Consolidated Kansas

[cherwill]

Tweety, I hope your stomach thing is better.

Quote:

My brother (56 years old) came into town on Thursday and is here till Sept 4th - I must admit that 1) he is driving me completely insane - he.does.not.shut.up.for.one.minute.all.day.freaking.long! 2) he loves to debate and everything, no matter the topic, turns into a debate and he needs to analyze everything that is said, how it is said, who said it, etc. 3) he takes forever to do anything - he has been writing a list for Lowes since 7:30 this morning and is still going over it with me 4) he is like a bull in a china shop... he knocks things over just walking through the living room.. has spilled several drinks by knocking them over when reaching for something.. etc. 5) he doesn't turn lights off when he leaves a room! he doesn't put things back when he has used them..

Ok - done griping... must find way to not kill brother...

LOL! You sound like me when my nephew was staying with us. I don't do well with company disrupting my quiet and routine life. When you spend so much time alone, it's hard to deal with someone talking all the time, even if the conversation is nice. I don't like conflict, so that whole debating and playing devil's advocate for the sake of a "good" argument is something I don't understand at all, but I do know a number of people who are like that.

 

[Trish44]

Sunflowerparrot, good luck with getting through the 10 days with your brother. I have family just like him that just love to debate everything that is said, it gets really tiring, so I can identify. I hope everything is going with with your coop project, I can't wait to see it all done.

 

[JosieChick]

Do you inject Tylan in the breast? I found some Tylan injectible at Atwoods-- it's in the front in the fridge. I thought it was pretty cheap, too! But what a pain to have to shoot up a whole bunch of birds. How many did you treat and do you have to give more than one shot... or is it just the one dose, and you're done??? Hope those dog houses suit your needs.

I do inject into the breast and alternate sides. It is a total pain to do injections. I had to catch like 30 juvenile chicks in a hoop house. I usually treat for 3 days but they had been on Denagard for four days and it was just lingering, one shot finished it up for them.
Whew, been busy today! Church this morning, and then taking care of some property management stuff this afternoon. Finally home now and I'm DONE IN. But it's been a pretty good day, overall.

Thank you for the suggestion! I told my husband we'll have to start doing that. I think I'll have to keep the birds locked up while the dog eats and just make sure to pick up his bowl before I let them out. I didn't mind my birds eating a bit of dog food when, but now that it's become a problem, I think I'm going to put it to a stop. When I first got my birds, I was really worried that the dog (who is my husband's hunting dog) would hunt/kill my birds. I was wondering how I would train him that wouldn't sour him to hunting. I think it's worked, and the proof is that my goose has tried to take his food from him twice now (my original post on this topic was the 2nd time she'd tried it and definitely the most severe reaction from the dog) and he hasn't (YET) responded with his teeth. I am definitely going to put this new idea to a stop though...

Someone mentioned that they had a gander with their ducks and that the gander didn't graze until they got another goose... I don't remember who said that, but I had a question for them. Did you get the 2nd goose as a gosling or full-grown? I have been seriously considering processing my drakes and then getting 1 or 2 more geese and 3-4 more ducks to round out my flock. The birds in my flock now are the only ones I've ever had, so it will be difficult to actually process them. I've got a friend who will help, but I still have to give the word. Anyway, assuming I can go through with it, I'd like to get 3-4 runner ducks or buff ducks (or a mix of the two) and 1-2 more geese as company for my current goose. However, if I get more geese, it would probably be from my husband's grandmother's flock. She gets goose eggs every spring. I could ask her to hatch a couple for me. I wouldn't want one of her adult geese. She doesn't handle them, and they have a tendency to be mean. I was just wondering if I got a couple more goslings and raised them with ducks, would they just know to graze themselves or would they grow up thinking they're a duck like Lucy (my goose) has done?

