Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Yeah - I have 2 small pools.. one for Fern (and pup to join as soon as Candace knows if there are new pups!) and one for the lagoon animals I don't think I want goats. I've debated a lot about this and have decided I don't want to deal with anything other than fowl. At one time, I was going to do rabbits (for food), but decided against that too. I think birds/fowl are my passion. I have parrots in my house (one is a mouthy little brat!) and love birds - and sunflowers (hence my name)

honestly, I wouldn't want goats, either. They are quite a bit of work to fence in, feed and check on. But they would eat all of your weeds, for sure. I couldn't do rabbits to eat, either! I do think I want to get the kids a pet rabbit. Something really, really small and cute-- something that won't cost a lot to feed!


Okay you all!!! I think I have my design sorted out! I want to sleep on it, but I think I am going to order this: UNLESS you think of anything else! LOL

 

[lizzyGSR]

Okay, I'm being silly today and figured it would be fun to wear a fun chicken t-shirt when I show my Silkies! Remember the pictures I took last night of my boy and the girl I love? I threw them over into my graphic program, drew over the top of them--- and viola!!! A silkie graphic! I did hunt for silkie graphics online for the shirt-- but no one had them. Just plain chickens. So I had no choice, but at least this way, these are actually MY chickens on the design!

Here are a couple of ideas: (I'm probably going to continue to tweak them) But hey, if you have any ideas, let me know. I'd love to come up with a really fun shirt to wear!

I like the first one for a t-shirt. The 2nd one would make a good bumper sticker.

I just came in from rounding up my birds for the evening, and now I need to go take a shower... As you may know, I brought 5 Khaki campbell ducks home this past Saturday and added them to my flock yesterday as I was having troubles with them squeezing through my barriers and getting in with the rest of the flock anyway. I have trained my "old" flock to go up the ramp and into the duck house in the evenings. The new ones come down the ramp in the morning, but still refuse to go up it. So, that means I have to catch them individually and put them at the base of the ramp and "walk" them up it. Well, I went out at 6:45PM MST tonight to round them up and spend some time with my goose. I only got to spend a couple minutes with my goose because I spent all my time catching ducks.

They would run around the duck house, duck underneath it, etc and were overall just being very uncooperative. I finally ended up rigging a barrier between the duck house and the edge of the run. Then, I ended up having to crawl underneath the duck house and use a stick to herd them out from behind the duck house so I could then corner them and catch them. This worked for one of them. Then, I had to crawl completely underneath the duck house and trap them between my body and the barrier. This worked for two more. Finally, I had to crawl underneath the duck house and chase them out from behind the duck house using my stick (my arm isn't long enough - I didn't hit them with it or anything, just used it to herd them). Once they were out from behind the duck house, I caught the last two by trapping them in the corner in the kiddie pool. This, of course, means that I got a shower with dirty duck water (I should've cleaned it this evening but spent too much time chasing birds. I'll have to do it in the morning instead). Plus, it's been raining here today, so my silly birds have been hanging out underneath the duck house all day, which means that I crawled through fresh duck/goose poo AND wet straw and mud to catch those silly birds. I'm sitting here at my desk thinking that I must be covered in fresh duck poo 'cuz I STINK!!!!! I'm going to go take a shower while all of you pick yourselves up off the floor after falling off your chairs and rolling on the floor laughing at my unfortunate circumstances...

Don't laugh too hard, you know you can see yourselves doing the same thing!

 

[JosieChick]

LOVE this pic, two cutie pies!

Our rooster crowed for the first time today. My 3 years was so excited to hear him.

Congrats on the first crow! Always fun when the boys first start trying it out!

Well I'll be off to go get my little peacock in a couple of hours, I can't wait to see him! That will take up my afternoon driving there & then back, so when I get back from there I will have to get him settled in & do all of my chores so it will probably be dark before I'm done with all of that.

honestly, I wouldn't want goats, either. They are quite a bit of work to fence in, feed and check on. But they would eat all of your weeds, for sure. I couldn't do rabbits to eat, either! I do think I want to get the kids a pet rabbit. Something really, really small and cute-- something that won't cost a lot to feed!


Okay you all!!! I think I have my design sorted out! I want to sleep on it, but I think I am going to order this: UNLESS you think of anything else! LOL

Love the shirt, very nice! You should get some for the kids too and you guys can all match.

