Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

There is information online about making your own chicken plucker & you can buy the parts & such for it. Then there are videos showing them in action, just search on YouTube & you will find them. If you were processing a lot of chickens, like for other people such as the person Sunflowerparrot is talking about then it would really be worth spending the money to build one. Just for yourself to process a few chickens here & there it probably wouldn't pay off, because it's not cheap.

Well we got the GP pups home this afternoon & they're doing fine. The Vet said they got through it OK, just had some nausea & vomiting from the anesthetic, but that's pretty common for animals & people. They seemed pretty glad to get out of there & get home & are now resting. He said to just let them do whatever they feel like doing. He said they will be sleeping quite a bit & would regulate their activities according to how they feel. He gave them both flea baths while he had them, which they really needed & he mentioned how covered with ticks they are. I told him we have had an explosion of ticks here & I have put stuff on them, but when you have so many like we do right now I don't think anything topical is going to stop them. They're even immune to the insect repellant we have been using. I had to go get one that has a higher deet content to try to keep them off of us, it's just horrible. He gave me the prices for the pills for fleas & ticks & for one dog it's like $62 for 6 months. Then the one that is the combo one for fleas, ticks, & heartworm is $152 for 6 months for one dog. Geez, I just don't have the money for that right now. I don't know what to do with these darned ticks except wait until these guineas are old enough to get out there & start eating them. Danz, you said about two months old they could be let out to free-range right? They aren't full grown size yet, I think they're about two months now. I have read from other people that they don't let them out until 3 months of age. I saw some at that guy's place where I got more guineas that were about 3 months old & they looked big enough to let loose, so I think I may need to wait another month & let these grow. I don't want to let them out only to have them eaten & have to start all over again with more. I think if they're bigger they would have a better change of being able to fly higher up in the trees to escape & such.

Well gotta get out there amonst the ticks & get to work on my coop, see you all later.

 

[erinszoo]

Trish - have you tried Advantage spot treatment for fleas and ticks? You can get a 4 pack at PetsMart for around $45. It would at least get you through the worst of tick season. Once you kill the fleas and ticks on the dogs and we get a freeze, you don't really need to medicate all year long. We've used it on our cats and dog for a long time with no issues. Frontline used to make them all sick and make them throw up but the Advantage works well.

This may have been mentioned already, but I don't always keep up with threads, where is there near Winfield/Ark City that processes chickens? We've searched all over the place for someone down our way who does this and ended up doing it ourselves last fall. The smell really got to me too and it took a while before I could actually eat the birds. We have 25 cornish x coming from McMurray in a couple of weeks so if we could find a processor or somewhere that had processing equipment to use, that would be great.

Our birds from McMurray's last year grew very well. They dressed out between 5 and 8 1/2 pounds at 7 weeks ... and we only had one with a leg problem. We ate him as a cornish hen. Ha. The girls were all smaller than the boys of course. The breast meat on the bigger ones were a pound each or more.

 

[HEChicken]

Glad to hear Lily and Jasmine are doing okay!

 

[medawinks]

Glad Lily and Jasmine are home to recuperate!.

Our little D'uccle decided to finally start laying, as well as our white rock, but no one else has yet..... My kids are very unhappy about our very obviously missing little pink eggs. Andy is not sure he wants another chicken of his own right now, because he is afraid if it is his, it is destined to die early. He has been eager to go egg hunting for chocolate eggs though. We have 3 BCM and they are so quiet and calm. I asked him if he would like a different shade of brown egg and he was interested, so I am looking for a blue splash or blue copper ready to lay pullet.

Danz, as soon as school settles down a bit we will bring you our D'uccle girl so you can try for some D'Uccle chicks she has laid an egg daily! She is so tiny and her eggs are pretty big! I am feeding her yogurt, greens, fruit and layer feed. She eats non stop! She would have to.... Her eggs are almost an eighth as big as she is!!

Someday a muscovie will be part of our crew.... But not yet. I am sold on that breed though!!

No diapers here any more. I gave all of my youngests, who only wore them for a few months after adoption, away. I will keep your website though Hawkeye! Who knows.... Doing foster care, might be useful again They always make the best baby shower gifts!