It wasn't me but I can say that my ducks don't go out and graze like my geese do. I have seven sebastopol geese and they are all over the place during the day. If you get young geese you will most likely have to keep them separate from the adult goose until they are older for their safety. Often adult geese will kill babies. Sometimes they will take them in and care for them but often they can be quite aggressive with youngsters. If you have a couple geese I would think they would graze together. Keep in mind that the breed of geese your grandmother has may be an aggressive breed and they may grow up to become aggressive despite early handling. I talked to a girl that raised an embden gander from a gosling and he got so nasty she had to get rid of him. He chased anyone who came near his ladies. The most gentle breeds of geese that I know of are sebastopols and cotton patch geese but maybe someone can chime in on other gentle goose breeds.


Alright, back outside! I am painting perches and new gates that DH constructed for me! It is super muggy out right now.

 

[michelleml]

So many post sense i was last on so sorry if i forget someone. We've loved the rain it's been so long sense we've seen it especially living in the desert for the last three years and then coming here to no rain.
My dog (Gnomeo)that was hit by a car is doing much better he decided to go after a hen today. The other dogs and tiny chihuahua and other dachshund don't bother them i just tell them to leave it and they listen Gnomeo just runs and doesn't listen at all so I'm not sure if he will be staying around sense i like the birds to be able to free range.

My dd who will be 4 in oct has been asking for a pet everything from a dolphin to a dinosaur my Dh and i have been talking about getting maybe a rabbit but i think she may still be too young for a pet what do you all think?

Does anyone know of a place to buy the post for a clothes line. I use cloth diapers on my youngest and would like to dry my clothes outside

medawinks sorry to hear about your bird.

 

[lizzyGSR]

It wasn't me but I can say that my ducks don't go out and graze like my geese do. I have seven sebastopol geese and they are all over the place during the day. If you get young geese you will most likely have to keep them separate from the adult goose until they are older for their safety. Often adult geese will kill babies. Sometimes they will take them in and care for them but often they can be quite aggressive with youngsters. If you have a couple geese I would think they would graze together. Keep in mind that the breed of geese your grandmother has may be an aggressive breed and they may grow up to become aggressive despite early handling. I talked to a girl that raised an embden gander from a gosling and he got so nasty she had to get rid of him. He chased anyone who came near his ladies. The most gentle breeds of geese that I know of are sebastopols and cotton patch geese but maybe someone can chime in on other gentle goose breeds.

Thank you for the input! The goose I have (Lucy) came from my husband's grandmother. My DH's grandma doesn't know what breed of goose they are, but with a little research, I have determined (and am pretty sure) that they are white chinese geese. I know that white chinese geese CAN become aggressive, but I have been handling Lucy every day in hopes that it will keep her from getting aggressive. So far, so good. My DH won't allow mean birds, so if I do end up with a mean bird, that bird will find himself in hot water (literally). However, I was thinking that it would probably be good for Lucy if I got another goose for her to hang out and graze with. The reason I was wanting to get a goose from my DH's grandmother is because it would be free/cheap. I'm not likely to get that from anywhere else. I know that limits my choices, but i don't know of anywhere within 2-3 hours drive that has geese for sale (not even at orschelns) so I guess I take what I can get.

 

[HEChicken]

Does anyone know of a place to buy the post for a clothes line. I use cloth diapers on my youngest and would like to dry my clothes outside

In Australia pretty much everyone line-dries their clothes so I have carried on the tradition here, even when the neighbors thought I was crazy. I just really prefer the smell of fresh, line-dried clothes. Plus, it saves me money on my utility bills. In Wichita, I had a retractable clothesline. I installed it to a deck post, and the hook to a fence post and when I needed to dry clothes, I stretched out the line - the rest of the time it was practically invisible.

When we went under contract on our new house, one of the first things I did was to order a rotary clothesline from Amazon. Here is the one I got:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018DVN04/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

I also bought a laundry cart on wheels. It sits right under the door to my front loader so I can pull the clothes out to the cart, then wheel it out to the clothesline, and hang my clothes. Barely takes any longer than loading the dryer and setting it

In order to correctly install it, they recommend digging a 20" deep hole and setting it in concrete. That wasn't easy in clay soil in a drought at the entrance to the Flint Hills (lots of rocks) but we managed it and I've been so happy with it ever since.

Ever since I've lived in the States, I've line-dried my clothes year-round. Yep, even in Winter. Sometimes we will get a prolonged spell of cold, icy weather and I have to break down and use the dryer, but for the most part, as long as I keep an eye on the weather, I can time my laundry days to the best days to dry outside.

