Consolidated Kansas

[medawinks]

Oh no!!! Sunflower..... Not good at all. I am so sorry!!!

Fern's prognosis sounds very promising though, on the bright side?? I am going to keep hoping she is home soon with a cast to scare off the creepers.... Hang in there!!!

Wow! HEChicken! An octopus? That would be amazing!!! I grew up next to the Rio Grande in an actual well built adobe home. It was very comfortable and I miss it, but not the critters who also thought it would be a nice place to hole up... I have seen too many rattlers and water moccasins up close and personal in my living space. Would crawl in the dog door and under furniture. The dogs always alerted us to them. To this day I could not live without a dog for that reason, even though I know there is very little risk of that here. Scorpions were no fun either. I got bit mostly by the normal, non serious bite types, but once I left my shoes on the back porch and didn't shake them out before putting them on and that bite made my whole leg swell.... I feel very blessed to just need to be alert for brown recluse or black widows here I would much rather see an octopus up close though!!!!

Be careful Danz! That full moon might affect the rattler too

Yes.... I do think my little flock misses our Bloom.... She was our white silkie's protector. No one picks on her but... They were often together. She ate well inside today so I put her back out tonight. We will see.

 

[Trish44]

HEChicken, we do actually have scorpions in Kansas, but I have never seen one where we live. I think they mostly are in the far eastern part of the state. Those I don't think I would enjoy being around at all either, kind of scary.

Medawinks, I do think birds kind of get depressed over the loss of a flock member. The tom turkey I have had not gobbled at all since the other tom & hen died until just a few days ago, it's been awhile. He is just now starting to perk up a little weeks after they died.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

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.

lol.. so, what did your mom do for you kids when you got sick and couldn't afford to take you to a doctor? lol

 

[sunflowerparrot]

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.

It was one of my little brown girls She was one of the first 2 chickens I have ever owned - I got her and her little sister at Atwoods this spring. Yes, my chickens are dwindling.. I still have Jasper the roo.. but without a spur, he's probably just all talk at this point and still learning how to kick butt!

I would love to get a few hens close to layer age if they are priced right.. I'd like 2 Rhode Island Red and 2 Orphingtons.. that would replace the 3 hens I lost to date plus give me an extra. Let me know. Thank you!

I have a busy day today - with seeing Fern this morning at the top of my list! I'm hoping for a better day too

 

[Hawkeye95]

Here we go--- this explains my obsession perfectly.

 

[Hawkeye95]

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 about your bird.

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.

Crazy, I have always loved to cook and enjoy it. It's cheaper and of course, healthier to cook, too. You don't know if the food you eat --where it's come from. I buy my ground beef and chicken hormone free and same with my milk. I try to do my best to buy whole grains to cook with or eat. Not that we don't eat out on ocassion-- but honestly, not very often. We already have a big problem with children's weight and growing and maturing too fast. It is heartening to see that we are trending back to whole foods, but I sure wish more people were on board with that. It would encourage them to cook at home, have that family time at the dinner table and get more involved with each other.

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

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

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".

LOL!!! Yes, the dog probably should have gone to AA! She had quite a trip with all the whiskey my mom dosed her with. hehe

lol.. so, what did your mom do for you kids when you got sick and couldn't afford to take you to a doctor? lol

Mom used to give us whiskey too. LOL I'm KIDDING!!! No, my mom is an RN (registered nurse) and back when, my dad decided to stop farming and go to college and get a different career. So during that time, we were POOR living on only my mom's income and them paying for my dad's college and for us kids. I still remember the farm, though. My dad used to raise beef and farmed only a few hundred acres of land. He's sold everything off except for the most profitable land where he now has a tenant who farms it for him and he has kept only about 160 acres in pasture land that he rents out to another guy who way back bought most of his beef. This guy has since bred out so much that my dad's line of beef is now gone. But they started and registered the Kerrymere beef cows. I ran across a guy up here in Peck who was offering beef for sale and he said his beef was all from the Kerrymere line and I about fell over and told him that was MY dad's line that he and his dad started. He didn't believe me!!! I told my dad about it and he just thought it was sooo cool that his line lives on.

 

[michelleml]

sunflower sorry about your hen. Please let us know how fern is doing i have kept her in my prayers.