 

[chicken danz]

Medawinks I think I have determined the little buff laced polish is a boy. So sorry. You could still have him if you wanted. Let me know if there is anything else you want since I am thinning out some of these birds around here. I'll be selling some here and there but you now I would let your kids have anything they wanted I can spare. Your wonderful children have melted my heart.
I will be thrilled to get these little D'uccles a girlfriend. I guess ultimately I'll have to decide which boy gets to stay. I already sold one boy. You would think out of 3 chicks I would have hatched at least one female!!! I've thought of ordering some more but wanted blue self D'uccles as well to go with the little d'uccle you gave me but no one has any available until spring. By the way the "back porch boys" as we call the D'uccle and the Salmon have been renamed this week. They are Sam and Duke. Bet you can figure out which name goes to which one.

So I have been walking around measuring and figuring trying to decide what to do. I really really want to build on a sunroom on the back of my house and an attached garage. That would solve so many problems at once. But it's just not in the budget and I HATE the idea of going further into debt. I really really want to get the incubators and stuff out of the house and reduce the chicken dust. It is everywhere. I figured if I had an attached garage I could put them in there with some type of radiant heat.
I was looking at a building that I could have moved in and I figured I could easily insulate it and heat and cool to some point and get the incubators moved out. But the problem is it is big enough I would want to set it down permanently and there isn't a place close to the house I want to do that where I would have access to water and electricity without plumbing and wiring. I could buy it and set it out further but that would mean hauling water to it which isn't any fun in winter. I'm just so confused about what to do. I so wish I could figure out how to manage these things.
My one little chicken house I built a few years back has become a tiny spot on my property map. I would like my chickens and my living quarters to be 2 separate things again.
Anyone have any ideas? I'm open for suggestions. Short of selling all my birds and equipment that is.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

One of my Alohas had a sour crop this evening so I regurgitated her and gave her lotrimin. I hope she makes it she's a really sweet hen.

We moved the electric fence and the birds are enjoying the garden that's no longer producing much for us. This particular bird had a very bad case of sour crop and they only had access today so I don't think it was because of the move but who knows? I hope this is just a one time thing and not a chronic condition for her. That would be a real bummer.

I'm making diapers for one of our rescue dogs who never got the hang of potty training. He's a smart dog but I don't know. Anyway, I bought cloth diapers for him before but decided to make him some new ones myself since they're getting a little tired. We'll see how that goes. Just add that to my many unfinished projects!

Tomorrow my DH is taking off work specifically so we can spend the day together and go out to eat without any kids. I think that's going to be awesome fun!

 

[medawinks]

Little Duke is such a pretty color. If Chooks has more in the spring, we will both be wanting pullets

It would be interesting to see if he remembers our little D'uccle, Feathers. They used to be inseparable. Not sure if what I read somewhere is accurate, but I thought it said if you crossed the self blue with the Mille Fleur you would get a porcelain? We have a younger porcelain I picked up at Orschlelns. She is no where near laying, but she is very pretty She is inseparable with an Easter egger. Hilarious to watch!

No worries on the Polish! We have a bantam white crested from the pullet bin. No clue if it is actually a pullet though!!! I guess we will find out when we get a white egg or hear crowing.... No way we can keep a crower, no matter how pretty or sweet.... My neighbors don't like Feathers, and rightfully so. She is a talker!!! Cute as a button and very friendly, but .... LOUD!!! I adore her, but don't want my neighbors unhappy. But would keep her and bribe with eggs if I wasn't so certain that she misses Duke and will make a great little mama

My Marans are my quietest birds. They rarely make a sound. They should be getting ready to lay, or at least 2 of the 3 should. I can't wait!! Andy has joined me in my search for the colored eggs.

I showed him some pics of the different kinds of Marans and he really liked the splash or blue copper. Any idea who might have those? I love our little silkies, and hope he will look for another but who knows. He has dealt with so much death and loss in his life. He has double checked on me nightly. Wanted to sleep in my room. I keep telling him I am not a chicken....:-/

 

[medawinks]

Karen,

This will sound ignorant.... But I am as far as all the things I have yet to learn. How do you know a chicken has sour crop? No clue what you meant by regurgitating it. It sounds like I would have to eat her first and I don't thnk that is survivable

I make belly bands for my marking little guy. Is that what you mean by a dog diaper? I am curious. 'Might be a better way to do it!

