash and a blue. He attacked me a couple of times until I realized it was because I scared him, just grabbing for him out of nowhere. I started talking to him as I approached, and telling him "JB, I'm going to pick you up now" as I reached for him, and he never attacked me again after I started doing that. Once he knew I was there, he didn't mind being handled at all.

Yep, I think that is my rooster's issue. He sees my feet coming at him and he freaks out. But I start talking and then pet his back and he squats down and lets me pick him up. He's always happy to be held and pet.

What an evening I had. I sold 42 young hens last night.

Then I picked up the washtub to carry it out and there was a rattle snake under neath it!! I've never seen a rattler around this place before. It quickly moved out and I ran for a hoe but then couldn't find it again. I think it probably went under a pile of lumber I had sitting there in the rest of the building. Needless to say I was a little reluctant to start moving lumber by myself. It really worries me. I am so afraid it will come back and kill the chicks or the hen.... or worse yet, if my dogs find it, bite one of the dogs. Now I'm going to be nervous until I locate it again and hopefully kill it without getting bitten.
I need to go out soon and check on my babies too. I repositioned her nesting material and I hope she used it.

HOLY CROW!!! I would have FREAKED out if I had seen a rattler! I would be hunting that thing down, for sure! But with a .22 in hand! Yikes! Don't go trying to whack it with a hoe-- Annie, go get your gun!! LOL Seriously, I'd be kicking away lumber with my feet and ready to shoot that sucker. Oh that freaks me out! I haven't seen any rattlers here. Don't those things leap at you when they are mad?? Now I'm worried about you! I hope you find it before your dogs do.

Thanks for all of your kind words about the hoop coop. It's not a real easy task doing that by yourself, it's doable, but just takes some elbow grease.

I think I may just have to give this a try next spring!

Well when it rains it pours right??? So I have two families interested in Lucie. One family has 3 boys, lives on 10 acres and wants an outside dog for the kids to play with and just act as a general protection dog. They seem very nice and responsible. Family number two is a couple that has 10 acres, just built a house on a dead end road and are getting some nigerian dwarf goats. They want a farm dog that will keep coyotes away from their goats. Sigh. What do I do?? Both situations sound good but I am concerned that family number two may get goats, get sick of them and then have no need for the dog.....

Well, at least you found people who want her. I'd think she'd love to be a working dog with the goats. But it never occurred to me that the people may not like them. Are they milking goats? Half of our 4-H club is into meat goats. Yuck. I couldn't do that. I think the milking goats look fun! BUT.... then I don't want to be stuck milking a goat forever and tied down to where we couldn't ever have vacations. It's already to the point where I have a long list of 'what to do' with the animals we have now.

Easier said than done. Downsizing is under way though. It feels kind of nice.

YAY!!! I'm excited for you to downsize and then get in the special breeds you really want! I think it will be so fun for you!

I planted some watermelon seed this year that was probably 10 years old and it came up.

WOW. I will never throw out seeds again! ha!!



So... Good morning everyone!! It's RAINING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

So excited!! I am going to stay around here today and my plans were to work around the house today. Yesterday I swept and mopped all my floors. The whole house smelled like Pine Sol. Anyway, I think it's going to be a great day!

 

[michelleml]

woke to rain. Hope everyone has a great day Happy Friday

 

[HEChicken]

The new chicken coop is about 50 feet from the old little coop the chicks live in now. How can I get them to start going to the new coop for food/evening? I can't get rid of the old coop because I will be using it for the guineas once I get it a little more escape-proof. I was thinking to start throwing all the scraps in front of the new coop door - put food and water dishes outside at the door entrance so they'll see them.. I only have 4 chickens - I could just pick them up out of the old coop and carry them to the new coop too Any helpful suggestions for them to do this on their own!?

The best plan would be to lock them in the new coop for a few days, so they understand it is now home. They don't like change so won't voluntarily go to the new coop at night and even if you pick them up and carry them there, they will still continue to return to the old coop at night for quite a long time. However if you lock them in, you "force" them to adapt to the new coop as home. Then, when you do open the door for the first time and they venture out, they may not go far, before going back into the coop. Next time they'll go a little farther and so on. When night comes, chances are they will go into the new coop to roost as well.

