Consolidated Kansas

[medawinks]

Danz, no fun for you today at all! That heat has been awful! I am so sorry. That would have really upset me too... I hope you didn't get overheated as well!

I would still love to see more of what both you and Hawkeye have painted. I need to get my oldest into an art class of some kind. She just does what she does... No training. I really would worry if she wanted to try to make a living with it. But it might help open a path for her somewhere... Who knows

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, so sorry about your day. This heat wave sucks. At least in June/July we were acclimatized to it but now its really hitting me since I got used to cooler temps. Yesterday after picking up the turkeys, I worried the whole way home that between the stress of being transported and the heat, they would suffer. I didn't even factor in "what if the AC quits working" - how awful. I was really worried about the new birds being penned today since in a pen they don't have as many options for staying cool. I checked on them frequently and took them a pan of water. I was gratified to see the turkey hen cooling her feet in the pan of water before I even left. Anyway, by early afternoon they were in full shade so then I knew they'd be okay.

I hope the 5th and the rest of yours make it.

 

[chicken danz]

I just moved my lemon cuckoos that were in with my peachick out to the chicken house with the lavenders . I put my little albino turkey in with the peachick but she wasn't happy. So she went back out the the chicken house. I just moved some younger lavenders over to the peachick and (s)he seems happy again. The peachick was yelling. It hated being alone. Sure wish I'd get those other two so it could have some real buddies.

This one hen I am trying to get recovered is acting pretty listless. I doubt she will make it. She is just sitting staring at the wall instead of eating or drinking. It upsets me. I keep thinking I should have asked them to let them get a drink before I left. The waterer in the cage they were in was empty. Their birds seem well cared for so I think it was probably the intense heat.
I wasn't feeling wonderful either. I was pretty sweaty by the time I got home. But I got a lot more so trying to rush butcher 4 chickens. I just peeled them cause I didn't have time to mess with pulling feathers.
It is so humid and hot. I can't believe how miserable it feels out there for this time of the evening.
I called DH at work and told him I needed more freon. I want him to realize I don't want it put off.

 

[Hawkeye95]

BirdMan is down in Ark City so it was quite a drive for me but not so far for you

He has hundreds of birds of all shapes and sizes - chickens of course, but also ducks and the turkeys. I'm not sure what else. His property is just pen after pen in every direction you look. We also saw what looked like some disused rabbit hutches with good-sized runs attached to them. If I had a way of getting them back here, I might have even asked if he was looking to offload them, because they would make great chick brooders too.

I don't get the sense he is really in it because he loves the birds - its just a business for him. For example, yesterday he loaded up 350 pullets to take to the Mulvane Swap Meet. After selling 230 he returned home. His pullets are mainly BO/RIR X's, I think, so I don't know that he has that much in the way of rare or fancy breeds. I don't think he even normally has turkeys but his daughter got them from someone and he agreed to sell me a Jake. I don't think he was the one to trim the beak - I suspect it was already done by the people his daughter got them from. The rationale behind beak-trimming is to stop them pecking each other, but apart from the fact that they are maimed for life, the main reason I don't approve of the practice is because it is only necessary to do it if birds are kept in crowded conditions. Commercial chickens, both meat and egg breeds, routinely have their beaks trimmed too. Once it is done, it never grows back. Somehow it doesn't seem to affect their ability to eat (obviously or they'd never survive after it was done). I would far rather give them the room they need so they don't peck each other, than trim their beaks so they can be crowded together.

It is SO hot out there already. I'm not worried about my main flock because they survived the whole summer without succumbing to the heat so I figure they'll be fine. The ones I'm worried about are my new birds because I have to keep them penned until they know this is home. I have them in a dog pen and it is set up where they will have shade from about 1:30pm on from the hedgerow. It was a good location all summer because the mornings typically are not that hot and by afternoon they're in shade but this morning it is just steamy hot already. I've been out several times to check on them, give them fresh, cold water, and just now put up some flattened cardboard boxes to block the sun streaming in there and make sure they have a place to get out of the sun. Hopefully they'll be okay. My 2 1/2 week old chicks are in the same boat. For their protection I have them in my little chick run so they can't really move to a shadier place either. I have the sun blocked on two sides to make sure it is largely shaded until afternoon too. All of them are panting but don't otherwise look too distressed.

