Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Sunflowerparrot, that's good news so far about Fern, I hope she continues to improve. Keep us up to date.

I'm sitting at the park watching my granddaughter practice. She has played soccer for several years. She just told me on the way here she wants to play basketball but I don't know if she is old enough yet. She's growing up too fast though!

Danz, I did find some of those flea collars & ordered them, they should be here in a few days. I remember you said they work pretty good, so I thought I would give them a try. We use flea drops on the inside dogs & cats, but these dogs outside get in the pond all the time.

 

[chicken danz]

I had a dog back in the 70s when I lived along a hiway, running to me when I called her, and got hit right in front of me. I will never forget that sound and my horror. I was standing out by the road when it happened. The driver put on his brakes and started to stop as I was running across the hiway to get to her. But when I waved frantically ( I had no car to get to town in and needed help) he sped off like lightening. He had no idea what he hit. It could have been a child for all he knew 'cause she came up out of the ditch. I hope that man still has nightmares and wonders if he killed a human being. Not only was that one of the first major horrors of my life but it was also one of the first times I realized how terrible human beings can be.
At any rate I was stuck with 3 toddlers, and no vehicle and a dog that was dying in my arms. I still occasionally have dreams about it and feel guilty for calling her to me. I had no idea a car was going to pop over the hill. I babysat a toddler, and when his father dropped him off that morning he failed to close the gate. So my dog had run to the pasture across the road. It makes me terribly over sensitive about these things. I mean... it's been about 40 years ago and it still haunts me.
Things happen that we have no control over. It's just a very unfortunate thing that can leave a real scar on us.
I just hope this one turns out for the good!

 

[medawinks]

Sunflower, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for your little Fern! One of my little dogs broke her front leg, wedging it under a door somehow. She went into shock for that, and she did not have the trauma of having been hurt by a vehicle. It took her a good week to be able to tolerate the pain with out shaking and she was on pain meds. Hopefully that will be all Fern has to deal with! Now my dog bounces everywhere... But is no longer a digger!

Danz, I understand very well how a trauma like that can haunt you. Many years ago I ran over my own dog.... My mother had left the door into the house open in the garage and she ran out to greet me....She was a tiny toy poodle. She died instantly. I ALWAYS check the house door before pulling in the garage over 25 years later!

Question- is it normal for new layers to skip several days? We were so used to Bloom laying daily and our big white rock has skipped 3 days.... I think my Buff Orpington laid a small egg yesterday, but none today and Feathers also didn't lay one. Our white silkie was acting strange and not wanting to eat. I brought her in and she is eating fine. Makes me wonder.... But I don't have a clue what could have happened. No one is sneezing, the rest are all eating well. I am thinking that our white silkie may just be missing Bloom.... But something feels off..

 

[sharol]

That is surely possible. My Welsumer, Lizbeth, didn't lay for 10 months after her best friend died, and she hasn't been a reliable layer since. I will always think it was shock. Misty had laying problems, and Lizbeth protected her from being picked on by the others until the day she died.

I am thinking that our white silkie may just be missing Bloom.... But something feels off..

 

[chicken danz]