Enjoy your lunch!!!

 

[cherwill]

Funny--- the little cockerel I just mentioned-- he tried to crow for the first time this morning. He sort of sounded strangled and garbled like "ARGHarrrRGHhhhhh". My 4 yr old daughter was outside with me helping me fill waters and she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I think that chickie is sick!". I laughed, because yeah, it did sound like he was being strangled to death. hehe

Besides how pretty they are, that was one of the most fun things about my little cockerels -- the funny sounds they made learning to crow!

Well we got the GP pups home this afternoon & they're doing fine. The Vet said they got through it OK, just had some nausea & vomiting from the anesthetic, but that's pretty common for animals & people. They seemed pretty glad to get out of there & get home & are now resting. He said to just let them do whatever they feel like doing. He said they will be sleeping quite a bit & would regulate their activities according to how they feel. He gave them both flea baths while he had them, which they really needed & he mentioned how covered with ticks they are. I told him we have had an explosion of ticks here & I have put stuff on them, but when you have so many like we do right now I don't think anything topical is going to stop them. They're even immune to the insect repellant we have been using. I had to go get one that has a higher deet content to try to keep them off of us, it's just horrible. He gave me the prices for the pills for fleas & ticks & for one dog it's like $62 for 6 months. Then the one that is the combo one for fleas, ticks, & heartworm is $152 for 6 months for one dog. Geez, I just don't have the money for that right now. I don't know what to do with these darned ticks except wait until these guineas are old enough to get out there & start eating them. Danz, you said about two months old they could be let out to free-range right? They aren't full grown size yet, I think they're about two months now. I have read from other people that they don't let them out until 3 months of age. I saw some at that guy's place where I got more guineas that were about 3 months old & they looked big enough to let loose, so I think I may need to wait another month & let these grow. I don't want to let them out only to have them eaten & have to start all over again with more. I think if they're bigger they would have a better change of being able to fly higher up in the trees to escape & such.

My dogs have always seemed to recover their energy much faster than the vet led us to believe they would. Don't be surprised if a day or two from now your dogs act like nothing happened. I'm glad they got through their surgeries well.

One of my Alohas had a sour crop this evening so I regurgitated her and gave her lotrimin. I hope she makes it she's a really sweet hen.


Tomorrow my DH is taking off work specifically so we can spend the day together and go out to eat without any kids. I think that's going to be awesome fun!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your Aloha. I've heard the term sour crop, but I have no idea what it means.

Have a great day tomorrow! It's good to spend time together, just the two of you.

 

[HEChicken]

So I have been walking around measuring and figuring trying to decide what to do. I really really want to build on a sunroom on the back of my house and an attached garage. That would solve so many problems at once. But it's just not in the budget and I HATE the idea of going further into debt. I really really want to get the incubators and stuff out of the house and reduce the chicken dust. It is everywhere. I figured if I had an attached garage I could put them in there with some type of radiant heat.
I was looking at a building that I could have moved in and I figured I could easily insulate it and heat and cool to some point and get the incubators moved out. But the problem is it is big enough I would want to set it down permanently and there isn't a place close to the house I want to do that where I would have access to water and electricity without plumbing and wiring. I could buy it and set it out further but that would mean hauling water to it which isn't any fun in winter. I'm just so confused about what to do. I so wish I could figure out how to manage these things.
My one little chicken house I built a few years back has become a tiny spot on my property map. I would like my chickens and my living quarters to be 2 separate things again.
Anyone have any ideas? I'm open for suggestions. Short of selling all my birds and equipment that is.

Oh boy, I wish I had some ideas for you but I am completely hopeless when it comes to visualizing anything! I'll have to come up and see your place sometime and that might help.

Tomorrow my DH is taking off work specifically so we can spend the day together and go out to eat without any kids. I think that's going to be awesome fun!

Sorry about the Aloha with the sour crop but it sounds like you have dealt with it capably. Do you know what causes it? I've never had a case, I don't think.

That is awesome that DH is taking the day off work to spend with you - and so important when you have a family to raise, to make that time to spend together. Have a great day with him!