Ah yeah, that would be pretty close to me. Interesting how he is looking at it as a big business/operation. I couldn't do that-- but only in the sense of how much the cost would be to house and feed them and get them all taken care of with little loss. Sad about the beak. I would rather use the pinless peepers that cut off the top of their beak. I didn't enjoy having to worry about my birds again the last two days with the heat.

Oh Hawkeye, I meant to say that I would love to help you out with getting some RP's next year. Hopefully this pair, who are not very old yet, will remain healthy through the winter and be ready to start producing some offspring next Spring!

I hope your birds are great producers! I know my Seymore (RP) laid an egg every single day when she started laying and never quit! She was a laying machine!

It got a lot hotter than i expected and I was up sick all the night before, so after finally getting to sleep at about 4am, I didn't wake up till noon and my poor birdies were hot. We turned on the misters again and they ALL ran under them. I made sure to get up this morning and turn them on again - i was really hoping to be done with this because I don't like having both a high electric bill as well as a high water bill.

SO sorry you have been sick again. You just aren't catching a break lately on health. It got so hot again today! Our therm said 107 again, sheesh.

Tweety, yes that was your friend. She just left. I gave her a couple of sussex chicks to take home because they thought the sussex were really pretty. Good business practice. She said if they grew up and were as pretty as mine she'd send people my way.
I had just an awful afternoon. I drove an hour each way to pick up 10 pullets. The AC quit cooling in my car on the way home. I got home with 4 dead ones and a 5th I am still trying to get to recover. It wasn't a good chicken buy with losses like that!!! I rushed in and butchered the 4 that died. They are young so there isn't much to them but at least they will make good soup stock or something. I do hope this other one recovers. She is sitting on a vent on the floor enjoying the AC. I do hope the others all do okay. You never know they long term effects of the heat.
Pretty heartbreaking.
Hawkeye I do know where my old friend is, I just thought Cherwill might know her since it isn't a huge city. I never did find the photo of that one picture I painted for my sister by the way.

Oh wow-- that is terrible about the birds! Poor things. Glad you got them butchered, though. I hope the other one pulls thru.

Danz, no fun for you today at all! That heat has been awful! I am so sorry. That would have really upset me too... I hope you didn't get overheated as well!
I would still love to see more of what both you and Hawkeye have painted. I need to get my oldest into an art class of some kind. She just does what she does... No training. I really would worry if she wanted to try to make a living with it. But it might help open a path for her somewhere... Who knows

I used to have pictures somewhere of all the things I've done. I created a digital portfolio at one point.

Danz, so sorry about your day. This heat wave sucks. At least in June/July we were acclimatized to it but now its really hitting me since I got used to cooler temps. Yesterday after picking up the turkeys, I worried the whole way home that between the stress of being transported and the heat, they would suffer. I didn't even factor in "what if the AC quits working" - how awful. I was really worried about the new birds being penned today since in a pen they don't have as many options for staying cool. I checked on them frequently and took them a pan of water. I was gratified to see the turkey hen cooling her feet in the pan of water before I even left. Anyway, by early afternoon they were in full shade so then I knew they'd be okay.

I hope the 5th and the rest of yours make it.

I'm sure glad your birds are hanging in there. It was brutal today after such a nice run on good weather. I am DONE with summer already. Ugh.


We had a fun day today! Cleaned house and have it mostly looking pretty good again. More laundry to do, but I'm more caught up than I was. We then took all the kids to the Warren Theatre and we saw saw a kid movie. They loved it. They got filled up on candy and popcorn. Usually we rent movies, so this was a rare outing for them. I did get a bit more work done on that small coop. But nothing too notable yet. I think DH may have found a job here in Wichita when he gets his layoff, so that is good news. It will let us either do an addition to the house we currently have, or to enable us to buy a larger house instead of adding on.. So we've been browsing listings just to see what all is out there for fun. I SO hope this job works out so we can stay here-- even if we do move across town or something. It would be nicer than moving out of state. I can't believe this weekend is OVER-- how did that happen so fast?? Sigh.

 

[WichitaKidd]

Need some advice. My SLW has had a chunk of her feathers pulled out by some of the other birds. She now has a bare patch on her back about 1" in diameter that looks "raw" but not "bleeding". I don't see any signs of mites or other pests. I also have a BLRW that is being picked on too, but not nearly as bad. Is this normal? What do I treat it with or should I just leave it alone?