I need to find a job but i don't know anyone that can keep my little ones. Its been at least 4 years sense i worked and not sure i could even find a job with how things are. I wish i could figure out what I'm good at and make money from it.

I love to bake and i know how to sew but i am very hard on myself so i won't sell anything in case if falls apart or is nasty tasting

Money is very tight and with the army telling us my husband will not be able to stay in due to his cancer its just a matter of time when he gets the boot
i've been so stressed that my whole body is aching i hurt all over.

 

[HEChicken]

That is way cool that your dad's line of beef lives on! I buy all of our meat from a Mennonite guy up in Yoder, who raises them as I would raise them if I were doing it. That is the only meat I will eat (other than the occasional bird of my own that I have to process), because I like to know where it comes from, how it was raised and treated, and not contribute to the "commercial" meat industry at all. I will buy a whole hog or a half cow at a time and it fills up the freezer for awhile. Its a huge outlay in one transaction, but after that my monthly grocery bill is lower because I am not buying meat at the store.

I don't really love to cook but I like to know my family is eating well, so I do cook primarily from scratch. I find it interesting how accustomed our society has become to "convenience" foods and to everything being pre-boxed, pre-prepared, pre-mixed. My mother made everything from scratch and I didn't even know such things as pre-mixed cookie dough existed until I was an adult! I recently had an experience where I was asked to bring brownies to a birthday party. I looked up a recipe and made them from scratch, from my fresh stone-ground flour (that I buy from a lady in Derby) and my fresh eggs and all. I had so many comments from people saying how good they were and asking what brand of brownie mix I had used

. I guess no one bakes from scratch any more so it never occurred to them there was no brand name involved. Funny in kind of a sad way. One of my kids' favorites remains "mac and cheese" but when they ask for it, they are asking for the stuff I make from scratch, and there is no comparison to that stuff that comes in a box. I buy all whole-wheat pasta, and make the cheese sauce over the stove, then pile it all into a casserole dish and bake it for an hour. I must say, that is what I call "comfort foods".

Trish, I had no idea we have scorpions in Kansas - I hope I don't encounter one! Yeah, the octopus was really cool. I thought it was so pretty because of those bright blue bands on all of its tentacles. I had no idea that meant it was dangerous!!! I did a google image search for a picture of one and found it (hope its not against the rules to post it here since it is not my own picture). Its hard to get scale in a picture but this little guy is small enough to fit in the palm of a 7-year-old's hand:

 

[HEChicken]

I need to find a job but i don't know anyone that can keep my little ones. Its been at least 4 years sense i worked and not sure i could even find a job with how things are. I wish i could figure out what I'm good at and make money from it.

I love to bake and i know how to sew but i am very hard on myself so i won't sell anything in case if falls apart or is nasty tasting

Money is very tight and with the army telling us my husband will not be able to stay in due to his cancer its just a matter of time when he gets the boot
i've been so stressed that my whole body is aching i hurt all over.

Have you considered selling things you've sewn on Etsy? I have a gorgeous "chicken purse" I purchased from a lady on there. The workmanship is wonderful and the fabric suits me to a "T". I've had a lot of people comment on it, including strangers.

Perhaps you would be able to find a job where the hours allow your husband to watch the kids while you are at work and vice versa? The downside to that is you don't see much of each other but the upside is the kids are always with a parent, each parent gets to enjoy time with the kids, and you save money on daycare.

 

[chicken danz]

Michelleml that is such a burden. My heart goes out to you. Jobs are so tight right now. Unfortunately unskilled labor doesn't pay much... not enough to pay for child care. Back when my daughter was going to nursing school, she had a new born baby, and her husband wasn't making much, she started cleaning houses. She put in an add, got a couple homes,and word of mouth spread. She finally had enough clients she had to hire someone else and eventually she didn't clean at all she just managed the business. When she got her RN they moved and she sold the business to one of her employees. It does pay good money and it doesn't take that much time. It might be something to consider. Initially she ran another add and found another girl who was home with kids to watch her kid for a trade of child care when she was cleaning. They just traded hours so the other mother could get out and go shopping or whatever she needed to do. Once her business grew she sat at home and kept track of finances and never had to hire a sitter.
Just an idea to keep in mind.