Once they were out from behind the duck house, I caught the last two by trapping them in the corner in the kiddie pool. This, of course, means that I got a shower with dirty duck water (I should've cleaned it this evening but spent too much time chasing birds. I'll have to do it in the morning instead). Plus, it's been raining here today, so my silly birds have been hanging out underneath the duck house all day, which means that I crawled through fresh duck/goose poo AND wet straw and mud to catch those silly birds. I'm sitting here at my desk thinking that I must be covered in fresh duck poo 'cuz I STINK!!!!! I'm going to go take a shower while all of you pick yourselves up off the floor after falling off your chairs and rolling on the floor laughing at my unfortunate circumstances...

Don't laugh too hard, you know you can see yourselves doing the same thing!

Yuck! That is no fun. Can you catch them once it is dark and put them in? I have done that with chicks several times and after waking up inside the coop several times they seem to get the memo.


Well, not much going on here. I need to get my behind in gear and list some birds for sale. I also need to list a couple pairs of juvenile seramas on auction. My other buff laced brahma hen was acting funny last night so I brought her in and gave her everything but the kitchen sink. She seems brighter today so I gave her more antibiotics and started the roo as well because I **thought** I heard him wheeze a little.

These birds may be the death of me with this kind of stress. Now I am picking everyone up and listening and looking over them in some kind of freaked out paranoia about illness that is lurking just below the surface. I even had a bad dream last night that I went out and my favorite orp hen was dead, geez!

Well, need to go finish a few more things before I call it a night, take care everyone!

 

[HEChicken]

Ok, I multi-ed several posts, but got called away, closed the laptop, and when I came back, it had forgotten all my multi's.

Plus, there was another whole page of new posts since I started trying to catch up.

Lizzy, that really is awfully funny. Sorry for laughing. My two new hens had difficulty negotiating my auto door at first too. Nights one and two after integration, I wound up opening the people door and letting them go in that way. On night three, I was out for the evening and the auto door was already closed by the time I got back. I was gratified to find the two new hens in the coop with the rest - they must have gone in the auto door by themselves. Tonight (night four) they are again in the coop, having got there themselves. So I think yours will get it eventually. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Sunflower I am intrigued by your idea of using the lagoon. I had the same idea and started a thread on it back in June:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/681281/ducks-on-sewer-pond
In the end, DH and I did decide not to do it because he was concerned that their getting in and out of the pond might cause deterioration of the banks, and since the lagoon serves such a vital purpose for us, we decided not to risk it. We only have muscovies, who don't like to swim as much as mallard-based breeds do, and they seem very content with their wading pool for now, where they are always able to touch the bottom.

I spent the day on an all-day trail ride in the Flint Hills. It was so beautiful, with lots of rolling hills and the landscape had so much texture I had to keep reminding myself it was Kansas. My horse loves getting out and doing that kind of thing so it was a good day for both of us.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh Hawkeye, I meant to say - great pics of the silkies and the kids and I love the design. I agree with everyone else about the first design, and love how it came out on the shirt itself.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy, that really is awfully funny. Sorry for laughing. My two new hens had difficulty negotiating my auto door at first too. Nights one and two after integration, I wound up opening the people door and letting them go in that way. On night three, I was out for the evening and the auto door was already closed by the time I got back. I was gratified to find the two new hens in the coop with the rest - they must have gone in the auto door by themselves. Tonight (night four) they are again in the coop, having got there themselves. So I think yours will get it eventually. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Don't apologize for laughing. There's nothing wrong with laughing at a funny story - even if the story is non-fictional!

It took me quite a while (i.e. a couple of weeks) to teach my "old" flock how to navigate the ramp, and it took my goose even longer to figure out how to do so without falling off the ramp just shy of the top (which of course resulted in lots of laughter on my part)

I think part of my problem is that my new birds are Khaki Campbell ducks, so they are naturally very shy, timid birds anyway. Plus, they've been through a lot of stress recently (i.e. 8 hour car ride, completely different climate, being handled, having a BIG dog around when they'd not used to such things, etc.) I also think I've been putting the birds away too late in the day. By the time I get out there, it's getting close to dark, and the inside of the duck house is already dark. Tomorrow, I'll try putting them to bed an hour earlier so the duck house won't be dark. I'm also going to ask my DH to enclose 3 sides of the underneath side of the duck house. Hopefully, putting them to bed earlier will do the trick. If not, at least they can't get away from me by running underneath the duck house and then around the side.

Yuck! That is no fun. Can you catch them once it is dark and put them in? I have done that with chicks several times and after waking up inside the coop several times they seem to get the memo.

The problem with this idea is that the khakis blend in with their surroundings so well that it is REALLY hard to see them to catch them.... and, as we found out the other night, they're quite scared of a flash light beam...

 

[tntblake]

Okay you all!!! I think I have my design sorted out! I want to sleep on it, but I think I am going to order this: UNLESS you think of anything else! LOL

Do you want it to say Hawkeye's? It seems kinda hard for me to say with the double S's on Hawkeye's Silkies. I think Hawkeye Silkies is much easier to say. Maybe that is just me though! I love that they are your silkies on the shirt! Super cute design! I wish I had a talent like that!

