Consolidated Kansas

[cubbysan]

Hi Everybody,

I live in Missouri, but in the Kansas City area - can I still join this thread?

I have had ducks for two years, and we just started with baby chickens (and two more ducks!) last month. Learning lots through this forum.

My husband and I just went to Restore KC in Overland Park this week to buy supplies for the chicken coop he is building. Bought three windows, about 8 brand new door jams, hinges and a fancy light fixture for the chicken coop he is building. Cost us $35! The place is hit or miss, but I highly recommend it.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I am so excited to see so many people near me

Hi KS/MO people

does anyone do any egg/chick swapping?

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Hi Everybody,

I live in Missouri, but in the Kansas City area - can I still join this thread?

I have had ducks for two years, and we just started with baby chickens (and two more ducks!) last month. Learning lots through this forum.

My husband and I just went to Restore KC in Overland Park this week to buy supplies for the chicken coop he is building. Bought three windows, about 8 brand new door jams, hinges and a fancy light fixture for the chicken coop he is building. Cost us $35! The place is hit or miss, but I highly recommend it.

Wow were is this place exactly???

 

[lizzyGSR]

I have a question about my ducks/goose. Before butcher day a couple weeks ago, I noticed that a couple of my birds had what looked like a runny nose. I figured they'd just been playing in their water and decided to check them a while later. When I checked them several hours later, the same two still looked like they had a runny nose. So, I picked one of them up and held it for a while. Their beak dried off and there was no more sign of a runny nose, so I figured I was just being paranoid. I noticed the same "runny nose" again yesterday in the same ducks and now my goose, and I want your opinion - am I being paranoid?

I noticed the runny nose on my goose and two of my ducks yesterday. I held one of the ducks last night, and wiped her bill dry. She was being very uncooperative as my birds don't like being held. However, her runny nose came back while I was holding her. Is it possible that she's losing water from her nose for a while after getting a drink? I put them in the duck house last night with an ice cream bucket with ~3 inches of water in the bottom. When I let them out this morning, I checked my goose, and she didn't appear to have a runny nose. The other birds were being uncoooperative and ran for the food/water as soon as I let them out. Also, with my goose, she shakes her head alot and water (or snot???) flies. She seems to drip water from her beak (not her nose) a lot as well. I had asked about this with my goose before and was told it was related to the bird being nervous. I admit that I have been making changes to things recently (necessary changes after adding more birds to the flock). Are these "symptoms' something I need to worry about? The first time I saw a "runny nose" in any of my birds was 2 weeks ago. A couple days later, I butchered 2 drakes and a duck. The following week, I went on a business trip. When I came back, I added 5 khaki campbell ducks (females). The KCs don't eat much, compared to the other birds (they're also considerably smaller, even though they're all full grown). I noticed last night and this morning that the birds hadn't eaten all the food I'd given them. Usually, my goose will go around and clean up anything that's left. Is this a sign of sickness or am I just being paranoid and it's actually a sign that I'm feeding them more than I need to? Thoughts/opinions would be greatly appreciated!!!

I should probably also mention that last night, I fed my birds an hour early and put them away an hour earlier because of it getting dark so early these days. This morning, I used a different dish for their food bowl in an attempt to make it easier for the smaller ducks to get to the food. The new dish is the one that wasn't finished.

Anyone have any input here???

 

[cubbysan]

There is actually a few of them:

Located at 520 S. 55th Street, Kansas City, KS 66106
913-596-6597
(at the intersection of 55th and Kansas Avenue, one mile west of I-635)
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. & Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Located at 9850 W. 87th Street, Overland Park, KS 66212
913-648-6001
(east of I-35, across the street from Johnson County Library)
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. & Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Kansas City Location
4701 Deramus Avenue
Kansas City, MO 64120

Waldo Location
303 W 79th Street
Kansas City, MO 64114


http://habitatkc.org/restore/

http://www.heartlandhabitat.org/restore

 

[HEChicken]

OK, followed the thread, Consolidated KS, not sure if I'm doing this right - there's SO many buttons. I live about 10 miles south of kcks. If you live in this part of the country you know that nothing grew here this summer in the awful heat. Chickens are birds, birds were still here.
I guess my first questions are:: did the chickens do all right this summer in the terrific heat?
which chicken do best in this area,
where do you go to buy them?