Could be the full moon!!! Seriously. It affects all things. Chickens just don't lay every day in general and they stop and start every now and then. The bodies can just do a limited amount. If your chickens were buddies I am sure that would have the same affect as being moved to a new home or something. aa so
I have a cochin roo who is feeling really under the weather too right now. He was limping a little. I brought him in and tried to soak his feet and legs in epsom salts. He didn't like soaking like the hens do. Gave him some liquid tylenol and checked him all over. I couldn't find any injuries. I just treated him with Ivermectin 2 days ago cause he was shaking his head and his legs were kind of red. Of course I didn't find any mites on him. I put baby oil on his legs to moisten them up a little. He isn't congested or coughing or sneezing either. Just kind of standing around not feeling good. He is one I was going to sell as a breeder eventually. I guess I'd better get him well first.
I think the chickens were all kind of out of it today. It was hot and steamy. I think it was stressing them after all this heat and a cool down then another hot day.
I got a load of feed again today and had them replace the oats with more milo. I was considering wheat but I guess it is up as high as corn is now. I was told if I bought seed wheat it was cheaper than regular grain. I might check into that later. I'm hoping that the mice won't be as attracted to the feed without the oats. I guess time will tell. I'm trying to design some no waste feeders in my head these days. Surely I'll come up with something eventually.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I had a dog back in the 70s when I lived along a hiway, running to me when I called her, and got hit right in front of me. I will never forget that sound and my horror. I was standing out by the road when it happened. The driver put on his brakes and started to stop as I was running across the hiway to get to her. But when I waved frantically ( I had no car to get to town in and needed help) he sped off like lightening. He had no idea what he hit. It could have been a child for all he knew 'cause she came up out of the ditch. I hope that man still has nightmares and wonders if he killed a human being. Not only was that one of the first major horrors of my life but it was also one of the first times I realized how terrible human beings can be.
At any rate I was stuck with 3 toddlers, and no vehicle and a dog that was dying in my arms. I still occasionally have dreams about it and feel guilty for calling her to me. I had no idea a car was going to pop over the hill. I babysat a toddler, and when his father dropped him off that morning he failed to close the gate. So my dog had run to the pasture across the road. It makes me terribly over sensitive about these things. I mean... it's been about 40 years ago and it still haunts me.
Things happen that we have no control over. It's just a very unfortunate thing that can leave a real scar on us.
I just hope this one turns out for the good!

---- OMG - how horrible to even think of seeing something like that. I'm just speechless at that.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

So - I'm just full of bad news lately...

Went out to put my chickens up for the night and one was dead in the yard with its head eaten off and feathers everywhere - odd how this has never happened until Fern isn't around.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Has anyone had much experience with real estate agents and contracts?

I am in a situation where I signed a contract with an agent to sell our old house but I'm totally unimpressed with her so far, mainly based on her communication. To summarize what has happened in the last month:

• At our first meeting she gave me a list of suggestions for things we could do to make our house more attractive to buyers. She then said she knew a handyman who could knock most of them out in a day to a day and a half and she'd email me his contact information. A week went by and she called to see how things were going. I reminded her I hadn't received the contact info yet and told her we were going to the house to do some of the items on the list the next day. She again said she would send his contact info. We spent two whole days at the house, working from the list. Three days later - after we had already completed most of the items - she finally emailed the contact info for her handyman.
• She then emailed me asking a question I didn't understand. I'm sure she was using some kind of real estate jargon and it made sense to her but not to me. So I replied to her email answering a couple of other questions and at the end said "I wasn't sure what you meant by *********************". She replied almost immediately to say she'd call me the next day to discuss. It was four days later before she called and she never did answer that specific question. (I forgot to bring it up on the phone call).
• She emailed last Friday to say she wants to bring a photographer out to photograph the place this week on Friday, and asking for suggestions on how to get her a key so they can install a lockbox. We were busy at the house all weekend so I didn't get a chance to reply to her email until Monday morning but then I wrote and gave some suggestions. Here it is, now more than 72 hours later, and I still haven't heard a peep from her. One suggestion was she could meet me at the house one of the times I knew I'd be there this week, and I could get her a key then but.....I have no idea if she'll show up or not since I haven't heard from her.

I really feel this is not a good fit, as I need someone who is going to stay in touch with me and at least give me the perception she is actively working to sell the house for me. When I don't hear from her for a week at a time, and when she doesn't answer my specific questions, or respond to my emails....I have to wonder.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get out of a contract once it is signed?

Yikes, if you can't get out of the contract, I'd let her know that you need to have her respond back sooner. And if not, I like the reply you got earlier about calling her Broker and telling them that you need a new agent in their office. ALL offices are run by a Broker and then have a bunch of agents under them. That may make her WAKE UP! I think it's ridiculous how long you are waiting for responses.

Hawkeye I have the windows for the sunroom add on already. I just need the $$ to have the addition built on and an attached garage. I don't see that happening soon. If I could get that done I wouldn't even consider adding another building to put the incubators.
The final payment on my other house has to by made by January 1st. I do have some loan money I borrowed against it I need to pay back and then whatever is left will be mine....which isn't much. I borrowed against my old house to put new plumbing and heat and air in this one. The money was actually supposed to go for a garage but these other things came first. I could always borrow some more and get it done after that but I don't want any more payments.
I could still close off a portion of the chicken trailer and keep it somewhat heated but it will be sitting so far out back that maintaining incubators would be a real pain.
I so often think if I could have purchased my land and built my own house to suit me I would have been far ahead. Of course if I could have foreseen the future I would have built a nice chicken building to house everything in the first place.

