Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Thats not fair. I am in the hole of drought here that has missed all the other rains and we aren't seeing a drop. It's cloudy but that is it!!! I think I'm going to run out and wash the cars or something!

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 the others. Carry the chickens and lock them in for several days. I have one Orpington pullet that refuses to move in with the big kids. She keeps going back to the brooder. I think she is a Toys R Us chicken. (I don't want to grow up...I'm a Toys R Us chicken.)

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!

I think the reason the hens don't survive is they honker down on nests that make them "sitting ducks" for predators. They are very dedicated broodies and don't fly off when they have babies to protect. $30 each is a good price for something other than an India blue. I would give about $25 for an India blue baby. But you could expect to pay up to $60 or $70 for certain colors for babies.

The guy never got back with DH yesterday. I was really disappointed. I really wanted to go get chicks this weekend. My little peafowl wants to play and taste everything. He gets along great with the chicks but he pecks like a chick would and his beak is a lot sharper. I am so afraid that he will accidentally hurt one of them. He is also getting big enough it is pretty crowded in his bin but I don't want to put him outside just yet. I'd feel a lot better if I had some other young peafowl to house him with. I know he hates being alone. He'd be perfectly content to sit on my lap all day but I don't think I have time for that!!

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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.

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!

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

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!

I've bought tons of those kennel panels from Orschlens and love them. I have an extra gate panel too.If you join several together you can make a whole row of pens and save panels. That has always been a plan, but I am always setting up a separate pen here and there for one thing or another. I have my turkeys in side by side pens and I have 5 panels hooked to the front of a house that makes a 10 X 20 for the sussex and orpingtons. Of course the chickens just sleep in there cause they free range all day, but when they were younger I kept them shut up in it. You can often get the panels 20-30% off at Orschlens and it makes it really cheap. I also have a 10 X 20 set up for the Sabastopols but then they have another 200 feet of electric netting to run in as well. When I get out to do it I shut them in the smaller pen at night. They are very good about going to bed though so I don't worry too much. I have probably at least 20-30 panels and can always use more.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Danz - I live in rattlesnake country, and we see them regularly here. No matter how many times you see them, you never get used to it (probably a good thing!

). Anyway, if you're worried about your dogs, I know that you can get a rattlesnake vaccine for them. The vaccine doesn't keep them from swelling, but it slows the reaction down enough that you have time to get them to a vet and get them treated. We got the vaccine for our outside dog. He thankfully hasn't met a rattlesnake (yet), but I feel better knowing that if/when he does, we'll have time to get him to the vet. The vaccine cost us $50 each shot, and you have to get a 1 month booster after the first shot and then yearly after that.

I think it's too bad they don't have rattlesnake vaccines for people!

 

[chicken danz]

Our dogs used to get bitten by rattlesnakes all the time when I lived in the flint hills years ago. They would swell but always pulled through without any treatment. I had kennels back then and I wondered if the mothers hadn't passed down antibodies to the pups. I never understood how they could get bitten in the neck and swell up and get well. But on the flip side I had a neighbor bit by one who didn't seek medical help until the next day and ended up loosing a leg because of it. I think if I go rattlesnake hunting I may have jeans and boots on.
I need to get eggs ready to go to town. I have an order for 4 roosters but don't really have any large enough to butcher unless I took one of my breeders. I don't really want to do that. I can get more for them as breeding birds than eating birds.
I really don't feel like chasing roosters anyway.
I guess I should get out there.Still no stinking rain here!!! Irritating. Radar looked like we might get some but I guess it is just clouds.

 

[Trish44]

Oh gosh I just hate snakes, it gives me the goosebumps just thinking of you finding that rattler! We do have quite a lot of snakes around this place, but most of the time I don't see them, which is fine by me. For the most part they're the non-poisonous kind but like I said I do know there are rattlers in this area. I wonder Danz since it has been so dry if it was coming up looking for water or just saw an opportunity for an easy meal? I sure hope your dogs don't find it either. My next door neighbor told me awhile back about her son's dog getting bitten by a rattler, it was a little whippet & they took it to the emergency Vet & they told them they didn't have any anti-venin & if they got it the cost would be several hundred dollars & they couldn't afford it. So they took the dog home & just let it run it's course & it lived. I sure wouldn't want to have to make that kind of decision about my pet.