 

[Trish44]

Hawkeye, I agree with cherwill, I like the silkies in the 2nd one, but not the border. That would be cute to have a shirt to wear when you're showing, how fun.

Well I didn't make it home till after dark since I stood & talked & then had to stop at two places on my way back for feed. I went first to TSC to get layer feed because I like their layer pellets & they're cheaper than Atwoods. But they don't have any game bird feed now at all, since that recall now they just don't have anything. The girl working said she would have someone check on it & give me a call as to whether they could get any or not. So I had to make a run to Atwoods for game bird feed for my peafowl & turkeys & of course they had to have chicks, ducks, & guineas. Well you can't go by the bins without looking can you? I resisted the ducks & chicks, I just don't need any more chickens right now & the ducks are waiting till next year, I made up my mind about that. But I did bring home 3 more baby guineas, one pied, one pearl, & one white. I had lost one in the storm awhile back, so I figured I would replace it & have a couple extras just in case. They're so tiny next to the others I have & they're still little. It's amazing how fast they grow & you don't realize it until you put newly hatched ones up next to them. I got my little peacock put in his pen, but it was dark, so I will have to go out in the morning & see how they're all doing & take some pics of him if I can. He may be kind of shy for awhile since he's new here. I couldn't believe how strong he was when I took him out of his crate I brought him home in & carried him to the pen. He almost overpowered me, he was fighting so hard with me holding onto him as tight as I could & he's only 3 months old. Can you imagine how strong they must be full grown?

Danz, I asked the name of the lady where the peafowl eggs came from & her name is Rita Hensen, I think if I understood correctly she is in Greensburg. But I don't think she separates colors of peafowl, so this one I got may be mixed, we're just not sure what color he is going to be. That's OK with me, he is going to be pretty & he will make a good match with my IBs for now. My DH just wanted a male peacock for a yard ornament I think so I have one now. If I get Opals next year I will keep them penned so I can raise some when they get old enough, but after these I have get older I will probably let them free-range.

I have someone coming in the morning to hopefully buy the Chinchilla rabbits I'm selling, I sure hope they buy them anyway. That will leave me one buck yet to get rid of before winter. Then I will have room to get my other little Mini Rex buck for breeding that I want. It still kind of burns me that the lady I was supposed to get that one from sold him before I could get up there to get him. I told her I wasn't too happy with her about the way she did things. Maybe I can find another one in Missouri when we go back there, there are lots of rabbit breeders there around the area we go to visit my DH's family. I just need one more buck & then I'm done buying rabbits for breeding for now. Hopefully next year will be a better year for everything, this summer sure wasn't.

My little chicks that I have been treating in the cage in the garage are improving. In fact the little Cream Legbar rooster was well enough I put him back out in the grow-out pen this afternoon. He had really perked up a lot in the last couple days. The Swedish Flower hen is also looking better, so maybe soon she will also be able to go back out. I think that Sulmet is finally helping them. Now if if Cream Legbar pullet will get well we'll be going OK. I'm still treating the ones out in the grow-out pen, I want to make sure they're all cleared up totally before I stop the antibiotic.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Sunflower I am intrigued by your idea of using the lagoon. I had the same idea and started a thread on it back in June:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/681281/ducks-on-sewer-pond
In the end, DH and I did decide not to do it because he was concerned that their getting in and out of the pond might cause deterioration of the banks, and since the lagoon serves such a vital purpose for us, we decided not to risk it. We only have muscovies, who don't like to swim as much as mallard-based breeds do, and they seem very content with their wading pool for now, where they are always able to touch the bottom.

My lagoon isn't even completely (or half for that fact) full yet. I've only lived here since the end of June and everything is completely new construction. With the lack of rain, the poor lagoon hasn't had much chance to get too full. I've ran the hose into the piping for 2 straight nights when I first moved here and that helped a lot, but then the lack of rain and 100+ temps for so many days in a row caused most of it to evaporate. It is doing fairly well now. By next year, I am hoping it will have enough water so it doesn't get too low to the pipe like it is now. I guess this all takes time.

Can geese and ducks live together? I could get a few geese in the spring and put them down there so they can eat the weeds.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Well you can't go by the bins without looking can you? I resisted the ducks & chicks, I just don't need any more chickens right now & the ducks are waiting till next year, I made up my mind about that.

Ha! I have no idea what you're talking about? I would never impulse buy while at Atwoods Oh wait - I think I have 3 little ducks in my bathtub that would disagree with me!