 

[HEChicken]

Originally posted by JosieChick:
My muscovies are really great foragers and grazers. They are out there when none of the other birds are. I've also noticed they are first out in the morning and last in in the evening.

 

[HEChicken]

Well, I'm afraid I've had it with Tory and she is going to have to be rehomed. Josie, if that other family that wanted a dog might be interested in her, please PM me....

As I've mentioned in the past, we've had our issues with her. She killed two of my chickens, but since they don't free-range and she doesn't have access to their yard, I felt confident that wouldn't happen again (the two she killed were both out of the yard in "her" area and the rest don't try to fly out). The big thing with Tory was the roaming. She just will NOT stay around our property. Apart from the stress over relations with neighbors, I don't see how she can possibly be an effective LGD if she isn't where the livestock is!

There is an invisible fence system installed on our property by the previous owners. I was reluctant to put her on it because it would severely limit her ability to do the job she was brought here to do. I don't know exact dimensions but let's say our property is 500' wide. The west side is bordered by a hedgerow and my chicken yard starts just inside the hedgerow and extends 60' east. The boundary of the invisible fence starts about 80' east of the hedgerow and extends to our west side fence. All told, it gave her about 3 acres.

So we did the whole training routine and she started to understand the boundaries. That took about a week. The second week, I let her free within the fence and she respected the boundaries. The beginning of the third week, she discovered that if she runs fast, she can jump through the fence (yes, she gets shocked but apparently it doesn't feel that bad because it isn't enough to deter her). Over the past week, we've done everything we can. We contacted the company (DogWatch), and eventually (because they are so proprietary they don't want to give away any information - even to people who own their system), we were able to access a manual explaining the various settings. To our horror, we discovered the collar was already set to Level 5 on the shock scale. I was able to turn the system to Training Level B, which delivers a shock, then an audible warning and then another shock. And, I was able to turn the collar up to Level 7.

It didn't make a lick of difference. After retrieving her from outside the fence (and at our neighbors two doors up) for the third time today, I put her on the tether and told DH I've had it and she has to go. This is a dog who can't be contained by a physical fence (digs right out of anything) or by an invisible fence, so I truly am afraid for her future. But I just don't know what else to do with her.

The worst part is, she has taught one of our other dogs - who previously was pretty good about staying around - to roam at least as badly as she does. Tonight they were both gone and it was Tory I was able to find and bring home. The other dog didn't reappear for another 30-minutes after that. So now the other dog has to be practically imprisoned in my chicken yard (not as bad as it sounds since it is almost an acre in size) because I don't need the constant stress of not knowing where either dog is. After Tory is gone, I can use the collar to try to train the other dog to the invisible fence but at this point I'm not feeling that confident in the ability of this technology to actually contain dogs. When I talked to my neighbors two doors down who have their dog on a home-built system, they warned that eventually the dog will figure out how to "beat the system". With their German Shepherd, it took two years. Now, as soon as they leave for work, their dog is out roaming the neighborhood. With Tory it took just two weeks.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Trish - I went out this morning to let everyone out/feed everyone/etc. and Mr. Jasper crowed! Well... an attempt to crow lol.. I think he was out drinking all night long the way he sounded I would like to bring my brother out to see your place just to show him the differences in the land around here - let me know what works for you...

 

[michelleml]

Hechicken sorry to hear about Tory some dogs are just that stubborn. As far as the clothes line you mention i use Birdseye cloth old fashion cloth diapers and they are very large some are 30x30 would that give me enough room to hang at least a 12-20 diaper at once?

My neighbor came over last night to visit and her German shepherd followed and he doesn't like little things he kills cats, squirrels everything and of course he went after my chickens but they stopped him in time. My concern is that he roams our property daily and I've been lucky that he hasn't seen my chickens till yesterday. I really like these people and don't want to cause problems but i also want my chickens to free range so do i take the chance and let them free range or build a safe area for them to roam? she told me to call her and she will put the dog up in the garage but that's not fair to him either that he has to stay in the garage. I would hate for him to kill them my kids would be devastated