I really like the idea of building the deck with windows! It can be an all-season room instead of a deck. Yippee on the last payment this Jan! That will be nice! I bet it will be a bit sad to see the house go for good?

So, I did what I could given my circumstances. I brought her inside on the living room floor, I slept right beside her all night long and offered her water every time she began panting, I kept ice on her leg throughout the night. I got her into the vet as soon as they opened their doors this morning. I am so upset and will never get another dog should I lose her.

When I was a kid, my parents were at a rough point for a while and were short on cash. Our german shepard dog got hit by a car one morning and the idiot never stopped! Anyway, my mom had no way to take her to the vet-- just flat out could not afford it. So we brought the dog in and she set the break as best she could and taped it up really tight with ace bandages. Then she gave the dog penicillin shots and dosed her with whiskey for the pain! LOL We kept the dog laid out for a good two weeks before we let her really get up. And she healed up really well. Well enough to live to 18 years old! And could still run like the wind! So you do what you have to do with what you have, and that's all there is to it. And I'm sad that you wouldn't get another dog if Fern died. This isn't your fault, these things just happen. It sounds like she'll be okay. Hey if our childhood dog made it after my mom kept it drunk for 2 weeks and with an ace bandage on it's leg... you just have to believe that bones and bodies have a wonderful way of knitting themselves back together. Not that I would recommend what my mom did.... but they did consider shooting our dog, so she tried her best and it worked out.

I got to thinking if I got the deck built and used storm windows instead of just screens,threw an indoor outdoor rug over the decking boards I could surely create a reasonably warm place. My parents did that to their back deck in North Carolina and created a room they used all year. We don't have that climate, but this would be facing south so it should get some radiant heat. I would just need to buy the lumber for the taller posts and the roofing material and I think I have most of the rest. It's a project I wanted done any way. As long as I could keep the temp up enough I could put the incubators out there and also be able to go out and drink coffee in the morning. I might have to move them in in the dead of winter but otherwise I think it might work.
I put the bug in his ear so I am hoping he is thinking about it.

Oh yeah, Australia has more things that will try to kill you than anywhere else in the world. Even the rocks are poisonous! (Well, not really, but there is a fish called a Rock Fish that looks for all the world like a rock sitting on the ocean floor but it has deadly spines and if you stand on it.....) I was actually born because of a brown snake. My mum was overdue with me when her neighbor screamed that there was a brown snake on her back verandah. My mum went hurrying over there to help her kill it and went into labor immediately afterward

As a kid, we went on vacation to north Queensland, where Cane Toads had only recently been imported. We had great fun playing with them, no clue they were "nasties". My poor mother had a conniption when she came outside our rental house up there to find the kids all cuddling their very own cane toad LOL.

Another time when I was quite young, Grandpa took me for a walk along the beach and I found a cute "baby" Octopus crawling along the sand. I picked it up and was holding it in my hand calling "Hey Grandpa, look what I found". The blood drained from his face as he realized I was holding a very angry, very adult (it is a small breed so I thought it was a baby) Blue-Ringed Octopus. They are quite poisonous also, but I set it down gently and it never bit me or whatever they do. They are usually somewhat dull in color but have rings on their tentacles that will turn bright blue when they are angry and getting ready to attack.

I dunno....when you grow up with deadly creatures all around you just have to take it in stride, I think. I still wouldn't want an encounter with a rattler though - their fangs look huge and apart from the poison, I'm thinking the bite would be pretty painful. At least most of our snakes have the courtesy to deliver their poison from fairly small, innocuous looking fangs, so the bite itself isn't too painful

whoa. I'm glad I grew up here where usually on a daily basis nothing tries to eat you, bite you or kill you. LOL!

 

[Trish44]

Uh Oh sunflowerparrot, that sounds like a raccoon. They love to eat the heads off of the chicken. Well you can see how even the presence of a puppy is an influence on predators. I'm sorry about your chicken, which one was it? If you want some just for layers, HEChicken & I are going to Arkansas City to see the Birdman Sunday & he has hens that are rhode island red & I think orpington mix, but I will have to ask him again. I was thinking of getting a couple of those myself just for my general laying flock. He has chicks or he has some that are at point of lay I think. Just let me know if you want me to pick you up a couple while I'm there. Your chickens are dwindling badly. Do you still have the little roo? I sure hope tomorrow brings you better news & a better day.