Danz, you're so lucky to have so many kennels to use for birds. I'm always scrambling to try to figure out where to put something. It seems like the used dog runs lately on CL have been really high priced. There is somebody in Winfield wanting $500 for 10-6x10 panels & one with a gate. I don't care how old it is, they want a new price for a used pen. I hope nobody is stupid enough to pay that for it. I'm going to need some more panels for inside the main pen after I get the outside pen put up at my new breeder coop to separate the different birds outside the coop, if that makes any sense at all. I will have 4 separate coop "rooms" so to speak with walls inbetween & then the runs will be separated outside. I have some panels I bought from tntblake that I think will work for the very outside, but I will need more for the separations in the middle. I haven't figured out yet exactly how I'm going to do all of that. I can put up panels, but then I would have to have a gate for every section, any ideas on that anybody? For the winter I will have their food & water inside the coop, but it would be nice for summer to be able to put the water outside, but then I would have to have access to each section. That's too bad that the guy didn't get back to your DH about the peachicks, I hope he will soon. Well I was willing to pay the $30 apiece for the peachicks because I just couldn't find any at the time for any less & they were already a month old so they were past the critical point with them. I had looked online & so many places wanted you to buy multiples of them & the prices weren't cheap either. Anyway, I'm happy with my little hens & they're doing great so far. I do like some of the other colors, but I just can't pay such high prices for them. I have put out so much money this year for birds & eggs. I hope next spring to be able to get some of that at least back with hatching some of the different breeds of chicks I will have & selling them. I already have a list going of people wanting birds from me next year. I hope I can figure out what these black Ameraucanas are soon, I wish IVYWOODS was around so I could get her opinion since I got the lavender hens from her & she has blacks. I need a hen & a roo for my breeding program & I think the biggest one so far looks like a pullet, but I can't be sure on any of the three as of yet.

When I was out there working on the peacock coop last night I heard my Salmon Favorelle Millie sneezing, so I guess I'm going to have to treat all the birds in the grow-out pen. She is the only one I heard doing it. The only thing I have here is Tylan, so I guess that I'll have to use that because I don't have the money right now to buy Denagard, that stuff isn't cheap. I sure hate to see the birds start doing this stuff already & it's not even fall yet. I'm hoping maybe it's just all the dust we have had, but who knows.

We got a tiny bit of rain, barely wet the ground. All of the rain went on both sides of us, as usual. I think we have a better chance tomorrow of getting some, let's all pray.

 

[chicken danz]

We only got a few sprinkles. I was out in it feeding and didn't get wet at all. I keep hoping there'll be lots more.
Trish I would recommend putting gates on all of your outside pens because you are going to need access to them. If you don't have enough panels to do so you could always use more of your cattle panels for the fronts and cut your gates out of the panels using a grinder. Then of course you'd have to cover those with netting or something. The other thing you could do is buy a 6 foot wide chain link gate, change the brackets to the other side, set it upright and it could be a walk through gate. Or if you could find one even a shorter gate would work better.
If you built a wood frame for the front you could install individual gates pretty easy. Most of our gates on our permanent pens are made of 1 X 3" lumber. You build a rectangular frame. Take a piece of plywood or whatever you can scrape up and cut a triangle shape and apply that to the corners. We usually put another piece of 1 X 3 across the center. It's quick and easy and you can staple any kind of wire netting over it. A pair of hinges, a latch and your are done. It doesn't take any fancy cuts and works fine. When not in a hurry we cut another 1 X 3 board for each corner at the angle that works and angle it in the corners instead of putting a board on the outside. I hope this makes sense.
I've got to get changed and run to town with eggs and roosters. 4 more less mouths to feed.

 

[sapphireblu76]

We got some much needed rain this morning and looks as though we may get some more. Hopefully it will get to all of us that need it so desperately. A friend of mine looks to be right in the track of Ivan and is freaking out. She and her grandmother survive Katrina and they have no where else to go. I keep trying to convince her to come up here, but she just doesn't have a way and I can't afford to go get her

I lost one of my mutt chicks that I hatched. I have no idea what happened. I only found two feathers, so I think maybe an aerial attack. Figures, it was the one I *REALLY* wanted to see grow out. She had the markings of a SLW, but was part Production Red. I guess the dog must have been sleeping :/

My upside down bird is really doing fantastic now. Now I just have to get some weight back on her.

My ducks have started laying. One lays eggs the size of chicken eggs and the other has HUGE eggs.

Hoping my pullets start laying soon. So far, only one LF and one Bantam Cochin have been laying.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I am back with a new, but slow computer. If anyone is interested in the muscovy ducks, send me a PM. I have 33 that need to find new homes.

At the same time the ducks were hatching out their oh so cute little ones, the banty hens were doing the same thing. I have some little mixed breed banty chicks to find homes for also. I want to sell both the chicks and ducklings, but will negotiate price.

The really, really good thing here is it is raining. I don't know how much, but a kiddie pool waterer that was empty (I have several) last night had water well over the geese feet. So wonderful to have, but still need so much more of course.

When I was at the feed mill to get feed, I asked how the crops are doing. He said there is none. The soy beans that are so bright green are not setting pods and are being baled for hay. I bring this up, because if anyone happens to NOT be aware of how critical the growing conditions are, it would be good to check out conditions in your area. Plan your winter feed and bedding needs and get all you can safely store as soon as possible.

Now if I can learn to use this new computer and keyboad, life will be a little bit better.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

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......

A breed of sheep that I had and really liked was the Soay Sheep. They are a very small, landrace breed and are also a "hair" sheep, so no shearing. They are thrifty and easy to keep and if properly managed will not need constant worming.

I have not read enough of the posts to know what your family size is, etc, but one of the good things about them is for a small family, they take up less room in the freezer. And their meat is leaner and less greasy.