Have fun with your company!

We live in a berm (earth sheltered, underground sort of) house, and at the beginning of the week, our main water line started leaking at the point it enters the house. They had to dig out the line (about 15' down at the back of the house) with a backhoe. As it turned out, the leak was inside the 12" concrete wall, so they had to drill out the old line and replace it. What a trauma -- I don't have the bill(s) yet, either. Bummer. I can really use the rain to settle the fill in the hole/pile of dirt. They did a great job, though, so I can't complain about the dirt work (or the plumbing for that matter). It gave me motivation to clean the garage, though. We had to move stuff around to get to the water line, so I'm working on organizing as I put stuff back. You know, there was a floor down there all the time.

I've been reluctant to use Google Chrome (don't really trust the google people), but it sure works better for posting to the list. IE had gotten to the point that I was having trouble editing posts (in the middle of paragraphs). Chrome actually has a spell checker built it to all text boxes. Amazing. My DH says it works better with his discussion lists, too, so it isn't just an accident with this one.

That sounds like quite the ordeal on getting the water leak stopped - isn't home ownership fun????

I use Firefox and I think it is better than IE too. I used to use Chrome at work but I think I only tried it for BYC once or twice. I may have to give it another look, especially for the spell checker. In Firefox, it will underline a mis-spelled word but if you right click looking for guidance, all you get on the menu is "Paste" which isn't terribly helpful.

seriously, I'm convinced I will never buy anything but dog panels! You all and your terrible stories of trying to find parts, pieces and then stretching it-- no way, Jose! LOL But I'm glad you have it up and it will be finished soon!

Well, at least you found people who want her. I'd think she'd love to be a working dog with the goats. But it never occurred to me that the people may not like them. Are they milking goats? Have of our 4-H club is into meat goats. Yuck. I couldn't do that. I think the milking goats look fun! BUT.... then I don't want to be stuck milking a goat forever and tied down to where we couldn't ever have vacations. It's already to the point where I have a long list of 'what to do' with the animals we have now.

I would have loved to have got dog panels but whenever I see that style on CL, they seem to want a ton for them. Orschelns is having a sale this week where you can get a whole 10x10 pen with the gated panel and all, for $249, and it is the panel style. I don't need another one but I'm sorely tempted anyway. The same day I saw where someone was trying to sell a 6x10 panel dog run on CL for $500!!! I'm thinking "Why would I pay $500 for a used smaller pen when I can get the larger one brand new for half the price?"

Speaking of Orschelns, for anyone who has one close by, the layer pellets are on sale again this week for $9.89.

Josie, I had meant to respond on your LGD dilemma and I think I would go with the people with the goats too. The family I got Tory from, had numerous (10) small children, and they got her hoping she would be interested in guarding them instead of livestock. However they found that was not the case and all she wanted to do was go off and chase coyotes - not stay close to the house and guard the kids. She was gentle with them but not particularly interested in them, if that makes sense. So it sounds to me like the first family just wants a "pet", or "family" dog and Lucie won't have a job to do there, so might be unhappy. It is a leap of faith to hope the second family does keep their goats, but at least Lucie will have a job there as long as they do.

On the subject of goats, DH and I have talked about getting goats and/or sheep but decided to get meat animals, due to the hassle of not ever being able to go away if you have milking animals. Its not even just vacations but even day-to-day activities can be affected by the need to milk. For example, if we go for an evening meal with family, we wouldn't be able to stay late because we'd have to get home to milk. So....we decided as hard as it would be to watch those little kids or lambs, knowing their fate, overall we'd be better off doing meat animals. I would love to have that home-grown milk though......

woke to rain. Hope everyone has a great day Happy Friday

Its sprinkling a little here too - I'm keeping my fingers crossed it sets in for the day! My flock doesn't seem to mind at all and are happily out there foraging in the rain!

 

[Hawkeye95]

I have company for the next 10 days! (my brother and daughter visiting).