Chickens do tolerate cold better than heat so you are right to be asking that question. I didn't lose any to heat this year but a lot of people did. Shade and water are crucial. In the past I have frozen gallon milk containers 3/4 full of water and put one in their water bowl in the early afternoon. I didn't do that this year as I moved since last year and added ducks and that didn't seem as practical. What I did do is set up multiple shallow water bowls and refill them every 3-4 hours. Not all, but some of the chickens like to stand in the water to cool themselves off, and I wanted to provide enough options that anyone who wanted to, could find a place to stand. Also, by providing multiple water stations, there was always one that was in the shade. I didn't want them to have to choose between standing in the sun and getting hotter, and staying hydrated.

For shade, as Hawkeye said, if you don't have any naturally occurring, you will need to create it. I have a tree hedgerow that borders one side of my chicken yard and am fortunate it is the west border so by early afternoon there was shade for them in the yard. The coop itself provides some shade too, and a few bushes and a tree in the yard meant there was shade at any time of the day - somewhere.

My flock is a mixed flock and they all survived so I can't answer about breed. I have one Sultan and I've read that they tolerate heat better than cold and certainly she didn't seem to fare badly. There is also a new breed under development called an Aloha chicken that is said to do very well in the heat. The original project starter on that breed lives in Phoenix.....'nuff said. We have a couple of people here actively involved in the project and I was the lucky recipient of a "spare" Aloha hen, who didn't seem at all fazed by the heat.

As for where to get them, there are multiple options. The feed stores do a big "Chick Days" in spring and a smaller one in the fall. Most of them do have chicks now. I know that Orschelns and Atwoods have chicks at the moment - not sure about Tractor Supply. The breeds they have are somewhat limited - usually Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Sexlinks and Cornish Cross is about all they have.

Another option is to look on Craigslist - you may find that local people are selling chicks they have hatched and you will find some different varieties that way.

You can also order them by mail-order. I don't favor that method because it is hard on the chicks to be sent through the mail but sometimes if you want a specific breed and it isn't available locally, that is your best option. Or, if you have an incubator and want to hatch your own, you can order hatching eggs through the mail too, though it can be a gamble hatching shipped eggs.

This thread is a good resource too. Once you have it narrowed down as to what breeds you are interested in, let us know and if someone close to you can help you out, I'm sure they will be happy to!

 

[HEChicken]

Hi Everybody,

I live in Missouri, but in the Kansas City area - can I still join this thread?

I have had ducks for two years, and we just started with baby chickens (and two more ducks!) last month. Learning lots through this forum.

My husband and I just went to Restore KC in Overland Park this week to buy supplies for the chicken coop he is building. Bought three windows, about 8 brand new door jams, hinges and a fancy light fixture for the chicken coop he is building. Cost us $35! The place is hit or miss, but I highly recommend it.

Love ReStore - I got some of my chicken coop supplies there too!

I am so excited to see so many people near me

Hi KS/MO people

does anyone do any egg/chick swapping?

Definitely. Let us know what you are interested in!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

There is actually a few of them:

Located at 520 S. 55th Street, Kansas City, KS 66106
913-596-6597
(at the intersection of 55th and Kansas Avenue, one mile west of I-635)
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. & Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Located at 9850 W. 87th Street, Overland Park, KS 66212
913-648-6001
(east of I-35, across the street from Johnson County Library)
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. & Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Kansas City Location
4701 Deramus Avenue
Kansas City, MO 64120

Waldo Location
303 W 79th Street
Kansas City, MO 64114


http://habitatkc.org/restore/

http://www.heartlandhabitat.org/restore

Wow that is wonderful.. Is the overland park one new, it wasnt on the website?? I am so excited, I never knew about this.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Love ReStore - I got some of my chicken coop supplies there too!

Definitely. Let us know what you are interested in!

Oh I love all chickens and turkeys and of course when you get chicken fever there is no permanent cure

..... I love to know what people have, what is available in my area to choose from.

 

[cubbysan]

Wow that is wonderful.. Is the overland park one new, it wasnt on the website?? I am so excited, I never knew about this.

I am not sure. It should be on the second website. My husband is a carpenter so he was very excited. They were pulling out some nice brand new plywood for I think $7 a sheet when we were there, but he said it was interior jobs ( I never knew there was a difference ).

The newer vinyl windows they sell were a little more expensive, around $30 each - still a bargain, but my husband wanted the wooden windows,