 

[cherwill]

It got a lot hotter than i expected and I was up sick all the night before, so after finally getting to sleep at about 4am, I didn't wake up till noon and my poor birdies were hot. We turned on the misters again and they ALL ran under them. I made sure to get up this morning and turn them on again - i was really hoping to be done with this because I don't like having both a high electric bill as well as a high water bill.

I know. Our electric, water, sewer and trash are all one combined bill and it scared the living daylights out of me last time. I thought we were past the really high temps but my neighbor said it was 108 today.

I had just an awful afternoon. I drove an hour each way to pick up 10 pullets. The AC quit cooling in my car on the way home. I got home with 4 dead ones and a 5th I am still trying to get to recover. It wasn't a good chicken buy with losses like that!!! I rushed in and butchered the 4 that died. They are young so there isn't much to them but at least they will make good soup stock or something. I do hope this other one recovers. She is sitting on a vent on the floor enjoying the AC. I do hope the others all do okay. You never know they long term effects of the heat.
Pretty heartbreaking.

I'm sorry; that's so tough.

 

[sharol]

I have read that hatchery layers sometimes only live 2-3 years. I've already lost 2 of that group of 7. They are just a little over 2 years old. It is probably just the heat and my paranoia about the health of my girls. The scary part is that the one that died last fall appeared to be completely healthy when she died. no signs of trauma or illness, just dead. She was a SLW who laid pink eggs. Sigh. I didn't think about that part of chicken keeping when I got into this.

Sharol

OH so hard to pass them by when the chicks are back in the feed stores!! They are little peeping cuties! How old are your hens that are looking kind of bad? How long do most layers live?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Need some advice. My SLW has had a chunk of her feathers pulled out by some of the other birds. She now has a bare patch on her back about 1" in diameter that looks "raw" but not "bleeding". I don't see any signs of mites or other pests. I also have a BLRW that is being picked on too, but not nearly as bad. Is this normal? What do I treat it with or should I just leave it alone?

Wow, sounds like they are really being beat up! Poor girls! Be careful with those wounds, they can easily get infections in them. I would put triple antibiotic over the spots and keep them clean. If you have a way to keep them separate while they recover, that would be best. I had this problem too! My Polish were getting picked terribly by my bigger birds. They were drawing blood and they would NOT. STOP. I finally bought the Pinless Peepers-- and no more troubles from the trouble makers! Just put those peepers on everyone except the ones getting picked on. Problem solved. (or it should be, anyway!) Here is one of my barred rocks with her Peepers.

I bought them at Randall Burkey.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I have read that hatchery layers sometimes only live 2-3 years. I've already lost 2 of that group of 7. They are just a little over 2 years old. It is probably just the heat and my paranoia about the health of my girls. The scary part is that the one that died last fall appeared to be completely healthy when she died. no signs of trauma or illness, just dead. She was a SLW who laid pink eggs. Sigh. I didn't think about that part of chicken keeping when I got into this.

Sharol

oh wow, I figured they lived longer than that. Well, if they aren't laying, it would be kind of a burden to just keep them around. I just don't know if I could butcher them... but that would be the smartest thing to do.

 

[HEChicken]

Hawkeye, that is wonderful news about your DH's job and that you might be able to stay after all!!!

Regarding life expectancy, my understanding is that a chicken *can* live up to about 12-15 years of age. That said, they rarely do, due to predation, illness etc. As with dogs, size counts too. SpeckledHen lost her big 'ol roo last week, who was 6 years old and she said that was a long life for a boy of his size. I have heard of people on the forum with 6-year-old hens that are still laying the occasional egg.

Depending on breed, they do get burned out faster. The production egg layers like Red Sexlinks and Barred Rocks, will lay like crazy for their first season or two and then the lay rate drops drastically. This is the point where most people get rid of them. I did have a BR in her third season who was still laying pretty well though. The heritage breeds, that often don't churn out the eggs at the rate of the production egg layers (maybe 3 per week rather than 6), will lay for a lot longer. No doubt the anecdotal stories of 6-year-old hens that are still laying, are heritage birds that never laid that prolifically even when they were younger.

I suspect that the high lay rate of the production layers does also shorten their lives though. Reproduction takes its toll on the body and egg-laying is of course a feature of reproduction, even when no rooster is around. So it makes sense that a hen who is putting all of that energy into laying an egg-a-day is also aging faster than one whose body is able to recuperate a little more in between eggs.

Just my thoughts....