My coop should be chicken ready after this weekend! Here is my question:

The new chicken coop is about 50 feet from the old little coop the chicks live in now. How can I get them to start going to the new coop for food/evening? I can't get rid of the old coop because I will be using it for the guineas once I get it a little more escape-proof. I was thinking to start throwing all the scraps in front of the new coop door - put food and water dishes outside at the door entrance so they'll see them.. I only have 4 chickens - I could just pick them up out of the old coop and carry them to the new coop too Any helpful suggestions for them to do this on their own!?

Am off to Cherryvale today to pick up my daughter - I'm hoping for RAIN!!!!!!!!

I'm with Heather-- you're going to need to lock the birds in the new coop for a couple of days or so. Don't let them out. They will just go back to the old coop until they learn the new one is their home. Feed and water them in the new coop while they are learning. Have fun picking up your DD!

It's raining. We have a whole .1" so far, but I'm hopeful. The chickens, not so much. They are pretty disgusted with the water coming from the sky. It can just do this all day as far as I'm concerned.

We live in a berm (earth sheltered, underground sort of) house, and at the beginning of the week, our main water line started leaking at the point it enters the house. They had to dig out the line (about 15' down at the back of the house) with a backhoe. As it turned out, the leak was inside the 12" concrete wall, so they had to drill out the old line and replace it. What a trauma -- I don't have the bill(s) yet, either. Bummer. I can really use the rain to settle the fill in the hole/pile of dirt. They did a great job, though, so I can't complain about the dirt work (or the plumbing for that matter). It gave me motivation to clean the garage, though. We had to move stuff around to get to the water line, so I'm working on organizing as I put stuff back. You know, there was a floor down there all the time.

I've been reluctant to use Google Chrome (don't really trust the google people), but it sure works better for posting to the list. IE had gotten to the point that I was having trouble editing posts (in the middle of paragraphs). Chrome actually has a spell checker built it to all text boxes. Amazing. My DH says it works better with his discussion lists, too, so it isn't just an accident with this one.

Enjoy the rain if you are in this area.

whoa, no fun about the leak! That sounded like quite the ordeal to get it fixed. Glad it's done, though. We use our garage for our cars, but we do throw things out in the barn to store. Honestly, we just need to get rid of a TON of stuff. We purge constantly-- I'm always getting rid of things in the house. But I think it's time we clear out the barn. I haven't used anything in there for ages, and I'm ready for it to go to the dump or find another home. I want to build bird pens out there anyway... see where I'm going with this? LOL!!!!

Oh-- and I've used Google Chrome for a good year or two? Back whenever it came out, I switched immediately. It does way more that IE did, and I was sick of the other. This Google Chrome seems to work for everything now.

I would have loved to have got dog panels but whenever I see that style on CL, they seem to want a ton for them. Orschelns is having a sale this week where you can get a whole 10x10 pen with the gated panel and all, for $249, and it is the panel style. I don't need another one but I'm sorely tempted anyway. The same day I saw where someone was trying to sell a 6x10 panel dog run on CL for $500!!! I'm thinking "Why would I pay $500 for a used smaller pen when I can get the larger one brand new for half the price?"


On the subject of goats, DH and I have talked about getting goats and/or sheep but decided to get meat animals, due to the hassle of not ever being able to go away if you have milking animals. Its not even just vacations but even day-to-day activities can be affected by the need to milk. For example, if we go for an evening meal with family, we wouldn't be able to stay late because we'd have to get home to milk. So....we decided as hard as it would be to watch those little kids or lambs, knowing their fate, overall we'd be better off doing meat animals. I would love to have that home-grown milk though......

Its sprinkling a little here too - I'm keeping my fingers crossed it sets in for the day! My flock doesn't seem to mind at all and are happily out there foraging in the rain!

OH wow-- that is a great deal for the kennel!!! I may have to think about that! Did they have a sale on the 12's? I still don't think I could do meat animals. I could with chickens-- but I am done with every trying to kill and clean myself. I sure wish there was someone around here who would process birds. It hasn't stopped raining-- I can't believe our luck!?!? I hope it just keeps going all day long!