 

[chicken danz]

We've so far not had enough moisture to wet the ground. It's more like a slow sprinkle and a mist now and then. At least it is cooler out. I got my trip to town made and came back with a little more money than normal. I sold a cage to the guy that buys my roosters. Sweet!!
I think I'm going to focus on locating any remote nests and maybe do a little preventative work to get the hens to lay where they are supposed to this week.
Trish I was thinking about having all these panels but the problem is I don't have the houses to go with them. I really need more shelters. Most of the stuff I've been using is makeshift even as little as a large rubbermaid bin turned on it's side. As the birds grow they are outgrowing their tiny shelters. Winter is coming and I am not going to be ready. I sure wish I had a crew of hard workers for a few days to help me get things done. Dream on. It's not in my budget for sure. Maybe if we do get some rain we can drill some post holes again and finish the pens where the peacocks are. That would be nice.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, I sort of understand what you're saying, anyway I guess we'll figure it all out when we get the building done. I was really aggravated at my DH today, he went out & cut all the big limbs overhanging where the coop walls will be standing & yeah that needed to be done, but that's all he did today. When he only works on the thing 2 or 3 days a week I need him to do something rather than just poop around on it, geez. I think he's got it ready to stand the two 16 ft walls up now & that will be fun. He still has to build the two end walls yet. I have built this whole hoop coop in a few days & he has been at this other one for weeks already. I got the back end of the hoop coop all covered in wire this afternoon & I made him help me with a few of the cable ties that had to go through the small rabbit wire, it's not easy to bend them through by yourself. It can be done, but it's tedious. Of course he had some criticism to give me on my coop about things, but I could have told him that he could have bought more expensive supplies if he wanted to. If I had bought them though he would have thrown more of a fit than he already did. Now that he saw what I was doing he says well next time we'll do this or that different, where did this we come in? I thought I was the one building this thing. That would be great if he would get more into the birds & be more helpful getting supplies to build things, but all I hear is well this isn't MY hobby. Sorry for going on like that, but it's just aggravating to me. I do the best I can with the resources I have & he's not that helpful for the most part. I started putting hardware cloth down the one side & got it stapled to the wood frame with fencing nails but ran out of cable ties, so I will have to get more when I go to the store tomorrow. I should buy stock in that cable tie company for all of those I'm using. I changed my mind & decided to just use the hardware cloth I have & we can just buy more when we get ready to do the windows on the coop. I had enough for one whole side & I can't tell yet if I have enough for the other side. I started to hook it on there & it started RAINING, yes raining plus I was out of supplies, so I quit for tonight.

When the rain really started coming down my two GPs went into the hoop coop & looked at me like hey thanks for building this nice big dog house for us. I don't have the front closed in yet or a door made so they can walk right in there. I actually got soaked out there & came in with wet hair & clothes & I don't mind a bit. I haven't looked out yet to see if it has stopped or not. I may be going back out to do chores in the rain. I don't think the young chicks have ever seen rain before & I don't think they knew what to think. I looked at radar & it doesn't look like a very big front, so it probably won't last too long, but we'll take anything we can get. I noticed it said 80% chance of rain tomorrow, that's pretty good, maybe we'll get some more. I actually wouldn't mind some mud for once instead of dust.

You know it makes sense that it would start raining now that the town of Winfield is gearing up for the biggest music event of the year, the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival. It seems like it's either scorching hot during that festival or cold & rainy. We have been there for both kinds of weather. I don't know if we're going to go this year or not, it's kind of undecided. We never go & camp, it's too hard for me to do that any more with my arthritis, if we go we just go in the morning & come back at night & we usually don't go for the whole 4 days, usually 2 is enough sitting for me. It gets pretty crazy around here when all the people start coming in for that festival, it gets hard to get places in town for the traffic & the stores run out of things, especially snack stuff in the Wal Mart & you can tell when everybody out there is making chili because all of the beans will be gone, I mean ALL of them. I bought chili seasoning the other day & I think tomorrow I will go ahead & buy all of my beans so I won't get left out when all of those out of towners buy them out. Wal Mart has been gearing up for all of the campers for awhile now, they have aisles of chairs, coolers, tarps, just everything you could need to camp out they really go out for it. People come in from all over the US & other countries to this festival, it's pretty crazy & they start coming in a month ahead, some people take their whole vacation to come here for it & some of the die hards are already here now. They have what is called land rush & it will be Sept. 6th this year, it's where people line up to rush for their camping spots & they start lining up at 7 a.m. Nobody is allowed into the Pecan or Walnut Grove camping areas until that day & then it's a mad rush to get the spot you have had for either 20 years or next to your camping buddies. Some people have had the same spots for years & years. Anyway, it goes this year from the 12th through the 16th of Sept. & this is the 41st year for it so it's been here for a very long time.

I heard from my son this afternoon & they have been doing some more testing on Dana & some more biopsies. They found Thyroid cancer & she has multiple tumors & it's in her lymph nodes, it doesn't sound good at all. She wouldn't have even known anything was wrong if her lymph nodes in her neck hadn't been swollen & her voice got kind of scratchy sounding. She said she had a history of throid goiters, so I don't know if that made her more prone to this or not. I guess they'll know more as they get the results back on the tests. I sure hope they can treat her, she seems like such a nice girl.