I had a nice time with my granddaughter this evening, she had her practice & then I took her to Sonic to eat because she said she hadn't eaten supper yet. They never have a regular mealtime at that house, it's just whenever somebody decides to either cook or go out to eat. A lot of the time I think they eat out, but her 13 year old sister said she has been cooking quite a bit lately. I'm glad someone is because her mom won't, I haven't known her to cook anything but cookies in the 8 or 9 years I have known her. I don't see how you get through life never knowing how to cook, it's just foreign to me. My mother taught me to cook when I was young & I have been doing it all the years since. It's really bad for her mom too, she's a severe diabetic.

I watched someone hit my dog while we were walking when I lived in Derby & they just drove off like nothing had happened. I just don't see how people can do that & sleep at night. I certainly would have nightmares. That one lived but she had some brain injury & actually got hit again & finally I had to give her up because she wouldn't quit chasing cars. I had one old lab hit when she was 13 years old at the same house. She was nearly blind & deaf & she was black, so it was hard to see her in the dark. One evening just about dusk she went out into the road & a guy in a pickup hit her & people drove nuts on that road too. It was a pretty busy road all the time. Anyway, this guy stopped & came up to the house & told me what he had done & said he was really sorry. I told him I appreciated him stopping & being honest. I had to take her to the emergency Vet in Wichita & they had to put her down, she had internal injuries & she was old & just wouldn't have made it. I had several dogs hit by cars on that road to the point that finally I didn't let them stay out any more, they all became indoor dogs, but they weren't LGDs either.

HEChicken, I'm glad we don't have so many nasty things here to bite or poison us. We have a few poisonous snakes & spiders that can make you sick, but other than that it sounds like we're lucky compared to what you grew up with. I didn't get to see your part of Australia while we were over there, just Sydney, but it was really pretty there. We mostly sailed around New Zealand & made a bunch of stops there. I just loved it there, it was so beautiful. We had quite a few Australians on our cruise that time, so we met some of them on tours & on the ship. That is one L-O-N-G flight to get over there, that part I didn't enjoy or the one back either.

 

[HEChicken]

So - I'm just full of bad news lately...

Went out to put my chickens up for the night and one was dead in the yard with its head eaten off and feathers everywhere - odd how this has never happened until Fern isn't around.

So sorry. I'm trying to remember....the head being bitten off is either a raccoon or a possum but now I can't remember which. I'm sure someone can answer. It does sound like Fern's presence is perhaps keeping them at bay, even if she isn't really old enough to "work" yet.

I'm trying to design some no waste feeders in my head these days. Surely I'll come up with something eventually.

Have you considered making a treadle feeder? I have plans for one around here somewhere that I downloaded from another BYC'er's page. It looks pretty simple to make and I already have all the materials I need - I just need to find the time to do it.

When I was a kid, my parents were at a rough point for a while and were short on cash. Our german shepard dog got hit by a car one morning and the idiot never stopped! Anyway, my mom had no way to take her to the vet-- just flat out could not afford it. So we brought the dog in and she set the break as best she could and taped it up really tight with ace bandages. Then she gave the dog penicillin shots and dosed her with whiskey for the pain! LOL We kept the dog laid out for a good two weeks before we let her really get up. And she healed up really well. Well enough to live to 18 years old! And could still run like the wind! So you do what you have to do with what you have, and that's all there is to it. And I'm sad that you wouldn't get another dog if Fern died. This isn't your fault, these things just happen. It sounds like she'll be okay. Hey if our childhood dog made it after my mom kept it drunk for 2 weeks and with an ace bandage on it's leg... you just have to believe that bones and bodies have a wonderful way of knitting themselves back together. Not that I would recommend what my mom did.... but they did consider shooting our dog, so she tried her best and it worked out.

How long did the dog have to attend AA meetings after it healed

J/k. Sounds like your mom is a "healer".

Quote: Strangely enough, I was never really afraid of any of those things. What scares me are scorpions. Even in Australia, surrounded by things that could kill me, I used to smugly think "Oh, I'm *so* glad we don't have scorpions here. Those things look really nasty".